explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2399: 2020 Election Map

2020-12-16T22:59:45Z

V2Blast:

I see a political comic... sure hope this doesn't spiral out of control. [[User:ChessCake|ChessCake]] ([[User talk:ChessCake|talk]]) 22:21, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
: How dare you accuse me of spiraling things out of control, you so-and-so! This kind of baseless backwards logic is exactly the problem with people who share your particular political opinions! --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 22:38, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
:: You're being sarcastic, right? Just want to be clear so we don't fuel the [potential] flames to come. [[User:ChessCake|ChessCake]] ([[User talk:ChessCake|talk]]) 22:51, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
::: I took "so-and-so" as proof that neatnit was joking. Angry people on the internet use harsher words. SDT [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.38|162.158.75.38]] 22:57, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
::: Definitely. The "so-and-so" instead of an insult, and the deliberately vague grouping of "people who share your particular political opinions" were a clear giveaway. :) --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 22:59, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2379: Probability Comparisons

2020-10-31T03:59:15Z

V2Blast: added comment

(Sidenote: for the 88% entry in the comic, "outside" is misspelled as "outide" as of the current moment.)

What's the best way to organize the explanations for this comic, when they begin to be added? By the order they're listed in the comic? That seems inefficient, since presumably many of the entries can be answered as a group by a single explanation. If they should be grouped, how should they be grouped? --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 03:59, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

User talk:Sqrt-1

2020-10-25T20:38:26Z

V2Blast: /* Creating blank pages */

<indicator name="silver">[[File:Rainbow trout transparent.png|25px|link=|baseline|alt=]]</indicator>
Welcome to my talk page. Feel free to talk about anything to me.

{{kick}}
Got ya back
:ouch.

My signature = ( — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]])
<hr/>
i hate red links
:So do I. how did you get the tumbleweed, and are there any others? [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]])
::It was originally from [https://en.uncyclopedia.co/wiki/Main_Page Uncyclopedia], but are now used in many other wikis as a form of joke. [https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_scientifically_controlled_double_blind_studies_which_have_conclusively_demonstrated_the_efficacy_of_homeopathy like here]. Since I am talentless at actually explaining xkcd (which is what this wiki is about), I do other things to give myself the illusion of actually contributing to this wiki. I don't understand what you mean by "are there any others". I am also at other wikis, small or big, and they too use it, so I added it here. — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 03:42, 1 October 2020 (UTC)
:::Are there any other templates is what I was asking [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]])

== Create Template ==

Did you create those templates? (crickets, rw, troll, etc.) If so, how do I create one (is it even possible) [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]) 16:47, 5 October 2020 (UTC)
:Yes, I did create those templates, and it is pretty easy to make one. For example the citation needed template: ([[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]]) In order to use this text many times, instead of typing the wikitext code and all the syntax for it, you can simply create a template of it ([[Template:Citation needed]]). See the Wikipedia page explaining wiki templates: {{w|Wikipedia:Templates}}

==SWOTI==
You said on your [[User:Sqrt-1|page]] you have SWOTI syndrome. May I assume you are referencing [[SWOTI Syndrome]]? -[[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]][[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]
:yes, that syndrome. (PS: it’s SIWOTI syndrome, not SWOTI syndrome) — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 12:33, 13 October 2020 (UTC)
::Oh wutever-[[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]][[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]

== Creating blank pages ==

Please don't create blank pages, especially other people's userpages, just because you have a personal dislike of redlinks. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 20:38, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

User talk:Sqrt-1

2020-10-25T20:38:15Z

V2Blast: /* Creating blank pages */ new section

<indicator name="silver">[[File:Rainbow trout transparent.png|25px|link=|baseline|alt=]]</indicator>
Welcome to my talk page. Feel free to talk about anything to me.

{{kick}}
Got ya back
:ouch.

My signature = ( — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]])
<hr/>
i hate red links
:So do I. how did you get the tumbleweed, and are there any others? [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]])
::It was originally from [https://en.uncyclopedia.co/wiki/Main_Page Uncyclopedia], but are now used in many other wikis as a form of joke. [https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_scientifically_controlled_double_blind_studies_which_have_conclusively_demonstrated_the_efficacy_of_homeopathy like here]. Since I am talentless at actually explaining xkcd (which is what this wiki is about), I do other things to give myself the illusion of actually contributing to this wiki. I don't understand what you mean by "are there any others". I am also at other wikis, small or big, and they too use it, so I added it here. — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 03:42, 1 October 2020 (UTC)
:::Are there any other templates is what I was asking [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]])

== Create Template ==

Did you create those templates? (crickets, rw, troll, etc.) If so, how do I create one (is it even possible) [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]) 16:47, 5 October 2020 (UTC)
:Yes, I did create those templates, and it is pretty easy to make one. For example the citation needed template: ([[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]]) In order to use this text many times, instead of typing the wikitext code and all the syntax for it, you can simply create a template of it ([[Template:Citation needed]]). See the Wikipedia page explaining wiki templates: {{w|Wikipedia:Templates}}

==SWOTI==
You said on your [[User:Sqrt-1|page]] you have SWOTI syndrome. May I assume you are referencing [[SWOTI Syndrome]]? -[[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]][[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]
:yes, that syndrome. (PS: it’s SIWOTI syndrome, not SWOTI syndrome) — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 12:33, 13 October 2020 (UTC)
::Oh wutever-[[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]][[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]

== Creating blank pages ==

Please don't create pages, especially other people's userpages, just because you have a personal dislike of redlinks. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 20:38, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

2375: Worst Ladder

2020-10-22T02:08:11Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2375
| date = October 21, 2020
| title = Worst Ladder
| image = worst_ladder.png
| titletext = [Six months later] "Well, our 'worst ladder' subscription series was a surprisingly lucrative success, but was completely canceled out by the losses from the disastrous Home Depot merchandising tie-in."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WANNABE WORST LADDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

An ongoing concern of media industries is consumers shifting tastes or indeed abandoning a medium altogether (such as print newspapers or in-person theaters). This depicts one such scenario prompting a meeting to discuss the problem. The other attendees suspect they are simply shifting to an online platform, but Megan reveals they are instead shifting towards image search results.

Of course, during the age of the internet, there are many sources of free entertainment. {{w|YouTube}} and {{w|TikTok}} provide examples of these services, as practically anyone can choose from a tremendous variety of content. Therefore, this hurts services that require money to see their content, particularly when this content does not have any factors that make it inherently more appealing than the free services. The joke here is that instead of YouTube or TikTok, possible customers are going to the Google Image search page for "worst ladder."

Searching for images is an unorthodox source of entertainment, frequently only seen when searching for memes (this, in fact, is how {{w|Know Your Meme}} gauges interest in a meme). While this may be entertaining for a short period of time, the page's content remains roughly stagnant from day to day (contrasted with other services that contain new posts nearly every second), and the quality of any Google Images page will decline with scrolling. Therefore, this is not a sustainable source of entertainment, and would be unlikely to compete with the service in this comic.

Search results currently tend to vary widely from person to person, as Google uses the user's search history, IP address, and location to try to find the most relevant result for each person, even if they are not logged in. This provides social opportunities around searching, sometimes exploited by social media posts (which may be how Megan originally found out).

Searching for "worst ladder" at the time the comic was posted allows observing ladders that are comically unsafe or poorly designed (see [https://drive.google.com/file/d/10xQ63VpvSBmz9e1rmKyUbHDKa5jIYPLK/view?usp=sharing sample results from shortly after the comic was posted]). It is worth noting that, while normally it does not undergo much change, the "worst ladder" page will likely now contain a barrage of results related to this xkcd comic, as happened with [[369: Dangers]]. This is similar to the {{w|Slashdot effect}}. For reference, at the time of posting (0:00 UTC), the comic was the 30th Google image result. From about 0:20 to 1:15 UTC, it was the 18th result; by 1:30 UTC, it had become the third result.

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

:[Ponytail, Cueball, Hairy and Hairbun are sitting around a boardroom table. Megan is giving a presentation and pointing to a chart behind her.]
:Megan: Our entertainment division is failing. We can't compete with free content.

:[A frameless panel. Only Megan is shown, with her pointer to her side.]
:Off-panel voice: Where are they going? YouTube? TikTok?
:Megan: No.

:[Zoomed in on Megan.]
:Megan: The Google Images search results for '''''worst ladder'''''.
:Off-panel voice: Huh?
:Off-panel voice: Let me see ...

:[Ponytail and Cueball are looking at one laptop, and Hairy and Hairbun are looking at a second. Megan has her arms out in front of her, frustrated.]
:Ponytail: Yikes, look at this one! The stepladder is balanced on --
:Hairy: Wow, they ''tied'' a ladder to --
:Hairbun: Ooh, check out the --
:Megan: ''No!''

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

2375: Worst Ladder

2020-10-22T02:07:45Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ minor copyediting

{{comic
| number = 2375
| date = October 21, 2020
| title = Worst Ladder
| image = worst_ladder.png
| titletext = [Six months later] "Well, our 'worst ladder' subscription series was a surprisingly lucrative success, but was completely canceled out by the losses from the disastrous Home Depot merchandising tie-in."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WANNABE WORST LADDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

An ongoing concern of media industries is consumers shifting tastes or indeed abandoning a medium altogether (such as print newspapers or in-person theaters). This depicts one such scenario prompting a meeting to discuss the problem. The other attendees suspect they are simply shifting to an online platform, but Megan reveals they are instead shifting towards image search results.

Of course, during the age of the internet, there are many sources of free entertainment. {{w|YouTube}} and {{w|TikTok}} provide examples of these services, as practically anyone can choose from a tremendous variety of content. Therefore, this hurts services that require money to see their content, particularly when this content does not have any factors that make it inherently more appealing than the free services. The joke here is that instead of YouTube or TikTok, possible customers are going to the Google Image search page for "worst ladder."

Searching for images is an unorthodox source of entertainment frequently only seen when searching for memes (this, in fact, is how {{w|Know Your Meme}} gages interest in a meme). While this may be entertaining for a short period of time, the page's content remains roughly stagnant from day to day (contrasted with other services that contain new posts nearly every second), and the quality of any Google Images page will decline with scrolling. Therefore, this is not a sustainable source of entertainment, and would be unlikely to compete with the service in this comic.

Search results currently tend to vary widely from person to person, as Google uses the user's search history, IP address, and location to try to find the most relevant result for each person, even if they are not logged in. This provides social opportunities around searching, sometimes exploited by social media posts (which may be how Megan originally found out).

Searching for "worst ladder" at the time the comic was posted allows observing ladders that are comically unsafe or poorly designed (see [https://drive.google.com/file/d/10xQ63VpvSBmz9e1rmKyUbHDKa5jIYPLK/view?usp=sharing sample results from shortly after the comic was posted]). It is worth noting that, while normally it does not undergo much change, the "worst ladder" page will likely now contain a barrage of results related to this xkcd comic, as happened with [[369: Dangers]]. This is similar to the {{w|Slashdot effect}}. For reference, at the time of posting (0:00 UTC), the comic was the 30th Google image result. From about 0:20 to 1:15 UTC, it was the 18th result; by 1:30 UTC, it had become the third result.

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

:[Ponytail, Cueball, Hairy and Hairbun are sitting around a boardroom table. Megan is giving a presentation and pointing to a chart behind her.]
:Megan: Our entertainment division is failing. We can't compete with free content.

:[A frameless panel. Only Megan is shown, with her pointer to her side.]
:Off-panel voice: Where are they going? YouTube? TikTok?
:Megan: No.

:[Zoomed in on Megan.]
:Megan: The Google Images search results for '''''worst ladder'''''.
:Off-panel voice: Huh?
:Off-panel voice: Let me see ...

:[Ponytail and Cueball are looking at one laptop, and Hairy and Hairbun are looking at a second. Megan has her arms out in front of her, frustrated.]
:Ponytail: Yikes, look at this one! The stepladder is balanced on --
:Hairy: Wow, they ''tied'' a ladder to --
:Hairbun: Ooh, check out the --
:Megan: ''No!''

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

2375: Worst Ladder

2020-10-22T02:06:41Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ added missing period

{{comic
| number = 2375
| date = October 21, 2020
| title = Worst Ladder
| image = worst_ladder.png
| titletext = [Six months later] "Well, our 'worst ladder' subscription series was a surprisingly lucrative success, but was completely canceled out by the losses from the disastrous Home Depot merchandising tie-in."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WANNABE WORST LADDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

An ongoing concern of media industries is consumers shifting tastes or indeed abandoning a medium altogether (such as print newspapers or in-person theaters). This depicts one such scenario prompting a meeting to discuss the problem. The other attendees suspect they are simply shifting to an online platform, but Megan reveals they are instead shifting towards image search results.

Of course, during the age of the internet, there are many sources of free entertainment. {{w|YouTube}} and {{w|TikTok}} provide examples of these services, as practically anyone can choose from a tremendous variety of content. Therefore, this hurts services that require money to see their content, particularly when this content does not have any factors that make it inherently more appealing than the free services. The joke here is that instead of YouTube or TikTok, possible customers are going to the Google Image search page for "worst ladder."

Searching for images is an unorthodox source of entertainment frequently only seen when searching for memes (this, in fact, is how {{w|Know Your Meme}} gages interest in a meme). While this may be entertaining for a short period of time, the page's content remains roughly stagnant from day to day (contrasted with other services that contain new posts nearly every second), and the quality of any Google Images page will decline with scrolling. Therefore, this is not a sustainable source of entertainment, and would be unlikely to compete with the service in this comic.

Search results currently tend to vary widely from person to person, as Google uses the user's search history, IP address, and location to try to find the most relevant result for each person, even if they are not logged in. This provides social opportunities around searching, sometimes exploited by social media posts (which may be how Megan originally found out).

Searching for "worst ladder" at the time the comic was posted allows observing ladders that are comically unsafe or poorly designed, ([https://drive.google.com/file/d/10xQ63VpvSBmz9e1rmKyUbHDKa5jIYPLK/view?usp=sharing sample results from shortly after the comic was posted]). It is worth noting that, while normally it does not undergo much change, the "worst ladder" page will likely now contain a barrage of results related to this xkcd comic as happened with [[369: Dangers]]. This is similar to the {{w|Slashdot effect}}. For reference, at the time of posting (0:00 UTC), the comic was the 30th Google image result. From about 0:20 to 1:15 UTC it was the 18th result, and by 1:30 UTC it had become the third result!

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

:[Ponytail, Cueball, Hairy and Hairbun are sitting around a boardroom table. Megan is giving a presentation and pointing to a chart behind her.]
:Megan: Our entertainment division is failing. We can't compete with free content.

:[A frameless panel. Only Megan is shown, with her pointer to her side.]
:Off-panel voice: Where are they going? YouTube? TikTok?
:Megan: No.

:[Zoomed in on Megan.]
:Megan: The Google Images search results for '''''worst ladder'''''.
:Off-panel voice: Huh?
:Off-panel voice: Let me see ...

:[Ponytail and Cueball are looking at one laptop, and Hairy and Hairbun are looking at a second. Megan has her arms out in front of her, frustrated.]
:Ponytail: Yikes, look at this one! The stepladder is balanced on --
:Hairy: Wow, they ''tied'' a ladder to --
:Hairbun: Ooh, check out the --
:Megan: ''No!''

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

Talk:2339: Pods vs Bubbles

2020-07-31T06:00:36Z

V2Blast:

What's a "pod"? Incoherent comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.173|172.69.63.173]] 15:31, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

: A pea pod? It's a protected family unit of peas. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.50|162.158.167.50]] 01:07, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

According to [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/parenting/coronavirus-pod-family.html this New York Times article], it has to do with families forming groups during quarantine.
"One idea that some families are considering — and that infectious disease epidemiologists think might be a smart way to balance mental health needs with physical safety — is to create quarantine “pods” or “bubbles,” in which two or three families agree to socialize with one another but no one else. In a pod, families hang out together, often without regard to social distancing — but outside of the pod, they follow recommended social distancing rules." --[[User:Borgendorf|Borgendorf]] ([[User talk:Borgendorf|talk]]) 16:01, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

From context, especially the reference to Canada, I take it that Pod is the US term (more predominantly) for the situation that Canada may (and UK does) mostly call a Bubble. It may be a good sign that the person who wants to Bubble/Pod comes from the place where the situation is worse (US v Canada, at least). In the UK we used (and still do) the term Key Workers for what others may call Essential Workers (asked to continue to work, even in lock-down, and ideally take more care outside of work to prevent forcing them into deeper isolation), which was especially funny when applied to a locksmith on contract with the health service... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.131|162.158.154.131]] 16:22, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

I don't think this is a US-Canada thing. I'm an American (Californian more specifically) and I've heard both terms commonly. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.99|172.68.142.99]] 19:50, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

I think we should start a category of comics in which Randall/Cueball interacts with (or imagines interacting with) his past self or someone from the past -- some of them are literally [[:Category:Time travel|time travel]] comics (e.g. [[2280: 2010 and 2020]] and [[2220: Imagine Going Back in Time]]), but others are not, at least not directly (like this one, or [[2302: 2020 Google Trends]]). Some ideas for the category name: "Retrospectives", "Comics featuring perspectives from the past", "Comics imagining what the past might think of the present"...I'm not wild about any of these; does anyone else have other suggestions? --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 18:15, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

I swear I thought this was about Tide Pods or such. I just figured that Canada products called them "bubbles". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.162|108.162.210.162]] 05:20, 30 July 2020 (UTC) They're like a pod of peas: You're protected and secluded inside a pea or bean pod. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.50|162.158.167.50]] 01:07, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

When the second wave hit Victoria (Australia), and a border closure with NSW was being considered/announced, there were jokes that (as a [[wikipedia:Shibboleth|shibboleth]]) travellers will be asked to identify a food item and denied entry if they call it a "potato cake" (the food is called "potato scallop" or just "scallop" in most of NSW). [[User:Sabik|Sabik]] ([[User talk:Sabik|talk]]) 08:06, 30 July 2020 (UTC)

Here in France, there's a surge of cases in the département (county/district) of Mayenne. Typically French licence plates have an F on the extreme left, and the département logo/number on the extreme right. However there is no actual law that states that the number on the licence plate must be the same as the one the car is from, only that it is illegal to modify plates in any way (such as covering the département number with the BZH (Brittany) flag or other such regional things. It's a clever little ruse that a number of people living in Mayenne have changed their licence plates to pretty much anything that isn't 53, so when they drive around outside of the département, people aren't like "oh my god, plague!". Given this, and the sheer number of little winding back roads and farm tracks only suitable for tractors and 2CVs, it'll be interesting should they decide to lock down Mayenne. I live near the border (on the outside) so I'll go grab a face mask and a bag of popcorn... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.185|141.101.69.185]] 15:18, 30 July 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2339: Pods vs Bubbles

2020-07-31T06:00:29Z

V2Blast:

2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:20:57Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ added wikilinks (using "w" template); corrected phrasing

{{comic
| number = 2319
| date = June 12, 2020
| title = Large Number Formats
| image = large number formats-2.png
| titletext = 10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows how different people express large numbers. This number in question is approximately the distance from the planet Earth to the planet Jupiter as of June 2020, in {{w|inch|inches}} (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Type of person
! Notes
|-
| 25,259,974,097,204
| Normal Person
| This is the full number, written out in the normal fashion, with commas to indicate powers of 1000. Note that this convention is only considered normal in the Anglo-Saxon world; conventions for writing large numbers in full vary considerably across cultures. For example, in countries where the comma is used as a {{w|decimal separator}} (including Europe outside the UK), one would write the number as 25 259 974 097 204. Under the {{w|Indian numbering system}}, this number would be written as 25,25,997,40,97,204.
|-
| 25 Trillion
| Normal Person
| This is the number, rounded to trillions in the normal fashion.
|-
| 25 Billion
| Old British Person
| In current English usage, across the anglophonic world with some hold-outs, an n-illion means 10^(3n+3) as per the {{w|short scale}} system popularised by American influence in international trade, so a trillion means 10^12, as above. However, older British English use had an n-illion meaning 10^(6n) (i.e. the simpler calculation of ''million^n''), so a billion meant 10^12. The change stems from a 1974 commitment by Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, to change from the {{w|long scale}} (previously often described as the British system) to the short one for all official purposes.

Though not instantly widely adopted for common usage, the mid-'70s could therefore be considered the key turning point between when an older or younger British person learns (as the change filters through the system at various stages of education) what their "Billion"s and "Trillion"s are supposed to represent.

(The 1971 transition to decimalised currency may also date a person's experiences, but was a more comprehensive and immediate change for everyone who handled any money at all, in the UK, and thus was a more definite point of change apart from the extended survival of the "12 times table" being taught by rote in primary education, rather than ending at the 10s.)

As well as 'traditionalist' British use, the Long Scale is widely used in the non-anglophone world, in local language versions, though while the British system tended to infill n-and-a-half powers of the million with the term "thousand n-illion", the suffix "-illi''ard''", or equivalent, is often used for the thousands multiple directly atop the respective "-illion" point.
|-
|2.526x1013
|Scientist
|This number is formatted in {{w|scientific notation}}, using the exponent 1013.
|-
| 2.525997x1013
| Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
| Using as many decimal places as necessary until hitting a digit (0-4) that results in rounding down, even if it goes against the common scientific practice of reporting the correct amount of "significant figures". A previous version of the comic had a typo (the number was ''2.5997x1013''), but Randall updated the comic.
|-
| 2.526e13 or
2.526*10^13
| Software developer
| Computer code cannot typically use the superscripts or other types of rich text formatting, so the exponent is indicated with the {{w|caret}}. "e13" is {{w|Scientific notation#E notation|(scientific) E notation}} for the expression "10 raised to the power of 13".
|-
| 25,259,973,541,888
| Software developer who forgot about floats
| This is the number after being converted to the limited precision of a {{w|32-bit floating point|32-bit float}}.
|-
| 1013
| Astronomer
| For extremely large distances, astronomers typically only care about orders of magnitude, i.e. 1013, not 1012 or 1014. Randall often jokes about the lack of precision needed by astronomers, such as in that one xkcd (#[[2205]]) where the astronomer-cosmologist is equally willing to make pi equal to one, or ten. The original number is rounded to the nearest power of ten.
|-
| {∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
| Set theorist
| In {{w|Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory}}, the natural numbers are defined recursively by letting 0 = ∅ (the {{w|empty set}}), and ''n'' + 1 = ''n'' ∪ {''n''}. So, every natural number ''n'' is the set of all natural numbers less than ''n'', and since 0 is defined as the empty set, all numbers are nested sets of empty sets.
|-
| 1,262,998,704,860 score and four
| Abraham Lincoln
| In the {{W|Gettysburg Address}}, Lincoln speaks the number "87" as "four score and seven" ("score" meaning "20"). Here, the original number is rewritten in "score" (multiples of 20) plus a remainder (four).
|-
| 10^13.4024 ''(title text)''
| A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
| In some fields of mathematics, especially those dealing with very {{w|large numbers}}, numbers are sometimes represented by raising ten (or some other convenient base) to an oddly precise power, to facilitate comparison of their magnitudes without filling up pages upon pages of digits. An example of this is {{w|Skewes's number}}, which is formally calculated to be ''e''''e''''e''79, but is more commonly approximated as 10101034. 13.4024 is the {{w|common logarithm}} of 25,259,974,097,204 (log10 25,259,974,097,204 = 13.4024329009); thus, this "format" is still mathematically correct to use, but is not commonly used.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A panel only with text. At the top there is four lines of explanatory text. Below that there are 5 rows of number formats. There are 2 columns in each row. Each numerical format is in red, with black text explaining the format below it.]

:<big>What the way you write large</big>
:<big>numbers says about you</big>
:(Using the approximate current distance
:to Jupiter in inches as an example)

:[First row:]
:25,259,974,097,204
:Normal person
:25 trillion
:Normal person

:[Second row:]
:25 billion
:Old British person
:2.526x1013
:Scientist

:[Third row:]
:2.525997x1013
:Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
:2.526e13 or 2.526*10^13
:Software developer

:[Fourth row:]
:25,259,973,541,888
:Software developer who forgot about floats
:1013
:Astronomer

:[Fifth row:]
:{∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
:Set theorist
:1,262,998,704,860 score and four
:Abraham Lincoln

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category: Programming]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:15:12Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2319
| date = June 12, 2020
| title = Large Number Formats
| image = large number formats-2.png
| titletext = 10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows how different people express large numbers. This number in question is approximately the distance from the planet Earth to the planet Jupiter as of June 2020, in {{w|inch|inches}} (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Type of person
! Notes
|-
| 25,259,974,097,204
| Normal Person
| This is the full number, written out in the normal fashion, with commas to indicate powers of 1000. Note that this convention is only considered normal in the Anglo-Saxon world; conventions for writing large numbers in full vary considerably across cultures. For example, in countries where the comma is used as a {{w|decimal separator}} (including Europe outside the UK), one would write the number as 25 259 974 097 204. Under the {{w|Indian numbering system}}, this number would be written as 25,25,997,40,97,204.
|-
| 25 Trillion
| Normal Person
| This is the number, rounded to trillions in the normal fashion.
|-
| 25 Billion
| Old British Person
| In current English usage, across the anglophonic world with some hold-outs, an n-illion means 10^(3n+3) as per the {{w|short scale}} system popularised by American influence in international trade, so a trillion means 10^12, as above. However, older British English use had an n-illion meaning 10^(6n) (i.e. the simpler calculation of ''million^n''), so a billion meant 10^12. The change stems from a 1974 commitment by Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, to change from the {{w|long scale}} (previously often described as the British system) to the short one for all official purposes.

Though not instantly widely adopted for common usage, the mid-'70s could therefore be considered the key turning point between when an older or younger British person learns (as the change filters through the system at various stages of education) what their "Billion"s and "Trillion"s are supposed to represent.

(The 1971 transition to decimalised currency may also date a person's experiences, but was a more comprehensive and immediate change for everyone who handled any money at all, in the UK, and thus was a more definite point of change apart from the extended survival of the "12 times table" being taught by rote in primary education, rather than ending at the 10s.)

As well as 'traditionalist' British use, the Long Scale is widely used in the non-anglophone world, in local language versions, though while the British system tended to infill n-and-a-half powers of the million with the term "thousand n-illion", the suffix "-illi''ard''", or equivalent, is often used for the thousands multiple directly atop the respective "-illion" point.
|-
|2.526x1013
|Scientist
|This number is formatted in {{w|scientific notation}}, using the exponent 1013.
|-
| 2.525997x1013
| Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
| Using as many decimal places as necessary until hitting a digit (0-4) that results in rounding down, even if it goes against the common scientific practice of reporting the correct amount of "significant figures". A previous version of the comic had a typo (the number was ''2.5997x1013''), but Randall updated the comic.
|-
| 2.526e13 or
2.526*10^13
| Software developer
| Computer code cannot typically use the superscripts or other types of rich text formatting, so the exponent is indicated with the {{w|caret}}. "e13" is a common shorthand way of saying "ten to the power of 13".
|-
| 25,259,973,541,888
| Software developer who forgot about floats
| This is the number after being converted to the limited precision of a {{w|32-bit floating point|32-bit float}}.
|-
| 1013
| Astronomer
| For extremely large distances, astronomers typically only care about orders of magnitude, i.e. 1013, not 1012 or 1014. Randall often jokes about the lack of precision needed by astronomers, such as in that one xkcd (#[[2205]]) where the astronomer-cosmologist is equally willing to make pi equal to one, or ten. The original number is rounded to the nearest power of ten.
|-
| {∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
| Set theorist
| In Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, the natural numbers are defined recursively by letting 0 = ∅ (the {{w|empty set}}), and ''n'' + 1 = ''n'' ∪ {''n''}. So, every natural number ''n'' is the set of all natural numbers less than ''n'', and since 0 is defined as the empty set, all numbers are nested sets of empty sets.
|-
| 1,262,998,704,860 score and four
| Abraham Lincoln
| In the {{W|Gettysburg Address}}, Lincoln speaks the number "87" as "four score and seven" ("score" meaning "20"). The original number is rewritten in "score" (multiples of 20) plus a remainder (four).
|-
| 10^13.4024 ''(title text)''
| A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
| In some fields of mathematics, especially those dealing with very {{w|large numbers}}, numbers are sometimes represented by raising ten (or some other convenient base) to an oddly precise power, to facilitate comparison of their magnitudes without filling up pages upon pages of digits. An example of this is {{w|Skewes's number}}, which is formally calculated to be ''e''''e''''e''79, but is more commonly approximated as 10101034. 13.4024 is the {{w|common logarithm}} of 25,259,974,097,204 (log10 25,259,974,097,204 = 13.4024329009); thus, this "format" is still mathematically correct to use, but is not commonly used.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A panel only with text. At the top there is four lines of explanatory text. Below that there are 5 rows of number formats. There are 2 columns in each row. Each numerical format is in red, with black text explaining the format below it.]

:<big>What the way you write large</big>
:<big>numbers says about you</big>
:(Using the approximate current distance
:to Jupiter in inches as an example)

:[First row:]
:25,259,974,097,204
:Normal person
:25 trillion
:Normal person

:[Second row:]
:25 billion
:Old British person
:2.526x1013
:Scientist

:[Third row:]
:2.525997x1013
:Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
:2.526e13 or 2.526*10^13
:Software developer

:[Fourth row:]
:25,259,973,541,888
:Software developer who forgot about floats
:1013
:Astronomer

:[Fifth row:]
:{∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
:Set theorist
:1,262,998,704,860 score and four
:Abraham Lincoln

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category: Programming]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:13:40Z

V2Blast: subst-ed "unsigned IP" template

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss! {{unsigned ip|198.41.238.106|22:19, 12 June 2020 (UTC)}}

: Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.172|00:48, 13 June 2020‎ (UTC)}}

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

:: Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:51, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

: Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==

"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non-tariff trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tariffed back. {{unsigned ip|172.69.63.81|00:10, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==

Can someone explain the set theory notation? {{unsigned ip|172.68.255.14|01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

: You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory - {{unsigned ip|172.68.215.76|02:20, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:11:05Z

V2Blast: /* Scientist avoiding rounding */

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss! {{unsigned ip|198.41.238.106|22:19, 12 June 2020 (UTC)}}

: Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.172|00:48, 13 June 2020‎ (UTC)}}

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

:: Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:51, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

: Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non-tariff trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tariffed back. {{unsigned ip|172.69.63.81|00:10, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:09:41Z

V2Blast: /* Actual scientist: */ subst-ed "unsigned IP" template; minor copyediting

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss! {{unsigned ip|198.41.238.106|22:19, 12 June 2020 (UTC)}}

: Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.172|00:48, 13 June 2020‎ (UTC)}}

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

:: Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

: Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non-tariff trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tariffed back. {{unsigned ip|172.69.63.81|00:10, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:08:08Z

V2Blast: /* "Engineering" notation omitted? */

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss! {{unsigned ip|198.41.238.106|22:19, 12 June 2020 (UTC)}}

: Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.172|00:48, 13 June 2020‎ (UTC)}}

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

:: Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

: Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non tarrif trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tarrifed back

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T07:07:35Z

V2Blast: /* Scientist avoiding rounding */ reorganized info for clarity; subst-ed "unsigned IP" template

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss! {{unsigned ip|198.41.238.106|22:19, 12 June 2020 (UTC)}}

: Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.172|00:48, 13 June 2020‎ (UTC)}}

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

:: Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

: Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non tarrif trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tarrifed back

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T06:56:34Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ fixed vandalism; minor copyediting

{{comic
| number = 2319
| date = June 12, 2020
| title = Large Number Formats
| image = large number formats-2.png
| titletext = 10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows how different people express large numbers. This number in question is approximately the distance from the planet Earth to the planet Jupiter as of June 2020, in inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Type of person
! Notes
|-
| 25,259,974,097,204
| Normal Person
| This is the full number, written out in the normal fashion, with commas to indicate powers of 1000. Note that this convention is only considered normal in the Anglo-Saxon world; conventions for writing large numbers in full vary considerably across cultures. For example, in countries where the comma is used as a {{w|decimal separator}} (including Europe outside the UK), one would write the number as 25.259.974.097.204. Under the {{w|Indian numbering system}}, this number would be written as 25,25,997,40,97,204.
|-
| 25 Trillion
| Normal Person
| This is the number, rounded to trillions in the normal fashion.
|-
| 25 Billion
| Old British Person
| In current English usage, across the anglophonic world with some hold-outs, an n-illion means 10^(3n+3) as per the {{w|short scale}} system popularised by American influence in international trade, so a trillion means 10^12, as above. However, older British English use had an n-illion meaning 10^(6n) (i.e. the simpler calculation of ''million^n''), so a billion meant 10^12. The change stems from a 1974 commitment by Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, to change from the {{w|long scale}} (previously often described as the British system) to the short one for all official purposes.

Though not instantly widely adopted for common usage, the mid-'70s could therefore be considered the key turning point between when an older or younger British person learns (as the change filters through the system at various stages of education) what their "Billion"s and "Trillion"s are supposed to represent.

(The 1971 transition to decimalised currency may also date a person's experiences, but was a more comprehensive and immediate change for everyone who handled any money at all, in the UK, and thus was a more definite point of change apart from the extended survival of the "12 times table" being taught by rote in primary education, rather than ending at the 10s.)

As well as 'traditionalist' British use, the Long Scale is widely used in the non-anglophone world, in local language versions, though while the British system tended to infill n-and-a-half powers of the million with the term "thousand n-illion", the suffix "-illi''ard''", or equivalent, is often used for the thousands multiple directly atop the respective "-illion" point.
|-
|2.526x1013
|Scientist
|This number is formatted in {{w|scientific notation}}, using the exponent 1013.
|-
| 2.525997x1013
| Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
| Using as many decimal places as necessary until hitting a digit (0-4) that results in rounding down, even if it goes against the common scientific practice of reporting the correct amount of "significant figures". A previous version of the comic had a typo (the number was ''2.5997x1013''), but Randall updated the comic.
|-
| 2.526e13 or
2.526*10^13
| Software developer
| Computer code cannot typically use the superscripts or other types of rich text formatting, so the exponent is indicated with the {{w|caret}}. "e13" is a common shorthand way of saying "ten to the power of 13".
|-
| 25,259,973,541,888
| Software developer who forgot about floats
| This is the number after being converted to the limited precision of a {{w|32-bit floating point|32-bit float}}.
|-
| 1013
| Astronomer
| For extremely large distances, astronomers typically only care about orders of magnitude, i.e. 1013, not 1012 or 1014. Randall often jokes about the lack of precision needed by astronomers, such as in that one xkcd (#[[2205]]) where the astronomer-cosmologist is equally willing to make pi equal to one, or ten. The original number is rounded to the nearest power of ten.
|-
| {∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
| Set theorist
| In Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, the natural numbers are defined recursively by letting 0 = ∅ (the {{w|empty set}}), and ''n'' + 1 = ''n'' ∪ {''n''}. So, every natural number ''n'' is the set of all natural numbers less than ''n'', and since 0 is defined as the empty set, all numbers are nested sets of empty sets.
|-
| 1,262,998,704,860 score and four
| Abraham Lincoln
| In the {{W|Gettysburg Address}}, Lincoln speaks the number "87" as "four score and seven" ("score" meaning "20"). The original number is rewritten in "score" (multiples of 20) plus a remainder (four).
|-
| 10^13.4024 ''(title text)''
| A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
| In some fields of mathematics, especially those dealing with very {{w|large numbers}}, numbers are sometimes represented by raising ten (or some other convenient base) to an oddly precise power, to facilitate comparison of their magnitudes without filling up pages upon pages of digits. An example of this is {{w|Skewes's number}}, which is formally calculated to be ''e''''e''''e''79, but is more commonly approximated as 10101034. 13.4024 is the {{w|common logarithm}} of 25,259,974,097,204 (log10 25,259,974,097,204 = 13.4024329009), thus this "format" is mathematically correctly, but not commonly, used.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A panel only with text. At the top there is four lines of explanatory text. Below that there are 5 rows of number formats. There are 2 columns in each row. Each numerical format is in red, with black text explaining the format below it.]

:<big>What the way you write large</big>
:<big>numbers says about you</big>
:(Using the approximate current distance
:to Jupiter in inches as an example)

:[First row:]
:25,259,974,097,204
:Normal person
:25 trillion
:Normal person

:[Second row:]
:25 billion
:Old British person
:2.526x1013
:Scientist

:[Third row:]
:2.525997x1013
:Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
:2.526e13 or 2.526*10^13
:Software developer

:[Fourth row:]
:25,259,973,541,888
:Software developer who forgot about floats
:1013
:Astronomer

:[Fifth row:]
:{∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
:Set theorist
:1,262,998,704,860 score and four
:Abraham Lincoln

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category: Programming]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

Talk:2314: Carcinization

2020-06-02T19:05:47Z

V2Blast: /* Webcomic Name */

Honestly, what is there to explain here? The only thing I can imagine in this explanation page is an explanation of why carcinization happens, which isn't explaining the comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 22:52, 1 June 2020 (UTC)
:We might need to look at the differences between various 'false crabs' and their relatives, to show that ''in the false crabs' lifestyle'', some crab-feature they have and their close cousinshttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Lightcaller&action=edit&redlink=1 do not is a thing that the CCs would be unable to match if they lived in the FC-like style. This is probably the subject of a whole dissertation (if not several). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.80|141.101.107.80]] 00:22, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Does this mean all programming languages evolve into Rust?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.87|172.69.68.87]] 23:08, 1 June 2020 (UTC)
:I think this might be part of the joke here. Rust has partially replaced other programming languages in [https://old.reddit.com/r/rustjerk/comments/grspew/request_for_help_where_did_rust_replace/ well known companies], and it has been [https://stackoverflow.blog/2020/05/27/2020-stack-overflow-developer-survey-results/ the most beloved language] for four years straight (according to StackOverflow survey). There has been many XKCDs with programming themes, I don't think Rust would go unnoticed for so long. (Note: Rust's mascot is a crab) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.198|141.101.96.198]] 15:22, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Is it just a coincidence that today's Questionable Content also contained a reference to crabs? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.195|172.69.68.195]] 00:31, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

It may be of note that Qwantz (a comic previously parodied in [[145]]) did a [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=3547 comic about carcinisation] earlier this year [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 01:08, 2 June 2020 (UTC)
:Why do you call Dinosaur Comic Qwantz? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:51, 2 June 2020 (UTC) <-- because that's the web URL[[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:36, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Gotta say, this is the first xkcd in a while that made me laugh. [[User:Lightcaller|Lightcaller]] ([[User talk:Lightcaller|talk]]) 03:49, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Nature: Time for crab [[Special:Contributions/162.158.50.204|162.158.50.204]] 04:58, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

This comic was posted 3 weeks too early, seeing as Cancer doesn't start until June 21 or 22 [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:34, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Looks like it already happened at one Taiwanese semiconductor company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Realtek_logo_vector.svg. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 14:11, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

=== Webcomic Name ===

IMHO, it's pretty likely the last panel is a reference to webcomic name - the formatting of "OH NO" with no punctuation, no other text, the fact it's the last panel etc all seem not particularly xkcd-ish, and very webcomic name-ish. Do we really need this disclaimer " But may have nothing to do with it, since having told Cueball about this and then seeing him turned into a crab, may indicate Megan was the cause! And either way, saying "oh no" to something bad is not particular to the mentioned web comic." [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 13:53, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

: Agreed, the rambling is not needed. Good edit. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 19:05, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2304: Preprint

2020-05-09T02:53:38Z

V2Blast:

I was going to mention the TeX format(/family), but someone got in there before me. So how about if it's a .wp4 document? ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.84|141.101.107.84]] 01:40, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

Why is this comic labeled as a Saturday comic? I don't know what timezone you use, but it was posted Friday, well before midnight UTC. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.204|172.69.69.204]] 02:15, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

: I'm pretty sure that's just an error. The date for the comic in the [https://xkcd.com/archive/ archive] is "2020-5-8", which is today (Friday). Comic #[[2303]] correctly has the "Wednesday comic" category, and the archive lists its date as 2020-5-6 (which is Wednesday). ...And I've fixed it now. The category is automatically generated based on the date listed in the [[Template:Comic]] infobox at the top of the article; someone incorrectly entered it as "May 9, 2020" instead of "May 8, 2020". --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 02:53, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

2304: Preprint

2020-05-09T02:52:44Z

V2Blast: fixed date in infobox (May 9) to match the one listed in the archive (2020-5-8)

{{comic
| number = 2304
| date = May 8, 2020
| title = Preprint
| image = preprint.png
| titletext = DOWNSIDES: Adobe people may periodically email your newsroom to ask you to call it an 'Adobe® PDF document,' but they'll reverse course once they learn how sarcastically you can pronounce the registered trademark symbol.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ADOBE® PDF DOCUMENT. Explain the different terminology used by the newscaster, expand upon benefit points. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about how media reports non-{{w|peer-review}}ed research papers. The newscaster depicted is attempting to report breaking news based on information in a study; however, the study in question has not been formally published. This leads to uncertainty on the part of either the newscaster or her scriptwriters as they try to determine how to refer to this study, represented here by alternative introduction lines being scribbled out.

[[Randall]] suggests that, instead of explaining that the paper was in {{w|preprint}}, or unpublished or submitted to a preprint server and not peer-reviewed, the newscaster could simply say it was a {{w|PDF}}. PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format for documents developed by Adobe to be used independent of application software, hardware and operating systems.
Randall proceeds to lists several benefits of using "PDF":
* The use of terms such as "preprint" makes statement about its publication status, which might be based on inaccurate information or even be in the process of changing as the news goes out; in contrast, proclaiming it to be a PDF is an unambiguously factual statement.
* Referring to the PDF directly also prevents individuals from making assumptions that the one responsible knows and has verified what they're doing - or, in contrast, that the information is automatically false based on the grounds that it hasn't yet been officially published.
* The comic finishes with a jab at the PDF format itself, proclaiming that no ordinary person would ''voluntarily'' choose a PDF file as their medium of communication. Ordinary people use the default file format of whatever word processor or text editor they use, but PDF files are not very convenient to edit, so they're generally only used for final versions of documents that are ready to print or distribute, following a dedicated export or conversion process.

The title text makes fun of what is incorrectly believed to be the official name of the PDF format; PDF is now an open international standard (ISO 32000-1), and the only PDF files that are "Adobe Acrobat files" or "Adobe PDF" files are those created using Adobe Systems' software. Further, Adobe does not use the ® designation in conjunction with PDF. (See [https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/en/legal/documents/Adobe_Trademark_Guidelines_11012014.pdf Adobe Trademark Guidelines, 1 Nov. 2014])

Since so many applications can create and even edit PDF files, implying a connection with Adobe every time someone talks about one is preposterous, and one could sarcastically pronounce the registered trademark symbol to show contempt for the fact that it is a registered trademark.

If you want to lend extra legitimacy to the "was probably prepared by a professional" point, mention that it was created using {{w|LaTeX}}, the only type of file more trustworthy than PDF (see [[1301: File Extensions]]).

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

[A newscaster is sitting at a desk. Several of her opening sentences are scribbled over, indicating revisions to her script.]

:Newscaster (scribbled out): According to a new preprint…
:Newscaster (scribbled out): …An unpublished study…
:Newscaster (scribbled out): According to a new paper uploaded to a preprint server but which has not undergone peer review...
:Newscaster: According to a new PDF…
:Inset graphic: Breaking ''NEWS''
:Caption: Benefits of just saying "a PDF":
:* Avoids implications about publication status
:* Immediately raises questions about author(s)
:* Still implies "this document was probably prepared by a professional, because no normal human trying to communicate in 2020 would choose this ridiculous format."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category: Research Papers]]
[[Category:News anchor]]

Talk:2304: Preprint

2020-05-09T02:51:28Z

V2Blast: added reply

1705: Pokémon Go

2016-07-12T08:15:36Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ removed information/opinion irrelevant to the explanation

{{comic
| number = 1705
| date = July 11, 2016
| title = Pokémon Go
| image = pokemon_go.png
| titletext = Still waiting for the Pokémon Go update that lets you capture strangers' pets.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Pokémon Go}} is an {{w|augmented reality}} (AR) smartphone game, where players walk around the real world trying to find and capture digital first-generation {{w|Pokémon}} (i.e. Pokémon from the first series of games released), then leveling them up and/or evolving them, and using them in battle, similar to the classic Pokémon games for handheld consoles. These Pokémon are randomly placed around the world in the AR format so that they can only be seen through the phone. [[Randall]] is playing a prank on all players happening upon his real Pokémon figures as they are so consumed with this new game that they assume that they are from the game, not realizing that they should not be able to see them before they take out their phones, and then after doing this wondering why their phone is having trouble loading them.

Due to the popularity of the Pokémon franchise, after Pokémon GO's release in America on July 6, 2016, many fans of the series have been walking around with their smartphones out to capture and battle Pokémon (potentially looking ridiculous in the process).

Randall jokes that he has replicated the AR properties of the Pokémon in the app (that is, when you encounter a Pokémon, it is a small computer-generated sprite placed over your phone's front camera image that moves about your screen, giving the appearance of a "real" Pokémon in front of you). Randall's real life plastic models of various Pokémon have been constructed so they would seem to fit on a smartphone screen due to perspective, he has embedded a [[332: Gyroscopes|gyroscope]] in them so they wobble about their base giving them the appearance of basic computer-created movement, and as a final touch he has added a subtle underlighting which is also part of the game, and gives them a slightly computer-generated look compared to the real world around them. These effects combined fool avid Pokémon GO players into taking out their smartphone to capture the Pokémon for their game, when in fact it is just a toy sitting in front of them, and they should have known this as mentioned above. In this comic Randall displays the Pokémon called {{w|Squirtle}} which looks like a little turtle.

This comic is part of the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby series]]. In this case, the hobby is pranking players of Pokémon Go by replicating the appearance of the augmented reality mechanic.

In the title text, Randall is still waiting for an update that allows capture of strangers' pets -- besides the obvious, playing by the rules of Pokémon only wild (not any with an owner) Pokémon can be caught. However, in the {{w|Pokémon Colosseum}} games, through the use of a specialized device the player steals from the villains, the player can capture other trainers' Pokémon. This is also a callback to an earlier strip wherein [[Black Hat]] wishes for a Pokéball that works on strangers' pets (see last entry in [[1086: Eyelash Wish Log]]).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball walks in to the frame from the left. On the sidewalk in front of him is a small Pokémon figure looking like a standing turtle with a long tail, known as Squirtle. Lines around it indicate that it is moving forth and back (wobbling), and circle lines below indicate that there is light below it. The exact position of the Pokémon and these lines around it change through all four images, but stays almost in the same position.]

:[Cueball takes out his smart phone and points it's camera at the Pokémon while looking at the screen.]

:[Cueball shakes his smart phone violently up and down indicated with four to five gray drawings of his arm and phone below and above one solid black copy of the hand and phone. There are also two gray lines above and below the outer gray phones to indicate this shaking.]

:[Cueball has lowered his smart phone and just stands there looking at the wobbling Pokémon.]
:Cueball: '''''???'''''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:'''My hobby: Building plastic Pokémon with subtle underlighting and a gyroscope to make them drift back and forth, then leaving them sitting around to mess with Pokémon Go players.'''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Smartphones]]

Talk:1694: Phishing License

2016-06-16T11:14:31Z

V2Blast: removed comment that was just a personal attack

Perhaps it should also mention that the need for a license is analog to the need for one when you actually go fishing. {{unsigned ip|162.158.234.221}}

While exiting the fake/scam jail, Cueball could have also been amazed that he could pay his bail with *Apple gift cards*. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.74|108.162.229.74]] 16:13, 15 June 2016 (UTC)Daniel H

Do I sense a reference to Monty Python's Fish licence sketch here as well? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.8|141.101.98.8]] 21:57, 15 June 2016 (UTC)

"Clearly, there is no reason why a license would be available for a clear crime like fraud" I think the tax stamps for illegal drugs come very close to being a license for a clear crime.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.59|108.162.218.59]] 05:08, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

On the other hand, you used to be able to get a pirating license. The ship attacking one, not the copyright infringement. But then again...--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 07:31, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

1640: Super Bowl Context

2016-02-08T08:28:12Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1640
| date = February 8, 2016
| title = Super Bowl Context
| image = super_bowl_context.png
| titletext = Why did the chicken cross the road? It begins over five thousand years ago with the domestication of the red junglefowl in southeast Asia and the development of paved roads in the Sumerian city of Ur.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Simply explained explanation}}

[[Cueball]] is a nerd. Nerds have too much information in their head. They feel the need to disseminate the information in any trivial conversation. Normal non-nerd people like to have context-free conversations and [[White Hat]] invites Cueball to try to fit in with normal people's conversational style. Cueball, however, has issues not dispersing information and White Hat gives up.

Cueball in this comic may represent Randall, as much of xkcd is spawned from, or occasionally poking fun at, his own hyperanalytical tendencies.

As a trivial note, this comic is a rare instance of [[White Hat]] not being used as a fall guy for the joke.

==Transcript==
[White Hat and Cueball are walking together.]

White Hat: Did you watch the Super Bowl?

Cueball: Yes, like a third of the country. A fraction that is steadily ''increasing'' despite media fragmentation.

White Hat: Can't we just talk without your weird need to give context for everything?

Cueball: Sorry. I'll try.

White Hat: Sounds like Peyton Manning's probably going to retire.

[Cueball bunches his hands into fists. He is clearly struggling.]

Cueball: Yes, I...it...

White Hat: C'mon, you can do it...

Cueball: He...'''''Mammals like Peyton age via a process that involves both the accumulation of damage and poorly-understood timed factors. Yet the concept of retirement itself is surprisingly recent...'''''

White Hat: Okay, good try. Maybe next year.

{{comic discussion}}

1639: To Taste

2016-02-05T10:52:24Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1639
| date = February 5, 2016
| title = To Taste
| image = to_taste.png
| titletext = Look, recipe, if I knew how much was gonna taste good, I wouldn't need you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft}}
Some recipes tell you to add an ingredient "to taste". This gives you some freedom to pick how exactly you'd like the end result to taste. In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown as possibly having a massive sweet tooth, and adding large crates of sugar to a small pot, because sugar tastes good. However, this would most likely make the recipe very overly sweet.

Alternatively he just brings in enough sugar so he will not run out of his ingredient before it reaches the correct level of sweetness for his taste.

The title text indicates that bringing in this much sugar is out of ignorance: Cueball ([[Randall]]) does not know how much sugar he would like in this dish, and usually relies on the recipe specifying an exact amount.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

[Cueball is standing near a pot on a stove. He is reading a recipe.]

Recipe: ...and add sugar to taste.

Cueball: ??

[Cueball walks off-panel. He returns with a dolly loaded with boxes labeled "SUGAR".]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1357: Free Speech

2014-04-19T02:37:37Z

V2Blast: comment

It would be nice to mention how this applies only to the Federal government; discussions of how it is enforced on the states may be beyond the scope of this wiki. In addition, it might be amusing to note that freedom of association and other freedoms specified in the Bill of Rights have the same scope. That is, there are very few enumerated powers given to the Federal government, the Bill of Rights specifies some limitations on the Congress - but in general, the restriction on Congress was to the enumerated powers, a concept that made the Bill of Rights redundant - and the Bill of Rights does not apply (as written) to anyone but the Federal government. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.40|173.245.54.40]] 20:08, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

: The First Amendment also applies to the various State governments (including their subsidiaries, such as local governments) through the {{w|Incorporation Doctrine}}, which is based on the Fourteenth Amendment (which is about the States). To be sure, the text of the Fourteenth Amendment doesn't spell out this doctrine, so the whole thing is a bit of a stretch, but it's how the courts interpret it now. This (along with the courts' broad interpretation of the enumerated powers) makes the Bill of Rights far from redundant (and I for one am happy to have it applied as broadly as possible). —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 23:55, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

I've clarified the sentence about the Constitution being a legal document. Legal documents are not necessarily limited to government activity (for example, an apartment lease is a legal document but says nothing about what the government can or cannot do). I added the phrase "that defines the structure and powers of the government" to the end of the sentence. [[User:Elsbree|Elsbree]] ([[User talk:Elsbree|talk]]) 04:55, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Another recent event (within the past couple of weeks) was a campaign against Stephen Colbert for an out-of-context quote taken from a bit on his show. It was hash-tagged under "CancelColbert". Interestingly, people from Fox News that had supported the Duck Dynasty guy were completely against Colbert. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 05:09, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

That door in the last frame is a backdoor to fascism. --[[User:Mus|Mus]] ([[User talk:Mus|talk]]) 06:27, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
: Are you [http://gawker.com/5951080/vp-debate-attendee-tells-chris-matthews-obama-is-a-communist-but-cant-explain-what-a-communist-is related to this woman?] LOL.
: Nevertheless, I agree the comic would be stronger and more accurate if it didn't have that last panel. Disagreeing with someone's speech doesn't mean you get to throw them out. Places of public accommodation, such as most businesses, are required to be non-discriminatory. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 11:59, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
:: Reading-comprehension fail. Read the '''entire''' bottom row; it is a complete sentence. Removing the last clause negates the first. — [[User:Fluffy Buzzard|Fluffy Buzzard]] ([[User talk:Fluffy Buzzard|talk]]) 14:38, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
::Businesses are allowed to throw people out for almost any reason. The non-discriminatory clause has nothing to do with what people say, and isn't even tangential to the First Amendment. And yes. Disagreeing with someone in your domain does mean you get to throw them out. In fact, you can throw them out if you do agree with them. Or don't know them. Or if they're your brother. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 21:25, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Can someone add something saying that other countries also have similar laws on free speech? I would do it myself, but I'm new to editing the wiki and I wouldn't know how to word it. [[User:Cheeselord99|Cheeselord99]] ([[User talk:Cheeselord99|talk]]) 07:19, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
:I would if there was some sort of summary of them available. Though there's the {{w|Universal Declaration of Human Rights}} from the UN, I don't think it specifically requires any entity (such as a government body) to do (or not do) anything, just like I understand most anything U.N. related to be. I believe it's a guide/declaration/definition/resolution/statement of belief, and it would then be up to any soverienty to actually enforce or comply with it. [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:08, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

This is going to be one of those XKCDs everyone is linking to, to make a point.[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 08:27, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Though, I will say, I'm a bit concerned that the point people may be making is that "Argumentum ad Populum" is totally legit, as there is a suggestion one could infer that if a bunch of people are mad at you for something you say you deserve to be shown the door. And I'm not sure that's the intended message, and even if it is, I'm not sure it's a good one. Speaking an uncomfortable or undesired truth to a community (Which will almost certainly anger them, and make them think you're an asshole, let's say) doesn't mean the door is an appropriate response. On the other hand, when speaking such truths, one probably has a better justification than "Because Free Speech," just hopefully the disgruntled masses will actually listen to it.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.46|108.162.216.46]] 10:49, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
: That's the point, if your only defense is "Free Speech" - you should be shown the door. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:05, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Both Jeff and 108.162.216.46 are accurate. 108.162.216.46's example of an uncomfortable or undesired truth causing anger is possible. It's up the the messenger to make sure that they frame the point properly and use appropriate supporting materials to justify their claims. A messenger with bad news won't say "free speech," they will say "this is the evidence" if they want to avoid being shown the door. {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.85}}
: The issue, of course, is that a lot of people aren't willing to listen to evidence when told things they don't want to hear. Say, I dunno, if you're hanging out on a particularly conservative forum where people are taking turns bashing "Obamacare," even if you have a perfectly rational, backed up by numbers, etc. reason to say it may not be all bad, or may even be good, there's a decent chance that you could get shown the door simply because that's an unpopular opinion no matter how good your reasons are. And it's the sort of person who wants to punish someone simply for saying something unpopular on a forum, simply because it's unpopular (Or, in the case of some admins/mods, something they just don't personally like), who I'm concerned about using this comic as rhetorical backup. For the message of this comic to work, the community/etc. has to be willing to listen to rational evidence and they frequently aren't. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.46|108.162.216.46]] 22:55, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Just happened to see this today, thought it was relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJMqYcRgf-A&t=51s [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.60|173.245.54.60]] 16:56, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

This comic has it completely backwards! There are people who say "You're violating the First Amendment." when they're being censored by somebody who's not the government; they are mistaken, and this comic would be absolutely correct if it were addressing them. But it's not. In fact, it doesn't talk about the First Amendment (or similar provisions in other constitutions or other laws) at all; it talks only about freedom of speech. And if you're being censored on Facebook, or in the privately-owned shopping mall, or wherever, then yes, your freedom of speech is being violated.

It's not illegal, and it may not even be wrong (why should my blog have to display your speech, after all?), but it's still a limitation on your freedom to speak. And if you want to argue that Facebook or the shopping mall (or even my blog) should not do that, then that's a perfectly legitimate position to take. As long as you say nothing about the First Amendment or the like, but instead complain about freedom of speech, then my only response (if I want to respond) is to explain why you shouldn't have free speech on that forum, not some irrelevant blather about the government. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 23:41, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
:The comic does not address the concept of free speech itself; it addresses the *right* to free speech. Sure, your speech might be restricted on certain forums or in certain communities, but you generally have no actual *right* to free speech there. It's simply that the forum or community does not want to support your ideas. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 02:37, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

I see 2 ironies:
1. Those from the BGLT+ side tend to use the 'Free Speech' argument, too.
2. This was posted in Good Friday.
[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 23:52, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1354: Heartbleed Explanation

2014-04-12T03:34:57Z

V2Blast:

I assume everybody got the (truncated) reference to the password "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple"... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.210|141.101.89.210]] 06:51, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Until I read this wiki, I did not get that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.50|108.162.216.50]] 10:09, 11 April 2014 (UTC)BK201
:There are also references to (if I recall correctly): [[Missed Connections]], "snakes but not too long" from [[Umwelt]], there's boats (of which many comics exist), "bees in car why" may be slightly related to [[Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]... that's all I see. Also the ip (375.381.283.17) doesn't seem to represent anything, but you never know. {{User:Grep/signature|11:04, 11 April 2014}}

While the bug is explained very good, there is one point missing: The word "user" seems to imply that Meg is known to server. But the bug doesn't require that - ANYONE can ask the server. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
: Nope, the word "user" does not indicate a logged in user. It's just a reference to anybody who happens to "use" (actually: connect to) the server at the moment. In fact, it is a particular network connection (TCP or else), on which other end there is a "user" Meg. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.111|108.162.210.111]] 12:07, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

The transcript should include all the text in the servers memory, not just the highlighted text. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Nope, it can only do 64k per request. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]] 16:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::I meant that the transcript here above the talk page should include all text. When I wrote my comment, only the highlighted text in the computers thoghts where transcripted. Now that I visit the page again, it seems to be complete. The text in the servers last speech is only half the 500 charachters long (251) but that is explained by OnePointEight in the comment below. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:20, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:The speech bubble is formatted as truncated, but if it were complete it would be 500 characters which is what was requested by Megan and within the 64k max.[[User:OnePointEight|OnePointEight]] ([[User talk:OnePointEight|talk]]) 19:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Heartbleed Explanation Explanation. Lovely. Also, I see that Eve is an administrator. Eavesdropper? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 15:24, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Also the attacker is Meg, which can be thought of as an alternate to Mallory/Trudy [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 16:45, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::This is absurd. Meg is a common nickname for Margaret. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 20:38, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:::As my main language is not English I'm not familiar with nicknames, but if Meg is a common nickname for Margaret then that is important and should be included in the explanation of the title text. I did not understand why Margaret suddenly turned up... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:28, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::::The explanation of the title text has presumably been expanded since you visited it. It's a reference to a book. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 03:34, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

"Snakes but not too long"... great! --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 15:49, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

It looks like the "server key" is a phone number: 1-483-503-8534 {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.228}}

The User Ada is a reference to Ingress, in which Ada is the head of the blue team. Ingress, being an ARG, would be an IRL game.{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}

1256: Questions

2013-08-27T07:55:59Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ added Google autocomplete link

{{comic
| number = 1256
| date = August 26, 2013
| title = Questions
| image = questions.png
| titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as [https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en autocomplete] that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.

All of the questions in the comic are "why" questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as "Why are there pyramids on the moon".

Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says "As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes." (This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.)

From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: <blockquote>
Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal ("I can feel this body dying all around me"). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. </blockquote>

;Selected answers
(Some questions in the transcript are linked to their answers.)
{| class ="wikitable"
|-
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer
|-
| Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company.
|-
|Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition held until today, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from {{w|Laugh track|recorded tapes}}.
|-
| Why are ducks called ducks? || {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} ("to dive, bend down"), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} ("deep, hollow"), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.
|-
| Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: <blockquote>Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.</blockquote>
|-
| Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || One of {{w|Odysseus}}' adventures in the {{w|Odyssey}} was an encounter with the {{w|Cyclops}} {{w|Polyphemus}} -- who was a son of {{w|Poseidon}}. Odysseus blinded Polyphemus, and foolishly revealed his name as he made his escape. Polyphemus appealed to his father for vengeance, in response, Poseidon cursed Odysseus to wander for ten years (in addition to the ten years he had already been away from home fighting in the {{w|Trojan_War|Trojan War}}).
|-
| Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.

Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|"Mirror, Mirror"}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock).
|-
| Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. (France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.)These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Furthermore, such bases wouldn't do much good, as no battles have been fought within the U.S. since the since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state.)
|-
| Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, "England" here is being read as "Britain."''The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as "Queen of England," creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man (and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned). Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes—Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as "{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}." Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as "queen," after decades of not having anyone referred to as "king."
|-
| Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://www.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Questions found in Google autocomplete
===Section one===
*Why do whales jump
*{{w|Wizard of Oz|Why are witches green}}
*Why are there mirrors above beds
*Why do I say Uh
*Why is sea salt better
*Why are there trees in the middle of fields
*Why is there not a Pokemon MMO
*Why is there laughing in TV shows
*Why are there doors on the freeway
*{{w|svchost.exe|Why are there so many svchost.exe running}}
*Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica
*Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft
*[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Why is there kicking in my stomach]
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Why are there two slashes after http]
*Why are there celebrities
*Why do snakes exist
*{{w|Pearl#Creation_of_a_pearl|Why do oysters have pearls}}
*{{w|Duck#Etymology|Why are ducks called ducks}}
*Why do they call it the clap
*Why are Kyle and Cartman friends
*{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Why is there an arrow on Aang's head}}
*Why are text messages blue
*Why are there mustaches on clothes
*Why are there mustaches on cars
*Why are there mustaches everywhere
*Why are there so many birds in Ohio
*Why is there so much rain in Ohio
*{{w|Lake-effect snow|Why is Ohio weather so weird}}

===Section two===
*Why are there male and female bikes
*{{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history|Why are there bridesmaids}}
*Why do dying people reach up
*Why aren't there varicose arteries
*{{w|Klingon#Redesign|Why are old Klingons different}}
:Beret Guy (with squirrel): Why are there squirrels
*Why is programming so hard
*{{w|Zero-ohm_link|Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor}}
*Why do Americans hate soccer
*Why do rhymes sound good
*Why do trees die
*Why is there no sound on CNN
*Why aren't Pokemon real
*Why aren't bullets sharp
*Why do dreams seem so real

===Section three===
*Why do testicles move
*Why are there psychics
*Why are hats so expensive
*Why is there caffeine in my shampoo
*Why do your boobs hurt
===Section four===
*Why aren't economists rich
*Why do Americans call it soccer
*Why are my ears ringing
*Why are there so many Avengers
*Why are the Avengers fighting the X-Men
*Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers
===Section five===
*Why are there ants in my laptop
*Why is Earth tilted
*{{w|Olbers' paradox|Why is space black}}
*Why is outer space so cold
*Why are there pyramids on the Moon
*Why is NASA shutting down

===Section six===
*Why are there tiny spiders in my house
*Why do spiders come inside
*Why are there huge spiders in my house
*Why are there lots of spiders in my house
*Why are there spiders in my room
*Why are there so many spiders in my room
*Why do spider bites itch
*Why is dying so scary
===Section seven===
*Why is there no GPS in laptops
*Why do knees click
*Why aren't there E grades
*Why is isolation bad
*Why do boys like me
*Why don't boys like me
*Why is there always a Java update
*Why are there red dots on my thighs
*Why is lying good
:Cueball: Why is sex so important
===Section eight===
*{{w|The Bible and slavery|Why are there slaves in The Bible}}
*[http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/11/04/1234875.htm Why do twins have different fingerprints]
*Why are Americans afraid of dragons

===Section nine===
*Why are there swarms of gnats
*Why is there phlegm
===Section ten===
*Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN
*[http://pokemon.wikia.com/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Types Why is Psychic weak to Bug]
*Why do children get cancer
*Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus
*Why is there ice in space
===Section eleven===
:Megan (with ghosts): Why are there ghosts
*Why is there an owl in my backyard
*Why is there an owl outside my window
*Why is there an owl on the dollar bill
*Why do owls attack people
*Why are AK47s so expensive
===Section twelve===
*Why are there helicopters circling my house
*Why are there gods
*Why are there two Spocks
===Section thirteen===
*Why is Mt Vesuvius there
*Why do they say T Minus
*Why are there obelisks
*Why are wrestlers always wet
*Why are oceans becoming more acidic
*Why is Arwen dying
*Why aren't my quail laying eggs
*Why aren't my quail eggs hatching
*Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America
===Section fourteen===
*Why is https crossed out in red
*Why is there a line through https
*Why is there a red line through https on Facebook
*Why is https important
:Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing
===Section fifteen===
*Why are my boobs itchy
*Why are cigarettes legal
*Why are the ducks in my pool
*Why is Jesus white
*Why is there liquid in my ear
*Why do Q Tips feel good
*Why do good people die
:Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter
*Why are ultrasounds important
*Why are ultrasound machines expensive
*Why is stealing wrong

===Vertical questions===
:(The following are vertical.)
*{{w|Seven-day_week#Origins|Why are there weeks}}
*Why do I feel dizzy
*Why is {{w|YKK Group|YKK}} on all zippers
*Why are trees tall
*Why do iguanas die
*Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts
*Why are dogs afraid of fireworks
*Why is there no king in England
*Why is life so boring
*Why is there lava
*[http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?285504-Why-can-Mr-Mime-be-female Why are there female Mr Mimes]
*[http://gis.stackexchange.com/a/17546 Why is GPS free]
*Why is there Hell if God forgives

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]

1256: Questions

2013-08-27T07:45:46Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ formatting

{{comic
| number = 1256
| date = August 26, 2013
| title = Questions
| image = questions.png
| titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as autocomplete that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.

All of the questions in the comic are "why" questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as "Why are there pyramids on the moon".

Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says "As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes." (This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.)

From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: <blockquote>
Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal ("I can feel this body dying all around me"). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. </blockquote>

;Selected answers
(Some questions in the transcript are linked to their answers.)
{| class ="wikitable"
|-
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer
|-
| Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company.
|-
|Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition held until today, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from {{w|Laugh track|recorded tapes}}.
|-
| Why are ducks called ducks? || {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} ("to dive, bend down"), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} ("deep, hollow"), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.
|-
| Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: <blockquote>Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.</blockquote>
|-
| Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || One of {{w|Odysseus}}' adventures in the {{w|Odyssey}} was an encounter with the {{w|Cyclops}} {{w|Polyphemus}} -- who was a son of {{w|Poseidon}}. Odysseus blinded Polyphemus, and foolishly revealed his name as he made his escape. Polyphemus appealed to his father for vengeance, in response, Poseidon cursed Odysseus to wander for ten years (in addition to the ten years he had already been away from home fighting in the {{w|Trojan_War|Trojan War}}).
|-
| Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.

Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|"Mirror, Mirror"}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock).
|-
| Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. (France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.)These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Furthermore, such bases wouldn't do much good, as no battles have been fought within the U.S. since the since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state.)
|-
| Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, "England" here is being read as "Britain."''The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as "Queen of England," creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man (and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned). Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes—Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as "{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}." Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as "queen," after decades of not having anyone referred to as "king."
|-
| Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://www.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Questions found in Google autocomplete
===Section one===
*Why do whales jump
*{{w|Wizard of Oz|Why are witches green}}
*Why are there mirrors above beds
*Why do I say Uh
*Why is sea salt better
*Why are there trees in the middle of fields
*Why is there not a Pokemon MMO
*Why is there laughing in TV shows
*Why are there doors on the freeway
*{{w|svchost.exe|Why are there so many svchost.exe running}}
*Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica
*Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft
*[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Why is there kicking in my stomach]
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Why are there two slashes after http]
*Why are there celebrities
*Why do snakes exist
*{{w|Pearl#Creation_of_a_pearl|Why do oysters have pearls}}
*{{w|Duck#Etymology|Why are ducks called ducks}}
*Why do they call it the clap
*Why are Kyle and Cartman friends
*{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Why is there an arrow on Aang's head}}
*Why are text messages blue
*Why are there mustaches on clothes
*Why are there mustaches on cars
*Why are there mustaches everywhere
*Why are there so many birds in Ohio
*Why is there so much rain in Ohio
*{{w|Lake-effect snow|Why is Ohio weather so weird}}

===Section two===
*Why are there male and female bikes
*{{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history|Why are there bridesmaids}}
*Why do dying people reach up
*Why aren't there varicose arteries
*{{w|Klingon#Redesign|Why are old Klingons different}}
:Beret Guy (with squirrel): Why are there squirrels
*Why is programming so hard
*{{w|Zero-ohm_link|Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor}}
*Why do Americans hate soccer
*Why do rhymes sound good
*Why do trees die
*Why is there no sound on CNN
*Why aren't Pokemon real
*Why aren't bullets sharp
*Why do dreams seem so real

===Section three===
*Why do testicles move
*Why are there psychics
*Why are hats so expensive
*Why is there caffeine in my shampoo
*Why do your boobs hurt
===Section four===
*Why aren't economists rich
*Why do Americans call it soccer
*Why are my ears ringing
*Why are there so many Avengers
*Why are the Avengers fighting the X-Men
*Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers
===Section five===
*Why are there ants in my laptop
*Why is Earth tilted
*{{w|Olbers' paradox|Why is space black}}
*Why is outer space so cold
*Why are there pyramids on the Moon
*Why is NASA shutting down

===Section six===
*Why are there tiny spiders in my house
*Why do spiders come inside
*Why are there huge spiders in my house
*Why are there lots of spiders in my house
*Why are there spiders in my room
*Why are there so many spiders in my room
*Why do spider bites itch
*Why is dying so scary
===Section seven===
*Why is there no GPS in laptops
*Why do knees click
*Why aren't there E grades
*Why is isolation bad
*Why do boys like me
*Why don't boys like me
*Why is there always a Java update
*Why are there red dots on my thighs
*Why is lying good
:Cueball: Why is sex so important
===Section eight===
*{{w|The Bible and slavery|Why are there slaves in The Bible}}
*[http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/11/04/1234875.htm Why do twins have different fingerprints]
*Why are Americans afraid of dragons

===Section nine===
*Why are there swarms of gnats
*Why is there phlegm
===Section ten===
*Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN
*[http://pokemon.wikia.com/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Types Why is Psychic weak to Bug]
*Why do children get cancer
*Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus
*Why is there ice in space
===Section eleven===
:Megan (with ghosts): Why are there ghosts
*Why is there an owl in my backyard
*Why is there an owl outside my window
*Why is there an owl on the dollar bill
*Why do owls attack people
*Why are AK47s so expensive
===Section twelve===
*Why are there helicopters circling my house
*Why are there gods
*Why are there two Spocks
===Section thirteen===
*Why is Mt Vesuvius there
*Why do they say T Minus
*Why are there obelisks
*Why are wrestlers always wet
*Why are oceans becoming more acidic
*Why is Arwen dying
*Why aren't my quail laying eggs
*Why aren't my quail eggs hatching
*Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America
===Section fourteen===
*Why is https crossed out in red
*Why is there a line through https
*Why is there a red line through https on Facebook
*Why is https important
:Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing
===Section fifteen===
*Why are my boobs itchy
*Why are cigarettes legal
*Why are the ducks in my pool
*Why is Jesus white
*Why is there liquid in my ear
*Why do Q Tips feel good
*Why do good people die
:Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter
*Why are ultrasounds important
*Why are ultrasound machines expensive
*Why is stealing wrong

===Vertical questions===
:(The following are vertical.)
*{{w|Seven-day_week#Origins|Why are there weeks}}
*Why do I feel dizzy
*Why is {{w|YKK Group|YKK}} on all zippers
*Why are trees tall
*Why do iguanas die
*Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts
*Why are dogs afraid of fireworks
*Why is there no king in England
*Why is life so boring
*Why is there lava
*[http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?285504-Why-can-Mr-Mime-be-female Why are there female Mr Mimes]
*[http://gis.stackexchange.com/a/17546 Why is GPS free]
*Why is there Hell if God forgives

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]

Talk:1255: Columbus

2013-08-27T07:34:56Z

V2Blast: reply :P

Megan's version of the story is one big reference to the {{w|Silmarillion}}, in case you're wondering. [[Special:Contributions/100.40.49.22|100.40.49.22]] 06:00, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I fail to see how the fact scholars and other educated people knew the Earth is round means he couldn't have difficulty getting sponsorship because of that. He wasn't asking scholars for sponsorship, did he? :-) Actually, according to {{w|Christopher_Columbus#Quest_for_support|wikipedia}}, "Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a '''committee'''" ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:14, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Because it wasn't just scholars - ''everyone'' knew that the world was a sphere. Sailors, for example, took the monumental task of noticing that when objects appeared in the distance, they seemed to "rise up" over the horizon (hence the phrase). For that to happen, the sea (and by extension the rest of the world) had to be curved.
[[Special:Contributions/109.76.209.186|109.76.209.186]] 12:08, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

: Farmers were famous for believing the world was flat, but it might as well just be city prejudice or jokes on farmers behalf. They would anyway be in the worst position to know any better. [[Special:Contributions/62.220.2.194|62.220.2.194]] 12:30, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

:: I was trying to make a joke. According to wikipedia again, it is recorded that the committee denied the request because of distance to Asia, therefore shown much more intelligence that committees tend to have on average. Still, he asked for sponsorship multiple people, which might include some who believed earth is flat. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:07, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

Looking at the moon and at the earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse would probably make many realize the earth is round. [[User:Ghaller825|Ghaller825]] ([[User talk:Ghaller825|talk]]) 12:45, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
:Unless "round" as in "circular", rather than "spherical". A disc-like Earth could give the same effect. A ''non-tidally-locked moon'' would have been an interesting thing for early understanding of the universe, as it would have shown a clearly spherical ball rotating and let the layperson imagine sphericality under their own feet a lot easier in their own childhood, thus flat-earthing would have been culturally invalid, not just lazy/unthinking. Whether or not farmers 'knew'/cared/were-told-by-the-church that the world was flat isn't really relevent on the scale of farming where you need to worry more about localised hills on your land than global curvature on its actual order of magnitude. Of course, in the absence of any other clues you tend to think of everything as flat as your (crudely worked) kitchen tabletop by default. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 16:16, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I am not sure what people knew and what they believed in earlier times. For example: {{w|M-Theory}} says that the space we live in has 11 dimensions. Assuming this is correct, what will people in 500 years say about us? Did we know it or did we not? Could we have expected what will hit us in a couple of years from out of one of the dimensions that we do not visually perceive?
To apply this to the quesion of whether they knew that the world was round: There is a {{w|Deep-sea_exploration#Milestones_of_deep_sea_exploration|story}} about Magellan (who certainly believed that the world was round because he tried to sail around it): He tried to measure the depth of the ocean with a 700m long rope. When the rope failed to reach the bottom, he concluded that the ocean was infinitely deep. Now how can a round object with a finite perimeter have and infinite radius? (I realize that wikipedia does not give any sources for the story and its origin is somewhat obscure, someone translated the story from the German wikipedia in July 2011; in the German wikipedia it had first appeared in 2006, but the story was around on German language websites since at least [http://www.scinexx.de/dossier-detail-40-11.html 2000]; I have no idea where it originally comes from, but it would be interesting to have a look at Magellan's ship's log if it had such a thing.)
[[User:Y4cy|Y4cy]] ([[User talk:Y4cy|talk]]) 13:41, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

:You suppose that the round earth is imbedded in flat 3-dimensional space. If it were’nt, you could easily have infinitely deep oceans. Maybe Magellan was way ahead of his time by thinking in non-Euclidean categories.
:(Explanation for non-mathematicians: Draw a circle – it surely has a finite radius, but if you measure the depth perpendicular to the sheet of paper, you could go infinitely deep. Now apply this to a round sphere and measure perpendicular to the 3D space you put it in.)
:--[[Special:Contributions/188.102.28.80|188.102.28.80]] 09:41, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

::Your example fails. Magellan sailed in ship with keel pointing in the direction of the depth he tried to measure. His success depended on the fact that earth is round IN THAT DIMENSION. Sure, there are geometries where the earth can be round in that dimension AND ocean would still be infinite, but, as you correctly mentioned, they would be non-euclidean, while your example with sheet of paper is (almost) euclidean. Also, dimension which would make possible to measure infinite distances is {{w|Brane cosmology}} - {{w|M-Theory}} would work perfectly well even in case all of those "extra" dimensions would be extremely small. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:07, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

:[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3082/ Journal of Magellan's Voyage] is an original source (in French) accessible online of this voyage, which could contain this story. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/178.26.118.249|178.26.118.249]] 19:36, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

[http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/a/arda.html Arda] was not [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/bentworld.html bent] until the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/d/downfallofnumenor.html Downfall of Númenor] in [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/chronicle.html?startyear=3319&startage=2 S.A. 3319]. When [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/e/earendil.html Eärendil] sailed into [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/w/west.html the West] in [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/chronicle.html?startyear=538&startage=1 F.A. 538] he did so on a topologically flat earth. It was the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/i/istari.html Istari], the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/greyelves.html Sindarin] belatedly answering the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/greatjourney.html summons of the Valar], [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/galadriel.html Galadriel] of the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/n/noldor.html Noldorin], [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/e/elrond.html Elrond] [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/h/halfelven.html half-Elven], and the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/r/ringbearers.html ring-bearers] of the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/t/thirdage.html third age] who took the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/s/straightroad.html straight road] to [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/v/valinor.html Valinor]. --[[User:April_Arcus|April Arcus]] 01:44, 25 August 2013 (UTC)
* Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. :) --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 07:34, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

1255: Columbus

2013-08-27T07:32:59Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1255
| date = August 23, 2013
| title = Columbus
| image = columbus.png
| titletext = And thus was smallpox introduced into the previously Undying Lands.
}}

==Explanation==
[[White Hat]] tells two children that Christopher Columbus knew the world was round, but that others believed it to be flat. However, this is a false narrative known as the {{w|Myth of the Flat Earth}}. Educated people in Columbus's time knew the world was round, and knew the approximate radius of the Earth. Columbus claimed that the distance to sail west from Europe to Asia was drastically lower than others believed, but {{w|Christopher Columbus#Geographical_considerations|he was wrong about this}}. If another continent and the "{{w|West Indies}}" had not been fortuitously in the right place, Columbus and his crew probably would have died at sea.

As White Hat begins his explanation, Megan objects, though not explaining why. White Hat continues, so Megan interrupts, saying that Columbus went in a straight line as the world curved away, ending up in {{w|Valinor}} and the {{w|Undying Lands}}. Megan's story is an allusion to ''{{w|The Silmarillion}}'', by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}, set in the same world as ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' and ''{{w|The Hobbit}}''. Specifically, she references {{w|Eärendil|Eärendil the Mariner}}, the only mortal sailor to reach the Undying Lands, with one of the {{w|Silmaril}}s. Megan humorously conflates the two myths, suggesting that they are both equally false. In Megan's telling, Columbus ends up as the morning star, which is actually the planet {{w|Venus}} (the same fate as Eärendil in Tolkien's mythology).

The joke is that when White Hat tells her to stop making up the story, Megan pointedly replies "You first", indicating that she originally complained about White Hat's retelling of the Columbus story because his account didn't really happen, and so he was also "making things up". Megan's fantasy tale was then delivered to make a point.

The title text refers to the {{w|Smallpox#Human_history|transfer of small pox}} to North America by Europeans. The introduction of smallpox to the Undying Lands is ironic, given their name.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat talks to children.]
:White Hat: Everyone said the world was flat, but Columbus knew it was round.
:Megan: *Sigh* No, no, no.

:White Hat: So he took his ships and sailed west -
:Megan: - in a line tangent to the surface. The sea fell away, and he landed in ''Valinor''.

:Megan: A silmaril on his brow, he wanders the heavens as the morning star, still believing he reached India.
:White Hat: Stop making stuff up.
:Megan: You first.

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

1254: Preferred Chat System

2013-08-27T07:28:12Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1254
| date = August 21, 2013
| title = Preferred Chat System
| image = preferred chat system.png
| titletext = If you call my regular number, it just goes to my pager.
}}

==Explanation==

As more options become available for communication, it becomes more and more difficult to determine the social etiquette of how you choose to communicate with people. It is generally customary to return a communication from someone in the same medium that they contacted you. For example, a voicemail is generally returned with a phone call, or an email with an email, etc. However, sometimes people respond through a different channel, such as texting a response to a voicemail or emailing a reply to a text. This can create confusion that [[Randall]] is pointing out, because the recipient doesn't know whether to go back to their original communication method, or whether the response was a signal that the recipient prefers the new communication method. Similarly, it becomes commonplace for people to know which communication is preferred by the recipient or most likely to reach the recipient quickly and generate the fastest response.

Randall portrays the difficulty [[Cueball]] is facing when communicating with a seemingly irrational recipient. Today's multitude of social networks and communication systems only amplifies the problem. Cueball is leaving a voicemail for his intended recipient to clarify the best way to reach them. He is doing so, he says, because he initially tried texting the recipient which they replied to with one message on the instant-messaging service {{w|Google Talk}} (commonly called GChat). This is unusual because instant messaging services are usually used to engage in longer conversations than one message. Cueball further is confused because the recipient, although silent on Google Talk, continues responding on {{W|Internet Relay Chat|IRC}} (presumably to others or in public chat rooms). Cueball then attempted to communicate by email, but the response came on {{w|Skype}}, another instant messaging service that features voice and video chat along with text. The recipient mentions that the email "''woke [them] up''", which is generally something that might happen with a ringing phone call, but is not common with email (people generally don't set their email to to give immediate audible alarms).

Cueball clarifies that he appreciates that the recipient is very quick to respond, but his confusion stems from his inability to determine the proper medium to use. As he finishes his voicemail, an owl flies towards him carrying a written message. This appears to be a reference to [http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Owl_post owl post], which is a form of communication in the {{w|Harry Potter}} lore which itself is presumably based on the real-world usage of {{w|Carrier pigeon|carrier pigeons}}. The owl post message indicates that the voicemail was received, and suggests using {{w|Google Voice}} next time, which is an alternative form of voice and text to the standard telecom companies.

The owl could also be a reference to [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149 RFC 1149 - IP over Avian Carriers], which has been mentioned in previous comics.

The title text mentions a {{w|pager}}, a wireless telecommunications device that receives text messages. The redirection of a phone number to a pager further increases the confusion caused by the sheer number of possible communication methods available.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands, talking on his cell phone.]
:Cueball: Sorry for the voicemail, but I'm confused about how to reach you.
:Cueball: When I text you, you reply once on GChat, then go quiet, yet answer IRC right away. I emailed you, and you replied on Skype and mentioned that the email "woke you up".
:Cueball: You're very responsive - I just haven no sense of how you use technology.
:[An owl flies into the panel.]
:Cueball: ?!?
:[The owl perches on Cueballs's head. It has delivered a note to Cueball.]
:Note: did you try to call me? use my google voice number next time.

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

Talk:1253: Exoplanet Names

2013-08-27T07:23:05Z

V2Blast: added "unsigned IP" template to most recent unsigned comment

One of the planets is similar to the child in Exploits of a Mom (http://xkcd.com/327/)
Robert Drop Tables
[[Special:Contributions/90.200.204.77|90.200.204.77]] 12:12, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, they've seemed to have learned to sanitize their data inputs or just stick to parameters. [[Special:Contributions/69.14.148.254|69.14.148.254]] 12:33, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
Hair covered planet might be a reference to the book The Carpet Makers {{unsigned ip|41.221.193.211}}

The Blogosphere and Blogodrome planets are cited as synonyms of "blog." I believe this is an error, in that blogosphere is synonymous with "the collection of all posted communication." I would change it myself, but I don't feel like I'm sufficiently expert to state with conviction. ~Anthingy {{unsigned ip|76.105.133.220}}

I'm still missing the ''New Netherlands''... Lorenz [[Special:Contributions/142.244.63.246|142.244.63.246]] 15:34, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Along with no ''New Netherlands'', I'm also disappointed to see ''Planet #14'' but no ''Planet 9 from Outer Space''. [[User:Ccurtis|Ccurtis]] ([[User talk:Ccurtis|talk]]) 16:04, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
:I'm sure my explain does cover this very well.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:04, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
::I don't understand your comment here. I was hoping for a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Outer_Space Plan 9 From Outer Space], arguably one of the worst movies ever made and inspiration for the successor Unix operating system, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs Plan 9]. [[User:Ccurtis|Ccurtis]] ([[User talk:Ccurtis|talk]]) 14:09, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

If memory serves, Stampy is the name of Bart Simpson's elephant. [[Special:Contributions/99.108.140.97|99.108.140.97]] 17:59, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

A* ("a star") is also a pathfinding algorithm taught in introductory Artificial Intelligence classes. I don't see the connection to the planet yet. [[User:Lastorset|Lastorset]] ([[User talk:Lastorset|talk]]) 22:19, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
:For the first, I did remove the corrupt wiki link. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:23, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

I just wonder where New Jerseys II through V are .... [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 03:24, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

'''Skydot''' could as easily be equivalent to the "Pale blue dot" that is Earth, from afar. '''New Jersey VI''' reminds me of the "New (New New New New .. New) New York" as visited in Doctor Who. '''help@gmail.com''' is either another bad input (as in "How Do I Join the IAU") or something more insidious. '''Moon Holder''' also reminds me of "Moon Watcher" from the (book of, at least) 2001: a Space Odyssey. '''Blainsley''' sounds to me like one of those portmanteau-names applied to a couple ("Blair-and-Ainsley"?). '''Unicorn Thresher''' could either be a random word string (I'd not have been surprisedto have seen "Correct Horse battery Staple" in the list) or ''perhaps'' something to do with the Invisible Pink Unicorn. '''Liz''' sounds like someone trying to get a planet named after their girlfriend or daughter or perhaps mother. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 11:39, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

:Anyone want an exoplanet named xkcd? {{unsigned ip|173.14.129.9}}

I was personally expecting a planet named "Gallifrey" or "Too expensive to get there, who cares?" {{unsigned ip|170.215.90.160}}

Maybe New Jersey VI is a reference to the Spaceship New Jersey from Bruce Covill's young adult "My Teacher Is An Alien" series?
-Jed [[Special:Contributions/70.208.76.161|70.208.76.161]] 00:47, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

I find it very meta that the line in the table explaining Cosmic Sands is formatted in Comic Sans, except for the reference to the Papyrus comic, which is written in Papyrus. I refer anyone interested to the discussion there about the propriety of that kind of self-referential cleverness, and I recognize that it sort of undermines the purpose of a wiki to do things therein that themselves require explanation... but I kinda like it. --Benny [[Special:Contributions/68.199.58.41|68.199.58.41]] 15:50, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

'''How Do I Join the IAU''' - instead of a lost user it very much resembles whinning of noobs in forums or in chat - "How Do I Get An Op?", "Please Mail It To Me" etc. '''Ballderaan''' might be a pun (if it's not actually there) on the Space Balls movie. --Ed [[Special:Contributions/217.31.207.1|217.31.207.1]] 14:04, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

permadeath might also be a play on permafrost. [[User:Peter|Peter]] ([[User talk:Peter|talk]]) 17:01, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Is Moonchild not an Aleister Crowley reference? {{unsigned ip|91.45.17.43}}

1253: Exoplanet Names

2013-08-27T07:19:18Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ added on/fixed various explanations

{{comic
| number = 1253
| date = August 19, 2013
| title = Exoplanet Names
| image = exoplanet names.png
| titletext = If you have any ideas, I hear you can send them to <nowiki>iaupublic@iap.fr</nowiki>.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|1253: Exoplanet Names}}

On the 14th of August, the {{w|International Astronomical Union}} (IAU) [http://www.iau.org/science/news/179/ issued a document] about public naming of astronomical objects. It stated, "IAU fully supports the involvement of the general public, whether directly or through an independent organised vote, in the naming of planetary satellites, newly discovered planets, and their host stars.". It also contained, amongst other things, guidelines that suggested names should meet. These include stipulations such as "16 characters or less", "preferably one word", being "pronounceable (in as many languages as possible)", "not too similar to an existing name of an astronomical object", avoiding commercial names, and being "respectful of intellectual property". If we go down the list, we can see that many of Randall's suggestions do indeed violate the guidelines. Which is probably part of the joke.

The document also states that suggestions may be sent to the email mentioned in the title text.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Star !! Planet !! Suggested Name !! Explanation
|-
| rowspan=7 | {{w|Gliese 667 C}} || {{w|Gliese 667 Cb|b}} || Space Planet || A very unoriginal name; every planet is in space.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cc|c}} || PILF || Pun of {{w|MILF pornography|MILF}}, i.e. ''Planet I'd Like to Fuck''. Planet c is a relatively hot planet, within the habitable zone.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cd|d}} || A Star || "A Star" is obviously a bad name for a planet. A* (pronounced "A star") is already used in in astronomy, for example the milky way's black hole core is {{w|Sagittarius_A*}} "A Star" is also the name for the character {{w|asterisk}} and the name of the popular algorithm {{w|A* search algorithm}} in computer science.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 667 Ce|e}} || e'); DROP TABLE PLANETS;-- || A reference to {{w|SQL injection}}, riffing off of [[327|comic 327]], which featured a boy named <code>[[Robert'); DROP TABLE students;--]]</code>. The idea here is that the IAU would enter the name into their system and promptly lose all of their data pertaining to planets. Note that Planet e is located in the habitable zone of the star system.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cf|f}} || Blogosphere || rowspan = 2 | Weird ''{{w|blog}}''-related terms are a recurring theme in xkcd. See, for instance, [[181|comic 181]].
|-
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cg|g}} || Blogodrome
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_667c_h/ h] || Earth || Planet candidate h is about the mass of the earth, and described as "tantalizing": [http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2013/08/aa21331-13/aa21331-13.html A dynamically-packed planetary system around GJ 667C with three super-Earths in its habitable zone]. See also ([[1231: Habitable Zone]]).
|-
| rowspan=5 | {{w|Tau Ceti}} || [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/tau_cet_b/ b] || Sid Meier's Tau Ceti B || This refers to the game {{w|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri}}.
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/tau_cet_c/ c] || Giant Dog Planet || {{w|VY Canis Majoris}} is one of the largest known stars at our galaxy and belongs to the constellation {{w|Canis Major}}, Latin for "greater dog". The constellation further contains {{w|Sirius}}, the brightest Star in the night sky, which is also known as "Dog Star".
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/tau_cet_d/ d] || Tiny Dog Planet || cf. {{w|Canis Minor}}, Latin for "lesser dog", another star constellation.
|-
|{{w|Tau Ceti e|e}} || Phil Plainet || A reference to {{w|Phil Plait}}, a.k.a. The Bad Astronomer.
|-
|{{w|Tau Ceti f|f}} || Unicode Snowman || The Unicode character [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2603/index.htm ☃] may be a reference to the planet's estimated surface temperature of -40°C. However, this name would be pronounced differently (being a symbol, not a word or name) in different languages.
|-
| {{w|Gliese 832}} || {{w|Gliese 832 b|b}} || Asshole Jupiter || This massive planet orbits a {{w|red dwarf}} star at the longest known period of 3416 days at this category.
|-
| rowspan=6 | {{w|Gliese 581}} || {{w|Gliese 581 b|b}} || Waist-deep Cats || {{w|Waist Deep}} is an action film from 2006, and the {{w|Lolcat}} meme does not need any further explaining. The name may also simply be a reference to being "waist-deep" in (i.e. surrounded by) cats.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 581 c|c}} || Planet #14 || One of the earlier discoveries. Reported to be the first potentially Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of its star, though that is in doubt now. The joke is likely that, like "Space Planet", "Planet #14" is also a generic and unoriginal name.
Interestingly, the number of planets in our {{w|Solar System}} did increase to 15 in 1851, though at that time astronomers also counted larger asteroids as planets ({{w|Definition_of_planet#Minor_planets|Minor planets}}).
|-
|{{w|Gliese 581 d|d}} || Ballderaan || A {{w|wikt:balls|crude pun}} on the planet {{w|Alderaan}} from the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' universe.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 581 e|e}} || Eternia Prime || {{w|Eternia}} is a fictional planet in the ''{{w|Masters of the Universe}}'' animated series and toy collection.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 581 f|f}} || Taupe Mars || {{w|Kim Stanley Robinson|Kim Stanley Robinson's}} wrote the award-winning {{w|Mars trilogy}} (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars). {{w|Taupe}} is a brownish-grey colour.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 581 g|g}} || Jelly-Filled Planet || Possibly a reference to the conjecture that this tidally locked planet has an isolated habitable zone under the substellar point, akin to the pocket of jelly in a jelly doughnut.
|-
| rowspan=2 | {{w|Epsilon Eridani}} || {{w|Epsilon Eridani b|b}} || Skydot || [http://skydot.lanl.gov/ SkyDOT] is the Sky Database for Objects in Time-Domain run by {{w|LANL}} for the {{w|U.S. Dept. of Energy}} and includes data for [http://skydot.lanl.gov/nsvs/star.php?num=14831575&mask=32004 Epsilon Eridani] that can be used to constrain the orbital parameters of ε Eri b.
|-
|{{w|Epsilon Eridani c#Planet_c|c}} || Laser Noises || A {{w|Laser}} does not produce {{w|Noise (electronics)|noises}}; it only works at a well defined frequency. In science fiction, however, laser weapon discharges are usually accompanied by noise. Epsilon Eridani became a popular setting for science fiction after its publicity as a target of the {{w|Project Ozma}} experiment.
|-
| rowspan=2 | {{w|Gliese 176}} || {{w|Gliese 176 b|b}} || Pandora || The fictional, hellish planet from {{w|Frank Herbert|Frank Herbert's}} {{w|Frank_Herbert_bibliography#WorShip_novels|WorShip}} series of novels. Also the fictional moon in James Cameron's ''{{w|Avatar (film)|Avatar}}'' and the Planet used in {{w|Borderlands (video game)| Borderlands Games}}.
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_176_c/ c] || Pantera || Named for the {{w|Pantera|heavy metal band}}.
|-
| Kepler-61 || {{w|Kepler-61b|b}} || GoldenPalace.com || A gambling Web site, known for {{w|GoldenPalace.com|paying to have their name in unusual places}} (like forehead tattoos, species names...).
|-
! colspan=4 | ...
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap;" rowspan=3 | {{w|Upsilon Andromedae}} || {{w|Upsilon Andromedae c|c}} || Stampy || The name of the elephant from the {{w|Simpsons}} episode, "Bart Gets an Elephant".
|-
|{{w|Upsilon Andromedae d|d}} || Moonchild || The name Bastian gives the Childlike Empress in {{w|The Neverending Story}}.
|-
|{{w|Upsilon Andromedae e|e}} || Ham Sphere || [http://www.hamsphere.com/ HamSphere] is a {{w|Amateur radio|Ham Radio}} simulator program. Ham radio uses designated radio frequencies for non-commercial exchange of messages and more. A pun of Hemisphere.
|-
| rowspan=3 | {{w|82 G. Eridani|HD 20794}} || [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/hd_20794_b/ b] || Cosmic Sands || style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS', 'Comic Sans';" | A {{w|pun}} on the name of the font {{w|Comic Sans}}. (See also: [[590|590: Papyrus]].)
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/hd_20794_c/ c] || Legoland || {{w|Legoland}} is a chain of {{w|Theme_park|Theme Parks}} owned by the {{w|Lego Group}} and run by British company {{w|Merlin Entertainments}}.
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/hd_20794_d/ d] || Planet with Arms || A reference to the early [http://www.thecolorsofmysoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/The-Hitchhikers-Guide-to-the-Galaxy.jpg covers] of {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}?
|-
| {{w|HD 85512}} || {{w|HD 85512 b|b}} || Lax Morality || Possibly a parody of sci-fi works in which certain planets are suggested to be uniformly... lax in morals (i.e. full of sex, drugs, etc.).
|-
| rowspan=6 | {{w|HD 40307}} || {{w|HD 40307 b|b}} || Good Planet || Similar to the above, except with good planets. May also be yet another non-descriptive name, like "Space Planet" and "Planet #14".
|-
|{{w|HD 40307 c|c}} || ProblemLand || See above.
|-
|{{w|HD 40307 d|d}} || Slickle || This is a reference to "[http://zdarsky.tumblr.com/post/2837139960 The Petals Fall Twice]", which was made as a humorous example of bad fan-fiction. The word itself is a portmanteau of "slowly", "licked", and "tickled".
|-
|{{w|HD 40307 e|e}} || Spare Parts || This suggests that the planet is "worthless" or "junk". This is false, of course. this may be a reference to the fact it is a planet with nothing much different from the other planets.
|-
|{{w|HD 40307 f|f}} || New Jersey VI || Refers to the state of {{w|New Jersey}}. May be an insult to the planet.
|-
|{{w|HD 40307 g|g}} || How Do I Join the IAU || This implies that the user "got lost" on the IAU website and thought that the "planet name suggestion" input was for general queries.
|-
| rowspan=3 | {{w|Gliese 163}} || [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_163_b/ b] || Neil Tyson's Mustache || {{w|Neil deGrasse Tyson}} is a famous American astrophysicist and science communicator who does maintain a distinguished mustache.
|-
|{{w|Gliese 163 c|c}} || help@gmail.com || Similar to "How Do I Join the IAU", this implies that the user confused the "planet suggestion" text box for a new email they are trying to send
|-
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_163_d/ d] || Hair-Covered Planet || Refers to the {{w|Hairy ball theorem}}, a well-known theorem of topology.
|-
| {{w|Pi Mensae}} || {{w|Pi Mensae b|b}} || Moon Holder || {{w|Jupiter}} has more than 60 discovered moons, and still counting... A planet ten times more massive ''must'' also be a Moon Holder.
|-
| {{w|HD 189733}} || {{w|HD 189733 b|b}} || Permadeath || A well-characterized "{{w|Hot Jupiter}}" at a temperature range of 973 ± 33 K to 1,212 ± 11 K. The name refers to the feature of {{w|Permanent death}} common in many RPGs and roguelikes.
|-
| {{w|Kepler-22}} || {{w|Kepler-22 b|b}} || Blue Ivy || The name of Blue Ivy Carter, daughter of musicians {{w|Beyoncé}} and {{w|Jay-Z}}.
|-
| Kepler-3284 || b || Blainsley ||
|-
| Kepler-3255 || b || Unicorn Thresher ||
|-
| Kepler-2418 || b || Spherical {{w|Discworld}} || A creation of British author {{w|Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett}}, {{w|The Discworld}} is the fictional setting for his {{w|Discworld}} series of books and consists of a large disc supported by four elephants themselves standing on top of a turtle flying through space.
|-
| Kepler-1686 || {{w|KOI-1686.01|b}} || style="white-space:nowrap;" | Emergency Backup Earth || This candidate planet has an {{w|Earth Similarity Index}} of 0.89, making it to one of the most habitable {{w|Kepler Object of Interest}} (KOI). The name suggests that it could be used as a backup in case something happened to our current planet.
|-
| Kepler-3010 || b || Feeeoooooooop || Possibly the onomatopoeia for something getting sucked into a black hole.
|-
| Kepler-4742 || b || Liz || ...Just a regular name (for a person, not a planet).
|}

==Transcript==
:August 2013:
:The International Astronomical Union decides to start naming exoplanets, and—for the first time ever—asks for suggestions from the general public.
:They immediately regret this decision.
:Cueball‏‎: Can't you filter out the worst ones?
:''The rightmost person'': This is '''''after''''' the filter!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball‏‎]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Sex]]

590: Papyrus

2013-08-27T07:00:33Z

V2Blast:

{{DISPLAYTITLE: 590: Papyrus}}
{{comic
| number = 590
| date = May 29, 2009
| title = Papyrus
| image = papyrus.png
| titletext = I secretly, deep in my guilty heart, like Papyrus and don't care if it's overused. [Cue hate mail in beautifully-kerned Helvetica.]
}}

==Explanation==
One of the comics in the "My Hobby" series, this one touches on the fact that {{w|Papyrus (typeface)|Papyrus}} is considered to be overused by many typography geeks, including the font's own creator. Pretending that he doesn't know that, [[Cueball]] gives [[Ponytail]] a heartfelt card written in that font just to see her twitch.

The title text says that Randall actually ''likes'' Papyrus, even if it ''is'' overused, and refers to {{w|Helvetica}}, another commonly-used sans-serif font.

==Transcript==
:My Hobby:
:Getting typography geeks heartfelt cards printed in "papyrus" and watching them struggle to act grateful.
:Ponytail: Thank you for the ''*Twitch*'' ... lovely... ''*Twitch*'' birthday card!
:[Ponytail is holding a card open and looking at Cueball. An angry tic is flicking on her forehead.]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]

590: Papyrus

2013-08-27T06:59:07Z

V2Blast:

{{comic
| number = 590
| date = May 29, 2009
| title = Papyrus
| image = papyrus.png
| titletext = I secretly, deep in my guilty heart, like Papyrus and don't care if it's overused. [Cue hate mail in beautifully-kerned Helvetica.]
}}

==Explanation==
One of the comics in the "My Hobby" series, this one touches on the fact that {{w|Papyrus (typeface)|Papyrus}} is considered to be overused by many typography geeks, including the font's own creator. Pretending that he doesn't know that, [[Cueball]] gives [[Ponytail]] a heartfelt card written in that font just to see her twitch.

The title text says that Randall actually ''likes'' Papyrus, even if it ''is'' overused, and refers to {{w|Helvetica}}, another commonly-used sans-serif font.

==Transcript==
:My Hobby:
:Getting typography geeks heartfelt cards printed in "papyrus" and watching them struggle to act grateful.
:Ponytail: Thank you for the ''*Twitch*'' ... lovely... ''*Twitch*'' birthday card!
:[Ponytail is holding a card open and looking at Cueball. An angry tic is flicking on her forehead.]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]

1167: Star Trek into Darkness

2013-08-27T06:57:51Z

V2Blast:

{{comic
| number = 1167
| date = January 30, 2013
| title = Star Trek into Darkness
| image = star_trek_into_darkness.png
| titletext = Of course, factions immediately sprang up in favor of '~*~sTaR tReK iNtO dArKnEsS~*~', 'xX_StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNess_Xx', and 'Star Trek lnto Darkness' (that's a lowercase 'L').
}}

==Explanation==
The talk page of a Wikipedia article is used to discuss changes to the article. An {{w|Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit war}} is a dispute about a specific edit to an article, manifesting as a series of edits alternating between making and reverting the change, and usually accompanied by a more-or-less heated debate on the talk page.

Here, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] is referring to a dispute on the Wikipedia article about ''{{w|Star Trek Into Darkness}}'' (an upcoming Star Trek film at the time of the comic's posting). On the day before the comic was published, the article name had a lowercase "into", and the talk page looked [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Star_Trek_Into_Darkness&oldid=535542349 like this] (rounded off in a friendly way, with the posting of {{w|User:Frungi/Star Trek Into Darkness capitalization|a summary of the arguments}}, and an exchange of virtual hugs).

[[Cueball]] changes the title so that every other letter is capitalized, and adds framing tildes and asterisks (a common, childish way of emphasizing titles online). This will probably not go over well.

Megan's line of "They should have sent a poet." is a quote from the film ''{{w|Contact (film)|Contact}}''. The quote is also featured in [[482: Height]].

The title text indicates Randall's belief that such arguments are perpetual and will always arise. He suggests that the edit to the comic will result in a dispute over variants of Cueballs "compromise". Because the lowercase "L" and the capital "I" appear similar in many fonts, he also puts forth the potential argument that the character in the movie's title is a lowercase "L".

The old "favorite edit war" might be the one referenced in [[878: Model Rail]].

==Trivia==
After the publication of the comic, the debate continued with full force, complete with {{w|Talk:Star Trek Into Darkness/Archive 5#xkcd Mention|a section of xkcd-inspired suggestions}}. The article itself was soon protected, so that only administrators could edit it. A day later, the title was changed to one including a capital "Into" by the administrator {{w|User:Mackensen|Mackensen}}. (The debate continued on {{w|User talk:Mackensen/Archive20#Star Trek into Darkness move|his talk page}}.)

{{w|The Independent}} published an article about the "[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/trekkies-take-on-wikis-in-a-grammatical-tizzy-over-star-trek-into-darkness-8475705.html grammatical tizzy]", and the affair as a whole was added to Wikipedia's humorous list of the {{w|WP:Lamest edit wars|lamest edit wars}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball staring at computer screen.]
:Cueball: Oh, wow. Look at Wikipedia's Talk page for Star Trek into Darkness. I have a new favorite edit war.
:Megan (off-panel): Oh?

:Cueball: Forty ''thousand'' words of debate over whether to capitalize "into" in the movie's title. Still no consensus.
:Megan: That's ''magnificient''.
:Cueball: It's breathtaking.
:Megan: They should have sent a poet.

:Cueball: Well I'm making an executive decision. I hope both sides accept this as a fair compromise.

:[A wikipedia page titled "~*~ StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNeSs ~*~"]

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

1252: Increased Risk

2013-08-27T06:32:56Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1252
| date = August 16, 2013
| title = Increased Risk
| image = increased_risk.png
| titletext = You may point out that strictly speaking, you can use that statement to prove that all risks are tiny--to which I reply HOLY SHIT WATCH OUT FOR THAT DOG!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
The panel satirises the common misunderstanding of the concept of percentage. Quoting a percentage change without mentioning the base probability that this ratio acts on is meaningless (outside of arithmetic for arithmetic's sake). Most everyday communication, however, succumbs to such incompleteness. In the aftermath of this ambiguity, people tend to conflate relative and absolute changes.

If the probability of a shark attack at the North beach is one per million, then the probability of shark attack at the South beach is still not more than 1.2 per million. The difference between these values is not enough to normally justify choosing one beach over the other, even though a "20% greater" chance sounds significant when stated out of this larger context.

[[Cueball]] parodies the concern by noting that by going to a beach three times instead of two, their chances of attack by dogs with handguns in their mouths (a ludicrous and unrealistic scenario) increases by 50%. If the chance of the dog attack is one per billion on each visit to the beach, then the chance of attack increases over multiple visits regardless. (It's still one in a billion for any specific visit.) This does not change the overall improbability of there ever being a dog swimming with a gun in its mouth.

[[Beret Guy]] misunderstands Cueball's probability, exhibiting the {{w|Gambler's fallacy}} by believing that since they haven't been attacked in their first two trips, the chance of attack by dogs with handguns is higher on their third outing.

This is a common misunderstanding of statistics. While the overall probability of an attack in three trips would be higher than in a single trip, it doesn't change the fact that in each individual trip, the probability is still the same; whether or not they managed to avoid being attacked in their first two trips, the results of these trips do not factor into the probability equation of the third trip.

This also can be illustrated by coin flips: if one flips a coin 10 times in a row, no matter what the result of each previous flip is (even if it were nine heads in a row), the odds of getting heads on the next coin flip remains 50%. In other words, past experience does not impact subsequent flips.

The title text discusses the argument that the statement "A 50% increase in a tiny risk is still tiny," if taken at face value, can be used to prove that all risks are tiny. This can be compared to the {{w|Sorites paradox}} (the "paradox of the heap"), which involves a "heap" of sand from which grains of sand are removed individually. If one assumes that, after removing a single grain, a heap of sand is still considered a heap of sand, and that there are a limited number of grains of sand in the heap, then one is forced to accept the conclusion that it can still be considered a heap of sand even if there is only a single grain of sand (or even none at all).

The title text mocks this paradox by suggesting that even the implausible scenario of an attack by a dog with a handgun is just as likely as all other possible scenarios. If the probability of any scenario is "tiny", then (given a vague enough definition of "tiny") all scenarios become equally likely, so the otherwise ludicrous scenario of a dog with a handgun becomes no longer negligible.

==Transcript==
:[Three figures are standing around. Two have beach towels. Megan is looking at her cell phone. One of them is Beret Guy.]
:Ponytail: We should go to the north beach. Someone said the south beach has a 20% higher risk of shark attacks.
:Cueball: Yeah, but statistically, taking three beach trips instead of two increases our odds of getting shot by a swimming dog carrying a handgun in its mouth by '''''50%!'''''
:Beret Guy: Oh no! This is our third trip!
:Reminder: A 50% increase in a tiny risk is ''still tiny''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Math]]

Talk:1251: Anti-Glass

2013-08-27T06:08:30Z

V2Blast: reply

Could someone explain the title text, please? I'm afraid I don't understand the irony mentioned. [[Special:Contributions/115.70.105.180|115.70.105.180]] 11:37, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Yes. And also why 2007? Not like him to pick a random year. Was it something to do with the new laser classification and warning/labeling regulations that went into place that year? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_safety){{unsigned|Drjoe047}}
:It should be the iPhone, the first generation was released on June 29, 2007. It was a similar technical revolution as Google Glass will be.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:12, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

I don't think that the explanation needs to include the description of Black Hat. He has his own page. Regarding his desire not to blind people, he's about to shine a laser in the police officers' eyes. He has no problem blinding people. In addition, I don't think the title text is ironic. Black Hat is a hacker. He's always embraced technology. He just embraces it his way.{{unsigned|Theo}}

"The best defense is an discriminate offense." Might this be a play on the idiom "The best defense is a good offense"? The "indiscriminate" part strongly reminds me of NSA's justification that their massive surveillance program was not warrantless search & seizure ''because'' it's indiscriminate, i.e. no one person is targeted. Kind of like in this comic, where the device automatically targets any nearby Glass user but no one user(s) in particular. [[Special:Contributions/128.97.244.16|128.97.244.16]] 08:46, 15 August 2013 (UTC)
*Dunno about the NSA reference, but it is an obvious play on that adage. I've added a one-sentence explanation of the reference and a link to the Wikipedia page. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 06:08, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

Could Black Hat's attachment be for '''Google''' Glasses? Somehow the attachment has to see the targets and process this information ... The Kids will be running around and shooting each other. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/178.26.118.249|178.26.118.249]] 10:12, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

1251: Anti-Glass

2013-08-27T06:07:11Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ added "best defense" quote explanation and wiki-link

{{comic
| number = 1251
| date = August 14, 2013
| title = Anti-Glass
| image = anti_glass.png
| titletext = 'Why don't you just point it at their eye directly?' 'What is this, 2007?'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]] makes an attachment for eyeglasses which shines a laser light at people using {{w|Google Glass}}. The quote "The best defense is an indiscriminate offense" plays off the adage "{{w|The best defense is a good offense}}". Black Hat's goal seems to be to interfere with the Google Glass user potentially recording the person with the laser, and possibly blinding Google Glass users, undermining the project. By mailing one to the children of every Google executive (likely to be Google Glass users), he's clearly aiming to disrupt the entire Google Glass project. Silicon Valley is a place where many technologically up-to-date people live who are more likely to use Google Glass.

The "viral marketing campaign" excuse seems to play off how battery-powered LED placards were mistaken for terrorism in the {{w|2007 Boston bomb scare}}. He pretends that his terrorism is actually a viral marketing campaign, but seems to have not thought this excuse through. He then tries to get them to look into a laser light.

The title text shows the irony between Black Hat's needlessly complicated technical solution, and his apparent hate of Google Glass, a relatively new technology. In addition, he remarks that he wouldn't do something as old-fashioned as shining a laser in peoples' eyes, as this does not live up to his technical expertise.

However, he is clearly planning to shine a laser through the peephole, which would have the same effect on the police officers.

==Transcript==
:[Two police officers stand at an apartment door. The female officer is holding a pair of glasses with something attached to it. We will see later that Black Hat is in the apartment.]
:Female officer: Police. Open up. Did you make this glasses attachment?
:Black Hat (through door): Oh, yeah.
:[Black Hat is sitting at his laptop.]
:Police officer: What's it do?
:Black Hat: It detects when someone near you is wearing Google Glass and shines a laser pointer at their eyepiece.
:Police officer: Why??
:Black Hat: The best defense is an indiscriminate offense.
:[Cut back to officers outside the apartment.]
:Male officer: It seems you've mailed these devices to people across Silicon Valley, including the children of every Google executive.
:Black Hat: Yeah. It's a viral marketing campaign for an upcoming movie.
:Male officer: What movie?
:Black Hat: Haven't decided yet. Anything good coming out this fall?
:Male officer: Sir, open the door.
:Black Hat: First stare at the peephole for a sec.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1251: Anti-Glass

2013-08-27T06:03:27Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1251
| date = August 14, 2013
| title = Anti-Glass
| image = anti_glass.png
| titletext = 'Why don't you just point it at their eye directly?' 'What is this, 2007?'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]] makes an attachment for eyeglasses which shines a laser light at people using {{w|Google Glass}}. He describes this as an indiscriminate offensive move which seems likely to interfere with the Google Glass user potentially recording the person with the laser, and which may blind Google Glass users. By mailing one to the children of every Google executive (likely to be Google Glass users), he's clearly aiming to disrupt the entire Google Glass project. Silicon Valley is a place where many technologically up-to-date people live who are more likely to use Google Glass.

The "viral marketing campaign" excuse seems to play off how battery-powered LED placards were mistaken for terrorism in the {{w|2007 Boston bomb scare}}. He pretends that his terrorism is actually a viral marketing campaign, but seems to have not thought this excuse through. He then tries to get them to look into a laser light.

The title text shows the irony between Black Hat's needlessly complicated solution, and his apparent hate of Google Glass, a relatively new technology. In addition, he remarks that he wouldn't do something as old-fashioned as shining a laser in peoples' eyes, as this does not live up to his technical expertise.

However, he is clearly planning to shine a laser through the peephole, which would have the same effect on the police officers.

==Transcript==
:[Two police officers stand at an apartment door. The female officer is holding a pair of glasses with something attached to it. We will see later that Black Hat is in the apartment.]
:Female officer: Police. Open up. Did you make this glasses attachment?
:Black Hat (through door): Oh, yeah.
:[Black Hat is sitting at his laptop.]
:Police officer: What's it do?
:Black Hat: It detects when someone near you is wearing Google Glass and shines a laser pointer at their eyepiece.
:Police officer: Why??
:Black Hat: The best defense is an indiscriminate offense.
:[Cut back to officers outside the apartment.]
:Male officer: It seems you've mailed these devices to people across Silicon Valley, including the children of every Google executive.
:Black Hat: Yeah. It's a viral marketing campaign for an upcoming movie.
:Male officer: What movie?
:Black Hat: Haven't decided yet. Anything good coming out this fall?
:Male officer: Sir, open the door.
:Black Hat: First stare at the peephole for a sec.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1250: Old Accounts

2013-08-27T05:58:58Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1250
| date = August 12, 2013
| title = Old Accounts
| image = old accounts.png
| titletext = If you close an account while it's still friends with people, it contributes to database linkage accumulation slowdown, which is a major looming problem for web infrastructure and definitely not a thing I just made up.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
[[Cueball]] is very slowly following the described process of removing himself from a {{w|Social networking service|social network}}. Such actions are not necessary on any well-designed website, and actively unfriending people individually could be perceived rude or antisocial.

The ''reverse order'' to unfriend people could refer to the correct {{w|Memory management|memory allocation and deallocation}} processes in {{w|programming language|programming languages}} like {{w|C (programming language)|C}}. When allocating a memory block ''A'', the {{w|Pointer (computer programming)|pointer}} ''a->'' will save the starting address of this memory block. The next memory blocks ''B'', ''C'', and ''D'' may use pointers saved inside of block ''A''. If ones starts the deallocation process at Block ''A'', one loses all information about the other blocks and thus can not deallocate them. If the process repeats over and over, its memory usage will accumulate and will eventually result in an {{w|out of memory}} error.

The comic may alternately refer to {{w|database|databases}} and the query language {{w|SQL}}. Modern web sites are always saved in such databases by using references from one entity to another. A entity in this context is a thing in the modeled world; in this case, Cueball and his "friends". Using the {{w|Entity–relationship model|entity–relationship model}}, the ''friends'' will still have a relationship to the nonexistent user Cueball, and the links are orphaned.

Alternate explanation: There are dozens of social media websites and forums (e.g. Orkut and Hi5) that have faded into obscurity, either because they have outlived their usefulness, or because no one uses them. But even though one may not have visited them for years, they are still sitting there, gathering one's "friends'" statuses. It is often surprising to receive an email from a forum or social media website one has not visited for years. The comic is saying that one should always unfriend everyone when leaving a group, so that one does not keep getting statuses for "friends" one no longer cares about. The reverse order is because one unfriends the people one has known for the shortest period first.

In the title text, "database linkage accumulation slowdown" really is a thing that [[Randall]] just made up. This may be a satire of popular fears of made-up technological problems, often held by those who are not technologically savvy.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a desk, using a laptop.]
:The internet is filled with derelict accounts aggregating news about friends long forgotten.
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>Click*
: Uhh, is everything OK?
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>Click*
: Dude, what the hell?
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>Click*
:When you find yourself drifting away from a community, remember to clean up after yourself by slowly unfriending everyone, one by one, in the reverse order that you added them.

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

1246: Pale Blue Dot

2013-08-27T02:44:47Z

V2Blast: /* Trivia */ wording

{{comic
| number = 1246
| date = August 2, 2013
| title = Pale Blue Dot
| image = pale_blue_dot.png
| titletext = Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. There is no road out of this oblivion; we must embrace it. We must join with the darkness. Ba'al the Annihilator offers us no happiness, no answers, naught but the cold embrace of the void. To imagine any other end is delusion. We must give in to the will of Ba'al, for he will one day consume us and our world alike. I therefore call on Congress to fully fund space exploration, and to join with Ba'al, the Eater of Souls. Thank you.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
The {{w|Pale Blue Dot}} is a picture of the Earth taken in 1990 by the {{w|Voyager 1}} spacecraft at a distance about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles). It was part of the {{w|Family Portrait (Voyager)|Family Portrait}}, a series of images of the entire {{w|Solar System}} from beyond it.

The picture was taken at the request of {{w|Carl Sagan}}, a well known space scientist at that time. In 1994 Sagan wrote the book "{{w|Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space}}" inspired by this picture. In the book, Sagan waxed eloquent about the picture in a widely-quoted passage. The complete passage can be found illustrated in this [http://zenpencils.com/comic/100-carl-sagan-pale-blue-dot/ Zen Pencils comic].

Cueball quotes from a condensed version of this passage until he is interrupted by an argument over ''which'' speck in the picture is actually the Earth. When Cueball cries out in exasperation that it doesn't matter, then the entire authenticity of the image is called into question. This pokes fun at the fact that the {{w|Pale Blue Dot}} picture has very little visual attractiveness, apart from the viewer's knowledge that the central speck is actually our home planet seen from a great distance.

The first two sentences of the title text are also a quotation from Sagan's paean to the Pale Blue Dot picture, but then the text veers humorously into a very non-scientific conclusion about pagan deities.

The title text evokes the {{w|Cthulhu_mythos|Cthulhu Mythos}}, as expounded in fantasy/horror works by H.P. Lovecraft and, later, August Derleth, which features a cosmology in which humanity is doomed to destruction through the workings of vastly more powerful supernatural forces. The text references {{w|Ba'al}}, originally a Semitic deity since associated with demonic or otherwise evil forces.

Another explanation is that [[Randall]] refers to the film character {{w|Ba'al (Stargate)#Ba.27al|Ba'al}} from {{w|Stargate}}, who tries to conquer the Earth. The last sentence of the title text Randall urges the US Congress for greater funding of space exploration, leading humans to the same technological level as Ba'al.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands on a podium, the Pale Blue Dot picture is behind him]
:Cueball: Consider this Pale Blue Dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. Everyone you love, every human being who ever was, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived out their lives on this mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. All our -
:[Heckling]: I think that's a stuck pixel. We're the speck on the left.
:Cueball: ...Ok, '''''this''''' Pale Blue Dot is everything you -
:[Heckling]: No, you were right before. ''That'' one is earth.
:Cueball: '''''Look, it doesn't matter!'''''
:[Heckling]: I ''knew'' it!
:[Heckling]: I think this is just a lens cap picture.

==Trivia==
*At the time when this comic was published NASA did reveal two other pictures, showing our home planet from a long distance, [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20130722.html Saturn] and [http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=1228 Mercury] probes did picture the Earth at the same time. Earth appears as a tiny dot in these images as well as a result of the vast distance between Earth and the probes.

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1245: 10-Day Forecast

2013-08-27T02:36:47Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1245
| date = July 31, 2013
| title = 10-Day Forecast
| image = 10 day forecast.png
| titletext = Oh, definitely not; they don't have Amazon Prime.
}}

==Explanation==
The 10-day forecast is a prediction of the weather extending 10 days into the future (with varying degrees of accuracy). However, when [[Cueball]] checks the forecast for his local area, it predicts extreme lightning storms, a plague of insects, {{w|Rapture|The Rapture}}, and the appearance of what appears to be the anti-Christ. The anti-Christ (or perhaps Woden or Mothra) appears on Tuesday, and then the world ends (hence why all forecasts after that are labeled "Tuesday", and show static and then nothingness).

When asked about this, [[Megan]] explains that Cueball put a minus (-) sign in front of his ZIP code. A {{w|Zone Improvement Plan|ZIP code}} is a numeric postal code used in the United States, but many more countries use similar systems. And because you can identify the geographical location it is also often used to specify a local region for the purposes of weather reports.

Many computer systems that let the user write in a number only work with certain numbers (often positive numbers). Numbers the system is not designed to work with (such as negative numbers) frequently produce errors or unpredictable behavior. Megan, however, assumes that the negative zip code represents an actual geographical location, and that the weather forecaster is showing an accurate forecast for the area. She further states that, since all negative zip codes produce similar forecasts, that all negative zip codes represent actual geographical locations for which the weather is like that.

In the title text, Megan agrees with Cueball's desire not to move to that ZIP code area, the punchline being that her reason is not to avoid the apocalypse, but to retain access to Amazon Prime, which shows that her priorities are amusingly warped. The service Amazon Prime is provided by {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}}, where the user pays a flat annual fee and in exchange he/she gets access a number of "enhanced" Amazon services, including free two-day shipping, free access to a library of streaming videos, and the ability to borrow books.

==Transcript==
:Megan: Is it going to rain this weekend? I have a thing.
:[Cueball sits behind a computer desk.]
:Cueball: Lemme check.
:*type type*
:Cueball: ...uhh. What?

:'''Your 10-day forecast:'''
:[Sunny] Today
:[Cloudy] Tomorrow
:[Light thunderstorms] Friday
:[Heavy thunderstorms] Saturday
:[Insect attack] Sunday
:[Distorted people] Monday
:[A human with two horns] Tuesday
:[Screen breaks up, all is greyish] Tuesday
:[Black screen] Tuesday
:[Black screen] Tuesday

:Megan: ...Oh! You typed a minus sign in the ZIP code. The negative ZIP codes are all like that.
:Cueball: Let's ''never'' move there.

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

1244: Six Words

2013-08-27T02:34:00Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1244
| date = July 29, 2013
| title = Six Words
| image = six words.png
| titletext = Ahem. We are STRICTLY an Orbiter shop.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Kuiper Belt}} is a region of the outer Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune consisting of numerous small icy bodies, including the dwarf planets {{w|Pluto}} and {{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}}. An {{w|Oberth effect|Oberth maneuver}} is a spaceflight maneuver, specifically an engine burn performed during the flyby of a celestial body. The point of this is to optimize usable energy, because rocket burns are more effective to perform at high speeds than at low speeds. The more massive the body and the lower the altitude, the higher the flyby speed will be, and the greater the performance gain due to the Oberth effect. The theoretical way to use rocket fuel most efficiently is therefore to execute the burn during a flyby of the most massive celestial body available, as close as possible.

Cueball is proposing to implement an "Oberth Kuiper Maneuver", and the proposal diagram shows the spacecraft using {{w|Gravity assist|gravity assists}} to travel first towards (presumably) {{w|Venus}} for a first boost, then towards a distant planetary object for another swingby, aiming it back towards the {{w|Sun}}, the most massive Solar System body, to perform an Oberth maneuver at the point of closest approach, as indicated by a small dot along the spacecraft trajectory. (The objects in the diagram are unmarked, and the identity of the distant planetary object is controversial. One possible interpretation is that it is a Kuiper Belt object, referred to by the word "Kuiper" in the name of the proposal. Another possible interpretation is that it is {{w|Jupiter}}, and the word "Kuiper" references the Kuiper Belt as the intended destination of the spacecraft after the maneuver. (See the discussion for arguments for either interpretation.) Also, because the proposed trajectory from Earth to Venus is impossible for unpowered flight, as it does not close on itself after a full orbit, and a single gravity assist from Venus would not suffice to reach either the Kuiper Belt or Jupiter, it is possible that the diagram might only be a simplified outline of a more complex flight plan. (Alternatively, Cueball may have gotten it wrong, or the author may simply not have concerned himself with such things for the purpose of a webcomic sketch.)

An Oberth maneuver in the close vicinity of the Sun, while theoretically possible and extraordinarily effective at the speeds the spacecraft would reach, would however be very difficult to carry out in real life, because the neighborhood of the Sun is an extremely hostile environment and the spacecraft could be incinerated during a too-close flyby.

Cueball's argument for why the maneuver will work in real life is that it works in {{w|Kerbal Space Program}}, an in-progress sandbox space flight simulator. While it does take into account quite a bit of the physics in a space flight, many liberties were taken in its production, such as a very simple relationship between mass and drag, and the heat and radiation stress the spacecraft would experience in close proximity of the Sun is not simulated either. The humour in referencing it lies in using a simple game program to simulate programs which take a great number of experts to implement. Use of Kerbal Space Program alone isn't a good enough argument for NASA to agree to implement the proposal; therefore one should not say it at NASA.

The title text refers to {{w|Orbiter_(simulator)|Orbiter}}, which is another space flight simulator program. The title text suggests that the argument doesn't work for NASA, not because it's not scientifically sound, but because NASA relies on the Orbiter simulator rather than the Kerbal simulator (although the proposed maneuver would appear to work in both). Note, however, that [http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57495117-93/mars-curiosity-rover-team-prefers-macs-to-pcs/ a few team members "love" to play Kerbal].

==Transcript==
:The six words you *never* say at NASA:
:[A trajectory path involving multiple slingshots around Earth, Jupiter, and the Sun labeled "Oberth Kuiper Maneuver" is being presented by Cueball and Megan for a crowd.]
:Cueball: And besides -- it works in Kerbal Space Program.

==Trivia==
*{{w|NASA}} is planning a mission to the sun at a closest distance of only 8.5 solar radii. The {{w|Solar Probe Plus}} will use seven Venus flybys to reach its [http://solarprobe.jhuapl.edu/index.php first close approach]. The maneuvers will last nearly seven years, before the real mission does start.

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

1242: Scary Names

2013-08-27T02:22:24Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ proofreading

{{comic
| number = 1242
| date = July 24, 2013
| title = Scary Names
| image = scary_names.png
| titletext = Far off to the right of the chart is the Helvetica Scenario.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
The chart shows that things toward the right are scary, while things toward the top sound scary, without necessarily being scary.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Name
! scope="col" class="headerSortUp"| Apparent Scariness[[#cite_note-1|1]]
! scope="col"| True Scariness[[#cite_note-1|1]]
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|Description
|-
|{{Nowrap|[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/Chernobyl-packet.html Chernobyl Packet]}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|k !}}95%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|a !}}4%}}
|A network packet that induces a broadcast storm or network meltdown.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Calorimeter#Bomb calorimeters|Bomb Calorimeters}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|h !}}67%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|b !}}28%}}
|A device for measuring heat of combustion of a reaction in a pressure vessel.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Sulfur mustard|Mustard Gas}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|f !}}47%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|c !}}50%}}
|A chemical warfare agent which causes blisters and severe irritation on skin and lung tissue.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Kessler syndrome|Kessler Syndrome}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|k !}}87%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|d !}}53%}}
|A hypothetical scenario where low Earth orbit objects collide, creating space debris which increases the risk of more collisions, leading to a cascade effect which could severely hinder space exploration and satellite technologies for many years.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Soil liquefaction|Soil Liquefaction}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|c !}}16%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|e !}}54%}}
|A phenomenon where wet soil loses its strength, leading to potholes, road and terrain damage, and even building collapses, especially after earthquakes or torrential rains. Liquefaction can cause landslides; landslides can cause more liquefaction.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Grey goo|Grey Goo}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|b !}}5%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|f !}}68%}}
|A hypothetical end-of-world scenario where self-replicating nanobots consume all matter.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Avian influenza virus|Bird Flu}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|h !}}57%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|g !}}72%}}
|An illness caused by strains of influenza adapted for birds, which is generally very deadly in humans. Should the virus adapt for human to human transmission, a pandemic can quickly result. Since birds can travel great distances quickly, it is generally already widespread and difficult to contain.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Demon core|Demon Core}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|j !}}90%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|h !}}73%}}
|A subcritical mass of plutonium that was involved in two separate fatal incidents at Los Alamos laboratory in 1945 and 1946. In both cases, the core was accidentally placed into a configuration where it went supercritical and exposed an experimenter to fatal doses of radiation. The second is more notable, where Louis Slotin held two halves of a beryllium neutron reflector apart with a flat head screwdriver which slipped, suddenly causing the contained plutonium core to become supercritical and delivering a fatal dose of radiation.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Criticality accident|Criticality Incident}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|d!}}22%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|i !}}74%}}
|An uncontrolled nuclear reaction. This occurs when a system running at exact criticality experiences an increase of one dollar of criticality (a term devised by Louis Slotin, as seen above).
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Antibiotic resistance|Superbug}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|e !}}39%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|j !}}83%}}
|Antibiotic resistant bacteria. The growing use of antibiotics has caused some bacteria to evolve to become resistant to the antibiotics. A superbug refers to a scenario where a bacteria evolves to become resistant to all antibiotics, for example, {{w|MRSA}}.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Nuclear football|Nuclear Football}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|g !}}52%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|k !}}94%}}
|An aluminum Zero Halliburton briefcase which is used by the President of the United States to authorize nuclear attack. A military aide carrying the football is always near the president.
|-
|{{Nowrap|{{w|Necrotizing fasciitis|Flesh-eating bacteria}}}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|m !}}100%}}
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|l !}}100%}}
|As the name suggests, bacteria that eats (or more accurately, releases toxins that destroy) your skin and muscle.
|-class="sortbottom"
|Helvetica Scenario (Title Text)
|{{Nowrap|{{Hs|z !}}N/A}}
|{{Hs|m !}}Literally Off-The-Chart
|This scenario is also in the title text of [[683: Science Montage]]: "...We have a Helvetica scenario!". The scenario is a fictional experiment, presented in Switzerland (Helvetica), which assumes that removing only the nucleus (the center of an atom) of a calcium molecule in one's skin, but still leaving the electron shell at its position, would cause a massive reaction ending up in heavy mutations.[[#cite_note-2|2]] The Helvetica scenario was made up by the BBC comedy show {{w|Look Around You}} in the pilot episode, which can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZPTM0PGQPE&feature=player_detailpage&t=389 here (at 6:29)]. The fact that the term {{w|Helvetica}} is more commonly known as referring to a very-commonly-used modern typeface makes the name sound like it should refer to a much less serious situation.
|}

==Transcript==
No official transcript.

A scatter plot is drawn, x-axis "Scariness of thing name refers to", y-axis "Scariness of name". Items within the scatter plot are listed in the table above.

==References==
<div style="padding:10px 10px 10px 0;border-radius: 3px;margin-right:1em;margin-bottom:1em;">
#[[#ref_note-1|^]] Note: Values in the chart are given as a percentage of the values of "Flesh-eating bacteria", which is the upper-right-most entry in the chart.
#[[#ref_note-2|^]] [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20Helvetica%20Scenario Helvetica Scenario at Urban Dictionary].
</div>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

683: Science Montage

2013-08-27T02:22:08Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */ copy-pasted and fixed explanation from 1242: Scary Names

{{comic
| number = 683
| date = January 1, 2010
| title = Science Montage
| image = science_montage.png
| titletext = The rat's perturbed; it must sense nanobots! Code grey! We have a Helvetica scenario!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of the artificially dramatized and simplified depiction of science in movies. The unstated premise seems to be that the scientists are trying to get information about a murderer based on a sample obtained from his clothing. The movie version of events involves the characters doing exciting things with a computer display, lab rats, a laser, and a complicated chemical apparatus. The characters quickly arrive at the firm conclusion that paint on the clothes is from an "antimatter factory" in Belgrade, Serbia.

The actual science version shows the scientists putting a sample into a machine (perhaps a {{w|mass spectrometer}}). The machine takes an hour and 20 minutes to analyze the sample (according to the clock on the wall). At the end of this process, the only thing learned is that there is likely no {{w|barium}} or {{w|radium}} in the sample. This conclusion is not very helpful, and is not even very certain.

There are several major concepts about science and technology that movies tend to distort for the purposes of a more exciting plot, both illustrated here. One is that the work involves a lot of different exciting-looking gadgets. Another is that the analysis can be done very quickly, and results in very certain and significant conclusions. Besides this, the scientists often seem to have access to a database full of trivial information from around the world. In reality, a scientific analysis of some sample or data often only requires a single boring-looking machine, takes quite some time, and provides a limited result that must be interpreted very carefully to have any meaning at all.

The title text illustrates movie science by observing a lab rat and deducing the presence of {{w|nanobots}}. The Helvetica Scenario is a fictional experiment, presented in Switzerland (Helvetica), which assumes that removing only the nucleus (the center of an atom) of a calcium molecule in one's skin, but still leaving the electron shell at its position, would cause a massive reaction ending up in heavy mutations.[[#cite_note-2|2]] The Helvetica scenario was made up by the BBC comedy show {{w|Look Around You}} in the pilot episode, which can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZPTM0PGQPE&feature=player_detailpage&t=389 here (at 6:29)].

==Transcript==
:Movie Science Montage

:[One scientist passes a test tube to another, who's sitting at a machine. They're both wearing lab coats and goggles. Lights and screens are shining, and there's a hamster ball and a Newton's cradle on a shelf behind them.]

:[There's a glowing sample next to a rat in a cage. One of the scientists is holding a glowing implement; she has another rat in her hand and one on her head. The other scientist is on the phone.]
:Caged Rat: Squeak!

:[One of the scientists pulls levers on another machine, which is shooting some kind of ray downwards a a sample.]

:[The other scientist is operating a machine with a scope, flasks, coils, and bubbles.]
:Scientist (in panel): Paint flecks from the killer's clothing match an antimatter factory in Belgrade!
:Scientist (off panel): Let's go!

:Actual Science Montage

:[Two scientists in lab coats and goggles place a sample into a machine. There's a clock on the wall.]

:[Time has passed.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrrrr...''

:[Time has passed. One of the scientists has removed his goggles.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrr...bing!''

:[They examine the sample.]
:Male Scientist: Okay, we've determined there's neither barium nor radium in this sample.
:Female Scientist: Probably.

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

683: Science Montage

2013-08-27T02:14:48Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 683
| date = January 1, 2010
| title = Science Montage
| image = science_montage.png
| titletext = The rat's perturbed; it must sense nanobots! Code grey! We have a Helvetica scenario!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of the artificially dramatized and simplified depiction of science in movies. The unstated premise seems to be that the scientists are trying to get information about a murderer based on a sample obtained from his clothing. The movie version of events involves the characters doing exciting things with a computer display, lab rats, a laser, and a complicated chemical apparatus. The characters quickly arrive at the firm conclusion that paint on the clothes is from an "antimatter factory" in Belgrade, Serbia.

The actual science version shows the scientists putting a sample into a machine (perhaps a {{w|mass spectrometer}}). The machine takes an hour and 20 minutes to analyze the sample (according to the clock on the wall). At the end of this process, the only thing learned is that there is likely no {{w|barium}} or {{w|radium}} in the sample. This conclusion is not very helpful, and is not even very certain.

There are several major concepts about science and technology that movies tend to distort for the purposes of a more exciting plot, both illustrated here. One is that the work involves a lot of different exciting-looking gadgets. Another is that the analysis can be done very quickly, and results in very certain and significant conclusions. Besides this, the scientists often seem to have access to a database full of trivial information from around the world. In reality, a scientific analysis of some sample or data often only requires a single boring-looking machine, takes quite some time, and provides a limited result that must be interpreted very carefully to have any meaning at all.

The title text illustrates movie science by observing a lab rat and deducing the presence of {{w|nanobots}}. Helvetica Scenario is a scenario, presented in Switzerland (Helvetica), assuming that removing a nucleus (only the center of an atom) of a calcium molecule in skin, but still leaving the electron shell at its position, would cause a massive reaction end up in heavy mutations. A small part of this video describes what would [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZPTM0PGQPE&feature=player_detailpage&t=389 happen].

==Transcript==
:Movie Science Montage

:[One scientist passes a test tube to another, who's sitting at a machine. They're both wearing lab coats and goggles. Lights and screens are shining, and there's a hamster ball and a Newton's cradle on a shelf behind them.]

:[There's a glowing sample next to a rat in a cage. One of the scientists is holding a glowing implement; she has another rat in her hand and one on her head. The other scientist is on the phone.]
:Caged Rat: Squeak!

:[One of the scientists pulls levers on another machine, which is shooting some kind of ray downwards a a sample.]

:[The other scientist is operating a machine with a scope, flasks, coils, and bubbles.]
:Scientist (in panel): Paint flecks from the killer's clothing match an antimatter factory in Belgrade!
:Scientist (off panel): Let's go!

:Actual Science Montage

:[Two scientists in lab coats and goggles place a sample into a machine. There's a clock on the wall.]

:[Time has passed.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrrrr...''

:[Time has passed. One of the scientists has removed his goggles.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrr...bing!''

:[They examine the sample.]
:Male Scientist: Okay, we've determined there's neither barium nor radium in this sample.
:Female Scientist: Probably.

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

1241: Annoying Ringtone Champion

2013-08-27T02:06:18Z

V2Blast: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1241
| date = July 22, 2013
| title = Annoying Ringtone Champion
| image = annoying_ringtone_champion.png
| titletext = It beat out 'Clock radio alarm', 'B-flat at 194 decibels', 'That noise from Dumb & Dumber', and 'Recording of a sobbing voice begging you to answer'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic satirizes the annoying {{w|Ringtone|ringtones}} some people have on their cell phones. Some will even go so far as to use ringtones that resemble everyday sounds. Some examples include, but are not limited to, doorbells, coughing, alarm noises, or, in this case, the buzzing of a mosquito. Although seemingly harmless, these ringtones can get annoying to some people, which is what this comic is getting at.

The title text refers to four other annoying ringtones:
*"Clock radio alarm". These sounds are often loud and annoying, just to ensure that you really will wake up.
*"B-flat at 194 decibels". {{w|B♭ (musical note)|B-flat}} is the note most commonly used for tuning wind instruments. 194 decibels is the {{w|Sound_pressure#Examples_of_sound_pressure_and_sound_pressure_levels|limit at 1 atmosphere pressure}}. More energy would create a shockwave. This could also be a reference to a crowd of {{w|vuvuzela}}s as they also produce sounds pitched around B flat. This may also refer to several B-flat-related phenomena discussed in an NPR story, [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7442915 Have You Heard About B Flat?] Specifically, B-flat has been found to agitate alligators, and waves passing through gas near a black hole have been found to resonate at a frequency which results in a B flat 57 octaves below middle C.
*"That noise from Dumb & Dumber". {{w|Dumb and Dumber}} is a comedy movie from 1994. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs The noise] from Dumb & Dumber is referring to the point in the movie when Harry and Lloyd asked, "Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?" and began shrieking in imitation of a loud fax machine.
*"Recording of a sobbing voice begging you to answer". Self-explanatory. Such a ringtone is obviously disruptive and potentially worrying to those in the vicinity of the phone.

==Transcript==
:[The sound of an insect going "hmmmmmmMMMMMMMMmmmmmm".]
:Cueball, suspecting an impending insect attack: Augh!
:Black Hat: Oh, I've gotta take this.
:By unanimous decision, the winner of the Awful Ringtone Championship is "the sound a mosquito makes as it buzzes past your ear".

{{comic discussion}}

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