explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-08-20T14:35:53Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Yourlifeisalie thinks he is smart but really he's just been played by a vengeful god, bent on destroying all life through him.

If only he were smart enough to play that vengeful god off of the benevolent god also controlling him, but alas, he is too dumb.

So basically his body works as a platform allowing two gods bent on cancelling each other out to fight.

But they have reached a stalemate, neither gaining an upper hand.

So his life is pretty normal.

Also he's a loser lmao

Talk:1566: Board Game

2015-08-20T14:33:11Z

YourLifeisaLie:

I think Cueball has mastered [[wikipedia:gamification|gamification]] and [[wikipedia:crowdsourcing|crowdsourcing]]. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 12:45, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Unfortunately the rules change every year and explaining the rules would probably take close to a year. The Feds really should supply free tax prep software to the masses. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.100|108.162.216.100]] 13:45, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
:Not going to happen. Guess [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/turbotax-or-irs-as-tax-preparer-intuit-has-a-favorite.html?_r=0 who's lobbying] against it? [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:27, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Someone needs to make an actual board game based on this comic. Any aspiring or wanna be board game makes out there? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.149|173.245.54.149]] 15:44, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

I think the title "Board Game" could imply a double meaning since doing taxes is such a chore. Hence, the homophone ''bored''. Also, paragraph 4b is an assumption. We don't know Cueball's actual reasoning for tricking board game hobbyists into doing his taxes. Perhaps he is cheap and doesn't want to pay a professional. Perhaps it is an experiment. IMO it wouldn't be because it is too confusing because he would need to thoroughly understand the rules in order to explain them, thus leaving him fully qualified to complete it personally. I think the fave value explanation is just laziness. Same reason I hire someone to cut my grass. --[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 16:30, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

I disagree with the paragraph "Note that while Cueball states he "tricks" his board game club ... the players knew what he was doing but going along with it ...". They obviously know they are playing a tax return game, but presumably he has not told them that the cards and tokens they are getting match Cueball's actual situation in real life. So, they are tricked into preparing his actual return while thinking they are just playing a simulation game.
Zetfr 20:43, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

This kind of reminds me of when they made a Magic: The Gathering turing machine. http://www.toothycat.net/~hologram/Turing/ Just replace "Magic" with "Cueball's tax board game" and "Calculating anything a turing machine can" with "Doing my taxes."[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.48|108.162.219.48]] 03:18, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

"This is one of several xkcd comics" should include links to examples [[User:Ehusmark|EHusmark]] ([[User talk:Ehusmark|talk]]) 09:52, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

Its a shame that so many people resort to such ludicrous methods every day to do their income taxes.
End Tax Discrimination [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:33, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1566: Board Game

2015-08-20T14:32:09Z

YourLifeisaLie:

I think Cueball has mastered [[wikipedia:gamification|gamification]] and [[wikipedia:crowdsourcing|crowdsourcing]]. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 12:45, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Unfortunately the rules change every year and explaining the rules would probably take close to a year. The Feds really should supply free tax prep software to the masses. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.100|108.162.216.100]] 13:45, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
:Not going to happen. Guess [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/turbotax-or-irs-as-tax-preparer-intuit-has-a-favorite.html?_r=0 who's lobbying] against it? [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:27, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Someone needs to make an actual board game based on this comic. Any aspiring or wanna be board game makes out there? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.149|173.245.54.149]] 15:44, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

I think the title "Board Game" could imply a double meaning since doing taxes is such a chore. Hence, the homophone ''bored''. Also, paragraph 4b is an assumption. We don't know Cueball's actual reasoning for tricking board game hobbyists into doing his taxes. Perhaps he is cheap and doesn't want to pay a professional. Perhaps it is an experiment. IMO it wouldn't be because it is too confusing because he would need to thoroughly understand the rules in order to explain them, thus leaving him fully qualified to complete it personally. I think the fave value explanation is just laziness. Same reason I hire someone to cut my grass. --[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 16:30, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

I disagree with the paragraph "Note that while Cueball states he "tricks" his board game club ... the players knew what he was doing but going along with it ...". They obviously know they are playing a tax return game, but presumably he has not told them that the cards and tokens they are getting match Cueball's actual situation in real life. So, they are tricked into preparing his actual return while thinking they are just playing a simulation game.
Zetfr 20:43, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

This kind of reminds me of when they made a Magic: The Gathering turing machine. http://www.toothycat.net/~hologram/Turing/ Just replace "Magic" with "Cueball's tax board game" and "Calculating anything a turing machine can" with "Doing my taxes."[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.48|108.162.219.48]] 03:18, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

Its a shame that so many people resort to such ludicrous methods every day to do their income taxes.
End Tax Discrimination [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:32, 20 August 2015 (UTC)
"This is one of several xkcd comics" should include links to examples [[User:Ehusmark|EHusmark]] ([[User talk:Ehusmark|talk]]) 09:52, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-08-20T14:30:44Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Talk:1525: Emojic 8 Ball

2015-05-15T16:00:20Z

YourLifeisaLie:

I'm not sure that "This is an obvious parody" counts as an explanation of the cartoon. I looked up "Magic 8 ball" (with which I was unfamiliar). I looked up "Emoji" (with which, too, I was unfamiliar). I then turned back to the cartoon, and I still don't understand it. What's more, there is no explanation of the practically unique absence of mouseover text. [[User:BinaryDigit|BinaryDigit]] ([[User talk:BinaryDigit|talk]]) 05:55, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: Lack of mouseover / alt and title attributes is common in **interactive** comics. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 06:23, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Randall has published several interactive comics: [[1350: Lorenz]], [[1110: Click and Drag]], and [[1416: Pixels]]. All of these have title text. The only other without was this year's April Fools (which was also interactive. However, this is definitely '''not''' a common feature of interactive comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:20, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

It seems that this comic may be poking fun at the reliance of the modern generation on emoji for communication. By trying to answer serious questions only in emoji, their inadequacy in conveying information is shown. After all, a telephone and party ball hardly answer how one will die. It's all left to the imagination.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.179|173.245.56.179]] 06:01, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

There might be a horoscope component to it too, i.e. you can interpret the emoji as a meaningful answer no matter which one you get. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.162|108.162.215.162]] 06:30, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: I believe you may mean to refer to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinatory,_esoteric_and_occult_tarot tarot cards]. I had a similar thought. [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:16, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Both horoscopes and tarot cards qualify; they're two ways of eliciting the same sort of Rorschach test. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.183|173.245.52.183]] 11:58, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: It also bears similarities - particularly with its default question of "How will I die?" - to the fictional [http://machineofdeath.net/ Machine of Death], which tells a person how they will die, often in a particularly obtuse or cryptic manner. Randall has previously submitted a short story to the collection: [http://machineofdeath.net/pod-question Machine of Death Podcast 33] [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 07:21, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm guessing Randall is using Unicode emoji characters, i.e. from a font I don't have. I get a small rectangle with "01F40C" (two rows of three characters), which is indicative of "A character I have no font support for", in the browser I'm using (although from previous experience it isn't a browser thing, it's that I haven't deliberately installed the specialist font involved). Which rather spoils things for me, this time round, but I suppose doesn't cause problems for most people who have been persuaded to install emoji-characters to use in the place of 'mere' emoticons... [[Special:Contributions/daily141.101.98.213|141.101.98.213]] 06:36, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:(reply to self), I've found a good guide, for someone like me, would be to consult the document http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F300.pdf to see what one ''should'' see. Apparently "How will I die?" is answered by a snail, and my flippant "Where do I get the Emoji font from?" is answered by a man's face. It remains to be seen whether that's 100% correct on both counts. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.213|141.101.98.213]] 07:58, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Linux folks can install the ttf-ancient-fonts package to add support for the Unicode emoji characters.
:Ok, I've given in. As a non-Linux folk, I followed various signposts and went to http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/ and went straight for the "Symbola: 08-03-2015" download (extracted and installed the .ttfs by the age-old method). In case anyone else as out-of-date as me needs and wants to do it manually. It instantly converted my "Man's Face" code (see reply-to-self, above) into the actual man's face, on that browser tab. FYI. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.213|141.101.98.213]] 08:12, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Note that, although the emojis do seem to be chosen at random (I haven't attempted to check any code), the URL is changed to encode your question and the result, so [http://xkcd.com/#eyJxIjoiSXMgdGhpcyBhIGdvb2QgcXVlc3Rpb24gdG8gaW1tb3J0YWxpc2U/IiwiYSI6WyImI3gxRjM2NTsiLCImI3gxRjQxMDsiLCImI3gxRjM1RDsiXX0= this link] encodes my question and a three-emoji result. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:07, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: Is that 3-emoji result hack free? I've only gotten 1 or 2 emoji results so far. Edit: Nevermind. I clicked a bunch in a row and got a 3 emoji result. Now the question is: Can 4 be hacked in? [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:19, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: I had to be horrible and hack every single emoji into the page. 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For the lovers of overflow]! [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:54, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::From the code there appears to be an 8/19 chance (42.1%) of one character, 10/19 (52.6%) of two, and 1/19 (5.2%) of three.--[[User:Laverock|Laverock]] ([[User talk:Laverock|talk]]) 07:52, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: It is just a base64 encoding of the question and answer characters as a JSON object, the part of the link given by Markhurd after the "#" is the encoding of {"q":"Is this a good question to immortalise?","a":["🍥","🐐","🍝"]}. So you can add extra characters to the answer array, but after 3 they start clipping out of the triangle. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 07:32, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

In the edit history it is noted that the emoji are in color. They are in color for me, too. But I question whether this is universal (where the glyphs are supported). Anyone having a black and white experience? [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:36, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

From the code, here's the list of possible characters: 🙅, 🙆, 🙇, 🙋, 🙌, 🙍, 🙎, 🙏, ✂, ✈, ✉, ✊, ✋, ✌, ✏, ❄, ❤, 🚀, 🚃, 🚄, 🚅, 🚇, 🚉, 🚌, 🚏, 🚑, 🚒, 🚓, 🚕, 🚗, 🚙, 🚚, 🚢, 🚤, 🚥, 🚧, 🚨, 🚩, 🚪, 🚫, 🚬, 🚲, 🚶, 🚽, 🛀, ⌚, ⌛, ⏰, ⏳, ☁, ☎, ☔, ☕, ♨, ♻, ♿, ⚓, ⚡, ⚽, ⚾, ⛄, ⛅, ⛪, ⛲, ⛳, ⛵, ⛺, ⭐, ⛽, 🃏, 🌀, 🌁, 🌂, 🌃, 🌄, 🌅, 🌆, 🌇, 🌈, 🌉, 🌊, 🌋, 🌏, 🌙, 🌛, 🌟, 🌠, 🌰, 🌱, 🌴, 🌵, 🌷, 🌸, 🌹, 🌺, 🌻, 🌼, 🌽, 🌾, 🌿, 🍀, 🍁, 🍂, 🍃, 🍄, 🍅, 🍆, 🍇, 🍈, 🍉, 🍊, 🍌, 🍍, 🍎, 🍏, 🍑, 🍒, 🍓, 🍔, 🍕, 🍖, 🍗, 🍘, 🍙, 🍚, 🍛, 🍜, 🍝, 🍞, 🍟, 🍠, 🍡, 🍢, 🍣, 🍤, 🍥, 🍦, 🍧, 🍨, 🍩, 🍪, 🍫, 🍬, 🍭, 🍮, 🍯, 🍰, 🍱, 🍲, 🍳, 🍴, 🍵, 🍶, 🍷, 🍸, 🍹, 🍺, 🍻, 🎀, 🎁, 🎂, 🎃, 🎄, 🎅, 🎆, 🎇, 🎈, 🎉, 🎊, 🎋, 🎌, 🎍, 🎎, 🎏, 🎐, 🎑, 🎒, 🎓, 🎠, 🎡, 🎢, 🎣, 🎤, 🎥, 🎦, 🎧, 🎨, 🎩, 🎪, 🎫, 🎬, 🎭, 🎮, 🎯, 🎰, 🎱, 🎲, 🎳, 🎴, 🎵, 🎶, 🎷, 🎸, 🎹, 🎺, 🎻, 🎽, 🎾, 🎿, 🏀, 🏁, 🏂, 🏃, 🏄, 🏆, 🏈, 🏊, 🏠, 🏡, 🏢, 🏣, 🏥, 🏦, 🏧, 🏨, 🏩, 🏪, 🏫, 🏬, 🏭, 🏮, 🏯, 🏰, 🐌, 🐍, 🐎, 🐑, 🐒, 🐔, 🐗, 🐘, 🐙, 🐚, 🐛, 🐜, 🐝, 🐞, 🐟, 🐠, 🐡, 🐢, 🐣, 🐤, 🐥, 🐦, 🐧, 🐨, 🐩, 🐫, 🐬, 🐭, 🐮, 🐯, 🐰, 🐱, 🐲, 🐳, 🐴, 🐵, 🐶, 🐷, 🐸, 🐹, 🐺, 🐻, 🐼, 🐽, 🐾, 👀, 👂, 👃, 👄, 👅, 👆, 👇, 👈, 👉, 👊, 👋, 👌, 👍, 👎, 👏, 👐, 👑, 👒, 👓, 👔, 👕, 👖, 👗, 👘, 👙, 👚, 👛, 👜, 👝, 👞, 👟, 👠, 👡, 👢, 👣, 👤, 👦, 👧, 👨, 👩, 👪, 👫, 👮, 👯, 👰, 👱, 👴, 👶, 👷, 👸, 👹, 👺, 👻, 👼, 👽, 👾, 👿, 💀, 💁, 💂, 💃, 💄, 💅, 💆, 💇, 💈, 💉, 💊, 💋, 💌, 💍, 💎, 💏, 💐, 💑, 💒, 💓, 💔, 💕, 💖, 💗, 💘, 💙, 💚, 💛, 💜, 💝, 💞, 💟, 💠, 💡, 💢, 💣, 💤, 💥, 💦, 💧, 💨, 💩, 💪, 💫, 💬, 💮, 💯, 💰, 💲, 💳, 💵, 💸, 💺, 💻, 💼, 💽, 💾, 💿, 📀, 📃, 📅, 📆, 📈, 📉, 📌, 📍, 📎, 📓, 📔, 📕, 📖, 📞, 📟, 📠, 📡, 📣, 📦, 📧, 📫, 📰, 📱, 📷, 📹, 📺, 📻, 📼, 🔊, 🔋, 🔌, 🔎, 🔐, 🔑, 🔒, 🔓, 🔔, 🔜, 🔥, 🔦, 🔧, 🔨, 🔩, 🔪, 🔫, 🔮, 🗻, 🗼, 🗽, 🗾, 🗿, 😴, 🚁, 🚂, 🚆, 🚈, 🚊, 🚍, 🚎, 🚐, 🚔, 🚖, 🚘, 🚛, 🚜, 🚝, 🚞, 🚟, 🚠, 🚡, 🚣, 🚦, 🚮, 🚵, 🚿, 🛁, 🌍, 🌎, 🌜, 🌝, 🌞, 🌲, 🌳, 🍋, 🍐, 🍼, 🏇, 🏉, 🏤, 🐀, 🐁, 🐂, 🐃, 🐄, 🐅, 🐆, 🐇, 🐈, 🐉, 🐊, 🐋, 🐏, 🐐, 🐓, 🐕, 🐖, 🐪, 👬, 👭, 📬, 📭, 📯, 🔬, 🔭 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 07:38, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::Those are mostly the SAME character. An eye chart.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.191|108.162.238.191]] 14:12, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: I added them to the page body in table form (my two new favourite tools for the day: [http://rishida.net/tools/conversion/ Bulk unicode code converter] and [http://excel2wiki.net/ Excel to Mediawiki table converter]). However, even converted to three columns, it does seem to take over the page somewhat; it's nice to have the descriptions, but maybe a simple character list like yours would be better. [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 07:44, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Moved the emoji list to a separate page, problem solved (or at least deferred). [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 08:04, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Most of the characters show up as squares with hex digits for me, both on the comic itself and on this wiki. Bad choice of font, I guess... Randall should learn how to use web fonts. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.91|141.101.91.91]] 09:04, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if this is related to "Machine of Death" (see http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Death-Collection-Stories-People/dp/0982167121). It's a collection of stories that were written by many different people. The story-starter was that a machine existed that could tell you the manner in which you would die, The day you turned a certain age, you could insert money or a credit card, it would take a tiny blood sample, and spit out a piece of paper with your manner of death. But no specifics were given. Thus, "swimming pool" might cause you to avoid swimming in pools, but one day you'd die after being hit by a truck delivering a prefab pool to some distant location. I believe the xkcd cartoonist (I'm blanking on his name--sorry--it's early and I'm old) had a hand in that book. The emoji concept is similar--even after you decipher "your" symbol's/symbols' meaning, you know nothing. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.150}}
** You're thinking of Ryan North, of [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php| Dinosaur comics]. Munroe (the actual author of XKCD) is clearly well aquinted with (at least that part of) North's body of work, so the "How will I die" line could be a reference. Then again, it's a common enough question (along with "does Bobby like me") [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.164|108.162.254.164]] 12:54, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::: Machine of death is a collection of short stories. Munroe wrote one of them. He is well acquainted with MoD. I would suggest that Machine of Death be added to the description as a reference for "how will I die?" as the default question. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.182|173.245.54.182]] 13:48, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

This comic does not have a title text which is uncommon. Should this be mentioned in the article? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.135|141.101.92.135]] 11:03, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I see this cartoon as a comment on the stupid questions asked of these "magic 8-ball"-type devices, and the expectation that the answer gained will have any relevance - i.e., ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer." [[User:Grutness|Grutness]] ([[User talk:Grutness|talk]]) 12:07, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

:I think it is a shame that this was not tested on linux. I see a bunch of squares with numbers. I am running a modern version of Mint and I have no intention of installing icon based fonts on my system. How very windows. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.160|173.245.48.160]] 13:56, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::This isn't a Windows vs Linux thing, this is a do you have a font that includes additional symbols thing. For my part, it didn't work in multiple browsers on my Mint Linux box, but it also didn't work on a Windows XP box. It did work on a Windows 7 box.[[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:24, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Could someone on a system with the right fonts replace the picture above with a picture showing emoji, i.e. showing the after-clicking-the-button version of the picture rather than the before version. Or better yet, an animated GIF showing both states. I think that would really help explain it for those for whom the interactive version isn't working properly and they're only seeing squares.[[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:04, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Try using a smartphone .Emoji are made for smartphone.

People act all superior when they talk down to people who use emoji, but what do you care how other people communicate? [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 16:00, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:526: Converting to Metric

2015-05-05T16:33:02Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Why is 3L a two-liter bottle?[[Special:Contributions/75.69.96.225|75.69.96.225]] 21:16, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

:Because this is America and we supersize our sodas! {{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}

:It is the volume of the bottle itself. I have added this explanation. [[User:Sten|Sten]] ([[User talk:Sten|talk]]) 22:39, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

:A 2L bottle doesn't take 3L of space, not even close. I also think it's a reference to overly large drinks in the US. But even if it isn't, the current explanation is wrong. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.34|108.162.229.34]] 22:28, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

: I suspect he's just messing with us, because the approximate volume of a two-liter bottle should be obvious. Many beverages sold in the US are already labeled in metric. Soda is routinely sold in one and two liter bottles, with three-liter bottles common in some markets. Bottled water is often sold in liters and half-liters. Liquor and wine are sold in 375 and 750 mL bottles. Also, since 1 quart = 946 mL, an approximate (+/- 5%) mental conversion from quarts to liters is already quite easy. [[User:Fryhole|Fryhole]] ([[User talk:Fryhole|talk]]) 01:35, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

My names River, that is all --[[Special:Contributions/139.216.242.254|139.216.242.254]] 02:52, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

:Tick tock, goes the clock, 'till River kills the Doctor

Earth's hottest is 70,7 °C... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.29|199.27.128.29]] 03:06, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

:The world record as per wikipedia (and Guiness) is "only" 56.7. See corrected explanation above. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:03, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

There was an incomplete asking for checking all measures and also for making sure that the references to serenity and velociraptors was mentioned. I did this, the last two by assigning the categories (firefly), and then also creating a new [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom category:Your Mom]. I now consider this explanation complete. Although if someone will speculate two whom the remaining two from the Serenity crew tower then please do so ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:03, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:Simon and Kaylee is my guess. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.85|173.245.55.85]] 22:17, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

The speed of rapors given here is very different from [[135: Substitute]]. [[User:B jonas|B jonas]] ([[User talk:B jonas|talk]]) 14:58, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

This sentence in the 'Mass' section has a [small] error: 'This is a common theme in XKCD.'-- it should be 'xkcd', not 'XKCD'. See the website for Randall's personal opinion on this. Anyways, it's small, but kinda stands out if your a reeallyy hardcore fan. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.73|173.245.55.73]] 05:39, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:Thanks for your hint, an update is done. But please add your comments here at the bottom. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:26, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

-40 degrees centigrade is also -40 degrees Fahrenheit! The only such temperature.--DrMath 07:51, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

This is tagged with "Featuring real people" -- I don't see any real people in here, should we removethat tag? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 02:21, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

: It refers to Shaq, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Summer Glau, your mom... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:18, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Ron Paul is not a republican though. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 16:33, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

519: 11th Grade

2015-05-05T16:27:46Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 519
| date = December 19, 2008
| title = 11th Grade
| image = 11th_grade.png
| titletext = And the ten minutes striking up a conversation with that strange kid in homeroom sometimes matters more than every other part of high school combined.
}}

==Explanation==
This strip is a comparison about the time spent in 11th grade doing various things, and how important those things are to one's future. The first two bars on the chart are 900 hours of class, which is about 180 hours short of how many hours kids spend in school each year (most likely to show the lunch hour), and 400 hours of homework, or an average of about 2.2 hours per school day. Conversely, idly messing around in {{w|Perl}} (a programming language) for only one weekend is shown to have a much larger impact on one's future — specifically Randall's, as learning how to code would have been key to his job as a robotics engineer. This is likely due to the skills one can pick up in even just a single weekend in contrast to the often redundant, trivial or generalist information that schools tend to convey.

The title text is a further exaggeration, claiming that striking up a conversation with the strange kid at school could be far more important than all four years of a high school education. There is always the chance that "that strange kid" might turn out to be the next {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}}. Or that he knows a guy who can find you your first job. Or he's the one who tells you about his interest in a to you yet unknown topic and sparks your interest in it as well, and maybe it turns into your future career. Or, conversely, the weird kid could be a school shooter.

==Transcript==
:[Above a bar graph:]
:11th-grade activities:
:[The y axis is labeled:]
:Usefulness to career success
:[Above the x-axis are two small and one huge bar. Below thw axis each bar is labeled:]
:900 hours of classes
:400 hours of homework
:One weekend messing with Perl

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Programming]]

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-05-05T14:28:52Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Yourlifeisalie thinks he is smart but really he's just been played by a vengeful god, bent on destroying all life through him.

Talk:1520: Degree-Off

2015-05-04T14:13:50Z

YourLifeisaLie:

I assume "''Your'' field gathered in the desert to create a new one." refers to the Manhattan Project? {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.74}}
:Yes [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Chem wants absolutely no part of this conversation. [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are: Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Is she claiming that her heros have conquered death? [[User:Capncanuck|Capncanuck]] ([[User talk:Capncanuck|talk]]) 06:58, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Pestilence [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.176|173.245.56.176]] 07:10, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

also a possible reference to: https://xkcd.com/435/ ? {{unsigned ip|141.101.75.101}}

The stamp collecting quote is from Ernest Rutherford, not Richard Feynman. {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.43}}

1052 also compares degrees --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.12|141.101.104.12]] 08:36, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

My assumption was that Cueball was giving a long and possibly rambling talk about physics starting with an anecdote about Feynman and ending with one about Rutherford. I didn't consider the quote to be wrongly attributed therefore. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.71}}

Please be aware that the proper way to link to wikipedia is to use [[Template:w]].--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|10:01, 04 May 2015}}

This may be Randall's indirect way of saying what he thinks of the anti-vaxxers. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 10:49, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Does the "killing Pestilence" thing also refer to ''Good Omens'' (co-authored by Pratchett), where Pestilence retired in 1936 "mumbling something about penicillin"? Homusubi

Isn't the comment about vaccines kinda reaching? I don't really see any evidence, even implied, that this comic is referencing the anti-vaccine movement in any way. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 13:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Isn't the biologist talking in the title text? And isn't biology considered a squishy science? I think the title is directed at the physicist, telling him to get harder skin because he's so easily hurt emotionally. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:13, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1280: Mystery News

2015-04-30T13:55:26Z

YourLifeisaLie:

I would just like to take this moment to say that Explain xkcd's ads are restricted to image files only, and will never play video/sound/flash stuff when you load the page, unlike the site that Cueball currently has open. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:59, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

This has to do with those news videos or live streams that pop up without your consent on some unreputable news sites. If you have a slow network and a lot of tabs, they're almost impossible to find. [[Special:Contributions/66.87.66.186|66.87.66.186]] 13:47, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

This comic is so 2005; I'm guessing Randal is not using adblockplus (maybe due to a moral enforced by the income from his xkcd.com) [[Special:Contributions/108.168.11.47|108.168.11.47]] 13:57, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

I'm guessing that he's not referring to audio ads, but rather to news sites that have a video and a story, but can sometimes take so long to load the video that you've read the story and moved on, or to the random sites that have the completely unrelated espn auto-play video in the sidebar. I personally installed an add-on that makes you have to click on a flash object solely for these annoyances.... [[Special:Contributions/66.249.85.193|66.249.85.193]] 14:08, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

An alternative situation: I sometimes have the domains youtube.com and ytimg.com blocked by NoScript. Then I allow them to watch something and three or four videos in background tabs start playing... [[Special:Contributions/83.41.36.244|83.41.36.244]] 14:41, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

This exact situation happens to me quite often. Here's the scenario: I scan the Google News homepage for today's news, and click the middle mouse button on the 5-10 stories that interest me, thus opening them up directly into background tabs, intending to read them one-by-one afterwards. If any of these articles have videos that autoplay, I start hearing random news reports without knowing which tab(s) the video is playing in, and have to frantically search through them to pause it. I'm pretty sure this is what Randall is referring to. [[Special:Contributions/216.174.143.92|216.174.143.92]] 14:56, 21 October 2013 (UTC)
: Yes, exactly. I often read a story which contains links to several others I'd like to read. So I open them in background tabs to get to after I finish the first story. And a few moments later some video on a tab (or several tabs) which I'm not looking at will start to play. Often it is difficult to find the tab(s) on which the video(s) is playing since, as noted above, the video is non-obvious. More often than not I find (if I can find it at all) that it's coming from some small ad running in a border area.
: Very frustrating and often leads me to just turn down the sound and ignore the thing that's clamoring for my attention. Gets the advertiser exactly the opposite reaction from me than what they want. Very counter-productive for the advertiser. [[Special:Contributions/67.51.59.66|67.51.59.66]] 17:29, 21 October 2013 (UTC)
Chrome [http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/02/25/google-chrome-may-soon-get-audio-indicators-to-show-you-noisy-tabs-keep-them-open-when-memory-runs-out/ shows a visual indicator of which tab is playing audio], and Firefox is [http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/02/25/google-chrome-may-soon-get-audio-indicators-to-show-you-noisy-tabs-keep-them-open-when-memory-runs-out/ considering adding the feature]. The problem is that plugins do their own audio-playing, and don't let the browser know when they're playing audio. So, for now, this only works for audio that the browser itself plays (which includes Youtube HTML5). --[[User:Interiot|Interiot]] ([[User talk:Interiot|talk]]) 18:45, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

It appears that no-one has explained how something will start playing again 30 minutes after it was stopped. Or did I miss something? [[User:Grahame|Grahame]] ([[User talk:Grahame|talk]]) 00:55, 22 October 2013 (UTC)Grahame

I suspect that it's something built into the object, equivalent to an "refresh page" timer in the HTTP. (Or an ''actual'' <meta http-equiv=”refresh” ...> tag, coupled with the desscribed autoplay-on-load behaviour that thus gets called anew.) However, it could be a javascript or even a server-pushing functionality. I particularly loath some news sites that already do all kinds of wierd cross-domain loading by such means, and know there's a multitude of ways people can do such things, whether wanted by the browsing person or not. (Also, to give my own experience, I tend to browse with the sound off, unless/until I want to get the full experience of something like Youtube, so wouldn't even hear a sneaky video playing in a sidelined tab or other browser window.) [[Special:Contributions/31.111.43.68|31.111.43.68]] 01:48, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

A notable offender of this kind of auto-playing video is the International Business Times in their Finance section: http://www.ibtimes.com/markets-finance - their "IBTIMES TV" player just starts playing out of nowhere, and it is not blocked by AdBlock. [[Special:Contributions/37.235.50.18|37.235.50.18]] 20:19, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Why would Randall let this comic out on a Sunday. The first entry in the explain history is from the Monday after - the 21th of October. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake from when the page was created? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:14, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

I tried to fix this comic, maybe it isn't incomplete now? [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 13:55, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

1280: Mystery News

2015-04-30T13:54:56Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1280
| date = October 21, 2013
| title = Mystery News
| image = mystery news.png
| titletext = If you find and stop the video, but you've--against all odds--gotten curious about the trade summit, just leave the tab opened. It will mysteriously start playing again 30 minutes later!
}}
{{incomplete|Title text is not commented, I can't because I don't know if it is ironic or describes a real phenomenon}}

==Explanation==
With the introduction of tabbed browsing, many users, even on widescreens, will have so many tabs open that it is hard to find any given one. At 44 {{w|Tab (GUI)|tabs}} on {{W|Google Chrome}} on a {{w|1080p}} screen, the user can no longer see any text on the tabs. Long before this point (~20 tabs), the text is so short as to be unusable. Randall refers to this tendency to open many tabs without closing them in this comic.

Many modern tabbed {{w|web browser|browsers}} can remember what tabs were open upon closure if this setting is on, and will reload the same tabs on startup. This will start any auto-playing videos, such as YouTube videos, which appear on any of the open pages. This situation can also occur during browsing when an auto-playing video does not begin playing until after a user has moved on to a new tab, when a page with a video refreshes in the background, or when a site with such a video automatically opens in a tab that does not become the active tab when it opens.

This generally leads the user to clicking through all of the open tabs to try to find where the sound is coming from. This can be even more difficult if the video is not obvious and not centered on the screen of whatever tab it is playing in. Some browsers, like Google Chrome, will indicate to the user which tabs are playing audio, thus alleviating this problem.

The title text refers to a phenomenon where a website will refresh in the background, but it basically seems like the ad has replayed even though it was closed. Whether the actual described situation happens is as of yet unknown.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sitting at a laptop.]
:Laptop: It's day five of the trade summit, and still no...
:Cueball: ''Dammit''
:''click click click''

:I get most of my news from autoplaying videos in browser tabs I can't find.

:''Title text'': If you find and stop the video, but you've--against all odds--gotten curious about the trade summit, just leave the tab opened. It will mysteriously start playing again 30 minutes later!
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:1516: Win by Induction

2015-04-28T14:45:23Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Is the alt text a reference to double-yolkers (eggs with two yolks)? [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16118149 They're only about 1 in every 1000] but it seems like an obvious reference. --[[User:Fenn|Fenn]] ([[User talk:Fenn|talk]]) 08:32, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Makes sense to me. I didn't even think of double yolks until you mentioned it here. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.89|173.245.50.89]] 09:04, 24 April 2015 (UTC)BK201
::Seconded. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.52|188.114.110.52]] 14:34, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:::I'd think it's a reference to the rate of twins, which is currently almost exactly 1/30 (and on the rise) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin#Statistics] [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.186|173.245.56.186]] 17:45, 24 April 2015 (UTC)Merkky[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.186|173.245.56.186]] 17:45, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

The explanation currently says that doubling makes it uncountably infinite. I'm pretty sure that doubling at each step (or every few steps) is still a countable infinite set. Proof here: http://practicaltypography.com/the-infinite-pixel-screen.html (see section "The internet demands a recount", because the first attempt is wrong). We can also prove it using the same argument as when proving that N x N is countable infinite (making zig-zag), but in this case making a breadth-first search of the tree of Pikachus: map 1 to the first Pikachu, map 2 and 3 to the two Pikachus at the second level, map 4, 5, 6, 7 to the four Pikachus at the third level, map (2^(n-1))…((2^n) - 1) to the 2^(n-1) Pikachus at level n. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.177}}
:Saw this too late. Yes, I agree, and I have fixed it accordingly. --[[User:Stephan Schulz|Stephan Schulz]] ([[User talk:Stephan Schulz|talk]]) 09:28, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:The problem being that we don't have an exact number for how many steps include double Pikachus. Granted, this is just a problem of practice, not theory. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.88|173.245.50.88]] 12:37, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

"infinite, but countable" {Cough.} Someone doesn't understand infinity. Perhaps they meant "enumerable". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 09:29, 24 April 2015 (UTC)ū
:Someone doesn't understand countability. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 09:46, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
::enumeration is counting, in the simplest sense. "To name one by one; specify, as if in a list". That said, the whole of infinite whole numbers CAN be counted, just not by a human and not within a reasonable amount of time. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.52|188.114.110.52]] 14:34, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

"The front most Pikachu speaks." Hey, look, it has those little lines to show it's speaking, not the blank white space behind it. Duh. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 09:32, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Looks like Megan is looking at her watch as well. Mention in transcript/explanation? [[User:Fenn|Fenn]] ([[User talk:Fenn|talk]]) 09:34, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Are Megan and Cueball supposed to fight each other? It seems like Cueball still has his closed Pokéball in his hands. Is it then Megan's Pokéball that has evolved into all these Pikachu? And is it because she waits for her Pokémon to be ready to fight Cueball, that she checks her watch? I do not know anything about the Pokémon game/world. But it seems to me that some part of this setup is unexplained by the above... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:23, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Friendly reminder: Grammatically speaking, Pokémon are like sheep or deer. Singular and plural are both written the same. One Pikachu, many Pikachu, all the Pikachu. You'd be surprised at how much rage forgetting this causes in certain corners of the Internet. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.42}}

What doesn't make sense to me is how this could continue indefinitely – after all, each of those Pikachu must have caught its own Pikachu beforehand. I don't see any infinite loop here, just a bunch of Pikachu that already had one another caught itselves. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.217|141.101.96.217]] 10:13, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Ah, the immortal quip from Jerry Bona: "The Axiom of Choice is obviously true, the well-ordering principle obviously false, and who can tell about Zorn's Lemma?" [[User:Aube|Aube]] ([[User talk:Aube|talk]]) 05:29, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

The word "induction" could also be intended to have a double meaning, referring also to electromagnetic induction. Pikachu is, after all, and electric pokémon. {{unsigned ip|141.101.105.194}}
:Yes, I think this is right. Something about Maxwell's equations and induction. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.203}}
::From an engineering standpoint, in my opinion, Pikachu act more like biological capacitors (stored electric charge at potentially high voltage able to deliver large discharge currents) than inductors ("storing" magnetic energy via constant current, able to deliver high voltage when interrupted, like the ignition coil for an older automotive engine). I'm not too familiar with the Pokémon in-game/in-show universe, but I would imagine the Nurse Jenny corps could use electric Pokémon such as Pikachu (or Raichu) like defibrillators for cardiac events! --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.177|173.245.50.177]] 11:42, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:::There are certain moves, including some that Pikachu can learn, that appear to be based on induction (Thunder Wave and Shock Wave). Besides, they build up charge in their bodies from somewhere; I'd suspect induction from the surrounding environment is what charges them up. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.52|188.114.110.52]] 14:34, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

There's a point floating about how infinity doesn't imply completion. For instance, the number of all even integers is infinite, yet any given integer "only has a 50% chance of being even", so the series is quite obviously incomplete. This article seems to tend towards the idea (in diction) that an infinite number of pikachu would result in a win based on a 'logical' premise, without referring specificially to the terms of it's assumption. [[User:Xerxesbeat|Xerxesbeat]] ([[User talk:Xerxesbeat|talk]]) 11:38, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:The observation proceeds from the fact that the cardinality of all even integers is the same as the cardinality of all natural numbers (and the cardinality of all rational numbers). You can say that there are as many even integers are there are integers, conterintuitive as that seems. This, however, has nothing to do with the reasoning behind induction. Suppose that there is a finite number that doesn't correspond with a Pikachu, we can pick the least number for which this is the case (just check all the lower numbers until we find the least non-pikachu number N). But there is a pikachu corresponding to N-1, and it is holding a pokeball with a pikachu. So the pikachu in the pokeball of pikachu N-1 is pikachu N, and we have a contradiction to our supposition. Therefore there is no finite number that doesn't correspond with a Pikachu, QED.[[User:Aube|Aube]] ([[User talk:Aube|talk]]) 05:29, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

What happens if the Pikachu in the ball is recursing - picking himself? That doesn't fit the 30-40 double yolk thing, but would explain an infinite series. Food for thought. Megan is bored, waiting for the fight to start. I thought the game was supposed to begin when the players choose, though, so I don't understand why the wait is happening at all. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.151}}

I doubt this is an intentional part of the joke, but the strongest Ground-type moves (Earthquake, Precipice Blades, etc.) are multi-target, hitting all foes in a 1v5 situation such as Horde Battles. In theory, a strong enough super effective move from Cueball's lead would still end the battle in one turn. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.176|173.245.56.176]] 12:04, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Not Land's Wrath, Dig, or Earth Power, which are strong ground-type moves.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.126|173.245.48.126]] 13:05, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
::Actually, Land's Wrath is multi-target. (The ones you named are also weaker than Earthquake and Precipice Blades, so the original comment stands regardless. Although a lucky Magnitude is more powerful than any of those.) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.98|108.162.221.98]]

I normally get a hearty chuckle out of Randall's graphical musings, but this one had me scratching my head. Fortunately, ExplainXKCD always comes to the rescue! After reading this page, my first thought was: Pokéception! 13:17, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

This sentence is nonsensical: ''When Trainers do battle, the anime's dub has immersed the phrase "<Pokémon's name>, I choose you!" into popular culture memory, which is accompanied by throwing the ball containing the selected Pokémon to the ground, which releases the Pokémon at full size.'' [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.161|108.162.219.161]] 17:51, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Should it be noted that the Pikachu is drawn without its tail? It would normally a have lightning bolt shaped tail that appears to the side or from behind its head. (Trivia or other note?) [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 15:22, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:I agree it looks weird, but can it be written off as it's being obscured by itself? {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.89}}
::I would say not. Look how the left arms are all a bit obscured by the body. This indicates that the Pikachu are turned slightly toward a side view. That would mean the back end would more visible, including the tail. [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 09:34, 27 April 2015 (UTC)

In Pokemon games from Gold and up, pokemon are able to hold items, including pokeballs. While in the game, once a pokeball is filled it is no longer available to select as an item, this comic would seem to imply the possible 'inception' scenario of having a pokemon hold an active pokeball (as the games have already shown that a pokeball can go into a pokeball). --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.193|173.245.54.193]] 14:13, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
: ahem... "pokeception" short for "pocket inception" - I can't be the first one to coin this (?) - [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 16:33, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

With Megan looking at her watch and Cueball holding the ball, I think we're meant to understand that Megan IS the Pokémon Cueball intends to use against Pikachu.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.153|108.162.221.153]] 19:12, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Since Cueball has a closed ball in hand he has yet to choose a Pokemon. Tjus Megan cannot be his. She must have thrown the first Pikachu ball. Should be changed in explanation.[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:31, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
It is possible the "win by induction" is from the Pikachu's opponent inferring the series in infinite, and conceding. 19:56, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Am I missing something or does Randall not quite understand how Pokemon works? (Or is intentionally misrepresenting it for the sake of the joke) Pokemon don't come out with their own pokeball with them-- the pokemon aren't magically created. In theory, if someone were to give a pokemon its own pokemon, a chain could occur, but it would be limited to the number of pokemon previously caught. The pokemon are born in the wild and are captured inside pokeballs-- not created from them. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.91}}
:If a Pikachu can catch another Pikachu in a Pokéball, then there is no reason why the Pikachu it just caught, did not think about this before, and that it had done the same. So when it was caught and put into the Pokéball, it already had a Pokéball with another Pikachu. Of this has occurred enough times you get the result of this comic. No one said this would go on forever, that is something we have interpreted from the comic. It does not come directly from Randall! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:36, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

Bother this. I send out Quagsire. Use Earthquake. '''Please''' do not wait.[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 05:18, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

No mention of the exponential growth? If every 40th pikachu releases 2 and each of those also release their own pikachu then there is an average growth rate of the pikachu able to release another pikachu of 41/40 = 1.025. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.90|173.245.49.90]] 19:48, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

;Induction

Two other possibilities: one, in a bit of googling, it would appear that there is a type of Pokémon evolution called induced evolution, which involves stones of some kind? Alternately, we can use the term induction in the sense of soneone being ''inducted'' into a group. In this case, Megan has trained her Pikachu to be a Pokémaster. (Perhaps by arranging for it to be inducted into a rarified "gym"? I confess, I know nothing about the show.) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.196|173.245.56.196]] 13:11, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm surprised no one mentioned that Pokémon is a game a long time before becoming a show. Although it was because of the animated series that Pikachu became "special" among the hundreds of other cute critters.

Also, no mention to the russian matryoshka dolls? Come on...
Closest other xkcd I recall is https://xkcd.com/878/ {{unsigned ip|198.41.230.68}}

;Axiom of choice

Could this be to do with the {{w|axiom of choice}} from set theory? From my understanding, it's a fundamental axiom of set theory that says 'given a set of sets, it's possible to choose one element from each of those sets'. "Choosing" is in this case a specific operation that can be performed on an element.

One specific detail about the axiom is that all sets under consideration must be nonempty; that is, they must contain at least one element. So I think this is analogous to the situation of a Pokemon trainer owning multiple (full) Pokeballs: his Pokeballs are a collection of non-empty sets from which he is now trying to choose a single element ("Pikachu, I choose you!").

Under ''normal'' circumstances, he can do this without invoking the axiom of choice because he knows the names of all his Pokemon and so can select one from each set. In this case, he could prove his ability to make the choice simply by releasing all of his Pokemon from their balls one at a time. (The Pokemon's name is actually irrelevant, because simply releasing the Pokemon counts as a choice).

However, the situation becomes more complex if it turns out that his Pokemon also possess Pokeballs, because now his ability to make the choice is uncertain. In this situation, there could be ''infinitely many'' Pikachus, and so he can't definitely select a Pikachu from all the Pokeballs under his control. In a situation like this, a mathematician would invoke the axiom of choice.

However, it seems that Cueball is actually having a go at it using an inductive method of choice: first by choosing a Pikachu, then having each Pikachu choose a Pikachu. If the number of Pikachus carrying Pokeballs is finite, then eventually, this will demonstrate that the choice can be made and so the axiom of choice is unnecessary. However, if it's ''infinite'', then this will generate a neverending stream of Pikachus. In the latter case, the game never begins, because you can't begin a Pokemon battle until all participants have chosen Pokemon. Most likely, the other players would simply abandon the game, which Cueball could claim as a victory. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 13:52, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think you are confused about the AoC. AoC states that given any collection of elements, you can choose an element from EACH set. If you are choosing a pokemon from a collection of pokeballs, it's equivalent to choosing one full pokeball from the collection and you are picking an element from a single set, which doesn't involve the AoC (this is something you can always do as long as the set is non-empty). In the example in the comic, AoC is not needed because there is already a natural ordering (ignoring the alt-text, which would make the set a partial ordering), so it's trivial to construct a choice function for any subset (choose the "least" pikachu in the sequence). On the other hand, if we have infinite pikachus running wild, we would need the Axiom of Choice (preferably its equivalent, the Well-Ordering Theorem) to assert that they can be ordered so that all of them except one is captured in a pokeball held by another pikachu.[[User:Aube|Aube]] ([[User talk:Aube|talk]]) 05:10, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
::I was hoping a real mathematician would get involved. ^^ Do you think that this mathematical definition of 'choice' is the one being referred to in the comic, though? [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 13:47, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

Why don't those Pikachu have tails? Have they been sliced off? Is this some kind of mutation?-🐼🐯😺🐱 {{unsigned|FlyingPiggy}}

Its all moot anyway. Pokemon can't talk but to say their name. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:45, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-04-28T14:43:35Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Male |17 | Not as smart as he thinks he is | The end |

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-04-28T14:43:05Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Male
17
Not as smart as he thinks he is
The end

User talk:YourLifeisaLie

2015-04-27T19:10:44Z

YourLifeisaLie: Created page with "( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ~~~~"

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 19:10, 27 April 2015 (UTC)

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-04-22T18:03:18Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Yourlifeisalie thinks he is smarter than he is but he really is just an idiot.

Talk:1515: Basketball Earth

2015-04-22T17:59:07Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Apologies to the first editor, who made a snappier version of what I wrote. For the record, whilst fighting a dodgy internet connection I eventually ended up replacing the following...
Cueball is seen trying to explain the relative sizes of the earth and moon by comparing the earth to a basketball and the moon to what looks like a golf ball. This explanation is constantly thwarted by passerby interacting with the basketball while Cueball is explaining it.
For the title text, the answer is zero, since it is against basketball rules.
...with what I tried to keep short during my own writing from scratch. I also ommited several other concepts of my own thought: The fact that Blackhat must have used a very light-touch to ''only'' generate a megatsunami (albeit already unimaginably large, at Earthball's scale); The possibility of recursion (including something like the Men In Black 'cat collar' allusion); and that in the universe of the comic strip there is only ''one'' actual basketball (the Earthball itsself), although I like how we ''both'' had the idea that the basketballs upon Earthball would not have counted in a game of basketball with an Earthball-scaled hoop, due to quite obvious interpretations of the sport's regulations. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 05:11, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
:Oh yeah, and reversion is invited, if deemed preferable. As is amalgamation, and refinement and re-replacement by something even better, of course. As per the standard Wiki creed. Much as I am cringing at having upset the original contributor, I'm quite happy to be gazumped in turn. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 05:14, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
If you look at the third frame of the Blackhat sequence and compare it to the frames underneath, you can see that he didn't just touch the Earth or an ocean--he actually rotated it 90 degrees.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.115|108.162.221.115]] 09:38, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
:Well spotted! Edit that in! (Do it quickly with a pre-prepared edit. I kept getting hit by edit-conflicts, which I set about to resolve amicably without reversing anybody else's input; only to get hit by further edit-conflicts by the next person to come along and improve overlapping pieces, whom I also strived not to disregard.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 09:57, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
::No he didn't. the Earth always rotates from the first panel to the next. So that it is in a different position when Black Hat touches it, to where it was the panel before does not imply that he rotated the Earth. If anything he only rotated it a few degrees, as it had already rotated most of those 90 degree from panel 1 to panel 2 before Black Hat reaches the Earth. As far as I can see there has not been any change to include this yet. So that is good. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:41, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

I really love this comic. It is great fun. Thanks Randall, happy Earth day. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:42, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

... a tennis ball an average 7.2 metres away, while the Sun would be 26 metres across and 2.8 km away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.165|108.162.250.165]] 13:25, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

It's 13:23 right now, but the clock of explainxkcd.com says it's 13:37. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:37, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

If we assume 9,000,000 basketballs sold every year ([http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=82227 bbs.ClutchFans.net]), one basketball lasts about 10,000 bounces ([http://www.sotruefacts.com/rule/770 SoTrueFacts.com]), and there's between 2,500 and 3,000 bounces per game ([http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_average_lifespan_of_a_basketball_in_bounces_in_National_Basketball_Association_play Answers.com]) we can extrapolate that on average a basketball doesn't live for more than a year, and the number of basketballs sold replace those which have lifed-out. Let's build in a 10% slush factor and say there 10m basketballs produced in the world last year. Let's further say that there's an extra 1m basketballs sold every year which don't get regular use and are in some kid's room and those have been accumulating for about ten years (different kids get basketballs every year which end up in their bedrooms). Dunking a basketball gives two points, and at 20 million basketballs, that gives 40 million points – and a safe bet you're going to make it to the playoffs that year. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:51, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Is it possible that the megatsunami is actually caused by the gravity of the scale Moon (it being way too close to the scale Earth)? This is a major problem that most children's books (or adult's books or websites) have. They scale the planets/moons/stars but not the distance. As the comment above, to get normal tides, the tennis ball should be 7.2m away at this scale. --[[User:Gravitron|Gravitron]] ([[User talk:Gravitron|talk]]) 14:06, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

I find it interesting that Randall makes the same mistake a lot of people make reguarding the distance between the earth and moon at that scale. I was watching Veritasium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz9D6xba9Og) on Youtube a while back and the guy there was asking people how far away a tennis ball sized moon would be from a basketball sized Earth. Most people made the distance way too small, very similar to how far away they appear in the comic. In reality they would be something like 10 times that distance. Usually Randall is more accurate than this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.171|108.162.221.171]] 14:09, 22 April 2015 (UTC)Agent0013
:Unless he was simply trying to compare the relative sizes. It's possible after that he would get in to the relative distance between the two - but good point. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:12, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
::It seemingly got lost when trying to resolve edits, but I'd calculated and intended to add that (for the size of a baseball, so a tennis ball would slightly different) 110 Moonball diameters separation between the two. Of course no human has (personally) seen that from a proper perspective, i.e. far enough away to get both bodies in the same convenient vision at the same time whilst off to the side. (Even the Apollo astronauts only got to look at one over the top of the other, at various times, or by panning between the two whilst in the midst of their trans-lunar trajectories.) But there's surely been a space probe or two with a suitable imager been tasked towards such a shot whilst off mostly perpendicular to the Earth-Moon and a decent distance away to get both in the same shot without distortion... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 17:52, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

I don't agree with the claim (at a couple points in the article) that *all* life would be extinguished by any of these manipulations. 2-4 may kill off most or all macroscopic life, but microbes would survive all of them (unless Megan has bleach in that sports bottle). If 3 or 4 shattered the earth, that might extinguish all microbes, but even that I doubt. The only case I can imagine would be if 3 or 4 caused it to spiral into the sun. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 14:10, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Title text might be reference to HHGTG: “
Ford Prefect: I read of one planet in the seventh dimension got used as a ball in a game of intergalactic bar billiards. Got potted straight into a black hole, killed ten billion people.
Arthur Dent: Madness. Total madness.
Ford Prefect: Yeah. Only scored thirty points too. ”[[Special:Contributions/198.41.241.91|198.41.241.91]] 14:23, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

-----

I admit that I'm super-confused by the structure of the comic. The explanation here describes possible consequences for the actions, but as depicted, only the first has any "real world" effect. I too would expect the water bottle to cause a deluge, but it doesn't seem to. What's going on? [[User:Mattdm|Mattdm]] ([[User talk:Mattdm|talk]]) 15:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

-----

The hoop in panel 16 seems too high, unless both Cueball and Megan are under 5 feet tall. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 17:11, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Happy Earth Day everyone. Today is the day we regret everything we do to the earth, and the next is the day we forget all that. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 17:59, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1514: PermaCal

2015-04-20T13:42:16Z

YourLifeisaLie:

In Megan's response, the "h" in "19th" is backwards.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.239|108.162.214.239]] 05:47, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:I'm pretty sure that's a mistake since lowercase letters normally aren't used. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:49, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Looks like he forgot the line on the upper left. He used the capital 19TH for Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.60|173.245.48.60]] 07:24, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think it's intentional. All the H's after a T have shortened upperleft lines. Probably for nice http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/kerning [[User:ToaVin|ToaVin]] ([[User talk:ToaVin|talk]]) 10:12, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Leap seconds have nothing to do with the length of the year: corrected. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 07:49, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

"Leap seconds normally account for the differences in the length of our 24 hour day and the time taken for the world to rotate 360 degrees on its axis" - this sentence mixes two unrelated concepts. First, a day is not a rotation of 360 degrees. Because the Earth also orbit the sun, the rotation from noon one day to noon the following day is a bit more than 360 degrees (360.9856 or so) (rotation measured relative to the stars) - this is why constellations appear to move throughout the year. Second, leap seconds are required because the leap day corrections of the Gregorian calendar are good, but not perfect, at matching the difference between Earth orbits (years) and Earth rotations (days). Every so often, a small correction is required. The corrections are not regular because the causes of the drift are numerous: tidal effects, orbital eccentricity, the underlying (small) flaws in the calendar, etc. I have not made any changes in the explanation. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.66|141.101.104.66]] 08:41, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Not unrelated concept. Just not fully understood. Rotate 360 degrees is a simple way of putting things that ignores the diffrence between solar days and sidereal days. Incorrect not because someone doesn't understand the topic being discussed but because someone hasn't studied astronomy or seriously thought about how the movement of the Earth effects the length of the day--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 13:00, 20 April 2015 (UTC).

While you are true on one part, that Earth doesn't take 24 hours to rotate 360 degrees (it takes around 23 hours and 56 minutes if I recall correctly), leap seconds are used to account for differences between 24 hours and a solar day. If it was used to adjust the length of the year the time of day would drift, it would also be fairly pointless as the leap days take us out by 1/4 of a day.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.175|108.162.250.175]] 10:41, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Do we know for sure that this comic was released on a Sunday - the 19th instead of the 20th? The first entry in this page is from the 20th. Of course there are some references to the 19th, but then again it is obvious that it is on the 20th that Megan asks. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake by someone who misunderstood something based on the dates in the comic? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Apropos a "permanent calendar", Isaac Asimov proposed just such a calendar. http://calendars.wikia.com/wiki/World_Season_Calendar This web page unfortunately doesn't go into details, but there were several advantages. The same calendar is used for all years, your birthday is always on the same day of the week, no need to remember "30 days hath Sept. ...", and several other advantages I can't remember right now. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 12:45, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

It seems like our collective favorite word just might be "portmanteau" [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 13:42, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T12:51:36Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete| Needs fine-tuning and explaining of Ponytail's three comments}}
Cueball asks Ponytail to look at some source code that he has written, warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to. Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of {{w|Programming_style|style}} to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with {{w|CamelCase|"camel case"}} capitalization (capitalizing each word except for the first). In spite of Ponytail's initial (polite) optimism, she comments in three increasingly harsh and absurd similes. Firstly, she suggests that reading his code is like being in a house built by an unskilled child, using a small axe to put together what he thought was a house based on a picture, which could be a reference to minecraft. Secondly, she suggests that it looks like a salad recipe, written by a corporate lawyer (who are notoriously difficult to understand), on a phone with autocorrect that only corrected things to formulas from Microsft Excel (which are notoriously complicated). Thirdly, she suggests that it is a transcript of a cliche argument at IKEA, that someone had randomly edited until the computer was able to compile it with no errors. Finally, Cueball surrenders and makes the rather weak assurance that he will read “a style guide”—he doesn't think that following a complete course is in order.

A common technique for self-taught programmers is to follow and adapt tutorials, and to find examples of similar problems being solved and try to copy the code. This can (but doesn't always) lead to code that is hard to follow or otherwise "messy" as various different pieces of code are {{w|Jury_rig|jury-rigged}} together and tinkered with until they seem to work. Once a piece of code is working, it is usually considered too hard to go back and rewrite it to be cleaner or clearer, also at the risk of breaking something that has been working. This practice is known as {{w|refactoring}} and code projects that incorporate cycles of refactoring tend to be easier to read and maintain than those that don't.

The title text refers to {{w|emoji}}, or "smiley faces". They exist in Unicode, or can be simulated using ASCII characters. Many languages will allow variable names to include underscores, so a variety of sad face ASCII emoji will be legal variable names, such as <code>T_T</code>, <code>p_q</code>, <code>ioi</code> etc. Progressively more possible crying-face emoji are possible if variables can include [http://hexascii.com/sad-emoticons/ UTF-8 characters] or full Unicode.

In the realm of Unicode, there are many crying emojis, as the comic states (e.g. 😢,😭,😂,😿,😹) In most programming languages it would be impossible to use them in variable names, as the symbols would break the language's syntax rules. A notable exception to this is {{w|Swift (programming language)|Swift}}, Apple's new programming language, in which the code can understand and use emojis in variables. Java, as another example, allows unicode characters in variable names as long as they are letter, numeric, combining or non-formatting marks. (See [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se7/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.8] and [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Character.html#isUnicodeIdentifierPart%28int%29]). Also, some C++ compilers support foreign Unicode characters and can have emoji in that manner.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

{{comic discussion}}


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

Talk:1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T12:50:13Z

YourLifeisaLie:

On the bright side, I now have a new array of phrases to keep me sane while doing code reviews... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 05:47, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the emojis were referring to swift where you can use emojis as variables.{{unsigned-ip|108.162.250.168|05:53, 17 April 2015‎}}

Could we get a link for the Apple language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:09, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

This is going on our OneNote at work. It totally made my day [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 08:06, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Yet another reason I'm glad I'm not a coder anymore (went back to hardware design . . . with NO style guidelines ;^)

The description reads as if camelCase is part of every style. There are styles containing camelCase, but not all of them do. Also, different styles contain different rules, so following one specific style guide will be in conflict with others, therefore it's not necessary good idea: unless you program in team which agreed upon which style to use, it may be better if you don't worry to much to follow style exactly. On the other hand, if Ponytail's similes are accurate, Cueball is likely to discover lot of basic rules which will make the program easier to read even for him.

For example, there are lot of styles for {{w|Indent_style|Indenting}} alone, but most readability comes from the basic idea to indent code according to block it belongs to. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:02, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Out of curiosity I tried using 😭 as a variable name in Common Lisp. It works in SBCL, but fails in CLISP. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.112|108.162.221.112]] 12:19, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

I really wish I knew anything about coding so I could contribute, but my 8th grade HTML class didn't help me that much. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:50, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1512: Horoscopes

2015-04-17T01:36:43Z

YourLifeisaLie:

So funny - especially the title text made me laugh :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:05, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:Nine months later, it would certainly eliminate the stress of wondering if you were gonna "get lucky" that night. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 16:13, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The "coriolis effect" in the title text refers to the spin direction of vortices (rotating currents such as cyclones, whirlpools, and water draining from a basin), which is counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The title text is a joke extending the reversal to the flow of time.
: The spin direction of whirlpools and basins is 'not' determined by the coriolis effect, on this scale its impact is way too small to make a difference. The title text refers to how the coriolis effect is often used to explain phenomena (especially with relation to the hemispheres), even when its wrong. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.5|198.41.242.5]] 08:23, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The events described during which the conception of a person with a given birth month occurred assumes that the parents were in the United States at that time. The seasons would be shifted by six months in the southern hemisphere, and the holidays of the 4th of July (Independence Day -- Aries), Halloween (Cancer, conception in October), Thanksgiving (Leo, conception in November), Mother's Day (Aquarius, conception in May), and the NCAA (college) basketball playoffs ("March Madness" -- Sagittarius) , might either not be celebrated or celebrated on a different day. [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 08:11, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

"Today, horoscopes are admitted to be pseudoscience." Citation needed. But what rubbish. Horoscopes are not even pseudoscience, so who is it "admitting" they are? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.187|108.162.250.187]] 08:36, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

:Agree, I would like the citation for "today", as there were experiments disproving horoscopes in ancient Rome already (involving two babies born in same time, one rich, one slave). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:48, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The general trick to horoscopes is make them vague enough that anyone can think they're true, regardless of their sign. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 10:34, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:"You will have an opportunity today, meet someone new and should take care of your finances. Family matters will continue as per the last few days." [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 13:41, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
: It's the {{w|Forer effect}}. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.134|108.162.249.134]] 21:55, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

I propose an addition to the "conceived during someone's wedding" -- it's more common that the conception is actually after the wedding, during the (somewhat expected) consummation by the actual married couple. Thus, "honeymoon babies"! --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.181|108.162.221.181]] 12:53, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Wait, I though Superman goes back in time not by "going against earths rotation, but simply by going faster than light?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.209|141.101.88.209]] 19:53, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The expected conception column is off, therefore the explanations may be off. Length of a human pregnancy is 38 weeks after conception, or 9 1/2 months, not the 9 months that is commonly portrayed. I'm not sure if Randall took this into account or not. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 20:40, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:This is true, except you must have meant 8½ month not 9½ since 38 weeks is less than 9 month. Actually it is very close to 8,75 month. But anyway you are correct, that all the dates should be fixed to go 38 weeks back, not 9 months!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:54, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yep, that is what I meant, sorry [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 05:26, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
::Updated with the correct dates, but the explanations haven't been proofread to conform with the dates [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 05:34, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Fixed explanations, then realized you went for 40 weeks, not 38, so changed them to 38 weeks and fixed explanations again ;) [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 17:58, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
No reference to the fact that November babies might be conceived on V day? [[User:Vkapadia|Vkapadia]] ([[User talk:Vkapadia|talk]]) 21:10, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The real secret behind horoscopes and Nostradamus, is "vague shift"[[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 01:36, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1511: Spice Girl

2015-04-14T00:15:39Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Why are we all ignoring the fact that this is not just this quiz title? It extends to things like "Which Harry Potter Character are you?" and other stuff like that. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 00:15, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

Not being shouted (from without, at either cueball or his female companion) by a post-apocalyptic crowd, surely, but by Cueball (from within, at the post-apocalyptic person of whom he is currently trying to deny entry whilst possibly necessary weaponry is being loaded)... Or so I read it. If that makes sense. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 05:43, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:It does look like that, but the caption states "through a door". -- microslayer
::The little lines around the origin point of the speech "bubble" is usually used in XKCD to indicate that the sound is coming through the surface or offscreen (see Writers Strike (360) and Time Vulture (926)). -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 06:52, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Except that I read the ''caption'' as meaning "through a door" by our Cueball, i.e. what someone like him would be shouting ''out'', plosively. (It's "through the wall", anyway, if that's a 'through something' speech-bubble-originator-indicator (like the "THUMP"s are) rather than 'rather loudly' emphasis that I'd expect to be associated with Cueball. They are shown differently, with the non-THUMP indicator not really having the same appearance as all the other ones otherwise mentioned. Even in the very same panel.) Anyway, just my POV. Needs an Official Transcript to be sure, I suppose. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 07:12, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::::The speak line clearly shows it is Cueball who shouts this quiz title through a door. No question is it like this, so I have corrected the transcript accordingly.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:54, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:::::I disagree. It's not that clear. The marks around the end of the speech line indicate the question is being shouted from the other side of the wall, and I think - but can't be certain - that the line terminates near Cue Ball's head looks like to me like ambiguous drawing by the cartoonist. That, and the "through the door" make me think that Cue Ball is just silently holding the door shut against the rampaging hoards, who are doing all the shouting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.123}}
::::::I agree that it is unclear. See comic [[1493]]. Randall has used those little "blast" lines USUALLY to denote off-screen speech, but in that comic (the first example I found going backwards), he uses it directly on Cueball. That said, most uses are for sound effects or off-screen/through wall speech. I expected to find it used for "shouting", but Cueball isn't even shouting in that comic. Not sure why Randall used it. Another example is [[1393]]. I initially read this comic as Cueball speaking, otherwise Randally would have drawn the line over Cueball's head to the door, but I don't think the other interpretation is necessarily wrong. I do think the third one had to go though. Cueball shouting to Megan doesn't line up with the caption of "through the door". [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:::::::I also find it to be confusing. I first thought it was Cueball that was doing the shouting but after reading this page I now see that the little marks around the speech line are usually used when the speaker is off panel or inside of something (car or coming from PC, etc). I went looking through back comics to see if any yelling was indicated differently and found one where the character was not yelling but the speech line has the same little marks (First panel of Fundamental Forces http://xkcd.com/1489/). In that case it looks like a small mistake, but in this comic it just leaves me unsure who is speaking. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.171|108.162.221.171]] 14:39, 13 April 2015 (UTC)Agent0013
::::::: I am satisfied with the two different explanations currently being shown, given the controversy. However, to continue to support 'my' interpretation, do note the difference between the *THUMP* origins (unidirectionally starred lines, definitely on the door) and the question's origins (splayed lines, and an origin on the surface of a wall... ''coincidentally'' in the right place to be confused with originating from Cueball's mouth?). I'd accept that there's argument (before anyone else gives it) that because of Cueball's head being where it is one might not see the leftward-sloping asterism lines, but I don't think it's close enough to have obscured this (and could have been easily drawn to ''avoid'' such an illustration problem, as might a way to have drawn it to be unconfusingly not associated with Cueball's head at all). Tell you what, let's see if we can get it via the 3d.xkcd.com interface... ''Then'' we might know... ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 15:26, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::::: I agree that it is clear it is Cueball shouting. The caption says through a door, not through a wall. The lines (different from the "through-door" lines) indicate he is shouting it with stress in his voice, through the door at a Spice Girl on the other side. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.187|108.162.250.187]] 23:06, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

:: [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] and [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] are correct, the shouting is coming from outside the room. Randall/Cueball imagines he is hearing quiz titles "being shouted," he is not imagining shouting them himself. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 11:56, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::: Furthermore, ''"in order to make sure the one you '''let in''' is not some scary person but a merciful one"'' makes no sense because the Spice Girl in question is clearly meant to be the girl loading the gun behind the box. She's already in the room. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.123}}
:::: Hmm, or maybe not. I thought the hair was too different from Megan's usual style, but it could be her. So now I'm about 50/50 on this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] 12:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::::There is no such character as Megan. Please see [[Megan]]. I quote ""Megan" does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the every-woman to his everyman.". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:08, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
I don't know much about the Spice Girls, but the comic seems to be referring to two; Is there a "merciful" Spice Girl? Is there one likely to "start a war"? And is there a "war" that is specifically to do with the Spice Girls? -[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 08:01, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
What about Camp Spice?? {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.103}}

The comic is clearly inventing new Spice Girls: the original Spice Girls didn't have a merciful one, or an evil one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:10, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:Disagree. In real life, there has not been a war started by ANY spice girl. This is clearly fantasy. It is just as likely that Randall is imagining the Spice Girls rise to power and in their newfound power, become associated with new traits (e.g. one is a merciful and one starts a war - in Cueball's fantasy scenario, there are only two spice girls left, or two who could possibly be at the door). There is no basis to assume this is a reference to invented new spice girls.

: I also think that if Randall intended to have the quiz's answers make sense, it would have to be the latter, since the quiz won't have an "evil" or "merciful" spice. That said, given Randall's comment about needing to make the link titles less irritating, it's unlikely he would actually do the quiz. He just wants to be less annoyed while skimming his, Facebook feed (for example) [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:33, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::You are wrong when you say 'the quiz won't have an "evil" or "merciful" spice'. [http://www.kidspot.com.au/the-spice-girls-and-10-other-mummy-types-you-might-know/ Here] you can see Baby Mummy, Sporty Mummy, Scary Mummy, Posh Mummy, Ginger Mummy, and also Old Mummy, Oracle Mummy, Supercalifragalistic Mummy, Drop and Run Mummy, Hover Mummy, Boring Mummy, Disaster Zone Mummy, and Baby Factory Mummy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 17:15, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1511: Spice Girl

2015-04-14T00:15:11Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Why are we all ignoring the fact that this is not just this quiz title? It extends to things like "Which Harry Potter Character are you?" and other stuff like that. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 00:15, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
Not being shouted (from without, at either cueball or his female companion) by a post-apocalyptic crowd, surely, but by Cueball (from within, at the post-apocalyptic person of whom he is currently trying to deny entry whilst possibly necessary weaponry is being loaded)... Or so I read it. If that makes sense. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 05:43, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:It does look like that, but the caption states "through a door". -- microslayer
::The little lines around the origin point of the speech "bubble" is usually used in XKCD to indicate that the sound is coming through the surface or offscreen (see Writers Strike (360) and Time Vulture (926)). -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 06:52, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Except that I read the ''caption'' as meaning "through a door" by our Cueball, i.e. what someone like him would be shouting ''out'', plosively. (It's "through the wall", anyway, if that's a 'through something' speech-bubble-originator-indicator (like the "THUMP"s are) rather than 'rather loudly' emphasis that I'd expect to be associated with Cueball. They are shown differently, with the non-THUMP indicator not really having the same appearance as all the other ones otherwise mentioned. Even in the very same panel.) Anyway, just my POV. Needs an Official Transcript to be sure, I suppose. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 07:12, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::::The speak line clearly shows it is Cueball who shouts this quiz title through a door. No question is it like this, so I have corrected the transcript accordingly.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:54, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:::::I disagree. It's not that clear. The marks around the end of the speech line indicate the question is being shouted from the other side of the wall, and I think - but can't be certain - that the line terminates near Cue Ball's head looks like to me like ambiguous drawing by the cartoonist. That, and the "through the door" make me think that Cue Ball is just silently holding the door shut against the rampaging hoards, who are doing all the shouting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.123}}
::::::I agree that it is unclear. See comic [[1493]]. Randall has used those little "blast" lines USUALLY to denote off-screen speech, but in that comic (the first example I found going backwards), he uses it directly on Cueball. That said, most uses are for sound effects or off-screen/through wall speech. I expected to find it used for "shouting", but Cueball isn't even shouting in that comic. Not sure why Randall used it. Another example is [[1393]]. I initially read this comic as Cueball speaking, otherwise Randally would have drawn the line over Cueball's head to the door, but I don't think the other interpretation is necessarily wrong. I do think the third one had to go though. Cueball shouting to Megan doesn't line up with the caption of "through the door". [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:::::::I also find it to be confusing. I first thought it was Cueball that was doing the shouting but after reading this page I now see that the little marks around the speech line are usually used when the speaker is off panel or inside of something (car or coming from PC, etc). I went looking through back comics to see if any yelling was indicated differently and found one where the character was not yelling but the speech line has the same little marks (First panel of Fundamental Forces http://xkcd.com/1489/). In that case it looks like a small mistake, but in this comic it just leaves me unsure who is speaking. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.171|108.162.221.171]] 14:39, 13 April 2015 (UTC)Agent0013
::::::: I am satisfied with the two different explanations currently being shown, given the controversy. However, to continue to support 'my' interpretation, do note the difference between the *THUMP* origins (unidirectionally starred lines, definitely on the door) and the question's origins (splayed lines, and an origin on the surface of a wall... ''coincidentally'' in the right place to be confused with originating from Cueball's mouth?). I'd accept that there's argument (before anyone else gives it) that because of Cueball's head being where it is one might not see the leftward-sloping asterism lines, but I don't think it's close enough to have obscured this (and could have been easily drawn to ''avoid'' such an illustration problem, as might a way to have drawn it to be unconfusingly not associated with Cueball's head at all). Tell you what, let's see if we can get it via the 3d.xkcd.com interface... ''Then'' we might know... ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 15:26, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::::: I agree that it is clear it is Cueball shouting. The caption says through a door, not through a wall. The lines (different from the "through-door" lines) indicate he is shouting it with stress in his voice, through the door at a Spice Girl on the other side. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.187|108.162.250.187]] 23:06, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

:: [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] and [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] are correct, the shouting is coming from outside the room. Randall/Cueball imagines he is hearing quiz titles "being shouted," he is not imagining shouting them himself. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 11:56, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::: Furthermore, ''"in order to make sure the one you '''let in''' is not some scary person but a merciful one"'' makes no sense because the Spice Girl in question is clearly meant to be the girl loading the gun behind the box. She's already in the room. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.123}}
:::: Hmm, or maybe not. I thought the hair was too different from Megan's usual style, but it could be her. So now I'm about 50/50 on this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] 12:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::::There is no such character as Megan. Please see [[Megan]]. I quote ""Megan" does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the every-woman to his everyman.". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:08, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
I don't know much about the Spice Girls, but the comic seems to be referring to two; Is there a "merciful" Spice Girl? Is there one likely to "start a war"? And is there a "war" that is specifically to do with the Spice Girls? -[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 08:01, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
What about Camp Spice?? {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.103}}

The comic is clearly inventing new Spice Girls: the original Spice Girls didn't have a merciful one, or an evil one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:10, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
:Disagree. In real life, there has not been a war started by ANY spice girl. This is clearly fantasy. It is just as likely that Randall is imagining the Spice Girls rise to power and in their newfound power, become associated with new traits (e.g. one is a merciful and one starts a war - in Cueball's fantasy scenario, there are only two spice girls left, or two who could possibly be at the door). There is no basis to assume this is a reference to invented new spice girls.

: I also think that if Randall intended to have the quiz's answers make sense, it would have to be the latter, since the quiz won't have an "evil" or "merciful" spice. That said, given Randall's comment about needing to make the link titles less irritating, it's unlikely he would actually do the quiz. He just wants to be less annoyed while skimming his, Facebook feed (for example) [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:33, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
::You are wrong when you say 'the quiz won't have an "evil" or "merciful" spice'. [http://www.kidspot.com.au/the-spice-girls-and-10-other-mummy-types-you-might-know/ Here] you can see Baby Mummy, Sporty Mummy, Scary Mummy, Posh Mummy, Ginger Mummy, and also Old Mummy, Oracle Mummy, Supercalifragalistic Mummy, Drop and Run Mummy, Hover Mummy, Boring Mummy, Disaster Zone Mummy, and Baby Factory Mummy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 17:15, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

2015-04-09T04:18:39Z

YourLifeisaLie:

For the record, northeast america is a pretty good guess for any Steven King movie. Lots of his stuff is set up there. I know because I am an avid reader. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 04:18, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Wish he added Big Hero 6 for San Francisco. They did a super good job at getting the map accurate to San Francisco. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.129|199.27.133.129]] 19:19, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

One objection: although ''What About Bob?'' was set at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, it was actually filmed at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. {{unsigned|‎Jstech}}

The Napoleon Dynamite Idaho square doesn't cover Preston, where it was filmed.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 06:00, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

The ''Twilight/50 Shades'' area really shouldn't cover eastern Washington and Oregon either. East of the Cascade Mountains is much more like Boise than Seattle. [[User:Tribble314|Tribble314]] ([[User talk:Tribble314|talk]]) 07:12, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
:Tribble314 is completely correct

It gets Forest Gump wrong, that is set in Alabama, including the Alabama gulf coast and not easter Georgia, The Tombstone section is on the wrong side of Arizona and Zorro is set, and filmed, in California. Anything By Mark Twain is too far south, and since Road Runner cartoons all have Saguaro and organ pipe cactus, it is amazing how the map outlines the exact part of Arizona where they don't exist {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.122}}
:It's not about where it's set. It's where it's filmed. And I object to the 'Anything by Mark Twain' on the grounds that it's basically just Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn without say Innocents Abroad or for that matter most of what was written by a guy who did a good bit of traveling in his lifetime.--Dude[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 09:28, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
::No, the map is about where it's set (generally). ''Star Trek'' wasn't actually filmed in Iowa, part of the movie was set there. In any event, the explanation provides a column for each. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 15:14, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Let's not forget ''A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court''! I'm pretty sure that doesn't fit in 'Anything By Mark Twain'-space. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 12:46, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I never even knew I lived so close to so many awesome movies. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:39, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia tells me that there are 3 2005 ''War of the Worlds'' movies. So... [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:43, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

A lot I'd like to argue with, but without proof (no time to look), I'll skip most except for this: The Twin Cities of Minnesota (Minneapolis & St. Paul) are clearly shown (Mpls. skyline at least) in ''Fargo'', yet the Twin Cities area is barely within ''Fargo'''s border. (Nitpick from the movie: the characters are coming FROM the north but the Mpls view is obviously from the south, I-35W Northbound.) Also, ''North Country'', whose story is based around taconite mining in Minnesota's Iron Range (north/northwest of Duluth), should have been included, and also shows a Mpls. skyline as an establishing shot for either lawyer's offices and/or a courthouse. (And one more thing: Thanks to whoever pointed out that Woodstock, IL is the true filming location for ''Groundhog Day''. I would show it on the map with a dot or star there, rather than the Pennsylvania area is supposedly represents.) --BigMal27 // [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.177|173.245.50.177]] 13:03, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the Oregon Trail section of the map is specifically referring to the video game, because the subtitle below the main text in that map location says "The only part I ever got to." [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.190|199.27.128.190]] 17:00, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Are we going to have a column for the area the square covers on the map? or a place to record whether or not the area covers the filming location or where it was set? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 17:57, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the statement "this is where the movies are set, not where they are filmed" completely misses the point. This is a map of where the movies look like they are set. So, some areas are where they are set (if the movie background seems to be where it's supposed to be) and some areas are where they were filmed (if there's an obvious contradiction between location and setting). Hence, The Sandlot, for example... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.188|173.245.48.188]] 18:03, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Orange is the New Black is a much more convincing setting for Upstate New York, even though it isn't a movie.

1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

2015-04-08T17:39:14Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Map */

{{comic
| number = 1509
| date = April 8, 2015
| title = Scenery Cheat Sheet
| image = scenery cheat sheet.png
| titletext = At the boundary between each zone, stories blend together. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, the Roadrunner is pursued by a tireless Anton Chigurh.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Only just started page.}}

{{w|GeoGuessr}} is a game using {{w|Google Street View|StreetView}} images that drops the player in a random location and challenges them to work out where they are. It is also referenced in [[1214: Geoguessr]].

The [[title text]] references ''{{w|Anton Chigurh}}'' (portrayed by Javier Bardem), who is the main antagonist of the film ''{{w|No Country For Old Men}}''.

Note that this is a map of where the stories are set, not where they were filmed.

==Transcript==
===Title===
:A '''cheat sheet''' for
:figuring out where in the US you are
:by recognizing the background from movies
:(for use by GeoGuessr players and crash-landed astronauts)

===Map===
[From top left, left to right, top to bottom]
{| class="wikitable"
! Movie Title
! Setting for Movie
! Actual Filming Location(s)
! Notes
|-
| {{w|Twilight (film)| Twilight}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Fifty Shades of Grey (film)|50 Shades of Grey}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Dances with Wolves}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Fargo (film)|Fargo}}
| Fargo ND, Brainerd MN, Minneapolis MN
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area, Hallock MN, Bathgate, ND
|
|-
| {{w|Wild Wild West|Wild Wild West}}
| The southwest area
| Tuscon, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Pierce, Idaho
|
|-
| {{w|The Sandlot|The Sandlot}}
| Suburban Los Angeles
| Salt Lake City, Utah
|
|-
| {{w|Napoleon Dynamite|Napoleon Dynamite}}
| Preston, Idaho
| Preston, Idaho
|
|-
| {{w|Brokeback Mountain|Brokeback Mountain}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Oregon Trail (video_game)|Oregon Trail}}
|
|Video Game, not a film
| Could also refer to the film "{{w|The Oregon Trail (1936 film)}}".
|-
| {{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}} (Earth parts)
|
|
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Star Trek (film)|Star Trek (2009)}} (Earth parts)
|
| Iowa
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Field of Dreams|Field of Dreams}}
|
| Dyersville, IA
|
|-
| {{w|The Music Man (1962 film)|The Music Man}}
| River City, IA
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Blues Brothers (film)|Blues Brothers}}
| Chicago
| Chicago and Milwaukee
|
|-
| {{w|A Christmas Story|A Christmas Story}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Jack & Diane|That song about Jack and Diane}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|8 Mile (film)|8 Mile}}
| Wayne County, Michigan
|
|
|-
| {{w|Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day}}
| {{w|Punxsutawney,_Pennsylvania|Punxsutawney, PA}}, {{w|Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh}}
| Woodstock, IL
|
|-
| {{w|My Side of the Mountain|My Side of the Mountain (book)}}
| Adriondack Mountains, NY
| Catskill mountains, near Delhi, NY
| The area shown on the map is actually the Adirondack mountains, not the Catskills. I suspect this is an error.
|-
| {{w|Super Troopers|Super Troopers}}
| Vermont, NY ("Somewhere near the border")
|
|
|-
| {{w|Pet Semetary|Pet Semetary}}
| Ludlow, Maine
|Hancock, Maine
|
|-
| {{w|What About Bob?|What about Bob}}
|Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
|Smith Mountain Lake, VA
|
|-
| {{w|The Departed|The Departed}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Signs (film)|Signs}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Village (2004 film)|The Village}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds (2005)}}
|
|
| Also referenced in [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]]
|-
| {{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}
| Amity Island (stand-in for Martha's Vineyard)
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Rock (film)|The Rock}}
| {{w|Alcatraz Island}}
| {{W|Alcatraz Island}}
|
|-
| {{w|Zodiac (film)|Zodiac}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Sideways|That movie about wine & talking}}
|
|
| He clearly means ''Sideways''
|-
| {{w|Top Gun|Top Gun}}
| NAS Miramar, San Diego, CA
| Nevada
|
|-
| {{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Part of Independence Day}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner|Roadrunner cartoons}}
|
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz}}
| Kansas, Oz
|
| The Judy Garland version, presumably. The earth parts.
|-
| {{w|Twister (1996 film)|Twister}}
|
|
|
|-
| Anything by {{w|Mark Twain}}
| Hannibal, MO
|
| The mapped area doesn't quite include Twain's home town of Hannibal, MO.
|-
| {{w|Walk the Line|Walk the Line}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|October Sky|October Sky}}
| Coalwood, WV
| East Tennessee
|
|-
| {{w|Dirty Dancing|Dirty Dancing}}
| {{w|Catskill Mountains|Catskill Mountains}}
|
|
|-
| [Generic City]
| Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia
| N/A
|
|-
| {{w|Deep Impact (film)|Deep Impact}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Hunt for Red October (film)|The Hunt for Red October}}
| Atlantic Ocean
|
|
|-
| {{w|Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Forrest Gump|Forrest Gump}}
| Alabama
|
|
|-
| {{w|List of most expensive films|Every movie with a big budget...}}
|
|Hollywood, CA
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show|The Truman Show}} but with desert in the background
|
|
| If it were filmed in Las Vegas ...
|-
| {{w|Tombstone (film)|Tombstone}}
| {{w|Tombstone, Arizona|Tombstone, AZ}}
| Arizona
|
|-
| {{w|The Mask of Zorro|The Mask of Zorro}}
| California
| Mexico
|
|-
| {{w|No Country for Old Men (film)|No Country for Old Men}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit}}
|
|
| Or the {{w|True Grit (2010 film)|2010 version}}
|-
| {{w|Office Space|Office Space}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Dazed and Confused (film)|Dazed and Confused}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Kill Bill|Kill Bill}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Duck Dynasty|Duck Dynasty}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Princess and the Frog|Princess and the Frog}}
|
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|All Dogs Go to Heaven|All Dogs go to Heaven}}
|
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|Big Fish|Big Fish}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|O Brother, Where Art Thou?|O Brother Where Art Thou}}
| Parchman Farm, MS
| Canton, MS; Florence, SC
|
|-
| {{w|Beasts of the Southern Wild|Beasts of the Southern Wild}}
| Louisiana
| Montegut, LA
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show|The Truman Show}}
| Los Angeles area
| {{w|Seaside, Florida|Seaside, FL}}
|
|-
| {{w|Adaptation (film)|Adaptation}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Miami Vice|Miami Vice}}
| Miami
|
| Or the {{w|Miami Vice (film)|film}}
|}

==See also==
*[https://geoguessr.com/ GeoGuessr's official website]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Maps]]

1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

2015-04-08T14:47:39Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Map */

{{comic
| number = 1509
| date = April 8, 2015
| title = Scenery Cheat Sheet
| image = scenery cheat sheet.png
| titletext = At the boundary between each zone, stories blend together. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, the Roadrunner is pursued by a tireless Anton Chigurh.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Only just started page.}}

{{w|GeoGuessr}} is a game using {{w|Google Street View|StreetView}} images that drops the player in a random location and challenges them to work out where they are. It is also referenced in [[1214: Geoguessr]].

The [[title text]] references ''{{w|Anton Chigurh}}'' (portrayed by Javier Bardem), who is the main antagonist of the film ''{{w|No Country For Old Men}}''.

Note that this is a map of where the stories are set, not where they were filmed.

==Transcript==
===Title===
:A '''cheat sheet''' for
:figuring out where in the US you are
:by recognizing the background from movies
:(for use by GeoGuessr players and crash-landed astronauts)

===Map===
[From top left, left to right, top to bottom]
{| class="wikitable"
! Movie title
! Area(s) covered
! Filming Location(s)
! Notes
|-
| {{w|Twilight (film)| Twilight}}
| rowspan="2"|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Fifty Shades of Grey (film)|50 Shades of Grey}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Dances with Wolves}}
| rowspan="2"|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Fargo (film)|Fargo}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Wild Wild West|Wild Wild West}}
| The southwest area
| Tuscon, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Pierce, Idaho
|
|-
| {{w|The Sandlot|The Sandlot}}
| Suburban Los Angeles
| Salt Lake City, Utah
|
|-
| {{w|Napoleon Dynamite|Napoleon Dynamite}}
| Preston, Idaho
| Preston, Idaho
|
|-
| {{w|Brokeback Mountain|Brokeback Mountain}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Oregon Trail (video_game)|Oregon Trail}}
|
|Video Game, not a film
| Might be referring to film "{{w|The Oregon Trail (1936 film)}}".
|-
| {{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}
| rowspan="3"|
|
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Star Trek (film)|Star Trek (2009)}}
|
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Field of Dreams|Field of Dreams}}
| Dyersville, IA
| Technically, all the earth parts of this movie too.
|-
| {{w|The Music Man (1962 film)|The Music Man}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Blues Brothers (film)|Blues Brothers}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|A Christmas Story|A Christmas Story}}
| rowspan="2" |
|
|
|-
| {{w|Jack & Diane|That song about Jack and Diane}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|8 Mile (film)|8 Mile}}
| Wayne County, Michigan
|
|
|-
| {{w|Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day}}
| Western Pennsylvania and New York
| Woodstock, IL
|
|-
| {{w|My Side of the Mountain|My Side of the Mountain (book)}}
| Adriondack Mountains, NY
| Catskill mountains, near Delhi, NY
| The area shown on the map is actually the Adirondack mountains, not the Catskills. I suspect this is an error.
|-
| {{w|Super Troopers|Super Troopers}}
| Vermont, NY ("Somewhere near the border")
|
|
|-
| {{w|Pet Semetary|Pet Semetary}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|What About Bob?|What about Bob}}
|Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
|Smith Mountain Lake, VA
|
|-
| {{w|The Departed|The Departed}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Signs (film)|Signs}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Village (2004 film)|The Village}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds (2005)}}
|
|
| Also referenced in [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]]
|-
| {{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Rock (film)|The Rock}}
| {{w|Alcatraz Island}}
| {{W|Alcatraz Island}}
|
|-
| {{w|Zodiac (film)|Zodiac}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Sideways|That movie about wine & talking}}
|
|
| He clearly means ''Sideways''
|-
| {{w|Top Gun|Top Gun}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Part of Independence Day}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner|Roadrunner cartoons}}
|
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz}}
|
|
| The Judy Garland version, presumably. The earth parts.
|-
| {{w|Twister (1996 film)|Twister}}
|
|
|
|-
| Anything by {{w|Mark Twain}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Walk the Line|Walk the Line}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|October Sky|October Sky}}
|
| East Tennessee
|
|-
| {{w|Dirty Dancing|Dirty Dancing}}
|
|
|
|-
| [Generic City]
| Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia
| N/A
|
|-
| {{w|Deep Impact (film)|Deep Impact}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Hunt for Red October (film)|The Hunt for Red October}}
| Atlantic Ocean
|
|
|-
| {{w|Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Forrest Gump|Forrest Gump}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|List of most expensive films|Every movie with a big budget...}}
|
|Hollywood, CA
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show|The Truman Show}} but with desert in the background
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|No Country for Old Men (film)|No Country for Old Men}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit}}
|
|
| Or the {{w|True Grit (2010 film)|2010 version}}
|-
| {{w|Office Space|Office Space}}
| rowspan="3" |
|
|
|-
| {{w|Dazed and Confused (film)|Dazed and Confused}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Kill Bill|Kill Bill}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Duck Dynasty|Duck Dynasty}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Princess and the Frog|Princess and the Frog}}
| rowspan="2" |
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|All Dogs Go to Heaven|All Dogs go to Heaven}}
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|Big Fish|Big Fish}}
| rowspan="2" |
|
|
|-
| {{w|O Brother, Where Art Thou?|O Brother Where Art Thou}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Beasts of the Southern Wild|Beasts of the Southern Wild}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show|The Truman Show}}
| Northern Florida
| {{w|Seaside, Florida|Seaside, Florida}}
|
|-
| {{w|Adaptation (film)|Adaptation}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Miami Vice|Miami Vice}}
|
|
| Or the {{w|Miami Vice (film)|film}}
|}

==See also==
*[https://geoguessr.com/ GeoGuessr's official website]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Maps]]

Talk:1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

2015-04-08T12:43:18Z

YourLifeisaLie:

One objection: although ''What About Bob?'' was set at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, it was actually filmed at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. {{unsigned|‎Jstech}}

The Napoleon Dynamite Idaho square doesn't cover Preston, where it was filmed.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 06:00, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

The ''Twilight/50 Shades'' area really shouldn't cover eastern Washington and Oregon either. East of the Cascade Mountains is much more like Boise than Seattle. [[User:Tribble314|Tribble314]] ([[User talk:Tribble314|talk]]) 07:12, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Tribble314 is completely correct

It gets Forest Gump wrong, that is set in Alabama, including the Alabama gulf coast and not easter Georgia, The Tombstone section is on the wrong side of Arizona and Zorro is set, and filmed, in California. Anything By Mark Twain is too far south, and since Road Runner cartoons all have Saguaro and organ pipe cactus, it is amazing how the map outlines the exact part of Arizona where they don't exist

It's not about where it's set. It's where it's filmed. And I object to the 'Anything by Mark Twain' on the grounds that it's basically just Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn without say Innocents Abroad or for that matter most of what was written by a guy who did a good bit of traveling in his lifetime.--Dude[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 09:28, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I never even knew I lived so close to so many awesome movies. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:39, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia tells me that there are 3 2005 War of the World's movies. So... [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:43, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

2015-04-08T12:39:07Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Talk:1507: Metaball

2015-04-07T12:48:17Z

YourLifeisaLie:

This... looks amazing! I wonder if this is going to be a case of xkcd influencing real life, like geohashing, the "citation needed" on speeches or cory doctorow cosplaying... cory doctorow. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 08:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps this is how you play [https://xkcd.com/1480/ sportsball]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.11|141.101.64.11]] 11:19, 5 April 2015 (UTC)Indigofenix

Over here in Rightpondia (UK), "Hockey" means "Field Hockey" (I'm sure I've never actually heard "ball hockey" as a term before, ''ever'', although must be the same)... although it's mostly popularised as a (often very vicious!) girl's sport; see the St. Trinians cartoons/films. Although we understand Leftpondians (and especially Upper-Leftpondians) mean Ice Hockey when they miss off the qualifier. Just as vicious, of course (except now that everyone wears armour... also c.f. usual comments regarding Rugby League/Union vs 'American Football'/Gridiron). But none of these have anything on the near-variant of these games (mainly in Ireland) that is Hurling..! (As to Field Hockey as Aussie Rules Football is to Association Football?)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 16:25, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
:Some Canadian input: ball hockey /= field hockey. Field hockey is played on a field and has stick that looks like a 'J'. Ball hockey on the other hand is played on a hard surface (with an ice hockey stick). In organized leagues the arena is often just like an ice hockey rink without the ice; boards and all. Ball hockey can be played on foot or on roller-blades. Often when kids play street hockey it will be ball hockey, though just as likely to be with a specific street hockey puck that is designed to slide on pavement. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 20:20, 6 April 2015 (UTC) ce_nedra32

Suspiciously similar to Calvinball. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.100|108.162.221.100]] 21:18, 3 April 2015 (UTC)A Martin
: I agree, but there seem to be preset rules (the sheet that Ponytail is holding), suggesting that it isn't made up as they go along [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.33|141.101.98.33]] 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
Indeed, my first thought on seeing this was this is exactly the opposite of CalvinBall. Which may well be thr point.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.40|141.101.99.40]] 12:27, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I see influences of Hofstadter's ''Godel,Escher,Bach'', which has
1) the idea of how the play-by-play of a football game would be altered if it were baseball (among other counterfactuals), and
2) the idea of a boardgame whose rules change according to where pieces are on the board. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 22:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I wonder how the concept of 'out' (as opposed to 'in') would be dealt with as the ball passes into (and eventually out of) the volleyball zone.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.216|173.245.54.216]] 05:58, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:Baseball zone... ;-) Although I'm sure there is a volleyball zone somewhere... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

OK I guess this is not a complaint since the explanation seems to make sense. But I'm still confused about something. In the third panel the invocation of the infield fly rule is entirely wrong, The infielder must either catch and drop the ball or appear to deliberately refuse to catch the ball. The panel shows the ball still in the air when the call is made. As an athletophobe I just spent 20 minutes of my life researching the infield fly rule (http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5322&context=penn_law_review) (!!!) so... well... I get it but how do you make the leap?[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:The comic explanation had it wrong. It is Megan (the batter/kicker) who is Out when Ponytail yells. A high ball in Baseball can be called infield fly before anyone even tries to catch it. So it is of no consequence weather Cueball tries to catch it, or actually tries to dunk the ball. I have corrected the explanation acordingly. And also added the fact that the rule is hard to understand to outsiders of baseball. {{unsigned|Kynde}}
::TY! I've done some thinking and it's starting to dawn on me that the strategy the runners take interacts with the infielders actions. On the plus side this has prompted me to make a new life rule: You should always distinguish between strategy and cheating, but you should never be too picky about it! :¬D
::[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 21:59, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

A quick comment about hockey: there a variation, hockey cosom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_field_hockey). It is played normally indoor and with a ball. But it is also a cheap variant that school in Quebec use in winter in PE, as skating equipment with proper gears for rink hockey is both expensive and require skill that kids might not have. It would better fit with the Metaball title.--[[User:Labreck|Labreck]] ([[User talk:Labreck|talk]]) 10:03, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:No problem playing golf with a football? Then why anyproblem playing Ice hockey with such a ball? It is easier to get a foot ball into a ice hockey goal than to it into a golf hole. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

The title reminds me of J H Conway's paradoxical "Metagame", whose rules are: the first player (L) names a finite game (e.g. Nim), and then the two players (L and R) play that game. Is Metagame a finite game? If it is, then each player in turn can name Metagame, and the process never ends, so it isn't finite. But if it isn't finite, L must name another finite game, so the game does end. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.216|141.101.98.216]] 10:04, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of Hich-Hiker's "Brockian_Ultra-Cricket" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Brockian_Ultra-Cricket|title=Brockian Ultra-Cricket - Hitchhikers|accessdate=2015-04-04}}</ref> :

''"Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.

Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.

Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins."'' [[User:Briantist|Briantist]] ([[User talk:Briantist|talk]]) 13:57, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

<references/>
Who is the female with her hair in a bun?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 14:17, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:Not anyone in particular but she was also in [[1504]] and I have found 7 appereance of [[Hair Bun Girl]] with hair in a bun. So I have added her as a minor character. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:46, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Not sure where to post this but paragraphs following an external links are in separate boxes to the rest of the text. I looked at a few other comics and it's the same. It had better not be deliberate as it really breaks the flow of the explanation when it is cut off mid sentence--[[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 03:25, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
nevermind it's fixed now--[[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 03:48, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned actual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaballs Metaballs] yet. [[User:Daedalus|Daedalus]] ([[User talk:Daedalus|talk]]) 20:19, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Ponytail has a feynman diagram on her rule sheet :) {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.75}}

I know I am not the only person who once tried to play Calvinball. At least I hope I'm not. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:48, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1507: Metaball

2015-04-07T12:46:57Z

YourLifeisaLie:

This... looks amazing! I wonder if this is going to be a case of xkcd influencing real life, like geohashing, the "citation needed" on speeches or cory doctorow cosplaying... cory doctorow. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 08:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps this is how you play [https://xkcd.com/1480/ sportsball]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.11|141.101.64.11]] 11:19, 5 April 2015 (UTC)Indigofenix

Over here in Rightpondia (UK), "Hockey" means "Field Hockey" (I'm sure I've never actually heard "ball hockey" as a term before, ''ever'', although must be the same)... although it's mostly popularised as a (often very vicious!) girl's sport; see the St. Trinians cartoons/films. Although we understand Leftpondians (and especially Upper-Leftpondians) mean Ice Hockey when they miss off the qualifier. Just as vicious, of course (except now that everyone wears armour... also c.f. usual comments regarding Rugby League/Union vs 'American Football'/Gridiron). But none of these have anything on the near-variant of these games (mainly in Ireland) that is Hurling..! (As to Field Hockey as Aussie Rules Football is to Association Football?)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 16:25, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
:Some Canadian input: ball hockey /= field hockey. Field hockey is played on a field and has stick that looks like a 'J'. Ball hockey on the other hand is played on a hard surface (with an ice hockey stick). In organized leagues the arena is often just like an ice hockey rink without the ice; boards and all. Ball hockey can be played on foot or on roller-blades. Often when kids play street hockey it will be ball hockey, though just as likely to be with a specific street hockey puck that is designed to slide on pavement. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 20:20, 6 April 2015 (UTC) ce_nedra32

Suspiciously similar to Calvinball. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.100|108.162.221.100]] 21:18, 3 April 2015 (UTC)A Martin
: I agree, but there seem to be preset rules (the sheet that Ponytail is holding), suggesting that it isn't made up as they go along [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.33|141.101.98.33]] 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
Indeed, my first thought on seeing this was this is exactly the opposite of CalvinBall. Which may well be thr point.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.40|141.101.99.40]] 12:27, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I know I am not the only person who once tried to play Calvinball. At least I hope I'm not. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:46, 7 April 2015 (UTC)
I see influences of Hofstadter's ''Godel,Escher,Bach'', which has
1) the idea of how the play-by-play of a football game would be altered if it were baseball (among other counterfactuals), and
2) the idea of a boardgame whose rules change according to where pieces are on the board. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 22:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I wonder how the concept of 'out' (as opposed to 'in') would be dealt with as the ball passes into (and eventually out of) the volleyball zone.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.216|173.245.54.216]] 05:58, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:Baseball zone... ;-) Although I'm sure there is a volleyball zone somewhere... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

OK I guess this is not a complaint since the explanation seems to make sense. But I'm still confused about something. In the third panel the invocation of the infield fly rule is entirely wrong, The infielder must either catch and drop the ball or appear to deliberately refuse to catch the ball. The panel shows the ball still in the air when the call is made. As an athletophobe I just spent 20 minutes of my life researching the infield fly rule (http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5322&context=penn_law_review) (!!!) so... well... I get it but how do you make the leap?[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:The comic explanation had it wrong. It is Megan (the batter/kicker) who is Out when Ponytail yells. A high ball in Baseball can be called infield fly before anyone even tries to catch it. So it is of no consequence weather Cueball tries to catch it, or actually tries to dunk the ball. I have corrected the explanation acordingly. And also added the fact that the rule is hard to understand to outsiders of baseball. {{unsigned|Kynde}}
::TY! I've done some thinking and it's starting to dawn on me that the strategy the runners take interacts with the infielders actions. On the plus side this has prompted me to make a new life rule: You should always distinguish between strategy and cheating, but you should never be too picky about it! :¬D
::[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 21:59, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

A quick comment about hockey: there a variation, hockey cosom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_field_hockey). It is played normally indoor and with a ball. But it is also a cheap variant that school in Quebec use in winter in PE, as skating equipment with proper gears for rink hockey is both expensive and require skill that kids might not have. It would better fit with the Metaball title.--[[User:Labreck|Labreck]] ([[User talk:Labreck|talk]]) 10:03, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:No problem playing golf with a football? Then why anyproblem playing Ice hockey with such a ball? It is easier to get a foot ball into a ice hockey goal than to it into a golf hole. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

The title reminds me of J H Conway's paradoxical "Metagame", whose rules are: the first player (L) names a finite game (e.g. Nim), and then the two players (L and R) play that game. Is Metagame a finite game? If it is, then each player in turn can name Metagame, and the process never ends, so it isn't finite. But if it isn't finite, L must name another finite game, so the game does end. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.216|141.101.98.216]] 10:04, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of Hich-Hiker's "Brockian_Ultra-Cricket" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Brockian_Ultra-Cricket|title=Brockian Ultra-Cricket - Hitchhikers|accessdate=2015-04-04}}</ref> :

''"Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.

Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.

Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins."'' [[User:Briantist|Briantist]] ([[User talk:Briantist|talk]]) 13:57, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

<references/>
Who is the female with her hair in a bun?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 14:17, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:Not anyone in particular but she was also in [[1504]] and I have found 7 appereance of [[Hair Bun Girl]] with hair in a bun. So I have added her as a minor character. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:46, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Not sure where to post this but paragraphs following an external links are in separate boxes to the rest of the text. I looked at a few other comics and it's the same. It had better not be deliberate as it really breaks the flow of the explanation when it is cut off mid sentence--[[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 03:25, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
nevermind it's fixed now--[[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 03:48, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned actual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaballs Metaballs] yet. [[User:Daedalus|Daedalus]] ([[User talk:Daedalus|talk]]) 20:19, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Ponytail has a feynman diagram on her rule sheet :) {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.75}}

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-04-07T12:46:09Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Yourlifeisalie is a self-described idiot who acts smart.

Talk:1508: Operating Systems

2015-04-07T01:29:41Z

YourLifeisaLie:

[something].js isn't that far off: https://github.com/runtimejs/runtime (Sometimes I feel like JavaScript is a cult...) :) [[User:Bb010g|Bb010g]] ([[User talk:Bb010g|talk]]) 06:07, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Typo in title text: ''singed'' should be ''signed''.[[User:Jezzaaaa|Jezzaaaa]] ([[User talk:Jezzaaaa|talk]]) 06:43, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

:That's not a typo. Singed means slightly burnt. It's implying a post-apocalyptic environment. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.126|108.162.219.126]] 07:10, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

:I know almost nothing about Richard Stallman, but he does sound like the kind of guy who might be giving out signed photos of himself. :-) --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 19:02, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

"Blood Drone" Could be a play of words on "Bloodborne", the game. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.14|108.162.212.14]] 09:01, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

[something].js is probably referring to Node.js or one of the many frameworks built on Node.JS (such as Google's Angular.js). Node.js isn't written in Javascript, but in c/c++ using Google's V8 JS engine and is a replacement for Apache (a web platform). My interpretation is that it's only a matter of time before someone builds an entire OS using Node.js principles.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.99|108.162.221.99]] 10:33, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

"Blood Drone" makes me think of blood-borne nanites more than anything. -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.179|108.162.250.179]] 11:21, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Ditto here, "Blood Drone" implies, to me, an operating system for blood borne nanotech. [[User:Ioldanach|Ioldanach]] ([[User talk:Ioldanach|talk]]) 16:34, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

What if the ASI will be running on GNU/Hurd and 8 years after the war will seize Randal's house? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:35, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I cannot find any reliable source stating that iOS stands for "internet Operating System." To the contrary, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_OS Internet Operating Systems] seems like something different entirely. If anyone can find evidence to the contrary, please provide a link. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.114|199.27.128.114]] 14:57, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that iOS came from the iPhone Operating System conjunction based on what I read on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS Wikipedia]. I'm also inclined to support the idea that "Blood Drone" would be more likely to refer to blood-borne devices than to personal warfare devices, although with the timeline proximity to the Apocalypse, it is easy to see the reason for the other assumption. --[[User:Ancientt|Ancientt]] ([[User talk:Ancientt|talk]]) 16:33, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I fixed a teeny tiny typo. off changed to of. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 17:03, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Looks like he doesn't have much faith in the future of Android. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 18:55, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Could the GNU/Hurd reference also be a play on words, suggesting that the dominant "operating system" or activity of the survivors in their low-tech post-apocalyptic society will be "herd"ing animals, like gnus? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.118|173.245.52.118]] 20:58, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I added some trivia The title text begins by referring to a single survivor. The next two times, however, it refers to a group. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.204|199.27.128.204]] 00:18, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

:I disagree. First, it's referring to one of a group of survivors finding the photo. The next two times, it's simply referring to the group looking at the photo that the one survivor found—Randall skipped over the matter of having them all go to look at the photo, possibly because he felt it was unnecessary. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.40|199.27.133.40]] 00:56, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I also think that the far future has to do with herds of (wild) gnus wandering the deserted land. They will take some time to return, during which there are no operating systems at Randall's house. In my view, gnu herds are what make the survivors come there with spears, to hunt them. I don't know if the survivors remember Stallman or any of his projects, I think they just read the strength of his beliefs from his facial expression, which is remarkably constant throughout the years. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.188|141.101.104.188]] 01:12, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I mean i assume we are supposed to suspend disbelief on the end part, because after the destruction of most of the human race, who would be continuing to work on an operating system? [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 01:29, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1508: Operating Systems

2015-04-06T17:03:10Z

YourLifeisaLie:

1508: Operating Systems

2015-04-06T17:02:28Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1508
| date = April 6, 2015
| title = Operating Systems
| image = operating systems.png
| titletext = One of the survivors, poking around in the ruins with the point of a spear, uncovers a singed photo of Richard Stallman. They stare in silence. "This," one of them finally says, "This is a man who BELIEVED in something."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|More fine tuning needed?}}
In this comic, [[Randall]] gives an overview of past, present and (speculatively) future of the Operating Systems running in his house at any given time. Notably, because Randall is a technologically obsessed person, there is rarely only one OS running in his household. The timeline tracks how Operating Systems have come and gone over the years, and the gradual shift from desktop Operating Systems to mobile can be observed. Beyond the present day, we see some of Randall's humorous predictions as to which technologies and companies will dominate the Operating System landscape in the future.

Previous and current systems:
*{{w|MS-DOS}} (Microsoft Disk Operating System): The standard, command-line-based, OS for IBM PC-compatible computers in the 80s and early 90s.
*{{w|Microsoft Windows}}: The standard GUI-based OS for IBM PC-compatible computers from the mid 80s to the present day. Early versions operated as shells on top of MS-DOS rather than stand-alone OSes in their own right, explaining the overlap in those two bars. Randall's bar indicates that he first started using Windows in the era of Windows 3.1 and stopped in 2007, presumably switching to Linux as his main OS.
*Apple's {{w|Mac OS}} (Macintosh Operating System): The OS of Apple's Macintosh line of computers. Randall's bar indicates that he stopped using Macs in 2001, a time when the fortunes of Apple were in decline and Macintoshes were "niche" computers.
*{{w|Linux}}: An alternate, free, Unix-like OS. Randall's bar indicates that he likely used it part-time starting from 1999 (probably dual-booting his PC with Windows) until abandoning Windows in 2007 to use Linux full-time. This timing coincides with the release of Microsoft's controversial {{w|Windows Vista}} and the advent of more user-friendly Linux distributions.
*{{w|OS X}} (Macintosh Operating System v10): The successor OS of Apple's Macintosh line of computers. Although it was sometimes marketed as merely the 10th version of the earlier Mac OS, it was largely a new product. The bar indicates Randall's renewed use of Macintosh computers in 2009 when Apple was in a much better financial state than it was in 2001.
*{{w|Android_(operating_system)|Android}}: The OS of Android phones and tablets. Randall is indicating that he has at least one of these devices.
*Apple's {{w|iOS}}: The OS of {{w|iPhone}}, {{w|iPad}}, and {{w|Apple TV}}. Randall is indicating that he also has at least one of these.

His predictions for the future include:
*2018: That {{w|OS X}} and {{w|iOS}} will merge.
*2019: That [http://github.com/runtimejs/runtime#readme someone will succeed] in coding an entire operating system in {{w|Javascript}}.
*2022: That there'd be an OS based on {{w|Tinder_(application)|Tinder}}.
*2024: That the various devices from {{w|Nest Labs}} would be expanded so much that there's an entire operating system for them.
*2029: That {{w|Elon Musk}} will be up to something ambitious and futuristic.
*2030: That {{w|Disk_operating_system|DOS}} would make a comeback, but only in an ironic fashion (maybe because there would be no more disks left for it to operate from).
*2034: That ordinary people will be deploying {{w|Unmanned_combat_aerial_vehicle|weaponized drones}} in their homes.
*2042: Human civilization comes to a fiery end (maybe due to the unholy combination of weaponized drones and whatever the Elon Musk Project had developed). Another possible explanation is that human civilization will be wiped out by an artificial super-intelligence, superior to human intelligence, as Elon Musk, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Gates and many tech pundits foresee that 2045 will be the year to see such technology becoming real, and as Elon Musk, Bill Gates and many other tech pundits fear that it will be the extinction of all life on earth, as explained [http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html on this page].
*2059: That the infamously and perennially late [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html GNU/Hurd] OS will finally be released after human civilization has been wiped out. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while it was expected to be released in a relatively short time, even now only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that it will finally be ready to run in his house a decade or two after the end of humanity, i.e., that a production-ready version will never be released. Or Randall could be saying that, though human ''civilization'' doesn't exist any more, humanity still lives on, and GNU/Hurd will be the only system smart enough to be picked up by this post-catastrophe generation.

The title text refers to {{w|Richard Stallman}}, the founder of the {{w|Free Software movement}} and the {{w|GNU}} and {{w|Hurd}} projects. The survivors of the fire that ended the human civilization has found a slightly burned (singed) picture of him. And they can either see directly from the picture or they already know of Stallman, that this was a man that really believed in something. In this case it was the free software.

Randall has made several comics about free software and also about [[:Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman|Richard Stallman]] See for an instance of both [[225: Open Source]], [[344: 1337: Part 4]] and [[345: 1337: Part 5]].

==Transcript==
:[At the top of the panel:]
:'''Operating Systems'''
:running in my house

:[At the bottom there is time-line that runs from 1990 to 2066. It has small indicators for every year, larger for every 5 years and largest for every 10 years. Below the 10 year indicators are written the years. Also the year 2015 is marked:]
:1990 2000 2010 Now 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060

:[Bars above the time-line in four levels are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. Below is a list of the bars on the time-line in order of first appearance (with approximate year ranges given). Also the level from 1-4 is indicated, with level 1 just above the time-line and level 4 the highest level above the line:]

:[Level 1 from 1988 to 1998 (extends a little left past the beginning of the time-line but not off panel):]
:MS DOS
:[Level 2 from 1993 to 2007:]
:Windows
:[Level 3 from 1994 to 2001:]
:Mac OS
:[Level 1 from 1999 to 2018:]
:Linux
:[Level 2 from 2009 to 2023. On the way the bar merges with iOS around 2019:]
:OS X
:[Level 3 from 2009 to 2016:]
:Android
:[Level 4 from 2013 to 2023. On the way to 2023 the bar moves down past Android to merge with OS X around 2019:]
:iOS
:[Level 1 from 2018 to 2028. The text is written in square brackets:]
:[Something].js
:[Level 3 from 2022 to 2029:]
:TinderOS
:[Level 2 from 2023 to 2032:]
:Nest
:[Level 1 from 2028 to 2041:]
:Elon Musk Project:
:[Level 3 from 2030 to 2036:]
:DOS, but ironically
:[Level 2 from 2034 to 2041:]
:Blood Drone
:[This is not a bar, but the text (in three lines) is in a, double bar-height (level 1-2), square bracket. The bracket extends from 2042 to 2051:]
:Human civilization ends in fire
:[Level 1 from 2059 going past the end of the panel past 2066:]
:GNU/Hurd

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]

Talk:1506: xkcloud

2015-04-01T17:20:35Z

YourLifeisaLie:

The lack of a hover text breaks all sorts of things :) e.g. Floern's unofficial xkcd browser linked here via the hover text but it won't display the link or the lack of give text if there's no hover text! We may get a few less visitors for this comic as a result...

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.115|108.162.229.115]] 08:42, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
:Still getting swamped, it's business as usual for April 1st. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Why is "literally on fire" a question? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 09:52, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

:It indicates uncertainty. He's not really asking a question, but making a statement hesitantly. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.22}}

::Indeed, see also {{w|uptalk}}. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 10:03, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

How does i work? Does it work? When i click the "Help us"-Button i just get a blank comic with "..." written at the top :( [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.148|108.162.254.148]] 10:14, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Oh boy, time to find out if mediawiki does imagemaps.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 10:31, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

The image was updated on xkcd.com the button now reads "Click here to help us recover user data before facebook & ca notice we lost it [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 10:48, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
:Can someone update the picture without just making a screen shoot? It is not like you can save it the normal way. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:39, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

I decided to '''man up''', get the train rolling and submitted the '''first revision''' of the explanation. Do expand, retouch, overwrite, format and correct my simple explanation. I didn't know if the 3 already existing posts, the ambiguous text posts or the drawings are user-based, so I avoided saying so in the explanation. I'll just add something about the covet/thirst/hanker/crave in a moment, and I'm done. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.151|173.245.53.151]] 11:11, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

This comic has an empty alt text. See http://m.xkcd.com/1506/. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:50, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

* There's a silent character limit (no error message, just non-acceptance; You can still comment the image again, but the text is lost unless you copied it first) somewhere between 222 and 298 chars. I tried to make a start at playing Identik with an image, but only came half way through. Guess, I have to write shorter...
* Someone figured out, how to copy&paste some grayscale image.
* I managed to submit a color image, but haven't seen it coming back yet. Tell me when you find a red one.
* There is at least one image that is too fine to have been drawn in that minimal editor (squirrel+football). I guess, it's one of the initial images that Randall provided. -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 14:00, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
** There's also an image of Buzz Lightyear that appears to be copy-pasted in. I'm not sure how someone would have accomplished that. How did you mange to get color, user 2 above me? If anyone seems a stick-figure comic titled 2006 in which one character says to the other "You're never going to achieve anything if you spend all your time on that web comic ... Now back to my Zune research", that's mine. Post here and let me know! [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:33, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
*** I used the web console to get a drawing context on the canvas object. After submission the image was actually transferred to the lower area, but now, I suspect that it wasn't really the data that got uploaded... -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 15:00, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
:Yes although I'm certain that most of the images are from users, it would be nice to hear from someone who can confirm that one of their images has been spotted {{unsigned|Kynde}}
::I can at least confirm that one of my texts has been spottet by someone else. I got the black image and wrote "I finally managed to disable the flashlight of my camera". Later I saw an image combining a hammer, a nail and a camera to depict my description. -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 15:00, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
::The last computer device at the far right is a first generation SNES. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.193|173.245.56.193]] 15:12, 1 April 2015 (UTC)X
*I think the general idea is based on a game that I think is called the fax machine game? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.5|198.41.242.5]] 15:29, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

I really, really, hope that some people have seen my contributions. They're pretty damn funny. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 17:20, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1502: Wasted Time

2015-03-31T17:17:53Z

YourLifeisaLie:

If I'm reading the revision history correctly, the Incomplete notice was incomplete when added - if it's a person who added it, then just a typo. If it's a bot, possibly a bug in the bot. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 05:09, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Didn’t Momo tell us, that we can’t save time – and if we you, someone ''other'' uses it? ;-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 12:45, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

another one on time management: https://xkcd.com/1205/ [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 14:37, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
:... which, coincidentally (or not?) is an anagram, numerically speaking, of this one's number. [[User:Gearoid|Gearoid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 08:47, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
::There where so many comics listed with time management as a theme, so I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Time_management Time management category] and references this instead of a long list of comics (both here and in several of these - so far - 9 comics). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:47, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm the only one who thinks white hat is annoying?
Perhaps one of this days we could see Black hat "taking care" of White hat [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 20:38, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm glad I don't waste my time doing pointless things like contributing to a wiki about a webcomic! [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 17:17, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1505: Ontological Argument

2015-03-31T17:06:17Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Reminds me some kind of the [http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Babel_Fish#Philosophical_implications Babel Fish]... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:54, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

:Isn't the greatest fallacy of ontological argument the fact that the set of entities may not be well-ordered by "greatest" or "goodness"? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:17, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

::That's a great point, and (IMHO) a truly serious problem in these attempts to "order" gods (maybe it stems from being tied down to monotheistic thinking?). But it's not really a "fallacy," properly speaking. Not all flaws in reasoning are fallacies... {{unsigned ip|108.162.210.39}}

::I think that (using this argument) the first flaw arises when defining the "set of entities". How can we define it and make sure that it is indeed a set? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.245|141.101.98.245]] 14:56, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

::I think the greatest fallacy is that they start with the conclusion that the fantasy that God exists isn't a fantasy, and then try to "reason" their way into finding support for that conclusion. IOW, claiming to apply reason while working in exactly the opposite way that true reasoning demands. I realize ontological arguments, as the explanation currently says, "seek to prove that God exists using only premises about the nature of existence and logical deductions from them. This is '''in contrast to arguments that are based on observations of the world'''". But you don't get to reject the logical scientific method (marshal the facts and '''THEN''' draw conclusions from them) and then claim you're being logical. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 15:15, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

::I find some humor in that 'A god who could find a flaw in the ontological argument' could easily be accomplished by a being who met and/or exceeded the original premise of being 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived'. Some of the more obvious logical flaws are pointed out in this thread, and proving the thought process wrong doesn't really affect its overall truthiness in either direction. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.133|108.162.221.133]] 07:22, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Yay a potential large, all-encompassing argument about religion waiting to happen. Oh glory day. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 13:37, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Any chance this is really about an omnipotence paradox? Can god create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it? Is he so powerful that he can find a flaw in any argument that proves he exists? {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.186}}

:I think it's analogous and worth mentioning. Added it. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 15:30, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Why is the William Lane Craig section in there? If there are dozens of versions of the ontological argument on wikipedia, it makes sense to list the original (Anselm), the most famous critique of it (Dawkins), and then refer the reader to wikipedia for more information. The Craig variant is not explained here and seems cherry-picked out of the long list on wikipedia for no clear reason. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 14:08, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

:The text I replaced claimed that ontological arguments for the existence of God are based on the idea that a God that exists is greater than a God that does not exist. I changed it to say that Anselm's version says that and there are other ontological arguments that don't say that. I used William Lane Craig as the clearest and easiest to understand example from the Wikipedia article for which that is not the case. That said, I like how people have edited it since better than what I wrote. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 00:35, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Super ultra chocolate fudge cookies mega sundae (from here on refered to as "happy happy") is by definition the best ice cream imaginable, meaning we can't concieve of a better ice cream. but, if the happy happy exists solely in your mind as an idea, than surely you can concieve of a better happy happy, that is, the one that is sitting on a desk in front of you. Therefore, the happy happy must be the one that exists right in front of you. now, where's my ice cream?? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 16:57, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

:Someone should put a happy happy on 141.101.98.244's desk when he isn't looking.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.185|199.27.128.185]] 00:27, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

"Ontological arguments, in general, are arguments that attempt to prove a point by involving a "higher reason" or purpose for the point. " These are teleological arguments, not ontological. {{unsigned|Atnorman}}

I noticed by pure coincidence that Megan and Cueball are posed exactly as they were in [[1315: Questions for God]]. Is that the only time they were posed like that while posing a theological question, or is this a broader pattern? I haven't found any others, offhand. Also noticed that the Ontological argument came up very subtly in [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]]. [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 21:31, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

: [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]] does not reference the ontological argument. X therefore X exists is not the argument.{{Atnorman|Atnorman}}

Yeah but that's a strawman fallacy. I win.
I commit no fallacy, except the fallacy fallacy. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 17:06, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1505: Ontological Argument

2015-03-30T13:37:24Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Talk:1504: Opportunity

2015-03-27T15:05:28Z

YourLifeisaLie:

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom" are Mufasa words from 'The Lion King' (1994) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:39, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
- The "You must never go there" line is also from Lion King. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/quotes [[User:Drmouse|Drmouse]] ([[User talk:Drmouse|talk]]) 11:40, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

May someone make this Transcritpt better? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.10|141.101.104.10]] 08:58, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Hey, thanks to whoever tidied up my explanation [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.185|141.101.98.185]] 11:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I think the second line ("We must never go there") is from the same scene in ''The Lion King'' as the first line, not a reference to ''Space Odyssey'' . See [[http://youtu.be/K5lEJlbEgz4]] from 0:52 to 1:23. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 11:04, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

It seems to me to be common currency that the 'missing' word in "one small step" is "a", not "this" (whether as a fluffed line, in the moment, or a temporary radio drop-out over that bare syllable). Also, while it's highly ''suggested'', there's no certainty in the title-text that the new Mars-landing quote ''necessarily'' ended in fatality. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 14:31, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I just don't get how the rover could gain more power. It is after all, isolated on mars. All it could do is get weaker. Maybe it was already strong enough to control half of mars. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 15:05, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-03-27T13:59:42Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Yourlifeisalie is a loser who thinks he is smart on the internet

Basically just an edgy teenager

But he likes funny webcomics

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-03-26T14:37:29Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Yourlifeisalie is a political dissident and esteemed internet libertarian.

Basically just an edgy teenager

Talk:1503: Squirrel Plan

2015-03-26T14:18:12Z

YourLifeisaLie:

Reminds me of the Ice Age squirrel [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 06:02, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
:Also reminiscent of the star wars scene in Kingmen [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:16, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
::Um ya, like why didn't those balloons have a pressure release valve instead of blowing up? A relatively cheap device could have aided that character immensely.[[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 12:47, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
:::Clunky prototype? (And/or they want the maximum amount of elevation. Any presseure release valve would give a safe(r) ceiling of operation lower than the "just before the pop" one they theoretically have, as is. It's still a design-flaw, though, if there's no effective warning of balloon failure, and you're now left swinging on the other, on-the-edge-of-failing, one. And now with only half the lift. Yeah, clunky. Yeah, I've thought about this a little, already.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 13:06, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
::::Though as soon as the first balloon popped you'd start loosing altitude - due to half of your lift disappearing. So the question comes up - '''how did the second balloon pop'''? ;) And as a side note - if you catch the pan around the control room right after our hero dispatches the nerd villain, you'll see a corpse with a head. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:27, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
:::::'''Obviously there was a squirrel...''' ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 21:40, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
I think the squirrels are just a vehicle for the joke, which is poking fun at "obvious" conclusions based on personal beliefs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:48, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
:Absolutely - the current first line of explanation fails, as squirrels being stupid is not a joke. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.49|141.101.99.49]] 07:18, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
"...due to the expansion of the acorns inside." I love you guys. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.89|141.101.104.89]] 07:57, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
: We know [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.39|108.162.216.39]] 08:54, 25 March 2015 (UTC)BK201

This comic puts me in mind of the simplistic plot points and devices of a lot of modern scifi movies ... poking fun at them the same way as "Scorcher" from Tropic Thunder does ...--[[Special:Contributions/198.41.239.38|198.41.239.38]] 09:30, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I'd say the squirrels are a stand-in for ancient humans. Their understanding of the world and what is obvious reflects their pre-scientific state of knowledge. Their interests as squirrels have affected their conclusions, just as humans have projected their interests on what they interpret the sun to be (source of acorns instead of a sun god). I'm pretty sure the "halfway to the sun" part refers to a point where they think they're halfway but probably aren't even close to leaving the atmosphere, drawing parallels again to ancient human assumptions (the sun and moon are small orbs that are just high in the sky). {{unsigned ip|108.162.225.80}}
: Alternatively, it might be referring to people assuming the sun is golden in some literal fashion. What else could the sun be made of, if it's so gloriously radiant and stuff? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.109|108.162.216.109]] 13:02, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Agreed. Or possibly replace "ancient" with "superstitious" - or even nothing at all for that matter to apply to humans in general - and I'll agree with you even more. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.70|141.101.80.70]] 09:47, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I think it's also worth mentioning that the real sun is "full of" hydrogen and helium. The same is true for real squirrel lifting balloons.{{unsigned ip|108.162.230.161}}

It's possible that the comic is a commentary on the human condition, constantly reaching out for some grand goal, that is both unreachable, and even if reached is shown to be far less grand then previously thought. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.237|108.162.210.237]] 15:26, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I don't think the squirrel in the picture is actually halfway to the sun. I think the title text is a hypothetical future event, and that the description is overthinking things. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.106|108.162.216.106]] 16:50, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Is it a possibility that the squirrels represent the government or similar entity? {{unsigned|Mikemk}}

Not quite sure i like the explanation about acorns obviously not being able to contribute to flying. Not because i think they can, but because the exact same argument could be used for a jet engine on a plane as those are also heavy. {{unsigned ip|141.101.75.53}}
: maybe the acorns are pushing on the quantum vacuum virtual plasma? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.18|108.162.241.18]] 23:34, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I seriously suspect this has something to do with [[1356: Orbital Mechanics]] [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.185|173.245.56.185]] 10:06, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

I think that the balloon of the title text is a reference to earth herself : the analogy must be natural to a squirrel believing the sun is an accorn field...

I am fairly sure this comic is to mock humanity's tendency to assume what they first think of to be fact. This could also be about religion but I probably shouldn't mention that. Too many fights. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:18, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

925: Cell Phones

2015-03-12T16:13:41Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 925
| date = July 15, 2011
| title = Cell Phones
| image = cell_phones.png
| titletext = He holds the laptop like that on purpose, to make you cringe.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a good explanation of the correlation/causation fallacy, where one party states two unrelated events and posits that they must have influenced each other.

After hearing about the "Cell Phones Don't Cause Cancer" study, which refutes a claim made by the World Health Organization (just Google the debate, the comic doesn't focus much on it), [[Black Hat]] plots "Total Cancer Incidence" per 100,000 and "Cell Phone Users" per 100 on the same graph. The graph in frame 3 shows that the number of cell phone users rises after the number of cancer incidence, which makes Black Hat comically come to the conclusion that cancer causes cell phones.

The comic highlights a well-known fallacy known as ''{{w|post hoc ergo propter hoc}}'', often shortened to simply ''post hoc.'' The Latin translates to "after this, therefore because of this," referring to the common mistake that because two events happen in chronological order, the former event must have caused the latter event. The fallacy is often the root cause of many superstitions (e.g., a person noticing he/she wore a special bracelet before getting a good test score thinks the bracelet was the source of his/her good fortune), but it often crosses into more serious areas of thinking. In this case, the scientific research community, which often prides itself on its intellectual aptitude, is gently mocked for being nonetheless prone to such poor reasoning all too often. The different possibilities are generally known as causation, when one thing is proven to cause another, or correlation, when changes in one thing are aligned with changes in another, but there is no proof that they are actually related

The title text refers to the way Black Hat holds the laptop in panel 2. Being that Cueball (and Randall, for that matter) are quite into computers, the potential damage to a laptop screen either from the weight of its lower body or the pressure of the user's fingers on the LCD screen is enough to make him squirm in discomfort.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball holds a cellphone. Black Hat is sitting at a desk with a laptop.]
:Cueball: Another huge study found no evidence that cell phones cause cancer. What was the W.H.O. thinking?
:Black Hat: I think they just got it backward.

:[Black Hat turns towards Cueball, holding the laptop with one hand by the upper edge of the screen.]
:Cueball: Huh?
:Black Hat: Well, take a look.

:[There is a plot of total cancer incidence and cell phone users. Cancer rises from 1970 to 1990, then stays relatively steady. Cell phone use rises from roughly 1984, and steeply after 1990, to the present.]

:Cueball: You're not... There are ''so'' many problems with that.
:Black Hat: Just to be safe, until I see more data I'm going to assume cancer causes cell phones.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Cancer]]

922: Fight Club

2015-03-12T16:05:57Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 922
| date = July 8, 2011
| title = Fight Club
| image = fight_club.png
| titletext = I'm not saying it's all bad, but that movie has not aged as well as my teenage self in 2000 was confident it would.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Fight Club}}'' is a movie starring {{w|Brad Pitt}} and {{w|Edward Norton}} that was released in 1999, based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. It included this oft-quoted and parodied line: "The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club."

The movie has been fiercely debated by critics, primarily regarding whether it makes a sophisticated philosophical statement about society and consumerism or whether it is just a movie with lots of fighting and mischief. Randall appears to side with those who take a dim view of the movie's philosophical pretensions, those of whom most often ignore the artistic implications.

"This conversation is over" is also a line from the movie, in the scene where the Narrator (Edward Norton) is arguing with Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) while Tyler (Brad Pitt) tells the Narrator what to say from the bottom of the basement stairs.

==Transcript==
:Friend: But ''Fight Club'' isn't really about fighting. It's about the way society—
:Cueball: Nope, don't wanna hear it.
:Friend: But it says consumers are—
:Cueball: This conversation is over.

:The first rule of talking to me about movies is do ''NOT'' talk about Fight Club.

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

886: Craigslist Apartments

2015-03-12T13:50:49Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 886
| date = April 15, 2011
| title = Craigslist Apartments
| image = craigslist apartments.png
| titletext = $1600 / 1386153BR 3BATH, MODERN SLIDING DOORS, GUEST ROOMS, GARBAGE DISPOSAL. FREE MANDATORY PARKING (ENFORCED). CONVENIENT TO ALDERAAN.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a comic about the potential pitfalls in finding an apartment on {{w|Craigslist}}. Just as in Craigslist, some of the posts are re-posted several times. Additionally, lots of posts use lots of tildes, exclamation points or asterisks as above to set their posts apart from others.

'''BR''' means bedroom, e.g. 3BR means that apartment has 3 bedrooms (common measurement of apartment size).

*'''$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats OK, limit one per square foot.'''
:This ad is aimed at "crazy cat ladies/bachelors" who compulsively keep a number of animals much greater than is appropriate to the living space.

*'''$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****'''
:This is the first repetition of an entry that appears multiple times. It is also extremely generic, telling the reader little useful about the house. The square house might be a garage, or just a regular square house. Beside that, most houses have a door in front, there's nothing special about a door.

*'''$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.'''
:A strobe light is a very bright light that, instead of remaining on, flashes very quickly. It's frequently used in parties. A constant strobe light and the stated lack of a floor would probably make indeed living in the apartment somewhat difficult.

*'''$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.'''
: This is a post to live as an oarsman on a {{w|Viking ship}}. The water and heat presumably both come from the sky, in the form of rain and sunlight.

*'''$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.'''
: This is a completely alien landscape, meant to be unimaginable and maddening. Possibly this represents some "other universe" or an extraterrestrial living space. Clearly this is unlivable, for humans at least. Short instance bursts of heat disturb if not kill. Stairs that do not have a clear top or bottom and rooms that can be seen as inside of each other would be confusing and impractical if not impossible to navigate. Water that runs in a sense is disturbingly vague. Seems to be on a planet with a quick rotation, also close to a star, hence the "short, intense bursts" of heat.

*'''$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)'''
:This is a disguised "adult services" (sex) posting, with references to trimmed pubic hair, an attractive body, and a lack of {{w|Sexually transmitted disease|STD}}s. Craigslist no longer allows posts for this, because prostitution is illegal in most places in the US. This post tries to evade the adult services ban by pretending to be something else.

*'''$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.'''
: This {{w|Minotaur}} house is an ad for the house in the novel ''{{w|House of Leaves}}''.

*'''$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.'''
:This is an ad for a residence in the {{w|Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant}}, located near to the town of {{w|Pripyat}}, in northern Ukraine. The NPP is a 3-level structure, and contains a pool for temporary spent nuclear fuel storage. The rooftop now has plants growing on it after years of neglect, and the glass facade references radioactive glassy minerals created by the explosion.

*'''$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.'''
:This house is a submarine, as indicated by the advertisement, presumably operated by a navy. The "previous tenants", being members of the armed forces, would undoubtedly resist entry of someone attempting to board their submarine. The sixty bedrooms refers to the crew members' bunks on board the ship, which are in extremely tight quarters and can be very uncomfortable. This may also be a reference to [[496: Secretary: Part 3]], which makes reference to [[Black Hat]] stealing a submarine - apparently this is him trying to get rid of it.

*'''$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets OK but won't survive long.'''
: This is an ad for a house in a generic horror movie.

The title text (''$1600 / 1386153BR 3bath, modern sliding doors, guest rooms, garbage disposal. Free mandatory parking (enforced). Convenient to Alderaan.'') is a reference to the {{w|Death Star}} in ''Star Wars''. {{w|Alderaan}} is the home planet of {{w|Princess Leia}}, which was obliterated by the Death Star. Mandatory parking references the tractor beams used to drag nearby ships (such as the Millennium Falcon) into the base. The garbage disposal refers to an iconic scene from Star Wars aboard the Death Star involving a garbage disposal. It seems somewhat inconvenient that this "apartment" has over a million bedrooms but only three bathrooms.

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a single panel, presented as an apartment search.]
:[Title bar.]
:All apartments
:Search for: [_______] in: All apartments ( ) Title only (*) Entire post Search
:Rent: [Min] [Max] 0+ BR [ ] Cats [ ] Dogs [ ] Has image
:[Date bar.]
:Fri Apr 15
:[Begin the apartment listings.]
:$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats ok, limit one per square foot.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.
:$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)
:$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.
:$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.
:$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets ok but won't survive long.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:868: Nolan Chart

2015-03-12T13:46:10Z

YourLifeisaLie:

I'm a Republican baseball fan, where does that put me? ~JFreund
: The Midwest? [[User:Curtmack|Curtmack]] ([[User talk:Curtmack|talk]]) 21:12, 11 February 2014 (UTC)
: That was glorious wordplay right there. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 13:46, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

859: (

2015-03-12T13:42:06Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 859
| date = February 11, 2011
| title = (
| image = (.png
| titletext = Brains aside, I wonder how many poorly-written xkcd.com-parsing scripts will break on this title (or ;;"'<nowiki/>'{<<[' this mouseover text."
}}

== Explanation ==
) In programming, punctuation is often used to mark sections of code. Paired punctuation marks must always be matched up with a corresponding closing mark, otherwise a so-called {{w|syntax error}} occurs. The programming language {{w|Lisp_(programming_language)|Lisp}} (also featured in [[224: Lisp]]) is known for large numbers of nested/paired parentheses. Even in literary works intended only for human consumption, the absence of a matching closing parenthesis (as appears in this sentence or other "balanced" punctuation sets creates a mental expectation of eventual closure and completion that remains unfulfilled even long after the unmatched mark is encountered. See what I mean?

There is also reference to [[312: With Apologies to Robert Frost]] which could contain the missing paren...

It can also be interpreted as a {{w|metaphor}}, which compares the reader with a Lisp {{w|Interpreter (Computing)|interpreter}}. The interpreter looks for the parenthesis until the end of the file, where it eventually halts, and prints out the error. The comic claims that if you read an unmatched parenthesis, you will look for it for the rest of the day too.

It also refers to this awkward feeling when you see something (like an unmatched parentheses, speling error or a randomly-placed, comma.

The title text refers to the same issue as already highlighted in [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]: if your scripts trust external input, you sometimes will be surprised. At the time of this comic, there were quite a few websites that would grab the latest xkcd comic three times a week and publish them on their own site. This comic likely broke at least some of the websites because of either the unmatched brace or the extra unmatched markup that is in the title text.

==Transcript==
:(An unmatched left parenthesis creates an unresolved tension that will stay with you all day.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Programming]]

852: Local g

2015-03-12T13:40:17Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 852
| date = January 26, 2011
| title = Local g
| image = local g.png
| titletext = In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the same jump will get an athlete 0.25% higher (>1cm) than in London four years prior.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] explains in the first panel, that the {{w|centrifugal force}} (not be confused with the {{w|centripetal force}} - which is made clear in [[123: Centrifugal Force]] - cited in the first frame of this comic) along with variations in the earth's shape causes the gravitational force to vary by half a percent between some cities. These variations could have a significant effect on certain sporting events; for example, Cueball explains that a pole vaulter might jump 2 cm higher in a city with a smaller gravitational force.

So Cueball writes an article reevaluating pole vaulting world records based on the city in which the record was accomplished. His article suggests that some athletes should not have received an award for breaking a record because they did so in a city with a below average gravitational force. These pole vaulters whose records were questioned by Cueball's article angrily stage a protest outside of Cueball's apartment.

Then Cueball proceeds to taunt them reasoning that they can't harm him because his building is locked. Cueball and [[Megan]] then hear a crash indicating that the protesters have managed to reach the apartment's balcony. When Cueball asks out loud how the pole vaulters reached the balcony, Megan stares at him for a moment and then he realizes the stupidity of that question: the pole vaulters pole-vaulted onto the balcony.

At the title text [[Randall]] explains that in fact the gravity force at the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 compared to London in 2012 will make a difference of more than one centimeter, mainly because Rio de Janeiro is much closer to equator than London resulting in an increased centrifugal, or, perhaps centripetal, if you prefer to be more contrasting, force.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Did you know that because of centrifugal* force and the shape of the Earth, "gravity" can vary by nearly half a percent between major cities?
::<nowiki>*</nowiki>Yes, centrifugal. xkcd.com/123

:Cueball: That's not a lot, but it could affect, say, pole vaulting. In a 5m jump, it could make a difference of 2cm.

:Megan: Huh, interesting.
:Cueball: I'm going to write an article reevaluating vaulting records to take this into account.

:Three days later:
:Megan: Good job. There's an angry mob of athletes outside.

:[He looks off the balcony. The mob of athletes is out of frame.]
:Athlete: That record was mine!
:Athlete: How dare you cast doubt on our honor?
:Athlete: Have you no respect?!
:Athlete: Make him pay!
:Cueball: Hey, the math doesn't lie. Suck it, jocks.

:Megan: Dude, don't provoke them.
:Cueball: Whatever. The building's locked. Let 'em vent for a-
:''crash''
:Off-panel Athlete: GET HIM!

:Cueball: Crap!
:Cueball: How did the pole vaulters get up to our balcony?

:Megan: ...

:[Beat frame.]

:Megan: That might be the stupidest question I've ever heard.
:Cueball: Right.

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

852: Local g

2015-03-12T13:39:50Z

YourLifeisaLie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 852
| date = January 26, 2011
| title = Local g
| image = local g.png
| titletext = In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the same jump will get an athlete 0.25% higher (>1cm) than in London four years prior.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] explains in the first panel, that the {{w|centrifugal force}} (not be confused with the {{w|centripetal force}} - which is made clear in [[123: Centrifugal Force]] - cited in the first frame of this comic) along with variations in the earth's shape causes the gravitational force to vary by half a percent between some cities. These variations could have a significant effect on certain sporting events; for example, Cueball explains that a pole vaulter might jump 2 cm higher in a city with a smaller gravitational force.

So Cueball writes an article reevaluating pole vaulting world records based on the city in which the record was accomplished. His article suggests that some athletes should not have received an award for breaking a record because they did so in a city with a below average gravitational force. These pole vaulters whose records were questioned by Cueball's article angrily stage a protest outside of Cueball's apartment.

Then Cueball proceeds to taunt them reasoning that they can't harm him because his building is locked. Cueball and [[Megan]] then hear a crash indicating that the protesters have managed to reach the apartment's balcony. When Cueball asks out loud how the pole vaulters reached the balcony, Megan stares at him for a moment and then he realizes the stupidity of that question: the pole vaulters pole-vaulted onto the balcony.

At the title text [[Randall]] explains that in fact the gravity force at the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 compared to London in 2012 will make a difference of more than one centimeter, mainly because Rio de Janeiro is much closer to equator than London resulting in an increased centrifugal, or, perhaps centripetal, if you prefer, force.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Did you know that because of centrifugal* force and the shape of the Earth, "gravity" can vary by nearly half a percent between major cities?
::<nowiki>*</nowiki>Yes, centrifugal. xkcd.com/123

:Cueball: That's not a lot, but it could affect, say, pole vaulting. In a 5m jump, it could make a difference of 2cm.

:Megan: Huh, interesting.
:Cueball: I'm going to write an article reevaluating vaulting records to take this into account.

:Three days later:
:Megan: Good job. There's an angry mob of athletes outside.

:[He looks off the balcony. The mob of athletes is out of frame.]
:Athlete: That record was mine!
:Athlete: How dare you cast doubt on our honor?
:Athlete: Have you no respect?!
:Athlete: Make him pay!
:Cueball: Hey, the math doesn't lie. Suck it, jocks.

:Megan: Dude, don't provoke them.
:Cueball: Whatever. The building's locked. Let 'em vent for a-
:''crash''
:Off-panel Athlete: GET HIM!

:Cueball: Crap!
:Cueball: How did the pole vaulters get up to our balcony?

:Megan: ...

:[Beat frame.]

:Megan: That might be the stupidest question I've ever heard.
:Cueball: Right.

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

User:YourLifeisaLie

2015-03-11T23:35:37Z

YourLifeisaLie: Created page with "YourLifeisaLie is just a dude"

YourLifeisaLie is just a dude