explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-06T19:51:24Z

Schnitz: shaking hands ~=~ eyeball licking, if you're sufficiently introverted.

This comic appears to be the only one, ever, that doesn't have mouseover text
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.160|162.158.146.160]] 05:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:Maybe our mice are just broken. Purely coincidental, I'm sure. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 05:49, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::Or it is a change, to go with the time... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:07, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:::Technically [[404]] doesn't have an alt-text either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.183|162.158.58.183]] 09:42, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::::I believe I've seen this before, where a comic _temporarily_ doesn't have title text. It may show itself yet. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.203|172.69.63.203]] 11:49, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::Maybe Randall posted it really late, staggered into bed, and will post the alt-text in the morning. I saw text but it was just the comic title. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.190|172.68.34.190]] 07:51, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::::::It is common for dynamic comics to have no title text - see [[:Category:No title text]]. But it is a first for a standard comic. So interesting to see if it shows up later, or if this will be an outlier. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

And, in case you were wondering, yes, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10124306/Japanese-craze-for-eyeball-licking-leads-to-rise-in-infections.html eyeball licking is a thing] [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]]) 08:22, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:According to [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/in-the-public-eye/ Snopes] the story about Japanese eye licking is not true. I've removed it from the explanation for now. If my information turns out to be false, feel free to add it back in. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:16, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

It's possible that mouse over / touch operation is seen as another form of physical contact, that goes along the comic. {{unsigned ip|172.68.154.22}}
:I think he just forgot it. Maybe he is down with the coronavirus ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

I don't think we should overdo it with the "citation needed" joke or it will become dull. One instance in such a short explanation is definitely enough. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:22, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:It should not be used when no citation is needed! I remove them often --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::No, the whole joke is that we're asking for citations for something super obvious. I agree more than one would be overkill here though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.70|108.162.241.70]] 16:00, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

I thought this comic was referring to hand-shaking, which is effectively licking one another's eyeballs, as much as we humans touch our own eyes & mouths. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 12:19, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:There is a meme (by Corona-is-hoax promoters and Communists-did-it-on-purpose proclaimers, mostly, so treat it with a pinch of salt rather than antivjral handwash) that doorknob-licking is a thing. Usually as a fabled method of infecting the doorknobs (by manchurin super-spreaders?) rather than getting infected from them (that's just what happens next from knob-to-hand-to-face contact). There are all kinds of wierdos though - by which I mean primarily the false-memers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.217|162.158.154.217]] 15:01, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

For someone who is significantly introverted, might the act of shaking hands be nearly as weird and repugnant as eyeball licking would seem to most people? [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:51, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

2273: Truck Proximity

2020-02-26T20:44:57Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */ result of Randall's wager about dinosaur/truck/farm books.

{{comic
| number = 2273
| date = February 26, 2020
| title = Truck Proximity
| image = truck_proximity.png
| titletext = See also: Farm animals and dinosaurs. I am so confident that there exists children's media that involves dinosaurs driving trucks on a farm that I'm writing this without even Googling to check.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DINOSAUR DRIVING A TRUCK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a graph. People with jobs involving trucks spend a lot of time with them and must know how they work. Small children think trucks are cool and learn a lot about them. They then share this knowledge with their parents. The parents keep children away from trucks.

The title text wagers that there are, in fact, books about dinosaurs driving trucks on farms. Indeed, [https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Farm-Penny-Dale/dp/0763699365 Dinosaur Farm!] and [https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Farm-Frann-Preston-Gannon/dp/1454911328 Dinosaur Farm] are two examples.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

2268: Further Research is Needed

2020-02-14T21:08:23Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2268
| date = February 14, 2020
| title = Further Research is Needed
| image = further_research_is_needed.png
| titletext = Further research is needed to fully understand how we managed to do such a good job.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFIDENT RESEARCHER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Many research papers end with a statement that more research is needed on a particular topic. This comic's fictional paper, however, ends with a statement that the paper has resolved all the problems about its topic, and that no more research is necessary. Essentially, the joke is that the authors are so confident in their research skills that they believe that they have solved all the problems in that particular topic that can be solved. The irony is that doing so precludes additional funding to further study the subject.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[A panel, representing an excerpt from a scholarly journal, with two sentences clearly visible. Below the text is the word "References", with a horizontal line below it, and then four lines of illegible text numbered 1 through 4, representing a list of citations. The legible sentences say:]

We believe this resolves all remaining questions on this topic. No further research is needed.

[Caption below the panel:]

Just once, I want to see a research paper with the guts to end this way.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2230: Versus Bracket

2019-11-20T00:07:45Z

Schnitz:

Because I didn't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic:_Ecks_vs._Sever - "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is a 2002 action thriller film directed by Wych Kaosayananda (under the pseudonym of "Kaos"). The film stars Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu as opposing secret agents who team up to fight a common enemy. It is an international co-production between Canada, Germany and the United States.
The film has been called one of the worst ever made. At the box office, it made $19.9 million on a $70 million budget. With a total of 117 reviews, the highest for a film with a 0% score, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is the worst reviewed film in the history of Rotten Tomatoes." [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

Re: King Kong vs Godzilla - the winner? WikiP notes: "After an underwater battle (off-screen) only Kong resurfaces from the water, and he begins to swim back towards his island home. There is no sign of Godzilla, but the JSDF speculates that it is possible that it survived." We never see another K.K. movie (from Japan, anyway) and plenty more Godzilla so maybe K.K. is just swimming home with his tail between his legs ... er, metaphorically speaking. Godzilla could just be taking a well deserved post-fight nap! Long live Godzilla!! [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

Some of these matchups have relatively clear outcomes, e.g. Ford beat Ferrari (at least in the movie), and presumably we can say Kramer won Kramer v. Kramer (well, everybody lost, but...). That in mind, if we fill out the bracket with such nominal wins that lead to matchups, (Kramer v. Ford), do we learn anything interesting? And what does the resulting bracket look like? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:44, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
* Kramer vs. Ford
* Larry Flynt vs. Joe
* King Kong vs. Jason
* ? vs. Predator
* ? vs. Marge
* ? vs. Asterix
* Batman vs. Scott Pilgrim
* ? vs. Plants
(Also, the [https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket @xkcdbracket] twitter account is running a version of the tournament starting 2019-11-19.) [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 22:03, 18 November 2019 (UTC) edited twitter handle/link [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:56, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

:I was hoping for a visual presentation of what we know, something like this:
[[File:versus bracket 2x known.png|600px]]
 
[[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 09:17, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
::Thats a good idea. However an image like that is not as easily editable as the wiki itself. Therfore we should first discuss all the winners. As mentioned in this discussion page, all Joe vs volcano, Freddy vs Jason and King Kong vs. Godzilla are debatable in their outcome. (I myself have no strong feelings on either, since I didn't follow any of the 3 franchises. In fact I am only sure about Asterix, Marge and the plants. For all other setups I rely on this wiki. Nevertheless they should be discussed before something static as an image is added.) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:02, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:::Considering that all of these matchups are derived from the titles of entertainment media (movies, mostly) & considering the outcomes most often depicted in entertainment media, after reading the description "an American housewife against any possible representative from a superhero comics continuity or a company known for its action games", I have to put all my money on Marge. Fictional housewives seem to benefit from plot-armor; the strongest armor there is.
:::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 18:11, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Should a table of all the match-ups and their sources be made? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.28|162.158.246.28]] 19:16, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Should this be referencing the other time (or times?) Randall made a silly brackets where all first-round matchups are based on actual oppositions in a particular theme? I'm thinking of [https://xkcd.com/2037/|2037: Supreme Court Bracket]. Also I kinda wonder what happens when the winners of these two brackets clash. [[Special:Contributions/91.164.113.87|91.164.113.87]] 19:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Added this to the Tournament Bracket category for just that reason. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.145|172.69.63.145]]

I stole the description directly from [[2037|Supreme Court Bracket]], is that okay? [[User:Duraludon|Duraludon]] ([[User talk:Duraludon|talk]]) 20:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

The winner of Freddy vs. Jason is unclear. Freddy's head is severed but he then winks and you hear his laughter implying it is another trick. That is a reoccurring thing with Freddy.

I was excited to see the winner of the bracket. Scott Pilgrim vs Kramer? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.28|172.68.34.28]] 21:09, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
: My non-scientific guy feeling is that the final bracket would be Larry Flynt vs Plants.

Joe does not defeat the volcano. Joe is supposed to throw himself into the volcano as a sacrifice, thus stopping the volcano from accomplishing it's presumed goal of destroying the island. But Joe is blown out of the volcano (and out of any applicable laws of physics) and the volcano does destroy the island. So, clearly, the volcano was victorious. Joe survived the encounter, but did not accomplish the stated goal of the match-up. Give the bracket to the volcano. --[[User:Suttkus|Suttkus]] ([[User talk:Suttkus|talk]]) 02:46, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

They have a fight, Triangle wins. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.22|172.69.55.22]] 09:57, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
YAAY TMBG!

What about Kirk vs Picard?? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 12:08, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:These are all specifically matchups that are titles of movies or TV episodes. (But Picard, obviously.) [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 16:28, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:: (( Post-Locutus Picard > Kirk > Pre-Locutus Picard <~> Post-Nexus Kirk ... just sayin' )) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 16:46, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Does this explanation set a record for most spoilers on an explainxkcd page? ... and should we add a spoiler alert?[[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 13:04, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:Apart from Ford vs Ferrari, all content is at least 3 years old. Ford vs Ferraris is set upon historical events, so a spoiler allert shouldn't be needed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:14, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

SCOTT PILGRIM, ZA WARUDO! {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.115}}

Can we agree that:
* Ford beats Kramer - they'll litigate her to death (this isn't Erin Brockovich)
* Joe beats Larry Flynt - he's clearly got luck on his side
* King Kong easily beats Jason
* Teen Titans vs Asterix - who cares? This is clearly the weakest part of the bracket. But let's say Asterix, taking the Titans as similar to the Romans.
* Batman leads Scott Pilgrim until he tries to date Ramona Flowers. winner: Scott Pilgrim

Next round:
* Joe beats Ford (this *is* Erin Brockovich)
* Predator beats Kong. What a cute monkey!
* Marge beats Asterix, because nobody actually cares about Asterix.
* Plants eat Scott Pilgrim (Audrey III?)

Semi Finals:
* Predator beats Joe. Um, that wasn't a question, was it? Who made this bracket anyway? Predator and Alien shouldn't have faced-off until the finals.
* Marge sautes the Plants.

Finals:
* The only way Marge wins is if this is a comedy. Predator. Was there ever any doubt?
[[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 00:07, 20 November 2019 (UTC)

2125: Luna 2

2019-03-19T16:50:30Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2125
| date = March 18, 2019
| title = Luna 2
| image = luna_2.png
| titletext = The flags were probably vaporized on impact, because we launched it before we had finished figuring out how to land. That makes sense from an engineering standpoint, but also feels like a metaphor.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLAGMENTATION GRENADE. Title text needs to be explained, . Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is referring to {{w|Luna 2}}, the first man-made object to make contact with the surface of the moon, and consequently, as stated in the comic, the first man-made object to touch another world. On September 13, 1959, it hit the Moon's surface east of {{w|Mare Imbrium}} near the craters Aristides, {{w|Archimedes}}, and {{w|Autolycus}}.

[[Megan]] is sitting in front of a computer, and telling [[Cueball]] about the Luna 2. She explains that the probe was designed to explode on impact, thus scattering multiple metal Soviet flags and ribbons on the surface of the Moon. They compare it to throwing a shrapnel grenade with flags in it at the moon.

Cueball's observation that it is "on-brand" for humans to litter another world with an explosion of nationalist iconography immediately upon reaching it, is a reference to the vastly numerous historical instances when, upon setting foot on territory for the first time, humans "conquer" it, by planting flags on the first thing they see.

The titletext might refer to the fact that for the Luna 2 mission it was more important to just get to the moon at all rather than have a sophisticated landing mechanism. This was due to the fact that it happened during the space race between the USA and USSR and both countries tried to reach significant milestones in space exploration. The metaphorical interpretation could be that sometimes people get overly excited after an initial breakthrough and dive into projects without thinking them through or considering long term consequences. This often goes along with the confidence to be able to "wing it" making up a solution on the spot when a problem comes up.

Note that Randall makes a subtle yet strong declaration that he is an engineer, a human, and an Earthling first, and American second, by saying "we" in the titletext, regarding this effort to reach the Moon. Is there an existing cross-reference to the various ways that he similarly identifies himself?

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing behind while Megan sits at a laptop.]
:Megan: Huh. ''Luna 2'', the first artificial object to touch another world, carried a sphere made of steel Soviet flag emblems.

:[A patterned sphere is shown blowing up to pieces.]
:It was designed to blow apart on impact, scattering tiny metal flags and ribbons across the surface of the moon.

:[Close-up of Cueball and Megan's faces.]
:Cueball: So the first physical contact humans had with a heavenly body...
:Megan: ...was throwing a shrapnel grenade full of flags at it.
:Cueball: Well, it's on-brand for us, at least.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Space]]

Talk:2125: Luna 2

2019-03-19T16:49:47Z

Schnitz:

Second comic in a row about space. The comic seems fairly self-explanatory to me, but the title text might need a bit more work to explain. I can't even figure out exactly what it means. Something about rushing to get the bare minimum done before the deadline? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.100|172.68.141.100]] 17:04, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:I've added an explanation for the title text but am unsure of the "engineering standpoint". Maybe someone with knowledge in the area can elaborate on that. Is landing inherently more difficult than launching?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.128|162.158.88.128]] 08:42, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Probably about how the engineers wanted to test what they could do before they could actually do it. (Oh,and Luna 2 impacted at 22 km/s) 20:10, 18 March 2019 (GMT)

OMG, the fake explanation is ROTFL funny! Hopefully whomever writes the correct explanation will keep this first bit of verbiage, just for the humor value, but in case that doesn’t happen, for those who don’t want to dig through the edit history, it currently says:
:: “This comic describes one of the first faked moon missions, Luna II. The Communist sham was designed to make it look like the Moon was reachable by humans, in order to protect the threatened Zionist conspiracy.

::By discussing this as if it was fact, (((Randall))) is subtly reinforcing Jewish neuroprogramming causing people to believe in ridiculous child's fantasies like space unquestioningly.”
(And to be crystal clear, I didn’t write it!) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.132|172.68.65.132]] 17:19, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:I'm sorry, I fail so see how that explanation is in any way funny. It's just confusing and annoying. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.100|172.68.141.100]] 17:20, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:it’s not funny *now* because someone deleted it. Basically someone wrote an explanation as if the moon landings were faked, and extended the conspiracy theory to have USA and USSR cooperating on perpetuating the conspiracy because somehow it benefits Israel. It was clearly tongue-in-cheek, like when people claim that the Earth is flat. Given the recent anti-Semitic comments that have cropped up here I took it as an effort to make fun of those people (the ones posting bizarre stuff) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.132|172.68.65.132]] 17:35, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

::Alright, that's the part that wasn't clear to me. You can never really tell when someone online is being sarcastic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.100|172.68.141.100]] 17:48, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:::Depressingly, I don't think they're joking. I think they truly believe that space exploration is "fake", & that reaching the moon with a rocket is impossible, & that somehow almost the entire industrialized world is participating in some nonsensical "Jewish" conspiracy to maintain an illusion of space exploration. Even assuming that so many people & industries ''could'' maintain such a complex & widespread facade for multiple generations without reasonably verifiable evidence of its falsehood coming to light, I struggle to think of a good reason ''why'' so many people would knowingly participate in it without ever acting as a whistleblower. As I think perhaps an old xkcd once observed: If NASA really faked the moon landing, shouldn't they have faked a similarly momentous achievement by now? Anyway, ''I'' find it far more believable that a few wealthy people find it profitable to maintain a cadre of deluded obstructionists, than that all trans-orbital space travel is being faked. And speaking only for myself personally, I think Israel has terrible governmental policies & NASA could be doing a lot ''more'' grandiose space exploration but doesn't because there's not enough money in it yet.
:::[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.82|108.162.216.82]] 20:53, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
::::Apollo missions with astronauts were NOT profitable (everything actually gained could've been done by robots). The only reason they were done were that USA wanted to do them before SSSR: it was question of national pride. Next grandiose space exploration will came either when USA will need to feel the pride again, possibly after Chinese land somewhere, or ... when US president will want to show how big d*ck he has. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:17, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
:::Hilarious how some people might actually believe this, but Explainxkcd isn't a place for people to shitpost. If you see things like this in an explanation just revert it immediately. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 22:22, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:The actual sad part is it probably isn’t a joke. At least it’s a long and drawn out poorly constructed one. People are idiots, and flat earthers can be real. This person isn’t making fun of them. Not in a helpful way at the very least. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:00, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
::What I don't get is what anyone who subscribes to flat earth, "9/11 was an inside job", anti-vax, chemtrails, etc. would get out of a webcomic that features math and science prominently.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.83|172.68.58.83]] 16:23, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
:::A website full of people to troll and “debate”. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:47, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Not sure how to tan on mobile (feel free to do so and delete this tidbit if you want to) but: The throwing a frag filled with flags is symbolic of the standard human explorer tactic. Basically, we tend to shoot first whenever we go to a new place and then promptly place a claim, whether the preexisting landscape has been claimed or not. For instance, the Native Americans. Like, all of them. The tile text, on the other hand, represents attempts to find a solution to half a problem or maybe representing the aforementioned claims bit. But I could be reading into this too much [[Special:Contributions/172.69.46.58|172.69.46.58]] 17:22, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

I am using this website to share information, but several IP editors are consistently reverting my edits, even when I leave in their unsubstantiated claims. Help. {{unsigned|162.158.106.144}}

:I'm sorry, "sharing information"? I think you misspelled "vandalizing explanations, blatantly lying and spreading misinformation." Do you have anything better to do than vandalize a wiki and complaining about your shitposts being removed? Also, if you're going to leave comments like this at least make sure you have the courage to sign your comments. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 22:13, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:You should probably sign your posts to clarify who is having the problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.46.58|172.69.46.58]] 17:22, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

== vaporized on impact? ==

Does anyone here have links to evidence for or against Randall's claim in the title text? What was the impact speed? - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 19:30, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
I mean if they weren't vaporized, how would we tell outside of flags randomly bumping into the ISS? All of the ones that go to Earth would burn up. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.28|172.68.78.28]] 19:40, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:If the impact was at 22 km/s, as stated above, that would be about 79,000 km/h, or about 49,000 mph. So... pretty fast? [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:42, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:That impact speed still sounds ridiculously high, Escape velocity to break free of earth orbit is, IIRC, 11.186 km/s (roughly 40K kmph or 25K mph), and it takes a massive rocket to achieve that. Most of a trans-lunar flight is unpowered using either momentum built up by the initial launch thrust or the gravitational pull of the moon itself. I find it hard to believe that impact speed, even allowing for gravitation influence of the moon itself, could result in an impact at almost 2X the speed needed to get away from Earth in the first place.[[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 07:24, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
::22 km/s seems to be wrong. Wikipedia along with a few quick google searches put the impact speed at around 3 - 3.3 km/s. To me (far from an expert) that appears more realistic but still fast enough to cause significant damage. Whether things are literally vaporized at those speeds I leave for others to determine.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.2|162.158.94.2]] 11:31, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

== navigation buttons ==

Anyone know why you can't get to this explain page from 2124 by way of menu bar/whatever it's called? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.74|172.69.22.74]] 21:21, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
: Did you mean [[Talk:2124: Space Mission Hearing|the talk page of 2124]]? You can click on "Discussion" on top of page when you are at [[2124]]. I just checked and it worked fine. --[[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.210|103.22.200.210]] 01:37, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
: Or (as I suddenly realized) maybe you are asking to navigate from [[2124]] to [[2125]]. The "next>" button also worked fine as of this comment. --[[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.210|103.22.200.210]] 01:45, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
:: The "NEXT>" button from [[2124]] was missing for most of the day, but looks like someone eventually fixed it. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:39, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2125: Luna 2

2019-03-19T16:48:18Z

Schnitz: comment on Randall's identification as human, over American, in titletext

Second comic in a row about space. The comic seems fairly self-explanatory to me, but the title text might need a bit more work to explain. I can't even figure out exactly what it means. Something about rushing to get the bare minimum done before the deadline? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.100|172.68.141.100]] 17:04, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:I've added an explanation for the title text but am unsure of the "engineering standpoint". Maybe someone with knowledge in the area can elaborate on that. Is landing inherently more difficult than launching?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.128|162.158.88.128]] 08:42, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Probably about how the engineers wanted to test what they could do before they could actually do it. (Oh,and Luna 2 impacted at 22 km/s) 20:10, 18 March 2019 (GMT)

OMG, the fake explanation is ROTFL funny! Hopefully whomever writes the correct explanation will keep this first bit of verbiage, just for the humor value, but in case that doesn’t happen, for those who don’t want to dig through the edit history, it currently says:
:: “This comic describes one of the first faked moon missions, Luna II. The Communist sham was designed to make it look like the Moon was reachable by humans, in order to protect the threatened Zionist conspiracy.

::By discussing this as if it was fact, (((Randall))) is subtly reinforcing Jewish neuroprogramming causing people to believe in ridiculous child's fantasies like space unquestioningly.”
(And to be crystal clear, I didn’t write it!) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.132|172.68.65.132]] 17:19, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:I'm sorry, I fail so see how that explanation is in any way funny. It's just confusing and annoying. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.100|172.68.141.100]] 17:20, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:it’s not funny *now* because someone deleted it. Basically someone wrote an explanation as if the moon landings were faked, and extended the conspiracy theory to have USA and USSR cooperating on perpetuating the conspiracy because somehow it benefits Israel. It was clearly tongue-in-cheek, like when people claim that the Earth is flat. Given the recent anti-Semitic comments that have cropped up here I took it as an effort to make fun of those people (the ones posting bizarre stuff) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.132|172.68.65.132]] 17:35, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

::Alright, that's the part that wasn't clear to me. You can never really tell when someone online is being sarcastic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.100|172.68.141.100]] 17:48, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:::Depressingly, I don't think they're joking. I think they truly believe that space exploration is "fake", & that reaching the moon with a rocket is impossible, & that somehow almost the entire industrialized world is participating in some nonsensical "Jewish" conspiracy to maintain an illusion of space exploration. Even assuming that so many people & industries ''could'' maintain such a complex & widespread facade for multiple generations without reasonably verifiable evidence of its falsehood coming to light, I struggle to think of a good reason ''why'' so many people would knowingly participate in it without ever acting as a whistleblower. As I think perhaps an old xkcd once observed: If NASA really faked the moon landing, shouldn't they have faked a similarly momentous achievement by now? Anyway, ''I'' find it far more believable that a few wealthy people find it profitable to maintain a cadre of deluded obstructionists, than that all trans-orbital space travel is being faked. And speaking only for myself personally, I think Israel has terrible governmental policies & NASA could be doing a lot ''more'' grandiose space exploration but doesn't because there's not enough money in it yet.
:::[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.82|108.162.216.82]] 20:53, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
::::Apollo missions with astronauts were NOT profitable (everything actually gained could've been done by robots). The only reason they were done were that USA wanted to do them before SSSR: it was question of national pride. Next grandiose space exploration will came either when USA will need to feel the pride again, possibly after Chinese land somewhere, or ... when US president will want to show how big d*ck he has. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:17, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
:::Hilarious how some people might actually believe this, but Explainxkcd isn't a place for people to shitpost. If you see things like this in an explanation just revert it immediately. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 22:22, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:The actual sad part is it probably isn’t a joke. At least it’s a long and drawn out poorly constructed one. People are idiots, and flat earthers can be real. This person isn’t making fun of them. Not in a helpful way at the very least. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:00, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
::What I don't get is what anyone who subscribes to flat earth, "9/11 was an inside job", anti-vax, chemtrails, etc. would get out of a webcomic that features math and science prominently.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.83|172.68.58.83]] 16:23, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
:::A website full of people to troll and “debate”. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:47, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Not sure how to tan on mobile (feel free to do so and delete this tidbit if you want to) but: The throwing a frag filled with flags is symbolic of the standard human explorer tactic. Basically, we tend to shoot first whenever we go to a new place and then promptly place a claim, whether the preexisting landscape has been claimed or not. For instance, the Native Americans. Like, all of them. The tile text, on the other hand, represents attempts to find a solution to half a problem or maybe representing the aforementioned claims bit. But I could be reading into this too much [[Special:Contributions/172.69.46.58|172.69.46.58]] 17:22, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

I am using this website to share information, but several IP editors are consistently reverting my edits, even when I leave in their unsubstantiated claims. Help. {{unsigned|162.158.106.144}}

:I'm sorry, "sharing information"? I think you misspelled "vandalizing explanations, blatantly lying and spreading misinformation." Do you have anything better to do than vandalize a wiki and complaining about your shitposts being removed? Also, if you're going to leave comments like this at least make sure you have the courage to sign your comments. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 22:13, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

:You should probably sign your posts to clarify who is having the problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.46.58|172.69.46.58]] 17:22, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

Note that Randall makes a subtle yet strong declaration that he is an engineer, a human, and an Earthling first, and American second, by saying "we" in the titletext, regarding this effort to reach the Moon. Is there an existing cross-reference to the various ways that he similarly identifies himself? [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 16:48, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

== vaporized on impact? ==

Does anyone here have links to evidence for or against Randall's claim in the title text? What was the impact speed? - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 19:30, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
I mean if they weren't vaporized, how would we tell outside of flags randomly bumping into the ISS? All of the ones that go to Earth would burn up. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.28|172.68.78.28]] 19:40, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:If the impact was at 22 km/s, as stated above, that would be about 79,000 km/h, or about 49,000 mph. So... pretty fast? [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:42, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
:That impact speed still sounds ridiculously high, Escape velocity to break free of earth orbit is, IIRC, 11.186 km/s (roughly 40K kmph or 25K mph), and it takes a massive rocket to achieve that. Most of a trans-lunar flight is unpowered using either momentum built up by the initial launch thrust or the gravitational pull of the moon itself. I find it hard to believe that impact speed, even allowing for gravitation influence of the moon itself, could result in an impact at almost 2X the speed needed to get away from Earth in the first place.[[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 07:24, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
::22 km/s seems to be wrong. Wikipedia along with a few quick google searches put the impact speed at around 3 - 3.3 km/s. To me (far from an expert) that appears more realistic but still fast enough to cause significant damage. Whether things are literally vaporized at those speeds I leave for others to determine.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.2|162.158.94.2]] 11:31, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

== navigation buttons ==

Anyone know why you can't get to this explain page from 2124 by way of menu bar/whatever it's called? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.74|172.69.22.74]] 21:21, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
: Did you mean [[Talk:2124: Space Mission Hearing|the talk page of 2124]]? You can click on "Discussion" on top of page when you are at [[2124]]. I just checked and it worked fine. --[[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.210|103.22.200.210]] 01:37, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
: Or (as I suddenly realized) maybe you are asking to navigate from [[2124]] to [[2125]]. The "next>" button also worked fine as of this comment. --[[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.210|103.22.200.210]] 01:45, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
:: The "NEXT>" button from [[2124]] was missing for most of the day, but looks like someone eventually fixed it. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:39, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1955: Robots

2018-02-14T19:26:48Z

Schnitz:

The door handle is a lever, which is relatively easy to open. A doorknob would be harder.
[[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 06:04, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Apparently, a lot of the YouTube comments reference "black mirror" a lot. Can someone explain this to someone out of the loop?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.183|162.158.62.183]] 06:22, 14 February 2018 (UTC)Jury76
: {{w|Black Mirror}} is a British science fiction anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker, with Brooker and Annabel Jones serving as the programme showrunners. It examines modern society, particularly with regard to the unanticipated consequences of new technologies. Episodes are standalone, usually set in an alternative present or the near future, often with a dark and satirical tone, though some are more experimental and lighter. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:26, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

: refering to this episode: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalhead_(Black_Mirror)[[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.23|172.68.253.23]] 08:57, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Added a (very basic) explanation of the comic. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:27, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

I don't think that the title text is a trope reference. If robots are, indeed, a threat, it will be because various corporate teams have spent a lot of money to develop and build them. Basically, the only mad scientist with the resources to do this would be Elon Musk, who is clearly on record with his concerns about such a possibility. [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:26, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1907: Immune System

2017-10-25T19:03:07Z

Schnitz:

Actually, there are many "biologics" -- drugs that suppress the various facets of the immune system to treat diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis (R.A.). Examples include Enbrel and Remicade. --[[User:Pondy|Pondy]] ([[User talk:Pondy|talk]]) 16:55, 25 October 2017 (UTC)

We have to add a [citation needed] here. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.114|172.68.47.114]] 18:06, 25 October 2017 (UTC)

Is Randall really suggesting using his own immune system as the [[wikipedia:Good_cop/bad_cop|Bad Cop]]?

1901: Logical

2017-10-11T18:15:27Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */ correcting link

{{comic
| number = 1901
| date = October 11, 2017
| title = Logical
| image = logical.png
| titletext = It's like I've always said--people just need more common sense. But not the kind of common sense that lets them figure out that they're being condescended to by someone who thinks they're stupid, because then I'll be in trouble.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs more.}}

[[White Hat]] says that problems in society could be avoided if people relied on logic and science rather than feelings -- but when [[Cueball]] presses him to back up his claim, White Hat insists that what his claim must be true, because it ''feels'' true, and the opposition (which he dismissively refers to as "these idiots") believes in things that he doesn't believe. Because the comic is only one panel long, we have no way of determining whether White Hat's statement is self-evident, or if the opposition is as uneducated as he claims them to be; without surrounding context to distract us, we see that White Hat's argument is both fallacious and hypocritical.

The title text is White Hat's opinion, where he says that people need more common sense, but not enough to have them know when he is talking down to them.

Ironically, there is some inconclusive scientific evidence against [[White Hat]]'s position. It is possible that effective rational thought depends on feelings and emotions as a preprocessing step. For example, people with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex lose their ability to have gut reactions to decision options. In Damasio's research, they were unable to make good decisions in everyday life. This may be because every option seems emotionally as good as any other and the brain is not good at conscious processing of large numbers of alternatives. See {{w|Descartes' Error|Descartes' Error" by Damasio 1994}} and {{w|The_Righteous_Mind|"The Righteous Mind" by Haidt 2012}}.

==Transcript==

:[White Hat is spreading his arms and facing Cueball.]
:White Hat: We wouldn't have all these problems if people just learned to be more ''logical'' and ''science-driven'' instead of relying on ''feelings''.
:Cueball: Oh? What study are you basing that on?
:White Hat: It just seems obvious!
:White Hat: I mean, look at the crap these idiots believe!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1899: Ears

2017-10-06T18:08:28Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1899
| date = October 6, 2017
| title = Ears
| image = ears.png
| titletext = My theory is that most humans have been colonized with alien mind-control slugs that hold the earbuds for them, and the ones who can't wear earbuds are the only surviving free ones.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very barebone description. Please add on to this. Thank you.}}
Cueball and Megan are sitting in a park together and appear to be cloudwatching. Cueball asks if Megan has ever looked up in the sky and wondered, implying that he is thinking deep thoughts while allowing his mind to wander. However, it transpires that in fact he is listening to some audio device, and his wondering is possibly caused because he looked up at the sky and his ear buds fell out, leading to the thoughts about what it would be like to have "normal shaped ears" so he could wear earbuds without them falling out. (This joke is directed towards a large group of people who cannot use earbuds successfully because they fall out.) Megan response could either be making fun of Cueball and the stuff that goes on in his head with the random conversation points he tends to bring up, or agreeing with him that earbud wearers ears are mysterious.

The comic appears to be a variation on a famous and often-quoted fragment from {{w|Voltaire}}'s {{w|Candide}}, where Dr. Pangloss states that we live in 'the best of all possible worlds', among other reasons because '…noses were made to wear spectacles, and so we have spectacles'.

The title text is a reference to the ''Animorphs'' book series or any other of a large number of similar stories, in which humanity is being colonized by parasitic alien slugs called Yeerks, that enter a human's brain through the ears and can control them. Randall/Cueball here is suggesting that the reason most humans can wear earbuds is because the Yeerks hold the earbuds in place. Randall seems partial to ''Animorphs,'' but it could also be referencing {{w|List_of_Star_Trek_animals#Ceti_eel|Star Trek Ceti Eels}}.

Another possibility, given the earbud/music reference is that Randall is making a joke about {{w|earworms}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting with his back towards Megan who is lying on her back on a grassy hill. Both are looking up at a sky with small puffy clouds (one large, two small, and four tiny). In the background fields are visible below their vantage point.]

:[Same setting, but with the clouds removed, to make room for Cueball's text.]
:Cueball: Do you ever just look up at the sky and wonder...

:[Same setting, zoomed a bit out to make more of the background fields visible, still with the clouds missing due to the text from the two people.]
:Cueball: "What are normal peoples' ears shaped like, that earbuds stay in without falling out?"
:Megan: Man, who ''knows'' what's going on in there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]

1859: Sports Knowledge

2017-07-05T22:04:39Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */ added details on wild-card status on day of publication, as well as observation about spontaneously attending a wild card game.

{{comic
| number = 1859
| date = July 5, 2017
| title = Sports Knowledge
| image = sports_knowledge.png
| titletext = I heard they might make the wild card game, which would be cool. Do you know when that is? I have a wedding next weekend, but if it's after that we could try to go!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Need an explanation on why this is funny. Citation for Mike's injury and stats. Would Cueballs assessment be true (had he got the team right)? Links to some of the numerous other "I lack sports knowledge" comics...}}

[[Cueball]], representing [[Randall]], demonstrates that he has some knowledge about {{w|Mike Trout}}, a {{w|baseball}} player for the {{w|Los Angeles Angels}}. However, he mixes up the LA baseball team for the city's main {{w|basketball}} team when he mentions the {{w|Los Angeles Lakers|Lakers}}. [[White Hat]] questions his mentioning of the Lakers, after which Cueball takes another wild guess, this time mentioning an {{w|American football}} team, the {{w|Denver Broncos}}, based in Denver, Colorado not even close to LA, indicating even poorer knowledge about sports.

{{w|On-base plus slugging}} (OPS) is a baseball statistic calculated as the sum of the {{w|on-base percentage}} (the number of times a player reaches base divided by the number of plate appearances) and {{w|slugging percentage}} (singles + 2 times the doubles + 3 times the triples + 4 times the home runs divided by at bats). It is useful for figuring out how well he reaches base and hits for power. As of the date this cartoon was published, Trout's OPS for the 2017 season was indeed higher than in any of his previous seasons, albeit over a smaller number of games because Trout indeed suffered a thumb injury in late May and has not played since then. (He is expected to return to play later in July.)

At the end of the season, the teams leading each division make the playoffs, along with a certain number of other teams. In the NFL and MLB, 4 extra teams make the playoffs, and, in the NBA, 10 teams beside the division winners qualify for the playoffs. {{w|Major League Baseball wild-card game|In baseball}} the two teams in the American League play a ''Wild Card game'' against each other, as do the two in the National League, and {{w|NFL playoffs|in American football}}, there are ''Wild Card games'' in which the two wild card teams per conference play the two lower seeded division winners.

At the time of publication, the Los Angeles Angels were, indeed, in the running for a wild-card spot (2½ games out of the playoffs). With the baseball season being halfway over and both football and basketball being in the offseason, Cueball further shows his lack of sports knowledge in asking whether it is next week, and assuming that he could spontaneously decide, at game time, to just go.

To compensate for his lack of interest and knowledge in sport Randall made the comic [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet]], and he has before directly mentioned his missing knowledge in [[1480: Super Bowl]]. (See more comics linked in those two).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking together.]
:Cueball: Mike Trout's on-base plus slugging has been at career highs. After this injury, the Lakers will be lucky if he can hit even ''close'' to that.
:White Hat: ...Lakers?
:Cueball: I forget which team he is. Broncos?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I know a handful of very specific things, but after that my sports knowledge falls apart quickly.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Baseball]]
[[Category:Basketball]]
[[Category:American football]]
[[Category:Sport]]

1829: Geochronology

2017-04-26T19:20:36Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1829
| date = April 26, 2017
| title = Geochronology
| image = geochronology.png
| titletext = 'The mountains near here formed when the ... Newfoundland ... microplate collided with, uhh ... Labrador.' 'Ok, now you're definitely just naming dogs.' 'Wait, no, that's actually almost correct.'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Ponytail]] is describing the origin of some rock formations to [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]]. She apparently forgot the names of the {{w|Plate tectonics|microplates}} and the {{w|Geologic time scale|age}} when the {{w|subduction}} occurred, so she substituties them with names of {{w|Dog breed|dog breeds}} ({{w|Dalmatian (dog)|Dalmatian}}, {{w|Laika (dog breed)|Laika}} and {{w|Pomeranian (dog)|Pomeranian}}) to seem knowledgeable and impress her audience.

Although no microplates or geological ages with these names exist, this is not obvious for people outside of the field, as dog breeds are often named after geographic regions. For example {{w|Dalmatia}} is the name of a region in {{w|Croatia}}, and a microplate named after it could exist (possibly as a fragment of the former {{w|Adriatic Plate}}). Likewise, a Laika Plate ''could'' be named after the {{w|Shepherd Islands|Laika Island}} in {{w|Vanuatu}} (although the dog's name is the Russian word лайка, literally meaning "barker", and unrelated to the island). Geological ages are often named after place where the first rocks dating from the age were found e.g. the {{w|Devonian}} is named after the {{w|England|English}} county of {{w|Devon}}, while the {{w|Permian}} is named after the {{w|Russia|Russian}} city of {{w|Perm}}. Thus, a Pomeranian Age named after {{w|Pomerania}}, a region on the {{w|Baltic Sea}} split between {{w|Poland}} and {{w|Germany}}, might reasonably exist.

So the comic concludes in the caption with one of Randall's many [[:Category:Tips|tips]], this time a geology tip, about how it is possible to pretend to be more knowledgeable regarding geology by just inserting dog breeds names instead or real names as no one remembers the names of all the microplates.

The title text highlights this problem: At first it seems Ponytail continues using dog breeds to name microplates, but the explanation is actually almost correct: The dog breeds {{w|Labrador Retriever|Labrador}} and {{w|Newfoundland (dog)|Newfoundland}} are named after the two Canadian regions {{w|Labrador}} and {{w|Newfoundland}} respectively. Geologically, Labrador is the easternmost section of the {{w|Canadian Shield}}, the ancient core of the {{w|North America|North American}} continent. In contrast, Newfoundland (especially western Newfoundland) was formed from {{w|terrane|terranes}}, the remnants of a series of plates that collided with - and subducted beneath - North America. Some geologists have assigned the name "Newfoundland Plate" to one of these former microplates that Newfoundland now comprises. However, the title text explanation is not likely to be entirely accurate, because the most significant mountains in Newfoundland are the {{w|Long Range Mountains}}, which are the northernmost of the {{w|Appalachian Mountains}}, created when {{w|Africa}} and North America collided to form {{w|Pangaea}}; no mountain range is identified as being the result of the collision of the Newfoundland Plate with North America.

Subduction was featured in a previous comic [[1388: Subduction License]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is gesturing toward some rock formations in a grass field while addressing Megan and Cueball who are looking down at the rocks, Cueball with a hand to his chin.]
:Ponytail: This bedrock likely formed as the Dalmatian microplate subducted under East Laika during the Upper Pomeranian.
:Cueball: Ah, yes.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Geology Tip: There are so many microplates and ages that no one remembers them all, so in a pinch you can bluff with dog breeds.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Animals]]

1827: Survivorship Bias

2017-04-21T17:35:37Z

Schnitz: /* Trivia */ Big Picture

{{comic
| number = 1827
| date = April 21, 2017
| title = Survivorship Bias
| image = survivorship_bias.png
| titletext = They say you can't argue with results, but what kind of defeatest attitude is that? If you stick with it, you can argue with ANYTHING.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|More on SsB. Title text not explained.}}
This comic is a parody of entrepreneurial speeches. Entrepreneurial speeches are talks, delivered by successful entrepreneurs to students during an important event, like graduation. The idea behind these talks is that the entrepreneur, having accumulated wisdom and experience in the process of becoming successful, will share his insights and experience to the students, in the hope that they learn lessons that will help them achieve success as well.

A common theme in these talks is that the entrepreneur succeeded by persisting through hardship, sometimes despite other people telling them they would be better off giving up. They advise students to do the same, and to keep pursuing their dreams even through subsequent failure. While this isn't necessarily bad business advice, this can give students a biased vision of reality, and lead them to imagine that they will succeed as long as they keep trying.

This comic makes a joke about survivorship bias, hence the title. {{w|Survivorship bias}}, or survival bias, is the logical error of concentrating on the people or things that "survived" some process and inadvertently [[#Trivia|overlooking those]] that did not because of their lack of visibility. This can lead to false conclusions in several different ways. The survivors may be actual people, as in a medical study, or could be companies or research subjects or applicants for a job, or anything that must make it past some selection process to be considered further.

In this comic [[Hairy]] is giving a talk encouraging people to "never stop buying {{w|lottery}} tickets". This is an unwise investment plan, because the chances of winning the lottery are mathematically very low and the total payout is usually less than the total ticket sales, meaning the expected return from buying a lottery ticket is ([[#Trivia|almost]]) always negative. Survivorship bias applies in this situation since people who eventually win (and, presumably, win more than they've spent on lottery tickets in the time that it took them to win) are much more likely to give inspirational speeches than someone who never won or didn't win enough to make the "investment" worthwhile.

The obvious bad strategy (keep buying lottery tickets) is a metaphor for strategies that successful entrepreneurs recommend (keep persisting and putting money into your start-up); these strategies may be bad on average, but people who pursued them and succeeded are much more likely to be invited and give speeches than people who pursued them and went bankrupt (or people who pursued safer strategies and kept their money), making it appear to students that taking high risks and persisting in the face of expensive failure is the optimal strategy.

[[Randall]] says in the caption below the panel that people should be informed about survivorship bias before hearing inspirational talks from successful people.

The title text says "They say you can't argue with results, but what kind of defeatist attitude is that? If you stick with it, you can argue with ANYTHING." In the comic, the speaker's "result" was winning the lottery. Pointing out the survivorship bias is Randall effectively arguing with results, by pointing out that they were obtained randomly, and that it ignores all the other people who may have (foolishly) followed this same process, but never won the lottery. Taken a step further, one could use the survivorship bias to argue against the results of any process, be it research (Any given research process is bound to produce SOME good results, and since those are the only ones published, it is difficult to determine if the research process itself contributed to the good results), business decisions (Some businesses fail, and others succeed, but since only the successful ones stick around, it can be difficult to determine WHY they failed or succeeded), etc..

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, holding an arm out towards an unseen crowd, is standing on a podium with five large bags around him, each having a dollar sign on it.]
:Hairy: Never stop buying lottery tickets, no matter what anyone tells you.
:Hairy: I failed again and again, but I never gave up. I took extra jobs and poured the money into tickets.
:Hairy: And here I am, proof that if you put in the time, it pays off!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Every inspirational speech by someone successful should have to start with a disclaimer about survivorship bias.

==Trivia==
*Lottery with '''positive return''':
**When item prices are donated to a lottery (for charity or advertising purposes), sometimes the value of those items may actually be larger than the total price for all of the lottery tickets, if you otherwise would be willing to pay full price for all the prizes.
*'''Examples''' of survivorship bias:
**Almost {{w|Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act|everyone was smoking}} back in the 1930-70s,{{Citation needed}} thus everyone above 80 probably smoked cigarettes or was at least subjected to passive smoking. Thus anyone above that age could be claimed to prove that you can live a long life while smoking. But they consist of the small group of people that survived in spite of all the smoke, where large sections of those that would have been 80 today, died from cancer or heart disease caused by smoking, long ago, maybe even before they retired. But since these people are dead and gone many years ago, they do not speak up, and are thus the silent majority that is not heard, which is the problem with survivorship bias.
**During World War II, there was a study of the damage done to aircraft, and the recommendation was to add armor to the areas that showed the most damage. The statistician {{w|Abraham Wald}} noticed that the study didn't take into account aircraft that ''didn't'' return: the holes in the returning aircraft thus represented areas where a bomber could take damage and still return home safely.
**Anything created by an Earth-human in this universe. We think it's because we're special, rather than being special because we're here/we survived.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

Talk:1809: xkcd Phone 5

2017-03-10T18:01:43Z

Schnitz: 'Hook Shot' as suggested product feature name

Darn, I was almost fast enough to get the cot-caught merger explanation in there. That being said, now I really want a phone with a Zelda style hook shot. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 14:02, 10 March 2017 (UTC)
--I just came to say the same. I want the hookshot! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.100|172.68.78.100]] 14:05, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

It's way more likely that this refers to the Zelda hook shot, as it looks like a little tube where some sort of grappling hook could potentially shoot out from. It doesn't look like it could shoot out basketballs, though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.17|108.162.238.17]] 15:28, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

It looks like "Hook Shot" is a clever suggestion for a feature name: the lens attaches to the camera with a 'hook' so you can take great 'shot's. [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 18:01, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

It's worth noting that most of the Loran-C system (which presumably is what would be used on a phone) has been decommissioned in the last decade or so, including all the stations operated by the US and Canadian governments. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.201|162.158.62.201]] 15:52, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

'''Notice''' the new [[what if?]] ''{{what if|156|Electrofishing for Whales}}'' released the day before this comic! Only 9 days between releases... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:33, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1792: Bird/Plane/Superman

2017-02-01T20:09:23Z

Schnitz:

The explanation says that "birds evolved from dinosaurs". But birds **are** dinosaurs --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.100|172.68.54.100]] 05:40, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

;Sunbathing
Randall missed that a plane can lose it's ability to fly via excessive icing on surfaces. While it is not usually the way in which it is cured (using deicing solution and onboard aircraft systems to melt them,) sunbathing the plane in greater than freezing temperatures is an excellent way to regain the ability to fly. (And without additional energy cost, too!) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.34|108.162.216.34]] 17:58, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

Now that we have solar planes, some planes may occasionally require a sunbath to get airborne again. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.88|162.158.114.88]] 21:51, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

;Flapping
Perhaps we should mention the pre-twentieth century attempts at powered flight some of which were powered by flapping.

Also should we mention that a hta craft pwered by flapping would be an ornithopter.

;Mating & Peeping David
Given their is only one David Attenborough and he does not spend his entire life making wildlife documentaries the chance of his observing any individual bird copulation is remarkably small.

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.137|141.101.99.137]] 19:28, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

What sort of birds mate in mid flight? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.52|141.101.80.52]] 19:47, 30 January 2017 (UTC)
:Swifts for example. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 21:37, 30 January 2017 (UTC)
:: You seem to be right about swifts mating in mid flight. According to [http://www.commonswift.org/Aerial-mating.html | this] source, the common swift (Apus apus) is the only species who engages in this behavior.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.160|141.101.98.160]] 14:59, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

;mid flight poop
From what I understand, superman gets the majority of his energy from the sun. Is there any confirmation that he can poop mid flight, or even poop at all? Maybe he just slowly releases various gasses?--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.17|173.245.51.17]] 22:47, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

Well Superman does eat, so it is likely he does poop too. Sun gives him super power thing, but he frequents restaurants as Clark Kent. --[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 04:00, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

Planes are definitely capable of releasing their poop intentionally. They choose not to. Truth Rating: Pants On Fire. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 14:47, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
: It depends what you mean by 'plane poop'. Is it engines exhaust? Fuel, hydraulic oil or other technical fluids? Or is it ''passengers' '' poop... If you mean the latter than no, there's no "empty toilet in mid flight" functionality. A malfunction may cause the toilet contents to spill over but it is not intentional. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 11:39, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

I was under the impression that birds either do not have sphincters, or do but can't control them to hold their poop in. Would this not mean that birds should not be ticked, or am I completely wrong?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.52|141.101.98.52]] 06:35, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

;punching
No need to go to ostriches or emus, swans can fly well, and certainly take a punch, though i would *strongly* recommend against trying. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan#/media/File:The_swan_attacks_man.Hokkaido-toyako,%E4%BA%BA%E3%82%92%E8%A5%B2%E3%81%86%E6%B4%9E%E7%88%BA%E6%B9%96%E3%81%AE%E7%99%BD%E9%B3%A5P6200258%E3%83%A2%E3%82%B6%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AF.jpg]. Geese are also probably not much safer. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.43|162.158.89.43]] 12:27, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

;Title text
I've never seen such a sticker with a spider web - unless on Helloween. But stickers depicting silhouettes of birds on the other hand: https://www.google.com/search?q=vogel+aufkleber&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj64Xlv-zRAhXGtxQKHS3ABh0QsAQIgwE&biw=1920&bih=914 But it seems as if this is a regional (Germany - or maybe Europe) thing, since searching for "bird stickers" didn't yield such a clear result... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:22, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

;Magnetic navigation
There is no evidence that Superman is not able to fly in Magnetic navigation mode... [[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.11|188.114.103.11]] 17:33, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
:There is no evidence that Superman exists. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.22|162.158.150.22]] 15:00, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

;Other Comparisons
Missing: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underdog_(TV_series)#Characters Frog and Underdog]. Underdog would be a disappointing subset of Superman, Frog a subset of Bird. [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 20:09, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1782: Team Chat

2017-01-09T19:19:29Z

Schnitz:

This is an xkcd about why the majority is wrong. ;) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.238|108.162.229.238]] 16:32, 6 January 2017 (UTC) seirl

F1rst. Jokes aside, wrote you guys something to work with. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.198|141.101.107.198]] 16:34, 6 January 2017 (UTC)
Sixi
:See [[1258: First]] and [[269: TCMP]]. Well funny enough you were neither the first to edit the page nor the talk page :-) Thanks for the start, but try to not delete the incomplete tag, but just write first draft or add what you can see is missing. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:40, 6 January 2017 (UTC)
::Good points for future edits! Appreciated. ♪ [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.198|141.101.107.198]] 16:45, 6 January 2017 (UTC) -Sixi

I find it funny how I'm editing the article, fixing the incomplete parts, then all of a sudden (as soon as I click "enter", I must add), someone's already fixed the incomplete parts, and there was a "conflict with the edit". :P --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 18:47, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

My first addition here, tried to explain skype vs slack and the title text. Feel free to roast me constructively :D Hope I didn't go too deep in Slack, thought most people don't know it and my little experience may help :) Also hope my unix tools explanation won't offend too many people; I'm a happy screen user myself, but it does have quite a bit of a learning curve. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.88|141.101.96.88]] 19:20, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

Well, at least not [http://tools.suckless.org/ii/ ii] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.47|172.68.11.47]] 02:13, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

Well, I think Randal is slightly off, it more goes like this:

2006: The company officially use Messenger - Except all of development ignores it and use IRC

2009: The company officially use Skype - Except all of development ignores it and use IRC

2012: The company officially use Lync - Except all of development ignores it and use IRC

2014: The company officially use Slack - Except all of development ignores it and use IRC

2016: The company officially use Teams - Except all of development ignores it and use IRC

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.200|162.158.88.200]] 10:45, 7 January 2017 (UTC)
:You forgot to add the part where it says that in 2018 they finally migrate... but to {{w|Discord (software)|Discord}}. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 12:54, 7 January 2017 (UTC)
:: randall didnt mention discord? smh [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.159|162.158.58.159]] 21:18, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

I find it strange no-one has mentioned that IRC let's you run your own servers, with no 3rd party involved; whereas Skype & Slack both depend upon centralized corporate-owned servers, which are forced to silently comply with surveillance requests without so much as a warrant. That's just unacceptable for many dev groups. (Hence the popularity of apps like Discord.)

I had a lot of trouble viewing this page in Lynx through the Worldgroup gateway on a local dial-up Bulletin Board System. I think it's a problem with my QModem configuration. If anyone can help, please contact me on IRC. I'm usually available in the #Kaypro users room. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.46|108.162.221.46]] 21:59, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

:Surveillance requests are not be only reason Skype is monitoring your communication. Try to enter url into Skype: it will be visited by msnbot. I don't care why: that's something tool for devs shouldn't be doing. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 06:34, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

So this past fall I remember seeing a bunch of web (and TV?) ads for Slack. You think Munroe got any kickback from Slack for this comic? It's worth noting that:
:- Microsoft launched Skype for Business in April 2015 (as a replacement to Lync). I would imagine that Skype is one of their biggest competitors, especially because Skype is included with Office, and just last month Slack introduced video calling.
:- Last week Slack announced they "invested in nearly a dozen new bot startups to bolster its Slack App Directory" (from VentureBeat). Techy folks who look up Slack after seeing Friday's comic are likely to see this news.
Maybe this is part of an "undergroundy" ad campaign by Slack? After reading the comic I certainly was subliminally thinking that Skype is sooo 2010; 2017 is the year of Slack! Great comic regardless. </conspiracytheories> [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.4|162.158.63.4]] 00:11, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Dammit, Dave, just become one with the singularity! We have IRC here too! --[[User:GranadalandDreamer|GranadalandDreamer]] ([[User talk:GranadalandDreamer|talk]]) 01:39, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Is there a need to explain "All consciousnesses have merged with the Galactic Singularity", or is it clear enough for XKCD readers? I mean - I've read "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov, where this happens (including the one guy who isn't ready to go), but I'm old. I'm ''fifty''.
Also "Ch*ldh**d's End" - kind of a spoiler. And "The Heechee Saga".
rja.carnegie@excite.com
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.150|141.101.107.150]] 21:14, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

What? No [https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/InternetRelayChat emacs' irc client]? -- [[User:schnitz|schnitz]] 18:31, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

1647: Diacritics

2016-02-24T23:10:00Z

Schnitz: /* fix typo*/

{{comic
| number = 1647
| date = February 24, 2016
| title = Diacritics
| image = diacritics.png
| titletext = Using diacritics correctly is not my forté.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|diacritic}} (or a diacritical mark) is a {{w|glyph}} added to a letter. The main use of diacritical marks in the {{w|latin script}} is to change the sound-values of the letters to which they are added, typically vowels.

[[Cueball]] is writing an e-mail (maybe for a job application) and notes in the mail that he attaches his {{w|résumé}}. The word ''résumé'' uses two e's with an {{w|acute accent}} so they look like this: é.

Cueball/[[Randall]] usually forgets to add these '''diacritics''' (hence the title of the comic). So when he occasionally remembers them, for instance when he types a word where he knows they should be included, then he makes up for all those he must have forgotten until now, and adds a whole bunch at once.

The first diacritic he uses is the normal acute accent for the e to make it an é which does belong in ''résumé''. But the second diacritic he uses is a {{w|Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis}} (or umlaut) on the u making it into ü, which is not part of the word. (Although in French the ''u'' is pronounced like a {{w|Close_front_rounded_vowel|[y]}}, which is also the sound of a German or Turkish ''ü'', and in German the word is spelt using this as ''Resümee'', but then the meaning is not the same but rather conclusions or abstracts).

He then goes all in on the last e which, similar to the first e, is supposed to have an acute accent. This e has a {{w|cedilla}} (which normally looks like ȩ), a {{w|Ring (diacritic)|ring}} (as in e̊ ), three acute accents, and is topped off by a {{w|breve}} (which normally looks like ĕ). In total, six diacritics are used on this e alone. Using more than one diacritic on one letter can happen, but usually only two ( for example ṏ). Using them in this fashion makes little sense.

To make sure everyone gets it, there are no less than three acute accents over the last full stop. This is not something that is ever used.

So for a word that is supposed to have two diacritics, Cueball uses eight, plus three for the full stop.

In the title text "not my forté" is supposed to mean that it is not one of Randall's strength or talent. However, to obtain this meaning [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forte forte] should not have an acute diacritic over the e, thus proving Randall's point that it is not ''hís fṏrté to ûsë dïãcrítìcs''.

The title text is a reference to the [[what if?]] released a week before this comic, {{what if|145|''Fire from moonlight''}}, in which note 9 reads "My résumé says étendue is my forté." With the same error on "forte". Maybe he realized later that he had made a mistake in the note? Also [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9tendue étendue] can be written without the accent as [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/etendue#English etendue] and the meaning is only written on this page in the Wiktionary. It means property of the light in an optical system which makes sense in the context of the note. However, it means something different in French where it either refers to size or range as a noun or as a verb is an alternative form of [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9tendre#French étendre] meaning stretch or spread. The most correct way of writing the sentence he tried to write would only have involved the accent on résumé: "My résumé says etendue is my forte." Thus again making it clear that Randall has it right when he writes: "Using diacritics correctly is not my forté."

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sitting in front of his lap top typing. The text above him is the one he is typing. The last word résumé has too many diacritics. The u has an umlaut (as in ü) and the last é has no less than six diacritics; a cedilla below (as in ȩ), a ring above (as in e̊ ), then three acute accents above the ring (as in é), and finally they are topped off by a breve (as in ĕ). Also the last full stop has three accents "´" above it:]
 
:Cueball (typing): Attached please find my résümȩ̊́́́́̆.́́́

:[Caption below the frame:]
:I usually leave out diacritics when I type, so I make up for it by occasionally adding a whole bunch at once.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

1632: Palindrome

2016-01-20T20:33:04Z

Schnitz: /* Trivia - spelling */

{{comic
| number = 1632
| date = January 20, 2016
| title = Palindrome
| image = palindrome.png
| titletext = I hope that somewhere in the world, "Panamax" is the last option on a "size" drop-down menu on a sex toy site.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|palindrome}} is a word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same whether you read forwards or backwards, like ''race car''. Normally capitalization, spacing, and punctuation are ignored.

This comic is based on the famous palindrome: "A Man, A Plan, A Canal: Panama", devised by {{w|Leigh Mercer}}, which references the construction of the {{w|Panama Canal}} and is the first mentioned on the Wikipedia page for palindromes [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Palindrome&oldid=700753837 at the time] this comic was released.

[[Megan]] recites a much longer palindrome for [[Cueball]]. This palindrome is based on the original, (and was posted in this [http://www.talking-time.net/showthread.php?p=1370627#post1370627 forum thread] more than three years before the release of this comic). It is much less logical, and manages to include the word anal (which then refers to the title text and sex toys, see below).

[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nam 'Nam] is an apheresis of Vietnam. See more explanation of the words in the palindrome in the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section. Note that in the original version from the link above there were a comma before tables so it is two items in the list: God's 'Nam, tables, etc.

Due to its list like structure, the Panama palindrome is easily extensible by adding additional [http://www2.vo.lu/homepages/phahn/anagrams/panama.htm noun phrases], and some of these extensions lay claim to being "[http://norvig.com/pal17txt.html The Longest Palindrome Ever]".

The title text references the maximum size of ships that can fit through the Panama Canal, which is {{w|Panamax}}. [[Randall]] would really enjoy if this was the last option(i.e. biggest size) on a {{w|drop-down menu}} on a {{w|sex toy}} site. For instance such a site could have a banner saying; "If you have a ''Panama Anal'', then try our ''Panamax {{w|Butt plug}}''".

===The Palindrome===
Although it is less logical it is indeed a palindrome:
:'''Original''':
:: A man, a plan, a God's 'Nam tables, nitrate, tar, tinsel, Batman's dog: Anal Panama.

: '''Palindrome''', i.e. original sentence reversed:
:: amanaP lanA :god s'namtaB ,lesnit ,rat ,etartin ,selbat maN' s'doG a ,nalp a ,nam A

: '''With no spaces''' or other punctuation and in all lowercase:
:: amanaplanagodsnamtablesnitratetartinselbatmansdoganalpanama

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are walking. She holds up her arm and hand while reciting a palindrome:]
:Megan: A man, a plan, a God's 'Nam tables, nitrate, tar, tinsel, Batman's dog: Anal Panama.

==Trivia==
*In the [http://www.talking-time.net/showpost.php?p=1370627&postcount=6286 version] posted on-line in 2012, there was an extra comma after God's 'Nam:
**A man, a plan, a God's 'Nam, tables, nitrate, tar, tinsel, Batman's dog: Anal Panama.
**This means that it is not ''God's 'Nam tables'', but rather two items ''God's 'Nam'' and ''tables'', since it is a list of items.
*The '''meaning of the words''':
**These words are from the original palindrome: Man, Plan and Panama
**But what about the rest, taking the original with the "," as mentioned above:
***{{w|God|God's}} 'Nam - [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nam 'Nam] is here short for {{w|Vietnam}}; God's 'Nam would refer to a Quagmire of God's creation. (The Quagmire is a figurative name of the {{w|Vietnam War}}).
***{{w|Tables}} - can either be a piece of furniture or a data table.
***{{w|Nitrate}} - a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO3− that are mainly produced for use as fertilizers in agriculture. But as an oxidizing agents it can be used to create explosives where the rapid oxidation of carbon compounds liberates large volumes of gases. Given the end of the sentence it could also be a reference to {{w|Amyl nitrite}}, for which notable side effects includes "relaxation of involuntary muscles, especially the blood vessel walls and the internal and external anal sphincter."
***{{w|Tar}} - is a black mixture of hydrocarbons and free carbon. Originally referred primarily to a substance derived from the wood and roots of pine. But it has also been used in {{w|Tar#Definition|other contexts}}. For instance naturally occurring "{{w|tar pits}}", actually contain {{w|asphalt}} rather than tar.
***{{w|Tinsel}} - Tinsel, is a type of decorative material that mimics the effect of ice, consisting of thin strips of sparkling material attached to a thread. When in long narrow strips not attached to thread, it is called "lametta", and emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate Christmas trees.
***{{w|Ace the Bat-Hound|Batman's dog}} - Ace the Bat-Hound was the canine crime-fighting partner of {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Robin (comics)|Robin}} in DC Comics of the 1950s and 1960s.
***{{w|Anal}} - relates to {{w|anus}}. Searching for "Anal Panama" will return links to pages with {{w|porn}}. This is because the most used form of ''Anal'' is in regard to {{w|Anal Sex}} which is often used in porn. (It is not long since another xkcd comic referred directly to porn - see [[1629: Tools]]).
*The '''meaning of the sentence''':
**There are no obvious meaning of this palindrome.
**As it also seems it is not of Randall's device, then it seems less important for this site, than if it were.
**The original palindrome was also a list of things that led to choosing Panama.
***A man had a plan to make a canal. He chose Panama.
**This one is also in list form:
***A man had a plan to use the Vietnam war with nitrate, tar and tinsel (maybe some kind of explosives with Christmas decorations), finally adding Batman's dog to get Anal Panama...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sex]]

1539: Planning

2015-06-17T21:38:57Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */ Adding reference to the singularity

{{comic
| number = 1539
| date = June 17, 2015
| title = Planning
| image = planning.png
| titletext = [10 years later] Man, why are people so comfortable handing Google and Facebook control over our nuclear weapons?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First attempt at an explanation.}}
[[Ponytail]] asks [[Megan]] why people seems to be comfortable with {{w|Google}} and {{w|Facebook}} getting so much control of their lives through access to a wealth of personal information. For example, online advertisements are often tailored to the viewer based on their Google searches or web browsing history.

Megan says she does not know. Then she compares Ponytail's comment with the fact that humans have built thousands of {{w|nuclear weapons}}, once used as a source of political control, which are now stored in bases and silos all over the world. She comments that now no one seems to care anymore, and world concerns have moved on to other things like internet privacy, as indicated by Ponytail's original question. In reality there is still much world concern surrounding nuclear weapons proliferation, but it is not the common household topic that it was in, for example, the 1980s.

Megan's best solution to appease Ponytail is to just go with the flow, since this kind of big-picture planning actually doesn't exist (it just seems to happen on auto-pilot), without anyone actually thinking about the consequences. This is of course a scary thought, but it seems like [[Randall]] believes this is what happens in the world (perhaps as human nature), and probably not just with weapons and data. Innovation throughout history has happened to solve specific short-term problems, and rarely has long-term consequences in mind, as evidenced by the debate over {{w|Climate change}} brought about in large part by atmospheric pollution that comes from innovations in transportation, manufacturing and industry.

In the title text we move ahead 10 years, to a similar conversation where the two parts of the above have been inexplicably mixed. A future equivalent to Ponytail asks why we all think it is OK to hand over the control of our nuclear weapons to Google and Facebook, which would certainly be a nonsensical route to take. This could also be seen as another step toward the {{w|Technological_singularity|singularity}}, from which perspective handing over control of nuclear weapons could be desirable, catastrophic, implicit and/or unavoidable.

This comic was posted on the day after {{w|Vladimir Putin}} had [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/world/europe/putin-40-new-missiles-russian-nuclear-arsenal.html announced] that Russia would add 40 new {{w|intercontinental ballistic missile}}s to its nuclear stockpile this year.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Ponytail are walking]
:Ponytail: Why are people so comfortable handing Google and Facebook all this control over our lives?
:Megan: I dunno.
:Megan: Our species built thousands of nuclear weapons, scattered them around the planet, and then moved on to other things.
:Megan: Maybe it's best to accept that some of this big-picture planning is just happening on autopilot.

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

Talk:1470: Kix

2015-01-07T19:18:57Z

Schnitz: added mildly acrostic observation

Is there a category:comics with strong language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 11:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

From now on I don't think I'll ever see a box of Kix in the store without thinking, "Kid Tested, Mother Fucker!"[[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]]) 13:16, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it just me or does the last item in the list seem a little out of place for something Randall would write/post? It doesn't seem to me that he normally takes to swearing (at all) in any of his strips. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:34, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

What's wrong with swearing, you guys? This is XKCD; we're supposedly a mature audience who doesn't shy away from using words simply because they're about sex and sex is bad. XKCD has dealt with sexual subject matter before, I don't think Randall ever tried to market it as a 'family-oriented' webcomic. If your kid gets XKCD jokes, I think they're mature enough to learn about sex! :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 14:14, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: Actually this is xkcd, and I'm not saying there's a problem - just that Randall doesn't usually directly swear in his comics. It's just an observation. BTW, where'd the sex thing come from? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:39, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: I'm not entirely sure which webcomic you're thinking of... (?) because it couldn't be xkcd... I would agree that xkcd is about romance, sarcasm, math and language, and not ''about'' swearing... but by searching for your chosen epithet using the search box at the top of this page (I chose and found 27 examples of "fuck"), you can find such words used whenever he needed them (and occasionally even when they weren't ''needed'' per se) used in the titles, dialogue, labels, and title text. Please, take a couple moments and confirm for yourself. Without thorough analysis, I'd guess there was a "swear word" of one sort or another in nearly 10% of xkcd comics -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:11, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: The word 'fucker' is traditionally considered obscene because of it refers to sexual intercourse, which is considered a taboo subject that should be approached with care and sensitivity in Western Culture. So what I meant was that unless you consider that approach to the word warranted, it's not entirely logical to proscribe saying the word either. But since you don't seem to have an issue with that, I do agree: Randall doesn't swear in excess, but he does it when the occasion calls for it (like here), and that's completely fine. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 15:59, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

The last one sounds like something Donald Draper would come up with if he was an increasingly cynical ad exec in the 70's or 80's when this came out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.170|108.162.216.170]] 14:15, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't believe the use of Mother Fucker is sexual in this context, just an epithet. And Randall has used swearwords throughout the lifetime of xkcd, albeit not liberally. [[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 14:28, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Maybe he has never used the mother F word - and it does only appear here if you think it through... But the F word is used several time in the comics as can be seen by a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=fuck&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch simple search]. See for instance: [[388:_Fuck_Grapefruit]]. [[114: Computational Linguists]], [[874: Time Management]], [[566: Matrix Revisited]], [[714: Porn For Women]], [[931: Lanes]] and especially the title text of [[110: Clark Gable]] [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

''From the xkcd website:'' '''Warning: this comic ''occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children)'', unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)'''... I do think we need a category for these occasions of strong language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 16:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

In the interest of science, I have created a category for comics with strong language. [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] ([[User talk:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|talk]]) 18:35, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I just noticed that if you read downward (acrosticly) from the last letter in "SELECTED" you get "DEFEC" - which implies a different rhyming response.--[[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:18, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

1396: Actors

2014-07-18T17:58:06Z

Schnitz: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1396
| date = July 18, 2014
| title = Actors
| image = actors.png
| titletext = Once again topping the list of tonight's hottest rising stars in Hollywood is ξ Persei!
}}

==Explanation==
The comic uses two different meanings of the word ''hottest''. In the opening question, "Who are today's 10 hottest actors?" the word ''hottest'' could refer to an actor's popularity, success, demand or attractiveness. Cueball and Megan think the word ''hottest'' is asking them to the list the 10 actors who have the highest surface temperature, and we see them measuring "Justin's" (possibly referring to, {{w|Justin Bieber|Bieber}}, {{w|Justin Long|Long}}, {{w|Justin Theroux|Theroux}}, or {{w|Justin Timberlake|Timberlake}} or any of the several other ''Justin''s in show business[http://www.imdb.com/search/name?count=100&gender=male&name=justin&sort=starmeter,asc]) surface temperature using an {{w|infrared thermometer}} (the beam is typically a laser pointer to know the location where the radiometric temperature comes from). The measured temperature of 81.5 is given (this being the USA) in degrees {{w|Fahrenheit}} and corresponds to 27.5 {{w|°C}}, this temperature is below the average human temperature of 36 {{w|°C}} probably due to some colder object (the shirt in this case) within the infrared thermometer field of view. Besides, deriving surface temperature from bright (radiance) temperature requires knowing the emissivity of the object. Since not all objects radiate with the same efficiency, two objects with the same surface temperature will emit different thermal radiance, but if emissivity is not taken into account they will report different surface temperatures.

With such a measurement of ''hotness'', the hottest actor on any given day would probably be whoever is having a fever. Or, an animal actor, of a species with a higher body temperature than humans. ({{w|Category:Films about birds}})

The title-text references the temperatures of Hollywood's rising stars, this time misunderstanding ''stars'' as actual stars, not famous people. In this case, the star {{w|Xi Persei|ξ Persei}} in the Perseus constellation (which is located in, and responsible for the fluorescence of, an object called the {{w|California Nebula}}, a possible joke on the location of Hollywood), one of the hottest stars (35,000 {{w|kelvin}}s, {{w|Sun}}: 5,800 K) visible to the naked eye. The star also has similar declination (+35° 47′) as the latitude of Hollywood (34° N) so it is literally rising there every night.

==Transcript==
Opening Question: Who are today's 10 hottest actors?

[Cueball is holding a clipboard, taking notes, while Megan aims an infrared thermometer off screen.]

Megan: 81.5, but I think it got part of his shirt. [Megan yells] Hey Justin — Hold still!

Closing: We grab an infrared thermometer and find out!

{{comic discussion}}

1369: TMI

2014-05-16T23:14:12Z

Schnitz: /* fix typo */

{{comic
| number = 1369
| date = May 16, 2014
| title = TMI
| image = tmi.png
| titletext = 'TMI' he whispered, gazing into the sea.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page -- may still need polishing.}}
"TMI" is an acronym that means "too much information". It is typically used as a response to someone ''oversharing'' — telling details (usually gross, boring, or otherwise unpleasant) that the listener would rather not have heard. Here, however, [[Cueball]] may be using it in a more literal and absolute sense: He feels overwhelmed by the colossal amount of information that is now generally available to anyone with an Internet connection.

The Wikipedia page for the acronym {{w|TMI|"TMI"}} contains links to approx. 40 articles belonging to this acronym. "Too much information" is mentioned but no link is shown here to this matter. The article {{w|Too Much Information|"Too Much Information"}} belongs to a single released by {{w|Duran Duran}}.

But there is a Wikipedia article {{w|Information overload}} which covers the "too much information" issue, but most people just would say TMI while looking at this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk, looking at a laptop.]
:Cueball: Ugh, TMI.

:Offscreen: Oh? What?

:Cueball: Just... Everything.
:Offscreen: ''True.''

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

442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel

2014-05-14T18:17:10Z

Schnitz: /* clarify/correct - same forest, different person */

{{comic
| number = 442
| date = June 27, 2008
| title = xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel
| image = xkcd_loves_the_discovery_channel.png
| titletext = I love the title-text!
}}
==Explanation==
This comic is a parody of the {{w|Discovery Channel}} commercial showing various clips of people singing a song with the chorus line [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0 'Boom De Yada']. The comic is divided into a grid of 4 by 6 panels, each depicting a character or situation from a previous xkcd strip. In each panel is written a part of a song similar to the song from the Discovery Channel commercial."

The campaign from the {{w|Discovery Channel}} was not called "Boom De Yada", but {{w|I Love the World}}. The title "xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel" is in reference to this.

Most of the panels are references to previous xkcd strips, but some are not.

;Panel 1 ''I love momentum.''
:A reference to comic [[162]], where Megan spins in a circle to "rob the planet of angular momentum."
;Panel 2 ''I love to engineer.''
:A reference to comic [[413]], where Megan and Cueball turn an EEE PC into a household pet.
;Panel 3 ''I love this bakery!''
:A reference to comic [[434]], where Beret Guy shows his liking for bakeries in first panel. His love of bakeries is a recurring gag in the comic.
;Panel 4 ''I love the blogosphere!''
:A reference to comic [[239]], where someone from the far future believes many people blogged from high-altitude balloons whilst wearing red capes and goggles. The flying character may be {{w|Cory Doctorow}}, who is mentioned in the comic as the only blogger to actually do this, and who also appeared in comic [[345]] in this guise.
;Panel 5 ''I love the whole world.'' (Cueball running in large hamster ball.)
:Likely a reference to comic [[152]], though there are multiple comics featuring human-sized hamster balls.
;Panel 6 ''And all its messed-up folks.''
:A reference to the /b/ ("Random") forum on {{w|4chan}}, which is in fact home to plenty of "messed-up folks".
;Panel 7 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Cueball and Megan immersed in playpen balls.)
:A reference to comic [[150]], where Megan decides that she has the ability to, and wants to, turn her house into a giant playpen.
;Panel 8 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (''I put on my robe and wizard hat'')
:A reference to [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja this roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which became an Internet meme. A user named bloodninja would roleplay as a wizard during {{w|cybersex}} (saying "I put on my robe and wizard hat" to signal this) and invariably infuriate his unwitting partners with demeaning actions. Other incidents involved him roleplaying as a rhinoceros.
;Panel 9 ''I love your suffering.''
:The recurring character [[Black Hat]] is being his usual self and causing suffering for his own amusement, as in comic [[72]]. In this panel he is seen either taking a present away from a child, who is upset, or giving the child a package containing a bobcat, like the package in comic [[325]].
;Panel 10 ''I love cryptography.''
:{{w|Cryptography}} is a subject that comes up often in the comic, notably, in comics [[153]] and [[177]] before this one. The panel shows a flowchart of the kind commonly used to show how a particular cryptosystem works and/or how it can be broken.
;Panel 11 ''I love entangled sheets.''
:Sexual reference. Also brought up in comic [[230]].
;Panel 12 ''And kite photography.''
:A reference to Randall Munroe's own hobby of [http://xkcd.com/kite/ kite photography] as well as comic [[235]].
;Panel 13 ''I love the whole world'' (Map of the internet.)
:A reference to comic [[256]], featuring online communities of the time visualised as a world map, with geographic area representing their approximate membership size. There is, more directly, a pun on "internet", namely "outernet".
;Panel 14 ''And all its mysteries.''
:A reference to a series of comics on "red spiders:" [[8|8: Red Spiders]], [[43|43: Red Spiders 2]], [[47|47: Counter-Red Spiders]], [[126|126: Red Spiders Cometh]], and [[427|427: Bad Timing]].
;Panel 15 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Two people sword-fighting on rolling office chairs.)
:A reference to comic [[303]], where two coders battle with fake swords at work, with the excuse that their code is compiling.
;Panel 16 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Classroom with two students and Mrs. Lenhart.)
:Nothing too special, but it does embrace the "everybody joins in" theme behind the commercials. Mrs. Lenhart first properly appeared in comic [[263]] but may have made an appearance in comic [[59]].
;Panel 17 ''I love elections'' (''Barack me Obamadeus!'')
:A pun on the song {{w|Rock Me Amadeus}} and US president {{w|Barack Obama}}.
;Panel 18 ''I love transistors.''
:This panel has Cueball's crotch replaced with the (similar-looking) icon used for a {{w|transistor}} in a circuit diagram.
;Panel 19 ''I love weird pillow talk.'' (''There ''must'' be Taft slash fiction.'')
:"[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pillow+talk Pillow talk]" means intimate conversations between lovers, "{{w|slash fiction}}" is fanfiction with characters of the same sex, and "Taft" is {{w|William Howard Taft}}, a US President mostly remembered for his severe obesity. It appears they are invoking {{w|rule 34 of the Internet}}. Weird pillow talk is also the subject of comic [[69]], while the Taft reference comes from comic [[214]].
;Panel 20 ''I love your sister.''
:A reference to xkcd's recurring joke of dating the female character's sister, which spans several comics including [[49]], [[279]], [[317]], and [[408]].
;Panel 21 ''I love the whole world'' (Roller coaster with Cueball holding chess board)
:A reference to comic [[249]] which inspired an internet meme.
;Panel 22 ''The future's pretty cool!'' (Beret Guy in a forest.)
:The picture of the forest is similar to that in [[269]], though it may also be a reference to comic [[167]], where Cueball and Beret Guy make observations about the future while climbing a tree. Later, in comic [[1322|1322]], the two are seen walking through a forest very similar to the one shown here.
;Panel 23 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Megan doing the MC Hammer slide towards Cueball.)
:A reference to comic [[108]], where Hairy falls in love with "a girl whose only mode of transportation is the M.C. Hammer Slide."
;Panel 24 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Cueball and Megan on an electric skateboard.)
:A reference to comic [[409]], where Megan and Cueball go on an electric skateboard ride.

The title text continues the song, self-referentially. Self-reference is a reoccurring theme in Douglas Hofstader's books, notably Gödel, Escher, Bach, which have been referenced in other comics, such as [[472]] and [[917]]. Self-reference as a form of humor has also been explored in comics such as [[33]] and [[688]].

==Transcript==
:[The comic is in parody of the Discovery Channel commercial showing various clips of people singing a song with the chorus line "Boom De Yada."]
:[The comic is divided into a grid of 4 by 6 panels, each depicting a character or situation from a previous xkcd strip.]
:[In each panel is written a part of a song similar to the song from the Discovery Channel commercial.]

:Panel 1: (Reference Comic 162)
:[Megan spinning around.]
:I love momentum.

:Panel 2: (Reference Comic 413)
:[Megan laying on floor tinkering with EEE PC hamster ball robot.]
:I love to engineer.

:Panel 3: (Reference Comic 434)
:[Beret Guy standing in bakery holding a loaf of bread in each hand, sign with "PIE!" in background.]
:I love this bakery!

:Panel 4: (Reference Comic 239)
:[Cory Doctorow in goggles and red cape flying superman-style.]
:I love the blogosphere!

:Panel 5: (Reference Comic 152)
:[Cueball running in large hamster ball.]
:I love the whole world

:Panel 6:
:[Depiction of internet sludge (4chan b-Random)]
:And all its messed-up folks.

:Panel 7: (Reference Comic 150)
:[Cueball and Megan immersed in playpen balls.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 8:
:[Mass of playpen balls with speech "I put on my robe and wizard hat" originating from it.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 9: (Reference Comic 72)
:[Black Hat taking gift away from kid with party hat.]
:I love your suffering.

:Panel 10: (Reference Comic 153)
:[Diagram showing RSA fingerprint authentication between two people.]
:I love cryptography.

:Panel 11: (Reference Comic 230)
:[Cueball and Megan in bed covered by red sheet.]
:I love entangled sheets.

:Panel 12: (Blag)
:[Cueball hanging from kite string holding camera.]
:And kite photography.

:Panel 13: (Reference Comic 256)
:[Map of the internet.]
:I love the whole world

:Panel 14: (Reference Comic 8)
:[Cube with red spider on top.]
:And all its mysteries.

:Panel 15: (Reference Comic 303)
:[Two people sword-fighting on rolling office chairs.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 16: (Reference Comic 263)
:[Classroom with two students and Mrs. Lenhart.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 17:
:[Cueball saying "Barack me Obamadeus!" to another man speaking energetically at a podium.]
:I love elections.

:Panel 18:
:[Cueball holding schematic diagram of a transistor in front of his crotch.]
:I love transistors.

:Panel 19: (Reference Comic 69)
:[Cueball and Megan in bed, Cueball saying "There ''must'' be taft slash fiction."]
:I love weird pillow talk.

:Panel 20: (Reference Comic 49, 279, 317)
:[Cueball speaking to Megan.]
:I love your sister.

:Panel 21: (Reference Comic 249)
:[Roller coaster with Cueball in front car holding chess board and thinking about a move.]
:I love the whole world.

:Panel 22: (Reference Comic 167)
:[Beret Guy standing in the midst of leafless trees.]
:The future's pretty cool!

:Panel 23: (Reference Comic 108)
:[Megan doing the MC Hammer slide towards Cueball.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 24: (Reference Comic 409)
:[Cueball and Megan on an electric skateboard.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

==Trivia==
*This comic was enacted by Olga Nunes and various famous people as [http://www.olganunes.com/xkcd ''We Love xkcd''].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Hamster Ball]]

442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel

2014-05-14T18:15:52Z

Schnitz: /* Added reference to #269 TCMP */

{{comic
| number = 442
| date = June 27, 2008
| title = xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel
| image = xkcd_loves_the_discovery_channel.png
| titletext = I love the title-text!
}}
==Explanation==
This comic is a parody of the {{w|Discovery Channel}} commercial showing various clips of people singing a song with the chorus line [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0 'Boom De Yada']. The comic is divided into a grid of 4 by 6 panels, each depicting a character or situation from a previous xkcd strip. In each panel is written a part of a song similar to the song from the Discovery Channel commercial."

The campaign from the {{w|Discovery Channel}} was not called "Boom De Yada", but {{w|I Love the World}}. The title "xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel" is in reference to this.

Most of the panels are references to previous xkcd strips, but some are not.

;Panel 1 ''I love momentum.''
:A reference to comic [[162]], where Megan spins in a circle to "rob the planet of angular momentum."
;Panel 2 ''I love to engineer.''
:A reference to comic [[413]], where Megan and Cueball turn an EEE PC into a household pet.
;Panel 3 ''I love this bakery!''
:A reference to comic [[434]], where Beret Guy shows his liking for bakeries in first panel. His love of bakeries is a recurring gag in the comic.
;Panel 4 ''I love the blogosphere!''
:A reference to comic [[239]], where someone from the far future believes many people blogged from high-altitude balloons whilst wearing red capes and goggles. The flying character may be {{w|Cory Doctorow}}, who is mentioned in the comic as the only blogger to actually do this, and who also appeared in comic [[345]] in this guise.
;Panel 5 ''I love the whole world.'' (Cueball running in large hamster ball.)
:Likely a reference to comic [[152]], though there are multiple comics featuring human-sized hamster balls.
;Panel 6 ''And all its messed-up folks.''
:A reference to the /b/ ("Random") forum on {{w|4chan}}, which is in fact home to plenty of "messed-up folks".
;Panel 7 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Cueball and Megan immersed in playpen balls.)
:A reference to comic [[150]], where Megan decides that she has the ability to, and wants to, turn her house into a giant playpen.
;Panel 8 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (''I put on my robe and wizard hat'')
:A reference to [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja this roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which became an Internet meme. A user named bloodninja would roleplay as a wizard during {{w|cybersex}} (saying "I put on my robe and wizard hat" to signal this) and invariably infuriate his unwitting partners with demeaning actions. Other incidents involved him roleplaying as a rhinoceros.
;Panel 9 ''I love your suffering.''
:The recurring character [[Black Hat]] is being his usual self and causing suffering for his own amusement, as in comic [[72]]. In this panel he is seen either taking a present away from a child, who is upset, or giving the child a package containing a bobcat, like the package in comic [[325]].
;Panel 10 ''I love cryptography.''
:{{w|Cryptography}} is a subject that comes up often in the comic, notably, in comics [[153]] and [[177]] before this one. The panel shows a flowchart of the kind commonly used to show how a particular cryptosystem works and/or how it can be broken.
;Panel 11 ''I love entangled sheets.''
:Sexual reference. Also brought up in comic [[230]].
;Panel 12 ''And kite photography.''
:A reference to Randall Munroe's own hobby of [http://xkcd.com/kite/ kite photography] as well as comic [[235]].
;Panel 13 ''I love the whole world'' (Map of the internet.)
:A reference to comic [[256]], featuring online communities of the time visualised as a world map, with geographic area representing their approximate membership size. There is, more directly, a pun on "internet", namely "outernet".
;Panel 14 ''And all its mysteries.''
:A reference to a series of comics on "red spiders:" [[8|8: Red Spiders]], [[43|43: Red Spiders 2]], [[47|47: Counter-Red Spiders]], [[126|126: Red Spiders Cometh]], and [[427|427: Bad Timing]].
;Panel 15 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Two people sword-fighting on rolling office chairs.)
:A reference to comic [[303]], where two coders battle with fake swords at work, with the excuse that their code is compiling.
;Panel 16 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Classroom with two students and Mrs. Lenhart.)
:Nothing too special, but it does embrace the "everybody joins in" theme behind the commercials. Mrs. Lenhart first properly appeared in comic [[263]] but may have made an appearance in comic [[59]].
;Panel 17 ''I love elections'' (''Barack me Obamadeus!'')
:A pun on the song {{w|Rock Me Amadeus}} and US president {{w|Barack Obama}}.
;Panel 18 ''I love transistors.''
:This panel has Cueball's crotch replaced with the (similar-looking) icon used for a {{w|transistor}} in a circuit diagram.
;Panel 19 ''I love weird pillow talk.'' (''There ''must'' be Taft slash fiction.'')
:"[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pillow+talk Pillow talk]" means intimate conversations between lovers, "{{w|slash fiction}}" is fanfiction with characters of the same sex, and "Taft" is {{w|William Howard Taft}}, a US President mostly remembered for his severe obesity. It appears they are invoking {{w|rule 34 of the Internet}}. Weird pillow talk is also the subject of comic [[69]], while the Taft reference comes from comic [[214]].
;Panel 20 ''I love your sister.''
:A reference to xkcd's recurring joke of dating the female character's sister, which spans several comics including [[49]], [[279]], [[317]], and [[408]].
;Panel 21 ''I love the whole world'' (Roller coaster with Cueball holding chess board)
:A reference to comic [[249]] which inspired an internet meme.
;Panel 22 ''The future's pretty cool!'' (Beret Guy in a forest.)
:The picture is from [[269]], though it may also be a reference to comic [[167]], where Cueball and Beret Guy make observations about the future while climbing a tree. Later, in comic [[1322|1322]], the two are seen walking through a forest very similar to the one shown here.
;Panel 23 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Megan doing the MC Hammer slide towards Cueball.)
:A reference to comic [[108]], where Hairy falls in love with "a girl whose only mode of transportation is the M.C. Hammer Slide."
;Panel 24 ''Boom de yada, Boom de yada'' (Cueball and Megan on an electric skateboard.)
:A reference to comic [[409]], where Megan and Cueball go on an electric skateboard ride.

The title text continues the song, self-referentially. Self-reference is a reoccurring theme in Douglas Hofstader's books, notably Gödel, Escher, Bach, which have been referenced in other comics, such as [[472]] and [[917]]. Self-reference as a form of humor has also been explored in comics such as [[33]] and [[688]].

==Transcript==
:[The comic is in parody of the Discovery Channel commercial showing various clips of people singing a song with the chorus line "Boom De Yada."]
:[The comic is divided into a grid of 4 by 6 panels, each depicting a character or situation from a previous xkcd strip.]
:[In each panel is written a part of a song similar to the song from the Discovery Channel commercial.]

:Panel 1: (Reference Comic 162)
:[Megan spinning around.]
:I love momentum.

:Panel 2: (Reference Comic 413)
:[Megan laying on floor tinkering with EEE PC hamster ball robot.]
:I love to engineer.

:Panel 3: (Reference Comic 434)
:[Beret Guy standing in bakery holding a loaf of bread in each hand, sign with "PIE!" in background.]
:I love this bakery!

:Panel 4: (Reference Comic 239)
:[Cory Doctorow in goggles and red cape flying superman-style.]
:I love the blogosphere!

:Panel 5: (Reference Comic 152)
:[Cueball running in large hamster ball.]
:I love the whole world

:Panel 6:
:[Depiction of internet sludge (4chan b-Random)]
:And all its messed-up folks.

:Panel 7: (Reference Comic 150)
:[Cueball and Megan immersed in playpen balls.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 8:
:[Mass of playpen balls with speech "I put on my robe and wizard hat" originating from it.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 9: (Reference Comic 72)
:[Black Hat taking gift away from kid with party hat.]
:I love your suffering.

:Panel 10: (Reference Comic 153)
:[Diagram showing RSA fingerprint authentication between two people.]
:I love cryptography.

:Panel 11: (Reference Comic 230)
:[Cueball and Megan in bed covered by red sheet.]
:I love entangled sheets.

:Panel 12: (Blag)
:[Cueball hanging from kite string holding camera.]
:And kite photography.

:Panel 13: (Reference Comic 256)
:[Map of the internet.]
:I love the whole world

:Panel 14: (Reference Comic 8)
:[Cube with red spider on top.]
:And all its mysteries.

:Panel 15: (Reference Comic 303)
:[Two people sword-fighting on rolling office chairs.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 16: (Reference Comic 263)
:[Classroom with two students and Mrs. Lenhart.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 17:
:[Cueball saying "Barack me Obamadeus!" to another man speaking energetically at a podium.]
:I love elections.

:Panel 18:
:[Cueball holding schematic diagram of a transistor in front of his crotch.]
:I love transistors.

:Panel 19: (Reference Comic 69)
:[Cueball and Megan in bed, Cueball saying "There ''must'' be taft slash fiction."]
:I love weird pillow talk.

:Panel 20: (Reference Comic 49, 279, 317)
:[Cueball speaking to Megan.]
:I love your sister.

:Panel 21: (Reference Comic 249)
:[Roller coaster with Cueball in front car holding chess board and thinking about a move.]
:I love the whole world.

:Panel 22: (Reference Comic 167)
:[Beret Guy standing in the midst of leafless trees.]
:The future's pretty cool!

:Panel 23: (Reference Comic 108)
:[Megan doing the MC Hammer slide towards Cueball.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

:Panel 24: (Reference Comic 409)
:[Cueball and Megan on an electric skateboard.]
:Boom De Yada
:Boom De Yada

==Trivia==
*This comic was enacted by Olga Nunes and various famous people as [http://www.olganunes.com/xkcd ''We Love xkcd''].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Hamster Ball]]

1265: Juicer

2013-09-16T18:52:36Z

Schnitz: The letter 'c' can be pronounced /ʃ/ as in 'ocean' /ˈoʊʃən/ in "cer" as well, as in "grocery" in some parts of the US.

{{comic
| number = 1265
| date = September 16, 2013
| title = Juicer
| image = juicer.png
| titletext = But the rind is where all the vitamins are!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
There are several possible readings of this comic:

;Juicing Gushers
Juicers are typically used to crush fruits and/or vegetables, thereby extracting the liquid juice and eliminating the task of chewing the solids. However, in this case, instead of actual fruits or vegetables, someone is making juice from {{w|Fruit_Gushers|fruit gushers}}, a chewy fruit-flavored candy, thereby extracting a nearly nutritionless juice out of a candy casing which was formulated specifically for human consumption.

The title text asserts that the rind is rich in vitamins. This is only partly true for certain fruits and vegetables, most prominently apples and potatoes. It is absurd in this case, where the "rind" of a Fruit Gusher consists mainly of sugar.

;Hard '''g''' / soft '''g'''
If English is not your native language (which is not the case of [[Randall]]), you could think that "Gushers" /ˈgʌʃərz/ is pronounced as "juicers" /ˈdʒusərz/. I.e., if you know nothing about English spelling you could think that both words are pronounced /ˈdʒuʃərz/.
*A 'g' can signify a soft-g sound (/dʒ/ as in 'gin'). However, natives know that the soft-g sound never appears in the combination "gu".
*A 'u' can signify a {{w|Close_back_rounded_vowel|close back rounded vowel}}, /u/ as in 'flute'.
*The letter 'c' can be pronounced /ʃ/ as in 'ocean' /ˈoʊʃən/. The pronunciation of 'cer' as /ʃər/ is not common, except in dialectical words like "[http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_36.html grocery"].

;Juicer Juice Drinkers ⊂ Juicer Owners
Many people buy juicers (and exercise equipment) with the notion that the bought items will make them healthier. This comic shows a juicer with three full bottles of juice, indicating that the owner of the juice machine is making healthy juice with the intention of drinking it, but not consuming juice at the rate it is produced. The comic also shows a Fruit Gusher snack, indicating the unhealthy option that the juicer owner just can't stop eating.

==Transcript==
:[The picture shows a package with fruit gushers, a juicer, and three bottles filled with liquid in the colors red, blue, and red.]
:"Oh yeah, juicers are great! I use mine all the time."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1190: Time

2013-03-29T21:00:51Z

Schnitz: updated script

Pretty sure we're just getting trolled with this one [[Special:Contributions/99.108.190.136|99.108.190.136]] 04:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Can't tell if this is emo xkcd or trolling xkcd. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:53, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Something seems a little fishy because the image url is different than normal. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:55, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe the comic slowly changes throughout the day. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:56, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::Oh god, it does. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::When uploading different versions of the image, use the naming convention time[iterationNumber].png. We'll compile all the images into one and display them as per [[Traffic Lights]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Alright, so the comic appears to be switching between two states here: between [[media:time2.png|this]] and [[media:time3.png|this]]. If nothing new happens, I'll get to clipping the comics together. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:28, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Whoop, nope, [[media:time4.png|this]] just came up. Is there more to come? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:34, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Alright, so a new one is posted every half-hour. Whoopee. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:06, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::And there's a new one! Megan leaning back and looking up...
::::::::Well, the image changed, who has the time to make a script to catch the new images and compile them into a gif? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time.png [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)It could be a reference to the old proverb " time and tide wait for none" Cueball and the girl could be waiting for the tide in the beach! (Just a guess)[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

The picture does chance with time. The URL includes a changing timestamp that I can't decipher. Compare these two URLS (which have slightly different images:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

Perhaps there is a way to hack the URL to view future images. [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:29, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I would also like to add that knowing randall, these are not the only images. For all we know, the image will still be changing in 5 years while a tree grows in front of them. My point is: Are the URLs hackable, or did he encrypt them? [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:33, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Likely there is a way to hack the URLs; they look like some sort of hash, probably a hashed timestamp. Of course, he could easily have added some salt to the hash, making it significantly *harder* to hack. But they're strings of a specific length, so it should be pretty easy to bruteforce it, fetch all the images, and then (maybe) reverse-engineer the sequence. *That* all depends on how many of them there are. [[Special:Contributions/76.90.249.178|76.90.249.178]] 05:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Good god, do you see how many digits are *in* that hash? The sun'll have burned out by the time we've tested every possible combination of digits. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:47, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It seems that the image is updated every 1/2 hour. [[Special:Contributions/152.23.97.150|152.23.97.150]] 06:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: Given that the images switch back and forth between other images already seen, and that the comic should be viewable in the future, it seems unlikely that it's any thing like a simple sha256 of part of the timestamp. I think it's more likely a function of half-hours and minutes (assuming we continue to get a new possible image every half-hour). [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: The images do cycle, yes. But for some reason I have never seen the img where Megan is looking behind her. Also wouldn't it be difficult to show a sequential story (like the rising tide) if the previous images keep cycling ?

Hash appears to be SHA-256. I tried some obvious hashes ("1", "11901", "1190_1", "1190.1") to no avail. Maybe this is HMAC-SHA256? Also, I would suggest trying Unix timestamps. [[Special:Contributions/131.156.236.149|131.156.236.149]] 06:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I've been trying to make educated guesses as to what's being hashed here: http://www.xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator ... he could also be using hash(hash2(value)) which would be virtually impossible to crack. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It's entirely possible that the "hash" is actually randomly generated. Just a thought. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 07:03, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Regarding sha256. Its most likely some hash of a timestamp, but if he doesnt wants us to crack it, he would have prefixes a password.. sha256('secretcode17:30'). Im just saying, if he doesnt wants us to crack it, we most likely cant.
I've tested all unixtimestamps from 1300000000 to 1364390334. Also "00:00" to "23:59", with and without the colon and a load of other formats. {{unsigned|77.243.128.133}}

Alright, this is probably not going to work, but I'm trying to exploit Randall's awesomeness here. Maybe he decided to take the time-stamps from the user? I don't know if that's even possible... That would then allow people in different time zones to obtain different images simultaneously. (What's the corollary of Godwin's law for a bunch of math-and-science nerds and relativity? Is there one?) Clicking the img src url on the comic's html page, give me this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png : Never mind.. apparently others see the same image too.

Could he be doing this live? Monitoring the discussion on the net? Collaborative, crowdsourced comic-ing? Reminds me of those you-decide-what-the-character-does-next-and-flip-to-appropriate-page parallel plot novels.

[[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Let's just compare the two pictures and see how the bottom right changes, which I believe is water and they are indeed waiting for the tide. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:I'm adding urls to pictures bellow, edit freely.
::They change every 5 minutes, will try to keep track.

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f8/time.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/timeasdf.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time6.png

:I have uploaded all the different images onto the wiki, in the order that they were revealed. To avoid needless duplication of effort, I'll put them up in the explanation page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It just went back to the second image... [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: And now changed to something new. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/cdcc6b46b32c53f8596cd0106958b42c4260b9cbc022e6d94054147aa6554960.png
:: The images do look alike, but they're all different. Thanks David. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 08:04, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: No..I checked the random string. They're exactly the same. In fact, now it's gone back to the second image. Again. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 08:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Just found this JavaScript code embedded in the comic HTML source (Update: Reformatted to prevent eye-bleeding): http://pastebin.com/4vNJH53Z

I'm no programmer but this looks important to me...

:Moved it to pastebin, so it doesn't clutter the page so much. [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:22, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

:Doesn't really help. The script basically changes the image when something happens (probably some time passes, although it's possible there is more hidden there). WHAT image then appears is not directed by the script, but by the site. Specifically, the image displayed as first is taken from [http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time], while the script asks for [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber) http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber)] ... which is, if you get correct "r", probably some json containing the image url. So, even if you hack the script, you will not get all possible urls. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:: ... actually, given that the script part doesn't seem to do anything just now, it's even possible it's for later (ie, starts producing images when the correct time come). Or maybe there is a bug somewhere in the code :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:27, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Thanks for explaining. Why hasn't anyone posted this before? Could "location.hash" possibly have anything to do with the method used to generate the image hash key? Also, why is this code so difficult to follow (Obfuscation?)? So many questions... Sorry if this is just a huge waste of ''Time''.

:::: <code>location</code> is the URI of the page. <code>location.hash</code> is the part of the uri after the ''#'' character. If you go to [https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose], you'll see some debugging output in your browser's debugging console (Firefox: Web Console or Firebug, Chrome: Development Tools). But nothing to decode the algorithm... :-( --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 10:01, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::::: Well, I don't know what's doing it, but there's definitely some script (probably this script) that's refreshing the image automatically. I left the comic open for an hour or so and noticed the image had changed. I refreshed with #verbose in Chrome right before the 30 minute mark and got the following in the console.
<pre>
connecting to event source: http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png"}", lastEventId: "e2992bf0-9557-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 0 seconds before displaying comic 832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_start". time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png"}", lastEventId: "79580fe8-9558-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 4 seconds before displaying comic 847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png time07.min.js:1
connection error i {type: "error"} time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_error".
</pre>
::::: The script seems to poll the server every minute or two. It's different from before, where the image server itself redirected to the correct image. The auto refresh was probably always intended, but not quite ready when the comic went live. It may have turned out to be necessary too, so the image server doesn't have to do all the work. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 14:45, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

== Before obfuscation... ==
http://pastebin.com/dLiWsFyN
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 09:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:Moved to pastebin.[[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:34, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/426033682a26a0012a6f8e0c47287af91b7991a852d81c77402c937ffbd650c6.png

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1e/f46c6571393bee1ee649a7daae41f6328e63482506aef1e22607d22c47dd7027.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 22:51, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b0/88e3a0c8bba935c669606d9134314f811a0961985f968dd5d329e4695acc67c8.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 23:10, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me or or did Randall manage to make all of us perform a Denial of Service on xkcd.com, and explainxkcd.com ? xkcd.com seems much slower, and I keep getting "500 Internal server error" when accessing this site (explainxkcd.com). I guess that's the effect of having everybody hit F5 every few minutes :) [[Special:Contributions/193.239.192.194|193.239.192.194]] 11:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Earlier today, the server handled all the image redirections. The script you see above went through several mutations (currently at #8), with each mutation it seems that Randall is adding more servers and trying to split the load between them. This is basically how a bot-net works - we all run code written by some evil genius, and he's changing the code as time passes to serve some hidden purpose.
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 15:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:If he is using us as a botnet, then maybe the next comic will be something alluding to that.
:Probably like this: http://xkcd.com/350/

When I saw this comic last night and that there was no explanation up, I thought to myself "How zen." I figured that Randall was going through a calm streak before throwing us the utterly ridiculous April 1st comic. Did it come early, or does he have something even bigger planned for us? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:05, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry, did you miss the bit where this comic updates every 30 minutes and all the server error messages being caused by the massive traffic to both the wiki and the main xkcd website? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:08, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
::Well, when I said "last night" and "no explanation", I implied that I wasn't aware of that at the time, which is why I thought what I did. Of course, it is now "now" and there is an explanation, so that should answer your question. Also, since it's not April 1st, and Randall has consistently released something major on that day, the jury is still out, leaving my question quite open (though I was really only asking for opinions). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:20, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

wanted to add an image to the list above, but didn't know at what timestamp to add it, got 69085b480cb82911b19fe8f114909756989eed89b0d227db0f59c1843de7ba24.png at 2013-03-26 09:47 CET (UTC+0100)
/Puggan
:The hours denote the time since the initial release of the comic. The page is still a work in progress, we're going to bring that all into one image file soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:13, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

This site should seriously consider cloudflare, it's perfect at times like this and takes minutes to set up. I run all my sites through it and it saves a lot of page huts and bandwidth.
[[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]]Evan Pyle
:Or at least make the main page a static page that refreshes every so often. I'm guessing that most of the traffic is going to the front page with not as much traffic to the actual comic page [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Some of the images on the wiki (looks like time38.png through time48.png) are slightly different than what is on the main site. The lines are slightly thicker, as though someone did them based on screen captures.
[[User:Royce|Royce]] ([[User talk:Royce|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Well, at least we have the hashes so they can be re-retrieved, so nothing is really lost, right? Should we add links to the original? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:I uploaded two of the "thicker" images and one of the "regular" ones, and I did the same thing for all of them: right-click->save-as. Given that the "thick" ones are all clustered together, I think the files on the xkcd site changed. [[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 18:21, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Story so far: [http://static.odysseus.anderson.name/1190.gif linky] [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 19:30, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

I guess we shall find out in ~10 minutes if Randall is trolling us. [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

... so that's it?

Did I just miss something or we've all been epically trolled for 48 hours? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:Motherofgod, no, he's *still* going!''' [[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

What makes you think he's done? [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:25, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm still waiting for the water level to drop precipitously... and then for red spiders to run over everything [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:28, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, strip 1191 is up so I assumed it was over. I guess it's not. Until April's Fools maybe? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:32, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
: It is not over -- the image is still updating, at least it did for me [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])
:: Yes, it's not over. Last frame shows just a minimal movement of Cueball's head, but no doubt it's still ongoing. [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:49, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
::: Given the fact the strips for the last 2 weeks have been comparatively simple, I expect Randall has been planning this for at least that long. {{unsigned|101.98.156.239}}

Considering the common theme with "today's" strip, anyone wanna guess that he's sending us a hex-encoded file over a really slow modem link, slated to complete April 1? Anyone wanna run "magic" over the hashes and see if they come up with a compression codec or something? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:45, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:I liked this idea and crunched the hex data for 00:00 to 51:00 into a binary file (http://filebin.ca/bcGyfUvdgBi). Can't see anything resembling a file header, but that doesn't really say much. If this is compressed header-less data there wouldn't likely be any easily discernible patterns. Haven't really tried running the data through anything, zlib was one that came to mind but haven't tried it.

[[Special:Contributions/194.114.62.72|194.114.62.72]] I'm pretty shure it's not the seaside, but a lake - the water level is not changing at all.

Its probably going to loop back on itself, eventually, and repeat this way forever. [[Special:Contributions/113.160.224.209|113.160.224.209]] 07:12, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

For those wondering about the Javascript behind this: I posted my analysis of the Javascript [http://www.echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=760#p3303579 on the xkcd forums], and further de-obfuscated and annotated the code over on [https://gist.github.com/cincodenada/5246094 GitHub]. Here's a quick summary though: it holds open a connection to xkcd's servers and listens for instructions and follows them. Those instructions are either "load a new image" or "reload the page". So, you don't have to mash F5, it will automatically update the image when they're available. We have no way to control how fast the images come or when they do, and it's quite possible for them to update forever. --[[User:Fiveofoh|Fiveofoh]] ([[User talk:Fiveofoh|talk]]) 06:41, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

This is a series of animation frames. I suspect they will only ever be shown once (based on the fact you can only get the current image, not previous or future images -- this is in keeping with the title, "Time", which passes and which you can't ever get back]. The filenames are UUIDs too long to guess, so somebody needs to start collecting the filenames here so that a proper flipbook can be assembled. Here's the latest URL: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png] Go here to collect URLs: [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource]
:We've kinda already been doing that. They're the big long filenames next to each timestamp. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh my god it's game of thrones played out in 2D [[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]] Evan Pyle

Is it just me, or do the last two frames look like someone just threw a rock at the castle? [[Special:Contributions/67.167.81.143|67.167.81.143]] 14:20, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is the cannon ball that I have been expecting since they first started building castles. [[User:ChrisPUT|ChrisPUT]] ([[User talk:ChrisPUT|talk]]) 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

== Create an animation on this page ==
Here's a bit of JavaScript to execute in your browser's JavaScript console. (Cmd+Alt+K on Firefox for Mac, for example.)

/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});

/* Create an image in the top-right corner of the screen */
var img = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('img'));
img.setAttribute('style', 'position: fixed; top: 1em; right: 1em;');

/* Allow removing the image by clicking */
img.onclick = function () {
img.parentNode.removeChild(img);
};

var texts = [0,51,169,174];
var delays = [0,500,700,1500];

/* Cycle through the frames */
img.onload = function () {
/* Pause a bit longer for the text frames */
var idx = texts.indexOf(img.i);
var delay = ( idx > 0 ) ? delays[idx] : 50;
setTimeout(function () {
img.src = images[++img.i % images.length];
}, delay);
};

/* Start with the first frame */
img.i = 0;
img.src = images[img.i];

— [http://jan.moesen.nu/ Jan!] [[Special:Contributions/94.23.195.79|94.23.195.79]] 09:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

---Thanks for the script!. Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows Chrome [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 13:11, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script 'coz there are three text panels now. [[User schnitz]] 19:00, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

The one for the prior half hour (5AM - 5:30AM EST, 27 March 2013) is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/5450bd39ee84a394467fabcaf92f1a5711c2a4eca24c8bd8a8cec829496e3dd7.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:26, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

And the one for the following half hour is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/c2ea85f1ab92f2f80e9c4655c47f5c7effc0a7da01c8a88493864845855b3be8.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:31, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Call me a paranoid, but I think this strip is all about 9/11:
*If you read the strip number (1190) backwards, you get 09/11
*This subject is recurrent on xkcd
*As far as we have seen, there is a destroyed tower and they are rebuilding it
*The next strip, following 1190 (or 09/11), mentions war against countries with large oil reserves but low military capacity. {{unsigned|143.107.105.14}}
:I feel like that's kind of a stretch, I'm pretty sure it's just a story about a day at the beach.

If a new strip goes up every 30 minutes our time, and if each strip comprises of, let's say for the sake of simplicity, one minute in their time; to build the sand castle [frames 24-117 = 93 frames] so far it's taken almost 2 days our time, which would be about an hour and a half their time if each frame is a minute. Using my scale, an hour our time is 2 minutes their time, a day is 48 minutes, and our month is their 24 hour day. If we assume Randall plans to give us a 24 hour period from that world's time, and we use the minute-per-frame rate I made up, than we'd probably be looking at a month of images our time. I guess we'll just have to see how long he's got it planned to go on. -boB

Has it ended? All that's left is the sandcastle, and there doesn't seem to have been anything else changed on it for a few hours.

It's zooming out! When look at the gifs showing the frames in succession, the last 3 show the castle getting slightly smaller each time!
: It's true! The most recent also shows the edge of another castle, leading me to believe it's part of some kind of sand castle contest, probably including some of xkcd's other recurring characters!
::Weird, now it's not showing that, Randall must have put something up too soon.
A controllable version of the same comic is available at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/ - slow/fast movement, pause, control back and forth. It also has the image # on the top left. Auto updating. [[Special:Contributions/59.182.173.88|59.182.173.88]] 20:56, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:Can you add on-screen buttons, so it's usable on phones and tablets without hardware keyboard?{{unsigned|81.23.24.48}}

looky here: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/4c92727698b704ee1d02fbd37c94c220d16be4ad3ff6fc03a3fb77ea6d96434f.png [[Special:Contributions/97.88.147.176|97.88.147.176]] 23:14, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
That was a glitch on the server that revealed a future frame, but it has been corrected and that link is now a 404 not found. I guess if we want to see it in context we'll just have to "Wait for it."{{unsigned|Bugstomper}}
: Well now we're back to that picture as the present frame. [[User:Racerdude09|Racerdude09]] ([[User talk:Racerdude09|talk]]) 03:14, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Is someone gonna update the transcript to note them building a sandcastle, as well as the dialogue so far (consisting of Megan and Cueball saying goodbye to each other at No. 52)?--[[Special:Contributions/69.119.250.251|69.119.250.251]] 00:38, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else think that they're roleplaying Dom and Mal in Limbo? [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 05:36, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I think they're bulding a sand replica of King's Landing for the Game Of Thrones season 3 premiere {{unsigned|201.239.18.75}}
: My first idea regarding the sand castle was also about Game of Thrones, but i dismissed it as being too biased.. --[[Special:Contributions/217.13.68.110|217.13.68.110]] 13:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I have modified the code "'''''/* Collect all frame image URLs */'''''" to see only images of the "'''Frame by Frame Breakdown'''" section :
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelector('#Frame_by_Frame_Breakdown').parentElement.nextElementSibling.nextElementSibling.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/wiki/images/"][href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});
(Sorry for my English... and the ugly code...) {{unsigned|194.119.85.99}}

Anyone else think this is going to be related to Wed's cartoon? I'm half-expecting Black Hat to show up from the future, with advanced weaponry, to take oil from the sandcastle of the past. {{unsigned|173.180.60.43}}

Guys, i think we might have lost a few frames in between, no? When did he upload the first image? like, the exakt time... knowing this we could calculate the amount of images there should be and compare to what we have... [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 18:04, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

The four comics from 89:00 to 90:30 (most recent so far) look the same to me, but the PNG files have different CRCs for the image data blocks, though the metadata in the PNG files are all the same. I wonder if there might be something subtle hidden in the images, or the way they're compressed. [[Special:Contributions/24.160.133.3|24.160.133.3]] 22:54, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a very minor difference in the water level on those images, even though the water level has been static in most of the other images. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.210|129.21.63.210]] 02:05, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't think the title text is a reference to anything except for... wait for it... THE MONGOLS ;-) [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.34|81.23.24.34]] 23:00, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Unless the 99:30 image was misnamed, it's not included in the list of images. Does anyone know where this frame went? [[User:Bob|Bob]] 14:18, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that rain in two recent panels? [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:21, 29 March 2013 (UTC)r

Can someone identify for sure what Cueball is doing in 105:00? His arms seems to be crossed, and his holding something in his hand. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 14:30, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he is shivering, which would allude to a cool down common with rain storms? [[User:Jeremy1026|Jeremy1026]] ([[User talk:Jeremt1026|talk]]) 14:51 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Megan just wheeled in a trebuchet! This is going to be fun! [[Special:Contributions/69.246.10.71|69.246.10.71]] 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
Now she's launching a rock. I wonder which tower it might hit. March 2013, at 17:08. Flew over the first two and might impact far right tower if it continues. 17:48

I think this is all an elaborate 'joke' which will keep running until Monday - April Fools' Day [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)