explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1600: MarketWatch

2020-10-24T13:22:10Z

Undergroundmonorail:

I don't get it as much... Perhaps something to do with the apparent erratic behavior of a stock market chart? You'd expect a rising and falling line, but for it to completely trace out building patterns is odd.{{Citation needed}} It would need a straight line, wouldn't it? and isn't that impossible in graphs like this? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.5|108.162.216.5]] 13:01, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Couple of things in play with this one:
* Comic #1600, so that's probably a reference to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (address of the White House). True, the WH isn't mentioned, but it's flat and makes for an uninteresting skyline element. What is shown looks to be the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, followed of course by the Capitol Building as referenced by the text.
* Desire not to break the pattern is like in comic #276, where the pattern is so tempting that people wanted to continue with it, in spite of negative side effects.

Just a couple of thoughts. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.57|173.245.54.57]] 13:21, 6 November 2015 (UTC)
:There is no such a thing as "probably a reference". A reference requires mentioning the referenced thing. A more appropriate word would be coincidence. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 13:30, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

::He/she is guessing that it is a reference, and that is a good guess. "That's probably a reference" is fine to use in this situation. {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.132}}
:::But it's not a reference, it's a coincidence. If it were a reference the White House could be seen in the skyline; it's just between the Washington Monument and the Capitol [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 13:58, 6 November 2015 (UTC)
::Coincidence is not at all appropriate when the intended meaning is that something was done purposefully. What the person is speaking of is an implicit reference, so "reference" was the right word choice. You are speaking of explicit references, which are merely one type of reference. [[User:GonzoI|GonzoI]] ([[User talk:GonzoI|talk]]) 15:59, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

My view is that it is a play on how silly stock trader can be sometimes. There is a way of trading called technical analysis, where a trader will look for graphical "patterns" and "signals" in the stock charts and trade on that. This way of doing is notoriously looked down at by either truly quantitative investors that rely on actual stats/signal processing to place their bets or fundamental investor that will look for information in things like the balance sheet statement of a company to place their bets. So if you are such a technical analyst and you see such a pattern as DC Skyline appearing in the stock chart of a stock...well best of luck to make a trading decision based on that, mate.

:With those who 'play the stock-market' seeking to gain an advantage, it at first seems impossible that an existing pattern (to some extent predictable) could continue, because at least some of those ''expecting'' the pattern will then trade on the assumption of that trend, thus changing the trend, even if (as stated) many others find it too compelling to rebel. Except that others will no doubt ''expect'' such a degree of self-interest, and place their own trades to take account of that, and yet others may try to predict what others will predict the first rebels predict everyone else is trying to do... theoretically ''ad infinitum'', and thus ''maybe'' sustain the original pattern (or something close enough... e.g. the Capital dome being a few points 'higher' in the graph than it ought to be, but still similar enough in shape and symmetry).
:High-frequency microtrading algoritms have the same issue of recursion. Initially they exploit human errors and behaviours, but then an algorithms that can predict what these algorithms would predict can 'play the algorithm', and so on to an arbitrary level of recursion. Not that the sum total would be likely to be swayed towards an aesthetic graph, but how about a high-frequency trading algorithm whose sole effort (intentionally or otherwise) would be to place transaction requests to 'tweak' the market towards a given result? With enough capital (NPI!) behind it, it's theoretically possible, and if co-designed with an algorith that would rely upon generating its own profit from knowing (and yet not acting to disrupt) the 'planned trend'. I wouldn't like to suggest there'd be a net sum profit, across both(/all?) levels of algorithms employed... Greater minds than I (or at least ones more privilidged in position and resources) have doubtless tried this kind of thing, however... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 18:10, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Plus, Randall seems to be playing on the whole idea some pundits on TV gives people that "the market" is a conscious entity with the ability to go up and down. If this was the case, well this skyline pattern could emerge just like that. But as real price is defined by market participants behavior, there is no way for it to be so smooth (unless this is a fairly illiquid stocks that trade rarely and jumps violently when it does.)
Finally, the comments play on the same idea that some people will see a "spirit" in the market, while it's just participant pushing the price around (taking actual economic factors into account in their decisions.).

And stock price can definitely jump if a major event happen or flatline if nobody trades it so the Capitol is really the only pattern that feels truly impossible here :p (first time I post here, so apologies if I did not respect a rule of the wiki) [[User:Legaulois|Legaulois]] ([[User talk:Legaulois|talk]]) 14:16, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

In my mind, there has recently been an increase in tools allowing for live events to be controlled by massive numbers of internet users in order to attempt to bang out patterns. Twitch Plays Pokemon comes to mind. Perhaps this comic has something to do with this new trend: a stock market version of the Twitch Plays phenomenon, with investors trying to bang out a pattern together by pressing the right buttons (buying stocks and dumping them) in the right order. Is that worth mentioning? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.64|173.245.55.64]] 15:17, 6 November 2015 (UTC)dmar198

I saw this as a reference to the logos TV news reports use for their segments. Most market news segment logos have some representation of a generic or stylized line meant to imply a market index, and I know I have seen at least one that had their stylized line draw pictures in the middle similar to this. [[User:GonzoI|GonzoI]] ([[User talk:GonzoI|talk]]) 15:59, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

If the stock market crashes after hours and there's no one to see it, does it still make a sound? [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:23, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

I think this comic has more in common with the recent 1596: Launch Status Check. The traders become obsessed or distracted with driving the stock market index to continue drawing the Washington skyline like an etch-a-sketch instead of their fundamental purpose of making a profit. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.8|108.162.216.8]] 18:50, 6 November 2015 (UTC)Pat

This is almost certainly based upon whatever article inspired this popular codegolf.stackexchange.com question: https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/33059/draw-with-your-cpu . Apparently some students drew the silhouette of their school on their country's outbound IPv6 traffic graph. Unfortunately, Google has failed me hard and I have no idea what the original article is.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.53|199.27.129.53]] 05:50, 7 November 2015 (UTC)

I'm no expert on xkcd characters, but why is this one labelled as Ponytail when she doesn't have a ponytail? [[User:Atreides|Atreides]] ([[User talk:Atreides|talk]]) 05:38, 9 November 2015 (UTC)
:Correct this is not ponytail and I have corrected it. As you say she has not tail ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:54, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

I believe this stems from a surprising correlation between the recent movement of the Shanghai stock exchange, and a map of Virginia, see https://twitter.com/dlin71/status/636397462190718976 [[User:Jorgbrown|Jorgbrown]] ([[User talk:Jorgbrown|talk]]) 04:46, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

Am I crazy or does the flag on the Capitol Building actually move the line move backwards a pixel before going back down? This would indicate hacking time as well as the financial market... {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.4}}
:I mean it's drawn by hand... [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 13:22, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1031: s/keyboard/leopard/

2019-07-21T19:01:31Z

Undergroundmonorail:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As far as I know, 's/old/new/' only replaces the first instance of 'old' with 'new'. One would gace to use the g flag after the last slash to enable replacement of all instances of 'old'
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.223|141.101.91.223]] 23:42, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

My leopard doesn't seems to be working well since I didn't insert my leopard's USB port into my computer.Boeing-787lover 14:03, 22 November 2017 (UTC)

Can anyone think of a regex replacement someone might want to do that would be reasonably typo'd into s/keyboard/leopard/g? It's been bugging me since the comic came out. [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 19:01, 21 July 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2137: Text Entry

2019-04-15T18:23:49Z

Undergroundmonorail:

== Dvorak ==

''Title text: I like to think that somewhere out there, there's someone whose personal quest is lobbying TV providers to add an option to switch their on-screen keyboards to Dvorak.''

Using the Dvorak layout when you have to scroll through letters is particularly bad. Since Dvorak is optimized to alternate strokes between hands (by putting all vowels on one side), you would have to spend even more time navigating between letters. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.102|162.158.106.102]] 16:03, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

:I suspect that's at least part of the joke in the title text, as Randall is likely aware of that fact. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 16:22, 15 April 2019 (UTC)
I of course had to wonder what TV show they were headed for so I started OUR_PL in Google and got "Our Planet Netflix" so now I know . . .I think. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 16:25, 15 April 2019 (UTC)
My Netflix interface takes entries from a keyboard. Found out about 2 weeks ago... It is a Samsung TV and I think the feature was not there from the beginning.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.52|172.68.50.52]] 16:59, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

Should it be clarified that Ponytail and Cueball are sitting in one chair? The drawing seemed unclear to me at first. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 18:03, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

I use Dvorak on all my devices when possible and often find myself wishing for Dvorak on-screen keyboards. Sure, there's more absolute distance between consecutive characters on average, but that's offset by me not having to try to remember how QWERTY is laid out. I don't think that the joke here is "Dvorak on-screen keyboards are pointless", I think it's "Dvorak users are such a small percentage of the population that the odds of anyone bothering to cater to them is slim to none, and anyone lobbying for it is wasting their time". [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 18:23, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

Talk:916: Unpickable

2019-04-06T20:15:02Z

Undergroundmonorail:

2x2 rubik's cubes are harder. Just sayin'. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:25, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
: What? A 2x2 is often solved in under two seconds at competitions. The world record for 5x5 is [https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/regions.php 48.42 seconds]. See also below. [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 12:26, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

:: r/wooosh

::I solve the cube with corner pieces and edge pieces in separate steps, so I find 2x2s harder. I just have to do the corner steps. 04:25, 23 June 2013 (UTC){{unsigned|184.11.73.88}}

:2x2s are certainly not harder than any other Rubik's cube by ANY standard. As the corners of any Rubik's cube have the same rotational moves, you have to solve a 2x2 at some point when solving any cube. 4x4 is harder than 5x5 though, because you can rotate away the middle pieces.[[Special:Contributions/85.164.251.29|85.164.251.29]] 07:11, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
:: Looking at [https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/regions.php speedcuber's results] I would disagree. 4x4 takes less than half the time. But you have a point since the "general geek" targeted by this comic's scheme might find it easier to deduce the function of a 5x5 due to the centerpieces. I still think you'd need to be a brilliant geek to be able to solve a 5x5 without prior knowledge. [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 12:38, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
:: Um, the 5x5 Rubik's cube group also has the 4x4 group as a quotient, the same way the 4x4 has the 2x2 as a quotient; just look at the cube minus the T-center tiles and central edges.

This would likely be found in the residence of my colleague ['''REDACTED'''], as he has a collection of odd Rubik's Cube clones.{{unsigned|173.72.159.14}}

Maybe just the geek talking here, but what's with 5x5 Rubik's cube? It should be called 5x5x5 Rubik's cube. Ok, in the title text that might be a 2-dimensions-joke. But see the previous comments. Do the readers and "explainers" all think only 2-dimensional? {{unsigned ip|162.158.83.144}}
:cubers tend to refer to sizes where all three dimensions are the same as just NxN. i don't know why, it's just convention. [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 20:15, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2109: Invisible Formatting

2019-02-10T02:33:33Z

Undergroundmonorail:

This reminds me of the person who used l (lower-case "L") instead of 1 for data entry at some business. Amazingly, the computer accepted it (BAD programming!) and it wasn't found out until the end of the tax year, when all heck broke loose! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.136|162.158.75.136]] 14:50, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
:Some programming puzzles are often solved with stuff like this: AΑ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 15:19, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
:"l" (lower-case "L") is a valid suffix to integer literals in C and derived languages. It indicates the number is of the "long int" type as opposed to a plain "int". Because C automatically upconverts the "int" type into "long int" when needed, the "l" suffix is rarely used. The result: "long int a = 1;" and "long int a = 1l;" mean exactly the same thing, and both statements are perfectly standard and won't raise any warning from compilers. "ll" (double el) is also a valid suffix, this time for the "long long int" type. [[User:GuB|GuB]] ([[User talk:GuB|talk]]) 15:39, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
:Typing lowercase ''L'' instead of ''1'' is a common thing for people of a certain age. Old manual typewriters usually don't have a "1" key, so people learned to use lowercase ''L'' instead -- and sometimes slip back into that habit on newer technology. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 02:03, 9 February 2019 (UTC) Tha's exactly what happened in my example. I blame the programmer, though, for allowing a letter where a numeral was required or possibly converting the l to a 1 if the programmer knew such a thing ever happened. In either case, it shouldn't have allowed the l to just sit there like a bomb waiting to blow apart the post-tax-year processing. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.83|172.68.58.83]] 15:22, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

I went to this page, expecting it to be self-referential. Was not disappointed. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 15:19, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Some markup conversion tools don't handle hidden bold spaces correctly. This HTML to Markdown converter is an example: https://anthonychu.github.io/to-markdown/ It converts <code><nowiki>a </nowiki></code> to <code>**a **</code> instead of <code>**a** </code>. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.10|172.69.62.10]] 15:40, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
:Hah, this comment is not mine! Somehow I have your IP now. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.10|172.69.62.10]] 17:47, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Were the periods in the beginning there for a specific reason? [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:42, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
:The user 108.162.245.16 thought it was a good idea for some reason. Glad you fixed it. I finished the job [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.10|172.69.62.10]] 17:46, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

I've had this happen when writing papers. Bold. Unbold. Later backspace into the hidden bold space and everything typed after gets put in bold. If a professor gives you a page count instead of a word count, you can make the punctuation in your paper bold (or increase the font) to add some extra padding that might go unnoticed. Don't actually do this if you can't convey your thesis in fewer words. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.210.52|172.69.210.52]] 18:11, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

I hated when Microsoft Word took over and lacked a real "Reveal Codes" like WordPerfect used to have. I'm kind of like Randall, I think about those behind-the-scenes things that lots of companies like to try to hide from the user, and I like the power to do something about them. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 18:58, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
:When I saw the strip, I immediately thought of Word Perfect because its brain dead way of inserting formatting as special codes inline with the text. Hit "reveal codes" and it would reveal a string of bold on / bold off codes because it wasn't clever enough to optimise them away. I assume Word does it differently, perhaps with attributed strings and so doesn't need the reveal codes function so you can manually fix the mess the program has a made.

In Microsoft Word, where the majority of people would have experience with selecting and bolding text, the cursor appears as an "I-beam" when positioned over text and not as the "mouse pointer arrow" shown by Randall. Also, in Word double-clicking a word does select the following space(s), but when bold is applied it is applied only to the selected word, NOT to the trailing space (even though the space was selected when the bold was applied). So selecting just the word and un-bolding would not leave a bolded space behind, since the space was never bolded.
Clearly Randall's example is in some editor other than Word. Since Word is where most people have familiarity with selecting and bolding text, something should be added to the explanation noting this and speculating on which text editor Randall is actually showing. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.215|108.162.246.215]] 20:35, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
: Agreed. '''Most''' text editors do not select the trailing space when double-clicking. Microsoft Word is one of the few that does it. But in that case, the space is not formatted as bold. But in most word processors including Word, if you do select the word with the trailing space and apply the bold formatting, the space retains the formatting even if the word is un-bolded. So the first sentence of the explanation is incorrect.
::Do they not? Notepad does it. Notepad++ does it. Your browser does it. Where is the wealth of programs that don't? I reckon this is the default system-wide behavior for double-clicking in Windows, regardless of program. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.228|172.68.65.228]] 11:46, 9 February 2019 (UTC)
:::It seems to be indeed Windows issue, as everything I tried did highlight extra space (except Notepad++), but nothing I tried on Linux did. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.36|162.158.90.36]] 13:59, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

Hidden formatting annoys translators greatly. Sometimes, the formatting of the word processor used and the formatting recognized by the CAT program (such as SDL Trados Studio or MemoQ) do not line up very well, which causes the formatting to appear as tags within the text (purple colored in the most widely used CAT software, Trados). If there is sloppy or hidden formatting all through the document, this turns into what most people call a "wall of purple", with tags everywhere within the document. Since tags need to be accounted for (otherwise the document does not save properly), and the formatting capability of most CAT tools is a lot more limited compared to any word processors, this is a colossal waste of time for any translator to wade through. Thus, if you leave any hidden formatting in a document and you know it will be translated somewhere down the line, you know there is a translator out there that curses the day you were born. (A note though - PDF conversion is responsible for a lot more wall of purple incidents than sloppy formatting. Seriously - if you expect a document to be translated at some point, never bring it anywhere close to the PDF format. That format is evil, I tell you. Pure evil.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.61|162.158.89.61]] 05:47, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

In WordPerfect for DOS, the codes were [BOLD] to turn bold on and [bold] to turn it off again. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.40|162.158.38.40]] 11:30, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

The whole idea of invisible formatting is being used by some websites, including Facebook, to make it much harder for ad blockers to block ads. For example, https://twitter.com/themikepan/status/1093035372186034176 Of course, the same can also be used to defeat swear filters on forums, as well (which, for some words like "bastard sword," *the moderators* themselves suggest doing). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 19:43, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

We have a category for comics with colour... can we have a category for comics with lowercase letters? :) [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 02:33, 10 February 2019 (UTC)

1767: US State Names

2016-12-02T08:51:34Z

Undergroundmonorail: Scratch that, i read the table wrong and i forgot that alaska isn't ours. In my defense it's 4am

{{comic
| number = 1767
| date = December 2, 2016
| title = US State Names
| image = us_state_names.png
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.
}}

==Explanation==
This is just a silly map.
Randall has taken a map of the United States of America labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Fictional State
! Actual State
! Explanation
|-
| Wilwheaton
| Washington
| Will Wheaton is an actor from Washington
|-
| Organs
| Oregon
|
|-
| Cafeteria
| California
|
|-
| Fallout New Vegas
| Nevada
| Fallout New Vegas is set in Nevada
|-
| Idolatry
| Idaho
|
|-
| mount -a
| Montana
| A command to mount all disk volumes
|-
| Wysiwyg
| Wyoming
| Acronym What You See Is What You Get.
|-
| Uhaul
| Utah
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Haul U-Haul] is a company where you can rent vans.
|-
| Verizona
| Arizona
| Verizon has a shared "Rizon" with Arizona. Randall presumably enjoys this.
|-
| Namaste
| New Mexico
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste Namaste] is a Hindu greeting.
|-
| Hexxus
| Texas
| The antagonist of Ferngully. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest FernGully] is said to be the model for the later film "Avatar".
|-
| Okay
| Oklahoma
| OK is the state's abbreviation.
|-
| Candice
| Kansas
|
|-
| Colocated
| Colorado
|
|-
| Nebrunswick
| Nebraska
| New Brunswick, A Canadian province
|-
| Dakota
| South Dakota
|
|-
| More Dakota
| North Dakota
|
|-
| Minestrone
| Minnesota
| Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, originating in Italia.
|-
| Wainscot
| Wisconsin
|
|-
| Iota
| Iowa
|
|-
| Sk8rbois
| Illinois
| "Skater Boys"
|-
| Mossouri
| Missouri
| The single different letter might be borrowed from Montessori, as in Montessori schools.
|-
| Arkanoids
| Arkansas
| An arcade game.
|-
| Louisa
| Louisiana
|
|-
| Misstate
| Mississippi
|
|-
| Bandana
| Alabama
|
|-
| Thennessy
| Tennessee
|
|-
| Kennedy
| Kentucky
|
|-
| That Other One
| Indiana
|
|-
| Mishy
| Michigan
|
|-
| Oh Hi
| Ohio
|
|-
| Pencilmania
| Pennsylvania
|
|-
| Newark
| New York
| A mispronunciation of New York. Possible reference to William Gibson's works.
|-
| Vermouth
| Vermont
|
|-
| New Hamper
| New Hampshire
|
|-
| Spanish Maine
| Maine
|
|-
| Masseuses
| Massachusetts
|
|-
| Roald Dahl
| Rhode Island
|
|-
| Connectfour
| Connecticut
|
|-
| Nude Juggalos
| New Jersey
|
|-
| Delorean
| Delaware
|
|-
| Maybelline
| Maryland
|
|-
| District of Colubrids
| District of Columbus
| The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colubridae Colubridae] are the biggest family of snakes, accounting for about two thirds of the world's species.
|-
| Wyvern
| West Virginia
|
|-
| Virjayjay
| Virginia
| Virginia is similar to vagina. Vajayjay is slang for vagina.
|-
| Sweet Caroline
| North Carolina
|
|-
| South Caroline
| South Carolina
|
|-
| George
| Georgia
|
|-
| Fyoridor
| Florida
| Possibly derived from the Russian name Fyodor, as in Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
|-
| Alberta
| Alaska
| A Canadian province.
|-
| Kawaii
| Hawaii
| A Japanese term for cute commonly romanized similar to Hawaii.
|-
| Bandana
| Alabama
|
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
| Alabama => Bandana |
| Alaska => Alberta |
| Arizona => Verizona |
| Arkansas => Arkanoids |
| California => Cafeteria |
| Colorado => Colocated |
| Connecticut => Connect Four |
| Delaware => Delorean |
| District of Columbia => District of Colubrids |
| Florida => Fyoridor |
| Georgia => George |
| Hawaii => Kawaii |
| Idaho => Idolatry |
| Illinois => SK8RBOIS |
| Indiana => That Other One |
| Iowa => Iota |
| Kansas => Candice |
| Kentucky => Kennedy |
| Louisiana => Loisa |
| Maine => Spanish Maine |
| Maryland => Maybelline |
| Massachusetts => Masseuses |
| Michigan => Mishy |
| Minnesota => Minestrone |
| Mississippi => Misstate |
| Missouri => Mossouri |
| Montana => mount -a |
| Nebraska => Nebrunswick |
| Nevada => Fallout New Vegas |
| New Hampshire => New Hamper |
| New Jersey => Nude Juggalos |
| New Mexico => Namaste |
| New York => Newark |
| North Carolina => Sweet Caroline |
| /South Carolina => South Caroline |
| Ohio => Oh Hi |
| Oklahoma => Okay |
| Oregon => Organs |
| Pennsylvania => Pencilmania |
| Rhode Island => Roald Dahl |
| South Dakota => Dakota |
| /North Dakota => More Dakota |
| Tennessee => Thennessy |
| Texas => Hexxus |
| Utah => Uhaul |
| Vermont => Vermouth |
| Virginia => Virjayjay |
| Washington => Willwheaton |
| West Virginia => Wyvern |
| Wisconsin => Wainscot |
| Wyoming => WYSIWYG |

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

1767: US State Names

2016-12-02T08:48:45Z

Undergroundmonorail: Canada has provinces and territories. Alaska is the latter

{{comic
| number = 1767
| date = December 2, 2016
| title = US State Names
| image = us_state_names.png
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.
}}

==Explanation==
This is just a silly map.
Randall has taken a map of the United States of America labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Fictional State
! Actual State
! Explanation
|-
| Wilwheaton
| Washington
| Will Wheaton is an actor from Washington
|-
| Organs
| Oregon
|
|-
| Cafeteria
| California
|
|-
| Fallout New Vegas
| Nevada
| Fallout New Vegas is set in Nevada
|-
| Idolatry
| Idaho
|
|-
| mount -a
| Montana
| A command to mount all disk volumes
|-
| Wysiwyg
| Wyoming
| Acronym What You See Is What You Get.
|-
| Uhaul
| Utah
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Haul U-Haul] is a company where you can rent vans.
|-
| Verizona
| Arizona
| Verizon has a shared "Rizon" with Arizona. Randall presumably enjoys this.
|-
| Namaste
| New Mexico
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste Namaste] is a Hindu greeting.
|-
| Hexxus
| Texas
| The antagonist of Ferngully. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest FernGully] is said to be the model for the later film "Avatar".
|-
| Okay
| Oklahoma
| OK is the state's abbreviation.
|-
| Candice
| Kansas
|
|-
| Colocated
| Colorado
|
|-
| Nebrunswick
| Nebraska
| New Brunswick, A Canadian province
|-
| Dakota
| South Dakota
|
|-
| More Dakota
| North Dakota
|
|-
| Minestrone
| Minnesota
| Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, originating in Italia.
|-
| Wainscot
| Wisconsin
|
|-
| Iota
| Iowa
|
|-
| Sk8rbois
| Illinois
| "Skater Boys"
|-
| Mossouri
| Missouri
| The single different letter might be borrowed from Montessori, as in Montessori schools.
|-
| Arkanoids
| Arkansas
| An arcade game.
|-
| Louisa
| Louisiana
|
|-
| Misstate
| Mississippi
|
|-
| Bandana
| Alabama
|
|-
| Thennessy
| Tennessee
|
|-
| Kennedy
| Kentucky
|
|-
| That Other One
| Indiana
|
|-
| Mishy
| Michigan
|
|-
| Oh Hi
| Ohio
|
|-
| Pencilmania
| Pennsylvania
|
|-
| Newark
| New York
| A mispronunciation of New York. Possible reference to William Gibson's works.
|-
| Vermouth
| Vermont
|
|-
| New Hamper
| New Hampshire
|
|-
| Spanish Maine
| Maine
|
|-
| Masseuses
| Massachusetts
|
|-
| Roald Dahl
| Rhode Island
|
|-
| Connectfour
| Connecticut
|
|-
| Nude Juggalos
| New Jersey
|
|-
| Delorean
| Delaware
|
|-
| Maybelline
| Maryland
|
|-
| District of Colubrids
| District of Columbus
| The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colubridae Colubridae] are the biggest family of snakes, accounting for about two thirds of the world's species.
|-
| Wyvern
| West Virginia
|
|-
| Virjayjay
| Virginia
| Virginia is similar to vagina. Vajayjay is slang for vagina.
|-
| Sweet Caroline
| North Carolina
|
|-
| South Caroline
| South Carolina
|
|-
| George
| Georgia
|
|-
| Fyoridor
| Florida
| Possibly derived from the Russian name Fyodor, as in Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
|-
| Alberta
| Alaska
| A Canadian territory.
|-
| Kawaii
| Hawaii
| A Japanese term for cute commonly romanized similar to Hawaii.
|-
| Bandana
| Alabama
|
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
| Alabama => Bandana |
| Alaska => Alberta |
| Arizona => Verizona |
| Arkansas => Arkanoids |
| California => Cafeteria |
| Colorado => Colocated |
| Connecticut => Connect Four |
| Delaware => Delorean |
| District of Columbia => District of Colubrids |
| Florida => Fyoridor |
| Georgia => George |
| Hawaii => Kawaii |
| Idaho => Idolatry |
| Illinois => SK8RBOIS |
| Indiana => That Other One |
| Iowa => Iota |
| Kansas => Candice |
| Kentucky => Kennedy |
| Louisiana => Loisa |
| Maine => Spanish Maine |
| Maryland => Maybelline |
| Massachusetts => Masseuses |
| Michigan => Mishy |
| Minnesota => Minestrone |
| Mississippi => Misstate |
| Missouri => Mossouri |
| Montana => mount -a |
| Nebraska => Nebrunswick |
| Nevada => Fallout New Vegas |
| New Hampshire => New Hamper |
| New Jersey => Nude Juggalos |
| New Mexico => Namaste |
| New York => Newark |
| North Carolina => Sweet Caroline |
| /South Carolina => South Caroline |
| Ohio => Oh Hi |
| Oklahoma => Okay |
| Oregon => Organs |
| Pennsylvania => Pencilmania |
| Rhode Island => Roald Dahl |
| South Dakota => Dakota |
| /North Dakota => More Dakota |
| Tennessee => Thennessy |
| Texas => Hexxus |
| Utah => Uhaul |
| Vermont => Vermouth |
| Virginia => Virjayjay |
| Washington => Willwheaton |
| West Virginia => Wyvern |
| Wisconsin => Wainscot |
| Wyoming => WYSIWYG |

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

1678: Recent Searches

2016-05-09T15:58:12Z

Undergroundmonorail: attempted improvement of ebnf regex explanation

{{comic
| number = 1678
| date = May 9, 2016
| title = Recent Searches
| image = recent_searches.png
| titletext = autoexec code posted by verified twitter users
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs an explanation for the individual queries.}}

The comic refers to the practice of finding answers to computer problems using {{w|Google}}. It shows a list of search queries, each of which suggests the author is perversely misusuing or overextending some computer technology or technologies. The overall impression is of someone technically sophisticated enough to shoot themselves in the foot, and who does not learn any larger lessons despite doing so repeatedly. It is unlikely any of the searches would give useful answers, because no two people would be perverse in these extremely specific ways. The title text is another possible entry in this list.

{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! width=20% | Search
! Explanation
|-
| Google translate syntax highlighting
| {{w|Syntax highlighting}} can be used when editing source code to make the code more readable and easier to understand. {{w|Google Translate}} is used to translate text from one spoken/written language to another. The joke here is that syntax highlighting doesn't make sense in the context of translating spoken/written languages.
|-
| Autodetect mixed bash zsh
|
|-
| CPU temperature sensor limits
| The CPU's temperature sensors exist to tell you when your CPU is becoming dangerously overheated (presumably as a result of overuse). Someone who searches for information about the limits of those sensors is presumably expecting to misuse their CPU.
|-
| GIF to XLS
| .GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is a file extension used to store images and highly compressed videos. .XLS is thefile extension for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The joke is that the complete difference between the two types of file makes any kind of conversion all but impossible, so the search is useless.
|-
| Clock speed jumper sample rate
|
|-
| Clean reinstall keybinding
| This refers to keybinding, the practice of mapping a certain key to a certain function (e.g., pressing PRTSC will take a screenshot). Creating a keybinding for an task usually implies that the task is repeated often. A "clean reinstall" is however not generally something that should be repeated often.
|-
| Cron job to update crontab
| {{w|Cron}} is a utility that allows you to schedule commands or scripts to be run periodically. These scheduled jobs are read from a ''crontab'' file. A job that updates the crontab (therefore creating new jobs, removing old ones or editing existing ones) is highly unusual and unlikely to be what you actually want to do.
|-
| fsck Chrome extension
| fsck is a low level tool that would require a lot of effort to run through a browser with no gain.
|-
| Recursive font
|
|-
| Regex matching valid EBNF
| EBNF refers to {{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form}}, which is used to define {{w|Formal Language|formal languages}}. It is far too complex for a {{w|Regular_Expression|regular expression}} to determine whether it is valid or not. There is some irony in using regex to test the validity of something which ''defines'' the validity of things like regex.
|-
| Hardlinks Turing complete
|
|-
| Opposite of safe mode
| {{w|Safe mode}} is a diagnostic mode of an operating system or application which allows the user to troubleshoot problems by disabling unnecessary functionality. The "opposite of safe mode" implies a "dangerous" mode where the purpose is to cause problems rather than fix them.
|-
| Predictive touchpad
| {{w|Predictive text}} is a feature of many smartphone keyboards that predicts the most likely word the user wishes to type, and then gives the user the option to place the word in the sentence without typing the whole word. A {{w|touchpad}} is a computer pointing device, similar to a {{w|computer mouse}}. The idea of a "predictive touchpad" seems absurd because, as opposed to typed words, there are not a limited number of swipe combinations that are possible on a touchpad. A "predictive touchpad" implies that a computer could predict where the use was going to move the mouse or click, which is clearly unreasonable
|-
| Google docs from bootloader
| Google docs relies on programs and libraries much more complex than a bootloader could run.
|-
| Hardware acceleration red channel only
| Hardware acceleration means that certain calculations are not performed by the computer's CPU but by a "specialized" GPU which is part of the graphics adapter. This speeds up output, especially if complex 3D calculations are required and reduces CPU load. To use this function only on a single color channel seems pretty useless.
|-
| autoexec code posted by verified twitter users
| Automatically executing code from the internet is generally a terrible idea, because it could be written by someone with malicious intent and harm your computer. The joke here is that the code would only be executed if written by someone who has been "verified" on Twitter. Twitter's verification service only serves to show that a user is who they claim to be, not whether or not their code can be trusted, so this would provide little protection.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:[Coloured and styled as the logo]
:Google

:[Drop down box, implying recent searches]
:Google translate syntax highlighting
:Autodetect mixed bash zsh
:CPU temperature sensor limits
:GIF to XLS
:Clock speed jumper sample rate
:Clean reinstall keybinding
:Cron job to update crontab
:fsck Chrome extension
:Recursive font
:Regex matching valid EBNF
:Hardlinks Turing complete
:Opposite of safe mode
:Predictive touchpad
:Google docs from bootloader
:Hardware acceleration red channel only

:[Bold, below page outline]
:I have no idea why my computers are always broken

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1678: Recent Searches

2016-05-09T15:48:34Z

Undergroundmonorail:

Interestingly enough "CPU temperature sensor limits" might be a serious consideration for extreme overclockers, who use things like liquid nitrogen to cool their PC. [[User:SG 01|SG 01]] ([[User talk:SG 01|talk]]) 15:45, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

This is my first time trying to help out with an explanation, please let me know if I did something wrong ^_^; [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 15:48, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

1678: Recent Searches

2016-05-09T15:46:30Z

Undergroundmonorail: attempted autoexec explaination

{{comic
| number = 1678
| date = May 9, 2016
| title = Recent Searches
| image = recent_searches.png
| titletext = autoexec code posted by verified twitter users
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs an explanation for the individual queries.}}

The comic refers to the practice of finding answers to computer problems using {{w|Google}}. It shows a list of search queries, each of which suggests the author is perversely misusuing or overextending some computer technology or technologies. The overall impression is of someone technically sophisticated enough to shoot themselves in the foot, and who does not learn any larger lessons despite doing so repeatedly. It is unlikely any of the searches would give useful answers, because no two people would be perverse in these extremely specific ways. The title text is another possible entry in this list.

{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! width=20% | Search
! Explanation
|-
| Google translate syntax highlighting
| {{w|Syntax highlighting}} can be used when editing source code to make the code more readable and easier to understand. {{w|Google Translate}} is used to translate text from one spoken/written language to another. The joke here is that syntax highlighting doesn't make sense in the context of translating spoken/written languages.
|-
| Autodetect mixed bash zsh
|
|-
| CPU temperature sensor limits
| the CPU's temperature sensors exist to tell you when your CPU is becoming dangerously overheated (presumably as a result of overuse). Someone who searches for information about the limits of those sensors is presumably expecting to misuse their CPU.
|-
| GIF to XLS
| .GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is a file extension used to store images and highly compressed videos. .XLS is thefile extension for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The joke is that the complete difference between the two types of file makes any kind of conversion all but impossible, so the search is useless.
|-
| Clock speed jumper sample rate
|
|-
| Clean reinstall keybinding
|
|-
| Cron job to update crontab
| {{w|Cron}} is a utility that allows you to schedule commands or scripts to be run periodically. These scheduled jobs are read from a ''crontab'' file. A job that updates the crontab (therefore creating new jobs, removing old ones or editing existing ones) is highly unusual and unlikely to be what you actually want to do.
|-
| fsck Chrome extension
| fsck is a low level tool that would require a lot of effort to run through a browser with no gain.
|-
| Recursive font
|
|-
| Regex matching valid ebnf
| EBNF refers to {{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form}}
|-
| Hardlinks Turing complete
|
|-
| Opposite of safe mode
|
|-
| Predictive touchpad
| Predictive Text is a feature of many smartphone keyboards that predicts the most likely word the user wishes to type, and then gives the user the option to place the word in the sentence without typing out the whole word. The idea of a "predictive touchpad" seems absurd because, as opposed to typed words, there are not a limited number of swipe combinations that are possible on a touchpad.
|-
| Google docs from bootloader
| Google docs relies on programs and libraries much more complex than a bootloader could run.
|-
| Hardware acceleration red channel only
|
|-
| autoexec code posted by verified twitter users
| Automatically executing code from the internet is generally a terrible idea, because it could be written by someone with malicious intent and harm your computer. The joke here is that the code would only be executed if written by someone who has been "verified" on Twitter. Twitter's verification service only serves to show that a user is who they claim to be, not whether or not their code can be trusted, so this would provide little protection.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:[Coloured and styled as the logo]
:Google

:[Drop down box, implying recent searches]
:Google translate syntax highlighting
:Autodetect mixed bash zsh
:CPU temperature sensor limits
:GIF to XLS
:Clock speed jumper sample rate
:Clean reinstall keybinding
:Cron job to update crontab
:fsck Chrome extension
:Recursive font
:Regex matching valid ebnf
:Hardlinks Turing complete
:Opposite of safe mode
:Predictive touchpad
:Google docs from bootloader
:Hardware acceleration red channel only

:[Bold, below page outline]
:I have no idea why my computers are always broken

{{comic discussion}}

1678: Recent Searches

2016-05-09T15:39:19Z

Undergroundmonorail: attempted cron job explanation