explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2509: Useful Geometry Formulas

2021-08-31T15:19:38Z

Tovodeverett:

Area formulas are for 2D object as seen instead of surface of a projected 3D object. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.200|162.158.89.200]] 02:36, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

The "decorative stripes and dotted lines" are the parts of the diagrams that are intended to indicate the third dimension. The conceit of the comic is that these are superfluous. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 02:56, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Ca someone explain how the last one works? [[User:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e]] ([[User talk:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|talk]]) 04:28, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

: ''bh'' is the area of the front face. The top face is a parallelogram with sides ''d'' and ''b'', with an angle of ''θ'' between them, so its area is ''d b sin(θ)''. The right face is a parallelogram with sides ''d'' and ''h'', with an angle of ''90º - θ'' between them, so its area is ''h d sin(90º - θ) = h d cos(θ)''. So the area of the whole picture is ''bh + d b sin(θ) + d h cos(θ)''.
: --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.24.165|172.68.24.165]] 04:46, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

:: In case you don't know the area of a parallelogram by heart, you can read d b sin(θ) as b * d sin(θ), where d sin(θ) is the height of the parallelogram; if you cut the right corner of the parallelogram off and add it on the left, you get a rectangle where the bottom side is b and the height is that d sin(θ), so it works out. The other parallelogram's area is h * d cos(θ), with the same reasoning. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.241|162.158.90.241]] 05:00, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Funnily enough, both this comic and [[2506]] are about projection. [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 05:11, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

: I had considered working that into the explanation, but that needs to account for the fact that the indicated measurements (e.g. the angle θ) have to be read in 2D, not in 3D and projected. But it would be correct to say that the 2D shapes are projections of simple 3D objects. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.149|162.158.90.149]] 05:23, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

;Does the bottom-left formula have a mistake?</s>
It seems like the bottom-left formula should be ''A''=''d''(''πr''+''h'') rather than ''A''=''d''(''πr''/2+''h''), because there are two half-ellipses that add up to a complete ellipse. Am I missing something? (This doesn't ''seem'' like an extra joke, does it?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.179|162.158.106.179]] 05:28, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
: No, it's correct. ''d'' is all of the major axis, not just half, so we have to divide that by ''2''. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.83|162.158.92.83]] 05:51, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
:: Oh, right; good call! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.179|162.158.106.179]] 06:49, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

;Does the top-right formula have a mistake?
I think it should be in brackets, the top triangle area needs the ''1/2'' also, so it should be: ''A''=''1/2(πab + bh)''
:No, it's correct. The bottom is a half ellipse, with area ''1/2 π a b'', and the top is a triangle with base ''2 b'' and height ''h'', so its area is ''1/2 2b h = bh''. The total area is ''1/2 π a b + b h''.
--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.25.144|172.68.25.144]] 06:49, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

;3D formulae for reference:
''4πr^2''

''πb(a+√(b^2+h^2))'' if a=b

''πr(2r+h)''

''2(bd+bh+dh)''

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.80|162.158.107.80]] 09:54, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
:It would be clarifying to add these to the comic, but of course they are flagrantly wrong. [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 09:57, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
::Surely ripe for a table, in place of much of the longhand paragraph spiel (which could be kept, but simpler for just the narrative but otherwise non-technical details)... "Shape (2D)", "Area", "Pretended Shape (3D)", "Surface Area", "Volume", ¿"Notes"? (Not sure about specific Notes, some things could/should be said below the formulae/descriptions in the relevent cell to which that matters, in special cases where necessary, which might be better than a Notes either empty or jammed up with all the combined row-specific corollaries, etc, that I can imagine.) Anyway, an idea. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.11|141.101.76.11]] 11:56, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
:::I think the formulas are correct. Those given should be from the text book, not for those with ellipse bases. Someone has put a lot of work into giving these complicated formulas for the cone and cylinder. But I think that is overkill. I have added to the explanation the simple versions before, and would suggest deleting the complicated, which was never the intention of either text book or Randall! ;-)--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:36, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

add an extra edited image that is the comic without dotted lines to make it easier to see the 2d shapes? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.177|172.69.71.177]] 12:46, 31 August 2021 (UTC)Bampf

Please do check my (additional) changes to the bottom-right item (hexagon-cum-prism) in both main and transcript texts. As hinted in my edit notes, cos-theta is important because the skewed tetrahedron (rhomboid, whether in plan or the true area of the 'fake' perspective) is not d*b in area. The fact that without the theta it would look like a standard oblique orthographic projection with entirely right-angled corners is perhaps part of the (intended?) confusion, although we can probably assume that all unmarked (and, of course, uncongruent/uncomplimentary) angles are 90° so that it isn't a full on parallelepiped with an additional phi-angle on an adjacent face and a complicated third dependent-angle somewhere upon the remaining face-plane. As such, I put in the cosine element to both the 3d surface formula (it only affects the bd-shape, the both of them) and the 3d volume (from this shape, extrudes without further adjustment straight up the h-axis), but I ''always'' have to second guess if I've done this simple bit of trig right, it seems, even though I should know better and just trust to SOCAHTOA... ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.146|162.158.158.146]] 13:24, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
:(Case in point: I thought I'd added cosines, and I'd put sines ''anyway'', when fussing about copying the clipboarded theta-character into the right place! Re-read, seen, corrected(?) this myself. Unless I thought I was was wrong; but I was wrong, I was right!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.145|162.158.155.145]] 13:33, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

I believe both of those prism formulas should use sine theta. If theta is ninety degrees, then sine theta will be 1 (thus reducing to the rectangular case), whereas cosine of 90 degrees is zero.[[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 15:19, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2301: Turtle Sandwich Standard Model

2020-05-02T18:51:50Z

Tovodeverett:

This is the first time I have had a chance to see the comic early enough to make a meaningful contribution to the explanation, but this time I have no idea whatsoever what the comic is about! [[User:Moosenonny10|Moosenonny10]] ([[User talk:Moosenonny10|talk]]) 20:32, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

Looks like it is referencing the standard model of elementary particles. The title text mentions four of the quarks(top,bottom,charm,strange) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.150|162.158.106.150]] 20:38, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

Disagree with DgbrtBOT that this is primarily to do with genetics. I agree that it's about the standard model. Up, down, charmed and strange. It may 'because I'm dumb', but even I'm not that dumb.
:I agree that this is not about genetics. The usual Mendelian diagram has the same traits in both dimensions. Maybe he didn't make the particle physics connection because that has more than 4 boxes. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:52, 1 May 2020 (UTC)
:Agree with Barmar: This is not at all about genetics, but only about the particles standard model. Hence the name given by Randal, hence the dimensions not fitting Mendel, hence the lab reference and hence the biological absurd combinations. It does not fit genetics at all, but it perfectly fits a basic assumption of the standard particle modell: That every combination does exist. Labs all over the world have spend decades trying find/prove the existance of a particle predicted by lining up the dimensions of the particles standard model just as shown here and most seeming just as absurd. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.52|172.68.51.52]] 00:06, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

I added a bit about the physics part of it, but it can definitely use more information! [[User:ChunyangD|ChunyangD]] ([[User talk:ChunyangD|talk]]) 20:52, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

Randall missed an obvious physics/turtle joke "turtles all the way down" reference here [[Glenn Strycker]] 4:56pm CDT 1 May 2020

If this really is about genetics, which I question, it seems likely that most people who haven't studied genetics would find the use of genetics jargon to be less than helpful in an explanation.[[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 22:46, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

In my opinion, the ExplainXKCD community has been successfully trolled by the contributor of the explanation of this comic, and with humorous effect. The troll consists of an explanation couched entirely in terms used primarily by biologists but generally difficult for others to understand, contrary to this community's practice of trying to simplify. [[Wikipedia:genotype|Genotypes]], [[Wikipedia:phenotype|phenotypes]], [[Wikipedia:Punnett Square|Punnett Squares]], [[Wikipedia:heterozygous|heterozygous]], [[Wikipedia:homozygous|homozygous]], [[WIkipedia:ontogeny|ontogeny]]. That being said, the contributor is certainly correct that the comic is about [[Wikipedia:genetics|genetics]], in that the depicted two-by-two square is immediately suggestive of the visual tool used for predicting the results of cross-breeding experiments. And the comic is certainly also about [[Wikipedia:particle physics|particle physics]], in that the comic title refers to a "Standard Model" and then the title text alludes to particle names used in the [[Wikipedia:standard model|standard model of particle physics]]. So the comic's joke is about the unexpected juxtaposition of genetics with particle physics, and also is about turtle sandwiches which, as drawn, are intrinsically funny anyway. Yes, @Glen, all the way down. JohnB [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.116|162.158.75.116]] 00:25, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

This looks less like a Punnet Square than it does like one of those political alignment chart memes. Punnet squares use symbols next to each other to designate genotypes, not diagrams of the results. Not to mention that the individual labels along the sides are supposed to be alleles, not separate effing traits! That whole paragraph is completely wrong and should be removed. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 00:44, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Isn't this about supersymmetry? The missing pieces are the bosonic partners of the known fermions (matter particles), and the fermionic partners of the known bosons (force particles).... Joel K

For a second, I thought it said "Turkey Sandwich Standard Model"[[User:AllTheWayDown|AllTheWayDown]] ([[User talk:AllTheWayDown|talk]]) 01:31, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

This is clearly a use of the box method for factoring a trinomial in standard form (ax^2 + bx + c) which the coefficient of the first term (say ax^2) is not simply 1 (a<>1). Actually, the moment I saw it I knew exactly what it was, simply because I have been helping my high school son with his algebra the past few weeks. I laughed out loud! I never heard of this method as a math undergrad because it was brand new at the time, but now it's evidently fairly standard.

You create a 2x2 box, and write the first term of the trinomial (ax^2) in the top right corner and the last term (c) in the lower left. Then you have to figure out what factoring of a x c gives you two middle terms that when added will yield the middle term, bx. Let's call those b1x and b2x (where b1 x b2 = a x c, and b1 + b2 = b). You put those terms, b1x and b2x in the two empty boxes (in either order). Then you pull out common factors along each row and column until they multiply correctly to get the table. The terms you have pulled out then are your two binomial factors of the trinomial.

Randall has factored a turtle sandwich where the first term (ax^2) is a sandwich and the last term (c) is a turtle. These are the known terms (check marks). The unknown terms, through working the box method, turn out work if the bread is the common factor along the top row and the turtle shell on the bottom row. The sandwich filling is the common factor in the first column, and the shell-less turtle is the common factor on the second column.

I believe the alt-text is a play on the fact that, if I'm not mistaken, there are more ways to factor a trinomial if you allow imaginary numbers, because that allows square roots of negative numbers. Analogously, dividing shells differently suggests subatomic particles—thus, various quark flavors like charm and strange.
[[User:EternalLearner|EternalLearner]] ([[User talk:EternalLearner|talk]]) 01:52, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Apropos of nothing, and just for the comic relief of the commenters, I searched for 'turtle' 'sandwich' 'standard' 'model' and came across [https://www.globalxvehicles.com/turtle.html | this bad boy]. I couldn't resist sharing. Thanks for the knowledge. -- brad

Uhm,wut,mostly. Okay so the earth is on a turtle. What holds the turtle up? It's turtles, all the way down, I've heard but? "Turtle legs" is my answer. Why I'm here: didn't xkcd.com used to say it was updated Monday, w, f, ? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.182|162.158.78.182]] 04:55, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Please refer to http://recipes-plus.com/recipe/turtle-sandwiches-kids-30062 for the top left sighting. [[User:Steven Nijhuis|Steven Nijhuis]] ([[User talk:Steven Nijhuis|talk]]) 05:35, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

LOL. This is the most random comments I have seen on one of these. This is 100% particle physics. Standard model of particle physics, up quarks, charmed quarks.. this is a commentary on how we know there is gravity, and we know there are electrons and we have a standard model which is still being filled in, in order to unify the theories.

--Adam Outler [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.131|108.162.238.131]] 06:03, 2 May 2020 (UTC)
----

I'm a bit confused by these comments. It seems like people are getting thrown off by the 2x2 table thinking that the comic must be related to where they've seen tables before (genetics / factoring quadratics / ...). This is wrong though, this comic is 100% particle physics.
In particle theoretical (particle) physics, the way forward has often been unification (combining forces of nature mathematically). We know the Standard Model is wrong, so physicists have been searching for ways to theoretically extend the known theory for decades. One of the most popular ways of doing this is looking for a larger symmetry group that encompasses the known symmetry groups of the equations governing the Standard Model. And the first time that physicists got REALLY close to a working theory was extending to E(5). When doing this mathematical extension of the Standard Model, you automatically get new messenger particles that are predicted (leptoquarks) that would theoretically make a transition between leptons and quarks possible (much like the weak interaction allows for transitions between quarks). The whole thing tends to get represented as a matrix visually, much like the turtle sandwich joke.
tl;dr: The joke makes perfect sense in theoretical particle physics. This type of diagram is common in extending the Standard Model (which is definitely incomplete) to a larger symmetry group like E(5).
Tom B

Outside of anything scientific, I think it's also referring to the memetic "Is a BLANK a sandwich?" debate (normally a hotdog or a calzone) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.84|141.101.107.84]] 18:12, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Anyone else mistakenly see the tomato slice/cheese/lettuce as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_(chocolate) Turtle Chocolate] and a slice of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_pie Turtle Pie]?

Talk:2296: Sourdough Starter

2020-04-23T14:37:25Z

Tovodeverett:

Symbiosis is good for the species involved in that relationship, but it may still be harmful to other organisms. What Randall is suggesting is that humans are collateral damage. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:37, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

Is there controversy around covid-19 coming from cave bats rarely visited by humans, or would the bats be part of the convoluted lifecycle? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.211|162.158.74.211]] 22:02, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

Is this comic suggesting the yeast would allow the virus to survive without a human host, and when we later swap sourdough starters the virus could then find a new human host to infect? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 01:05, 21 April 2020 (UTC)
:The virus and yeast can have working symbiosis without ever coming into physical contact. It's just that the lockdown probably ends before the virus will be actually eradicated, so large meetings just after end of lockdown is not good idea. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:19, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

That is not a theory in the caption. It has no evidence and makes no testable predictions, at least as far as I can tell. It is just a hypothesis. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 01:56, 21 April 2020 (UTC)
:Maybe not a theory in the real world, but this isn't the real world. Perhaps in the world of this comic there is evidence and there were predictions that have been tested, making it a theory to Cueball. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:17, 21 April 2020 (UTC)
:With a bit of reading online, I've discovered that your definition of "theory" is but one of many different definitions of the word. In some contexts, theory is synonymous with hypothesis, according to Merriam-Webster. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 21 April 2020 (UTC)
: Theory: This comic is the same category as "My hobby". Aka: It's a joke. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:21, 21 April 2020 (UTC)
: "theory - noun - an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action" - that seems to describe how Randall used the word [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:03, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

In the UK at least, it's been too successful. You can't get flour in the shops most times. Apparently, most flour goes into big sacks for bakeries and the like. The mills haven't been able to gear up their production of small bags for domestic use. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.56|162.158.159.56]] 09:24, 21 April 2020 (UT

My pet theory, before Boris Johnson got a bit better and ''didn't'' relax measures, was that COVID had deliberately infected half the Cabinet in order to gain the authority to infect everyone else, like common Pod People tropes would have happen. (That didn't happen, but maybe it's just being more clever. Like causing the PPE supply chains to break under the strain.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.210|162.158.34.210]] 10:46, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

Isn't "swapping starters" a Pokemon reference? You know, getting together and trading starter Pokemon until everyone has all 3. [[User:Daevin|Daevin]] ([[User talk:Daevin|talk]]) 14:53, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

I assumed this was a continuation of the previous comic: precise number + garbage = garbage; perfectly good flour + sourdough starter = garbage that tastes so bad not even microbes want to eat it.
: Bakers gonna bake, Haters gonna hate... [[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 09:48, 22 April 2020 (UTC)

Have to confess: The yeasts (and lactobacilli) got me - still waiting for the virus. [[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 09:48, 22 April 2020 (UTC)
: I wonder if this point (that lactobacilli are an important part of '''sour'''dough should be added to the actual explanation above.[[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 14:37, 23 April 2020 (UTC)

Sourdough fanatics insist, despite solid evidence to the contrary, that the yeast strains in their carefully maintained starter material are identical to those present when their greatgreatgrandmother started the very first batch. Stuff flies in through the window, or off your fingers, or whatever, every time the starter is exposed to air. Whatever -- the final product still tastes great. And after all, "Viruses HATE This One Simple Trick To Kill Them" : bake to kill off everything in the dough. [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 10:48, 22 April 2020 (UTC)
: I wouldn't say I'm a fanatic at any level, but we do make sourdough pancakes on a semi-regular basis. I recognize that the starter I have maintained for 20+ years has altered over time through the introduction of new strains and possibly through mutation, but it is still linked to the starter I received. After all, I still consider myself to be me after 40+ years! I received the starter from my mother, who in turn received it from a family that received it from a family (and so on) with the claim that it traces back to the Alaska Goldrush days. We have no way of knowing for certain if the claim is true, but since we live in Anchorage, it might actually be true. I also like to think of all the evolutionary bottlenecks my starter has gone through - we sometimes go 6 months with it barely hanging on in the fridge, and I keep two copies running in parallel as a safety net, but I suspect lengthy periods of fridge life have definitely shaped the starter to be fridge resilient. It gets a little funky, and I've lost one copy from time to time and had to fork from the other, but a month stretch of sustained weekly pancake making has it back in good form. So maybe Randall's not that far off - my starter knew it was getting sketchy and called in COVID-19 to save it! And furthermore, I forked it and sent a copy to live with a friend, so now there's more redundancy in the network! And we're all making pancakes and smiling at the bubbly froth in the morning![[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 14:37, 23 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2293: RIP John Conway

2020-04-18T04:39:01Z

Tovodeverett: /* Conway died on a Doomsday */

This is really very impressive. The design of the stick figure to allow it to release a glider that ascends upwards (the "soul" rising to "heaven" or whatever) with the body decaying - that's a hard thing to get right using just the Game of Life rules. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.175|172.69.68.175]] 17:49, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:Although Randall is clever, the Game of Life has been studied for so long that I'm sure this is a well-known animation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:29, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:: I played with the game a bunch in the past, but I've only done a bit of research after this appeared. I don't immediately find any previous report of this starting arrangement
:: This is unlikely, as the Game of Life has an uncountable number of patterns of this size, some of which are still being discovered. The pattern above is 7 cells wide by 9 cells tall - the number of distinct patterns that can be drawn in that box nears 2 --> 60 --> 1 (2^60). It's most likely that patterns such as this one are commonplace, and Randall just fiddled around until he reached one that he desired. The pattern itself, however, has likely never been discovered before. (As a fun postscript, [http://catagolue.appspot.com/object/xp16_0c2w3vz33032988/b3s23 a notable 8-cell wide, 9-cell tall pattern oscillating at period 16], just slightly larger than the one above, was discovered in February 2020.)[[User:Hdjensofjfnen|Hdjensofjfnen]] ([[User talk:Hdjensofjfnen|talk]]) 21:31, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:::I suspect it's probably more likely that he worked it out backwards, rather than "just fiddled with it." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.244|108.162.216.244]] 04:24, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
::::AFAIK, many CAs such as Life have the property of being irreversible, which is the entire point for various pattern search efforts.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.54|162.158.92.54]] 07:13, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::He probably started with the floater, and adjusted the rest so it wouldn't interfere. Most figures decay in the game of life (I learned when playing with it, decades ago) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.79|162.158.111.79]] 10:45, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::The Game of Life has been researched a lot. One sub-problem is finding an arrangement of cells that cannot be produced by a prior arrangement of cells. They are called Garden of Eden patterns, and the known ones are not small. Glider generators are rather common, so it is most likely that the initial pattern was created by working backward from an existing glider generator.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.125|173.245.54.125]] 17:33, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

was there a placeholder comic posted before the gif went live?

:I am certain there was one with "uh oh one of the lights went out" "that's not supposed to happen" and a picture of a pattern that I did not recognise, which I found to be quite sad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.54|162.158.92.54]] 10:35, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

::This was SMBC, and the pattern is a glider generator. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.211|188.114.111.211]] 12:30, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Looks like this is second animated comic in xkcd, besides 1116(though 1190 could be possibly counted together) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.190.16|172.69.190.16]] 19:34, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:Uh, [[1331: Frequency]] and [[1264: Slideshow]] immediately come to mind, and then I remember about [[961: Eternal Flame]]. There's a lot more than two. [[User:Volleo6144|Volleo6144]] ([[User talk:Volleo6144|talk]]) 19:43, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
::[[:Category:Comics with animation]]; just added it. [[User:Yngvadottir|Yngvadottir]] ([[User talk:Yngvadottir|talk]]) 20:19, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

The explanation says that the simulation is run on an infinite grid, but even when the grid is calculated out beyond the border of the viewable area, bounding errors & boundary formations can occur. I've never seen ''any'' implementation that actually produces an infinite, nor even ''practically'' infinite grid. (In fact, wasn't there a Minecraft mod that runs until it lags out the engine?) Can anybody point me to a truly infinite grid implementation? Conway's ''definitely'' was not infinite, he even commented at length about the boundary formations that show up at the grid edges (which are among the most subjectively beautiful, incidentally). I think the explanation needs correction?
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:59, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
: The explanation is describing Conway's game of life, not any particular implementation IMHO. No change needed IMHOA. Also, the previous post was not signed properly. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.167|162.158.107.167]] 21:47, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
::Except many of Conway's observations about the "game" & even ''his initial description'' of it explicitly state & indeed hinge upon the fact that it's not (& thus far ''cannot'' be) implemented as an "infinite" grid. Part of the whole point of his experiment with it & the various demonstrations is to illustrate edge effects resulting from a finite range of calculations. '''It's extremely relevant that it's''' '''''not''''' '''infinite.''' It's actually kinda the whole point of his creating it, much the same way people working with fractals likewise tend to become very interested in bounding errors. The boundaries are where the interesting work is done. Apparently someone agreed with me at least in part, because they edited the wording. Thanks... Brian? I think we should actually '''add''' to the description of the "game" info highlighting the edge effects, because that's the primary focus of the project & its outgrowths in the first place. (We can't adequately simulate infinity & that's a big part of the interest in it.) Also, I frequently have to submit & then refresh & sign afterward because of the device I'm on. In this case I'm glad I did, because I saw your reply & the other new stuff!
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:17, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:Golly uses a grid of arbitrary size by default. It can very easily be verified to at least ±210000. (Note that it also includes finite rectangular and toroidal grids.) [[User:LegionMammal978|LegionMammal978]] ([[User talk:LegionMammal978|talk]]) 01:39, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:Winning Ways, p. 817 (3rd printing): 'Life is a "game" played on an infinite squared board.'--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.208|172.68.54.208]] 13:45, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
No computer [Citation Needed] can run an ''actual'' infinite grid, but with some intelligent bounding you can mitigate early signs of problems by maintaining "bubbles" of cells with offsets. You get into problems once you start machine-gunning out gliders (offsets will eventually overflow or awkwardly lose precision, depending on the var-types used; and maintaining a longer and longer bubble, or more and more bubbles just above glider-sized, is probably your other challenge) but it's probably good enough for most purposes. If you somehow have finite patterns that move out in huge (wasteless) cycles from the 'origin' and hold that path until enacting hugely-delayed doglegs (mathematically, it must be a point no further away than can be reasonably enumerated by the bits of information contained within each formation, and significantly less as it'd be a far less efficient count-down cycler than any folded LFSR, but it's ''imaginable'') to meet again at some arbitrary (though deterministic and replicable) distance out in the far far reaches of your abstracted bubble-land then it's possible you could ''pretend'' you have infinite space. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.101|162.158.91.101]] 22:26, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]], do you have a source for your claim that the main point of Conway's creation of Life was to study the edge effects? [https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life The page for Life on its own wiki] describes the Life grid as "infinite" and only mentions edge effects as inaccuracies to be avoided, and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Plq-D1gEk this Conway interview about Life's creation] doesn't mention edges at all.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.24|108.162.241.24]] 23:34, 13 April 2020‎ (UTC)
:First of all, as a tip, reply directly to the comment when you want to talk with someone. Secondly, yeah, I'm pretty sure that person's just blasting ass ham. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.28|172.69.69.28]] 02:49, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Possibly worth noting is the bit of artistry in the rendering. Munroe alters the step period of the iterations so that the deconstruction of the humanoid shape happens more quickly, with the stepping of the glider translating away occurring more slowly. [[User:Fixer|Fixer]] ([[User talk:Fixer|talk]]) 21:52, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

I like the comic very much, and I'm afraid to say I hadn't heard of his death in amongst... well, everything else. RIP.
While I'm here, though, I'm a bit concerned about the current cell generation cycle explanation, as it feels awkward. Currently it is (paraphrased) "live cells survive if just enough neighbours / dead cells come to life with exactly enough neighbours / any other dies or stays dead". I'd prefer something that more delineates it as birth (dead to live, by propogation from the right number of live neighbours), death (live to dead due to ''either'' isolation ''or'' overcrowding) and continuation of state in all other cases. Can't work out a good phrasing yet, but ''may'' try it out later. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.101|162.158.91.101]] 22:26, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
: Agreed 100%. I believe the problem lies in the confusion between "cell as in biology" versus "cell as in jail". It would be better to avoid the word "cell" and describe a grid with squares that are either inhabited or empty; inhabitants with two or three neighbours survive to the next generation, otherwise they die (square becomes empty the next generation); exactly three neighbours to an empty square will give birth (become inhabited) in the next generation; and any other empty square stays empty.

Given the cause of death, should this comic be listed among the Covid-19 series? [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 05:02, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:Yes.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:51, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:No. This is about John Conway. It would have presumably run regardless of the cause of death.

Interesting to see if the next comic is also a Covid-19 comic, because then it will be the 19th covid-19 comic... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:53, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

I really think this should not be regarded as a Covid-19 comic, since it's a memorial one and the cause of death is not important for this comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.105|162.158.93.105]] 14:18, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:Agree with the others, this is a memorial comic, NOT a COVID-19 comic. I feel like too many comics are being forced into the COVID-19 theme, when they have little to no relation. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.62|172.69.22.62]] 16:12, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
::Covid-19 is obviously not directly the topic of the comic, but it is related quite close. So I vote to re-add it to the category, but to put the mention of the connection with the other comics not into the explanation, or on its bottom. If this is acceptable, [[961: Eternal Flame]] should also be included to [[:Category:Cancer]]. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:43, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
:::Of course this is one in the Covid series. Randall very rarely makes tributes and it has been 5 year since the last. Conway is not very famous, and had he died a year ago, chances are Randall would not have made this comic. But because he died of Covid while all Randall's comics is about Covid he makes a tribute now. For the same reason I do not think that Eternal flame has anything with the cancer category. Because this was a tribute Randall made without any connection to a series of cancer comics. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:25, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
::::Thanks for correcting my spelling errors :D all of that is speculation. How do you know, that Randall is not a huge Conway fan? seems to play exactly into his geekynes. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:47, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::I also disagree that Randall is not a huge Conway fan. I believe he would be familiar and interested in the Game of Life automata, as a nerd/geek. It was previously mentioned over 10 years ago in [[696: Strip Games]]. I agree with Lupo's suggestions for this comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.44|172.69.34.44]] 17:01, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

== Is this original? ==

It would seem remarkable if Randall was able to create this starting pattern at such short notice. If it's copied from somewhere, we should provide that detail. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 03:54, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
:I do not know if it is taken from another place or a common/known pattern (the comments above seem to suggest otherwise), but it is not uncommon to have an obituary / memorial in stock for elderly persons of relevance. So it might be possible, that e.g. Randall played around with putting stick figures into a simulation, and accidently found this, deciding to keep it somewehere in his archive for this occasion. The seperation of the decaying body and the everlasting part going upward is actually obvious enough to connect with the idea to use it for this occasion. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:36, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

== First popularized? ==

The game's popularization "to the general public" in Windows 3.1 really depends on your definition of popular - how many members of the general public had PCs then? I mention this to point out that it was really Martin Gardner's article in SciAm in October 1970 that showed the game to a pretty wide public, although admittedly few people were in a position to program it at the time. As I maintained the University of Cambridge's version on the PDP-7 (then their only computer with a graphics display) in 1971-72 I'm still astonished at how early this publication was. Gardner then did the same for the Mandelbrot Set (which originated in the Other Cambridge...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.74|162.158.78.74]] 04:23, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

== Leaving the grid ==
<blockquote>"However, any given Game of Life is on a finite grid, so once the glider leaves the grid, it has ceased to exist."</blockquote>

Maybe a philosophical nitpick, but I'd like to dispute this. I submit that it is not possible for anything to "leave the grid". A glider can certainly hit the boundary of a bounded grid, but at that point boundary conditions disrupt the pattern and it ''ceases to be a glider''; thus, gliders cannot leave the grid.

Additionally, the grid can be finite and yet still have no boundary; it is quite common for Life grids to wrap one side of the screen to the other. On such a grid, the glider would in fact persist indefinitely. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 09:18, 16 April 2020 (UTC)
:Also we don't know if the grid maybe is larger than the screen shown in the comic. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:36, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

== Triple whammy ==
FYI: Richard Guy, who found the glider first, and is coauthor of Winning Ways with Conway, already died this March. In the biblical age of 103, so possibly nobody even bothered to check for the cause. (The third author, Elwyn Berlekamp, died a year ago.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.32|141.101.77.32]] 18:02, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

== Conway was not a fan of his fame for Life ==

" He’d like to remembered for any of his accomplishments except the Game of Life. He once said he checked the index of every book and if it listed the Game of Life he would refuse to read it." -- https://twitter.com/standupmaths/status/1249105201992171522 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 00:04, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

== Conway died on a Doomsday ==

The thing I remember Conway for (in addition to Game of Life) is discovering the Doomsday rule/algorithm for determining days of the week (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_rule). Of course, I'm nowhere near anywhere as fast as he is (I'm happy if I can do it without making a mistake in 10 seconds, more if I'm calculating under the influence). I find it fitting that Conway died on a Doomsday (Saturday for 2020).[[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 05:41, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
:Trivia: I was introduced to Conway's Game of Life through the book "The Magic of Lewis Carroll", by John Fischer (1973). One of the Life patterns was the "Cheshire Cat", which was a cat-like face that became a smile, then a paw-print (2x2 stable block). Conway developed the Doomsday algorithm from Lewis Carroll's initial formula, primarily by noting the even month pattern (4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, 12/12) and the 9 to 5 at 7-11 mnemonic.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.191|172.69.63.191]] 13:17, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
:Trivia: More trivia - April 11, 2020 was 42 days after Feb 29, 2020.[[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 04:39, 18 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2293: RIP John Conway

2020-04-17T05:41:45Z

Tovodeverett:

This is really very impressive. The design of the stick figure to allow it to release a glider that ascends upwards (the "soul" rising to "heaven" or whatever) with the body decaying - that's a hard thing to get right using just the Game of Life rules. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.175|172.69.68.175]] 17:49, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:Although Randall is clever, the Game of Life has been studied for so long that I'm sure this is a well-known animation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:29, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:: I played with the game a bunch in the past, but I've only done a bit of research after this appeared. I don't immediately find any previous report of this starting arrangement
:: This is unlikely, as the Game of Life has an uncountable number of patterns of this size, some of which are still being discovered. The pattern above is 7 cells wide by 9 cells tall - the number of distinct patterns that can be drawn in that box nears 2 --> 60 --> 1 (2^60). It's most likely that patterns such as this one are commonplace, and Randall just fiddled around until he reached one that he desired. The pattern itself, however, has likely never been discovered before. (As a fun postscript, [http://catagolue.appspot.com/object/xp16_0c2w3vz33032988/b3s23 a notable 8-cell wide, 9-cell tall pattern oscillating at period 16], just slightly larger than the one above, was discovered in February 2020.)[[User:Hdjensofjfnen|Hdjensofjfnen]] ([[User talk:Hdjensofjfnen|talk]]) 21:31, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:::I suspect it's probably more likely that he worked it out backwards, rather than "just fiddled with it." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.244|108.162.216.244]] 04:24, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
::::AFAIK, many CAs such as Life have the property of being irreversible, which is the entire point for various pattern search efforts.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.54|162.158.92.54]] 07:13, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::He probably started with the floater, and adjusted the rest so it wouldn't interfere. Most figures decay in the game of life (I learned when playing with it, decades ago) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.79|162.158.111.79]] 10:45, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::The Game of Life has been researched a lot. One sub-problem is finding an arrangement of cells that cannot be produced by a prior arrangement of cells. They are called Garden of Eden patterns, and the known ones are not small. Glider generators are rather common, so it is most likely that the initial pattern was created by working backward from an existing glider generator.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.125|173.245.54.125]] 17:33, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

was there a placeholder comic posted before the gif went live?

:I am certain there was one with "uh oh one of the lights went out" "that's not supposed to happen" and a picture of a pattern that I did not recognise, which I found to be quite sad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.54|162.158.92.54]] 10:35, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

::This was SMBC, and the pattern is a glider generator. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.211|188.114.111.211]] 12:30, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Looks like this is second animated comic in xkcd, besides 1116(though 1190 could be possibly counted together) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.190.16|172.69.190.16]] 19:34, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:Uh, [[1331: Frequency]] and [[1264: Slideshow]] immediately come to mind, and then I remember about [[961: Eternal Flame]]. There's a lot more than two. [[User:Volleo6144|Volleo6144]] ([[User talk:Volleo6144|talk]]) 19:43, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
::[[:Category:Comics with animation]]; just added it. [[User:Yngvadottir|Yngvadottir]] ([[User talk:Yngvadottir|talk]]) 20:19, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

The explanation says that the simulation is run on an infinite grid, but even when the grid is calculated out beyond the border of the viewable area, bounding errors & boundary formations can occur. I've never seen ''any'' implementation that actually produces an infinite, nor even ''practically'' infinite grid. (In fact, wasn't there a Minecraft mod that runs until it lags out the engine?) Can anybody point me to a truly infinite grid implementation? Conway's ''definitely'' was not infinite, he even commented at length about the boundary formations that show up at the grid edges (which are among the most subjectively beautiful, incidentally). I think the explanation needs correction?
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:59, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
: The explanation is describing Conway's game of life, not any particular implementation IMHO. No change needed IMHOA. Also, the previous post was not signed properly. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.167|162.158.107.167]] 21:47, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
::Except many of Conway's observations about the "game" & even ''his initial description'' of it explicitly state & indeed hinge upon the fact that it's not (& thus far ''cannot'' be) implemented as an "infinite" grid. Part of the whole point of his experiment with it & the various demonstrations is to illustrate edge effects resulting from a finite range of calculations. '''It's extremely relevant that it's''' '''''not''''' '''infinite.''' It's actually kinda the whole point of his creating it, much the same way people working with fractals likewise tend to become very interested in bounding errors. The boundaries are where the interesting work is done. Apparently someone agreed with me at least in part, because they edited the wording. Thanks... Brian? I think we should actually '''add''' to the description of the "game" info highlighting the edge effects, because that's the primary focus of the project & its outgrowths in the first place. (We can't adequately simulate infinity & that's a big part of the interest in it.) Also, I frequently have to submit & then refresh & sign afterward because of the device I'm on. In this case I'm glad I did, because I saw your reply & the other new stuff!
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:17, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
:Golly uses a grid of arbitrary size by default. It can very easily be verified to at least ±210000. (Note that it also includes finite rectangular and toroidal grids.) [[User:LegionMammal978|LegionMammal978]] ([[User talk:LegionMammal978|talk]]) 01:39, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
No computer [Citation Needed] can run an ''actual'' infinite grid, but with some intelligent bounding you can mitigate early signs of problems by maintaining "bubbles" of cells with offsets. You get into problems once you start machine-gunning out gliders (offsets will eventually overflow or awkwardly lose precision, depending on the var-types used; and maintaining a longer and longer bubble, or more and more bubbles just above glider-sized, is probably your other challenge) but it's probably good enough for most purposes. If you somehow have finite patterns that move out in huge (wasteless) cycles from the 'origin' and hold that path until enacting hugely-delayed doglegs (mathematically, it must be a point no further away than can be reasonably enumerated by the bits of information contained within each formation, and significantly less as it'd be a far less efficient count-down cycler than any folded LFSR, but it's ''imaginable'') to meet again at some arbitrary (though deterministic and replicable) distance out in the far far reaches of your abstracted bubble-land then it's possible you could ''pretend'' you have infinite space. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.101|162.158.91.101]] 22:26, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]], do you have a source for your claim that the main point of Conway's creation of Life was to study the edge effects? [https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life The page for Life on its own wiki] describes the Life grid as "infinite" and only mentions edge effects as inaccuracies to be avoided, and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Plq-D1gEk this Conway interview about Life's creation] doesn't mention edges at all.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.24|108.162.241.24]] 23:34, 13 April 2020‎ (UTC)
:First of all, as a tip, reply directly to the comment when you want to talk with someone. Secondly, yeah, I'm pretty sure that person's just blasting ass ham. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.28|172.69.69.28]] 02:49, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Possibly worth noting is the bit of artistry in the rendering. Munroe alters the step period of the iterations so that the deconstruction of the humanoid shape happens more quickly, with the stepping of the glider translating away occurring more slowly. [[User:Fixer|Fixer]] ([[User talk:Fixer|talk]]) 21:52, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

I like the comic very much, and I'm afraid to say I hadn't heard of his death in amongst... well, everything else. RIP.
While I'm here, though, I'm a bit concerned about the current cell generation cycle explanation, as it feels awkward. Currently it is (paraphrased) "live cells survive if just enough neighbours / dead cells come to life with exactly enough neighbours / any other dies or stays dead". I'd prefer something that more delineates it as birth (dead to live, by propogation from the right number of live neighbours), death (live to dead due to ''either'' isolation ''or'' overcrowding) and continuation of state in all other cases. Can't work out a good phrasing yet, but ''may'' try it out later. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.101|162.158.91.101]] 22:26, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
: Agreed 100%. I believe the problem lies in the confusion between "cell as in biology" versus "cell as in jail". It would be better to avoid the word "cell" and describe a grid with squares that are either inhabited or empty; inhabitants with two or three neighbours survive to the next generation, otherwise they die (square becomes empty the next generation); exactly three neighbours to an empty square will give birth (become inhabited) in the next generation; and any other empty square stays empty.

Given the cause of death, should this comic be listed among the Covid-19 series? [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 05:02, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:Yes.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:51, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:No. This is about John Conway. It would have presumably run regardless of the cause of death.

Interesting to see if the next comic is also a Covid-19 comic, because then it will be the 19th covid-19 comic... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:53, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

I really think this should not be regarded as a Covid-19 comic, since it's a memorial one and the cause of death is not important for this comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.105|162.158.93.105]] 14:18, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
:Agree with the others, this is a memorial comic, NOT a COVID-19 comic. I feel like too many comics are being forced into the COVID-19 theme, when they have little to no relation. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.62|172.69.22.62]] 16:12, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
::Covid-19 is obviously not directly the topic of the comic, but it is related quite close. So I vote to re-add it to the category, but to put the mention of the connection with the other comics not into the explanation, or on its bottom. If this is acceptable, [[961: Eternal Flame]] should also be included to [[:Category:Cancer]]. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:43, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
:::Of course this is one in the Covid series. Randall very rarely makes tributes and it has been 5 year since the last. Conway is not very famous, and had he died a year ago, chances are Randall would not have made this comic. But because he died of Covid while all Randall's comics is about Covid he makes a tribute now. For the same reason I do not think that Eternal flame has anything with the cancer category. Because this was a tribute Randall made without any connection to a series of cancer comics. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:25, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
::::Thanks for correcting my spelling errors :D all of that is speculation. How do you know, that Randall is not a huge Conway fan? seems to play exactly into his geekynes. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:47, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::I also disagree that Randall is not a huge Conway fan. I believe he would be familiar and interested in the Game of Life automata, as a nerd/geek. It was previously mentioned over 10 years ago in [[696: Strip Games]]. I agree with Lupo's suggestions for this comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.44|172.69.34.44]] 17:01, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

== Is this original? ==

It would seem remarkable if Randall was able to create this starting pattern at such short notice. If it's copied from somewhere, we should provide that detail. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 03:54, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
:I do not know if it is taken from another place or a common/known pattern (the comments above seem to suggest otherwise), but it is not uncommon to have an obituary / memorial in stock for elderly persons of relevance. So it might be possible, that e.g. Randall played around with putting stick figures into a simulation, and accidently found this, deciding to keep it somewehere in his archive for this occasion. The seperation of the decaying body and the everlasting part going upward is actually obvious enough to connect with the idea to use it for this occasion. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:36, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

== First popularized? ==

The game's popularization "to the general public" in Windows 3.1 really depends on your definition of popular - how many members of the general public had PCs then? I mention this to point out that it was really Martin Gardner's article in SciAm in October 1970 that showed the game to a pretty wide public, although admittedly few people were in a position to program it at the time. As I maintained the University of Cambridge's version on the PDP-7 (then their only computer with a graphics display) in 1971-72 I'm still astonished at how early this publication was. Gardner then did the same for the Mandelbrot Set (which originated in the Other Cambridge...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.74|162.158.78.74]] 04:23, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

== Leaving the grid ==
<blockquote>"However, any given Game of Life is on a finite grid, so once the glider leaves the grid, it has ceased to exist."</blockquote>

Maybe a philosophical nitpick, but I'd like to dispute this. I submit that it is not possible for anything to "leave the grid". A glider can certainly hit the boundary of a bounded grid, but at that point boundary conditions disrupt the pattern and it ''ceases to be a glider''; thus, gliders cannot leave the grid.

Additionally, the grid can be finite and yet still have no boundary; it is quite common for Life grids to wrap one side of the screen to the other. On such a grid, the glider would in fact persist indefinitely. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 09:18, 16 April 2020 (UTC)
:Also we don't know if the grid maybe is larger than the screen shown in the comic. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:36, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

== Triple whammy ==
FYI: Richard Guy, who found the glider first, and is coauthor of Winning Ways with Conway, already died this March. In the biblical age of 103, so possibly nobody even bothered to check for the cause. (The third author, Elwyn Berlekamp, died a year ago.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.32|141.101.77.32]] 18:02, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

== Conway was not a fan of his fame for Life ==

" He’d like to remembered for any of his accomplishments except the Game of Life. He once said he checked the index of every book and if it listed the Game of Life he would refuse to read it." -- https://twitter.com/standupmaths/status/1249105201992171522 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 00:04, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

== Conway died on a Doomsday ==

The thing I remember Conway for (in addition to Game of Life) is discovering the Doomsday rule/algorithm for determining days of the week (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_rule). Of course, I'm nowhere near anywhere as fast as he is (I'm happy if I can do it without making a mistake in 10 seconds, more if I'm calculating under the influence). I find it fitting that Conway died on a Doomsday (Saturday for 2020).[[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 05:41, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2185: Cumulonimbus

2019-08-06T05:02:56Z

Tovodeverett:

Hey, the back arrow here doesn't go back to yesterday's "Disappearing Sunday Update" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.28|162.158.75.28]] 18:17, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
That's why it was disappearing. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.46|172.68.226.46]] 18:42, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

I think this could be improved by expanding out the translations from latin for the various parts of each cloud's name. I.e., cumulus is just "heaped"; cumulo-nimbus would be "heaped raincloud"; cumulo-nimbulo-nimbus would be "heaped rainy raincloud"; cumulo-nimbulo-nimbulo-cumulo-nimbus would be "heaped, rainy, rainy, heaped raincloud", and alto-cumu-lenticulo-strato-nimbulo-cirrus-lenticulo-mamma-noctilucent would be "mid-altitude, heaped, standing, rainy, wispy, standing, highly turbulent, and lit at night." (Some of these descriptors are contradictory; cirrus clouds can not also be mammatus clouds.) (And yes, "mammatus" clouds mean what you think they mean.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.82|162.158.142.82]] 19:08, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

It says "soaker" in the description of the fourth cloud. Do we mean "super soaker"? It does look like a super soaker. I didn't dare change the description in case I am missing something.
[[User:Cow|Cow]] ([[User talk:Cow|talk]]) 20:15, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Could we modify the navigation system to go to the disappearing one? [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 20:21, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

The explanation for the fifth cloud splits noctilucent into noctus and lucent and saying they have nothing to do with clouds when its actually referring to a type of very high altitude cloud seen rarely around twilight/dusk. They form from ice crystals and are illuminated by the sun below the horizon. --[[User:Kirkerbot|Kirkerbot]] ([[User talk:Kirkerbot|talk]]) 23:31, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

The listed lapse rate for the troposphere seems high - the dry adiabatic lapse rate is around 9.8 °C/km, and Wikipedia indicates the average lapse rate is around 6.5 °C/km. [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 05:02, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2064: I'm a Car

2018-10-26T13:35:28Z

Tovodeverett:

Is that a Chevy Volt? --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.196|172.69.62.196]] 04:30, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
:Using google image search I could find various different taillight configurations on Chevrolet Volt's, but non where the lights extend to the trunk, and also downward on the site of the trunk. They are either above each other, or extending to the trunk. The one in the comic has both.--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:51, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

Cars are getting more intelligent and the voters seem to get dumber. This comic states that some cars are more intelligent than the average voters. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.209|141.101.104.209]] 06:48, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

No matter how smart the car is it would need to meet eligibility requirements to vote. Cars are typically registered in a jurisdiction but are generally not recognized as citizens or residents for voting purposes. Only some cars meet the age requirements, e.g. in the United States the median age of an automobile was [https://news.ihsmarkit.com/press-release/automotive/average-age-vehicles-road-remains-steady-114-years-according-ihs-automotive 11.4 years] in 2014 while a voter must be at least 18 years of age to vote in US Federal elections. As for the title text, cars are generally incapable of reproduction [citation needed], ineligible for adoption [citation needed], and generally do not attend school [citation needed], making this scenario multiply implausible [[User:ChronoCronut|ChronoCronut]] ([[User talk:ChronoCronut|talk]]) 09:00, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
: "Only some cars meet the age requirements" Right, but they are very mature for their age. xD [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.114|162.158.90.114]] 11:35, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
: It's time to start the car suffrage movement! [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:13, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

"The entire comic seems to be related to self-driving cars, which has been a recurring subject on xkcd. As they first begins to drive by themselves, the next step is voting and later getting car babies that can grow up and become honor students." Actually, I think that this comic is about bumper stickers on cars. Of course people put bumper stickers on their cars to make a statement about themselves, but what if the bumper stickers were actually a statement by the car, not the person driving it. That's another common theme. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 12:26, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

If this car made one of the questionable votes against network neutrality?

The first thing that jumped to my mind was that it also mixed in the security issues arising due to the "Internet of Things" problems. Admittedly, most IoT devices are used in DoS attacks and are generally not used as general purpose hacking jump boxes, but I see no reason that cellular network equipped cars could not be hacked and used as a source for voting in digital elections. Adrian Colyer has a great synopsis of two vehicle papers on his blog: https://blog.acolyer.org/2015/12/02/carshark/ and https://blog.acolyer.org/2015/12/03/fast-and-vulnerable/ . [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 13:35, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1883: Supervillain Plan

2017-08-31T11:46:58Z

Tovodeverett:

California is UTC-8 during the winter, but UTC-7 during the summer. [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 15:16, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
:I've clarified this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:13, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

For some reason, I can't help but to think of this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY Tom Scott] video. I guess it represents well the feeling programers must have when talking about time zones. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.100|162.158.126.100]] 16:49, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it at all clear that Cueball and Megan are "henchmen"? I assumed they were captured heros that were to be put to death, but first the supervillain was confessing his evil plan to them, ala {{tvtropes|EvilGloating}}. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:20, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
:I think their purely technical concerns would suggest they don't object to the plan itself, they just want to make sure it's as painless for them as possible [[User:Charith|Charith]] ([[User talk:Charith|talk]]) 19:38, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

:To me, the position with black hat on a throne and the people opposite him seems more like a villain gloating over his plan. But the heroes this week are programmers (who else would go up against a madman who seems to be building a drone army?) - and when they hear what he's actually planning, the time zone thing becomes their biggest concern. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 09:50, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Also a nice one for programmers, when governments suddenly decide to change the rules: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34631326 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.177|141.101.69.177]] 20:07, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

:About arizona, [https://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/arizona-no-dst.html the article on timeanddate.com] might be a better explanation. (The current link is [https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-11-12/daylight-saving-donut-arizona-ken-jennings-maphead]). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.58|172.68.226.58]] 20:33, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Fun fact: this technology can also be used by the good guys to fight the evil. We could move the tectonic plates around to precisely control Earth's moment of inertia, eliminating the need for leap seconds! --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.76|172.68.54.76]] 03:00, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

To whoever wrote the sentence starting with "Humans often avoid this issue": Kudos! Best sentence I read here for a very long time! Plus: something funny to read: http://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:36, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

I also appreciate the presence of the "citation needed" in that sentence - brilliantly placed! I'm delighted that Randall has raised awareness on this issue, because it gives me a chance to bring up my latest time discovery, Amsterdam time from May, 1 1909 until July 1, 1937, which was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B00:20 GMT +0h 19m 32.13s] (yes - to the hundredth of a second). My family visited Amsterdam this past summer, and as luck would have it we got to climb the Westertoren, giving me ample opportunity to inform the guides about its special place in timezone management hell (amusing for a church tower)! [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 11:46, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

1297: Oort Cloud

2013-11-29T15:11:27Z

Tovodeverett: /* Transcript */

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

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Not (yet) complete.}}
The {{w|Oort cloud}} is a cloud mostly composed of comets that makes up the outer region of our solar system, reaching out to roughly 50,000 {{w|AU}} or nearly one light-year from the sun. Gravitational forces from passing stars and the Milky Way sometimes perturb a comet enough to send it into the inner solar system. When the comet gets closer to the Sun (which is the “bright dot in the distance” here) it warms up and some of its body is lost as gas and dust, sometimes visible as a coma and perhaps a tail. If it gets close to the sun it may break up entirely.

The comet pictured here upon its return resembles the unusual asteroid/comet {{w|P/2013 P5}} which sported six comet-like tails. In that case they seem to have been generated partly by rapid spinning.

{{w|Comet ISON}} came from the Oort cloud and reached its closest approach to the sun ({{w|perihelion}}) on the day before this comic was published. The comet passed very close to the sun, at a distance of 1,860,000 kilometers or 1,150,000 miles. It was thus within one sun-diameter of the surface of the sun itself. The tail has changed its shape because the comet was partly broken up around the sun. The closest approach to Earth will be on December 27, 2013 but it's not clear if the comet will be visible by the naked eye.

This video shows an animation of the encounter at the sun: [http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2013/11/28/ahead_20131128_cor2_rdiff_512.mpg ISON 28.11.2013].

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

:ISON: Dunno. I'm gonna go check it out.

:[Pause while ISON checks it out off screen.]

:[Several million years later.]
:ISON (appears burnt): Wow. Do NOT go over there.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]

Talk:1297: Oort Cloud

2013-11-29T15:10:36Z

Tovodeverett:

Reading the Wikipedia page on the Oort Cloud didn't help me understand the joke. I don't know if it has anything to do with comets, or the asteroids getting smashed up by them. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 05:15, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
:The asteroid becomes a cost after being severely burnt by the sun. It warns the other asteroid not to go over there. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.55}}
::Which, the title text indicates, is a warning that's utterly ignored... (Also being "right back" indicates a slower perceived thought process. As is probably the case for anything out there in such cold(-ish) depths of space.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 11:05, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
::: What does "becomes a cost" mean? is that a slang expression? 12:02, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
:::: I think it's supposed to be "comet". [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.228|173.245.52.228]] 14:09, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
::::: No, I think he means ghost. All thats left is a faint image after all.
At least according to my freshman year science teacher, the Oort Cloud is just a theory, and hasn't been proven. Perhaps that should be made more clear?{{unsigned|Wasda}}

----
What's here looks exactly in line with current comet theory: A comet is "perturbed" by interactions with other objects out there, and at that distance the sun is a very bright dot, no more. On return (chancy, based on both/either burning up or being in a no return hyperbolic orbit), what has come back is fragmented and with two tails. What I'm not seeing is the second level joke - it's in the movie "I'm going to check out x" form, but I don't get the specific quote. [[User:FractalgeekUK|FractalgeekUK]] ([[User talk:FractalgeekUK|talk]]) 13:55, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

----
According to http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/timeline-of-comet-ison-s-dangerous-journey, ISON's journey to earth from the Oort cloud started "At least a million years ago." So I'm going to edit "many thousand years later" to "several million years later". In other news, I recently played "Das Rad" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-7y3B8DjGw) for my kids and this comic really reminded me of that Oscar-nominated short. I hate lichen! :-) [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 15:10, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

1258

2013-08-30T04:24:57Z

Tovodeverett: Redirected page to 1258: First

#REDIRECT [[1258: First]]

1258: First

2013-08-30T04:24:51Z

Tovodeverett:

{{comic
| number = 1258
| date = August 30, 2013
| title = First
| image = first.png
| titletext = Fortunately, exactly zero other annoying internet behaviors have developed during this time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

This comic references an internet phenomenon in which when a blog post was written, people would rush to post the first comment, simply writing "First". By posting this comic, Randall has just jinxed it by encouraging me to be the first to post on this comic!

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: After a couple of unbearable decades, the "First Post" thing seems to be dying a quiet death.
:Offscreen: Shh. You'll jinx it.

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1258: First

2013-08-30T04:24:08Z

Tovodeverett:

First

2013-08-30T04:21:57Z

Tovodeverett: Redirected page to 1258: First

#REDIRECT [[1258: First]]

1258: First

2013-08-30T04:18:10Z

Tovodeverett:

{{comic
| number = 1258
| date = August 30, 2013
| title = First
| image = first.png
| titletext = Fortunately, exactly zero other annoying internet behaviors have developed during this time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

Randall is commenting on the urge some people have to be the first to post or comment on any given posting. By posting this comic, Randall has just jinxed it by encouraging me to be the first to post on this comic!

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: After a couple of unbearable decades, the "First Post" thing seems to be dying a quiet death.
:Offscreen: Shh. You'll jinx it.

{{comic discussion}}

1258: First

2013-08-30T04:17:45Z

Tovodeverett: Created page with "{{comic | number = 1258 | date = August 30, 2013 | title = First | image = first.png | titletext = Fortunately, exactly zero other annoying internet behaviors ..."

{{comic
| number = 1258
| date = August 30, 2013
| title = First
| image = first.png
| titletext = Fortunately, exactly zero other annoying internet behaviors have developed during this time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

Randall is commenting on the urge some people have to be the first to post or comment on any given posting. By posting this comic, Randall has just jinxed it by encouraging me to be the first to post on this comic!

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:[Cueball is sitting a computer.]
:Cueball: After a couple of unbearable decades, the "First Post" thing seems to be dying a quiet death.
:Offscreen: Shh. You'll jinx it.

{{comic discussion}}

File:first.png

2013-08-30T04:12:09Z

Tovodeverett:

List of all comics (1001-1500)

2013-08-30T04:10:33Z

Tovodeverett:

This is the list of comics from '''1001 till date'''.
:For the first 500 comics, see [[List of all comics (1-500)]].
:For comics 501-1000, see [[List of all comics (501-1000)]].
:The whole list is available at [[List of all comics (full)]].

{| class="wikitable sortable plainlinks table-padding"
|-
|+ Comics
|-
!xkcd
!Title
!Redirects
!Image
!Date<onlyinclude>
{{comicsrow|1258|2013-08-30|First}}
{{comicsrow|1257|2013-08-28|Monster}}
{{comicsrow|1256|2013-08-26|Questions}}
{{comicsrow|1255|2013-08-23|Columbus}}
{{comicsrow|1254|2013-08-21|Preferred Chat System}}
{{comicsrow|1253|2013-08-19|Exoplanet Names}}
{{comicsrow|1252|2013-08-16|Increased Risk}}
{{comicsrow|1251|2013-08-14|Anti-Glass|anti_glass.png}}
{{comicsrow|1250|2013-08-12|Old Accounts}}
{{comicsrow|1249|2013-08-09|Meteor Showers}}
{{comicsrow|1248|2013-08-07|Sphere}}
{{comicsrow|1247|2013-08-05|The Mother of All Suspicious Files}}
{{comicsrow|1246|2013-08-02|Pale Blue Dot}}
{{comicsrow|1245|2013-07-31|10-Day Forecast|10 day forecast.png}}
{{comicsrow|1244|2013-07-29|Six Words}}
{{comicsrow|1243|2013-07-26|Snare}}
{{comicsrow|1242|2013-07-24|Scary Names}}
{{comicsrow|1241|2013-07-22|Annoying Ringtone Champion}}
{{comicsrow|1240|2013-07-19|Quantum Mechanics}}
{{comicsrow|1239|2013-07-17|Social Media}}
{{comicsrow|1238|2013-07-15|Enlightenment}}
{{comicsrow|1237|2013-07-12|QR Code}}
{{comicsrow|1236|2013-07-10|Seashell}}
{{comicsrow|1235|2013-07-08|Settled}}
{{comicsrow|1234|2013-07-05|Douglas Engelbart (1925-2013)|douglas_engelbart_1925_2013.png}}
{{comicsrow|1233|2013-07-03|Relativity}}
{{comicsrow|1232|2013-07-01|Realistic Criteria}}
{{comicsrow|1231|2013-06-28|Habitable Zone}}
{{comicsrow|1230|2013-06-26|Polar/Cartesian|polar_cartesian.png}}
{{comicsrow|1229|2013-06-24|Screensaver}}
{{comicsrow|1228|2013-06-21|Prometheus}}
{{comicsrow|1227|2013-06-19|The Pace of Modern Life}}
{{comicsrow|1226|2013-06-17|Balloon Internet}}
{{comicsrow|1225|2013-06-14|Ice Sheets}}
{{comicsrow|1224|2013-06-12|Council of 300}}
{{comicsrow|1223|2013-06-10|Dwarf Fortress}}
{{comicsrow|1222|2013-06-07|Pastime}}
{{comicsrow|1221|2013-06-05|Nomenclature}}
{{comicsrow|1220|2013-06-03|Hipsters}}
{{comicsrow|1219|2013-05-31|Reports}}
{{comicsrow|1218|2013-05-29|Doors of Durin}}
{{comicsrow|1217|2013-05-27|Cells}}
{{comicsrow|1216|2013-05-24|Sticks and Stones}}
{{comicsrow|1215|2013-05-22|Insight}}
{{comicsrow|1214|2013-05-20|Geoguessr}}
{{comicsrow|1213|2013-05-17|Combination Vision Test}}
{{comicsrow|1212|2013-05-15|Interstellar Memes}}
{{comicsrow|1211|2013-05-13|Birds and Dinosaurs}}
{{comicsrow|1210|2013-05-10|I'm So Random|im_so_random.png}}
{{comicsrow|1209|2013-05-08|Encoding}}
{{comicsrow|1208|2013-05-06|Footnote Labyrinths}}
{{comicsrow|1207|2013-05-03|AirAware}}
{{comicsrow|1206|2013-05-01|Einstein}}
{{comicsrow|1205|2013-04-29|Is It Worth the Time?|is_it_worth_the_time.png}}
{{comicsrow|1204|2013-04-26|Detail}}
{{comicsrow|1203|2013-04-24|Time Machines}}
{{comicsrow|1202|2013-04-22|Girls and Boys}}
{{comicsrow|1201|2013-04-19|Integration by Parts}}
{{comicsrow|1200|2013-04-17|Authorization}}
{{comicsrow|1199|2013-04-15|Silence}}
{{comicsrow|1198|2013-04-12|Geologist}}
{{comicsrow|1197|2013-04-10|All Adobe Updates}}
{{comicsrow|1196|2013-04-08|Subways}}
{{comicsrow|1195|2013-04-05|Flowchart}}
{{comicsrow|1194|2013-04-03|Stratigraphic Record}}
{{comicsrow|1193|2013-04-01|Externalities}}
{{comicsrow|1192|2013-03-29|Humming}}
{{comicsrow|1191|2013-03-27|The Past}}
{{comicsrow|1190|2013-03-25|Time}}
{{comicsrow|1189|2013-03-22|Voyager 1}}
{{comicsrow|1188|2013-03-20|Bonding}}
{{comicsrow|1187|2013-03-18|Aspect Ratio}}
{{comicsrow|1186|2013-03-15|Bumblebees}}
{{comicsrow|1185|2013-03-13|Ineffective Sorts}}
{{comicsrow|1184|2013-03-11|Circumference Formula}}
{{comicsrow|1183|2013-03-08|Rose Petals}}
{{comicsrow|1182|2013-03-06|Rembrandt Photo}}
{{comicsrow|1181|2013-03-04|PGP}}
{{comicsrow|1180|2013-03-01|Virus Venn Diagram}}
{{comicsrow|1179|2013-02-27|ISO 8601}}
{{comicsrow|1178|2013-02-25|Pickup Artists}}
{{comicsrow|1177|2013-02-22|Time Robot}}
{{comicsrow|1176|2013-02-20|Those Not Present}}
{{comicsrow|1175|2013-02-18|Moving Sidewalks}}
{{comicsrow|1174|2013-02-15|App}}
{{comicsrow|1173|2013-02-13|Steroids}}
{{comicsrow|1172|2013-02-11|Workflow}}
{{comicsrow|1171|2013-02-08|Perl Problems}}
{{comicsrow|1170|2013-02-06|Bridge}}
{{comicsrow|1169|2013-02-04|Expedition}}
{{comicsrow|1168|2013-02-01|tar}}
{{comicsrow|1167|2013-01-30|Star Trek into Darkness}}
{{comicsrow|1166|2013-01-28|Argument}}
{{comicsrow|1165|2013-01-25|Amazon}}
{{comicsrow|1164|2013-01-23|Home Alone}}
{{comicsrow|1163|2013-01-21|Debugger}}
{{comicsrow|1162|2013-01-18|Log Scale}}
{{comicsrow|1161|2013-01-16|Hand Sanitizer}}
{{comicsrow|1160|2013-01-14|Drop Those Pounds}}
{{comicsrow|1159|2013-01-11|Countdown}}
{{comicsrow|1158|2013-01-09|Rubber Sheet}}
{{comicsrow|1157|2013-01-07|Sick Day}}
{{comicsrow|1156|2013-01-04|Conditioning}}
{{comicsrow|1155|2013-01-02|Kolmogorov Directions}}
{{comicsrow|1154|2012-12-31|Resolution}}
{{comicsrow|1153|2012-12-28|Proof}}
{{comicsrow|1152|2012-12-26|Communion}}
{{comicsrow|1151|2012-12-24|Tests}}
{{comicsrow|1150|2012-12-21|Instagram}}
{{comicsrow|1149|2012-12-19|Broomstick}}
{{comicsrow|1148|2012-12-17|Nothing to Offer}}
{{comicsrow|1147|2012-12-14|Evolving}}
{{comicsrow|1146|2012-12-12|Honest}}
{{comicsrow|1145|2012-12-10|Sky Color}}
{{comicsrow|1144|2012-12-07|Tags}}
{{comicsrow|1143|2012-12-05|Location}}
{{comicsrow|1142|2012-12-03|Coverage}}
{{comicsrow|1141|2012-11-30|Two Years}}
{{comicsrow|1140|2012-11-28|Calendar of Meaningful Dates}}
{{comicsrow|1139|2012-11-26|Rubber and Glue}}
{{comicsrow|1138|2012-11-23|Heatmap}}
{{comicsrow|1137|2012-11-21|RTL}}
{{comicsrow|1136|2012-11-19|Broken Mirror}}
{{comicsrow|1135|2012-11-16|Arachnoneurology}}
{{comicsrow|1134|2012-11-14|Logic Boat}}
{{comicsrow|1133|2012-11-12|Up Goer Five}}
{{comicsrow|1132|2012-11-09|Frequentists vs. Bayesians|frequentists_vs_bayesians.png}}
{{comicsrow|1131|2012-11-07|Math}}
{{comicsrow|1130|2012-11-05|Poll Watching}}
{{comicsrow|1129|2012-11-02|Cell Number}}
{{comicsrow|1128|2012-10-31|Fifty Shades}}
{{comicsrow|1127|2012-10-29|Congress}}
{{comicsrow|1126|2012-10-26|Epsilon and Zeta}}
{{comicsrow|1125|2012-10-24|Objects In Mirror}}
{{comicsrow|1124|2012-10-22|Law of Drama}}
{{comicsrow|1123|2012-10-19|The Universal Label}}
{{comicsrow|1122|2012-10-17|Electoral Precedent}}
{{comicsrow|1121|2012-10-15|Identity}}
{{comicsrow|1120|2012-10-12|Blurring the Line}}
{{comicsrow|1119|2012-10-10|Undoing}}
{{comicsrow|1118|2012-10-08|Microsoft}}
{{comicsrow|1117|2012-10-05|My Sky}}
{{comicsrow|1116|2012-10-03|Traffic Lights|traffic_lights.gif}}
{{comicsrow|1115|2012-10-01|Sky}}
{{comicsrow|1114|2012-09-28|Metallurgy}}
{{comicsrow|1113|2012-09-26|Killed in Action}}
{{comicsrow|1112|2012-09-24|Think Logically}}
{{comicsrow|1111|2012-09-21|Premiere}}
{{comicsrow|1110|2012-09-19|Click and Drag}}
{{comicsrow|1109|2012-09-17|Refrigerator}}
{{comicsrow|1108|2012-09-14|Cautionary Ghost}}
{{comicsrow|1107|2012-09-12|Sports Cheat Sheet}}
{{comicsrow|1106|2012-09-10|ADD}}
{{comicsrow|1105|2012-09-07|License Plate}}
{{comicsrow|1104|2012-09-05|Feathers}}
{{comicsrow|1103|2012-09-03|Nine}}
{{comicsrow|1102|2012-08-31|Fastest-Growing|fastest_growing.png}}
{{comicsrow|1101|2012-08-27|Sketchiness}}
{{comicsrow|1100|2012-08-27|Vows}}
{{comicsrow|1099|2012-08-24|Tuesdays}}
{{comicsrow|1098|2012-08-22|Star Ratings}}
{{comicsrow|1097|2012-08-20|A Hypochondriac's Nightmare|a_hypochondriacs_nightmare.png}}
{{comicsrow|1096|2012-08-17|Clinically Studied Ingredient}}
{{comicsrow|1095|2012-08-15|Crazy Straws}}
{{comicsrow|1094|2012-08-13|Interview}}
{{comicsrow|1093|2012-08-10|Forget}}
{{comicsrow|1092|2012-08-08|Michael Phelps}}
{{comicsrow|1091|2012-08-06|Curiosity}}
{{comicsrow|1090|2012-08-03|Formal Languages}}
{{comicsrow|1089|2012-08-01|Internal Monologue}}
{{comicsrow|1088|2012-07-30|Five Years}}
{{comicsrow|1087|2012-07-27|Cirith Ungol}}
{{comicsrow|1086|2012-07-25|Eyelash Wish Log}}
{{comicsrow|1085|2012-07-23|ContextBot}}
{{comicsrow|1084|2012-07-20|Server Problem}}
{{comicsrow|1083|2012-07-18|Writing Styles}}
{{comicsrow|1082|2012-07-16|Geology}}
{{comicsrow|1081|2012-07-13|Argument Victory}}
{{comicsrow|1080|2012-07-11|Visual Field}}
{{comicsrow|1079|2012-07-09|United Shapes}}
{{comicsrow|1078|2012-07-06|Knights}}
{{comicsrow|1077|2012-07-04|Home Organization}}
{{comicsrow|1076|2012-07-02|Groundhog Day}}
{{comicsrow|1075|2012-06-29|Warning}}
{{comicsrow|1074|2012-06-27|Moon Landing}}
{{comicsrow|1073|2012-06-25|Weekend}}
{{comicsrow|1072|2012-06-22|Seventies}}
{{comicsrow|1071|2012-06-20|Exoplanets}}
{{comicsrow|1070|2012-06-18|Words for Small Sets}}
{{comicsrow|1069|2012-06-15|Alphabet}}
{{comicsrow|1068|2012-06-13|Swiftkey}}
{{comicsrow|1067|2012-06-11|Pressures}}
{{comicsrow|1066|2012-06-08|Laundry}}
{{comicsrow|1065|2012-06-06|Shoes}}
{{comicsrow|1064|2012-06-04|Front Door}}
{{comicsrow|1063|2012-06-01|Kill Hitler}}
{{comicsrow|1062|2012-05-30|Budget News}}
{{comicsrow|1061|2012-05-28|EST}}
{{comicsrow|1060|2012-05-25|Crowdsourcing}}
{{comicsrow|1059|2012-05-23|Bel-Air|bel_air.png}}
{{comicsrow|1058|2012-05-21|Old-Timers|old_timers.png}}
{{comicsrow|1057|2012-05-18|Klout}}
{{comicsrow|1056|2012-05-16|Felidae}}
{{comicsrow|1055|2012-05-14|Kickstarter}}
{{comicsrow|1054|2012-05-11|The bacon|thebacon.png}}
{{comicsrow|1053|2012-05-09|Ten Thousand}}
{{comicsrow|1052|2012-05-07|Every Major's Terrible|every_majors_terrible.png}}
{{comicsrow|1051|2012-05-04|Visited}}
{{comicsrow|1050|2012-05-02|Forgot Algebra}}
{{comicsrow|1049|2012-04-30|Bookshelf}}
{{comicsrow|1048|2012-04-27|Emotion}}
{{comicsrow|1047|2012-04-25|Approximations}}
{{comicsrow|1046|2012-04-23|Skynet}}
{{comicsrow|1045|2012-04-20|Constraints}}
{{comicsrow|1044|2012-04-18|Romney Quiz}}
{{comicsrow|1043|2012-04-16|Ablogalypse}}
{{comicsrow|1042|2012-04-13|Never}}
{{comicsrow|1041|2012-04-11|Whites of Their Eyes}}
{{comicsrow|1040|2012-04-09|Lakes and Oceans}}
{{comicsrow|1039|2012-04-06|RuBisCO}}
{{comicsrow|1038|2012-04-04|Fountain}}
{{comicsrow|1037|2012-04-01|Umwelt}}
{{comicsrow|1036|2012-03-30|Reviews}}
{{comicsrow|1035|2012-03-28|Cadbury Eggs}}
{{comicsrow|1034|2012-03-26|Share Buttons}}
{{comicsrow|1033|2012-03-23|Formal Logic}}
{{comicsrow|1032|2012-03-21|Networking}}
{{comicsrow|1031|2012-03-19|s/keyboard/leopard/|s_keyboard_leopard.png}}
{{comicsrow|1030|2012-03-16|Keyed}}
{{comicsrow|1029|2012-03-14|Drawing Stars}}
{{comicsrow|1028|2012-03-12|Communication}}
{{comicsrow|1027|2012-03-09|Pickup Artist}}
{{comicsrow|1026|2012-03-07|Compare and Contrast}}
{{comicsrow|1025|2012-03-05|Tumblr}}
{{comicsrow|1024|2012-03-02|Error Code}}
{{comicsrow|1023|2012-02-29|Late-Night PBS|late_night_pbs.png}}
{{comicsrow|1022|2012-02-27|So It Has Come To This}}
{{comicsrow|1021|2012-02-24|Business Plan}}
{{comicsrow|1020|2012-02-22|Orion Nebula}}
{{comicsrow|1019|2012-02-20|First Post}}
{{comicsrow|1018|2012-02-17|Good Cop, Dadaist Cop|good_cop_dadaist_cop.png}}
{{comicsrow|1017|2012-02-14|Backward in Time}}
{{comicsrow|1016|2012-02-13|Valentine Dilemma}}
{{comicsrow|1015|2012-02-10|Kerning}}
{{comicsrow|1014|2012-02-08|Car Problems}}
{{comicsrow|1013|2012-02-06|Wake Up Sheeple}}
{{comicsrow|1012|2012-02-03|Wrong Superhero}}
{{comicsrow|1011|2012-02-01|Baby Names}}
{{comicsrow|1010|2012-01-30|Etymology-Man|etymology_man.png}}
{{comicsrow|1009|2012-01-27|Sigh}}
{{comicsrow|1008|2012-01-25|Suckville}}
{{comicsrow|1007|2012-01-23|Sustainable}}
{{comicsrow|1006|2012-01-20|Sloppier Than Fiction}}
{{comicsrow|1005|2012-01-18|SOPA}}
{{comicsrow|1004|2012-01-16|Batman}}
{{comicsrow|1003|2012-01-13|Adam and Eve}}
{{comicsrow|1002|2012-01-11|Game AIs}}
{{comicsrow|1001|2012-01-09|AAAAAA}}</onlyinclude>
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