explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2972: Helium Synthesis

2024-08-16T14:55:43Z

WhiteDragon: comment about the machine name

I had imagined that, rather than destroying the entire universe, they just somehow made a big bang INSIDE THE MACHINE that they could somehow obtain helium from safely. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.166|141.101.109.166]] 07:34, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
:I get the impression that, like an abbreviated version of the cyclical {{w|Big Bounce}} hypothesis, they did indeed recreate the conditions for a (sufficiently similar) universe.
:The question as to whether they obliterated their current one (in a short-sighted and {{w|Instrumental convergence#Paperclip maximizer|paperclip-maximiser}}-like effort that disregards the safety of their current existence) or create a new instance of universe-within-the-universe (like [[2688: Bubble Universes]], presumably with some way of [[248: Hypotheticals|bringing the stuff out]]) is left open.
:If the latter, it could be that the ''reason'' why each universe's helium-users are chronically short of helium is that their universe ''has'' been used as a source for the next-universe-out's helium by the equivalent outwards recursion of the very same people. (The former would imply a kind of {{w|The Last Question}} situation, only not with the same timing.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.118|162.158.74.118]] 08:25, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
::I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you probably couldn't create a big bang in the lab capable of replaying the events of the current universe exactly without obliterating at least, as the explanation says, all the closest galaxies. If new inflation pushes the existing universe apart, it's still smeared quite thinly outside the new expanding edge.
:::You think in such three-dimensional terms - and I don't mean it as a praise, just like the Borg Queen. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:07, 16 August 2024 (UTC)
::But I really like the idea, it's kind of like Rick's car battery in ''Rick and Morty'', one of my favorite episodes. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.4|172.70.210.4]] 08:34, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
:::What if inflation doesn't disturb the matter and space around it, it just shrinks the apparent size of the matter inside it to create the expanded space relative to observers inside, by curving the interior spacetime and distorting the gravitational field to block it from its surroundings? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.45|172.70.206.45]] 10:04, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
::::Black hole universe, anyone? https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.11608 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71eUes30gwc [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.192|172.71.147.192]] 18:16, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
:::[https://wiki.lspace.org/Roundworld Universe within a (continuing) universe] isn't exactly hard to imagine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.216|162.158.33.216]] 13:07, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Could this comic maybe be a reference to a certain popular space video game? Sadly, in what I call a reverse spoiler, I cannot tell you which game I mean without massively spoiling that game. I hope some people know which one I mean and can reply basic on that guess. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:30, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
:If it's [https://www.mobiusdigitalgames.com/outer-wilds.html Outer Wilds], there's nothing here that's a gameplay spoiler, is there? Just for a pretty small part of the story, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.55|162.158.187.55]] 10:08, 15 August 2024 (UTC)
::[not OP] It's a pretty big story spoiler and it could be considered a gameplay spoiler indirectly, or it could it there was more specifity. It's fine to discuss it here. Most xkcd fans would love that game even if they can only watch play-throughs, I reckon. So I consider the discussion here a net positive, really, and I suspect most of the authors would too. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.36|162.158.91.36]] 17:19, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

This is also a bit reminiscent of the classic Perry Bible Fellowship comic "[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/reset/ Reset]". [[Special:Contributions/172.68.144.140|172.68.144.140]] 03:29, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

I wonder whether the cyclicity in the comic is an intentional play a cyclic universe theory. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.210.47|162.158.210.47]] 11:46, 16 August 2024 (UTC)
:It's certainly a recurring (NPI!) theme in Randall's works, in various forms (as noted all over this article/Talk-page), so I'd be absolutely amazed if it really isn't anything at all to do with it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.54|172.70.91.54]] 12:15, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

I think I've read too much [[Wikipedia:Casey and Andy|Casey and Andy]] but I thought that machine should be called a Big-Bang-Nucleosynthesis-O-Mat. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 14:55, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

2724: Washing Machine Settings

2023-01-13T17:52:03Z

WhiteDragon: washer-dryer combo

{{comic
| number = 2724
| date = January 13, 2023
| title = Washing Machine Settings
| image = washing_machine_settings_2x.png
| imagesize = 308x524px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I guess the engineers who built my dishwasher MIGHT have some insight into how to load it, but instead of reading the booklet they gave me, it seems easier to experiment for years and then get in arguments so heated that I get banned from Quora.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WASHING MACHINE MANUAL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Cueball starts thinking about what settings to use on his washing machine, and starts planning to look up detailed information on what the settings do and when to use them. However, he doesn't realize that all the information he is looking for can be found by looking at his product manual.

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

:[Cueball is standing in front of a large combination washing machine/dryer combo, holding a coat, wondering.]

:Cueball: Okay, do I want "Colors (light)" or "Delicate"? Does delicate mean less agitation? Or a slower spin?

:Cueball: I should google, I bet clothing experts have experimented with various settings/clothing combos.

:Cueball: Ooh, someone should make a tool that indexes people's results by washer model, so you can look up what settings to use for a given...

:[Caption below the panel]:
: Every now and then I forget that product manuals exist and spend a while reinventing them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:2642: Meta-Alternating Current

2022-07-07T16:49:05Z

WhiteDragon: more details about UPS types.

And today, we are reminded that [[Randall]] used to be a physicist (or at least has a physics degree). Not worth mentioning in the article, but while inverters can't reverse each other, transformers can. (Has Randall done the transformer/Transformer pun yet as an excuse to mock the movies?) [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 11:10, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
: I haven't picked up the physics reference yet. I see electrical engineering here. Randall strikes me as somebody who would study physics given the opportunit, though. It's notable that this webcomic started while Randall was in college, if I recall right. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.75|172.70.230.75]] 11:58, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Long distance links, especially those between separate unsynchronized grids, use high voltage DC. There is a 2,000-mile link in China running at 1 MV. [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 11:32, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
:That's because at great distances, relatively high frequency AC loses a lot of ("active" = actually useful) power as ... reactive power, I think (didn't learn the terminology in English, unit seems right though). A typical grid has a lot of generators and load. A long distance connection results in a phase shift according to the transmission time (speed of light in medium x distance) in about the order of magnitude of the AC period (usually somewhere between 1/10 to 1/60 seconds) wastes a portion equal to the sine of the phase shift angle (up to 90° = all of it) as reactive power. DC isn't quite as easy to use but on long distances there is no power loss to reactive power. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 12:25, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Let's face it, the thing should be called an alternator. Of course that name's taken as a redundant word for (electrical) generator. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 12:26, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

It always bothered me that UPS battery backups take the wall AC and convert it to DC to charge the battery, but then have to turn it back to AC to send it to the computer, so the power supply can convert it to DC to run the thing. I picture some connector that goes directly from the UPS to the power supply so that if power is lost it can just pull 12V directly from the battery. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 12:47, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
:some UPSs do this. They normally power the computer directly from the input AC, but if there is a power failure, they use the battery to power the inverters and switch the output to the inverter. Other UPSs always power the computer from the inverter. They have the advantage that there is not even a milisecond time to start powering the computer. That can be better for some equipment, and that kind of UPS often costs more. It is also worth noting that in some data centers, they bypass the AC step and have one big DC power supply that directly powers the computers. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:49, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverter_(logic_gate) NOT logic gates] are also often known as inverters. An even number of those '''would''' indeed produce the same output as the (true/false) input. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.58|108.162.242.58]] 16:03, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2622: Angular Diameter Turnaround

2022-05-23T18:42:49Z

WhiteDragon: hubble report

Slightly creepy, NGL[[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.10|172.69.34.10]]
: Warning, horrible content: The universe was created by the severed bloody hands of google employees convincing phone manufacturers to ditch the previous phone backends and explode the google play store throughout reality in a mess of intergalactic gore. Our planet developed from an angrybirds download, nourished by the decaying corpse of the owner who played it all their life. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.209|172.70.110.209]] 20:37, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

So apparently this is a real thing, which I never knew [[wikipedia:Angular_diameter_distance#Turnover_Point]] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.81|108.162.221.81]] 20:46, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

Could be related to comic 1422, what with both containing expanding phones analogous to some cosmic structure. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.105|172.70.130.105]] 21:46, 20 May 2022 (UTC)
:[[1422]] has been crapped. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.221|172.70.126.221]] 21:50, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

So confusing…I thought that 13 billion years ago they had flip phones. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 22:32, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

Before this explanation is marked “complete” it had better mention that “sinking into dilute blood” is a terrible (one could even say ignorant or stupid) description of red shift, completely missing the fundamental cause and completely distorting the effect. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.159|108.162.216.159]] 23:23, 20 May 2022 (UTC)
:Pretty sure that was just a description of its appearance? --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 10:18, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
::Randall implies this was an analogy among people who knew the physical underpinnings well. But I agree that it, and the concept of mobile phones, are neither pleasant nor appropriate at all for the outer reaches of our universe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.63|172.70.230.63]] 15:28, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

;Congratulations, you won a brand new galaxy!
Your new galaxy will be delivered in only 3 billion years, to a drop-off point only 1 million light years from your home planet. With this cutting-edge protogalaxy, which will be mature upon delivery, you will find incredible features such as:
* supermassive black hole
* exotic space-faring lifeforms
* intriguing dense matter that does not emit radiation; you'll never have enough
* unique and enthralling galactic formations, each with ancient magical myths told in history by the space-faring lifeforms
* and the ability to grow brand new stars of your very own!
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.247|172.70.114.247]] 00:07, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

I assumed the reference was that very old cell phones (1990s etc.) were enormous - think carphones; technology allowed them to shrink (giving, say, the Nokia 8850 I owned in 1999 and the original smallish iPhone), and then recent phones have (on average) grown again as the benefits of a larger screen area have been seen to outweigh the convenience of a smaller device. Also older phones tended to have batteries that lasted longer, mostly because neither the screen nor the processor were pulling much power. It's not just that the original iPhone was smaller than current ones (nor, for some of us, does the original iPhone count as an "early cellphone"). Am I alone in this interpretation? The description (at time of writing) didn't seem to cover that.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.121|162.158.159.121]] 10:15, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

The phone model shown doesn't look that much like a Samsung Galaxy. More like an iPhone. Oh, well. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 15:50, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

I hope we'll be able to procure a charger for our galaxy before it runs out. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.249|141.101.105.249]] 15:52, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

Isn't it just wonderful when your favorite comic strip teaches you something fundamental, important, and which you had no idea of prior to reading it. This is definitely one of XKCD's crowning glories (although, admittedly, not all that funny!). [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 15:18, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

;Hooray!
Something good is happening!!!!!! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.215|172.70.126.215]] 21:22, 20 May 2022 (UTC)
: No. It just means you can't get a date tonight. Again. (I presume you're the "crap"per, right? Eager to fill your own worthless life by making ''everybody else'' actually feel useful... How ironic.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.36|172.70.91.36]] 00:08, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I thought it was just a visitor I worried I had badly depressed with my story of severed google hands, wanting to add positivity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.112|162.158.79.112]] 00:21, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
: the "crap"er is a bot called "Explain xkcd server admin". -> https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User:Explain_xkcd_server_admin/common.js [[User:Firestar233|Firestar233]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|talk]]) 00:11, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
:: Yes, same (style) as the umpteen previous times. No imagination and rather boring.
:: Now I'm limited in what I can do (still, been reverting pages left right and centre, to hold my bit up) but the "Hooray!" commenter (as, I suspect, the one who 'wished the crap would happen again' the other day, or words to that effect) seems to be very much like someone's idea of taunting us, thus proving that he (if you'll excuse that assumption) can't get laid and for some reason they haven't discovered the more solo method of getting their rocks off, so he's rubbing up against us and trying to generate the satisfying feeling of friction in his groin.
:: (You know when your dog has a favourite stuffed toy? Like that.)
:: Pretty boring, really, for us. But small things amuse small minds. And maybe that's the reason why. Also having small... 'feet'. Too shy to show his 'feet' to girls. Can't earn enough to get 'feet' enlargement surgery. No personality either. Pity. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.211|172.70.85.211]] 02:43, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

;F0N3Z!!!
WH3R3 C4N 1 G37 7H15 M4NY F0N3Z? (jk, 1 41r34dy h4v3 4b0u7 31gh7 0f 7h3m) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.115|172.70.178.115]] 02:59, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

;The crap is spreading...
[https://esolangs.org/wiki/Special:RecentChanges The Esolang wiki is being crapped.] We aren't the only ones... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.105|172.70.130.105]] 18:11, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
:I imagine there'll be a esolong ''called'' "crap" becore too long (if there isn't already) with which a decrappifier can be written. Knowing the people who used to be in that field, anyway. Sort of whitespace/brainf*ck-inspired thing, probably.
:(Too late now, but I hope it's not because we kept archive copies of our scripts around for others to pick up, independently of the original idiot.)
:But this goes both ways. If they come up with a better answer to the problem, maybe we can get it working here too. I leave it to those in the know to perhaps keep half an eye on that, though. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.207|162.158.34.207]] 10:13, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
::Their solution seems to be "have an admin always monitoring the wiki." I got blocked pretty quickly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.105|172.70.130.105]] 15:45, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

;Arab Soyjak and other site vandalism
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.124|162.158.107.124]] is repeatedly changing the comic title to "Arab Soyjak" and the image to a picture of Osama bin Laden, and being awfully rude in the edit summaries; also has a history of vandalism along with various associated IP addresses - however also having made actual contributions to the wiki, etc etc, I haven't checked other IP addresses that are associated; [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]] is one of the pages that are currently vandalised </ramble> [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 02:56, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
:I have blocked the IP address. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:30, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
::Please don't block IP addresses here. Unlike most wikis, the reverse proxy on this one basically randomizes them, so the blocks don't necessarily stop the vandal and often do affect non-vandals. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.105|172.70.130.105]] 17:04, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

; Red shifted objects...
...would not necessarily look red to the human eye. A light source that peaks in the ultraviolet or x-rays would turn blue when that objects light gets lowered into the visible spectrum. The real meaning of "red shift" is what happens to spectral lines. [[User:Algr|Algr]] ([[User talk:Algr|talk]]) 15:44, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

I'm very confused as to why one would use the iPhone 1 as an example of a very old, but very memorable phone, rather than the Nokia 1100
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.23.82|162.158.23.82]] 15:54, 23 May 2022 (UTC) Tomas

;Date of comic
The day before this comic was released, NASA released a [https://newatlas.com/space/hubble-constant-most-precise-universe-expansion/ huge new report] that astronomers are calling Hubble’s magnum opus. Analyzing 30 years of data from the famous space telescope, the new study makes the most precise measurement yet of how fast the universe is expanding. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 18:42, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2603: Childhood Toys

2022-04-08T13:26:55Z

WhiteDragon: non-acrobats riding unicycles

Tarzan would thrive commuting by tire swing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.69.68.170 ([[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.170|contribs]]• [[User_talk:172.69.68.170|talk]]) 22:11, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

How are a bicycle, scooter or wagon toys, or childlike. They're actually designed for commute and children aren't even allowed on scooters. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 22:45, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
:Wagon doesn't mean station wagon. Google "toy wagon" to see what he's referring to. And electric scooter is a motorized version of a common child's toy. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:56, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
::I didn't actually assume a station wagon, was thinking of the thing usually pulled by horses. And doesn't the fact that a 'toy wagon' exists suggest that a regular wagon is not a toy? And I thought a scooter was more like a motorized bicycle rather than a toy, like a motorcycle, but slower. And at least here, you'd need to be at least 16 years old and get a permit to drive one. Funny how the same word borrowed in a closely related language can suddenly carry such different meanings. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 23:17, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
:::Since the heading says "childhood toys", I think we're supposed to understand that he means a toy wagon. And the comic shows the kind of scooter he's talking about, not a motorized bike. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:27, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
::::Here in the UK, there are:
::::*Push-along-scooters (childs toys, steel-tubing, often red and blue painted/trimmed, maybe pink for girls) that you one-leg along. Around the turn of the millenium, the craze arrived for 'adult' versions (I got one!), mostly in bare and sturdier aluminium.
::::*The motorised vehicle that might also be called a 'moped' (such terms might be considered defamatory, by the proud owner of a Lambretta, etc, depending upon era and exactly which type of motored two-wheeler you're describing)
::::*Mobility scooters, i.e. four-wheel (sometimes three) electrical vehicles sometimes barely a seat/handlebars on a moving platform, others almost like a quad-bike (esp. off-road capable ones)
::::*Now (well, since the last few years) the illustrated kind that is electrically-powered version of the sturdier push-alongs.
::::...though (as I appended in a link), except for some very limited and controlled trial-schemes, it is actually ''illegal'' to use electric 'executive' scooters (the last category). Both on roads and pavements (i.e. sidewalks). They are not considered roadworthy, for the former, and riding on the pavement is illegal for various vehicles (including bicycles, though few know/care this). There's no special provision for the use of cycle-lanes (on-road) or cycle-paths (shared/split pavements, or bridlepath-level trails). The only place an otherwise unregulated electric-scooter can be ridden is 'private land'. Which means you'd have very little chance of commuting upon your own scooter, legally, only the sanctioned for-hire ones.
:::::I was in Austin, TX a few months ago, and companies like Lime Bike had pods of electric scooters (like the one in the comic) for rent on the streets. So the legality is very location-dependent. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:03, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
::::::This is a description of the situation in the UK (see link I put in main explanation), although the sanctioned rental schemes mentioned are the explicitly legal exception for the UK, in explicitly served areas... as long as you have a driver's licence and follow other rules. Looking at the US legality, it's probably as patchwork as you'd expect with federal/state/local laws doing their usual uncoordinated things... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.64|172.70.86.64]] 14:34, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
::::(There's no such restrection on e-bikes, except for a theoretical maximum speed/power before they should be considersd motorbikes rather than electrified-mopeds. They are as welcome on the roads as bicycles (which largely depends upon the motorists and their prejudices/impatience), and similarly as illegal to ride on pavements (though of course people do that!)...) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 12:30, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
:Is this possibly a cultural difference? At least in the USA, I have definitely seen kids (maybe not much younger than 10, but still) using electric scooters. Wagons and bikes are definitely associated more with kids in the USA as well, because, unfortunately, cars are seen as the only "real," most viable, and most independent form of transport. (As I have heard others say, bikes are just what you use until you get a car.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.251|172.70.114.251]] 01:31, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
::Presumably. This puzzled me a lot too. Bicycles aren't remotely 'toys', nor are scooters really -- and I'm assuming here this don't mean scooters in the sense of a small motorbike. EDIT: as is obvious from the actual cartoon. [[User:Zoid42|Zoid42]] ([[User talk:Zoid42|talk]]) 08:49, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
:::In some areas of the US, bicycles are used solely for pleasure and exercise, not for actually getting anywhere. Partially because there isn't anything worth going to within an easy biking distance, and partially because the entire road system and the people who use it are often openly hostile to bicyclists.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.13|172.70.174.13]] 09:25, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
:It's surprising to see bikes listed as toys and not automobiles. Makes it seem like some new conservative meme has snuck into Randal. Weird comic for sure. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.251|172.70.114.251]] 21:24, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
::Not all the things listed are really toys, it's more that there are versions made for children, and you might well have had them as a child. You do not get automobiles aimed at children (with a few expensive exceptions), so that's why they are not in the list. The closest would be pedal cars and go-karts - I think they are the more notable exception. I would totally commute to work on an electic go-kart if I could. [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 09:13, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:::Toy automobiles ''are'' on the list, of course. The {{w|Hot Wheels}}... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.64|172.70.86.64]] 13:00, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

Slip N Slide doesn't need to be downhill. It's common to use a running start and then leap onto it, then slide to the end. But this method only works for a few yards at most, so for commuting you'd need to keep getting up to run to the next one. We'd need a network of them on every street. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:35, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
:I feel a ski-lift-like system would be helpful for sliding uphill. Or perhaps some sort of high-flow fan.
:I like bicycling everywhere, & I despise unnecessary commuting by ''any'' means, but I'd strongly consider just about any job that made it easy for everyone to commute there by Slip'N'Slide... Can we get home by zip-line?
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:21, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

A road made of trampolines could actually be extremely useful for short-distance commutes since you go a lot faster. [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 00:19, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

This is not exactly new. With special praise to the Pogo Stick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGQBu_cqzn8

Given a choice between a big wheel (tricycle), unicycle, or a toy wagon (https://www.classicredwagons.com/radio_flyer_classic_red_wagon_18_c_p10.htm) as the only allowed ways to commute, I think the vast majority would toss their stuff in, use it as a scooter uphill and level, then sit in it and gleefully zoom downhill. I’d even take stilts or a pogo stick over a unicycle. In fact, I don’t see how a unicycle qualifies as a childhood toy at all. I’ve seen children using everything else mentioned, but I’ve never seen a unicycle for sale anywhere, and I’ve never seen anyone successfully ride one who wasn’t a professional acrobat.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.7|172.69.33.7]] 17:11, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

:I've seen plenty of non-acrobats riding unicycles. I used to ride in a 2 day 150 mile bicycle ride for charity every year, and each year there were several people on unicycles. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:26, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

This strip reminds me of the Ripping Yarns episode: "Across the Andes By Frog". Although the characters in the episode didn't actually ride frogs, their progress across the mountain range was limited to the speed at which the poor amphibians could hop. Needless to say, the high altitude and low temperatures were another limiting factor. I can't remember whether they were eventually successful. [[User:Beechmere|Beechmere]] ([[User talk:Beechmere|talk]]) 02:07, 8 April 2022 (UTC)Beechmere

Talk:Countdown in header text/images

2022-01-18T13:57:45Z

WhiteDragon: What is it?

It's starting to look like an airplane tail [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:57, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2561: Moonfall

2021-12-30T13:50:02Z

WhiteDragon: Majora's Mask

Well, it did fund 8 out of 10 seasons of Mythbusters[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:11, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:What is "it"? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:58, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
::Explosions, probably. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:15, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

This synopsis makes me eager to never ever see this tripe, which the comic failed to achieve. Thank you, explainxkcd, for saving me time and money.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.18|162.158.107.18]] 20:03, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:It doesn't sound much different from most other action blockbusters, like the "Terminator" franchise, or "Armageddon". And it will probably be better than the "Transformer" movies. As Cueball and Megan indicate, it's mostly about watching lots of things blow up, not about plausibility. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:57, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:”…only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.” – Wait, what, the moon isn’t cheese?? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.164|162.158.183.164]] 22:32, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

Only thing less likely than Moon suddenly getting on collision course is that we will be able to prevent the collision. Wait. I see he lowered the bar even more with only THREE people somehow fixing it without help of rest of NASA ... how do they even get to space without help? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:14, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:"[O]ne astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman" is grammatically confusing. That could be either three people (assuming it's an omitted Oxford comma) or one person (an astronaut named Brian Harper who spreads conspiracy theories under the pseudonym "K.C. Houseman"). It needs at least one more comma if "Brian Harper" is supposed to be an appositive [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.77|162.158.78.77]] 06:06, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
:: I believe it's a quote. So the grammatical errors are on the movie producers. ---- {{unsigned ip|172.68.110.133}}
::: On Wikipedia, now linked from the Moonfall link, it states two astronauts and a conspiracy person --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:42, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

To be fair, Shakespeare not writing Shakespeare is NOT the idea of Emmerich, and the idea was so seriously discussed that it has a Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.64|141.101.77.64]] 09:34, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
:Agree I have deleted this and just mentioned three of his most catastrophic films. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:42, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

I think Ronald is an amateur :-D. The Danish director Lars von Trier managed, in ''{{w|Melancholia (2011 film)|Melancholia}}'' to let the Earth hit into a planet large enough that Earth could have been it's moon. Of course his budget was rater smaller so the explosions are not so cool. But the damage was total obliteration, and no rescue team, hence the title matches the film --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:42, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

This sounds a bit like the plot of [[wikipedia:Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:50, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2480: No, The Other One

2021-06-24T13:12:22Z

WhiteDragon: Bowling Green, MO

We might want a table for this comic, with three columns: one for the name of the town, one for which state the copycat is in, and one for the original. We could also add a column for "why the original is well known," but that might be a bit much. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.124|108.162.245.124]] 20:38, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
: I agree, this feels like a very table-able comic. Especially to get all the cities and not make readers try to see "hey, did I miss one?" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.117.158|172.70.117.158]] 20:49, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
:: I think the term copy-cat should not be used here, since Lincoln, IL, for instance is older and carries the name longer than Lincoln, NE.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.74|162.158.88.74]] 21:05, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
::: Although the people in Lincoln, UK (also Boston, Washington, Richmond, Plymouth, Newhaven...) might have prior claims - Richmond is an even more interesting case, in fact. And of course I also recognise Lisbon and others. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 21:26, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
:::: May I suggest merging the first two columns and just listing [City, State] under "Place name in comic"? [[User:MajorBurns|MajorBurns]] ([[User talk:MajorBurns|talk]]) 21:38, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

In the map there are (at least) three Lincoln, two Jamestown, five Houston... [[User:Vdm|Vdm]] ([[User talk:Vdm|talk]]) 20:52, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
: There is a Jamestown in NY and PA also. I would expect to find a Jamestown in at least half of the states. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 22:06, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

There seems to be an extra dot in the northeast corner of Colorado - It looks like it might correspond with the Atlanta label, but there is no Atlanta in Colorado. Based on the position of the dot I'm guessing it may correspond to Akron or Yuma.--[[User:MajorBurns|MajorBurns]] ([[User talk:MajorBurns|talk]]) 21:56, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
: Google Maps says there's an Atlanta, Colorado, but it is in the south-east corner of the state, not where the dot is. It looks like it is in the middle of nowhere outside of Springfield. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 00:42, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Jersey Shore PA - I just drove from New Jersey across the state of Pennsylvania, and saw the sign for Jersey Shore in the mountains in the middle of PA. What the? Turns out there was a town founded by two brothers from New Jersey called Waynesburg. When a neighboring town wanted to insult them by calling them "Jersey Shore" they went ahead and officially made Jersey Shore the name of the town. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore,_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore,_Pennsylvania]. I wonder how many people turn off the highway in the middle of PA wanting to go to the Jersey Shore hundreds of miles away. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 22:06, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

Why no Hollywood, Florida? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Florida]
: Same reason there's no Richmond, Dublin, or Pittsburg (admittedly, a different spelling), California, just to name some of the closest ones to me. The map would be solid black if it labeled every "other one." [[User:Borglord|Borglord]] ([[User talk:Borglord|talk]]) 01:57, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

..''No'' Springfields? Really? There's gotta be 30+ of them! [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 02:00, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
:The comic doesn't seem to include the duplicates that are fairly well known, like Hollywood, FL. And the prevalence of Springfield is well known due to "The Simpsons". I think Groening chose that name ''because'' it wouldn't be associated with any particular state. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:06, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

`The most frequently occurring community name varies through the years. In a past year, it was "Midway" with 212 occurrences and "Fairview" in second with 202. More recently, "Fairview" counted 288 and "Midway" 256. The name "Springfield" is often thought to be the only community name appearing in each of the 50 States, but at last count it was in only 34 states.` https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-most-common-citytown-name-united-states [[User:Steve|Steve]] ([[User talk:Steve|talk]]) 02:48, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

The comic has been updated to remove Charlestown and move Salem, CT. The extra dot in Colorado remains, however. The image attachment has been updated, but I think I'm still seeing the cached version. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 03:47, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Since so many of the names are duplicated multiple times, shouldn't the title be "No, ''An'' Other One"? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:06, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

I'm surprised he missed Minneapolis, Kansas (about 75 miles west of Manhattan). Though maybe it would've made Kansas too crowded. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]])

:I'm surprised he missed Duluth, GA too, but we can't have everything we want. ( --Don from Rochester . . . but not from New York ;^) Oh yeah; there's also a Buffalo in MN too. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.190|172.70.34.190]] 11:00, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

::In Indiana, there's also another Nashville, another Columbus, a Kokomo... even a Mexico. If every fairly well-known place name were included, wherever it was duplicated, it would need one of those scrollable mega-maps, just to fit it all. -- Just visiting from Indiana, 12:53 UTC 24 June 2021

I'd like to see a map of all these. Lines linking each of the dots to the location of the more famous town. Possibly with lines in different colours connecting to the oldest and largest other ones, where they're not the same as the most famous one. (I suspect a significant number of the "oldest" lines would point off the right edge of the image) [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 08:37, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

:There's also a Bowling Green, Missouri. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:12, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2427: Perseverance Microphones

2021-02-22T16:36:00Z

WhiteDragon: grammar

Thank you, Galaktos, for the explanation. I knew all the events and words already, but you put them together for me so that Randall's intent became clearer to me. Kudos. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 22:26, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

: I mean, I just thought I’d write a first version and later someone would rewrite it, but apparently it’s been good enough so far :D --[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 22:48, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

:: I read it through several times utterly happy with how I found it, but decided to add a ''little'' bit about the actual Terror. It ended up less snappy, unfortunately. Hope it doesn't smother the rest. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 00:24, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

: I've added a little bit about the audio. I'm not sure there's much more to add to this, given it's a (well-executed) one shot joke and there's content elsewhere about Mars Rovers etc?

None of the explanations for screaming look very believable to me, yet we made up a lot of them. There are other explanations where, if you have the relevant experience, it's very obvious that the explainer made their explanation up. I wonder if it would be good to have a way to indicate in-article that a part of the joke didn't actually strike home for any of the editors so far, and there might be a domain of expertise missing in the authorship. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.196|162.158.63.196]] 21:29, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
:Yeah, I don't think the electric guitar/feedback explanation is right. "Squealing" or "squawking" are the normal terms, not screaming. I read the title text as being analogous to someone screaming on a roller coaster. This would be the rover's first ever descent, it would be scary, it would scream. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:21, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

"The round-trip communication delay significantly exceeds" ... The descend took 7 minutes, the delay was 11 minutes (would be 22 in both directions). Not THAT much exceeding ... of course, not usable for steering. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:27, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
:If it takes three times the time to react to something than the whole duration of the something one might wish to react to, I say that's significantly exceeding. (More so given it's probably the later minutes or even the last few seconds where intervention might have been most needed. Though wasn't.)
:It also makes you wonder if manned descents will ever be as with Armstrong in the Eagle or just "spam in a can" where the human payload is told to stay hands off whatever controls they ''think'' they can use. I really doubt (unlike in Ad Astra) it'll ever be more practical to have a piloted entry. Not in a tail-first-with-suicide-burn landing, anyway. A 'descent-plane' maybe, with Shuttle-like glider/semi-glider landing, but even then the Russians had a 100% record (one of one!) landing Buran without a pilot, and martian flight is obviously a trickier thing to train for. (Maybe design for... Ingenuity is yet to do its own thing for real..) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.36|141.101.98.36]] 16:14, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

The intro refers to a play on words on "sample" and "return". Now, "sample" is covered (a specimen of soil/rock vs a short clip of music). What are the two meanings of "return"? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:22, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

FIFY [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.97|162.158.74.97]] 11:35, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Here's some more information about [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/microphones/ Perserverance's Microphones] and here is a link to [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/sounds/ some of the sound recordings] that are available. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

== Has anyone actually done this yet? ==

I was surprised to find that the discussion didn't include any links to any actual techno music that fans have made using the audio from the rover. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2427: Perseverance Microphones

2021-02-22T16:35:00Z

WhiteDragon: fix typo

Thank you, Galaktos, for the explanation. I knew all the events and words already, but you put them together for me so that Randall's intent became clearer to me. Kudos. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 22:26, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

: I mean, I just thought I’d write a first version and later someone would rewrite it, but apparently it’s been good enough so far :D --[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 22:48, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

:: I read it through several times utterly happy with how I found it, but decided to add a ''little'' bit about the actual Terror. It ended up less snappy, unfortunately. Hope it doesn't smother the rest. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 00:24, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

: I've added a little bit about the audio. I'm not sure there's much more to add to this, given it's a (well-executed) one shot joke and there's content elsewhere about Mars Rovers etc?

None of the explanations for screaming look very believable to me, yet we made up a lot of them. There are other explanations where, if you have the relevant experience, it's very obvious that the explainer made their explanation up. I wonder if it would be good to have a way to indicate in-article that a part of the joke didn't actually strike home for any of the editors so far, and there might be a domain of expertise missing in the authorship. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.196|162.158.63.196]] 21:29, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
:Yeah, I don't think the electric guitar/feedback explanation is right. "Squealing" or "squawking" are the normal terms, not screaming. I read the title text as being analogous to someone screaming on a roller coaster. This would be the rover's first ever descent, it would be scary, it would scream. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:21, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

"The round-trip communication delay significantly exceeds" ... The descend took 7 minutes, the delay was 11 minutes (would be 22 in both directions). Not THAT much exceeding ... of course, not usable for steering. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:27, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
:If it takes three times the time to react to something than the whole duration of the something one might wish to react to, I say that's significantly exceeding. (More so given it's probably the later minutes or even the last few seconds where intervention might have been most needed. Though wasn't.)
:It also makes you wonder if manned descents will ever be as with Armstrong in the Eagle or just "spam in a can" where the human payload is told to stay hands off whatever controls they ''think'' they can use. I really doubt (unlike in Ad Astra) it'll ever be more practical to have a piloted entry. Not in a tail-first-with-suicide-burn landing, anyway. A 'descent-plane' maybe, with Shuttle-like glider/semi-glider landing, but even then the Russians had a 100% record (one of one!) landing Buran without a pilot, and martian flight is obviously a trickier thing to train for. (Maybe design for... Ingenuity is yet to do its own thing for real..) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.36|141.101.98.36]] 16:14, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

The intro refers to a play on words on "sample" and "return". Now, "sample" is covered (a specimen of soil/rock vs a short clip of music). What are the two meanings of "return"? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:22, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

FIFY [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.97|162.158.74.97]] 11:35, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Here's some more information about [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/microphones/ Perserverance's Microphones] and here is a link to [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/sounds/ some of the sound recordings] that are available. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

== Has anyone actually done this yet? ==

I was surprised to find that the discussion didn't include any links to any actual techno fans have made using the audio from the rover. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2427: Perseverance Microphones

2021-02-22T16:33:39Z

WhiteDragon: link to external info

Thank you, Galaktos, for the explanation. I knew all the events and words already, but you put them together for me so that Randall's intent became clearer to me. Kudos. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 22:26, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

: I mean, I just thought I’d write a first version and later someone would rewrite it, but apparently it’s been good enough so far :D --[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 22:48, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

:: I read it through several times utterly happy with how I found it, but decided to add a ''little'' bit about the actual Terror. It ended up less snappy, unfortunately. Hope it doesn't smother the rest. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 00:24, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

: I've added a little bit about the audio. I'm not sure there's much more to add to this, given it's a (well-executed) one shot joke and there's content elsewhere about Mars Rovers etc?

None of the explanations for screaming look very believable to me, yet we made up a lot of them. There are other explanations where, if you have the relevant experience, it's very obvious that the explainer made their explanation up. I wonder if it would be good to have a way to indicate in-article that a part of the joke didn't actually strike home for any of the editors so far, and there might be a domain of expertise missing in the authorship. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.196|162.158.63.196]] 21:29, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
:Yeah, I don't think the electric guitar/feedback explanation is right. "Squealing" or "squawking" are the normal terms, not screaming. I read the title text as being analogous to someone screaming on a roller coaster. This would be the rover's first ever descent, it would be scary, it would scream. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:21, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

"The round-trip communication delay significantly exceeds" ... The descend took 7 minutes, the delay was 11 minutes (would be 22 in both directions). Not THAT much exceeding ... of course, not usable for steering. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:27, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
:If it takes three times the time to react to something than the whole duration of the something one might wish to react to, I say that's significantly exceeding. (More so given it's probably the later minutes or even the last few seconds where intervention might have been most needed. Though wasn't.)
:It also makes you wonder if manned descents will ever be as with Armstrong in the Eagle or just "spam in a can" where the human payload is told to stay hands off whatever controls they ''think'' they can use. I really doubt (unlike in Ad Astra) it'll ever be more practical to have a piloted entry. Not in a tail-first-with-suicide-burn landing, anyway. A 'descent-plane' maybe, with Shuttle-like glider/semi-glider landing, but even then the Russians had a 100% record (one of one!) landing Buran without a pilot, and martian flight is obviously a trickier thing to train for. (Maybe design for... Ingenuity is yet to do its own thing for real..) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.36|141.101.98.36]] 16:14, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

The intro refers to a play on words on "sample" and "return". Now, "sample" is covered (a specimen of soil/rock vs a short clip of music). What are the two meanings of "return"? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:22, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

FIFY [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.97|162.158.74.97]] 11:35, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Here's some more information about [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/microphones/ Perserverance's Microphones] and here is a link to [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/sounds/some of the sound recordings] that are available. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

== Has anyone actually done this yet? ==

I was surprised to find that the discussion didn't include any links to any actual techno fans have made using the audio from the rover. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2427: Perseverance Microphones

2021-02-22T16:30:49Z

WhiteDragon: link to external info

Thank you, Galaktos, for the explanation. I knew all the events and words already, but you put them together for me so that Randall's intent became clearer to me. Kudos. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 22:26, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

: I mean, I just thought I’d write a first version and later someone would rewrite it, but apparently it’s been good enough so far :D --[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 22:48, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

:: I read it through several times utterly happy with how I found it, but decided to add a ''little'' bit about the actual Terror. It ended up less snappy, unfortunately. Hope it doesn't smother the rest. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 00:24, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

: I've added a little bit about the audio. I'm not sure there's much more to add to this, given it's a (well-executed) one shot joke and there's content elsewhere about Mars Rovers etc?

None of the explanations for screaming look very believable to me, yet we made up a lot of them. There are other explanations where, if you have the relevant experience, it's very obvious that the explainer made their explanation up. I wonder if it would be good to have a way to indicate in-article that a part of the joke didn't actually strike home for any of the editors so far, and there might be a domain of expertise missing in the authorship. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.196|162.158.63.196]] 21:29, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
:Yeah, I don't think the electric guitar/feedback explanation is right. "Squealing" or "squawking" are the normal terms, not screaming. I read the title text as being analogous to someone screaming on a roller coaster. This would be the rover's first ever descent, it would be scary, it would scream. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:21, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

"The round-trip communication delay significantly exceeds" ... The descend took 7 minutes, the delay was 11 minutes (would be 22 in both directions). Not THAT much exceeding ... of course, not usable for steering. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:27, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
:If it takes three times the time to react to something than the whole duration of the something one might wish to react to, I say that's significantly exceeding. (More so given it's probably the later minutes or even the last few seconds where intervention might have been most needed. Though wasn't.)
:It also makes you wonder if manned descents will ever be as with Armstrong in the Eagle or just "spam in a can" where the human payload is told to stay hands off whatever controls they ''think'' they can use. I really doubt (unlike in Ad Astra) it'll ever be more practical to have a piloted entry. Not in a tail-first-with-suicide-burn landing, anyway. A 'descent-plane' maybe, with Shuttle-like glider/semi-glider landing, but even then the Russians had a 100% record (one of one!) landing Buran without a pilot, and martian flight is obviously a trickier thing to train for. (Maybe design for... Ingenuity is yet to do its own thing for real..) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.36|141.101.98.36]] 16:14, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

The intro refers to a play on words on "sample" and "return". Now, "sample" is covered (a specimen of soil/rock vs a short clip of music). What are the two meanings of "return"? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:22, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

FIFY [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.97|162.158.74.97]] 11:35, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Here's some more information about [https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/microphones/ Perserverance's Microphones] --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

== Has anyone actually done this yet? ==

I was surprised to find that the discussion didn't include any links to any actual techno fans have made using the audio from the rover. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:30, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2427: Perseverance Microphones

2021-02-22T16:27:55Z

WhiteDragon: /* Has anyone actually done this yet? */ new section

Thank you, Galaktos, for the explanation. I knew all the events and words already, but you put them together for me so that Randall's intent became clearer to me. Kudos. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 22:26, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

: I mean, I just thought I’d write a first version and later someone would rewrite it, but apparently it’s been good enough so far :D --[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 22:48, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

:: I read it through several times utterly happy with how I found it, but decided to add a ''little'' bit about the actual Terror. It ended up less snappy, unfortunately. Hope it doesn't smother the rest. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 00:24, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

: I've added a little bit about the audio. I'm not sure there's much more to add to this, given it's a (well-executed) one shot joke and there's content elsewhere about Mars Rovers etc?

None of the explanations for screaming look very believable to me, yet we made up a lot of them. There are other explanations where, if you have the relevant experience, it's very obvious that the explainer made their explanation up. I wonder if it would be good to have a way to indicate in-article that a part of the joke didn't actually strike home for any of the editors so far, and there might be a domain of expertise missing in the authorship. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.196|162.158.63.196]] 21:29, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
:Yeah, I don't think the electric guitar/feedback explanation is right. "Squealing" or "squawking" are the normal terms, not screaming. I read the title text as being analogous to someone screaming on a roller coaster. This would be the rover's first ever descent, it would be scary, it would scream. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:21, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

"The round-trip communication delay significantly exceeds" ... The descend took 7 minutes, the delay was 11 minutes (would be 22 in both directions). Not THAT much exceeding ... of course, not usable for steering. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:27, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
:If it takes three times the time to react to something than the whole duration of the something one might wish to react to, I say that's significantly exceeding. (More so given it's probably the later minutes or even the last few seconds where intervention might have been most needed. Though wasn't.)
:It also makes you wonder if manned descents will ever be as with Armstrong in the Eagle or just "spam in a can" where the human payload is told to stay hands off whatever controls they ''think'' they can use. I really doubt (unlike in Ad Astra) it'll ever be more practical to have a piloted entry. Not in a tail-first-with-suicide-burn landing, anyway. A 'descent-plane' maybe, with Shuttle-like glider/semi-glider landing, but even then the Russians had a 100% record (one of one!) landing Buran without a pilot, and martian flight is obviously a trickier thing to train for. (Maybe design for... Ingenuity is yet to do its own thing for real..) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.36|141.101.98.36]] 16:14, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

The intro refers to a play on words on "sample" and "return". Now, "sample" is covered (a specimen of soil/rock vs a short clip of music). What are the two meanings of "return"? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 09:22, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

FIFY [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.97|162.158.74.97]] 11:35, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

== Has anyone actually done this yet? ==

I was surprised to find that the discussion didn't include any links to any actual techno fans have made using the audio from the rover.

2332: Cursed Chair

2020-07-14T13:27:50Z

WhiteDragon: capitalized second Hee

{{comic
| number = 2332
| date = July 13, 2020
| title = Cursed Chair
| image = cursed_chair.png
| titletext = The Wirecutter staff called the Herman Miller Siege Perilous "the most cursed product we've ever had to fight" and "nearly as immortal as it boasts."
}}

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

[[Beret Guy]] informs [[Cueball]] that he purchased a cursed office chair. Cueball is skeptical of this, and of Beret Guy's claim that the store he bought the chair from was gone when he went to return it. Cueball suggests that maybe the shop was simply closed due to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}, as is the case for wide variety of non-cursed businesses {{Citation needed}}. Beret Guy takes this as proof that the chair somehow caused the pandemic, a claim Cueball meets incredulously. In the final panel, Beret Guy is doing battle with the chair, which taunts him. Cueball remarks that it would be simpler to shop at {{w|IKEA}}, a store famous for its minimalist flat-pack furniture.

The cursed chair and the boarded-up store are references to the stores that sell cursed items mentioned in [[1772: Startup Opportunity]].

In the title text, the {{w|Siege Perilous}} is the empty seat at the Round Table in Arthurian legend, reserved by Merlin for the knight who would find the {{w|Holy Grail}} (who turns out to be Sir {{w|Galahad}}) and fatal to anyone else who sits in it. {{w|Herman Miller (manufacturer)|Herman Miller}} is an American office furniture company that produced the {{w|Aeron chair}}, which is the basis for [https://www.instagram.com/blantonmuseum/p/BCYaKA4GLrg/ an artwork] by {{w|Glenn Kaino}} called ''The Siege Perilous''. {{w|Wirecutter (website)|''Wirecutter''}} is a website that evaluates and recommends consumer products. From the title text, it sounds like (in the xkcd universe) Wirecutter is used to encountering cursed products, so they didn't even bother trying to sit in it to test the Siege Perilous's perilousness (er, ''peril'') before they started fighting it -- and emerged victorious, if it's {{tvtropes|OnlyMostlyDead|only ''nearly'' immortal}}.

The image of the comic was extremely very pixelated with no aliasing, but this appears to have been unintentional. This should probably be in trivia but I don't know how to make trivia.

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

:[Beret Guy and Cueball are talking.]
:Beret Guy: Remember how I bought my desk chair from that mysterious shop?
:Cueball: I think so?
:Beret Guy: Turns out the chair was cursed.

:Beret Guy: So I went back to return it, but the shop was gone! The door was boarded up!
:Cueball: I think most of the shops are closed because of coronavirus.

:[Panel of just Beret Guy.]
:Beret Guy: Oh no!
:Beret Guy: ''The curse must have caused the pandemic!
:Cueball (off-panel): What.

:[Beret Guy starts running with a raised sword in a frameless panel.]
:Beret Guy: If I destroy the chair, we can stop the virus!
:Cueball: What.

:[Beret Guy is chasing a floating desk chair.]
:Beret Guy: ''Die, plague-bringer!''
:Desk chair: Hee Hee I can not die
:Cueball: Maybe you should just shop at IKEA.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

Talk:2327: Oily House Index

2020-07-02T07:41:17Z

WhiteDragon: dimensional analysis

Dangit Randall, this was my retirement plan & now everybody's gonna want to try it!
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:53, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

;Maths
Can someone figure out where I went wrong here? 
>The comic then applies dimensional analysis to this index: dividing $/sqft by $/bbl yields a result whose dimension is a linear measurement, which can be called length. 1 barrel is 5.6 cubic feet. The average price per square foot of a new single-family dwelling in the USA in 2019 was about 119 $/sqft, while the price of oil in mid 2019 was about $60/BBL or $337/cubic foot. Dividing gives 60/337 feet-1 or about 5.61 feet. (This doesn't match the value shown on the chart of around 15, so we have done something wrong here. :)) 
Thanks. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 00:54, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
:Since barrels are in the denominator, you have to divide by 5.6 to get the price per cubic foot. [[User:LegionMammal978|LegionMammal978]] ([[User talk:LegionMammal978|talk]]) 01:00, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

;Units
Shouldn't area divided by volume be height, not length? It would also fit better with the graph. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.123.173|162.158.123.173]] 03:41, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
:For dimensional analysis, you don't care about the physical context of the units, just about the dimension they are associated with. Height is horizontal length, so it has the dimension of length. In the context of the comic this length can be interpreted as a height, but in another context, it could be a length in a different orientation. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.78|162.158.88.78]] 04:16, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

;Category
Should we start a category of dimensional analysis comics: e.g. [[687]], [[1707]], [[2312]] --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 07:41, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2317: Pinouts

2020-06-09T21:37:31Z

WhiteDragon: "pin" out

Can we add this one to a new category, "Comics that Randall makes just to screw with xkcd wiki contributors"? I can think of plenty of candidates for this category! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 21:42, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

The claim that a coax has only one conductive part is incorrect. It has two. The pin is the inner conductor. The shield is the outer conductor. Without both it wouldn't work.
:yes, but it's a "pin" out. Hence, "pin" [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 21:37, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

I'd also say that the claim at the top that a pin can have only one bit or one voltage of power at a time is incorrect. Power over Ethernet is a perfect example of power and data at the same time. There are also plenty of types of signals which transmit multiple bits at once. A simple example would be a signal using four voltage levels to transmit two bits simultaneously, but there are many more fancy analog encodings that use phase and frequency and other characteristics to transmit data. Plus, you can often included two signals on the same conductors. For example, ADSL combined a normal phone signal and a higher frequency data signal on the same lines. Also cable TV combined many signals on one set of conductors.

So, anyway, I'd remove the claim.
[[User:Mootstrap|Mootstrap]] ([[User talk:Mootstrap|talk]]) 23:00, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
:Just because it’s interesting: DCC with RailCom+ allows some cool stuff. It allows many-to-many high-power power transmission, robust many-to-many bidirectional data transmission, hot-swap with automatic configuration and collision resolution, physical position tracking of the connected devices, some way of short-circuit resolution with continued communication, mixing with other protocols, and all with only two pins, which may be arbitrarily interchanged at any time. Admittedly it has a much lower data rate than Power over Ethernet and terrible EMI, but potentially ''much'' higher power. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.193|162.158.89.193]] 08:22, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

For that matter, the RF cable connecting a regular TV antenna, or the wire in a car that connects the radio antenna, carries the signals of all the channels.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.65|172.69.33.65]] 02:20, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

I think "Pin Roulette" is a pun on [[wikipedia:Penn Jillette|Penn Jillette]], the talkative half of the [[wikipedia:Penn & Teller|Penn & Teller]] magic act, and maybe also a reference to [[wikipedia:chatroulette|chatroulette]]. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:10, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
:Possible, but I'd stick with the simple explanation - that the "Pin Roulette" pin selects a random function when the connector's plugged in. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.64|108.162.245.64]] 23:18, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
::Modern conectors additionally tend to have multi-purpose pins, which might be dangerous if you guess the current meaning of the pin wrong.[[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 06:15, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

In addition to pins being able to carry both data and power, or to carry multiple bits at a time, some pins function as clock signal pins that indicate bit boundaries rather than themselves carrying data; therefore I also think the claim should be either omitted or changed entirely.
[[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 23:33, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

Firstly, no [[1293|Soup]]? Secondly, [https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/GNDN GNDN] might easily have been referenced. Thirdly, would a pin made of solder melt, as pins connected to wires/boards ''by'' solder do not melt the solder (under proper range of use). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.158|141.101.107.158]] 23:38, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
:i think the implication is that it ''could'' melt, which is a trap--[[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 23:48, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

Perhaps we should add the actual usage of the pins to help those who actually want to know? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.245|162.158.62.245]] 00:08, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

Wouldn't 3.3eV/C be a tiny fraction of 3.3V, since a columb is a much greater value of charge than that of the electron?--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.203|172.69.63.203]] 00:24, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

Depending on how you read it, the third pin from the top might match the 120V AC. This would make it a different kind of "tribute" to FireWire... [[User:Ehusmark|EHusmark]] ([[User talk:Ehusmark|talk]]) 07:52, 9 June 2020 (UTC)
:AFAIK FireWire allows many-to-many communication, while USB never did. The FireWire tribute pin could be a way to establish many-to-many communication. Alternatively, FireWire allows daisy-chaining, while USB supports only a tree network trough hubs. The FireWire pin could be somehow physically strange, so a second USB-C cable could be connected to it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.193|162.158.89.193]] 08:22, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2264: Satellite

2020-02-06T15:03:32Z

WhiteDragon: comment about size

I don't care what tech hasn't been invented yet. I want one. --[[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 02:28, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Ok, then, Blacksilver: first calculate the orbital period , assuming no external gravitational sources and no atmosphere. And while you're at it, the maximum mass of the satellite before it causes the epicenter to be outside your body. But you have to take the shape of the human body into account: any deviation from equatorial orbit will probably lead to trouble.[[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 14:43, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

But if we kept them around, that's less material we have to lift into orbit during Dyson sphere construction. *There are too many stars. It's been freaking me out.* (#975) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.148|108.162.216.148]] 03:25, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Am I the only one who just assumed that the characters were planet sized beings? --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 15:03, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2256: Bad Map Projection: South America

2020-01-17T22:05:38Z

WhiteDragon: me too

I overlaid this map on all the projections in https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/977:_Map_Projections to show the difference. Is that something this wiki wants? [[User:EmuSam|EmuSam]] ([[User talk:EmuSam|talk]]) 05:54, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:I don't know about the rest of the wiki, but I certainly do! --[[User:T0]] ([[User talk:T0|talk]]) 10:40, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Heck yeah that's awesome! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.222|108.162.210.222]] 13:48, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
: I'm gonna venture out on a limb here in my toe-shoes and say that those of us reading the comments on the explain-XKCD wiki will geek our Azimov socks off over that. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 13:59, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
: Huwah, want? I clicked the link above with high hopes :x How did you not upload it yet :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 15:40, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:yes, please! [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 22:05, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

How many different kinds of transformation have been applied to South America? I can see resize, rotation, and skew (shear). Can't see any reflections or anything that looks obviously non linear. Anyone care enough to check? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.119.83|162.158.119.83]] 08:02, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Not an expert on the terminologies used, especially in English. Does what has been done to the south America that is where Australia should be qualify as resize? It is not maintaining the aspect ratios, and is much "shorter" in the direction that used to be north-south (the way chile is "long") (and is now east west) and much wider in the other one. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:17, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Note: 358 is country code for finland, which is completely missing in the projection. {{unsigned ip|162.158.238.216| 08:11, 17 January 2020}}
:Finland is part of Europe and Asia continent, which is now South America. It is thus not more missing thatn any country not in South America. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:43, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Something something a Brazilian South Americas how many is that [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:19, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

It's also similar to [[1653: United States Map]], isn't it? [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 15:47, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

I wonder what projection the South America is pulled from. I also wonder whether that projection has the rest of the world laid out similar to this arraignment, or if they are the same projection used for layout as for the shape. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.176|162.158.146.176]] 17:39, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Wait a minute. If Tierra del Fuego is replaced by the whole of South America, does this include a tiny Tierra? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.205|162.158.111.205]] 20:42, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Yes, there is clearly a small bend in the "tip" of the SA replacing Tierra. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 20:56, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1133: Up Goer Five

2019-10-06T23:21:16Z

WhiteDragon: question about escape

Isn't this comic essentially just saying 'rocket science: not actually as complicated as the phrase "it's not rocket science" would have us beleive'{{unsigned|203.211.80.97}}

This comic is also a celebration of what many people, presumably including former NASA employee Randall, consider the greatest technological achievement ever. {{unsigned|158.169.131.14}}
:Nope, Randall thinks delivery pizza is the most important thing humanity ever achieved (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/638:_The_Search). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.49|141.101.104.49]] 15:20, 7 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm surprised "ship" isn't among the most commonly used words in English. Where do these statistics come from? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 12:35, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

:It makes sense that "capsule" and "spaceship" (as one word) are not in the "ten hundred" most-common words (Really, "thousand" isn't on this list either?), but not "fuel" and/or "tank"? People (context: US Midwesterner) talk about filling up their cats all the time! I'd like to see the original 1,000-word list. (Also: "Up Goer"? Well, it goes up -- that's about ALL it does. Makes sense, I guess.) --BigMal27 // [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.149|192.136.15.149]] 13:13, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

::"people talk about filling up their cats all the time!" [[User:Tigerball59|Tigerball59]] ([[User talk:Tigerball59|talk]]) 01:14, 27 May 2018 (UTC)Tigerball890

Maybe is Randall referring to [[wikipedia:Simplified Technical English|Simplified Technical English]]? — [[User:Ethaniel|Ethaniel]] ([[User talk:Ethaniel|talk]]) 14:09, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
:There is an entry in the Simple English Wikipedia: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_English . The Simple English Wikipedia is interesting to browse, and challenging to write articles for. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 14:24, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
:: Look up Basic English. It is the 850 most used words (or rather the 850 most used words when it was invented in 1930). According to Wikipedia it is still used in some countries as the basic vocabulary to first teach in English. The list of words is here: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Basic_English_word_list . It looks like this could be what he used.i[[User:Carewolf|Carewolf]] ([[User talk:Carewolf|talk]]) 17:30, 14 November 2012 (UTC)
::: The 850 Basic English word list includes "liquid" and "second" but does not include "world", "five" and "third" so we're still looking for the vocabulary list.
I'm inclined to think this is also a nod to 1984's {{w|Newspeak}}, and the dumbing-down effect of an ''overly'' {{w|controlled language}}. It's good to simplify (linguistic) complexity, but with that simplification of text comes a simplification of capacity, too. We push back horizons by exploring unknowns, so restricting things to a small set of knowns may be counterproductive. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:13, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
:This is the very point I am trying to make time and again. Some topics cannot be correctly explained to everyone. BTW XKCD #547 had a similar point.

::I think that's a very unfortunate "point" to be trying to make time and time again. My personal feelings aside, it goes against Randall's and xkcd's ethos, as well. Just as in law or any other specialized area, an expert, given a reasonable amount of time, thought, and vocabulary, should be able to explain even very complex ideas to lay persons. If there's a failure to do so, the burden should rest with the explainer. And frankly, that failure might even expose some lack of understanding on the explainer's end, as well. I have discussed this in greater depth below. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 09:10, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

The comic is almost certainly using http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Basic_English_word_list or another work list like it.[[Special:Contributions/82.16.27.115|82.16.27.115]] 16:58, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

The phrase in the explanation "Helium is much less prone to catching fire" brought a smile to my lips as there is literally <SIC> nothing less prone to catching fire than Helium. [[Special:Contributions/90.208.12.4|90.208.12.4]] 23:10, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

:<s>Unfortunately some pedant has changed it to the technically correct, but much less smile-inducing "inflammable". Pitty, it made me smile too.</s> [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 23:22, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

:Edit: I've reverted it, because the whole edit was fraught with incorrect minor changes. 23:27, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

:Inflammable is '''wrong'''. It means the same as flammable. If you mean 'incapable of burning', the opposite of flammable/inflammable is ''nonflammable''. This is one of the subtleties of English which is avoided by using a greater number of simple words! [[Special:Contributions/87.252.61.205|87.252.61.205]] 13:01, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

::I wouldn't say Helium is least prone to catching fire. Sure, it's least prone to chemical reaction, but it is prone to nuclear fusion, which looks sort of like fire. On the other hand Iron, while it can be oxygenated, doesn't really catch fire doing that and I doubt it can chemically react in a way which would look that way. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:42, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

:::Fire is strictly defined as the rapid oxidation of a substance in the presence of heat - nuclear fusion is transmutation, not combustion. Iron can undergo a thermite reaction which makes spectacular flying flames. Youtube should have a billion videos of thermite reactions for your perusal. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]]

:::Fine steel wool (such as 0000 grade) burns exceedingly well. A survival technique is to use flashlight batteries to make a spark in the steel wool, which then becomes an excellent fire starter.

Since the comic can't use the actual words, it took me some time to find Wikipedia's articles that describe the actual "up goer." In case there's anybody like me who wanted to know more details, I found the {{w|Apollo (spacecraft)}} and {{w|Saturn V}} articles to be very interesting and relevant. BTW, "that stuff they burned in lights before houses had power" is {{w|RP-1|highly refined kerosene}}. [[User:S|S]] ([[User talk:S|talk]]) 00:34, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

:Thanks for doing the research! I've incorporated this into the explanation. Feel free to add more if you think it needs more. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 01:33, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

::I like your additions. Much better than what I could come up with! [[User:S|S]] ([[User talk:S|talk]]) 23:44, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

It would be pretty nice for a day if everyone just spoke using the most used thousand words in his respective language. Just off hand, describing the band name "Led Zeppelin" would certainly be a treat--[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 18:10, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

:Anyone who will not be fired off trying to only speak the most used thousand words for workday is working manually or not at all. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:42, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

::Or is a school teacher, or working primarily with people who have language difficulties...

I think NASA should rebrand themselves "US Spaaaaaace Team" it's so much cooler than the "National Aeronautics and Spaaaaaace Administration"! --[[User:NHSavage|NHSavage]] ([[User talk:NHSavage|talk]]) 07:39, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

I have not once heard the word "goer" before this. Thousand most common? [[Special:Contributions/67.52.144.154|67.52.144.154]] 16:22, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

:Randall used the verb "to go" and as it's a verb, any conjugation could be considered the same word. I think that's where he got "goer" from. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:29, 15 November 2012 (UTC)
::Well, not a conjugation, a different part of speech. That's a slightly more extreme leap than a change of inflection, but probably still allowable for these purposes. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 15:18, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

Someone has made an "Up-Goer Five Text Editor", with a link to a (the?) ten-hundred wordlist: http://splasho.com/upgoer5/. [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 18:46, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm having trouble believing that lift off is not on the common word list. [[User:DruidDriver|DruidDriver]] ([[User talk:DruidDriver|talk]]) 01:55, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

'''On language and explaining'''

Strongly disagree with the contention at the beginning of this explanation that "This comic is a commentary on the absurdity of boiling down technical explanations for lay people..." On many occasions Randall de-jargonizes/simplifies complex ideas so that they can be understood by most anyone. Heck, he dedicates an entire blog (whatif) to it. In this interview with fivethirtyeight.com, (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/xkcd-randall-munroe-qanda-what-if/) among others, Randall explains that lay persons, given enough time, patience, and the correct guidance, should be able to understand most any scientific/technical idea.

To wit: "It’s tempting to think of technical audiences and general audiences as completely different, but I think that no matter who you’re talking to, the principles of explaining things clearly are the same. The only real difference is which things you can assume they already know[.] ... I’m always looking for ways of looking at problems — mental models — that make the answers intuitively clear. Once I’ve hit on one of those, '''I just try to explain it as simply and clearly as I can[.]'''"

Accordingly, I have altered the explanation to reflect this world view. The point of this comic is to illustrate that one should be able to explain complicated ideas to people who lack a technical background using simple language. Granted that Randall is imposing upon himself an unreasonable "ten hundred word" linguistic restriction, but I think that only goes to further his point. Unless the "explainee" is being unreasonably obtuse, the burden falls upon the shoulders of the explainer to help a non-lay audience understand. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 08:53, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

If you don't go to spaaaaaace today, you need more struts[[User:Steammaster|Steammaster]] ([[User talk:Steammaster|talk]]) 18:43, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

:or more boosters! (Both are popular ''Kerbal Space Program'' catchphrases.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.179|108.162.230.179]] 10:50, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

Maybe we should add a reference to Randall's upcoming book, Thing Explainer. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.109|108.162.216.109]] 02:14, 28 May 2015 (UTC)

As I understand it, the brackets in "oh the [humans]" are used to indicate paraphrasing (replacing "humanity" with "humans") as is common in English texts. Referring to humanity with the phrase "concentration of humans" seems rather contrived and unlikely. Any opinions on this?
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.51|173.245.54.51]] 18:38, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

I think the brackets are just to say that this is not the true quote.[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 21:37, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

"escape" seems like it's not acceptable, according to https://xkcd.com/simplewriter/

2207: Math Work

2019-09-25T21:53:38Z

WhiteDragon: It's a blackboard.

{{comic
| number = 2207
| date = September 25, 2019
| title = Math Work
| image = math_work.png
| titletext = I could type this into a solver, which MIGHT help, but would also mean I have to get a lot of parentheses right...
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TWO UNKNOWNS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[White Hat]] is observing a physicist, [[Cueball]], who is staring at equations on a chalkboard.

White Hat is neither a physicist nor a mathematician, and seems to glorify those professions. He wishes he understood those concepts and their beauty, the "beauty of the universe".

The joke is that Cueball, the actual physicist, is not focused on the beauty of the work, but is actually frustrated with the math in his work, and just wishes to avoid having to solve the equations that he is working on.

The title text continues Cueball's thought process, with the possibility of using an equation solver to solve the equations. But he would still need to make sure that the equations are formatted correctly when inputting into the solver.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands in front of a blackboard full of formulas and diagrams. White Hat is watching him from several feet away.]
:White Hat (thinking): Amazing watching a physicist at work, exploring universes in a symphony of numbers.
:White Hat (thinking): If only I had studied math, I could appreciate the beauty on display here.

:Cueball (thinking): Oh no. This has '''two''' unknowns. That's gonna be really hard.
:Cueball (thinking): Ughhhhhhh.
:Cueball (thinking): '''''Think.''''' There's gotta be a way to avoid doing all that work...

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

2195: Dockless Roombas

2019-08-28T18:57:04Z

WhiteDragon: link to what-if #5

{{comic
| number = 2195
| date = August 28, 2019
| title = Dockless Roombas
| image = dockless_roombas.png
| titletext = The company started out exploiting a loophole in the law banning scooters. The city was mad at first, but then they noticed how much they were saving on street cleaning.
}}

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

In this comic [[Cueball]] discovers two {{w|Roomba|Roombas}} outside, and [[Megan]] explains that they are dockless Roombas for rent. Cueball is confused, but then [[Beret Guy]] walks in, activates one with an app on his smartphone, and rides away standing on it.

A Roomba is a small automated (robotic) vacuum cleaner designed to clean a room or other bounded area by repeatedly and automatically going over the floor, vacuuming, until it has made multiple passes, and either runs low on power or is turned off. The "intelligence" of various models can vary from relatively random operation with basic techniques to get around obstacles, to models that generate a general mental map of the area and contents and attempt to be deliberate in passing over all reachable areas. A Roomba generally includes a recharging "dock", which it can find and automatically connect with when it gets low on power, allowing it to recharge and perhaps automatically begin another round of cleaning. Roombas are a [[:Category:Roomba|recurring theme]] on xkcd. In [[1193: Externalities]] it was [[Ponytail]] that drove a Roomba. And in [[1486: Vacuum]] Beret Guy flew on a regular vacuum cleaner.

A {{w|Scooter-sharing_system|dockless scooter}} is a system of sharing personal scooters, whereby they can be left anywhere for someone else to use, rather than returned to a particular home location. The term "dockless" in this scenario refers to the fact they have no predefined home, or place to dock. Like a Roomba, they do need recharging, however no special station is needed for that -- anyone can pick them up and recharge them overnight from a standard power outlet, receiving a fee from the scooter company for this service. In the past several years they have become popular in many large cities around the world. Scooters have recently been featured in [[2188: E Scooters]].

The humor here is replacing the scooters with Roombas, which people would then ride. There are multiple problems with this idea:

* A Roomba is not powerful enough for someone to ride. At best, a small animal like a cat or squirrel might be able to ride atop one.

* A Roomba has small wheels and is designed for relatively flat and uniform surfaces. Even if a person could successfully ride on one, sidewalks have cracks and unevenness and bumps which would lead to a rough ride with lots of opportunities to get stuck[https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/].

* A Roomba requires a way to recharge its batteries and, unladen, generally runs for an hour or so before it needs to be recharged. That is why it always comes with a dock. Dockless would imply it would not have a way to recharge. With a heavy load like a human, one would expect the run time to be drastically less.

* The cleaning capabilities of a Roomba require that it be confined to a bounded area and that it go over the surfaces to be cleaned in multiple passes. A "free range" Roomba would not be very effective at cleaning.

* A Roomba's dirt canister is quite small and needs to be emptied when it fills up. This would happen quite quickly if it were operated on streets and sidewalks.

The title text refers to the {{w|Scooter-sharing_system#Controversy_around_kick_scooters|controversy}} in many cities surrounding dockless scooters, which can be dangerous to pedestrians when in use and can block sidewalks and driveways when not. Dockless scooters were introduced in many cities before there were any regulations about scooter use, with some critics claiming scooters exploited loopholes in existing law and regulation, and leading some cities to pass legislation to specifically ban or curtail the use of dockless scooters. Here it is the Roombas that exploit loopholes in those scooter laws, which initially bothers city officials before they realize the positive benefit of the Roombas cleaning their streets as they are ridden.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan walk in from the right and sees two Roombas on the ground in front of them.]
:Cueball: Are those... Roombas?
:Megan: Yeah, the dockless rental apps have really taken off.

:[Cueball stops and turns to look at Megan, who has also stopped, as Beret Guy comes walking in from the left with his smartphone in his hand.]
:Cueball: What?

:[As Cueball and Megan turn to look at Beret Guy, he stops between the two Roombas, looking down at the Roomba to his left. He taps his smartphone and the Roomba makes a sound.]
:Smartphone: Tap tap
:Roomba: Unlock

:[Beret Guy is squatting down on the Roomba as it drives him away, while Cueball and Megan turns to stare after him,]
:Roomba: ''Whirrrr''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Roomba]]

Talk:2191: Conference Question

2019-08-19T13:53:30Z

WhiteDragon: wiki link

I don't know to what "Word of Power" in the title text refers. A quick Google revealed something from Skyrim and something from D&D, but I have the feeling there must surely be a more original source for it, even if it is just a common term in folklore or something. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 07:45, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

: I think it means "magic word". The next step, "Unforgivable Curse", is from Harry Potter; a magic spell against someone that will get you jail time. (C. S. Lewis had an apocalyptic option, the "{{w|Deplorable Word}}", which killed every living person except the speaker) So Harry Potter's schoolteacher demonstrates the Unforgivables on spiders... and on students. (You find out why.) Also I think the title text is the platform speaker's response to Beret Guy. rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.183|162.158.158.183]] 09:12, 19 August 2019 (UTC) [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:51, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

:: Yeah, I understand the "Unforgivable Curse" part - it's more "Word of Power" I'm struggling with. I agree that the title text could potentially be a response by the speaker, and I've updated the page to reflect this. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 10:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

::: It's from tabletop roleplaying games; [https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Power_word some of the earliest high level spells from the original edition of Dungeons and Dragons were "Power Word Kill," "Power Word Blind," and "Power Word Stun."] These spells have been carried forward into newer editions where they are extremely unpopular because they were designed for campaigns when most monsters had a tiny fraction of the number of hit points typical today, and unlike essentially all of the fifth edition spells, they don't do anything when they don't work, and they don't work based on facts which are theoretically unknowable to the players. So, they kind of have a reputation of the worst high level spells, and are sometimes included in magic items which turn out to be, well, like fruitcake, if you know what I mean. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 11:36, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

One thing I feel needs to be said is that this behavior belies a lack of linguistic skill, because any statement can always be phrased in the form of a question, e.g, most easily, "Do you agree that _______?" Or by asking about the details of the comment about which the commenter is most interested in emphasizing or soliciting a response. That this kind of thing happens among advanced academics belies how narcissistic and tone-deaf even otherwise intelligent people can often be. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.34|162.158.255.34]] 12:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2191: Conference Question

2019-08-19T13:51:46Z

WhiteDragon: CORS issues on xkcd 1193

I don't know to what "Word of Power" in the title text refers. A quick Google revealed something from Skyrim and something from D&D, but I have the feeling there must surely be a more original source for it, even if it is just a common term in folklore or something. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 07:45, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

: I think it means "magic word". The next step, "Unforgivable Curse", is from Harry Potter; a magic spell against someone that will get you jail time. (C. S. Lewis had an apocalyptic option, the "[wiki:Deplorable Word]", which killed every living person except the speaker) So Harry Potter's schoolteacher demonstrates the Unforgivables on spiders... and on students. (You find out why.) Also I think the title text is the platform speaker's response to Beret Guy. rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.183|162.158.158.183]] 09:12, 19 August 2019 (UTC) [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:51, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

:: Yeah, I understand the "Unforgivable Curse" part - it's more "Word of Power" I'm struggling with. I agree that the title text could potentially be a response by the speaker, and I've updated the page to reflect this. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 10:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

::: It's from tabletop roleplaying games; [https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Power_word some of the earliest high level spells from the original edition of Dungeons and Dragons were "Power Word Kill," "Power Word Blind," and "Power Word Stun."] These spells have been carried forward into newer editions where they are extremely unpopular because they were designed for campaigns when most monsters had a tiny fraction of the number of hit points typical today, and unlike essentially all of the fifth edition spells, they don't do anything when they don't work, and they don't work based on facts which are theoretically unknowable to the players. So, they kind of have a reputation of the worst high level spells, and are sometimes included in magic items which turn out to be, well, like fruitcake, if you know what I mean. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 11:36, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

One thing I feel needs to be said is that this behavior belies a lack of linguistic skill, because any statement can always be phrased in the form of a question, e.g, most easily, "Do you agree that _______?" Or by asking about the details of the comment about which the commenter is most interested in emphasizing or soliciting a response. That this kind of thing happens among advanced academics belies how narcissistic and tone-deaf even otherwise intelligent people can often be. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.34|162.158.255.34]] 12:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

User:WhiteDragon

2019-08-05T13:51:02Z

WhiteDragon: creating a (blank) user page

Talk:Disappearing Sunday Update

2019-08-05T13:48:03Z

WhiteDragon: /* It's Monday */ new section

This comic isn't a numbered comic. The ephemeral ghost comic has broken explainxkcd! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.64|162.158.34.64]] 22:23, 4 August 2019 (UTC)
: Fair point. Probably the page should be renamed to 2184.5 or something. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.12|172.68.133.12]] 08:52, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Well, it broke the xkcd client I use. (Easy xkcd, Android) Just crashes on start. I hope it will fix itself when the normal one comes out. I also hope that this comic will remain here when it is taken down. [[User:Fghsgh|Fghsgh]] ([[User talk:Fghsgh|talk]]) 22:43, 4 August 2019 (UTC) fghsgh

Previous then Next on xkcd.com 404's... Trivia! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.83|141.101.104.83]] 22:59, 4 August 2019 (UTC)

It's not rendering for me on the uni.xkcd.com portal, could anyone else verify? I'm excited in seeing what else this comic will break. [[User:Kirdneh|Kirdneh]] ([[User talk:Kirdneh|talk]]) 23:11, 4 August 2019 (UTC)

: This works for me now. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 08:59, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

I wonder what will happen tomorrow! Oh the antici- pation!
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.153|172.69.68.153]] 00:01, 5 August 2019 (UTC) Sam

Others had the same idea I did, this comic has been archived to https://web.archive.org/web/20190805000153/https://xkcd.com/ For posterity(?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.57|162.158.74.57]] 02:52, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

I only noticed this on Monday morning, so was surprised to find that there isn't more detail about the various things the comic mentions possibly breaking. It got me wondering how many people on the site (especially the younger ones) aren't even aware of IP over Avian Carriers, Gopherspace, or lynx. This is one of those comics that could easily be a forest of links to interesting things you might never have thought to look for. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 07:47, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

: I added a list; you should add more explanation to it. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 08:59, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Has the comic been changed since it was posted, to stop breaking things? Because it's appearing as #2185 for me and the link to that number from #2184 works. (Also, I love that--Internet Archive notwithstanding--we're almost certainly going to keep a well-explained copy of this comic alive for posterity. What will we number it, though? Has Randall broken explain xkcd too?) -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 08:52, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
:Seems so. It now has 2185 on the xkcd website and it is to be found in the archive at the current moment, before the Monday comic comes out. Probably Randall found out it would give too much trouble not numbering it. Wonder if he really deletes it... It will still be here and in the web-archive forever. But of course if he does delete it and names the next comic 2185 then this comic will have to be moved to a special page like his [[Radiation]] sheet etc. I have taken some screen dumps that I will post in a trivia here. To show that it is now currently a normal comic with number 2185. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:02, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

It's also possible that Randall could use the whatever mechanism was used for http://xkcd.com/404/ for this comic. --Xuth

== It's Monday ==

It's monday, and the comic is still on the front page of xkcd.com. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:48, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2184: Unpopular Opinions

2019-08-03T17:30:12Z

WhiteDragon:

I wonder if it has to be below 50% with critic score, audience score, or both? [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 17:36, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
:Genisys has an Audience Score of 53%, so I think it has to be critic score (Tomatometer). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.124|108.162.241.124]] 21:42, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
::Critics and audiences are really two distinct groups. So to be "apples to apples", I'd think it would have to be a movie with an Audience score below 50. Disagreeing with something critics hated isn't that rare among the general audience. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.18|162.158.106.18]] 04:46, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/browse/dvd-streaming-all?minTomato=0&maxTomato=49&services=amazon;hbo_go;itunes;netflix_iw;vudu;amazon_prime;fandango_now&genres=1;2;4;5;6;8;9;10;11;13;18;14&sortBy=tomato Movies] on DVD or streaming, tomatometer 49% down to 0%.

Plenty of Twilight fans will raise their hands - it is rated 49% --[[User:Thomcat|Thomcat]] ([[User talk:Thomcat|talk]]) 18:09, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
:Well, I'm around the typical age of (original) Twilight fans, and none of the movies in the saga came in my adult life. (But they're all below 50%)[[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.147|162.158.103.147]] 18:27, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

I mean, Shaft got a 30% on the Tomatometer and a 94 on the audience score, and I loved it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.22|108.162.241.22]] 18:57, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Do Waterworld, in spite of the fact that it only ticks two of the boxes, count? I really liked that one.
:I also liked Waterworld (44%, 1997) and The Postman (9%, 1995) (both with Kevin Kostner, and sort of the same story). Assuming the definition of adult is 18, they both qualify for the adult part, but not the after 2000 part. I also loved Star Wars Episode I, but sure enough, it's above 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 17:28, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

:If it didn't come out while you were an adult, then it doesn't count. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:16, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

I don't watch enough movies (or know Rotten Tomatoes well enough) to participate in this particular challenge, but it seems like every time I enjoy a video game, it turns out to have a sizeable and vocal hatedom. I seriously can't relate to the caption here. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.165|162.158.107.165]] 20:25, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Batman v. Superman is probably a good answer for a fair number of people-it has a reasonable number of fans (including myself) who liked it, despite its very poor rating (28%) [[User:SirEpp|SirEpp]] ([[User talk:SirEpp|talk]]) 21:05, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Not a movie, per se, but I thought season 8 of Game of Thrones was fantastic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.88|162.158.214.88]] 22:23, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Critically panned films that I like include: Crimes of Grindelwald, Passengers, and Warcraft.
:Oooh, ''Passengers'' is a good one, I'm stealing that. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 01:16, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

I second Crimes of Grindelwald (37 RT), and add Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (48 RT), which I also enjoyed and actually recommend to people. Now these movies aren't "classics" or "great movies", they aren't perfect, but they are effective entertainment, and ''not'' because they "are so bad their good". Grindelwald has many effective scenes and acting, and Valerian is a very effective effort at making a movie out of a comic book that ''feels like a comic book''-- a fact I appreciated. Of course 48 RT is also just under the 50 RT threshold.[[User:Careysub|Careysub]] ([[User talk:Careysub|talk]])

Critically acclaimed films that I do not like: Avatar and Life of Pi. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.213|173.245.48.213]] 22:47, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Not under 50%, but I'm shocked that "The Secret Life of Walter Smitty" has only 51%... National Treasure has only 46%... I like this game, it is a test in optimism.
:"The Secret Life of Walter '''Mitty'''" deserves a low rating, particularly when compared to the original with Danny Kaye. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.73|162.158.107.73]] 05:31, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Frankly it would be easier to list the movies I like that aren't below 50% on rotten tomatoes. [[User:CJB42|CJB42]] ([[User talk:CJB42|talk]]) 00:23, 3 August 2019 (UTC)s

My experience with rotten tomatoes ratings in particular is that they have no clue and I find their ratings useless. The challenge from Randall in this comic is a case in point: the first movie I though to check, “Another Gay Movie” gets a 40% on the tomatometer yet is one of my favorites. Same thing with all the “Eating Out” movies: good comedies that I enjoy, yet Tomatometer scores of 16%, 44%, and 17% for the first three. (And why is “Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds” so much higher ranked than 1 or 3? It’s not that different...)
I think the criteria that Randal assumes (but doesn’t mention) is that the movie has to be a box office hit that appeals to mainstream audiences.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.73|162.158.107.73]] 03:55, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

I don't see why Suicide Squad got trashed. It was light, colourful, had an engaging story, and well made. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.209|172.68.253.209]] 04:04, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Sucker Punch. There, I said it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.77|141.101.99.77]] 07:36, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

There's a certain type of movie that 'h8ers' will auto-trash before they even come out (especially "Gender-switched version of a classic", like that ''Ghostbusters'', and "Strong female type", like ''Wonder Woman'' - as easy examples of those that some people love to hate, regardless of actual merit). So I recon there'd be good mileage in keeping an eye on (for example) the double-whammy that is the upcoming Female Thor movie. If it doesn't ''actually'' turn out to be so bad that you personally don't like it, I predict that it'll be pre-release troll-sniped down below 50% in "popular" opinion and even if they're not at all right about their guess there'll be a window of opportunity before any counter-viewpoint from actual viewers ups the score again. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 10:21, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

What the heck are all these Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller movies doing at sub-50%? I didn't know people supposedly hated Night at the Museum that much. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.67|172.68.189.67]] 17:13, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

== Post-2000? ==

Anyone have an idea why "post-2000" is a criteria? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 23:58, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
:Maybe because Rotten Tomatoes was launched close to the end of the 1990s, so post-2000 movies are the only ones that have been reviewed as they came out? Or perhaps it's to limit the scope of "movies that came out in your adult life", since adult life could go back a long way for some people. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 01:16, 3 August 2019 (UTC)
:I don't know for certain, but I feel incredibly confident that it's the timing of Rotten Tomatoes, that older movies that came out before the site existed won't be thoroughly / properly covered. Like if you look closely you'll see the 40% rating on this movie comes from only 1 vote. I suspect Randall feels that as of 2000, there was enough activity on the site to provide sufficient coverage. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:40, 3 August 2019 (UTC)
:Pre-2000 films, being prior to RT, have the 'benefit'  of studied hindsight. Anybody who bothers to review [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003722_casino_royale the ''original'' Casino Royale], which would be my choice for this if I were allowed, just has far too much baggage to be thinking the same as with something just being appreciated in the context as a new-release. Including me, probably, across the many years since I first saw that film and fell in love with it, despite the obvious and total car-crash of its Development Hell! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 10:21, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

I KNOW that there are many, many movies I can apply to this challenge - I often find myself enjoying unpopular movies. Plus, critics suck, they seem to always forget that this is ENTERTAINMENT. A clever movie that is dull as dirt and makes you fall asleep should NOT receive high praise, it fails at the primary function - but I can't think of them in the moment. About a week ago on Facebook I had a memory, a list of facts about Eurotrip, where the article called it a flop, while I loved it, so probably that one. This comic triggered my first ever visit to Rotten Tomatoes, who lists Eurotrip as I think 46%, but much higher for Audience score, so I THINK it counts? What bumps me is that it seems like "Audience Score" would be popular opinion, making Eurotrip actually a Popular movie, which seems like then it wouldn't apply here. ???? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:40, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Hypothesis: People generally give more positive then negative reviews, and positive reviews also cause more people to watch. The number of watching for something bad is therefor lower, while a good movie is watched so often there is always a critic.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.190|172.69.55.190]] 10:19, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2184: Unpopular Opinions

2019-08-03T17:28:07Z

WhiteDragon: shelves

I wonder if it has to be below 50% with critic score, audience score, or both? [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 17:36, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
:Genisys has an Audience Score of 53%, so I think it has to be critic score (Tomatometer). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.124|108.162.241.124]] 21:42, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
::Critics and audiences are really two distinct groups. So to be "apples to apples", I'd think it would have to be a movie with an Audience score below 50. Disagreeing with something critics hated isn't that rare among the general audience. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.18|162.158.106.18]] 04:46, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/browse/dvd-streaming-all?minTomato=0&maxTomato=49&services=amazon;hbo_go;itunes;netflix_iw;vudu;amazon_prime;fandango_now&genres=1;2;4;5;6;8;9;10;11;13;18;14&sortBy=tomato Movies] on DVD or streaming, tomatometer 49% down to 0%.

Plenty of Twilight fans will raise their hands - it is rated 49% --[[User:Thomcat|Thomcat]] ([[User talk:Thomcat|talk]]) 18:09, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
:Well, I'm around the typical age of (original) Twilight fans, and none of the movies in the saga came in my adult life. (But they're all below 50%)[[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.147|162.158.103.147]] 18:27, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

I mean, Shaft got a 30% on the Tomatometer and a 94 on the audience score, and I loved it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.22|108.162.241.22]] 18:57, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Do Waterworld, in spite of the fact that it only ticks two of the boxes, count? I really liked that one.
:I also liked Waterworld (44%, 1997, and The Postman (9%, 1995). (both with Kevin Kostner, and sort of the same story). Assuming the definition of adult is 18, they both qualify. I also loved Star Wars Episode I, but sure enough, it's above 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 17:28, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

:If it didn't come out while you were an adult, then it doesn't count. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:16, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

I don't watch enough movies (or know Rotten Tomatoes well enough) to participate in this particular challenge, but it seems like every time I enjoy a video game, it turns out to have a sizeable and vocal hatedom. I seriously can't relate to the caption here. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.165|162.158.107.165]] 20:25, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Batman v. Superman is probably a good answer for a fair number of people-it has a reasonable number of fans (including myself) who liked it, despite its very poor rating (28%) [[User:SirEpp|SirEpp]] ([[User talk:SirEpp|talk]]) 21:05, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Not a movie, per se, but I thought season 8 of Game of Thrones was fantastic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.88|162.158.214.88]] 22:23, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Critically panned films that I like include: Crimes of Grindelwald, Passengers, and Warcraft.
:Oooh, ''Passengers'' is a good one, I'm stealing that. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 01:16, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

I second Crimes of Grindelwald (37 RT), and add Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (48 RT), which I also enjoyed and actually recommend to people. Now these movies aren't "classics" or "great movies", they aren't perfect, but they are effective entertainment, and ''not'' because they "are so bad their good". Grindelwald has many effective scenes and acting, and Valerian is a very effective effort at making a movie out of a comic book that ''feels like a comic book''-- a fact I appreciated. Of course 48 RT is also just under the 50 RT threshold.[[User:Careysub|Careysub]] ([[User talk:Careysub|talk]])

Critically acclaimed films that I do not like: Avatar and Life of Pi. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.213|173.245.48.213]] 22:47, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Not under 50%, but I'm shocked that "The Secret Life of Walter Smitty" has only 51%... National Treasure has only 46%... I like this game, it is a test in optimism.
:"The Secret Life of Walter '''Mitty'''" deserves a low rating, particularly when compared to the original with Danny Kaye. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.73|162.158.107.73]] 05:31, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Frankly it would be easier to list the movies I like that aren't below 50% on rotten tomatoes. [[User:CJB42|CJB42]] ([[User talk:CJB42|talk]]) 00:23, 3 August 2019 (UTC)s

My experience with rotten tomatoes ratings in particular is that they have no clue and I find their ratings useless. The challenge from Randall in this comic is a case in point: the first movie I though to check, “Another Gay Movie” gets a 40% on the tomatometer yet is one of my favorites. Same thing with all the “Eating Out” movies: good comedies that I enjoy, yet Tomatometer scores of 16%, 44%, and 17% for the first three. (And why is “Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds” so much higher ranked than 1 or 3? It’s not that different...)
I think the criteria that Randal assumes (but doesn’t mention) is that the movie has to be a box office hit that appeals to mainstream audiences.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.73|162.158.107.73]] 03:55, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

I don't see why Suicide Squad got trashed. It was light, colourful, had an engaging story, and well made. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.209|172.68.253.209]] 04:04, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Sucker Punch. There, I said it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.77|141.101.99.77]] 07:36, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

There's a certain type of movie that 'h8ers' will auto-trash before they even come out (especially "Gender-switched version of a classic", like that ''Ghostbusters'', and "Strong female type", like ''Wonder Woman'' - as easy examples of those that some people love to hate, regardless of actual merit). So I recon there'd be good mileage in keeping an eye on (for example) the double-whammy that is the upcoming Female Thor movie. If it doesn't ''actually'' turn out to be so bad that you personally don't like it, I predict that it'll be pre-release troll-sniped down below 50% in "popular" opinion and even if they're not at all right about their guess there'll be a window of opportunity before any counter-viewpoint from actual viewers ups the score again. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 10:21, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

What the heck are all these Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller movies doing at sub-50%? I didn't know people supposedly hated Night at the Museum that much. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.67|172.68.189.67]] 17:13, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

== Post-2000? ==

Anyone have an idea why "post-2000" is a criteria? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 23:58, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
:Maybe because Rotten Tomatoes was launched close to the end of the 1990s, so post-2000 movies are the only ones that have been reviewed as they came out? Or perhaps it's to limit the scope of "movies that came out in your adult life", since adult life could go back a long way for some people. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 01:16, 3 August 2019 (UTC)
:I don't know for certain, but I feel incredibly confident that it's the timing of Rotten Tomatoes, that older movies that came out before the site existed won't be thoroughly / properly covered. Like if you look closely you'll see the 40% rating on this movie comes from only 1 vote. I suspect Randall feels that as of 2000, there was enough activity on the site to provide sufficient coverage. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:40, 3 August 2019 (UTC)
:Pre-2000 films, being prior to RT, have the 'benefit'  of studied hindsight. Anybody who bothers to review [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003722_casino_royale the ''original'' Casino Royale], which would be my choice for this if I were allowed, just has far too much baggage to be thinking the same as with something just being appreciated in the context as a new-release. Including me, probably, across the many years since I first saw that film and fell in love with it, despite the obvious and total car-crash of its Development Hell! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 10:21, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

I KNOW that there are many, many movies I can apply to this challenge - I often find myself enjoying unpopular movies. Plus, critics suck, they seem to always forget that this is ENTERTAINMENT. A clever movie that is dull as dirt and makes you fall asleep should NOT receive high praise, it fails at the primary function - but I can't think of them in the moment. About a week ago on Facebook I had a memory, a list of facts about Eurotrip, where the article called it a flop, while I loved it, so probably that one. This comic triggered my first ever visit to Rotten Tomatoes, who lists Eurotrip as I think 46%, but much higher for Audience score, so I THINK it counts? What bumps me is that it seems like "Audience Score" would be popular opinion, making Eurotrip actually a Popular movie, which seems like then it wouldn't apply here. ???? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:40, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Hypothesis: People generally give more positive then negative reviews, and positive reviews also cause more people to watch. The number of watching for something bad is therefor lower, while a good movie is watched so often there is always a critic.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.190|172.69.55.190]] 10:19, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1750: Life Goals

2019-07-29T16:05:34Z

WhiteDragon: Do long words require intermediate words?

The last line is actually a real punch-line... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.78|162.158.201.78]] 14:51, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

With "Unfortunately (the two protobirds) lived in different time periods, so we can only speculate which one would win a fight.", as per current explanation text, I first of all thought 'the latter, as it was alive and the other had already died' (so maybe not a ''fair'' fight, but definitely indicates a survivor), but I'm not ''entirely''sure whether I'd even overcome an Australopithocus (despite the height advantage), if I ever suddenly encountered a suitably enraged (and live) one whilst not equipped with my own contemporary tools, so maybe I ought to be less certain about the other fight ''if'' it happened in sight of an artist... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.48|141.101.98.48]] 14:54, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
:I'll call John Hammond. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 00:28, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
:We can easily speculate, and just as well as if they lived during the same time. We would have as little chance of guessing who would have won just because they might actually have had such a fight in reality. I think the flying petrosaurs with a wings span four times the length of the feathered (and only proto bird) would have won. The petrosaurs where not the kind that went on to becoming birds as far as I know. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:01, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

A lot of these are proper nouns and so shall not be used in scrabble. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.224|108.162.215.224]] 16:21, 24 October 2016 (UTC)BLuDgeons

A first-fight is how all Scrabble games end in languages that have composite words like Danish or German. That or knockout. Footnotefontsizeselection, quizmasterfluffer, telemarketercounterharassment... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.104|173.245.48.104]] 17:02, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

Whoever added "you could put an E tile down upside down" should win a prize. [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 17:57, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
O
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this isn't actually about the last three letters of the alphabet, but about the five "power letters" in Scrabble (hence the last line): J, K, Q, X, Z. [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 18:09, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
:I would agree that there is a couple of other letters but there is hardly enough Q, K and J to make it worth mentioning... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:01, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
::But it's about Scrabble point count, not just letters toward the end of the alphabet. The fact that many rare (and thus high-ranking) tiles happen to be toward the end is irrelevant. The focus is on high-ranking Scrabble tiles, no matter where in the alphabet they are. I thought I might as well verify this, though, so I put the words (without "Mister") onto a letter frequency counter, then looked up the letter frequencies in English on Wikipedia to compare to the average frequencies. The letters that appeared at least 1% LESS often than expected were C, D, E, F, H, I, N, O, R, S, T, and W, and all of these letters are worth fewer than 5 points in Scrabble. (E, N, and S appeared more than 4% less often, and these are very common letters worth very few points.) The letters that appeared at least 1% MORE often than expected were J, K, P, Q, X, Y, and Z. All of those are worth multiple points. Only two of those (P and Y) are worth fewer than 5 points, and Y is worth 4 points, very close... and its unique position as the only vowel worth more than 1 point elevates its status somewhat. P was only slightly over 1% increased. (All tiles except X, Y, and Z have less than a 2% increase. Y has a 7.66% increase, while X and Z each have an increase of about 14%.) It's true that X, Y, and Z show the most dramatic increase (though E shows nearly as dramatic a decrease), but the analysis certainly shows that Randall might have had some bias toward using J (1.33% increased), K (1.45% increased), and Q (1.39% increased) as well as the obvious X, Y, and Z. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.79.81|172.68.79.81]] 04:26, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
:::My impression of the comic was not that it was just about Scrabble (too many words are impossible under typical Scrabble tile distributions) or specifically the last three letters of the alphabet (there's a decent amount of Qs in the comic), but the difficulty in reading/pronouncing the words. I was following along fine at first, but by the end of the comic had no phonetics in my head to describe what I was reading. I think the title-text supports that interpretation. From xkcd's [http://www.xkcd.com/about/ About page]: "It's just a word with no phonetic pronunciation". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.196|108.162.210.196]] 05:01, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
::::There are only two Q's in the comic. I have now removed the Q from the table. It is only XYZ heavy words that are used excessively. I do not think this comic is about scrabble point. It is just a way to list all these weird words Randall has found. And the to make a joke he put in the scrabble goal. (Also just fixed a problem with the post two above here, which was divided in two, and then the next post was posted in the middle of that post...) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:33, 25 October 2016 (UTC)

I didn't feel that the release schedule (or the lack of such) of the What if? mentioned is in any means important for the explanation. So I removed it... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:37, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
:Well he post a rare what if release and within a week has referenced it from the next three comics. He usually do not refer to any what if post directly although he has done so recently (but rare due to the longer and longer span of time between posts). But this is the first time he does so several comics in a row! So in that sense it was relevant that it was the first in 12 weeks. And that it is rare that he has so long spans between two releases. This was the longest this year (and the year ends within 12 weeks so it will stay the longest), and the third longest so far. But now the fact can remain here in the comment. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:38, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
:: I already noticed that you are somewhat obsessed from the release schedule. No offense, that's absolutely fine. I on the other hand tend to think that there is no release schedule anymore. So yes, I agree in saying that the references are remarkable, but no, I don't see any connection to the time of release. As the explanation here suggests I think the research for the What If? inspired this (and maybe the other) comic - not vice versa. Plus, imho the connection to the What If? described in the explanation of 1749 is a bit far fetched. "Strange records and trivia" is like saying "there are words" - especially on xkcd. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:11, 26 October 2016 (UTC)

Wow. These pages get a ton of edits in a relatively short timespan, when you see them go live, one at a time. It's awe-inspiring. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 00:28, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
:The problem with making long edits is that you end up in edit conflicts, so short ones are better. Then it is also easier for others to look in the history and add their own conflicted changes to the new edits. That is why I often make a ton of edits in a short time. Have been locked in a jam of conflicts enough time with new comics editing --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:38, 25 October 2016 (UTC)

I hate to be pedantic, but the game "Zzyzzyxx" (with a clone known as "Blox") was not about navigating a labyrinth. You'd think with a name like that, it'd be something high-tech and sci-fi-ish. No. It's a little green man running back and forth through scrolling walls of bricks to pick up gifts for his girlfriend. It's really one of the dumbest games ever made, and it's hard to find (partly because it was really unpopular). [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 16:38, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Too bad he missed one goal:
Compose a zydeco for xylephone and zzxjoanw. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.184|162.158.69.184]] 04:33, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
:Zzxjoanw isn't a real instrument, it's a hoax word. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.135|172.68.78.135]] 03:50, 16 November 2016 (UTC)

Maybe I'm missing something but why does the "In SOWPODS?" column for muzquizopteryx say "No" when it says "Yes" for archaeopteryx? Neither are proper nouns and I can't think of any other reason that muzquizopteryx should be excluded. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.88|172.68.34.88]] 21:47, 23 September 2017 (UTC)

Is it possible to add 7 tiles to an existing word or words to make some of the long ones? For instance, is there a possible intermediate game state allowing addition of up to 7 tiles to complete the word "Muzquizopteryx"?

Talk:1193: Externalities

2019-07-23T11:43:23Z

WhiteDragon: CORS issues on xkcd 1193

Any chance we can convince Randall to let other universities in: the Canadian ones only work if they have a .edu, so uwaterloo.ca and sfu.ca are out.
: As are [schools].ac.in
: I can't get my university (PUC-Rio, in Brazil) too... =/ [[Special:Contributions/139.82.240.51|139.82.240.51]] 18:28, 1 April 2013 (UTC) etandel
: It looks like he may have lifted the restriction, considering all the different urls such as google.com, reddit.com, and even what I have to assume is a porn website. --[[User:LRFLEW|LRFLEW]] ([[User talk:LRFLEW|talk]]) 03:46, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

--[[Special:Contributions/137.147.40.248|137.147.40.248]] 13:53, 1 April 2013 (UTC) For an easier time spotting the changes, go to [http://xkcd.com/1193/#verbose] and open your web console

[[Special:Contributions/199.48.226.89|199.48.226.89]] 10:18, 1 April 2013 (UTC) I put in "caltech.edu" and hashed a lot of words, and "Twilight Sparkle is best pony." was the best result I managed, only off by 496 bits.
: Lol, "only". The results should be binomially distributed, with a mean of 512, so 496 isn't even close to the scores in the ranking. [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 12:44, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

I noticed when looking at the list of scores that a large number of universities have a best score at 420. According to my calculations, the amount of universities with this score is 2516 out of the 2824 universities listed. Is there any reason that so many universities have the exact same score? --[[User:LRFLEW|LRFLEW]] ([[User talk:LRFLEW|talk]]) 03:38, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

: +1! A few hours ago this wasn't the case... What's up with all the 420's?? [[Special:Contributions/108.218.230.91|108.218.230.91]] 03:42, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
:People keep posting hash values on the internet. Those universities are dirty cheaters, and they're all just entering the 420 hash in for their university without actually calculating it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:05, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:: While this copy-cattism might be the reason for the proliferation of 420s (which, in India, is slang that, funnily enough, refers to a confidence-trickster) - note that at the beginning of the contest, a lot of different domain names all had 'scores' between 400-500. Now, if I'm not wrong, the hash contains 1024 bits. So you could be off by 1024 in the worst case, and 0 in the best case. But the spread was very narrow. Admittedly, you wouldn't notice the higher numbers, because only the best case scenario has been published, but from the clustering of the different universities (with respect to their scores), as well as the fact that it's taking this long for even ONE clear best score to emerge, seems to suggest that there IS something special about the 400-500 score band. Does anyone have any layman-level information on the statistics of the entropy of the Skein hash function? And the statistics of what error figure for random hash compared to given hash is most frequent? [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 18:26, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:::a hash is, at best, very close to a random number. Here, we have two 1024-bit random numbers. It makes sense that most commonly, two such random numbers differ in about half of the bits - for each bit, there's a 50% probability that the bits will be the same and 50% that they will differ. Therefore the spread centers on 512, but of course we just see the lower part of the spread here. [[Special:Contributions/2.223.68.79|2.223.68.79]] 23:46, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:: My test here shows that the 420s is that 420 Bits wrong is about what a single computer can get to within a few hours. So its no wonder that 420s are common for a lot of universities. Its just someone there who is running a little script to break the hash.
[[Special:Contributions/91.214.44.212|91.214.44.212]] 23:34, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

::: Although it's true that if you run a PC for a couple of hours, you're very likely ending up somewhere between 415 and 425, this does not explain such a peak at 420. If you consider the probability function for a PC's best result within a day, then maybe 420 is the most likely outcome, but you should see a lot of 421s, 419s, 418s and so on: Seeing a number in 419...415 before you see a 420 should have a chance > 0.5. [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 11:47, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

:::: 420 is stoner slang for marijuana. Evidently someone (or many someones) thought it would be funny to have that number associated with their school. {{unsigned|69.180.123.64}}

All I see is a blank white 780x969 image. Nothing appears when I hover over stuff. [[Special:Contributions/109.65.100.208|109.65.100.208]] 09:04, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
:Sometimes it does that. It takes a while to generate, and it doesn't always render correctly. Try updating your browser or refreshing. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
The person who provided the shopped image either isn't using a modern browser or is using IE. The font is supposed to be "xkcd-Regular", which I assume is a font that gets downloaded from XKCD's server. Loading the same page in IE 9 gave me that Times New Roman-esque font instead (Chrome, Firefox, and Opera use the special font, although it's rendered a little fuzzy in Firefox). [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 09:25, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

The dog part now shows "FREEPRIME@AMAZON.COM" underneath the sliders for me. --[[User:Gefrierbrand|Gefrierbrand]] ([[User talk:Gefrierbrand|talk]]) 09:50, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
:I think it matches the company in the first panel? (Currently CAREERS@XLINX INC for me.) --[[Special:Contributions/81.138.95.57|81.138.95.57]] 10:53, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

The page where the company name is supposed to be fetched from is "Sith" now, but I checked and the company is not there. I think this will take some time to decipher ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:12, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

: .... uh, remember few pages ago where we JOKED about being used as distributted computer? Now we ARE used to crack the provided hash ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:15, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

: It's April 1st. Maybe the idea that the company is sourced from a Wikipedia page is not true. That would explain the link to the Wikipedia fund raising page as an apology for the fact that there will be many XKCD readers vandalising the Sith page [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 11:38, 1 April 2013 (UTC).

:: ... AND it's [wikipedia:Jean-Luc_Picard|Jean Luc Picard] now. AND there is actually Apple linked from it. While the Google is company doing recruiting now ... hmmm ... but Google actually IS mentioned in one of previous version of page ... damn vandals. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:35, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:::WAIT. Randal now mentioned "... Final Fantasy Tactics. But link on Jean Luc Picard could beat it". So either it's something like "taken from last edited page" or he is doing it manually. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:42, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

::::"Microsoft Corporation is the first NASDAQ-100 company mentioned on the wikipedia page 'IBM'. But a link on 'Oprah' could beat it." -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:05, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:::::... AND wikipedia editors started observing the comics to edit-protect wikipedia entries BEFORE the vandals strike, as shown [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elixir_%28comics%29&action=history here]. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:49, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

The top of the page for the comic now mentions this: "You can change the company in this comic. Mouse over its name in the first panel. The schools are selected by a hash breaking competition." Don't think that was there before. More interesting is the first sentence. Do we have a list of wikipedia pages that he's tracking for the first company mentioned in the page? [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 17:52, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Ignorant question: What is this hash finding competition? Was it announced somewhere? [[Special:Contributions/129.67.199.117|129.67.199.117]] 11:56, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

: Click that panel: http://almamater.xkcd.com/ [[User:Jeremy1026|Jeremy1026]] ([[User talk:Jeremy1026|talk]]) 12:05, 1 April 2013 (UTC).

:: Looking in the [http://c7.xkcd.com/stream/comic/externalities?method=EventSource&lastEventId=&r=362667083523542 externalities file], another usefull link is "... full standings at [http://almamater.xkcd.com/best.csv http://almamater.xkcd.com/best.csv]" -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:24, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:
The sad thing is that people are probably only donating to a good cause to see the dog-drawing get bigger. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 14:11, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:In that case it's good Randal used GOOD cause. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:24, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

::Actually, the sad thing is taht people are vandalizing Wikipedia. --[[Special:Contributions/189.61.0.28|189.61.0.28]] 19:26, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone explain what, if anything, the name/email/education values (fifth panel) refer to? [[Special:Contributions/108.36.128.122|108.36.128.122]] 19:34, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:Looks like one random string and one random pair of strings. [[Special:Contributions/178.238.159.109|178.238.159.109]] 20:12, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone been able to reproduce the 1024-bit Skein hash values that he is generating at http://almamater.xkcd.com/? The hashes that he shows don't match the ones I'm getting from my Skein hash calculator (using 1024 bit output and 1024 bit internal state size). I tried feeding the same string into the hash function both with and without a trailing null character and neither matches. For example, if I type abc into the form, he shows 35a599...1f1f (edited for brevity), but I calculate that a hash of the 3-byte message "abc" should be 10a866...035c.[[User:Theodric|Theodric]] ([[User talk:Theodric|talk]]) 22:03, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:I'm getting completely different values also. [[Special:Contributions/173.22.172.7|173.22.172.7]] 22:57, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:I have the same problem as you. I'm thinking that Xkcd is using an older standard of the encryption. I'm currently trying out the php versions of the code to see if I can get it to work. --[[User:LRFLEW|LRFLEW]] ([[User talk:LRFLEW|talk]]) 23:16, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

::Nope. Tried all I could and still couldn't figure it out. My guess is that he's using a secret salt. --[[User:LRFLEW|LRFLEW]] ([[User talk:LRFLEW|talk]]) 23:37, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

:::'''Solved!''' :) I was originally using version 1.2 of the Skein hash function. Version 1.3 uses different constants and yields different results. The almamater page seems to be using version 1.3 -- my calculator now matches Randall's hashes.--[[User:Theodric|Theodric]] ([[User talk:Theodric|talk]]) 03:34, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

::::Where are you getting the implementation? I can't seem to get it to work even with v1.3. --[[User:LRFLEW|LRFLEW]] ([[User talk:LRFLEW|talk]]) 04:42, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

::::I'm using source code from here: http://www.skein-hash.info/sites/default/files/NIST_CD_102610.zip. I'm using the code in the Optimized_64bit directory. All C files were compiled with gcc as well as http://theodric.com/test_skein.c --[[User:Theodric|Theodric]] ([[User talk:Theodric|talk]]) 10:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:::::Thank you for the example code. I had two errors in how I was implementing it. The interesting problem I ran into was that the string to hash needs to be formatted for the web (so space becomes '+', ext.) --[[User:LRFLEW|LRFLEW]] ([[User talk:LRFLEW|talk]]) 17:02, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:::: Confirmed, xkcd uses skein 1.3. Did anyone find another implementation (besides the reference implementation)? I wasted an hour starting with the Java impl, before I decided to re-fresh my C, but now I am running roughly 7 million tests per minute on my poor notebook ;) Still way too slow to catch up with the current leaders. My best score is 415. [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 12:26, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

"Wikipedia article on {hint: The perpetrators of the largest extinction in Earth's history}" Would this be humans? I'm afraid to get in on the Wikipedia editing since I'm already in so-so standing due to some childishness in 2006... [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 21:54, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

The opening line of the first panel has changed. It's now "Ahoy, Carnegie Melonites!" (for the current school) rather than "Hey, [university] students!" (as listed in all the current entries for the changing first panel text). The question and response seem to be the same as before.
And the fifth panel now has "if they're clever with their applications" instead of "provided any of them manage to fill out the application correctly". So showing the text as static in the comic image is no longer accurate.
--[[Special:Contributions/50.0.108.18|50.0.108.18]] 23:00, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

If I visit http://xkcd.com/1193/ then the font is xkcd-Regular, whereas if I visit http://www.xkcd.com/1193/ then the font is the default serif font… (Iceweasel with NoScript) [[Special:Contributions/178.238.159.109|178.238.159.109]] 02:44, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

: The font is loaded from [http://xkcd.com/fonts/xkcd-Regular.otf], regardless of where you see the comic from. However, Iceweasel (and presumably Firefox) dissallow cross-site access. For this reason, https://xkcd.com/1193/ also gets the default serif font. [[Special:Contributions/128.211.198.17|128.211.198.17]] 22:24, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Someone, please explain what hash breaking is. [[User:Jackdavinci|Jackdavinci]] ([[User talk:Jackdavinci|talk]]) 04:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:A cryptographically-secure hash function maps a set of numbers onto another set of numbers in such a way that converting forwards is easy, but converting back is difficult. The idea is that given a key and a lock, you can check the key against the lock by hashing the key and seeing if it maps to the lock. But given just the lock, you can't generate the key (easily). Randall gave us a lock, and the competition is to find the closest key. This is basically a competition to see who has the most computing power to generate lots and lots of keys. Keep in mind, I've glossed over a lot of technical details here. --[[Special:Contributions/173.162.57.51|173.162.57.51]] 15:22, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:: There should be some cleverness involved in addition to access to computers. It all comes down to who can generate the most hashes in the time available, because as a good cryptographic hash Skein gives you no hint about how to change your input to get a result closer to your target, you just have to keep making guesses. But that is not just a matter of how many computers you have. For example, Googling around for implementations of Skein I didn't find any ready to run libraries for GPUs of Skein 1024 1024. A team at a university could have stuck with an existing C implementation running on an available set of computers, or taken the time to get it running on GPUs and get quite a bit of extra speed. Also, I haven't experimented with it, but a hash function should be faster if you give it a smaller input. The current best result from CMU would take on the average about 1 quadtrillion (1e15) trials to find. Given that the input to the hash has to be in the form of URL-safe printable characters, if you assume that your team will not have time to generate more than, say 1e16 hashes and the character set you have to work with is 100 characters (my guess from looking at my keyboard) then your test input strings do not have to be longer than 8 characters. Anyone who is generating test input for the hash that is any longer, for example if they are, as a really bad example, converting 1024-bit numbers to 256 ASCII character hex, is doing at least 32 times too much work for each hash calculation. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 00:37, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
:The time it takes to compute a Skein hash depends only on the number of bits of internal state, not of the input. This is intentional; if the execution time were dependent on input length, an attacker could execute a timing attack on the hash. AES is known to be sensitive to such attacks, but Skein is resistant. [[Special:Contributions/140.254.153.76|140.254.153.76]] 04:14, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it over now that it's after midnight? When I moused over the school name, it didn't give me a pop-up showing the next hint. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 06:06, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

:I would assume so. The wikipedia challenges needed to be done manually, automatic ones would be blocked by wikipedia staff (see my point about Elixir page). Also, making people vandalize wikipedia is not exactly nice. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:52, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Do you suppose the "Needs more Bob" possibility in the second panel is a reference to Microsoft Bob (an absolutely and justly reviled Microsoft product from the 90's)? [[Special:Contributions/66.140.241.100|66.140.241.100]] 11:25, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Scary Thought #392:
'Time' and 'Extenalities' are giving Explainxkcd heavy loads. This may be on purpose. Randall might upload yet another 'heavy' comic. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 14:05, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
:It does feel like he sometimes just releases comics that do unusual edge-casey things, just to see us wiki editors struggle with handling the comic. Then again, it might just be Randall trying to make a really dynamic and novel webcomic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:28, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
:At the moment, xkcd.com seems to be down. Coincidence? --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm surprised no one had added the Activision/Blizzard versions. I know it wasn't up for long, but I expected we'd have a ton of gamers jumping at the chance to add that version of the comic. (Good thing I screen-captured it so I had a reference to work from!)

Did anyone try using http://xkcd.com/936/ as a method of generating hash inputs? --[[User:Theodric|Theodric]] ([[User talk:Theodric|talk]]) 13:18, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
: Someone reported the [http://echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101147&start=160#p3314970 horse (plus salt)] as a (at this time: rather good) try, provoking a bunch of copycats. However, as was pointed out in the discussion, since we weren't looking for ''the'' correct hash, but merely a good ''approx'', brute force remained the method of choice (at least within the Top10, I'd say)... Still, maybe some regular could properly include the x-ref to the strip; after all, it ''could'' have been Randall "only" making his point. [[Special:Contributions/134.61.103.44|134.61.103.44]] 10:57, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

You're missing one of the dog panels: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/externalities/65668a72a3705ffc90ac924e7d5e2a3b75c2419886474fef2f0937dc96f2f3f1.png. --[[Special:Contributions/71.193.152.91|71.193.152.91]] 21:14, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Baidu references:

:Baidu is a large Chinese Internet services company that employs thousands, whose shares are publicly traded on world stock exchanges. It's the predominant Internet search provider of China, and is sometimes called the "Google of China". It offers parallels for the Chinese market of many of the services that Google provides and offers its own encyclopedic wiki with a restricted edit policy to serve as a replacement for Wikipedia.

:Wikipedia reports that Baidu's search engine handled 56% of Chinese internet search queries in Q4 2010. and that in October 2012, Baidu ranked 5th overall in the Alexa Internet rankings.

:Given that explanation for the Baidu references in #1193 is still solicited for explainxkcd, Baidu apparently is not well known yet among savvy XKCD readers.

:Baidu Search results reputedly follow the censorship dictates of the Chinese authorities, causing it to return censored responses to searches for politically sensitive terms like "Tianamen Square massacre" or "Falun Gong" when executed by web browsers that are connected via Chinese ISPs.

:When you execute such searches via Baidu in the US, the top links returned for these topics do seem to reflect Chinese government sensibilities although the uncensored English language Wikipedia articles for these topics are listed high in the query results.

:Baidu's reputation for censorship provides background for Megan's reply "but nothing about Tianamen Square" in response to the "Come and find your future at Baidu" employment enticement of panel one and also provides the background to understand the "It takes great minds to stifle other great minds" slogan of the second panel.
[[User:DLuebbert|DLuebbert]] ([[User talk:DLuebbert|talk]]) 04:42, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

;Today's incomplete explanation (November 30, 2013)
I have done some layout changes and I did add the final transcript. Please check if it is correct to all countries.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:22, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

The comic isn't on xkcd anymore. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.43|108.162.215.43]] 05:06, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
:There was a glitch on some ''dynamic'' servers for a few days; it seems to be solved right now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:51, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

This comic does not appear to be working on xkcd at this time - tried both Firefox and Chrome to view it, and saw some error in Firefox about a cross-site scripting violation. Anyone else seeing the same issue? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 12:30, 8 June 2019 (UTC)
:Yes, I'm seeing the same errors. The comic worked on http, but not on https. --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 11:43, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Category talk:Emoji

2019-06-05T19:48:24Z

WhiteDragon: 🇽🇰💿

🇽🇰💿 --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 19:48, 5 June 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2089: Christmas Eve Eve

2018-12-24T18:33:48Z

WhiteDragon: Christmas Adam

The "eve" count might be off by one or two. I used 365. [[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 05:40, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
:Correct would be 364. Except in leap years. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.90|162.158.90.90]] 09:23, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

In Germany, Christmas happens on Christmas Eve, so Cueball would be saying "eve" forever and just refer to the same date every time. "Heiligabend abends" is occasionally used to say the evening of 24th (the time of presents) and in northern Germany you sometimes say "Heiligtag", meaning "holy day" instead of "holy evening". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.90|162.158.90.90]] 09:23, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

"The day after Christmas" - isn't that just 2nd Christmas day? --[[User:Zom-B|Zom-B]] ([[User talk:Zom-B|talk]]) 10:55, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Interestingly the rather amazing "Nancy" did a similar gag yesterday. https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/12/23 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.62|141.101.77.62]] 14:09, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

I don't see where anybody actually reported counting the number of times Randall wrote "eve", so I counted each of the 18 rows separately and then added them together. I got 11, 14, 14, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, and 27 - a grand total of 364 times, as expected. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:13, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

My kids call the day before Christmas Eve "Christmas Adam". --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 18:33, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2078: Popper

2018-11-30T13:42:16Z

WhiteDragon: typo

I think this might have to do with the President's claims regarding climate change, there's no evidence that I'm not wrong [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 18:08, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
:I don't think you're wrong. I've never seen any evidence that you're wrong. I've never met the guy (I've definitely met the guy).
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:49, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

I have no evidence to prove that the comic's explanation is incorrect. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 18:10, 28 November 2018 (UTC)SiliconWolf

: I haven't failed to find no evidence that doesn't prove that you're not incorrect. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 13:03, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

This comic is almost doubly self-referential. Has Randall done that before? Has anyone asked if somebody has done that before? What about asking that: has that been done before?
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.64|172.68.174.64]] 18:39, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

So how about that? There's no evidence denying that this comic exists and has an explanation, and there's no evidence denying that the explanation is correct [[User:DiceGuy|~DiceGuy]] ([[User talk:DiceGuy|talk]]) 13:11, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Is the transcript really incomplete? It doesn't seem like it.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.22|162.158.255.22]] 16:26, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

: Doesn't seem incomplete to me either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.43|162.158.107.43]] 17:48, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

:: There certainly doesn't appear to be any evidence that the transcript is incomplete. [[User:Shishire|Shishire]] ([[User talk:Shishire|talk]]) 19:11, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

::: As a counterargument, if a picture is worth 1,000 words, the transcript appears to be about 959 words short of completion. And I fail to see any evidence that the transcript is ''not'' incomplete. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.226.239|108.162.226.239]] 04:45, 30 November 2018 (UTC)

: Negation by failure. Hey, it works perfectly in PROLOG. ;-)

Every time I read this, it reminds me of Bad Lip Reading's Carl Poppa[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9aM9Ch97U8].

Talk:2078: Popper

2018-11-30T13:40:43Z

WhiteDragon: Karl Poppa

I think this might have to do with the President's claims regarding climate change, there's no evidence that I'm not wrong [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 18:08, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
:I don't think you're wrong. I've never seen any evidence that you're wrong. I've never met the guy (I've definitely met the guy).
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:49, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

I have no evidence to prove that the comic's explanation is incorrect. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 18:10, 28 November 2018 (UTC)SiliconWolf

: I haven't failed to find no evidence that doesn't prove that you're not incorrect. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 13:03, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

This comic is almost doubly self-referential. Has Randall done that before? Has anyone asked if somebody has done that before? What about asking that: has that been done before?
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.64|172.68.174.64]] 18:39, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

So how about that? There's no evidence denying that this comic exists and has an explanation, and there's no evidence denying that the explanation is correct [[User:DiceGuy|~DiceGuy]] ([[User talk:DiceGuy|talk]]) 13:11, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Is the transcript really incomplete? It doesn't seem like it.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.22|162.158.255.22]] 16:26, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

: Doesn't seem incomplete to me either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.43|162.158.107.43]] 17:48, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

:: There certainly doesn't appear to be any evidence that the transcript is incomplete. [[User:Shishire|Shishire]] ([[User talk:Shishire|talk]]) 19:11, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

::: As a counterargument, if a picture is worth 1,000 words, the transcript appears to be about 959 words short of completion. And I fail to see any evidence that the transcript is ''not'' incomplete. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.226.239|108.162.226.239]] 04:45, 30 November 2018 (UTC)

: Negation by failure. Hey, it works perfectly in PROLOG. ;-)

Every time I read this, it reminds me of Bad Lip Reading's Karl Poppa[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9aM9Ch97U8].

Talk:2039: Begging the Question

2018-08-30T17:01:56Z

WhiteDragon: my personal experience with the word "nauseous"

First[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.231|162.158.74.231]] 17:17, 29 August 2018 (UTC)

Of course it's also possible that the food made them so Nauseated that they also became Nauseous (i.e. they could have started vomiting or smell horrible due to eating the food, causing people around to feel unwell as well). [[User:NormanR|NormanR]] ([[User talk:NormanR|talk]]) 21:13, 29 August 2018 (UTC)

I believe the reason the two words have become confused is due to the word "noxious". which means "very unpleasant". So, someone who is "nauseated" could feel "noxious", and when wires end up crossed in the brain, they associate it with "nauseous" rather than "noxious". {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.166}}

: But "noxious" means harmful, poisonous, unpleasant, which is different than "having an unpleasant feeling." Here again, the word "unpleasant" has undergone a shift in usage from "not pleasing" to something more like "displeased" as in the statement "I feel unpleasant," used to mean "I have an unpleasant feeling." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.46|162.158.75.46]] 04:57, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

: Except that the secondary meaning of nauseous has been around for as long as the primary meaning. It is only recent pedantry that has tried to suppress the more ancient use. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.58}}

I shall follow this argument with complete disinterest [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]])

I looked up "Nauseous" in Dictionary.com and I found the following usage note:
: "The two literal senses of nauseous, “causing nausea” ( a nauseous smell ) and “affected with nausea” ( to feel nauseous ), appear in English at almost the same time in the early 17th century, and both senses are in standard use at the present time. Nauseous is more common than nauseated in the sense “affected with nausea,” despite recent objections by those who imagine the sense to be new. In the sense “causing nausea,” either literally or figuratively, nauseating has become more common than nauseous : a nauseating smell."
So, originally, it seems Nauseous was used to refer to both the object that causes the nausea, as well as the feeling. So this is not really a case of change of use, but more your typical snobbish people trying to appear smarter by correcting other people's language usage. The spirit of the comic remains, though. [https://www.dictionary.com/browse/nauseous Source] {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.23}}

;does randall read oots?...
...because the actual oots-strip contains "nauseous". {{unsigned ip|188.114.103.131}}

I'm 41 years old, and I have never heard the usage of nauseous meaning causing nausea until today. I speak American English. -- [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 17:01, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

1975: Right Click

2018-04-03T12:54:11Z

WhiteDragon: creamed corn

{{comic
| number = 1975
| date = April 1, 2018
| title = Right Click
| image = right_click.png
| titletext = Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!
}}
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.''' 
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organized and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic pokes fun at how hard it can be to save an image or to just navigate context menus in some computer programs. Likely it is also a reference to the movie "Ready Player One", based on the book by Cline: in the movie, in fact, the purpose was to find an Easter Egg hidden in an Atari video game named "Adventure".

This is an interactive comic which manipulates the context menu of the browser. This menu is typically accessible by a right-click or a long press on mobile devices without a mouse.

It should be noted that if you DO manage to save the image somehow (Possibly by right-clicking before the javascript loads, or by pulling it from the source, or by right-click saving it normally from unixkcd), it just shows the initial image of the page with nothing changed. There is not additional joke by actually being able to save the image. Note that if you dig deep enough, there IS a way to save the image from the right click menu, and it DOES get you a different image. However, the other ways previously mentioned do not give you that image, even though you are saving the image.

The comic uses {{w|JavaScript}} and {{w|HTML5}} to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behavior may be different depending on the browser environment.

The manipulated context menu is described below:
;Main Context Menu

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items
|-
!1
| '''Save'''
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game or getting the Easter egg in Mornington Crescent.
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]

|-
! 2
| '''File'''
| Normal submenu
|Close: Closes menu, does nothing.
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])

Find: Where, When, How, (grayed out) What, (grayed out) Why, Who.

'Where' leads to four options. The first, 'computer', has two options ('folder' and 'menus'), which link back to the 'find' and right-click menus, respectively. "Narnia" leads to a link to the comic [[665: Prudence]] as well as to a grey comment about how it's weird that "they" have to die to go back to Narnia.
"Canada" and "America" lead to the same set of bizarre menus (America leads into Canada's menu), which then give the options 'Upper' and 'Lower', ultimately leading to a drive-through and hockey, respectively.

'When' leads to a description of Siri entering someone's home, and the menu can be followed to reveal several further events from 'earlier' in the day. The last one ('a bottle of jack and a toothbrush') is likely a reference to the song 'Tik Tok' by Kesha.

'How' simply leads to an exclamation of 'How!?'.

'Who' leads to a menu version of the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First?" routine.

Backup: Causes the area around the comic to flash red 9 times, with high-pitch sounds reminiscent of a truck backing up. Likely a pun.

Save: Only available after the save menu is unlocked after one of the two Easter Eggs is found, allows download of bonus comic.

|-
! 3
| '''Edit'''
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.
| None
|-
! 4
| '''System'''
| Normal submenu
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.

/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])
|-
! 5
| '''View'''
| Normal submenu
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]

Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]

Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.

Full Screen> Enters full screen.
|-
! 6
| '''Utilities'''
| Normal submenu
|Park drives> Nothing.

Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth

Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])

Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]

Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]].

Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:
* <code>apt-get install /dev/null</code>: <code>apt-get</code> is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; <code>/dev/null</code> is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install <code>/dev/null</code> (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from <code>/dev/null</code> (if <code>apt-get</code> is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.
* <code>brew install apt-get</code>: <code>brew</code> is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned <code>apt-get</code>, which is both impossible (<code>apt-get</code> doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called <code>apt</code>, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.
* <code>/usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe</code>: <code>wine</code> is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in <code>/usr/local</code> hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).
* <code>source .bash_history</code>: the <code>source</code> shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; <code>.bash_history</code> (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the command that have been typed in the shell.
* <code>rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*</code>: <code>rm -rf</code> deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; <code>$DIRECTROY</code> is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says <code>$DIRECTROY</code>, not <code>$DIRECTORY</code>), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes <code>rm -rf /*</code>, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many <code>rm</code> versions, which refuse to do a plain <code>rm -rf /</code>, as <code>/*</code> gets expanded by the shell, so <code>rm</code> never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code>: this is [https://askubuntu.com/q/159491/208527 a classic shell fork bomb], i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself, until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.
* <code>echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc</code>: <code>.bashrc</code> is a file that gets executed whenever the <code>bash</code> shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string <code>source .bashrc</code> to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.
* <code>alias gcc=php</code>: the <code>alias</code> shell builtin create an alias for another command; <code>gcc</code> is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; <code>php</code> is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing <code>gcc</code>, <code>php</code> is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).

'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]
|-
! 7
| '''Games'''
| Normal submenu
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing. There are links to Bing image searches for '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=okapi&FORM=HDRSC2 okapi]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pronghorn&FORM=HDRSC2 pronghorn]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eland&FORM=HDRSC2 eland]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=baribusa&FORM=HDRSC2 baribusa]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=musk%20deer&FORM=HDRSC2 musk deer]' and '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ibex&FORM=HDRSC2 ibex]'. The game also contains some extremely large cans of creamed corn (a reference to [[1807: Listening]]).

Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.

D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. [[1331: Frequency]]), what-ifs (e.g. {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}) and other external sites (e.g. [https://www.nasa.gov/sun The Sun | NASA]). See [https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/88vwoe/xkcds_latest_comic_has_a_dd_easter_egg/ post on /r/dndnext] for all 285 links and 11 extra effects.

ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]. 'ADVENT.EXE>Castle>Well>Wish for...' has links to comics [[572: Together]], [[1053: Ten Thousand]], [[152: Hamster Ball]], [[1196: Subways]], [[231: Cat Proximity]] and to what-if articles {{what if|111|All the Money}} and {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}. The C-remover is a reference to either the T-remover from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_Goddesses_of_Phobos Leather Goddess of Phobos] or the multi-letter remover from [http://emshort.com/counterfeit_monkey/ Counterfeit Monkey], a text adventure by Emily Short inspired by it. At one point in the maze, the options to travel are N, S, and Dennis instead of the usual N, E, S, W; this is a reference to a text-based game by Strong Bad from [http://homestarrunner.com homestarrunner.com]. For more info, see [http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/Thy_Dungeonman that game's wiki].

Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]] browser game.

Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game {{W|Mornington_Crescent_(game)|Mornington Crescent}}, which bears a surprising resemblance to {{W|London_Underground|London's Underground}} railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavouring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to ''N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins'' (sadly out of print). In this variation, one may reach 'Vauxhall'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save. The shortest path to the Easter basket is: Euston / Warren Street / Oxford Circus / Green Park / Victoria / Pimlico / Vauxhall / Easter basket
|-
! 8
| '''Help'''
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:
|Tutorial
Support

Manual

Troubleshooting

FAQ

Guide

Q&A

User forums

--------------

Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic:
[http://chromakode.com/ @chromakode]
[https://twitter.com/aiiane Amber]
[https://twitter.com/fadinginterest @fadinginterest]
[https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat]
[https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin]
[http://90d.ca/ Stereo]'
|-
! 9
| '''Do Crimes'''
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].

Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)

Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modelled on a 'C', or Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being crossed swords)
|}

;Filesystems Menu

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items
|-
! A:\
| '''Insert'''
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'
|-
! C:\
| '''Documents/'''
| Nothing.
| None.
|-
! C:\
| '''Music/'''
| Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]]).
| 'Hey now / Hey now / Don't dream it's over' links to [[240: Dream Girl]]. 'This / is / a / story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside down' links to [[464: RBA]]. 'This / is / the / story of a girl / who cried a river and drowned the whole world' links to a Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FVAEYRM5I
|-
! C:\
| '''Bookmarks/'''
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.
|-
! C:\
| '''Games/'''
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.
|-
! C:\
| '''Sequences/'''
| The options are the lines from a ''Tim and Eric'' sketch [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/celery-man Celery Man]; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch.
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY
|-
! /
| '''home/'''
| Nothing.
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]

user> Same files as C:\

root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'
|-
! /
| '''opt/'''
| Does nothing.
| None.
|-
! /
| '''sbin/'''
| Does nothing.
| None.
|-
! /
| '''usr/'''
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/usr.html the /usr hierarchy] does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/the-root-directory.html to those of the root directory].
|-
! /
| '''dev/'''
| Nothing.
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]
|}

In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the {{W|Telenet}}. (More on UniXKCD commands can be found [[721:_Flatland#UniXKCD|here]].)

==Transcript==
:[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of centre.]

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!

{{comic discussion}}



[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]

Talk:1927: Tinder

2017-12-11T21:40:23Z

WhiteDragon: link

This comic reminds me of [http://xkcd.com/582] (because of using an inappropriate form of communication in an emergency).

Talk:1927: Tinder

2017-12-11T21:39:00Z

WhiteDragon: link

This comic reminds me of [xkcd.com/582] (because of using an inappropriate form of communication in an emergency).

Talk:1927: Tinder

2017-12-11T21:38:25Z

WhiteDragon: car talk

This comic reminds me of xkcd.com/582 (because of using an inappropriate form of communication in an emergency).

Talk:1923: Felsius

2017-12-01T22:20:22Z

WhiteDragon: hybrids

Thanks who, at the same time as I, wrote the better explanation with formulae; you're welcome for the table (which, for my first attempt at a MediaWiki table, and in a big hurry to be first*, I think came out all right). ((*Go ahead and edit at will!)) --'''BigMal''' // [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.184|108.162.216.184]] 16:44, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

Seems like this is awfully relevant: https://xkcd.com/927/ -- '''Derek Antrican''' [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.23|108.162.246.23]] 16:54, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

You can't write formulas like that! °C is degree(s) Celsius, not the value of some temperature as measured in degrees Celsius. You should write something like [°C] or °C-1 instead (if we treat °C as an affine function mapping dimensionless values to temperatures). Or you can be explicit and say something like "x°F = ((x − 32) * 5 / 9)°C". --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.22|172.68.54.22]] 19:59, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

Fahrenheit contribution to the name is disproportionately small for an average of two scales. It should have been at least Falsius, with added punniness, or Fahlsius, to be more unique. -- '''Average Alex'''

I'm obliged to share https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=227Hdz8VFKo. As a pedant, I have to point out that water's melting and boiling point aren't quite at 0 °C and 100 °C (and that Celsius originally had it backwards). And I *do* like "Falsius". [[User:Fluppeteer|Fluppeteer]] ([[User talk:Fluppeteer|talk]]) 21:19, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

Watchout for Felsius/Celsius or Felsius/Fahrenheit hybrids: https://xkcd.com/419/ [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 22:20, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1862: Particle Properties

2017-07-13T20:35:12Z

WhiteDragon: comment about Kg

oh dear, they copied the alt text wrong
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.108|173.245.50.108]] 14:58, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

More significantly, color charge is carried by gluons as well as quarks. [[User:Mjackson|Mjackson]] ([[User talk:Mjackson|talk]]) 15:19, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

As suggested by Zach Weinersmith ([https://twitter.com/zachweiner/status/885154434514395138 "For a joke: If you put pure alcohol under extreme pressure, could you claim to exceed 200 proof?"]), it's kind of confusing that the comic suggests alcohol proof can exceed 200 proof, and also that baseball batting averages can exceed 100%. Although on further review, they use the arrow-dot →∙ notation rather than the dot-arrow ∙→, so maybe it's not intended to indicate a lack of an upper bound. But then I'm not sure what it does indicate, esp. compared to the Electric Charge property. Continuous vs. discrete? It doesn't seem clear… [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 15:41, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

Proof is presumably US proof - UK usage based on gunpowder 175 degrees proof would be 100% alcohol

Batting average is presumably from baseball
Cricket batting averages are measured in runs per dismissal and are in theory unbounded. It is possible to have an infinite average for a season or series - though in terms of lifetime averages the best for players with more than ten matches is 99.96.
:If it is for baseball, it's labeled incorrectly. A perfect batting average is 1.000, not 100%. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batting_average Batting average] is actually a ratio - number of hits to number of at-bats - expressed as a decimal, not a percentage. For example, if a batter goes 3 for 5 in a game, his batting average would be .600, not 60%. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 16:25, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

We should probably arrange descriptions into a table.

How is it that there's no pain scale?
: Because Randall didn't think -- or possibly want -- to use it. Besides, do you really want every scale in existence in a single comic? If not, Randall has to select based on his own criteria, whatever they may be. As it is, there are 9 or 10 (depending on how you count "entropy") fields that don't apply to particle properties, as opposed to 5 or 6 that do. Gotta stop somewhere. [[User:Nyperold|Nyperold]] ([[User talk:Nyperold|talk]]) 22:44, 12 July 2017 (UTC)
: He could also have added the Volume scale, which would, of course, have been between 0 and 11.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 13:20, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

Actually, D&D calls you "dead" if you go to your NEGATIVE hit point maximum. Otherwise, you make a completely random (50%) death saving throw. After 3 cumulative fails, you die. After 3 cumulative successes, you are stable. More info can be found in the {{w|Player's Handbook}}. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 21:33, 12 July 2017 (UTC)
:According to the rules I know (Editions 3, 3.5 and Pathfinder) it's: 0 HP = unconscious; [-1; -CON) = dying (-> lose 1 HP each round unless you make a successful CON check); -CON = dead. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/conditions/#TOC-Dead [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:15, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

"Heat" measured in jalapeño has also been used by some email systems such as Eudora to measure how strong an email message is (e.g., whether it will lead to a flame war) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.46|198.41.238.46]] 05:02, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

"String Type" being ByteString-CharString is a reference to Haskell, the programming language referenced in [https://xkcd.com/1312/ 1312: Haskell] and used to make [https://xkcd.com/1037/ 1037: Umlaut], which is structurally obsessed with data types. [https://hackage.haskell.org/package/bytestring ByteString] is the go-to type for dynamic text, which in more literal form unpacks to a String of [Char]s. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.65|108.162.246.65]] 08:41, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

The lower case g in Kg looks odd. I thought it was a strangely shaped 's'. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 20:35, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1815: Flag

2017-03-24T14:44:26Z

WhiteDragon: logged in

A vote for me is a vote for bread on every table and a [https://smile.amazon.com/Off-Be-Wizard-Magic-2-0/dp/1612184715/ 73% battery level] until the end of time! [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 14:02, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Given that the design is a screenshot, the flag could be part of an existing logo, e.g. of a U.S. sport association.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 14:15, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

The comic states "our NEW country" so I removed the theory it could be a new US flag.
The most recent sovereign state, according to Wikipedia, is South Sudan created in 2011 so we could assume Randall never intended to talk about a real-life country [[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.28|162.158.234.28]] 14:25, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

:It could be referring to new country proposals by techno-libertarians and the like? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasteading] -[[User:Jules.LT|Jules.LT]] ([[User talk:Jules.LT|talk]]) 14:32, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
:: for instance https://www.cnet.com/news/asgardia-will-be-a-new-nation-in-space-and-you-can-be-a-citizen/ [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 14:44, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar

2015-12-03T14:14:14Z

WhiteDragon: /* other xkcd volcano/lava comics */ new section

The only experience I have with such a volcano exhibit is from US TV programmes representing the nerds (or the desperate non-nerds with no imagination) at a science-fair in Stateside schools, but I laid down my impressions of the tradition anyway. No embedded links to anything, as yet, as I expect other people will know what needs explaining (or re-writing) better than me. - I was going to go onto Supervolcano territory, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be more than 'regular' increased volcanic activity, outside, albeit through the power of acid/base interaction (thus salt being the equivalent of volcanic dust plumes, no doubt). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 10:00, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Another trans-Atleantean here, I've expanded on your explanation with some links and the title-text, but your overall draft concurs with my experience of science-fair volcanoes being a stereotypical "easy/lame" project for science fairs [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.193|162.158.90.193]] 11:33, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Humanity should hope that the supervolcano is built in scale, resulting in ONLY Decade Volcanoes level of damage. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:50, 2 December 2015 (UTC)
:According to the title text it is so no worries if you do not live close by or has to fly close to the ash clouds ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:03, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Isn't the girl the same one as in Feathers[[https://xkcd.com/1104/]]? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.95|199.27.129.95]] 23:08, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

I thought Megan was about to say that the mini volcano had nothing to do with the scientific method, which would fill in the holes mentioned by the incomplete box and thus complete the explanation. If anyone else agrees with me, I think we should edit it to say that (I'm too busy right now to do so.)[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.49|173.245.54.49]] 23:39, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Can we all agree that this is a young Danish? {{unsigned ip|Zakka}}

i personally think shes kinda a black hat type guy who caused unusual things to happen maybe her volcano is like a voodoo doll of sorts for the real earth which now suddenly has such volcanoes because of her. [[User:Needforsuv|Needforsuv]] ([[User talk:Needforsuv|talk]]) 11:39, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

== other xkcd volcano/lava comics ==

* https://xkcd.com/735/
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ (if you drop molten tungsten into hot lava, the lava will freeze the tungsten)
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ (what if we go higher)
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/135/ (digging downward)
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/57/ (ok, it's about mountains, but still...)
[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 14:14, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

1593: Play-By-Play

2015-10-21T13:07:40Z

WhiteDragon: link to wikipedia

{{comic
| number = 1593
| date = October 21, 2015
| title = Play-By-Play
| image = play_by_play.png
| titletext = The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]] comments on a {{w|Baseball|baseball}} game in a way that demonstrates that he has never seen one previously. Moreover, his naïve way of speaking reveals that he is not aware of his lack of knowledge and does not consider it possible that, as is probably the case, his audience is much more familiar with this sport and its rules.

{| class="wikitable"
! Text
! Explanation
|-
|"We're on part 5 of a hitting game."
|Part of baseball is hitting the ball with the {{w|Baseball bat|bat}}. A game is divided into 9 rounds, or {{w|Inning|innings}}.
|-
|"The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far."
|Every hitter uses a bat that fits his physique (within certain {{w|Baseball_bat#Baseball_bat_regulations|limits}}).
|-
|"Wait - he missed!" "Oh good, they're letting him try again."
|The {{w|Pitcher|pitcher}} tries to throw (or pitch) the ball in such a way as to make it hard for the hitter to hit the ball, but still have the ball go through the {{w|Strike zone|strike zone}}. A swing and a miss is counted as a strike, regardless of whether the ball passes the strike zone. A hitter is out when he accumulates three strikes (a {{w|Strikeout|strikeout}}); thus, swinging and missing will not get a hitter out if he has not accumulated two strikes already, and in this case he will be allowed to "try again".
|-
|"The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them."
|Cheering and heckling is so commonplace that the players on the field are unlikely to react to it. "Chair shelves" refers to {{w|bleacher}}s.
|-
|"This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them."
|The pitcher keeps striking out hitters. Or, he keeps {{w|Base on Balls|walking}} hitters, making them leave the batting area and go to first base.
|-
|"It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in."
|Only one pitcher pitches at a time.
|-
|"That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!"
|Any {{w|Baserunning|baserunner}} (a player standing at a {{w|Baseball field|base}} waiting to run to the next base) can attempt to run to the next base when the pitcher is delivering a pitch (called {{w|Stolen base|stealing a base}}). The pitcher can throw the ball to a defense player to {{w|Tag out|tag out}} the runner before he reaches the next base. Thus, an attempt to steal a base is most successful if no one notices.
|-
|"Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that."
|Successfully stealing a base, an infrequent event, usually receives a lot of cheers, especially if the offensive team is the home team. This may be a reference to [[1552: Rulebook]].
|-
|Title text: "The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail."
|A pitcher throwing pitches that get hit too often is undesirable, and will be substituted by a {{w|Relief pitcher|relief pitcher}} who will come out of the {{w|Bullpen|bullpen}} (the area next to the playing field where relief pitchers warm up; the "thrower jail") to join the game. Substitution decisions are made by the manager of the team (the "king of the game", though this name wrongfully suggests that one "king" controls both teams).
|}

==Transcript==
:[Beret guy is sitting with headphones with a microphone on, looking out of the frame, hands resting on a table.]
:Beret Guy: For those just joining us, hi! We're on part 5 of a hitting game.

:[Zoom out with Beret guy shown from the side sitting at a desk.]
:Beret Guy: The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far.
:Beret Guy: Wait - he missed!
:Beret Guy: Oh good, they're letting him try again.

:[Zoom in again on Beret Guy still seen from the side.]
:Beret Guy: The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them. Wow.
:Beret Guy: Rude.

:[Beret guy looks straight out.]
:Beret Guy: This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them.
:Beret Guy: It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in.

:[Beret guy turns his head to the side.]
:Beret Guy: ''That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!''
:Beret Guy: Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that.
:Beret Guy: Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once this game is over.

==Trivia==
* Even though Beret Guy speaks in simple words, his speech fails the [http://xkcd.com/simplewriter/ Thing Explainer word checker] due to the words "bat", "shelves", "wow", "rude", "teammates", "pillow", "rules", "yikes", and "hopefully".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Baseball]]
[[Category:Simplified language]]

1593: Play-By-Play

2015-10-21T13:03:04Z

WhiteDragon: alternative explanation

{{comic
| number = 1593
| date = October 21, 2015
| title = Play-By-Play
| image = play_by_play.png
| titletext = The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]] comments on a {{w|Baseball|baseball}} game in a way that demonstrates that he has never seen one previously. Moreover, his naïve way of speaking reveals that he is not aware of his lack of knowledge and does not consider it possible that, as is probably the case, his audience is much more familiar with this sport and its rules.

{| class="wikitable"
! Text
! Explanation
|-
|"We're on part 5 of a hitting game."
|Part of baseball is hitting the ball with the {{w|Baseball bat|bat}}. A game is divided into 9 rounds, or {{w|Inning|innings}}.
|-
|"The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far."
|Every hitter uses a bat that fits his physique (within certain {{w|Baseball_bat#Baseball_bat_regulations|limits}}).
|-
|"Wait - he missed!" "Oh good, they're letting him try again."
|The {{w|Pitcher|pitcher}} tries to throw (or pitch) the ball in such a way as to make it hard for the hitter to hit the ball, but still have the ball go through the {{w|Strike zone|strike zone}}. A swing and a miss is counted as a strike, regardless of whether the ball passes the strike zone. A hitter is out when he accumulates three strikes (a {{w|Strikeout|strikeout}}); thus, swinging and missing will not get a hitter out if he has not accumulated two strikes already, and in this case he will be allowed to "try again".
|-
|"The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them."
|Cheering and heckling is so commonplace that the players on the field are unlikely to react to it. "Chair shelves" refers to {{w|bleacher}}s.
|-
|"This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them."
|The pitcher keeps striking out hitters. Or, he keeps walking hitters, making them leave the batting area and go to first base.
|-
|"It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in."
|Only one pitcher pitches at a time.
|-
|"That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!"
|Any {{w|Baserunning|baserunner}} (a player standing at a {{w|Baseball field|base}} waiting to run to the next base) can attempt to run to the next base when the pitcher is delivering a pitch (called {{w|Stolen base|stealing a base}}). The pitcher can throw the ball to a defense player to {{w|Tag out|tag out}} the runner before he reaches the next base. Thus, an attempt to steal a base is most successful if no one notices.
|-
|"Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that."
|Successfully stealing a base, an infrequent event, usually receives a lot of cheers, especially if the offensive team is the home team. This may be a reference to [[1552: Rulebook]].
|-
|Title text: "The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail."
|A pitcher throwing pitches that get hit too often is undesirable, and will be substituted by a {{w|Relief pitcher|relief pitcher}} who will come out of the {{w|Bullpen|bullpen}} (the area next to the playing field where relief pitchers warm up; the "thrower jail") to join the game. Substitution decisions are made by the manager of the team (the "king of the game", though this name wrongfully suggests that one "king" controls both teams).
|}

==Transcript==
:[Beret guy is sitting with headphones with a microphone on, looking out of the frame, hands resting on a table.]
:Beret Guy: For those just joining us, hi! We're on part 5 of a hitting game.

:[Zoom out with Beret guy shown from the side sitting at a desk.]
:Beret Guy: The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far.
:Beret Guy: Wait - he missed!
:Beret Guy: Oh good, they're letting him try again.

:[Zoom in again on Beret Guy still seen from the side.]
:Beret Guy: The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them. Wow.
:Beret Guy: Rude.

:[Beret guy looks straight out.]
:Beret Guy: This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them.
:Beret Guy: It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in.

:[Beret guy turns his head to the side.]
:Beret Guy: ''That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!''
:Beret Guy: Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that.
:Beret Guy: Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once this game is over.

==Trivia==
* Even though Beret Guy speaks in simple words, his speech fails the [http://xkcd.com/simplewriter/ Thing Explainer word checker] due to the words "bat", "shelves", "wow", "rude", "teammates", "pillow", "rules", "yikes", and "hopefully".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Baseball]]
[[Category:Simplified language]]

Talk:1524: Dimensions

2015-05-14T23:30:46Z

WhiteDragon: /* time */ new section

This almost seems to be making fun of the frivolity with which people discuss the existence of multiple dimensions without realizing what that actually means. Anyone else get that feeling?

Reminds me of http://xkcd.com/417/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patema_Inverted which make fun of dimensions too. {{unsigned ip|108.162.230.59}}
:Great - I will add 417. please sign you comment with <nowiki>--~~~~</nowiki> ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:57, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

My first thought about Title Text was that moving sideways (standard x or y axis) would be bad, but not as bad as moving upwards (standard z axis). Z direction would be my least favourite! --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.57|141.101.104.57]] 08:20, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

The explanation looks more and more like a discussion. Four dimensions or eleven? I see that string theory "predicts 10 or 26 dimensions" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime). I think someone (but not me) should rewrite the discussion in a more comprehensive way.[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 08:35, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

We might had a link to the 2 what-if related to move steadlily in one direction : http://what-if.xkcd.com/135/ and http://what-if.xkcd.com/64/ {{unsigned ip|188.114.101.12}}

Isn't the alt text a reference to the fact that a cartoon only has two physical dimensions? That's how time can be in his top three. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.113|141.101.99.113]] 09:09, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

"Being pushed in one of the other directions could be lethal, if you where pushed hard enough against a rock, over a cliff or in front of a truck..."
Being pushed in the dimension of time is also ultimately fatal though. Push someone through time for long enough and they'll certainly die. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.8|141.101.92.8]] 09:20, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Why the hang up on fixed coordinate systems even though there isn't even a practical way to establish one. (To the best of my knowledge distance can only be measured relative to some object.) it's more likely that the top three dimensions would be along the lines of North/South, East/West and time which is a much more practical point of view.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 11:32, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

''So if it is in the top three out of four, it must be number one...''.
I don't agree. What if Randall would hate going to Zazane galaxy or Ottzello galaxy (X axis), but wouldn't mind going to Xanthrus spiral or Rizoku galazy (Y axis) [http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/6/61/INTERGALACTIC_MAP-2.png/revision/latest?cb=20100616044044]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.144|108.162.238.144]] 13:50, 13 May 2015 (UTC)
:The argument would be that this is an arbitrary/anthropocentric classification of X, Y and Z that the universe neither confirms nor denies as the 'true' direction of the three dimensions (which can be in any direction, so long as each is perpendicular to the two others, in a Euclidean sense).
:(And personally. as opposed to the current description. I tend to think of x/y as the horizontal plane and z as vertical motion (up or down, depending on utility), in everyday use, although I'm flexible and will subscribe to one or other standard (and handedness of unit directions!) when dealing with other modelling systems. It's all easily convertible-between.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.79|141.101.99.79]] 17:31, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

I was going to say that if we think of three dimensions simplistically as length-width-height, it might make sense for someone to have a least-favorite spatial dimension--maybe width, since we're always fighting increases in that one. But, I REALLY like the idea above that time would be in the "top three" dimensions for a TWO-dimensional comic-strip character! (Note that Randall plays with this in the Wired comic series linked above, noting that in a comic strip, a small movemement indicates movement through space, but a large one--like between panels--indicates time: see panel #15 in the series) Clever and Randall-esque idea!! I suggest adding this idea to the main text and taking out some of the other discussion around this point.[[User:Jv|Jv]] ([[User talk:Jv|talk]]) 16:32, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Could it be that the title text is purely playing with words, as in any list of length n (4 dimensions in the world of the comic), one can only have n-1 favourites, so Cueball can only have a top / favourite 3? [[User:Mb|Mb]] ([[User talk:Mb|talk]]) 20:06, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

"Moving forward in time will also eventually be lethal by causing old age, ... But it is only possible to avoid these dangers by sidestepping them in one of the three spatial dimensions." - Wait! I can sidestep '''death'''? AWESOME! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:09, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

The explanation says his favourite co-ords could still be x,y and z. Shouldn't that really by r, phi, theta since that's the best system for a spherical Earth? Also, I don't think you need to mention special relativity, even in classical physics you consider time to be the fourth dimension, you just lack a co-ordinate transformation between space and time. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.193|141.101.98.193]] 15:22, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Does the statement: “pushed inexorably forward through time” not strike anyone as important to discuss and explain? A book by Dan Falk describes the ramifications were one able to move volitionally through time: http://tinyurl.com/l2btjfd.

The Greeks held that time flowed like a river through the present from the past. Others (?) suggest that time flowed from the future into the present. Randall poses that we are pushed forward through time. Who or what does the pushing? With what purpose? To what end?

Pushing suggests we’re unwilling to go forward. But so does pulling. Pulling, by the way, might imply gravitational forces at work. However, those almost never end well. [[User:Run, you clever boy|Run, you clever boy]] ([[User talk:Run, you clever boy|talk]]) 14:30, 14 May 2015 (UTC)

== time ==

I was surprised nobody mentioned Randall's most famous comic about [[Time]] (which this comic reminded me of a little bit). [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 23:30, 14 May 2015 (UTC)