explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1794: Fire

2017-02-03T20:08:57Z

Zman9600: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1794
| date = February 3, 2017
| title = Fire
| image = fire.png
| titletext = Billy Joel briefly detained
}}

==Explanation==
In the United States and Canada, the terms {{w|Multiple-alarm fire|one-alarm fire, two-alarm fire, and three-alarm fire}} are used to categorize the level of response to fires by local authorities. The term multiple-alarm fire is also used to indicate a severe fire.

A newspaper is shown reporting on a fire at an alarm factory. However, due to the very nature of the location, the alarms in the factory (at least 50,000 of which are functioning smoke, heat and/or carbon monoxide alarms) have been set off, leading to the event being described as a "50,000-alarm fire", which does not relate necessarily to the severity of the fire, but to the number of alarms that have been triggered in the factory.

The cartoon shows visible sound waves from the alarms, which would be impossible to capture in real life ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXOucXB4a8 unless it's a video recording at several thousand frames per second]). It also shows other differences to real life common in comics such as squiggly lines instead of text on the newspaper, whereas real life newspapers normally include words.{{Citation needed}}

The title text mentions the musician {{w|Billy Joel}} being questioned as a suspect for the fire, which is a reference to his song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g We Didn't Start the Fire]". In other words, Billy Joel claims that he is not responsible for the fire at the alarm factory.

==Transcript==
[The panel shows the front page of a newspaper and several unreadable sections left of, right of, and below the main front page news. A large heading is written above a photo. In the photo an alarm factory is on fire, with "alarm" symbols depicting sound waves. Below the headline and below the picture are black lines indicating the main text in the article.]

:Headline: '''50,000-Alarm Fire at Alarm Factory'''

{{comic discussion}}

1794: Fire

2017-02-03T20:08:20Z

Zman9600: /* Explanation */ Fixed [Citation needed] tag

{{comic
| number = 1794
| date = February 3, 2017
| title = Fire
| image = fire.png
| titletext = Billy Joel briefly detained
}}

==Explanation==
In the United States and Canada, the terms {{w|Multiple-alarm fire|one-alarm fire, two-alarm fire, and three-alarm fire}} are used to categorize the level of response to fires by local authorities. The term multiple-alarm fire is also used to indicate a severe fire.

A newspaper is shown reporting on a fire at an alarm factory. However, due to the very nature of the location, the alarms in the factory (at least 50,000 of which are functioning smoke, heat and/or carbon monoxide alarms) have been set off, leading to the event being described as a "50,000-alarm fire", which does not relate necessarily to the severity of the fire, but to the number of alarms that have been triggered in the factory.

The cartoon shows visible sound waves from the alarms, which would be impossible to capture in real life ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXOucXB4a8 unless it's a video recording at several thousand frames per second]). It also shows other differences to real life common in comics such as squiggly lines instead of text on the newspaper, whereas real life newspapers normally include words{{Citation needed}}.

The title text mentions the musician {{w|Billy Joel}} being questioned as a suspect for the fire, which is a reference to his song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g We Didn't Start the Fire]". In other words, Billy Joel claims that he is not responsible for the fire at the alarm factory.

==Transcript==
[The panel shows the front page of a newspaper and several unreadable sections left of, right of, and below the main front page news. A large heading is written above a photo. In the photo an alarm factory is on fire, with "alarm" symbols depicting sound waves. Below the headline and below the picture are black lines indicating the main text in the article.]

:Headline: '''50,000-Alarm Fire at Alarm Factory'''

{{comic discussion}}

1635: Birdsong

2016-01-27T09:30:41Z

Zman9600: Started transcript

{{comic
| number = 1635
| date = January 27, 2016
| title = Birdsong
| image = birdsong.png
| titletext = Maybe if I put it in a box for a while with a speaker playing some pleasant pastoral music, I can reprogram it.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows [[Cueball]] walking along singing with a bird in the background; Cueball is apparently enjoying the perfect morning and the birdsong. In the next panel, it become apparent that the bird is actually singing the words to the song "{{w|Smooth (song)|Smooth}}" ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Whgn_iE5uc official video]) by {{w|Santana (band)|Santana}} featuring {{w|Rob Thomas (musician)|Rob Thomas}}. The bird's singing begins to annoy Cueball, so he chases the bird with a net and attempts to catch it. The bird continues with its song.

The comic is a title on the words 'bird' and 'song'. Birds, of course, don't actually sing: the sounds they make are territorial challenges, mating cries, etc. But in Western cultural traditions, particularly the pastoral one, imagining these sounds as 'song' is part of seeing nature as beautiful and harmonious. Ironically, the fact that this bird is really singing urban pop music, is perceived by Cueball to be an intrusion. Playing pastoral music to 'reprogram' the bird is of course an even more unnatural intervention - all with the purpose of restoring the pastoral naturalness of the morning.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Cueball is walking through a field. Overhead, a bird is singing.]
:Cueball: The sun is shining, the birds are singing—
:Bird: Got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah
:Bird: Give me your heart, make it real
:[Cueball shows annoyance at the bird's song, and begins chasing it with a large butterfly net. The bird flies away from Cueball, continuing to sing.]
:Bird: Or else forget about it

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Programming]]

File:world polio day.png

2015-10-23T10:10:36Z

Zman9600: Zman9600 uploaded a new version of "File:world polio day.png"

File:world polio day.png

2015-10-23T10:06:05Z

Zman9600:

238: Pet Peeve 114

2015-08-21T12:58:39Z

Zman9600: Including "technical restriction" hatnote and changed comic title regarding the number sign (#)

<noinclude>:''The correct title of this page is '''238: Pet Peeve #114'''. It appears incorrectly here because of {{w|mw:Manual:Page title|technical restrictions}}.''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number =238
| date =March 21, 2007
| title =Pet Peeve #114
| image =pet_peeve_114.png
| titletext =I'm reading a goddamn book, thank you very much.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|pet peeve}} is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it. [[Cueball]] counts his pet peeves, this is number 114.

Cueball's friend calls him and finds out that he is reading a book on a "Saturday Night". Saturday night, or the weekend in general, is supposed to be a time for enjoying or partying with friends after five weekdays of work. But Cueball is annoyed by the fact that people are stuck with the stereotype of partying out on weekends. In his view, reading a good book is also great way of enjoying the weekend. His annoyance is expressed in the title text.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball reading a book in a chair.]
:Pet Peeve #114:
:Voice on the phone: Really? What are you doing reading? It's ''Saturday night!''

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

1536: The Martian

2015-06-10T09:31:54Z

Zman9600: Categories added

{{comic
| number = 1536
| date = June 10, 2015
| title = The Martian
| image = the_martian.png
| titletext = I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer.]
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for The Martian!
:Whitehat: What's that?
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.
:Whitehat: Should I read it?
:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face Whitehat.]
:Cueball: Depends. You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect ''this'' thing to ''this'' thing using ''this'' table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?
:Whitehat: Yeah?
:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking.]
:Cueball: The Martian is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.
:Whitehat: How on earth did that become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm so excited.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]

1529: Bracket

2015-06-06T09:16:10Z

Zman9600: Added trivia about XKCD Bracket

{{comic
| number = 1529
| date = May 25, 2015
| title = Bracket
| image = bracket.png
| titletext = I'm staring at the "doctor" section, and I can't help but feel like I've forgotten someone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explain the larger groupings separated by white space in the comic. New category (or subgrouping) "*gene*" that encompasses Eugene McCarthy through Gene Wilder needed.}}
A {{w|Bracket (tournament)|tournament bracket}} shows the planned series of matchups in a tournament. In this comic Randall has shown a plan for a tournament between a wide range of cultural icons, both real and fictional, based mostly on similarities in their names. Various Internet groups have speculated on who would win in a fight between characters from different films. It may be relevant that the film {{w|Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice}} is soon to be released where the two eponymous {{w|superheroes}}, {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Superman}}, fight against each other.

The individual starting pairings are generally based on common or similar given names or surnames. Some adjacent brackets are "segued" by someone like Jeff Daniels, who segues from a bracket of "Jeff"s into a bracket of "Daniels"es. The bracket itself is fairly arbitrary. Most initial matchups are pairs, although several are trios and there's a quadruplet in the Russels group, while a single entry, {{w|Beyoncé}}, is given a first- and second-round {{w|bye (sports)|bye}}. Most of the participants in the tournament are people, with a few exceptions. {{w|Shallots}} (small onions), {{w|scallops}} (bivalve mollusks), and {{w|scallions}} (green onions) are similar sounding foods, therefore may be confusing for some individuals (perhaps including [[Randall]]). The final grouping on the lower right of the bracket features a several retail stores and a film.

The [[title text]] is probably referring to {{w|Dr. Dre}}, particularly as a reference to his 2001 song "{{w|Forgot About Dre}}". Alternatively, the title text could simply be a reference to the large number of pop culture personas that include the word "Doctor", such as {{w|Gregory House|Doctor House}}, {{w|Mehmet Oz|Dr. Oz}}, {{w|Phil McGraw|Dr. Phil}}, {{w|Dr. Watson}}, {{w|Emmett Brown|"Doc" Brown}}, {{w|Dr. Seuss}}, {{w|Dr Pepper}}, {{w|Doctor Doom}}, {{w|Zoidberg|Dr. Zoidberg}}, {{w|Dr. Horrible}}'s Sing-Along Blog and {{w|List of fictional doctors|many others}}.

The incentive for the comic may have been the {{w|2015 French Open|French Open 2015}}, which started on the day of the publication.

The names and other entries in the bracket are (first-round matchups are grouped by shading):

{| class="wikitable"
!Grouping
!Subgrouping
!Person/Entry
!Known as
!Winning probability
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Armstrong
|{{w|Louis Armstrong}}
|Jazz-musician
| rowspan="4" |1/32
|-
|{{w|Neil Armstrong}}
|First human on the moon
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Lance Armstrong}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Cyclist
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Stretch Armstrong}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Action figure
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Jeff *
|Jeff Gordan (Probably {{w|Jeff Gordon}})
|Race car driver
| rowspan="9" |1/64
|-
|{{w|Jeff Bridges}}
|Actor in ''King Kong'', ''The Big Lebowski'', ''Iron Man'', ''Tron: Legacy''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Jeff Daniels}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Dumb and Dumber''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|J* Daniels
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jack Daniels}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Alcoholic beverages
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>Well<nowiki>*</nowiki>
|{{w|Orson Welles}}
|Director of ''{{w|Citizen Kane}}'' and known for his {{w|The War of the Worlds (radio drama)|radio-play}} of {{w|H. G. Wells}}' ''{{w|The War of the Worlds}}''
|-
|{{w|H.G. Wells}}
|Author, known for ''The War of the Worlds'' and ''{{w|The Time Machine}}''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|George Orwell}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Author of ''{{w|Nineteen Eighty-Four}}'' and ''{{w|Animal Farm}}''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Wells Fargo}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Bank and stage coach company
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Russell *
|{{w|Kurt Russell}}
|Actor in ''John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A.'', ''The Thing'', ''Fast & Furious 7''
| rowspan="5" |1/128
|-
|{{w|Russell Brand}}
|Comedian
|-
|{{w|Russell Crowe}}
|Actor in ''Gladiator'', ''A Beautiful Mind'', ''Les Misérables'', ''Noah''
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Russell Simmons}}
|rowspan="2"|Rapper
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Simmons
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Richard Simmons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Host of exercise program
| rowspan="3" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Gene Simmons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Musician, known from ''KISS''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Gene <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Gene Hackman}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor
|rowspan="5" |1/96
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ckman
|-
|{{w|Hugh Jackman}}
|Actor in the ''{{w|X-Men}}'' franchise as {{w|Wolverine (character)|Wolverine}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Alan Rickman}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Die Hard'', ''Harry Potter'' franchise, ''The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy''
|-
|rowspan="3"|Alan <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|rowspan="2"|Alan Par*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Alan Parsons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Musician
|rowspan="7" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Alan Partridge}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Fictional radio character
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> McCarthy
|{{w|Jenny McCarthy}}
|Anti-vaccination activist
|-
|{{w|Joseph McCarthy}}
|Senator known for anti-communist witch-hunt
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Eugene McCarthy}}
|rowspan="2"|Senator and Presidential candidate
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Eugene <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|{{w|Eugene V. Debs}}
|Labor leader
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Wilde*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Gene Wilder}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Bonnie and Clyde'', ''Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory''
| rowspan="4" |1/96
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Olivia Wilde}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress in ''Tron: Legacy'', ''Her''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Oscar Wilde}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Writer
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Oscar *
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Oscar De La Renta}}
|rowspan="2"|Fashion Designer
|rowspan="3"|1/32
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Oscar De La *
|-
|{{w|Oscar De La Hoya}}
|Boxer
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Jack Nic*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jack Nicklaus}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Golf player
| rowspan="9" |1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Jack Nicholson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'', ''The Shining'', ''The Bucketlist''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ichol* / *ickel* / *ickle*
|-
|{{w|Phil Mickelson}}
|Golf player
|-
|{{w|Nicholas Nickleby}}
|Charles Dickens protagonist in the novel by the same name
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ryan Adams
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Ryan Adams}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Bryan Adams}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Singers with Stage Names Referencing Weight/Games
|{{w|Chubby Checker}}
|Singer famous for "The Twist"
|-
|{{w|Fats Domino}}
|Rock and Roll Singer
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Colin F*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Colin Firth}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Pride and Prejudice'', ''Love Actually''
| rowspan="5" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Colin Farrell}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Daredevil'', ''In Bruges'', ''Total Recall''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|F*rell*
|-
|{{w|Will Ferrell}}
|Comic actor, ''Anchorman'' and ''The Other Guys''
|-
|{{w|The Farrelly Brothers}}
|Comedy film-makers
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|J<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *itt (three names)
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Joseph Gordon-Levitt}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor
| rowspan="2" |1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jennifer Love Hewitt}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress in ''Garfield: The Movie'' 
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|D* Glover
|{{w|Danny Glover}}
|Actor, ''Lethal Weapon'' series
| rowspan="7" |1/64
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Donald Glover}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor, ''Community'', also a rapper, aka ''Childish Gambino''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Don*
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Donnie Wahlberg}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Singer, ''{{w|New Kids on the Block}}''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Wahlberg
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Mark Wahlberg}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''The Departed'', ''The Other Guys''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Mark *
|-
|{{w|Mark Ruffalo}}
|Actor, known for his role as {{w|Hulk (comics)|the Hulk}} in the film ''{{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|The Avengers}}''
| rowspan="2" |1/32
|-
|{{w|Mark Shuttleworth}}
|Entrepreneur, founder of {{w|Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu}}
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Pullman
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Philip Pullman}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Author, ''Dark Materials'' and ''Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ''
|rowspan="4"|1/48
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Bill Pullman}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Spaceballs'', and ''Independence Day''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Bill *
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Bill Paxton}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Apollo 13'', ''Aliens''
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Bill Murray}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Ghostbusters'', ''Groundhog Day''
|rowspan="3"|1/32
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Ghostbusters/SNL alumni
|-
|{{w|Dan Aykroyd}}
|Actor in ''Ghostbusters'', ''The Blues Brothers''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Rogers
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Ginger Rogers}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress known for dancing with {{w|Fred Astaire}}
|rowspan="2"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Confusing reference to {{w|Fred Rogers}} (host of children's show, popularly known as "Mister Rogers") and to {{w|Fred Astaire}} (Dancer, actor, and singer)
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Spock
|{{w|Mister Spock}}
|Character on ''Star Trek'' portrayed by {{w|Leonard Nimoy}}
|rowspan="10"|1/96
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Doctor Spock}}
|rowspan="2"|Author of book on childcare
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="8"|Doctors
|-
|{{w|Doctor Octopus}}
|Villain in Spider-Man comic books
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Manhattan}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Character in Alan Moore's Watchmen
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Strangelove}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Character in a movie about nuclear war by {{w|Stanley Kubrick}}
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Strange}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Sorceror Supreme in Marvel Comics
|-
|{{w|Julius No|Dr. No}}
|Main villain in the {{w|Dr. No (film)|first James Bond movie}}
|-
|The Doctor
|Confusing reference to the {{w|The Doctor (Doctor Who)|main protagonist}} of the science fiction series ''{{w|Doctor Who}}'' and the {{w|Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager)|emergency medical holographic program}} in ''{{w|Star Trek: Voyager}}''
|-
|{{w|Cory Doctorow}}
|Real person - [[:Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow| who has been in a number of xkcd comics]]
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|J* Lewis
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jerry Lee Lewis}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Rock and Roll singer
|rowspan="9"|1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jerry Lewis}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Comedian and former chairman of charitable organization
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Jenny Lewis}}
|rowspan="2"|Indie singer-songwriter
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Sounds like *"enny"
|-
|{{w|Xeni Jardin}}
|Digital commentator, Boing Boing co-editor
|-
|rowspan="4"|Chris *
|rowspan="2"|Chris * (Avengers actors)
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Chris Evans (actor)|Chris Evans}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Captain America''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Thor''
|-
|rowspan="2"|Chris P*
|{{w|Chris Pine}}
|Actor, ''Star Trek''
|-
|{{w|Chris Pratt}}
|Actor, ''Guardians of the Galaxy''
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|'S' Foods That Rhyme Assonantly
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Shallots}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Small onions
|rowspan="3"|1/96
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Scallops}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Bivalve mollusks
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Scallions}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Green onions
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Suz* (Similar phonetics)
|{{w|Siouxie Sioux}}
|Rock singer
|rowspan="2"|1/64
|-
|{{w|Suzanne Vega}}
|Folk rock singer-songwriter
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Arnold *
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor; Ex-husband of Roseanne Barr
|rowspan="4"|1/48
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Arnold Palmer}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Golf player
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|A* Palmer
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Amanda Palmer}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer/songwriter
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Wes *
|{{w|Wes Craven}}
|Film maker
|rowspan="10"|1/64
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Wes Anderson}}
|rowspan="2"|Movie Director
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|* Anderson
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Paul Thomas Anderson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Film maker
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|P*ul Anderson
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Poul Anderson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Science fiction author
|-
|rowspan="3"|Sirs
|rowspan="2"|Sir Walter *
|{{w|Sir Walter Scott}}
|Scottish poet and writer
|-
|{{w|Sir Walter Raleigh}}
|British explorer of Virginia
|-

|rowspan="2"|F* Drake
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Sir Francis Drake}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|British explorer, 2nd to circumnavigate the Earth
|-
|
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Frank Drake}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Astrophysicist, SETI pioneer
|-
|rowspan="5"|"Van"
|rowspan="3"|Van *
|{{w|Van Halen}}
|Rock band
|rowspan="3"|1/96
|-
|{{w|Van Morrison}}
|Singer/songwriter
|-
|{{w|Van Wilder}}
|Comedy film
|-

|rowspan="2"|R* Van Winkle
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Robert Van Winkle}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|AKA Vanilla Ice, rapper
|rowspan="3"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Rip Van Winkle}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Fictional character
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Rip/Torn
|-
|{{w|Rip Torn}}
|Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, actor on ''Cross Creek'', ''Larry Sanders Show''
|rowspan="2"|1/32
|-
|{{w|Natalie Imbruglia}}
|Singer of "Torn"
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Businesses with the word "Body" in their name
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|The Body Shop}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Shop
|rowspan="6"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Bath and Body Works}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Shop
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Businesses with the word "Bath" in their name
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Bed Bath and Beyond}}
|rowspan="2"|Shop
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Beyon*
|-
|{{w|Beyond Thunderdome}}
|Motion picture
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Beyoncé}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|1/16

|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Neaten the format to make it more comprehensible.}}

:[A tournament bracket. The matchups are the following, on left-hand side and right-hand side:]

{| class="wikitable" style="background:transparent;border:none;width:100%;"
| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
 (1) Louis Armstrong and Neil Armstrong
 (2) Lance Armstrong and Stretch Armstrong

 (3) Jeff Gordan and Jeff Bridges
 (4) Jeff Daniels and Jack Daniels

 (5) Orson Welles and H.G. Wells
 (6) George Orwell and Wells Fargo

 (7) Kurt Russell, Russell Brand, Russell Crowe and Russell Simmons
 (8) Richard Simmons and Gene Simmons
 (9) Gene Hackman, Hugh Jackman and Alan Rickman
 (10) Alan Parsons and Alan Partridge

 (11) Jenny McCarthy, Joseph McCarthy, Eugene McCarthy and Eugene V. Debs
 (12) Gene Wilder, Olivia Wilde and Oscar Wilde
 (13) Oscar De La Renta and Oscar De La Hoya

 (14) Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicholson
 (15) Phil Mickelson and Nicholas Nickelby

 (16) Ryan Adams and Bryan Adams

 (17) Chubby Checker and Fats Domino

 (18) Colin Firth and Colin Farrell
 (19) Will Ferrell and The Farrelly Brothers

 (20) Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jennifer Love Hewitt

 (21) Danny Glover and Donald Glover
 (22) Donnie Wahlberg and Mark Wahlberg
 (23) Mark Ruffalo and Mark Shuttleworth

| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
 (24) Philip Pullman, Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton
 (25) Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd

 (26) Ginger Rogers and Fred Rogers|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers
 (27) Mister Spock, Doctor Spock and Doctor Octopus
 (28) Doctor Manhattan, Doctor Strangelove and Doctor Strange
 (29) Dr. No, The Doctor and Cory Doctorow

 (30) Jerry Lee Lewis and Jerry Lewis
 (31) Jenny Lewis and Xeni Jardin

 (32) Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth
 (33) Chris Pine and Chris Pratt

 (34) Shallots, Scallops and Scallions

 (35) Siouxie Sioux and Suzanne Vega

 (36) Tom Arnold, Arnold Palmer and Amanda Palmer

 (37) Wes Craven and Wes Anderson
 (38) Paul Thomas Anderson and Poul Anderson

 (39) Sir Walter Scott and Sir Walter Raleigh
 (40) Sir Francis Drake and Frank Drake

 (41) Van Halen, Van Morrison and Van Wilder
 (42) Robert Van Winkle and Rip Van Winkle
 (43) Rip Torn and Natalie Imbruglia

 (44) The Body Shop and Bath and Body Works
 (45) Bed Bath and Beyond and Beyond Thunderdome
 (46) Winner of 44 and winner of 45
 (47) Winner of 46 and Beyoncé
|}

[Those are later interconnected:]

<div style="column-count:4;-moz-column-count:4;-webkit-column-count:4">

 (48) Winner of 1 and winner of 2
 (49) Winner of 3 and winner of 4
 (50) Winner of 5 and winner of 6
 (51) Winner of 7 and winner of 8
 (52) Winner of 9 and winner of 10
 (53) Winner of 12 and winner of 13
 (54) Winner of 14 and winner of 15
 (55) Winner of 16 and winner of 17
 (56) Winner of 18 and winner of 19
 (57) Winner of 21 and winner of 22

 (58) Winner of 24 and winner of 25
 (59) Winner of 26 and winner of 27
 (60) Winner of 28 and winner of 29
 (61) Winner of 30 and winner of 31
 (62) Winner of 32 and winner of 33
 (63) Winner of 34 and winner of 35
 (64) Winner of 37 and winner of 38
 (65) Winner of 39 and winner of 40
 (66) Winner of 41 and winner of 42

 (67) Winner of 49 and winner of 50
 (68) Winner of 51 and winner of 52
 (69) Winner of 11 and winner of 53
 (70) Winner of 54 and winner of 55
 (71) Winner of 56 and winner of 20
 (72) Winner of 57 and winner of 23

 (73) Winner of 59 and winner of 60
 (74) Winner of 61 and winner of 62
 (75) Winner of 63 and winner of 36
 (76) Winner of 64 and winner of 65
 (77) Winner of 66 and winner of 43

 (78) Winner of 48 and winner of 67
 (79) Winner of 68 and winner of 69
 (80) Winner of 71 and winner of 72

 (81) Winner of 58 and winner of 73
 (82) Winner of 75 and winner of 76
 (83) Winner of 77 and winner of 47

 (84) Winner of 78 and winner of 79
 (85) Winner of 70 and winner of 80

 (86) Winner of 81 and winner of 74
 (87) Winner of 82 and winner of 83

 (88) Winner of 84 and winner of 85

 (89) Winner of 86 and winner of 87

</div>
 

:[The two sides finally join up in:]

:(90) Winner of 88 and winner of 89

==Trivia==
A twitter account, [https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket XKCD Bracket], is taking a poll of one matchup each day, until an ultimate winner is decided. The main xkcd website has a link to the twitter account at the top of the website.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Doctor Who]]

1001: AAAAAA

2015-05-27T01:05:47Z

Zman9600: There doesn't seem to be any evidence that they found the bed online. It seems much more likely that they constructed it themselves.

{{comic
| number = 1001
| date = January 9, 2012
| title = AAAAAA
| image = aaaaaa.png
| titletext = 'ARE YOU TURNED ON YET?' 'I DON'T THINK SO--ARE YOU?' 'MAYBE A LITTLE!' 'OK, FIVE MORE MINUTES.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Requires expanding}}
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] get the idea to build a rotating bed from a TV show like {{w|MTV Cribs|Cribs}}, which documents the decadent homes of the wealthy.

Rotating beds are typically used for sexual activity and variety, but Cueball and Megan have made theirs rotate far too fast, like a {{w|Roundabout (play)|roundabout}}, to be useful for this purpose.

The last panel is a flashback to earlier that day, when they see a rotating bed on television. Megan comments that a rotating bed does not seem difficult to build.

The title text implies that the high speed of rotation is not accidental as we may have assumed from the comic, but intentional, due to Megan and Cueball's erroneous belief that the rotation itself is supposed to turn them on, not the sexual activity they would engage in on the moving bed. A turning bed is also a pun with "turned-on."

==Transcript==
:[Cueball clinging onto bed sheets while being dragged away by centrifugal force.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAA

:[Megan similarly clinging on.]
:Megan: AAAAAAAAAA

:[Overhead shot of both spinning around a plain white circle in a room with other accoutrements.]
:Both: AAAAAAAA

:Heading: Earlier that day...
:Cueball: Haha, check it out - This guy's mansion has an actual rotating bed.
:Megan: You know, I bet it wouldn't be too hard to build one of those...

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

Talk:1511: Spice Girl

2015-05-27T00:55:39Z

Zman9600:

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 agree that it is difficult to determine from the small lines where the speak comes from. I have added several changes to the explain, but kept most of it in. I still believe that it is Cueball that shouts, but I'm not 100% sure anymore. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:06, 14 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)

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)
:Because the comics name is Spice Girl!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:06, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

That's some [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Land Waste Land] level shit of complexity right there. [[User:Boerder|Boerder]] ([[User talk:Boerder|talk]])

The discussion has convinced me my initial interpretation is wrong, but I still like it best: Cueball is shouting, in a panic, at Megan Spice, who he thought was innocent until those at the door came for her. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.108|173.245.50.108]] 16:40, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

The whole idea that the shout is coming from Cueball is nonsense, utter nonsense. Megan is loading her shotgun, and saying "Haha, you'll see!" So Megan is the merciful spice girl or the one who started the war. The shouted question "Which spice girl are you?" is directed at Megan. And Randall is saying that he likes to imagine questions like this as being shouted through a door. Cueball and Megan are on the same side of the door. Ergo the shout is coming from outside. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 18:58, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

;Known Comics Iconography for Outside
Everyone who thinks it's Cueball should read "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud. The radiating lines at the start of the stem (for both the THUMPs and the shouting) indicate that the sound is coming from off-panel. Randall has used this technique before, in [[1154]] for example. See also "Emanating Dialogue" at http://www.blambot.com/grammar.shtml - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:32, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
;Known Comics Iconography for Shouting
:It is common for Randall to indicate shouting (and all agree that this line is shouted) with the same type of radiating lines. See when Megan shouts in [[1374: Urn]] and in [[1360: Old Files]]. There is actually a clear difference between the Thumps line and the speech line. So this is no argument. Also the "wall" is not off-screen and thus comic [[1154]] or the other referened in the explanation has nothing to do with this comics speech line. And as the comment below notes, when something is coming out of a box/wall then the "thumps" version is used as can be seen in [[915: Connoisseur]]. So once again we are back to square one. Randall has not made a clear comic here!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:21, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
::As an evidence-based person, I thank you for the disappointing counter-examples. Yes, Randall has used this symbol ambiguously. However, in standard comicsography, small radiating lines at the base of a speech stem (henceforth called SRL@BOSS) is a known and accepted convention for an occluded speaker. When radiating lines are used to indicate emphasis (which is already rare, since volume is usually demonstrated via thicker lines and other symbols) the lines are typically larger and encompass a substantial fraction of the speaker's head.
:: TL;DR version: Randall might be ''doing it wrong''. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:33, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:: p.s. It's certainly his right as an artist to do so. The confusion might even be intentional. {{unsigned|Frankie}}
::The comment below is not about "thumps," it is about how we are a bunch of people locked in a box arguing about something stupid. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 00:07, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

I think I just realized what [[915: Connoisseur]] is really about. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 01:45, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

;Is "Duck Soup" the answer to "Anyone who can pinpoint a specific work with this scene in it?"

Regarding the incomplete tag that asks "Anyone who can pinpoint a specific work with this scene in it?":

It vaguely remains me of a scene in the Marx Brothers movie "Duck Soup" but I haven't seen it in many years. Anyone who has copy of the movie (or remembers it well) and can verify this?

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.189|108.162.215.189]] 06:49, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

I've been leaning more towards "The shout comes from Cueball". But the officcial transscript now clearly states, that the shout is coming from "A cruel interloper, external to the scene". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.104|108.162.254.104]]
:I agree with the official transcript. Does anyone else think we should keep the other explanation now? (Although, without the transcript, I would be pretty on the fence about it.) [[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 00:53, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1511: Spice Girl

2015-05-27T00:53:54Z

Zman9600: I agree with the official transcript re: shout coming from Cueball or outside

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 agree that it is difficult to determine from the small lines where the speak comes from. I have added several changes to the explain, but kept most of it in. I still believe that it is Cueball that shouts, but I'm not 100% sure anymore. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:06, 14 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)

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)
:Because the comics name is Spice Girl!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:06, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

That's some [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Land Waste Land] level shit of complexity right there. [[User:Boerder|Boerder]] ([[User talk:Boerder|talk]])

The discussion has convinced me my initial interpretation is wrong, but I still like it best: Cueball is shouting, in a panic, at Megan Spice, who he thought was innocent until those at the door came for her. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.108|173.245.50.108]] 16:40, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

The whole idea that the shout is coming from Cueball is nonsense, utter nonsense. Megan is loading her shotgun, and saying "Haha, you'll see!" So Megan is the merciful spice girl or the one who started the war. The shouted question "Which spice girl are you?" is directed at Megan. And Randall is saying that he likes to imagine questions like this as being shouted through a door. Cueball and Megan are on the same side of the door. Ergo the shout is coming from outside. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 18:58, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

;Known Comics Iconography for Outside
Everyone who thinks it's Cueball should read "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud. The radiating lines at the start of the stem (for both the THUMPs and the shouting) indicate that the sound is coming from off-panel. Randall has used this technique before, in [[1154]] for example. See also "Emanating Dialogue" at http://www.blambot.com/grammar.shtml - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:32, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
;Known Comics Iconography for Shouting
:It is common for Randall to indicate shouting (and all agree that this line is shouted) with the same type of radiating lines. See when Megan shouts in [[1374: Urn]] and in [[1360: Old Files]]. There is actually a clear difference between the Thumps line and the speech line. So this is no argument. Also the "wall" is not off-screen and thus comic [[1154]] or the other referened in the explanation has nothing to do with this comics speech line. And as the comment below notes, when something is coming out of a box/wall then the "thumps" version is used as can be seen in [[915: Connoisseur]]. So once again we are back to square one. Randall has not made a clear comic here!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:21, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
::As an evidence-based person, I thank you for the disappointing counter-examples. Yes, Randall has used this symbol ambiguously. However, in standard comicsography, small radiating lines at the base of a speech stem (henceforth called SRL@BOSS) is a known and accepted convention for an occluded speaker. When radiating lines are used to indicate emphasis (which is already rare, since volume is usually demonstrated via thicker lines and other symbols) the lines are typically larger and encompass a substantial fraction of the speaker's head.
:: TL;DR version: Randall might be ''doing it wrong''. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:33, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:: p.s. It's certainly his right as an artist to do so. The confusion might even be intentional. {{unsigned|Frankie}}
::The comment below is not about "thumps," it is about how we are a bunch of people locked in a box arguing about something stupid. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 00:07, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

I think I just realized what [[915: Connoisseur]] is really about. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 01:45, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

;Is "Duck Soup" the answer to "Anyone who can pinpoint a specific work with this scene in it?"

Regarding the incomplete tag that asks "Anyone who can pinpoint a specific work with this scene in it?":

It vaguely remains me of a scene in the Marx Brothers movie "Duck Soup" but I haven't seen it in many years. Anyone who has copy of the movie (or remembers it well) and can verify this?

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.189|108.162.215.189]] 06:49, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

I've been leaning more towards "The shout comes from Cueball". But the officcial transscript now clearly states, that the shout is coming from "A cruel interloper, external to the scene". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.104|108.162.254.104]]
:I agree with the official transcript. Does anyone else think we should keep the other explanation now? [[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 00:53, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

1529

2015-05-25T05:16:44Z

Zman9600: Redirected page to 1529: Bracket

#REDIRECT [[1529: Bracket]]

Template:LATESTCOMIC

2015-05-25T05:15:46Z

Zman9600: New comic

<noinclude>The latest [[xkcd]] comic is number:</noinclude> 1529

1529: Bracket

2015-05-25T05:15:14Z

Zman9600: Created page for new comic

File:bracket.png

2015-05-25T05:10:39Z

Zman9600:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

1527: Humans

2015-05-20T06:49:52Z

Zman9600: Added category

{{comic
| number = 1527
| date = May 20, 2015
| title = Humans
| image = humans.png
| titletext = At this point, if we're going to keep insisting on portraying dinosaurs as featherless because it's "cooler", it's time to apply that same logic to art involving bald eagles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|New page}}
==Transcript==
{{Incomplete transcript}}
:[Two robots are floating in mid-air in the comic]
:Robot 1: You know, new research suggests ancient human kings and queens were covered in colorful fabric.
:Robot 2: Ugh, I like '''movie''' humans more. Screaming pink warriors with metal crowns poking through the skin on their heads!
:Robot 2: Now they're, what, big pillows?
:Robot 2: Science ruins everything.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Robots]]

1527: Humans

2015-05-20T06:46:45Z

Zman9600: /* Transcript */ Changed incomplete tag

1527: Humans

2015-05-20T06:38:40Z

Zman9600: Added transcript

{{comic
| number = 1527
| date = May 20, 2015
| title = Humans
| image = humans.png
| titletext = At this point, if we're going to keep insisting on portraying dinosaurs as featherless because it's "cooler", it's time to apply that same logic to art involving bald eagles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|New page}}
==Transcript==
{{Incomplete|New page}}
:[Two robots are floating in mid-air in the comic]
:Robot 1: You know, new research suggests ancient human kings and queens were covered in colorful fabric.
:Robot 2: Ugh, I like '''movie''' humans more. Screaming pink warriors with metal crowns poking through the skin on their heads!
:Robot 2: Now they're, what, big pillows?
:Robot 2: Science ruins everything.
{{comic discussion}}

Template:LATESTCOMIC

2015-05-20T06:33:21Z

Zman9600: New comic

<noinclude>The latest [[xkcd]] comic is number:</noinclude> 1527

File:humans.png

2015-05-20T06:31:02Z

Zman9600: Added licensing

==Licensing==
{{XKCD file}}

File:humans.png

2015-05-20T06:27:43Z

Zman9600:

1527

2015-05-20T06:25:35Z

Zman9600: Zman9600 moved page 1527 to 1527: Humans: Naming convention

#REDIRECT [[1527: Humans]]

1527: Humans

2015-05-20T06:25:33Z

Zman9600: Zman9600 moved page 1527 to 1527: Humans: Naming convention

{{comic
| number = 1527
| date = May 18, 2015
| title = Humans
| image = humans.png
| titletext = At this point, if we're going to keep insisting on portraying dinosaurs as featherless because it's "cooler", it's time to apply that same logic to art involving bald eagles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|New page}}
==Transcript==
{{Incomplete|New page}}
{{comic discussion}}

1527: Humans

2015-05-20T06:24:58Z

Zman9600: Created page

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:29:44Z

Zman9600: Thanks to Quantum7 for the link

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Some researchers* are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Footnote: * Hall et al, DOI: [https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.MOLMED.2015.02.009 10.1016/J.MOLMED.2015.02.009]
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Science]]

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:24:16Z

Zman9600: Added "Science" category

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Some researchers* are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Footnote: * Hall et al, DOI: 10.1016/J. Molmed.2015.02.009
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Science]]

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:19:52Z

Zman9600: Fixed footnote

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Some researchers* are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Footnote: * Hall et al, DOI: 10.1016/J. Molmed.2015.02.009
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:19:11Z

Zman9600: /* Transcript */ Added footnote to transcript

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Some researchers* are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Footnote: Hall et al, DOI: 10.1016/J. Molmed.2015.02.009
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:15:04Z

Zman9600: Added categories for characters

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Some researchers are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:10:55Z

Zman9600: /* Transcript */ Added transcript, first draft

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Some researchers are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T07:00:33Z

Zman9600: Added comic image

291: Dignified

2015-05-11T04:23:10Z

Zman9600: /* Explanation */ Cleaned up explanation some, probably still needs work.

{{comic
| number = 291
| date = July 18, 2007
| title = Dignified
| image = dignified.png
| titletext = 'I don't know, why is your beret staying on your head?' 'Staples.'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]] is hanging upside down a tree, usually something you might have done in your a childhood. As an adult it is not very dignified. [[White Hat]] probably made a comment on this and the fact that Beret Guy has his head down. But then Beret Guy gives him an answer, regarding where White Hats head once came through, and asks him why he is still acting so {{w|dignified}}?

Here, Beret Guy is referring to the process of {{w|childbirth}}. Put in the way he mentions said process, the fact that White Hat came into this world in such a fashion would be very deflating.

In the title text White Hat replies that he does not know, but then continues to ask why Beret Guy's beret stays on his head, even when upside down (in which gravity would tend to make a beret fall off). Beret Guy explains that he has stapled the beret onto his head.

Such a process is similar to that of closing a wound after major head surgery, using {{w|surgical staples}}. Normally, the stapling of the head would be conducted with anesthetic and removed after the incision has healed, and only an insane person would do this to himself.

Beret Guy is never seen without his hat (although it has been hidden under a green helmet once in [[769: War]]). And later in [[478: The Staple Madness]] is turns out that he likes to stable anything to everything, so maybe also his hat to his head. This comic may very well be a prequel to the staple madness comic.

In the teaser trailer of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Indy [http://youtu.be/DZNlwJV5RRo?t=32s staples a hat to his head] (or at least pretends to) to prevent it from blowing off, a similar situation to the one Beret Guy is in here.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy swinging upside-down from tree branch talking to White Hat walking by.]
:Beret Guy: You were once shoved headfirst through someone's vagina. Why are you acting so dignified?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous

2015-05-06T20:29:02Z

Zman9600: /* What-If */

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== The Community Portal's design ==

{{tl|Community portal}} looks too Wikipedia-ish (because that's where I got it). Someone who can design things should probably fix that. It isn't protected for the time being, though it probably will be in the future (high-visibility template). --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Common mistake ==

This affects all pages that ever say "alt text" in reference to the TITLE text on xkcd images. "Alt text" is incorrect; Alt text refers to the text that is shown as an alternative when images are not displayed. Title text is what xkcd uses and is shown as a tool tip-like bubble when images are hovered over.

I would correct this myself but I saw no way to edit the main page. --[[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 14:21, 6 August 2012‎ (UTC)

:You actually don't need to edit the main page to fix it, as what's there is just a mirror (transclusion) of the actual content from the comic page, at [[Curiosity]], which is open for editing by anyone. Then again, the "alt-text" in that case is generated by a template, {{tl|comic}}, so that's where we should fix this. The template's code, however, is currently a terrible mess (sorry!), so I went ahead and took care of it. Thanks for catching that! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Ah? So it's wrong, for instance, on http://m.xkcd.com? because of that I took it for granted that we could call it the alt-text... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Yes. If you look at the page's html source, you'll see:
<nowiki><img
id="comic"
src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/curiosity.png"
title="As of this writing the NASA/JPL websites are still overloaded. Trying CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].torrent.SwEsUb.DVDRip.XviD-aXXo.jpg instead."
alt="Curiosity"></nowiki>
::(line breaks added for clarity) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:::That was my error in the template. I knew "image text" that has been commonly used by Jeff was not techically correct, but I didn't actually go back and confirm it was alt text before I included that tag in the template. That's to Waldir (I believe?) for correcting the template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:14, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== When the "official" transcript is wrong? ==
I did [[903: Extended Mind]]. Interestingly, the transcript on xkcd.com is missing the bottom line "When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points." I assume we want a complete transcript, rather than whatever xkcd.com says it is...? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 04:10, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

:We're focusing on the actual transcript of the comic, not the xkcd.com transcript. The official transcript is usually right, but even Randall makes mistakes sometimes. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 04:24, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

== Milestone: half the comics explained!! ==

Hi all! I'm pleased to announce that we have just broke the 50% mark for xkcd explanations! The page that balanced the count (568 explained, 568 to go, at the time) was [[877: Beauty]], created 01:31 UTC, 21 November 2012 by [[User:Davidy22]]. Congratulations!! :D --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:10, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

:The caterer's been called! The punch will be arriving soon! Go [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:53, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

::[[File:freedom.png]] Punch is served! [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:11, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

But the Main page says 407 explanations, 731 to go! What's up with that? --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:00, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Reverse? ==

Why in the Archive why are all the thing up until "Heatmap" in Reverse? Can someone please answer? [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
:Archive? Can you provide a link or screenshot? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

http://xkcd.com/archive/ [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

::Ah, that's because the comic right after that, rtl, has a right-to-left character in it that flips all the proceeding text. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:13, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Ah, ok, i see that now. When I 1st saw that RTL I just thought that it was random letters, thankyou for explaining it for me. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

It also depends on what browser you are on because on Google Chrome it was normal. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 09:08, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Do you think this question was asked by one of the xkcd people? ==

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090301060752AAtYugc [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:38, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Matthew Reilly ==

I would just like to tell everyone that I asked Matthew Reilly (the author) if he is ever scared that a velociraptor is going to attack him, and he said NO! He clearly needs to start worrying about them! [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 10:45, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

== What can we learn section ==
First of all I love your work. I believe deeper understanding of each XKCD can make a world a better place and I thank you sincerely for starting this webpage. I wanted to ask what you think about "What can we learn?" section I've been adding to some of the pages. Thank you - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:27, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:This site is actually the work of multiple editors working slowly and steadily to fill in explanations for all the old comics. Some of the xkcd comics are incredibly deep - comic [[956]] is such a poignant comic that digs into the DRM issue on so many levels. Your reflections on many of the comics are very much warranted and you're helping us create talk pages with high-quality opening posts, which is great for future discussion on this wiki. It'd be nice if you could refrain from putting headers in talk pages, technical limitations of the wiki make long explanation pages choke when headings are in the discussion page. Other than that, keep up the good work! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::I've put in my 2 cents to comic [[956]], and thank you for teaching me how to comment and link to other comics - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::: FYI, you can always make pseudo-headings using a horizontal rule and a bold "header", but honestly I think a simple standard opening sentence would suffice. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

:Oh, and the guy who draws xkcd is called {{w|Randall Munroe}}. So many glowing things to be said about him. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:44, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::Yes, I can't thank him enough for simplifying complex issues to funny stories, I think it's exactly what our generation needs - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:I'm in favor of a Mr. Rogers style of 'what lesson can be learned' on the talk page, but make sure your comments don't come across as sanctimonious and holier-than-thou as that can be really off-putting. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:06, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:: You are absolutely correct, I have not thought of that, please trust me I did not do it on purpose. Thank you Mr. Lcarsos - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 19:55, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Thank you David, and I apologize that I've not made it clear that by your work, I do mean your collective work (the wiki is only as good as all the people behind it). I was trying to put the headers to allow others to find the section easier in case they start looking for it, perhaps I could make a suggestion to make it a standalone section so that others would be encouraged to contribute their own understanding of lessons they have noticed from each comic. I know the lessons I've seen, but I would love to learn from others as much as I hope they can learn from me and Mr. XKCD, thank you. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:48, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

== DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD ==

Hello fellow editors. Do you remember the last time we were hit by a surge of automated spam? Neither do I. ConfirmEdit has really done a number on the volume of spam that we're eating - one spam account has been created since we finished configuring confirmEdit, and zero anon edits have been spam. Zero. Can you say happiness? Can you say party? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:41, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:Hehe, I'm glad! Thanks for being so relentless on the spam-fighting all this time! Maybe we should make up a new reason to make Jeff remove the /wiki/ in the URL? ;) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:11, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:: Awesome news! Finally the patrolling feature will be usable: [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideanons=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by registered users] / [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideliu=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by anonymous users] :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:27, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

== 1000th comic explanation!! ==

Hi all! It apparently went unnoticed that '''we have recently surpassed the mark of 1000 comic explanations!''' Some calculations based on [[:Category:Comics]] and [[Special:NewPages]] led me to the conclusion that the 1000th explanation was [[681: Gravity Wells]], created by [[User:AlexRNL]] just yesterday! Yay! This calls for a celebration, no? Congrats to [[Special:ContributionScores|everyone]] who made this happen! I'll edit [[Mediawiki:Sitenotice]] with a congratulatory message. Way to go, guys! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:04, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:ps - I also took the opportunity to flesh out our [[explain xkcd|about/history page]]. Please take a look and fix/add any details I might have missed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:06, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

== Style guide ==
Is there a style guide for this wiki? --[[User:PeterMortensen|PeterMortensen]] ([[User talk:PeterMortensen|talk]]) 20:14, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, sorry, I did forget to answer here. A guide on this is not easy, many individual comics do need special layouts because they have content never can match to a style guide. But I will give a try [[Help:Style Guide]].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:18, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

== Adblock ==

I've whitelisted the site in adblock, but the ads are still blocked.
Anyone know what' going on here and how I can fix it?--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 04:34, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
:Huh. I was wondering why our impression counts weren't rising. I thought it was just because this site had high turnover. I've changed the webpage that the word whitelisting links to, try the instructions there instead. Project wonderful is our ad provider, and they've been pretty good to us so far. Also, thanks for helping to support the site! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:40, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::Great! I don't really mid ads as long as they aren't intrusive. Works now, Hope everyone else does it as well.--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 05:16, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::I saw you wrote "the webpage that the word whitelisting links to" so I went to the search box and typed whitelisting. My search didn't yield anything useful: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=whitelisting&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch]. I don't know how to create the missing page but there oughta be a link for someone like me who searches for whitelist or whitelisting, to take them to the instructions you refer to. [[User:SaxTeacher|SaxTeacher]] ([[User talk:SaxTeacher|talk]]) 10:59, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
:::We already have this linked somewhere, but [https://www.projectwonderful.com/adblock.php this] is the link you want. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

I normally access this site through the android app "xkcd browser". That app only links to the content part of the site and doesn't show the side bar, so the adds aren't shown either. Might be worth discussing it with the author. [[Special:Contributions/109.158.126.139|109.158.126.139]] 08:06, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

:We support those avenues completely, you don't need to feel bad if you use an app to browse this site. We're only really concerned when we put up ads and our impressions are less than half our page hits, because that essentially means more than half our readers aren't contributing to server costs. That's really hard to deal with. We have enough daily page hits to qualify as web publishers at very big ad agencies, but we've had to settle for relatively low rates at the smaller Project Wonderful because 60% of our users were using adblock, so the agencies rejected us because our valuable "paying" audience was too low for them to consider us. That's been the difference between us using dedicated servers to host the site and hiring a contractor to set it up, and the (admittedly somewhat decent) shared hosting plan that we have to settle for now. We can only afford the shared hosting, because the small-scale advertisers at Project Wonderful don't even pay for full days of advertising; most of the time, we make less per day than the posted $3.90 price. That said, we're grateful that Project Wonderful would take us as a publisher when no one else would, but it really feels like the difference between being accepted to community college and being accepted to an ivy league school. For a similar reason, the Google ads route was not sufficient to satisfy our needs; not a large enough proportion of our users were looking at ads, so we either needed to spam them and degrade the site, or we needed to make them refresh, which makes pages slow and causes needlessly high traffic for a lot of users. We didn't want our ads to make the site worse, because that would drive away users and defeat the purpose of us being a public resource for xkcd readers. We actually decided to go the agency route pretty early, because adsense takes a massive cut of revenues and gives us little control over what ads or advertisers actually showed, which was not okay with us. Whoah, I wrote a lot. I hope it was coherent. Maybe someday I'll collect my thoughts and write a proper summary on how and why we advertise. Also, if you have any questions about anything ad-related, you can always ask us at [[explain xkcd talk:Advertise Here]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:15, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

== Feynman? ==

Feynman (both in [[182: Nash|living]] and [[397: Unscientific|zombie]] form) probably deserves an entry in the [[Template:Navbox characters|character navbox]] template doesn't he? [[Special:Contributions/128.250.152.198|128.250.152.198]] 02:21, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:That's two comics out of 1200+. Three if you count the song. Not quite enough yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:27, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:: If that's the criterion, then we need to get rid of [[Brown Hat]]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Job Interview (Electric Soup) ==

The soup is clearly being poured out of an electric socket. This "electric soup" is probably not a reference to the alcoholic brew favoured by Scottish tramps, but more likely to the virtual nature of the company. {{unsigned|Sulis}}
:Hey, go here [[Talk:1293: Job Interview‎]] for discussions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

== Is there a similar, transcripted service for The Oatmeal? ==

Hi everyone - this site is a real gem, I've sent it to a friend of mine who can't read XKCD because she's blind. The transcripts on this site are a real boon!

Does anyone know if there is a similar service for The Oatmeal? I've searched and searched, but found nothing so far.

Thanks :)

Jeff

:As far as I know we are kind of unique in the web comics world. I think we get away with it because Randall publishes all his comics as Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial. We liberally link back to xkcd, and we don't make a penny (The ads are just to cover server expenses, because wikis and the databases that support them get big when you're covering a body of work like xkcd). I haven't looked into the copyright Matt uses for the Oatmeal, but he seems like a cool enough guy to not kill a community transcripting effort of his comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:32, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

== what if 103: Vanishing Water - comics ==

Please explain the 2nd and the 4th comics from http://what-if.xkcd.com/103/

"Just tried to sail my boat over land, because I didn't learn from that kid in the Zephyr." (who's the kid from Zephyr?)

"A third time?" (maybe whales were dropped twice before in other what-ifs?) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:57, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

:"A third time?" is a reference to a whale falling twice in "Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy". Been a while, so I don't remember the details of how this fit in, but the second time it happened to the whale, he thought "Not again" or something along those lines. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Raises the question of if we should explain jokes imbedded in What If comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Discussion usage ==

Am I being a killjoy in feeling that the discussion section should be mainly limited to discussion on improving the explanation, gathering consensus and that type of thing.
Specifically, the discussion for [[1418: Horse]] is quickly turning into every man and his dog posting a sentence in the style of the comic, which doesn't really add anything to the page other than clutter.

Personally, I'd just delete most of them, but I think I might be turning into a grumpy old bugger... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
:The discussion is also there for just talking about the comic. Those guys aren't wildly off-topic, there's no need to clamp down on what they get to talk about. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:44, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

::Yep, I must just be grumpy and draconian! Lesson learned --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

== 2014 Christmas header ==

Since the header for the site current contains a [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/store_default.png graphic link to the store] that promises that Randall probably won't ship you a [[:Category:Bobcats|bobcat]], it seems to me that probably ought to be preserved and explained somewhere. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 17:45, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

== XKCD at LanguageLog ==

Arnold Zwicky (of the well-known linguistics blog Language Log) has put together a list of linguistics-related XKCD strips, here: http://arnoldzwicky.org/the-language-of-comics/comics-lists/xkcd-cartoons/ I thought it might be appropriate for a copy of the list (maybe a category) to be created from it. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.79|199.27.133.79]] 03:48, 28 December 2014 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Language]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:39, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

== Bookmarklet ==

Hello there, I've created a little bookmarklet (https://ginkobox.fr/shaarli/?a77vQw) and I thought it might be useful for someone out there.

When launched, it adds the 'explain' before xkcd.com and the browser loads the explainxkcd page. I've tested it only on Firefox.

(Contact @ https://ginkobox.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=about) {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.229.100}}

== Is there a RSS feed for What If? ==

Is there a RSS feed for What If?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:59, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:No, because we cover the comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:57, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== My User Page ==

Can someone help me with [[user:17jiangz1|my user page]]? I can't seem to remove the large space on top.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 07:43, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
: The only solution I've found is to remove the contribution scores (data6=...). Not sure what exactly is triggering this bug. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
I am receiving "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character ""." for <code><pre>{{#expr: {{formatnum:{{#cscore:17jiangz1|pages}}|R}}/{{formatnum:{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}|R}}*100 round 5 }}</pre></code>--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 05:46, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:Bump?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:48, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

== What-If ==

It hasn't updated for 2 weeks. why?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:50, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
:Looks like they're on hold for a few months (Until July 14th). Too bad, I enjoyed them. ([http://what-if.xkcd.com/ Look at the top of the What-If page]) --[[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 20:24, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

User talk:Zman9600

2015-05-06T20:27:37Z

Zman9600: Create page

I'll probably never check this page, but you can try if you like! --[[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 20:27, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

User:Zman9600

2015-05-06T20:26:32Z

Zman9600: Create page

I'm a casual xkcd reader, and mostly just read this website. I make a few edits, though.

explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous

2015-05-06T20:24:25Z

Zman9600: /* What-If */

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== The Community Portal's design ==

{{tl|Community portal}} looks too Wikipedia-ish (because that's where I got it). Someone who can design things should probably fix that. It isn't protected for the time being, though it probably will be in the future (high-visibility template). --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Common mistake ==

This affects all pages that ever say "alt text" in reference to the TITLE text on xkcd images. "Alt text" is incorrect; Alt text refers to the text that is shown as an alternative when images are not displayed. Title text is what xkcd uses and is shown as a tool tip-like bubble when images are hovered over.

I would correct this myself but I saw no way to edit the main page. --[[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 14:21, 6 August 2012‎ (UTC)

:You actually don't need to edit the main page to fix it, as what's there is just a mirror (transclusion) of the actual content from the comic page, at [[Curiosity]], which is open for editing by anyone. Then again, the "alt-text" in that case is generated by a template, {{tl|comic}}, so that's where we should fix this. The template's code, however, is currently a terrible mess (sorry!), so I went ahead and took care of it. Thanks for catching that! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Ah? So it's wrong, for instance, on http://m.xkcd.com? because of that I took it for granted that we could call it the alt-text... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Yes. If you look at the page's html source, you'll see:
<nowiki><img
id="comic"
src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/curiosity.png"
title="As of this writing the NASA/JPL websites are still overloaded. Trying CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].torrent.SwEsUb.DVDRip.XviD-aXXo.jpg instead."
alt="Curiosity"></nowiki>
::(line breaks added for clarity) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:::That was my error in the template. I knew "image text" that has been commonly used by Jeff was not techically correct, but I didn't actually go back and confirm it was alt text before I included that tag in the template. That's to Waldir (I believe?) for correcting the template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:14, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== When the "official" transcript is wrong? ==
I did [[903: Extended Mind]]. Interestingly, the transcript on xkcd.com is missing the bottom line "When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points." I assume we want a complete transcript, rather than whatever xkcd.com says it is...? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 04:10, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

:We're focusing on the actual transcript of the comic, not the xkcd.com transcript. The official transcript is usually right, but even Randall makes mistakes sometimes. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 04:24, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

== Milestone: half the comics explained!! ==

Hi all! I'm pleased to announce that we have just broke the 50% mark for xkcd explanations! The page that balanced the count (568 explained, 568 to go, at the time) was [[877: Beauty]], created 01:31 UTC, 21 November 2012 by [[User:Davidy22]]. Congratulations!! :D --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:10, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

:The caterer's been called! The punch will be arriving soon! Go [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:53, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

::[[File:freedom.png]] Punch is served! [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:11, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

But the Main page says 407 explanations, 731 to go! What's up with that? --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:00, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Reverse? ==

Why in the Archive why are all the thing up until "Heatmap" in Reverse? Can someone please answer? [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
:Archive? Can you provide a link or screenshot? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

http://xkcd.com/archive/ [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

::Ah, that's because the comic right after that, rtl, has a right-to-left character in it that flips all the proceeding text. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:13, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Ah, ok, i see that now. When I 1st saw that RTL I just thought that it was random letters, thankyou for explaining it for me. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

It also depends on what browser you are on because on Google Chrome it was normal. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 09:08, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Do you think this question was asked by one of the xkcd people? ==

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090301060752AAtYugc [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:38, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Matthew Reilly ==

I would just like to tell everyone that I asked Matthew Reilly (the author) if he is ever scared that a velociraptor is going to attack him, and he said NO! He clearly needs to start worrying about them! [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 10:45, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

== What can we learn section ==
First of all I love your work. I believe deeper understanding of each XKCD can make a world a better place and I thank you sincerely for starting this webpage. I wanted to ask what you think about "What can we learn?" section I've been adding to some of the pages. Thank you - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:27, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:This site is actually the work of multiple editors working slowly and steadily to fill in explanations for all the old comics. Some of the xkcd comics are incredibly deep - comic [[956]] is such a poignant comic that digs into the DRM issue on so many levels. Your reflections on many of the comics are very much warranted and you're helping us create talk pages with high-quality opening posts, which is great for future discussion on this wiki. It'd be nice if you could refrain from putting headers in talk pages, technical limitations of the wiki make long explanation pages choke when headings are in the discussion page. Other than that, keep up the good work! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::I've put in my 2 cents to comic [[956]], and thank you for teaching me how to comment and link to other comics - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::: FYI, you can always make pseudo-headings using a horizontal rule and a bold "header", but honestly I think a simple standard opening sentence would suffice. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

:Oh, and the guy who draws xkcd is called {{w|Randall Munroe}}. So many glowing things to be said about him. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:44, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::Yes, I can't thank him enough for simplifying complex issues to funny stories, I think it's exactly what our generation needs - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:I'm in favor of a Mr. Rogers style of 'what lesson can be learned' on the talk page, but make sure your comments don't come across as sanctimonious and holier-than-thou as that can be really off-putting. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:06, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:: You are absolutely correct, I have not thought of that, please trust me I did not do it on purpose. Thank you Mr. Lcarsos - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 19:55, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Thank you David, and I apologize that I've not made it clear that by your work, I do mean your collective work (the wiki is only as good as all the people behind it). I was trying to put the headers to allow others to find the section easier in case they start looking for it, perhaps I could make a suggestion to make it a standalone section so that others would be encouraged to contribute their own understanding of lessons they have noticed from each comic. I know the lessons I've seen, but I would love to learn from others as much as I hope they can learn from me and Mr. XKCD, thank you. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:48, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

== DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD ==

Hello fellow editors. Do you remember the last time we were hit by a surge of automated spam? Neither do I. ConfirmEdit has really done a number on the volume of spam that we're eating - one spam account has been created since we finished configuring confirmEdit, and zero anon edits have been spam. Zero. Can you say happiness? Can you say party? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:41, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:Hehe, I'm glad! Thanks for being so relentless on the spam-fighting all this time! Maybe we should make up a new reason to make Jeff remove the /wiki/ in the URL? ;) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:11, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:: Awesome news! Finally the patrolling feature will be usable: [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideanons=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by registered users] / [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideliu=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by anonymous users] :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:27, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

== 1000th comic explanation!! ==

Hi all! It apparently went unnoticed that '''we have recently surpassed the mark of 1000 comic explanations!''' Some calculations based on [[:Category:Comics]] and [[Special:NewPages]] led me to the conclusion that the 1000th explanation was [[681: Gravity Wells]], created by [[User:AlexRNL]] just yesterday! Yay! This calls for a celebration, no? Congrats to [[Special:ContributionScores|everyone]] who made this happen! I'll edit [[Mediawiki:Sitenotice]] with a congratulatory message. Way to go, guys! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:04, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:ps - I also took the opportunity to flesh out our [[explain xkcd|about/history page]]. Please take a look and fix/add any details I might have missed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:06, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

== Style guide ==
Is there a style guide for this wiki? --[[User:PeterMortensen|PeterMortensen]] ([[User talk:PeterMortensen|talk]]) 20:14, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, sorry, I did forget to answer here. A guide on this is not easy, many individual comics do need special layouts because they have content never can match to a style guide. But I will give a try [[Help:Style Guide]].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:18, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

== Adblock ==

I've whitelisted the site in adblock, but the ads are still blocked.
Anyone know what' going on here and how I can fix it?--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 04:34, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
:Huh. I was wondering why our impression counts weren't rising. I thought it was just because this site had high turnover. I've changed the webpage that the word whitelisting links to, try the instructions there instead. Project wonderful is our ad provider, and they've been pretty good to us so far. Also, thanks for helping to support the site! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:40, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::Great! I don't really mid ads as long as they aren't intrusive. Works now, Hope everyone else does it as well.--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 05:16, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::I saw you wrote "the webpage that the word whitelisting links to" so I went to the search box and typed whitelisting. My search didn't yield anything useful: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=whitelisting&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch]. I don't know how to create the missing page but there oughta be a link for someone like me who searches for whitelist or whitelisting, to take them to the instructions you refer to. [[User:SaxTeacher|SaxTeacher]] ([[User talk:SaxTeacher|talk]]) 10:59, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
:::We already have this linked somewhere, but [https://www.projectwonderful.com/adblock.php this] is the link you want. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

I normally access this site through the android app "xkcd browser". That app only links to the content part of the site and doesn't show the side bar, so the adds aren't shown either. Might be worth discussing it with the author. [[Special:Contributions/109.158.126.139|109.158.126.139]] 08:06, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

:We support those avenues completely, you don't need to feel bad if you use an app to browse this site. We're only really concerned when we put up ads and our impressions are less than half our page hits, because that essentially means more than half our readers aren't contributing to server costs. That's really hard to deal with. We have enough daily page hits to qualify as web publishers at very big ad agencies, but we've had to settle for relatively low rates at the smaller Project Wonderful because 60% of our users were using adblock, so the agencies rejected us because our valuable "paying" audience was too low for them to consider us. That's been the difference between us using dedicated servers to host the site and hiring a contractor to set it up, and the (admittedly somewhat decent) shared hosting plan that we have to settle for now. We can only afford the shared hosting, because the small-scale advertisers at Project Wonderful don't even pay for full days of advertising; most of the time, we make less per day than the posted $3.90 price. That said, we're grateful that Project Wonderful would take us as a publisher when no one else would, but it really feels like the difference between being accepted to community college and being accepted to an ivy league school. For a similar reason, the Google ads route was not sufficient to satisfy our needs; not a large enough proportion of our users were looking at ads, so we either needed to spam them and degrade the site, or we needed to make them refresh, which makes pages slow and causes needlessly high traffic for a lot of users. We didn't want our ads to make the site worse, because that would drive away users and defeat the purpose of us being a public resource for xkcd readers. We actually decided to go the agency route pretty early, because adsense takes a massive cut of revenues and gives us little control over what ads or advertisers actually showed, which was not okay with us. Whoah, I wrote a lot. I hope it was coherent. Maybe someday I'll collect my thoughts and write a proper summary on how and why we advertise. Also, if you have any questions about anything ad-related, you can always ask us at [[explain xkcd talk:Advertise Here]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:15, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

== Feynman? ==

Feynman (both in [[182: Nash|living]] and [[397: Unscientific|zombie]] form) probably deserves an entry in the [[Template:Navbox characters|character navbox]] template doesn't he? [[Special:Contributions/128.250.152.198|128.250.152.198]] 02:21, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:That's two comics out of 1200+. Three if you count the song. Not quite enough yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:27, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:: If that's the criterion, then we need to get rid of [[Brown Hat]]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Job Interview (Electric Soup) ==

The soup is clearly being poured out of an electric socket. This "electric soup" is probably not a reference to the alcoholic brew favoured by Scottish tramps, but more likely to the virtual nature of the company. {{unsigned|Sulis}}
:Hey, go here [[Talk:1293: Job Interview‎]] for discussions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

== Is there a similar, transcripted service for The Oatmeal? ==

Hi everyone - this site is a real gem, I've sent it to a friend of mine who can't read XKCD because she's blind. The transcripts on this site are a real boon!

Does anyone know if there is a similar service for The Oatmeal? I've searched and searched, but found nothing so far.

Thanks :)

Jeff

:As far as I know we are kind of unique in the web comics world. I think we get away with it because Randall publishes all his comics as Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial. We liberally link back to xkcd, and we don't make a penny (The ads are just to cover server expenses, because wikis and the databases that support them get big when you're covering a body of work like xkcd). I haven't looked into the copyright Matt uses for the Oatmeal, but he seems like a cool enough guy to not kill a community transcripting effort of his comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:32, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

== what if 103: Vanishing Water - comics ==

Please explain the 2nd and the 4th comics from http://what-if.xkcd.com/103/

"Just tried to sail my boat over land, because I didn't learn from that kid in the Zephyr." (who's the kid from Zephyr?)

"A third time?" (maybe whales were dropped twice before in other what-ifs?) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:57, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

:"A third time?" is a reference to a whale falling twice in "Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy". Been a while, so I don't remember the details of how this fit in, but the second time it happened to the whale, he thought "Not again" or something along those lines. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Raises the question of if we should explain jokes imbedded in What If comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Discussion usage ==

Am I being a killjoy in feeling that the discussion section should be mainly limited to discussion on improving the explanation, gathering consensus and that type of thing.
Specifically, the discussion for [[1418: Horse]] is quickly turning into every man and his dog posting a sentence in the style of the comic, which doesn't really add anything to the page other than clutter.

Personally, I'd just delete most of them, but I think I might be turning into a grumpy old bugger... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
:The discussion is also there for just talking about the comic. Those guys aren't wildly off-topic, there's no need to clamp down on what they get to talk about. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:44, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

::Yep, I must just be grumpy and draconian! Lesson learned --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

== 2014 Christmas header ==

Since the header for the site current contains a [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/store_default.png graphic link to the store] that promises that Randall probably won't ship you a [[:Category:Bobcats|bobcat]], it seems to me that probably ought to be preserved and explained somewhere. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 17:45, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

== XKCD at LanguageLog ==

Arnold Zwicky (of the well-known linguistics blog Language Log) has put together a list of linguistics-related XKCD strips, here: http://arnoldzwicky.org/the-language-of-comics/comics-lists/xkcd-cartoons/ I thought it might be appropriate for a copy of the list (maybe a category) to be created from it. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.79|199.27.133.79]] 03:48, 28 December 2014 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Language]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:39, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

== Bookmarklet ==

Hello there, I've created a little bookmarklet (https://ginkobox.fr/shaarli/?a77vQw) and I thought it might be useful for someone out there.

When launched, it adds the 'explain' before xkcd.com and the browser loads the explainxkcd page. I've tested it only on Firefox.

(Contact @ https://ginkobox.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=about) {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.229.100}}

== Is there a RSS feed for What If? ==

Is there a RSS feed for What If?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:59, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:No, because we cover the comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:57, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== My User Page ==

Can someone help me with [[user:17jiangz1|my user page]]? I can't seem to remove the large space on top.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 07:43, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
: The only solution I've found is to remove the contribution scores (data6=...). Not sure what exactly is triggering this bug. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
I am receiving "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character ""." for <code><pre>{{#expr: {{formatnum:{{#cscore:17jiangz1|pages}}|R}}/{{formatnum:{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}|R}}*100 round 5 }}</pre></code>--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 05:46, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:Bump?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:48, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

== What-If ==

It hasn't updated for 2 weeks. why?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:50, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
:Looks like they're on hold for a few months. Too bad, I enjoyed them. ([http://what-if.xkcd.com/ Look at the top of the What-If page]) --[[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 20:24, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

1510: Napoleon

2015-04-10T14:59:06Z

Zman9600: /* Transcript */ Added missing word to transcript

{{comic
| number = 1510
| date = April 10, 2015
| title = Napoleon
| image = napoleon.png
| titletext = "Mr. President, what if the unthinkable happens? What if the launch goes wrong, and Napoleon is not stranded on the moon?" "Have Safire write up a speech."
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Napoleon Bonaparte}} was one of the greatest military leaders in history, conquering most of Europe in the space of a decade. In 1814, after being forced to abdicate as Emperor of the French, he was exiled to the island of {{w|Elba}}. However, in February of 1815 Napoleon escaped back to France, quickly raised an army, and overthrew the {{w|Bourbon Restoration}} monarchy for a period known as {{w|Hundred Days|The Hundred Days}}. At the end of this period (actually lasting 111 days), Napoleon was defeated by British and Prussian forces at the {{w|Battle of Waterloo}}, and surrendered a month later. This time he was exiled to {{w|Saint Helena}}, an island much more remote than Elba—in fact, one of the most remote places on Earth.

In reality, Napoleon made no serious attempts to escape Saint Helena, and died there six years after his surrender. However, this comic imagines a world in which Napoleon escaped once again, swimming back to Europe. Saint Helena is 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from the Afro-Eurasian landmass, making such a swim rather implausible, especially considering the ball and chain around his ankle. And Napoleon is depicted fresh out of the water, suggesting that he did not simply swim to Africa and make his way back to Europe, but rather swam straight to Europe, a journey of roughly 3,800 miles (6,100 km).

The comic implies that Napoleon proves impossible to confine. In addition to being able to swim impossible distances, he seems to also somehow escape imprisonment in the ice of Antarctica. He also seems to be immortal (or well-preserved by the ice of Antartica), remaining alive and apparently in great physical condition while nearly 200 years old. The final panel shows U.S. President {{w|John F. Kennedy}}'s {{w|"We choose to go to the Moon"}} speech, but implies an alternate ending to the line "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." Rather, it appears that we choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because there's no other way to get rid of Napoleon.

The title text is an apparent conversation between President {{w|Richard Nixon}} and an aide. Nixon is asked what we will do if we fail to maroon Napoleon on the moon, and replies "Have Safire write up a speech." This is a reference to Nixon speechwriter {{w|William Safire}}, who wrote the draft speech {{w|s:In Event of Moon Disaster|"In Event of Moon Disaster"}}, to have been delivered by Nixon should the Apollo 11 astronauts be stranded on the moon. This comic thus proposes an inversion of the actual scenario—instead of Nixon delivering Safire's speech because someone's been stranded on the moon, in this comic he'd be delivering it if someone ''weren't'' stranded on the moon. "In Event of Moon Disaster" was also the topic of [[1484: Apollo Speeches]], published two months before this comic.

==Transcript==
:[Two Cueball like soldiers with guns present Napoleon (recognizable by his Napoleon hat, aka a {{w|bicorne}}) to an officer sitting behind his desk. The officer is pointing at Napoleon who has a small chain on his hands.]
:Soldier at the front: This is Napoleon. He tried to take over the world.
:Officer Cueball: Exile him to Elba!

:[Three Cueball like soldiers with guns present Napoleon again to the same officer sitting behind his desk. The officer has one hand held in front of him with his palm up. This time Napoleon has a larger chain on his hands and a ball and chain on his right leg. His head and hat is battered from the battle.]
:Soldier at the front: It's us again. Napoleon escaped from Elba and tried to conquer the world. Again.
:Officer Cueball: Send him someplace truly remote, like Saint Helena.
:Soldier at the front: Yes, sir.

:[At the top of the panel is a text in a frame that breaks the panels frame:]
:Several Years Later...

:[Four Cueball like soldiers with guns (one partly outside the frame) stand behind Napoleon and one more solider stands in front of him as they again present him to the same officer. The officer is now standing behind his desk, holding it with one hand while the other is pointing up in the air. This time Napoleon has a octopus on his head, is dripping wet, still has the larger chain on his hands and the ball and chain on his right leg. Furthermore his legs are shackled. There are pools of water on the floor.]
:Soldier at the front: Well, he swam back.
:Officer Cueball: We must mount an expedition to the south pole, where we will encase Napoleon in the Antarctic ice!"

:[At the top of the panel is a text in a frame that breaks the panels frame:]
:A century later...

:[President Kennedy is giving a speech standing on a podium behind a desk, while Napoleon is standing behind him with the same restraining devices as before. But with ice sickles from the hat and still a small piece of ice on his right leg around the knee.]
:President Kennedy: We choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

180: Canada

2015-01-06T21:12:54Z

Zman9600: Added trivia about MIT BattleCode team name

{{comic
| number = 180
| date = November 6, 2006
| title = Canada
| image = canada.png
| titletext = IT'S ALL REAL!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Canada}} is the country north of the {{w|USA}}. During political seasons, it's often claimed by partisan voters that if their side loses, they'll move. For Americans, this often comes to [http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/people-moving-to-canada-because-of-obamacare claims of moving to Canada].

The punchline references the tagline "If you die in the game, you die in real life," from the 2006 horror movie {{w|Stay Alive}} (released a few months before this comic), where people die in real life soon after their characters are killed in a certain video game. The irony here is that, since Canada is arguably part of reality already{{Citation needed}}, Cueball's friend is just really bad at thinking through his plans.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking to each other.]
:Cueball: If we lose this election, I'm moving to Canada.
:Friend: You say that every year.
:Cueball: I mean it this time.

:Friend: Well, becoming a citizen takes work. Meanwhile, you have no money, half an art degree, and it's the start of winter. You'll freeze to death in the streets.
:Cueball: Whatever.

:[Friend raises his hands.]
:Friend: No, don't you get it? If you die in Canada, you die in REAL LIFE!

==Trivia==
*According to [http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/03/16/mit-programming-team/ Randall's blag], a team named “If You Die in Canada, You Die in Real Life” entered the 2007 MIT BattleCode programming competition. They won the "Best Team Name" award.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Politics]]

748: Worst-Case Scenario

2014-03-03T17:27:34Z

Zman9600: Corrected wiki link

{{comic
| number = 748
| date = June 2, 2010
| title = Worst-Case Scenario
| image = worst_case_scenario.png
| titletext = To get serious analyses of hurricanes and oil slicks, see Jeff Masters' blog. To get serious discussions of worst-case scenario thinking, see Bruce Schneier's blog. To get enough Vitamin D, don't read any blogs and go outside instead.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} oil spill that happened in the {{w|Gulf of Mexico}}. {{w|Top kill}} is a reference to a procedure used as a means of regaining control over an oil well that is experiencing an uncontrolled eruption of crude oil. {{w|Michael Bay}} is an American film director known for his over the top special effects and plots.

This comic is a commentary on the state of broadcast journalism and how they are always looking for speculation and voyeurism rather than facts. That they ask if Mr. Bay's proposed firestorm will have any effect on the then-upcoming congressional elections just serves to underline how little the journalists actually care about the damage that has actually been caused.

The title text has a reference to Jeff Masters, who is director of meteorology at Weather Underground and Bruce Schneier, who is a world-renowned security expert and has a blog and several books. Vitamin D is a vitamin that the human body can synthesize with the aid of direct sunlight; the joke, "go play outside", is Randall accusing us of all being shut-ins.

==Transcript==
:[Two reporters, Cueball and Ponytail, point microphones toward a scientist, Megan.]
:Ponytail: Dr. Scientist! The "Top Kill" has failed! What's the worse-case scenario for the gulf?
:Megan: The worst-case scenario is what's happening now.

:Ponytail, out of frame: Yes, but is there any way it could get worse?
:Megan: Sure, but there are real disasters happening now, and you're substituting speculation and voyeurism for the investigative journalism we—
:Ponytail: Screw this! Let's ask Michael Bay.

:[The reporters, now joined by a camerawoman, approach Michael Bay with their microphones.]
:Michael Bay: The worst case? A hurricane tracks into the gulf, whipping the surface of the spill into a frothy mix of oil and air.

:[An alligator-filled conflagration atop a massive ocean wave approaches land.]
:Michael Bay, narrating: As the storm surges through the bayous, sparking power lines ignite the fuel air mixture into a roiling, alligator-filled wall of flame.

:[A map of the gulf coast of Louisiana and southwest Mississippi is depicted with the current routes of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers highlighted. An arrow indicating a new primary flow of the Mississippi's waters into the Atchafalaya points toward southern Louisiana.]
:Michael Bay, narrating: Plowing northward, the fire hurricane destroys the Old River Control Structure in Concordia, rerouting the Mississippi westward and sweeping Morgan City and the heart of cajun country out to sea.

:Michael Bay: James Carville emerges from the conflagration riding a burning alligator...
:Ponytail, out of frame: Will this affect the midterm elections?
:Michael Bay: ''Massively''.

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

397: Unscientific

2014-02-24T18:54:36Z

Zman9600: CHanged "that" to "than"

{{comic
| number = 397
| date = March 17, 2008
| title = Unscientific
| image = unscientific.png
| titletext = Last week, we busted the myth that electroweak gauge symmetry is broken by the Higgs mechanism. We'll also examine the existence of God and whether true love exists.
}}

==Explanation==
In the first and second frames, [[Megan]] can be seen accusing {{w|MythBusters}} of not actually "doing science" because of its lack of {{w|Rigour|rigor}} - a debate beyond the scope of this Wiki. The zombie of deceased physicist, {{w|Richard Feynman}}, comes to explain to [[Megan]] that she has failed to recognize the purpose of MythBusters. He explains that MythBusters is only meant to get people to accept and understand the basics of science, and that more complex lessons (such as on rigor) would be wasted on people who don't understand those basics.

In the last frame, [[Cueball]] attempts to save himself and [[Megan]] from zombie Feynman by implying that physicists, being extremely intelligent, would have more desirable brains. Also, being a lab, the number of brains available would be higher than just two. Feynman's closing remark implies that string theorists are less intelligent than other types of physicists. This notion fits appropriately with Feynman's description of the core of science. Moreover, Feynman's own career involved applying physics to real world applications (such as for the Manhattan Project), whereas the work of string theorists is theoretical and untested.

It is also a pun on {{w|Membrane_(M-theory)|M-theory}} (also called Brane theory), a part of string theory, which some argue is impossible to test scientifically.

The title text starts by rebounding against the complaint of validity as science by purportedly tackling a ''really'' big scientific enquiry. Then veers away into two far more esoteric proposed fields of study, of which at least one is not even determinable by the scientific method.

==Transcript==
:TV: Can a ninja catch an arrow? On this episode, we'll find out!
:Cueball: Mmm, science.
:Megan: Hey, Mythbusters is entertaining, but it's not science.
:Zombie Feynman: ''BRAAAIIIINNS''...
:Cueball: Zombie Feynman!
:Zombie Feynman: You got a problem with Mythbusters?
:Megan: They fail at basic rigor!
:Zombie Feynman: "Ideas are tested by experiment." That is the core of science. Everything else is bookkeeping.
:Zombie Feynman: By teaching people to hold their beliefs up to experiment, ''Mythbusters'' is doing more to drag humanity out of the unscientific darkness than a thousand lessons in rigor. Show them some love.
:Zombie Feynman: Anyway, back to zombie stuff. I hunger for ''BRAAAAAIIINNS!''
:Cueball: Uh, try the physics lab next door.
:Zombie Feynman: I said brains. All they've got are string theorists.

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

424: Security Holes

2014-02-24T15:15:14Z

Zman9600: Added opening paren

{{comic
| number = 424
| date = 2008-05-16
| title = Security Holes
| image = security_holes.png
| titletext = True story: I had to try several times to upload this comic because my ssh key was blacklisted.
}}

==Explanation==
The “Debian-OpenSSL fiasco” was a major security problem discovered in the {{w|Debian}} {{w|Linux distribution}} and its version of the {{w|Cryptography|cryptographic}} library called {{w|OpenSSL}}. With just a tiny change in the software, which was intended to have no effect on security, its {{w|Random number generation|random number generator}} was completely crippled, as was the security of all cryptographic keys generated by the system. The problem was created when a Debian developer removed one line of code which was crucial, even though it could seem like it did nothing useful. More detail about the fiasco: [http://trailofbits.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/hope-08-openssl.pdf ''Crippling Crypto: The Debian OpenSSL Debacle''], [http://wiki.debian.org/SSLkeys Debian’s information page about the problem].

The title text refers also to this issue: After the security problem was found, all cryptographic keys generated or used on the broken operating system needed to be replaced. Many systems introduced special checks for such weak keys, adding the keys to {{w|Blacklisting|blacklists}}, thereby preventing their use and forcing users to create new keys. [[Randall]] claims he was affected by that when uploading this comic to the server.

The comics on the left presents Cueball as a programmer who, on a whim, removes pieces of code ([[156: Commented|commenting out]] the code by prepending the line with two slashes), presumably thinking they are not necessary. The first removed line, <code>MD_update(&m, buf, j);</code> is the exact piece of code which [http://svn.debian.org/viewsvn/pkg-openssl/openssl/trunk/rand/md_rand.c?rev=141&view=diff&r1=141&r2=140&p1=openssl/trunk/rand/md_rand.c&p2=/openssl/trunk/rand/md_rand.c was removed] in the Debian fiasco. The next panels show him commenting out fictitious lines of code apparently preventing bad things from happening.

The other part of the comic lists “security problems” which were allegedly discovered in other Linux variants afterwards:

Cryptographic software in {{w|Fedora Core}} was allegedly not secure against {{w|Secret decoder ring|toy decoder rings}}. {{w|Xandros}} (used in {{w|Asus Eee PC}} netbooks) gave superuser privileges to anybody “if asked in a stern voice”. {{w|Gentoo}} would succumb to flattery.

{{w|One Laptop per Child|OLPC}} OS could have been attacked using {{w|Jeff Goldblum}}’s laptop computer, which refers to a scene in the {{w|Independence Day (film)|''Independence Day'' movie}}, where Jeff Goldblum’s character was able to hack into an alien spaceship using his Apple {{w|PowerBook}} computer - which is a topic of [http://www.cracked.com/article_18720_7-famous-movie-flaws-that-were-explained-in-deleted-scenes.html great contempt] by geeks who point to the absurdity of such a construction.

{{w|Slackware}} gave superuser privileges to anybody who “says Elvish word for ‘friend’”, which refers to a scene in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'', where the entrance door to {{w|Moria}} could have been opened using a password ''mellon'', the Elvish word for “friend”, as indicated on the door itself.

And {{w|Ubuntu}}, which is another Linux distribution, was allegedly found to be actually {{w|Windows Vista}}, the latest version of {{w|Microsoft Windows}} at this time in 2008.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sitting at computer.]
:Cueball: I’ll just comment out these lines...

:<code>// MD_update(&m, buf, j);</code>

:<code>// do_not_crash();</code>

:<code>// prevent_911();</code>

:In the rush to clean up the debian-openssl fiasco, a number of other major security holes have been uncovered:
:{|class="wikitable"
!Affected system !! Security problem
|-
|Fedora Core || Vulnerable to certain decoder rings
|-
|Xandros (EEE PC) || Gives root access if asked in a stern voice
|-
|Gentoo || Vulnerable to flattery
|-
|OLPC OS || Vulnerable to Jeff Goldblum’s Powerbook
|-
|Slackware || Gives root access if user says Elvish word for “friend”
|-
|Ubuntu || Turns out distro is actually just Windows Vista with a few custom Themes
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]

546: Music DRM

2014-02-21T17:03:45Z

Zman9600: Corrected misspelling

{{comic
| number = 546
| date = February 20, 2009
| title = Music DRM
| image = music drm.png
| titletext = Just yesterday I bought my first non-DRM'd songs (The Last Vegas, in keeping with my 'I only listen to things from Guitar Hero' theme).
}}

==Explanation==
Here, [[Cueball]] is commenting in a comment thread that he authored about the negative traits of DRM, or again, Digital Rights Management (also known under 'Digital Restrictions Management'). Cueball has a point: DRM, while meant to fight those who download media through [[Sketchiness|'dungeon sketchy']] maneuvers, [[Steal This Comic|risks locking out legitimate owners]]. In turn, this turns off legitimate buyers from buying the songs, thus hurting artists.

Of course, this would be true if the major stores sell music with DRM. [[Megan]], wanting Cueball to make peace and enjoy his goal, makes the following choice quote: 'Close the comment thread, get out the debit card, buy us some music, and let's rock the fuck out.'

The problem is that fighting feels good, something that does not usually require money from the participants.

The title text references [[132: Music Knowledge|'''Music Knowledge''']] while inferring that [[Randall]] is not really a music fan, since he would only be interested in music that appears in the games that he plays.

==Transcript==
:[Interior, Cueball sits at his computer typing, Megan enters.]
:Cueball [typing]: ...and that's why music DRM is bad for listeners ''and'' artists!
:Megan [off-panel]: What are you doing?

:Megan: In case you didn't notice, we ''won'' the music DRM war. The big stores are DRM free.

:Megan: So close the comment thread, get out the debit card, buy us some music, and let's rock the fuck out.

:Cueball: But I don't actually ''like'' music, I just like being self-righteous on the web.
:Megan: Lucky for you, ''that'' will always be free.

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

779: Anxiety

2014-02-13T15:33:19Z

Zman9600: Corrected wiki link

{{comic
| number = 779
| date = August 13, 2010
| title = Anxiety
| image = anxiety.png
| titletext = Don't need any, thanks. I have a backscattering fetish.
}}

==Explanation==
Many people are upset about airport security policies that mandate the use of {{w|backscatter X-ray}} machines, since the machines can create an image of the subject naked. [[Black Hat]] is giving men a means to thumb their noses (so to speak) at the system by forcing the security guard to see them with erections. And judging by the security guard's thought bubble, he indeed is not looking forward to seeing all these erections. Erections.

The fact that Black Hat is charging money for Viagra instead of giving it out for free suggests that his motive is financial rather than vengeful: he has identified a source of {{w|Induced demand|latent demand}} and is exploiting it.

The person speaking in the title text doesn't need an erectile dysfunction pill to achieve erection in this situation because he is aroused by the physics principles which make this technology possible, or possibly by the technology itself.

==Transcript==
:[There is an airport security checkpoint where a queue of ten passengers is waiting to go through a backscatter x-ray scanner. Near the back of the line, Black Hat is standing next to a stand which says "Viagra $20". One passenger next to him is drinking a glass of water; another is contemplating the sign.]
:Security Guard (thinking): Oh god.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Politics]]

467: X Girls Y Cups

2014-02-12T15:51:48Z

Zman9600: Changed "imaginary numbers" to "complex numbers"

{{comic
| number = 467
| date = August 25, 2008
| title = X Girls Y Cups
| image = x girls y cups.png
| titletext = Also no results: 1girl10000cups, 2girls(5+3i)cups, 65536girls35563cups, or 3frenchhens2turtledoves1cup.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic refers to "{{w|Hungry Bitches}}", a 2007 scat-fetish pornographic film. The one-minute preview, unofficially nicknamed "2 Girls 1 Cup", is a {{w|viral video}} that became a well-known {{w|internet meme}}. It is therefore not surprising that only the input combination of x=2 and y=1 generates a significant number of search results, being 257 times as frequent as the runner-up "1 Girl 1 Cup".

The title text suggests random numbers, including {{w|complex number|complex ones}}, of girls and cups with apparently no search results. The last phrase is a reference to the song ''{{w|The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas}}''. After the publication of this comic, the phrase has been cross-posted at various sites in order to generate search results and prove the statement in the title text wrong.

==Transcript==
:[There is a table with eight columns and eight rows. Cups to the horizontal girls to the vertical.]
:Google results for <x> cups <y> girls
:(Note: the values will be displayed left to right and top to bottom.)
:0 girls: 3, 375, 9, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
:1 girl: 7, 7503, 2007, 10, 5, 3, 6, 2
:2 girls: 9, 1929000, 247, 7, 14, 13, 2, 1
:3 girls: 7, 6335, 394, 34, 3, 2, 6, 0
:4 girls: 3, 3513, 34, 0, 63, 0, 0, 0
:5 girls: 1, 9, 5, 3, 0, 0, 3, 0
:6 girls: 3, 1461, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0
:7 girls: 2, 19, 4, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]