https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.219.208&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T17:56:09ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2467:_Wikipedia_Caltrops&diff=2124172467: Wikipedia Caltrops2021-05-24T15:56:18Z<p>108.162.219.208: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2467<br />
| date = May 24, 2021<br />
| title = Wikipedia Caltrops<br />
| image = wikipedia_caltrops.png<br />
| titletext = Oh no, they set up a roadblock which is just a sign with the entire 'Czech hedgehog' article printed on it.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by PHILOSOPHY. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Wikipedia is a website that manages to permanently alter the flow of time, a dilemma what has been discussed previously in [[214|214: The Problem with Wikipedia]]<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:Main_Page&diff=180151Talk:Main Page2019-09-19T14:14:43Z<p>108.162.219.208: </p>
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<div>{{notice|This page is for discussion of the [[Main Page]] itself. Other issues probably belong at the [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]].}}<br />
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As a new user, I think the first page is very important. So I thought why not begin a discussion here what to have on the first page every user visits.--[[User:Relic|Relic]] ([[User talk:Relic|talk]]) 05:59, 1 August 2012 (EDT) <small>Re-signed here - b/c I broke the comment in two when I added the "List of comics" header. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 23:01, 2 August 2012 (EDT)</small><br />
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==List of comics==<br />
I was thinking of having a quick link to the list of comics that is explained. Right know, it took me a while to even see any of them. Eventually I found the "List All Pages" (found it in Special pages) where I could find the comics that have been explained. What do you think?<br />
:A category tag will do that for you automatically. Having a list of comics indexed by its number would be a little different.--[[User:Relic|Relic]] ([[User talk:Relic|talk]]) 05:59, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::Sounds like a great list - I ''think'' it'd have to be manually maintained until/unless we get someone who knows how to make a bot update it. Categories will be useful, but they only work if someone added the category to the page in the first place. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 07:21, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::A (somewhat) related question - should [[:Category:Comics]] be sorted alphabetically or by comic number? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 07:43, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::::I think [[:Category:Comics]] should be sorted by comic number. If you are looking for a specific comic, you will use the search field. Is there a way to make that happen? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 08:11, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::::They are two different functions. For the former, instead of adding <nowiki>[[Category:Comics]]</nowiki>, add, say, <nowiki>[[Category:Comics|1]]</nowiki>. For the second, we can create redirects. Normally, I'd say just make sure the search term was in the article text, but since numbers are going to be use for other purposes than just comic titles, it may be better to create [[1]] and [[Comic 1]] as redirects to the relevant articles right off the bat. --08:24, 1 August 2012 (EDT) <br />
::::::We could also have a comic-list template on the Main Page, I suppose, or perhaps two - one for number and one for name? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 08:54, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::::::Here's what I was thinking of for that: {{tl|Comics navbox}} Thoughts? ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup><br />
:(outdent) It's ugly, but a sortable wikitable [[User:SurturZ/sandbox|(click here for example)]] could be used as a checklist to see what has been uploaded and what hasn't. What's the project namespace here, anyway (analogue of "WP:")? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 03:04, 3 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:OK, I've found a way to get all the titles of the comics, so I was confident enough to create<br/ ><br/ ><big>[[Explain XKCD:Checklist]]</big> <br/ ><br/>which can be used to fill in the gaps. --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 03:41, 3 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::I'm liking the checklist! That should do quite nicely as a "tool for editors". (I'm linking to it at the Community Portal). We still need the "template for readers." Did you think {{tl|Comics navbox}} was on the right track or should we do something else for that? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 20:09, 3 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::Better idea - I'm throwing it directly onto the Main Page. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 20:10, 3 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
<br />
==Admin list==<br />
You can find a system-accurate list of admins [{{canonicalurl:Special:ListUsers|group=sysop}} here], so that might good to share, along with the manual list. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 07:13, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:Added to page. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 08:10, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::That's exactly what I wanted, but couldn't find the auto page for it. I knew it was somewhere. I don't see any reason to keep the link to the manual page. Do you? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 08:11, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::Not unless you want it. I'll remove it. Should I add the similar link for 'crats or is that unnecessary at this point? --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 08:25, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::::To be honest, I have no idea what the Burecrats role does. Might be unnecessary now but helpful in the future? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 11:16, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::::Bureaucrats can turn other users into administrators (or indeed, other bureaucrats). That privilege isn't available to ordinary administrators. I'd keep it to yourself for the time being. :-) --[[User:Yirba|Yirba]] ([[User talk:Yirba|talk]]) 17:39, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::::::You can actually see a technical list of which rights each group confers at [[Special:ListGroupRights]]. As the wiki grows, you might want to spin off a few, such as the ability to grant rollbacker and autopatrolled, to admins as some other wikis have. But for the time being, at least, there's really no reason for the wiki to have more than one 'crat. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 17:07, 2 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
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== Community portal ==<br />
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I've created the [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]] as a tools/help page. If that's not what you want, feel free to change/move/whatever it, but I thought it'd be nice to save this page for discussion of the Main Page and discuss the wiki as a whole/ask for help there. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 08:36, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
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== Direct link to latest comic ==<br />
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There should be a direct link to the latest comic at the top of the Main page. A nice thing about going to explainxkcd.com was that the latest comic is right there at the top. For those changing their default link to the wiki, there should be an easy "Latest Comic" link that quickly takes them there. I'm sure some folks actually skip xkcd.com and come directly here instead to read the latest offering from Randall. They shouldn't have to search for it.<br />
[[User:Christopher Foxx|- CFoxx]] ([[User talk:Christopher Foxx|talk]]) 11:59, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
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: Maybe the page [[latest]] should redirect to the most recent comic? Could that be taken care of by some sort of script/template so it doesn't have to be manually updated? Should each explination page also have "next", "previous", "random", "first" and "latest" links, possibly also generated automatically via scripts/templates? Additionally, shouldn't the number page be the canonical one? It seems like [[Internal monologue]] should redirect to [[1089]] rather than the other way around - certainly it would make a bunch of scripting types of things a lot easier. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 13:02, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::If you wanted, we could even use wiki-magic to show the title of the page as the Comic name, but the URL as the number - in order to parallel the actual XKCD website. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 17:09, 2 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:: Shouldn't there be a way to programmatically find the comic with the highest number that has a page with content? That would work as long as no one puts future comic pages up. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 20:25, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
:::It's all sounding like folks are over-complicating something quite easy. All I'm suggesting is a prominent link to http://www.xkcd.com/. No need, I think, to list which number the latest is, or include the next/last/random buttons, etc. [[User:Christopher Foxx|- CFoxx]] ([[User talk:Christopher Foxx|talk]]) 11:41, 3 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
::::Oh. We've got that, now, in the sidebar - labeled as "XKCD." I do think that having an internal link to the latest (explained) comic would be a great thing, though. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 16:36, 4 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
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You can transclude the latest comic on the main page like this: <nowiki>{{:pagename}} e.g. {{:Internal_monologue}} </nowiki>--[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 00:25, 2 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
: I've started with just a manual link to the latest comic. Ideally it will be automatic, but a manual link will work for now as I've had quite a few people ask for it. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:09, 1 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
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Transclusion of the latest comic is great. Someone with the right permissions should add (for instance on the top-right corner of the grey transclusion area) a link to edit the corresponding wiki page, so that people seeing something they could add would feel invited to do so (wiki style). In my opinion this would be a good way to improve the quality of the user-generated explanations.<br />
Also, all the "XKCD"s in the "New here?" section should be converted to the lowercase "xkcd"...<br />
[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 14:00, 6 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
:Good points. I've done both. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:48, 6 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Call me dumb, but... You've got a link called "prev" that goes to the explaination for the previous comic. Then a link called "comic #42" but that goes to xkcd. And then a smaller, less prominent link called "go to this comic" that doesn't go to the comic but to its explaination. Anyone else think that's a little back-to-front? [[User:Zootle|Zootle]] ([[User talk:Zootle|talk]]) 17:18, 31 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
:OK, you're dumb :-). The standard template for an explanation page includes the header with "Prev", "Comic # (date)", and "Next" links. If we don't have explanation pages for the previous or next comic, we don't show the respective link. I hadn't noticed that the "Comic # (date)" bit was a link to the xkcd site before, but in context it makes sense to me. Including a link to the Explain page for the comic who's explain page you are already looking at doesn't make sense.<br />
:The explanation page for the latest comic is "transcluded" in the main page pretty much as-is, so we get the header, the comic, the explanation, etc. We don't get the discussion, which is visible at the bottom of the Explain page. Because there is never an explanation for a comic that hasn't been released yet, there is never a "Next" link on the main page's transcluded header. So you get "Prev" and "Comic" links. The "Go to this comic" link is added by the main page above the transcluded explain page.<br />
:I can see how the "Go to this comic" link might be poorly worded especially as it's placement seems to be within the explanation it's linking to. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:16, 31 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
::Rather than "Go to this comic" maybe it could be "Go to full explanation" ? Something else? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 13:38, 5 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
::There was [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#.22Edit_this_explanation.22_link_on_main_page a discussion at one point] about a wittier/more descriptive link - but no one came up with anything. I do like "Go to Full Explanation" better, for what it's worth. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 15:31, 5 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
:::My problem with that suggestion is that it implies that the main page explanation is not full. As of right now, the full explanation is transcluded on the main page. There's nothing more to see by clicking that link (explanation wise) Perhaps "Go to full explanation page" but that doesn't quite sound right to me... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:42, 7 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
::::How about "Go to this Comic Explanation Page"? One nice thing about the specific page rather than the [[Main_Page]] transcoding is that it nicely includes the discussion as well. I have a bookmark to the [[Main_Page]] that I look at every day, but I want to easily read the discussions, not only the explanation. Humm, maybe we could have a page [[most recent comic]] that automagically redirects to the most recent comic? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 12:42, 8 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
:::::I tried to get [[most recent comic]] to redirect to LATESTCOMIC, but can't get the syntax working - it is possible? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 13:03, 8 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
::::::Apparently it isn't. I would have tried <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[{{LATESTCOMIC}}]]</nowiki></code> like you did, but since that doesn't work, I'll delete the page for now. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 20 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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== Discussion of latest comic ==<br />
Perhaps include the discussions of the latest comic here? I almost missed there was a discussion field a few times because I would only read about the latest comic on the main page. [[User:Carewolf|Carewolf]] ([[User talk:Carewolf|talk]]) 14:54, 22 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
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This comics's explanation is complete bollocks, I think. Of course it is NOT a "fact that such a room exists". This comics parodies trope often used in cop movies - an elderly cop goes to work for the last time before his retirement, packs things, plans fishing the next day ... only to be called to one more case (possibly with a new, young and brash partner). And despites his efforts not to screw anything and stay clear of danger, he is either mortally wounded or screws big time and is degraded. So much clichè, that if someone says "It's my last day or service", you might be sure one of the two options above happens. See http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Retirony [[User:edheldil|Edheldil]] 10:17, 26 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
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I believe this link maybe relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_graphics {{unsigned|Rhudi}}<br />
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I went ahead and filled out the bracket from today's (see edit date) comic: http://m.imgur.com/gallery/WyPkHx2 {{unsigned|Glaucon81}}<br />
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*rise<br />
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Btw, why wouldn't I just enter "ipconfig free" if I didn't want my IP address showing? {{unsigned ip|172.68.65.48}}<br />
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== The comic explanation count is wrong ==<br />
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The adjustment is currently 3, but there are now 6 subcategories and one list making the current correct adjustment 7.<br />
If the wiki was upgraded to version 1.20, a form exists to automatically exclude subcategories.<br />
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 09:56, 8 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:Looks like another week of the wiki going down then.<br />
:But seriously, I've been noticing this too. Didn't know what was causing it, but it's going to have to be fixed sometime.[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 10:25, 8 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::The text reads <pre><nowiki>We already have [[:Category:Comics|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-3}}''' comic explanations]]!</nowiki></pre> The -3 is to account for the subcategories and non-explanation pages in the category. There apparently used to be three such pages, and now there are seven. I would fix this myself, but the page is protected. If the wiki where upgraded to version 1.20, the categories could be explicitly excluded, but the [[List of all comics]] would still be in the category. (Note that the -3 actually appears twice.) --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 05:03, 11 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:::Mediawiki 1.20 fixes this issue, although it'd be nice if this could be fixed in the meantime via the hack reccommended by divad. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 06:40, 16 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:Looks like Waldir updated the "Comic Correction Count" to "10" (as of 20 November 2012):<br />
<nowiki> We already have [[:Category:Comics|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-10}}''' comic explanations]]!</big><br />
Note: the -10 in the calculation above is to discount subcategories (there are 7 of them as of 20 November 2012),<br />
non-comic pages (2 as of same date: [[List of all comics]] and [[Exoplanet]])<br />
and the comic 404, which was deliberately not posted. Thus 7 + 2 + 1 = 10<br />
(But there are still {{#expr:{{LATESTCOMIC}}-({{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-10)}} to go. Come and [[List of all comics|add yours]]!)</nowiki><br />
:Could we possibly make this more dynamic by creating a "IGNORE_IN_COUNT" category or something? and then using something like: <nowiki>{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-{{PAGESINCAT:IGNORE_IN_COUNT}}}</nowiki>? Then any additional entries to the "Comics" category (that are 'special' entries) could just have the special category added and no main page editing would be necessary? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 07:50, 22 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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==Make Jeff stop apologizing==<br />
The apology for server downtime has been around for a while now. Can we take it down? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 04:41, 11 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
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== Spambots ==<br />
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I think someone should install [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:AbuseFilter AbuseFilter]. --[[User:Kronf|Kronf]] ([[User talk:Kronf|talk]]) 10:09, 13 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
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== Purge ==<br />
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We should regularly purge the server's cache for the main page using http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&action=purge to keep the explanation up to date. --[[User:Kronf|Kronf]] ([[User talk:Kronf|talk]]) 02:28, 3 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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== Updating the Rules ==<br />
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I've been having a lovely discussion with someone who apparently thought the "edit anything you want" rule applied to the Talk pages. As we don't have any codified rules for ''here'' and can only point to "well the canonical way this is done on Wikipedia is..." I think that there are a few things we need to put into the list of Rules on the front page, and then have a link to a more in-depth talk about why the rules exist and what-not.<br />
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Specifically, I'm talking about writing "Feel free to edit any page on the wiki to be better. But, treat talk pages like you would blog comments: comments by other people ''cannot be changed by you'', you can only respond to them." as a new rule to be plastered on the front page, as there seems to be an increasing number social neophytes that seem to think that editing words that are attributed as being said by another person is perfectly legitimate and non-controversial.<br />
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Shall we discuss? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 01:25, 15 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:We could add the etiquette rules as an addendum to the signature reminder at the top of the page. Just an extra note below the alert box asking people to not edit other people's comments. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 06:40, 16 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::It really should be right down with the "edited mercilessly" description, because this is an exception to that statement. Shouldn't have two sets of contradictory instructions in different places. When I made my improper edit, I had a semi-conscious moment of doubt about whether changing the other guy's comment was ok, even though this is a wiki (and even though it wasn't really clear to me that this "discussion" box held something totally separate from the page content), but that statement at the bottom put all such doubts to rest. I read it multiple times to be sure. But I did not notice that line at the top about the four tildes until ''much'' later. It's somewhat lost, visually, in the header line, when you're not looking directly at it.[[Special:Contributions/50.0.38.245|50.0.38.245]] 18:32, 18 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:::There's discussion to replace that message with a more noticeable alert box. The message at the bottom of the page appears for all pages, including talk pages, so a talk-page specific message there would not entirely fit. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 00:18, 19 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::If that text at the bottom is in fact alterable, it should be written to take every case into account. It's an extremely poor user interface that has instructions appearing on a page stating rules that are the exact opposite of reality. And note that the altert box on the top looks a lot like a banner add, when you don't focus on it and read it. People will tend to habitually filter out anything written there from their perception. Also, it can easily be scrolled off the top of the screen when the discussion starts to get long, and they have a preview displayed.<br />
::::So I think after the "...then do not submit it here.", it should add, "'''Exception''': others' comments in Discussion pages are not to be altered. See full rules at <<link to appropriate wikipedia page>>."[[Special:Contributions/50.0.38.245|50.0.38.245]] 15:46, 28 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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== Update after changes ==<br />
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The front page explanation hasn't been updated at all day to match changes in the explanation on the comic's page. This is a major problem i think, as it is the front page explanation people visitors will most often read. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
: It might be a caching issue. Appending <code>&action=purge</code> to the URL will probably fix it. Can you confirm it looks good to you now? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 00:29, 27 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
::Yep, now it updates instantly! Well done, whatever you did! :) --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 16:24, 27 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:::I've also added a link underneath the comic box that has the action embedded, so no one has to do any manual URL hacking. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:38, 11 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::Just wanted to check in on this - are there issues with automated systems or spammers following this link? I know it can affect performance - caching is important on a busy site! --[[User:Overand|Overand]] ([[User talk:Overand|talk]]) 22:37, 13 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
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== Suggestion: Change "Go to this comic" to "Go to this entry" ==<br />
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Just a small suggestion. For the Main Page, I suggest changing "Go to this comic" to say "Go to this ''entry''" instead to remove any confusion for new and regular viewers. It certainly took me a while to figure how to go to each featured comic's entry from the main page.<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/69.43.114.2|69.43.114.2]] 17:04, 11 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:How about if it reads "Go to this comic explanation"? Would that be less confusing? I only quibble because the explanations aren't really entries, in wiki parlance each page is usually called an article, but that doesn't seem to fit here as we really have explanation pages. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:41, 11 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::<span style="font-weight: bold; color: green;">Agreed.</span> [[User:Ctxppc|Randy Marsh]] ([[User talk:Ctxppc|talk]]) 22:55, 8 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
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== Explain the Unreleased Comic? ==<br />
:I wonder if [[http://i56.tinypic.com/a9ton8.png this comic]] is permitted to be explained, despite the double issue of Randall pulling the comic plus me finding the pulled comic through "xkcd overrated"... [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 18:21, 12 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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== Comic 1156 ==<br />
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I don't have an account to edit the page directly, so here's an edit someone should make:<br />
It looks like whoever wrote the existing page simply googled 'conditioning' and found the first link that came up.<br />
Please modify the link to point to 'Classical conditioning', not 'Operant conditioning'.<br />
Thanks. {{unsigned ip|124.191.56.91|05:26, 7 January 2013 (UTC)}}<br />
<br />
:Hi. This is the talk page for the main page of the wiki. This page only has a "view" of the actual comic explanation. The actual explanation page is at [[1156: Conditioning]], and I assure you, edit permissions have not been restricted for that page. Someone has already changed the page to link to Classical conditioning, but the original editor came back stating that Operant was correct. If you would like to start a discussion about this [[Talk:1156: Conditioning|on the talk page for this explanation]] that would be much more conducive to getting this matter settled. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:52, 7 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comic Links ==<br />
<br />
Some of the links seem to be confusing, as they're titled in a weird way. The link/button 'go to this comic', I'd expect would go to the actual comic on XKCD's page. Yet it goes to the comic's wiki page. And clicking on the comic # and date directs you to the XKCD page, yet I really feel that link should go to the wiki page, as it's right at the top center there, and has the date and everything, sort of indicating that it's a wiki page, yet it's not. And the prev and next buttons next to it don't go to the xkcd page, they go to the wiki pages. Which is really messed up, I think. Because of my confusion, every single time I visit here, I clicked on the wrong link, though now I've gotten used to it. I suggest rewording the links as '<i>XKCD</i> Comic # and date' and 'go to this comic<i>'s wiki page</i>'. And possibly switching the links' positions so that the wiki links could be in that navigation bar and the XKCD links could be off to the side. After all, we are a wiki, so putting our wiki links to the comic off to the side and the direct xkcd link in the center seems odd. Anyway, has anyone had the same thoughts and/or agree with me on this?--[[Special:Contributions/69.119.250.251|69.119.250.251]] 18:19, 9 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Unexplained comics ==<br />
<br />
The template that starts each explanation page should be edited to have the next and previous buttons automatically skip over pages that don't exist, rather than simply not being there if comic n+1 or n-1 doesn't exist. Preferably it would append a notice to the next page (like the redirect notices commonly found on mediawiki) telling you how many comics have been skipped. I'm not sure how feasible this would be to script, however. [[Special:Contributions/130.160.145.185|130.160.145.185]] 23:45, 9 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Percentage of remaining comics calculation is off... ==<br />
<br />
Okay, I hate to be "that pedantic math guy", but... Today the main page reads "We have collaboratively explained 936 xkcd comics, and only 252 (27%) remain." While I agree that 252/936 is roughly 27%, I believe we should really be calculating the percentage as "the number left to explain" divided by "the total number of comics that exist", not divided by "the number we have finished". That is (today), 252/1188=21%. Think about it. If we had completed 594 comics today, with 594 remaining, what should the percentage be? 594/594=100%? That's not right... 594/1188=50%? That's what we really want to say.<br />
<br />
The page is protected, which makes sense. So I'll make my suggestion here.<br />
<br />
Change this: <br />
<br />
<pre><br />
and only {{#expr:{{LATESTCOMIC}}-({{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-9)}}<br />
({{#expr: ({{LATESTCOMIC}}-({{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-9)) / ({{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-9) * 100 round 0}}%)<br />
remain.<br />
</pre><br />
To this: <br />
<pre><br />
and only {{#expr:{{LATESTCOMIC}}-({{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-9)}}<br />
({{#expr: ({{LATESTCOMIC}}-({{PAGESINCAT:Comics}}-9)) / {{#expr:{{LATESTCOMIC}}}} * 100 round 0}}%)<br />
remain.<br />
</pre><br />
[[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 15:32, 20 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Done and done. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|purple|David}}<font color=green size=3px>y</font></u><font color=indigo size=4px>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:37, 20 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Thanks for the heads-up! However, notice that the #expr: around LATESTCOMIC was unnecessary. I've removed it. [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:30, 21 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Waldir, you have exposed me as a charlatan and a fool! (I just copied, pasted, and tinkered until I made something that worked. I don't actually understand it. No formal training, you see. It's what we used to call "hacking" back in the dawn of the digital era, before the word took on connotations of vandalism, trespassing, and fraud. Have you kids come up with another word for it?) [[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 13:59, 22 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Joke's on me then, 'cause you sure fooled me – I readily assumed you knew your way around those parser functions. Nice job hacking the code, it was a nearly perfect crime ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:26, 25 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::I've heard the cool kids call that the "Maker Mentality", usually with a reference to [http://makezine.com/ Make magazine] and [http://makerfaire.com/ Maker Faire]. But I think there's also a movement to resurrect the original meaning of hacker. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 04:21, 25 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
==sidebar ads?==<br />
''Moved to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''<br />
<br />
== Expression error on Main Page ==<br />
<br />
Please use <code><nowiki>{{PAGESINCAT:...|R}}</nowiki></code> instead of <code><nowiki>{{PAGESINCAT:...}}</nowiki></code> to correct these errors :) --[[Special:Contributions/110.168.83.62|110.168.83.62]] 10:55, 8 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Dun diddly done. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:21, 8 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Compile a list of non-technical comics to non-technical readers? ==<br />
<br />
I'm a long-time reader and fan of >< |< C |}, but my normal approach is useless when I introduce this provocative comic series to my less technical friends. They stay at the apparent level of many comics. They don't bother reading the explanations, but they would say, "it's hard to make sense". Imagine an average non-technical (and non-arts) major guy/girl, can we compile a list of state-of-the-art but less-technical, easy-to-comprehend but "ah ha!!" strips that is suitable for them? --[[User:FrenzY|W shll nvr flly xpln xkcd!]] ([[User talk:FrenzY|talk]]) 12:39, 18 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh my god that signature.<br />
:Gaah, derailment. Uh, pretty much anything that isn't tagged with the physics or math categories are easy enough to understand for the average English speaker, so just check the categories at the bottom of the page for that. Also, avoid comics with the incomplete tag, and that oughta be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:41, 18 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Quit building? ==<br />
''This post was moved to [[Talk:1214: Geoguessr]].''<br />
<br />
:Hello, this is the talk page for the content of the front page of the wiki, not for discussion of the most recent comic, that happens [[Talk:1214: Geoguessr|here]]. I've moved your post over there for you. Cheers, and welcome to explain xkcd! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:09, 22 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== List of incomplete comics ==<br />
We need a link to the "Incomplete articles" at the main page below the "Missing link". Most pages are created but many are incomplete.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:06, 7 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Header message ==<br />
<br />
'''Please don't take this seriously unless you actually think it's a good idea:'''<br />
<br />
I think the header should be changed from "explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." to "explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb... or still have some hope that comic [[1190]] will end." or something similar. [[User:Schiffy|<font color="000999">Schiffy</font>]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|<font color="FF6600">Speak to me</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|<font color="FF0000">What I've done</font>]]) 14:53, 9 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Nope! This page is trying to explain more than 1222 comics, not only [[1190: Time]]. The header just states the truth.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:49, 9 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'd vote for a change. People have started coming over to discuss the comic even when they've 'gotten' it. That, and the fact that this is one step ahead of Googling the references yourself. So.. maybe, "it's because you're dumb..and lazy."[[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 02:26, 31 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I honestly don't think it either. This is the most comprehensive comic-by-comic Wiki. People don't come here because they're dumb ''or'' lazy. That's like saying I'm dumb for reading a review of an episode after I've watched it - I'm interested in seeing what other people up with or caught that I didn't. It denigrates the idea of aggregating information, which is a very un-XKCD idea.<br />
<br />
As a regular reader of explainxkcd (who was to lazy to cotribute anything until now), I'd like to support the proposed edit. (... and lazy) It really fits to the tone of our favourite waste of otherwise productive time (which is xkcd for myself). Best wishes from Heidelberg, Germany. --[[Special:Contributions/147.142.13.86|147.142.13.86]] 14:38, 10 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
A friend that happens to be blind hates this site because of the "It's cause you're dumb" tagline. If he wants a transcript of the comic on xkcd, his option is to come here and have his screen reader program telling him that he is dumb every single time.<br />
<br />
How about, "explain xkcd: because sometimes we all need a little help."? -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.65|173.245.54.65]] 02:07, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh, hadn't thought about that. There's been recurring complaints about this over the years, though the tagline's been around since before we were a wiki. I'll write something up and put this to a vote. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:00, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== A point of confusion ==<br />
<br />
Why is 'Apatosaurus' a category but 'Internet Argument' no longer a category? [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 13:53, 20 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Cuz people hit the random button, see an Apatosaurus feature in three comics and figure it must be a recurring theme. Same as the internet argument thing. Will get round to a category purge after we've cleared out all the incomplete tags. I think there's one for ferrets hidden away somewhere in the dark recesses of our catalog of categories. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:45, 20 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
::On the subject, can I suggest a "Barred from Conferences" category, or similar? That's definitely a recurring theme (for a long, long time), and thus should be justified enough. I'd be happy to add various qualifying articles as I scroll through again, if I can, but first I'll leave it up to someone else to solidify the actual name. (In case it turns out not to be just conferences, for example.) [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:27, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Incomplete comics statement ==<br />
<br />
I suggest the minor change: "We have an explanation for all x xkcd comics, and only y (y/x %) are '''marked as''' incomplete." –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:07, 21 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 1262 is out ==<br />
<br />
So what are you waiting for? [[Special:Contributions/75.60.27.102|75.60.27.102]] 06:25, 9 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
:<nowiki>(diff | hist) . . N 1262: Unquote; 06:23, 9 September 2013 (UTC) . . (+322) . . Davidy22 (Talk | contribs | block) (Created page with "{{comic | number = 1262 | date = September 9, 2013 | title = Unquote | image = unquote.png | titletext = I guess it's a saying from the Old Country. }} ==Expl...")</nowiki><br />
:Examine the time stamps. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:30, 9 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
== Adverts ==<br />
<br />
I am not going to disable my adblock, I hate ads. If you accept bitcoin I can make a donation though. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:24, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Our ads are always easy-to-load images as opposed to flash ads, they're always pointing to some valuable product of some form and we've looked at and approved all of them. They also occupy space that would otherwise have been empty, as our one ad is bound strictly to the sidebar. We used to have a paypal donation button, but it was pitifully tended to and a much less reliable source of income than ads. Ads are the only reliable business model for small sites like this one; unless our readers suddenly become willing to pay all our server costs for us, we can't feasibly afford a better hosting plan without ads. We legally aren't allowed to open a merch store, because that infringes on Randall's shop, and we haven't had a single generous benefactor yet. If you want to stop seeing our server error messages, loosening up adblock for us and contributing to our impressions count will help us massively. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:00, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't care about your server message, I wanted to make a donation. Sooo, you don't want any bitcoins? [[Special:Contributions/37.221.161.235|37.221.161.235]] 07:16, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This took a bit of digging. We're fine with bitcoin donations, it's just that at the rate donations came in, they were just not enough to pay for anything. [https://coinbase.com/checkouts/b19f921822ac962807a8f72d51509e59] '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:34, 28 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Donation made! [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 23:23, 30 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Thanks! '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:27, 1 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I the only one that feels it is "wrong" that the explainxkcd site has ads and the real xkcd doesn't have any? It feels like someone is profiting off of Randall's work. Does he officially endorse this website? Do any proceeds help go to support his ongoing publication of an awesome comic? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.19|173.245.54.19]] 16:01, 7 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:An admin will be able to give you more detail than me, but explainxkcd has a significant number of visitors (and thus hosting costs), and no way to generate income other than donations and ads. In contrast, Randall makes money from his comics by way of books and merchandise (and possibly public speaking), some of which will pay for his hosting. He could choose to have ads on his site to generate additional income, its his choice not to. I have no knowledge of the finances of explainxkcd, however I doubt there is much/any surplus ad revenue being pocketed by the owners/admin. As far as the site being officially endorsed, not as far as I'm aware, no. <br />
:Also, for more discussion on adverts/income, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Sidebar_ads here].--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 16:21, 7 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== /wiki is returning a 403 ==<br />
<br />
Hello, <br/><br />
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ is returning a 403 now. In my eyes you should redirect it to the main-page instead :-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 12:41, 8 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:We have a new, hopefully better, server. The problem is already reported to [[User_talk:Jeff#Forbidden]] --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:22, 8 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
== Explain Explain XKCD / Explain^2 XKCD ==<br />
<br />
This particular comic explanation requires explanation. Way too many potential cross references with each conjecture requiring its own explanation page. Dial it back a little. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.11}}<br />
:Uh, sorry, could you clarify that a little? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:23, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::He is talking about the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/] issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:32, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Well if it's that, that's an intentional permissions setting on a URL that no-one is feasibly going to type. Unless you can come up with a better use for that URL, with a reason? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:40, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::A symlink to "index.php" at the root folder would solve the problem.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:26, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::I cannot believe how many weeks that took to fix. Amazing. No one was going to type it, but everyone was going to get redirected to it from the home page! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.227|108.162.222.227]] 11:37, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The problem is still not solved. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/] gives still a 403 error because "index.php" is not included in the http server configuration as a default index page. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:07, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: I've fixed this. Sorry about the delay. Was super busy! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 21 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Thanks Jeff, it's working. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:20, 21 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Webmaster: Obtrusive video ad on your site ==<br />
<br />
In the ad section I saw a box sticking out and blocking out the explanation. This was therefore a very obtrusive botched video ad. Please remove this ad from your site. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.188|199.27.128.188]] 22:29, 6 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
EDIT: It's now sticking out and preventing me from clicking on the "Save page" button. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.188|199.27.128.188]] 22:29, 6 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:We only accept GIFs for moving ads. Ads should also be contained within the sidebar as they're techonogically restricted to standard-sized PNGs and GIFs, so an extruding ad would be a CSS error on the site end/browser error. In addition, we run ads from lots of advertisers, and "this ad" is not specific enough to tell us which ad you want us to remove. Could you provide a screenshot/link/more information? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:54, 6 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adding an arcs list page ==<br />
<br />
I think there should be a page listing all webcomics arcs so far (the red spiders, the race, etc.)[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.134|188.114.102.134]] 12:47, 2 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:This already exists, see [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:39, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: link ==<br />
<br />
This has been bothering me for a while now. Why does the link in the info box for the main page link to editing the main page? It needs to link to the editing of the page which the comic's explanation is on. When I would like to edit the latest XKCD explanation, I click that thinking I am going to edit the explanation, but instead I am led to editing the main page. [[User:Auraxangelic|Auraxangelic]] ([[User talk:Auraxangelic|talk]]) 15:19, 24 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Ooooooh, nice catch. I've actually never noticed that before, and it's definitely not intentional. It happens because the text of the explanation page is folded into the main page before mediawiki parses links and syntax, and the "Edit this page" button links to the page that the link is on. I have an idea for how to fix it though, so I'll get on that. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:49, 25 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== #1454 - bad description ==<br />
<br />
"Curly-hair states longingly..." She comes across as disappointed (or even heartbroken), not "longing", which suggests sounding somewhat positive and energetic, rather than deflated. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.88|141.101.99.88]] 22:29, 2 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Cueball/Rob merge==<br />
<br />
It seems to me from a general reading of the comics that Randall has always intended for the character we here call "Cueball" to have the name "Rob". Much as "Cutie" was renamed "Megan" when we learned her name, and now she is identified as "Megan" even in comics where her name is not explicitly mentioned, I think we should consider merging the "Cueball" and "Rob" articles. I know there's a lot of inertia here, but it seems to me that this is Randall's intention for the character's name. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:38, 10 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
: Alternatively, we should un-merge [[Megan]] and [[Cutie]] for consistency. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 14:50, 10 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
: I'm pretty sure this is an augmentation of the author's internal characters, including the one he has developed involuntarily as to the nature of his love. His memory of his love is not his love, yet it is what he has to love. Randall seems the type to delve into this, and thus I am in support of keeping the character names as they stand. /eof [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.185|173.245.56.185]] 05:43, 25 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Kerbal Space Program ==<br />
<br />
I'm a schizophrenic who's been playing Kerbal Space Program for about five days with no sleep, and I'm pretty sure this is a reference to [https://www.google.com/search?q=xkcd+kerbal+space+program&oq=xkcd+kerbal+space+program&aqs=chrome..69i57.10851j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8 comic 1365] :D [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.185|173.245.56.185]] 05:39, 25 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 1509 is missing ==<br />
<br />
When will it be added? By bot, I presume.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 04:51, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Broken Date Box on comics ==<br />
<br />
The "Comic #1511 (April 13, 2015)" textbox that appears on top of each comic breaks if you shrink the screen. I think the space after the comma needs to be replaced with a non breaking space.{{unsigned ip|108.162.238.144}}<br />
<br />
:Is it fixed now? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:59, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::It looks like it. I had pointed it out once before and it was fixed. I guess somebody reverted that change or something... --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 13:42, 15 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 1515? ==<br />
<br />
Is it correct that we have 1515 comics, as of April 15, 2015? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.122|173.245.48.122]] 05:20, 15 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:It's not, but some people insist on making comic pages for things that aren't comics. I'll fix that. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:27, 15 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 972 is broken ==<br />
<br />
Look, I'm not going to make an account here or anything, but I just wanted to point out that trying to access the page for comic #972 leads to a database error, and maybe someone should check on that. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.102|173.245.48.102]] 07:45, 14 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
Actually a lot of other pages lead to that same error as well... Even the 'Technical Diskussions' sub-page is broken. Seems to my, like some swap-spac needs cleaning up? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.83|108.162.230.83]] 10:32, 14 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Yep. It's a symptom of another problem, but the errors should be cleared up now. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 14 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
::No dice. [[997]] is still broken. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.119|198.41.235.119]] 00:27, 3 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Looks like they're working now. 21:01, 2016-11-27 {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.163}}<br />
<br />
== #1567 ==<br />
<br />
I think the current explanation is missing the connection, and the parody of, many "As Seen On TV" commercials selling kitchen products. Many of these commercials show people trying to use common kitchen equipment (pots, pans, can openers, etc) in a way that no normally functioning human would do it (for example, one has a lady draining the liquid from a pot of food into a sink in an extremely awkward manner — one that no normal person who has ever seen a kitchen would do — but then the lid flies one way, food goes another, there's a huge mess, etc; another commercial has someone trying to open a can of food using a can opener '''backwards''', with the woman looking extremely confused looking on how the can opener is supposed to be used or attached to the can [if you told someone act like they are a clueless monkey trying to use a can opener for the first time, that's basically what the commercial had the woman doing — no joke]). These commercials often begin with phrases such as "If you are like me" or "If you are like most home makers" or some other closely related "If you are like..." phrase (thus this comic is directly tieing itself to these commercials using this catch phrase). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.11|108.162.220.11]] 07:50, 21 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
:: Other opening catch phrases for these commercials include the "Tired of [fill-in made-up frustration]" and the "Do you [fill-in made-up frustration]" kind. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.11|108.162.220.11]] 08:09, 21 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "I used Google news BEFORE it was clickbait" ==<br />
<br />
Go to a handful of older pages on this wiki, and it won't be long before you see this phrase in the comments - [[941: Depth Perception]], for instance has two of them. Does anyone know why this happens? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.116|108.162.221.116]] 10:59, 23 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
:That's the signature of a person who used to post here. If you click through, it actually goes to a userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:25, 23 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== URL ==<br />
<br />
I notice that whenever you add "explain" to an xkcd url, it takes you here! neat! [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.233|198.41.235.233]] 23:13, 28 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Someone noticed! Finally! '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:45, 29 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Should we really be using CC-BY-SA? ==<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong, CC-BY-SA is my favorite creative commons license. The problem is, are we really allowed? The reason I'm worried is that I'm not sure if what we are doing really counts as "fair use" with respect to XKCD. It would probably be better to do CC-NC-BY-SA, to respect XKCD, or at least put a note that CC-BY-SA only covers the wiki portion (since it's probably too late to do CC-BY-SA anyway).<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.37|173.245.54.37]] 23:38, 27 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
:This is a tough one. Mediawiki sites generally use CC-BY-SA, even if the content they're based off is copyrighted (Wikia sites for various topics do this). The license only does apply to content ''created'' here. What should probably be done, if it isn't already, is some specification on pages in the <code>File:</code> namespace indicating that they are owned by someone other than the owners of this site. [[User:Schiffy|<font color="000999">Schiffy</font>]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|<font color="FF6600">Speak to me</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|<font color="FF0000">What I've done</font>]]) 19:37, 7 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== #1663: Garden not yet added? ==<br />
<br />
For me it's 4:30 AM, 4/4/16 - I have a sleep schedule just like [https://xkcd.com/361/], so I've been first on quite a few xkcd explanations immediately. when they came out.<br />
I notice that usually, immediately once a new xkcd comic is released, a bot generates a corresponding bare-bones page on this wiki. However, this new comic "1663: Garden" doesn't yet have an automatically-generated page. Maybe it's because of the strange user-session hash key that appears in the URL bar when the "comic" is interacted with? Maybe this sort of interactive thing messes with the bot?<br />
Am I just being impatient? Do I have to wait a few minutes? (I'm going to bed, and this probably won't be seen until tomorrow, but I am at least interested in knowing how the bot system works.) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.21|173.245.54.21]] 09:01, 4 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Skins broken ==<br />
<br />
It seems both the Classic and Monobook skins are very very broken. Only Vector seems to be laid out normally. [[User:Schiffy|<font color="000999">Schiffy</font>]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|<font color="FF6600">Speak to me</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|<font color="FF0000">What I've done</font>]]) 19:39, 7 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Yes, for me too. Let me see what can be done. [[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 20:10, 12 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
::All calls to /load.php seem to fail, which results in the broken look. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.167|162.158.86.167]] 11:02, 14 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::Oh wow, I thought I was the only one. [[User:SuperSupermario24|<span style="color: #c21aff;">Just some random derp</span>]] 15:57, 8 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::::Should be fixed now. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:59, 17 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== #1682: Not sure about the reference for Russian meaning for Bun ==<br />
''Also interesting to note is that in several Slavic languages (including Russian, Czech and Polish), the word for Rabbit literally means Little King''<br />
<br />
I'm a native Russian speaker, and i've never heard of Rabbit being used for ''Little King''... <br />
<br />
* Rabbit: ''krolik'' (кролик)<br />
* Little King: ''korolyok'' (королёк)<br />
<br />
Not sure if this above statement is correct for Russian language. {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.28}}<br />
:This is the main page. You probably want to put this in [[Talk:1682: Bun]]'''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:36, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Random Button ==<br />
The actual xkcd site has one and adding one would make it closer to the actual site and make discovering random comics and their explanations easier. It could go next to the comic # button.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.69|173.245.52.69]] 01:03, 5 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:There is a random page button on the left. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:36, 5 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Oh. Didn't see that. Sorry.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.69|173.245.52.69]] 20:16, 5 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== XKCD Alignment Chart ==<br />
<br />
A while back, I was searching for an XKCD alignment chart, with no success, so I made one. It is not perfect, so I'm wondering what other opinions on the alignment of the characters are.<br />
<br />
Lawful Good- Beret<br />
<br />
Neutral Good- Ponytail<br />
<br />
Chaotic Good- Mrs. Roberts<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Lawful Neutral-Cueball<br />
<br />
Neutral Neutral- Megan<br />
<br />
Chaotic Neutral- White hat<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Lawful Evil- Hairy<br />
<br />
Neutral Evil- Danish<br />
<br />
Chaotic Evil- Black Hat<br />
<br />
--[[User:Fallencrow305|Fallencrow305]] ([[User talk:Fallencrow305|talk]]) 22:10, 28 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:What about Help I'm trapped in a drivers license factory Elaine Roberts? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 15:48, 29 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Or Hairbun? Or Science Girl? Here are my predictions: Elaine - Chaotic Good, Hairbun - Lawful Good, Science Girl - Lawful Neutral --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 16:00, 29 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 1713 cc also means carbon copy. So 50 carbon copies of either of those words could be called for. ==<br />
<br />
1713 cc also means carbon copy. So 50 carbon copies of either of those words could be called for. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.146}}<br />
:Sorry, but [[User:108.162.215.146|108.162.215.146]], you need to remember to sign your work. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 11:50, 26 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Chatroom Idea... What do you guys think? ==<br />
I have an idea. What if there was a discussion board for the wiki? (And no, I don't mean boards like this or the "comment section" of comic explanations. I mean a live chatroom plugin of sorts. We could add it to the website and enable it so we can talk to each other in real-time and make live edits with each other. This way, we can also let each other know of edits we've made, make new pages altogether, or just talk. What do you guys think? -- [[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 9:10, 13 September 2016<br />
:The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:RecentChanges recent changes] log already notifies all users on the site of new pages and edits. User talk pages and the community portals exist for coordination. Also, avoid creating new comment topics in the middle of a talk page in the future, comments are supposed to follow a chronological order. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:39, 13 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Sorry. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:59, 26 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Copying versus embedding ==<br />
<br />
Hi, I'm new here and I'm trying not to be an asshole. However, I just noticed that this site uses its own archive of copied xkcd comics, rather than using the image URL provided for hotlinking and embedding. I can understand this website will want to have its own archive in case xkcd.org ever goes offline, but until then, why not just embed the images instead of copying?<br />
<br />
The reason I'm asking: I just realised I hardly ever go to xkcd.org anymore ever since my browser put explainxkcd above xkcd.org. Explanations get updated, so sometimes I check back later, which rarely happens with the comics. It makes perfect sense. But if more people experience this issue, xkcd.org is getting fewer unique visitors because of it, and this could be fixed by fetching the image directly from there, while still making and storing a copy in case it is needed in the future. Thoughts, anyone? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.33|141.101.104.33]] 17:08, 18 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
:So, we can't do this for every comic, like [[1190]] or other april fools comics. Also, xkcd's revenue comes from merchandise sales, not ad revenue, so I believe it's not actually negatively impacting them that we're serving the images ourselves rather than making the main site serve them for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:39, 19 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Embedding images is generally known as "stealing bandwidth", since it uses resources of the original site's server (may be limited) without bringing it any actual visitors (they won't see anything else of the website, like announcements, shop, other sections, ...). Also, depending on how unique visitors are counted, "visitors" through embedding might be invisible (client's side scripts won't be loaded). So no image embedding without the original site's owner express permission. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 12:51, 7 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Other Languages ==<br />
Are there translations of pages anywhere. It has been mentioned that they are on subdomains of this site, or a sub-page, as Main_Page/es for spanish. I can't seem to find them there. [[User:The Muffin Man|The Muffin Man]] ([[User talk:The Muffin Man|talk]]) 14:48, 7 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
:It's a work in progress, long delayed but I really do want to get to it eventually. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:58, 7 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Why are there male/female symbols in some of the entries? ==<br />
<br />
Those symbols are not in the comic, but they're in the table. I think a vandal put them there. Can someone remove them from the Lavaball, Bladeball, Eggspotting, Merfishing, Consequence Golf and Heck Escape? (now don't act like someone who criticizes "politically correct leftist "libt++d" SJW snowflakes" just because I said "heck" or censored the derogatory term for "liberal" or not even trying to say these uncensored) -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.106|108.162.221.106]] 12:36, 25 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How quaint ==<br />
<br />
From the Main Page:<br />
<br />
Explain xkcd: '''It's 'cause you're dumb.'''<br />
<br />
<br />
From the Rules section:<br />
<br />
'''Don't be a jerk. '''<br />
<br />
<br />
(Emphasis mine)<br />
<br />
<br />
How very ,very quaint. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.100|162.158.126.100]] 21:00, 5 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== HTTPS? ==<br />
<br />
Hi,<br />
With the general trend towards HTTPS being favoured over HTTP for security and speed reasons, would it be possible to force the use of HTTPS and secure the mixed content please?<br />
<br />
Please see [https://www.whynopadlock.com/results/7e707bfd-cd71-4b00-b95e-be226fb10fb6 Why no Padlock?] for more details.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.179.202|162.158.179.202]] 10:32, 13 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Browsing using HTTPS seems to just work. There's even a signed certificate.<br />
:https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1946<br />
<br />
:I really don't get why people are so convinced that browsing using HTTPS is so much more "secure". You even seem to claim that it's faster?<br />
:If you love it so much, install a browser extension like https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere.<br />
<br />
:With the exception of the login / register page, I really don't see the point for enforcing this for the whole site. I am no admin though.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.93|172.69.54.93]] 22:30, 25 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
We are already in 2018 and this website still does not even redirect automatically to HTTPS ([https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170536-How-do-I-redirect-all-visitors-to-HTTPS-SSL- you can do it so easily with Couldflare...]) nor enforce HTTPS with {{w|HSTS}}... I don't know, just check [https://scotthelme.co.uk/hardening-your-http-response-headers/#strict-transport-security on Scott Helme's site] why it's important. Having to rely on the user installing an extension for doing the sysadmin work is a bad joke, really. And it does not fix some issues with mixed content of course. With Let's Encrypt and Cloudflare providing certificates for free and the plethora of tutorials online on securing a website (not limited to HTTPS), there is no excuse to not do it. -- [[User:guest|guest]] ([[User talk:guest|talk]]) 11:22, 31 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "It's because you're dumb" ==<br />
I see that there was some talk about this a while ago, in which people seemed to agree that the "It's because you're dumb" tagline is unnecessarily mean and should be changed... and yet, it's still here. I'd like to add some more fuel to the fire with several reasons why I really hate this tagline:<br />
<br />
* The tagline doesn't fit the tone of XKCD. Randall celebrates knowledge. Even Black Hat wouldn't just outright say "You're dumb", because he's a classhole who can insult way better than that.<br />
* Many of the people who contribute to this wiki are very smart. They're not dumb.<br />
* They're also quite amicable from what I've seen. If they wouldn't insult someone, why is the website doing so?<br />
* Not knowing something is not the same as being dumb. Even the smartest people don't know everything.<br />
* Having a desire to learn is smart, not dumb.<br />
* The tagline's logic is flawed. Just because you learn a new thing, doesn't mean you were dumb to begin with.<br />
<br />
Anyone with me on this?<br />
<br />
[[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 14:07, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: The first line of the "Rules" section is "Don't be a jerk" at the time of writing. The first thing this wobsite does is to break that rule. I'm not sure what else is to be said here. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 16:55, 20 March 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I always thought that was weird too. But it's still there... I'll tell the admins about it, and hopefully it will be changed. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:18, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Explanation: ''This'' is a joke... Missing the punchline? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:15, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Personally, I'm fine with the current tagline. I consider it a joke and don't feel offended. However, if there is consensus a) that and b) to what it should be changed, I'm ok with changing it. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:18, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm wondering, would it be possible to temporarily (a week or so?) stop new ads from appearing in the sidebar and replace it with a poll concerning this issue? Right now it's just showing what appeared in the banners in [[1965: Background Apps]], and not a real ad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.81|162.158.58.81]] 10:12, 19 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:The advertisement is used to pay the fees needed to run this site. Right now this wiki get's an upgrade but when it's done this discussion will get a proper placement here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:37, 21 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The first time I encountered this tagline I thought it was pretty funny. Satire can be hard to detect online but this one seems clear enough. --[[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 20:42, 20 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:What is it satirizing? I'm serious; I genuinely don't know. It could well be that I just don't get the joke. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 13:39, 10 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
At first I liked the joke, but now it's either annoying or I ignore it. Personally I don't feel it needs to be changed, as it's in the satirical spirit of xkcd, but I wouldn't care too much. [[User:Nyx goddess|Nyx goddess]] ([[User talk:Nyx goddess|talk]]) 22:56, 5 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's satire, if it gets removed that's exactly the kind of overzealous political correctness that MAGA chuds are talking about when they accuse us of being snowflakes, howabout let's not give them ammo. - 02:03, 22 December 2018 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.94}}<br />
:As above: what it is satirizing? Also, for my part, it's not about political correctness at all; it's that the tagline doesn't match my personal positive image of XKCD, nor of this wiki, and it just feels unfitting to me, for all the reasons that I laid out. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 13:39, 10 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm in favor of a change. Let's drop the "dumb". Or at least modify it. I propose a "strikethrough" of dumb, then add any one of a list of possible words: confused, ignorant, curious, wondering, befuddled... (Oooh, could it randomly change each time the page is loaded? Code wizards, advance!) [[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 22:25, 24 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
:A complete list of all synonyms of dumb, including dumb and all synonyms of those synonyms, according to thesaurus.com. One randomly loads each time you load the page via rng, or on a once a day system, like the incomplete page of the day. That would actually probably make it more mean on average, but more clearly a joke. Wouldn’t be impossible to code either.[[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:18, 21 February 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The reason I come to Explain XKCD is because I'm excited to see what other people have said about it. I agree with the above - it doesn't fit the spirit of xkcd's joy for knowledge and it really just isn't why people come here. Furthermore, it skirts demeaning people with disabilities. Please remove it. [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 07:43, 2 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Editor FAQ ==<br />
Eventually we may need that banner at the top for something else, like the incomplete explanation spotlight, or when the wiki was being upgraded, so I think we should add the Editor FAQ in the New Here? section. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 11:21, 2 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
:It's a first draft and I'm just waiting to be convinced that it's NOT incomplete. And be sure I haven't written it without a plan how to present it on the proper places. Furthermore this "Sitenotice" on the top is only "dissmissable" for valid users, every visitor not logged in does see this always. Thanks for your participation and I'm grateful about any help. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:30, 2 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Categories on Main Page ==<br />
<br />
[[MediaWiki:Common.css]] has the following entry:<br />
<pre><br />
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks ul li {<br />
border-left: none;<br />
position: absolute;<br />
left: 70px;<br />
bottom: 6px;<br />
}<br />
</pre><br />
The <code>70px</code> cause an overlap for me in Firefox, and much too small a gap in Chrome. I suggest to actually remove that line completely, just compare it with categories on other pages: The gap is quite large. In Firefox, also the <code>6px</code> are too much, but in Chrome they are required. But it might be worth to try whether setting vertical align to something else can achieve a more consistent display. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.230|162.158.88.230]] 10:22, 13 July 2018 (UTC)<br />
:And the comment above that says: "Dirty hack to hide the categories of the current comic from main page. ...". I'm aware of this but there is much more, especially for a mobile version I'm looking forward to. Only in this case I see three problems: The component is rendered as a list (ul,li) by hiding the bullets. This then empty space is always rendered different in different browsers. Using "position: absolute" tries to circumvent this but absolute positioning is bad layout and never should be used. Furthermore mixing the units ''px'' and ''em'' in many places is also a problem when comparing it at different browsers. I'm working on this with the final goal also having a proper mobile version, not only for Firefox, Chrome, Edge,... on a desktop. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:12, 13 July 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Bookmark ==<br />
<br />
I think we should add this book mark I made to automatically transfer anything from xkcd to its explainxkcd page (I was frustrated, ok?):<br />
<br />
javascript:x=window.location.href;x = x.replace(/\D/g,'');t=document.title.substring(5).replace(/ /g,"_");window.location.href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/"+x+":"+t;<br />
<br />
I know the code could be more compact, but using this, you can just press a button and it will take you to the explain page {{unsigned ip|172.68.47.84}}<br />
:Just changing the URL from <code>xkcd.com/2115/</code> to <code>explainxkcd.com/2115/</code> (putting the word explain to the beginning) does the same. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:41, 22 February 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Non-comic explanations? ==<br />
<br />
So I was looking at xkcd and I noticed a little jokey line near the bottom of the page in very small print that reads <pre> <nowiki> "xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing." </nowiki> </pre><br />
Now, I know enough to understand the joke, but it would be nice to have a page for this. Do we have one? Am I just blind? Either way, I would like to know. Thanks! [[User:Nyx goddess|Nyx goddess]] ([[User talk:Nyx goddess|talk]]) 23:39, 28 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Nevermind, I just found it. Sorry! [[User:Nyx goddess|Nyx goddess]] ([[User talk:Nyx goddess|talk]]) 23:40, 28 March 2019 (UTC)</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1206:_Einstein&diff=1641961206: Einstein2018-10-14T16:39:03Z<p>108.162.219.208: Why was "Universe" capitalized?</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1206<br />
| date = May 1, 2013<br />
| title = Einstein<br />
| image = einstein.png<br />
| titletext = Einstein was WRONG when he said that provisional patent #39561 represented a novel gravel-sorting technique and should be approved by the Patent Office.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic [[Randall]] is playing with the notion that since Einstein contributed so much to society, and many of his works have withstood testing, disproving Einstein must be a difficult task. This is proven false by taking a mundane declaration by Einstein and proving it false with a simple task.<br />
<br />
Nobel laureate and ''Time'' Person of the Century {{w|Albert Einstein}} is often considered one of the smartest and most influential men in world history. His theories have revolutionized our understanding of the universe and inspired generations of scientists. In this comic, [[Cueball]] indicates to a friend that he is working on an experiment that may disprove Einstein. The implication is that Cueball is conducting a serious scientific experiment which may disprove one of Einstein's scientific theories. The second frame, however, implies that the Einsteinian "theory" Cueball's experiment may disprove is an offhand (and subjective) remark by Einstein about the availability of good sandwiches; this is not to mention the possible changing in quality of said sandwiches over time.<br />
<br />
The experiment Cueball is "currently conducting" probably refers to the fact that he is currently eating a sandwich, and if that sandwich was indeed a good one, Einstein would be proved wrong. Part of the humor here is that Cueball's friend probably assumes that when Cueball says "currently," he means the experiment is part of Cueball's work, not what he is doing at that exact moment.<br />
<br />
In [[947: Investing]], Randall comments on how people put too much credence in a joke Einstein made in passing, and in [[799: Stephen Hawking]] we see {{w|Stephen Hawking}} in a similar predicament, every word he says taken as a major declaration.<br />
<br />
The title text demonstrates the ability to "disprove" Einstein while not challenging his scientific work but rather one of his decisions in his capacity as a patent clerk at the Swiss Patent Office at the time he published his first major papers (previously alluded to in [[1067: Pressures]]). According to [https://www.ige.ch/en/about-us/einstein/frequently-asked-questions.html the Einstein FAQ] on the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property's website, patent #39561 is one of several patents that "we can assume ... were personally examined by Einstein". A PDF of the patent, which was indeed a gravel sorter ({{w|trommel}}), can be found [https://www.ige.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Institut/d/i109401.pdf here] in German.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and friend eating at a table.]<br />
:Cueball: I'm currently conducting an experiment which may prove Einstein wrong!<br />
:Friend: Ooh, exciting!<br />
<br />
:1947:<br />
:[Einstein and Cueball walking.]<br />
:Einstein: It's ''impossible'' to find a good sandwich in this town.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2050:_6/6_Time&diff=1632942050: 6/6 Time2018-09-26T00:56:33Z<p>108.162.219.208: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2050<br />
| date = September 24, 2018<br />
| title = 6/6 Time<br />
| image = 6_6_time.png<br />
| titletext = You know how Einstein figured out that the speed of light was constant, and everything else had to change for consistency? My theory is like his, except not smart or good.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The original image has a link to a previous comic [https://xkcd.com/1061/ 1061: EST] which is explained [[1061: EST|here]].<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] suggests a regional time system similar to that used in many societies prior to the invention of [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/ mechanical time keeping], such as [https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Telling_Time Japan during the Edo period] or the {{w|Roman timekeeping|Roman Empire}}, where the day is separated into two parts based on night and day and then subdivided by hour, minute, and second to give season-variable lengths for each. This method is also named [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/temporal_hour temporal hour].<br />
<br />
Exact points in time such as noon, sunrise, or sunset vary on the {{w|Longitude|longitude}} from east and west, while the length of day and night depends on the {{w|Latitude|latitude}}. The first problem is solved today by using {{w|Time zone|time zones}} in which at 12am the sun is in most cases not at the {{w|Zenith|zenith}} and sunrise/sunset happens at different times. The second issue is attributed to the tilt of Earth's axis and the curvature of its surface; days are longer than nights and vice versa. At the pole regions there is for a long time only day (or night) and by Cueball's suggestion the entire day would last only 12 hours.<br />
<br />
The caption lays out the punchline in which [[Randall]] has very strong feelings and opinions on how standards of time ''should'' be measured, but as bad as he believes the official standards are he also recognizes that his own rules would not be popular with other people. After coming to recognize this he has made a hobby or game out of making the worst possible system of measuring time and sharing it with other people.<br />
<br />
The caption, though vague, can also be assumed to relate to the gradual deviation of certain regions from the {{w|Coordinated Universal Time}} (UCT) zones with "{{w|Daylight Saving Time}}" that is observed inconsistently and smaller regions opting for awkward fractional increments of deviation from Coordinated Universal Time.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to Einstein's {{w|Special relativity|special theory of relativity}} which postulates that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source (or the observers). An observer at high speed measures the same speed of light as an observer with no motion, measured from the same light source. In classical physics the speed of the moving observer would be added up but in special relativity this isn't true, instead the time runs slower for the moving observer. And additional to this {{w|Time dilation|time dilation}} there is also a {{w|Length contraction|length contraction}}, without which the geometry wouldn't work.<br />
<br />
"Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's" refers to the autumnal equinox, when day and night are the same length, therefor causing his clocks to match the world.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking.]<br />
:Cueball: Under my time system, the sun rises at 6 am and it sets at 6 pm, as it '''''should'''''.<br />
:Cueball: The length of the second is different each day and night, and the current time shifts with your latitude and longitude.<br />
:Cueball: Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Time standards are so unfixably messy and complicated that at this point my impulse is just to try to make them worse.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In the title text the name Einstein was originally misspelled as "einstein".<br />
*This comic was released two days after the {{w|September equinox}} 2018 in the [http://aa.usno.navy.mil/seasons?year=2018&tz=-5&dst=1 US]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Time]]</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1536:_The_Martian&diff=952721536: The Martian2015-06-11T14:21:24Z<p>108.162.219.208: Undo revision 95251 by 141.101.106.125 (talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1536<br />
| date = June 10, 2015<br />
| title = The Martian<br />
| image = the_martian.png<br />
| 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.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] is very excited about seeing that the trailer for ''{{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}'' is finally released, because he really liked the book. Cueball most likely represents [[Randall]] himself in this comic.<br />
<br />
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI This trailer] for ''The Martian'' was released on Monday the 8th June 2015, two days before this comic. Although a teaser [https://youtu.be/CumZP6_9sHU "viral" trailer] had been released the previous day. The film, starring {{w|Matt Damon}} (''{{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}''), is directed by {{w|Ridley Scott}} (''{{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}''). It's due to be released in the United States on November 25th, 2015.<br />
<br />
''The Martian'' is based on {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)| a book of the same name}} by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weir}}. The book is very popular for its funny writing, great cast of characters, and skilled use of realistic science to create drama. The plot is a cross between the film ''{{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}}'' and the plot of the novel ''{{w|Robinson Crusoe}}'' — but just on {{w|Mars}}.<br />
<br />
Cueball is telling [[White Hat]] about this trailer and the book, thus White Hat asks if he should read it. Cueball then describes a scene from Apollo 13: ''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?"'' And he then tells White Hat that ''The Martian'' is like that the whole way through. What is actually said in the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YZnTL596Q mentioned scene] is: ''We gotta find a way to make this fit into the hole for this using nothing but that.'' The first part being a large square box and the other a smaller cylinder.<br />
<br />
The film ''Apollo 13'' is based on the true historical event of the {{w|Apollo 13| Apollo 13 incident}} where the astronauts find themselves in a damaged spacecraft. They evacuated from the {{w|Apollo Command Module}}, losing all its life support systems, to the {{w|Lunar Module}} which was designed only for two people for two days instead of three people for four days. One issue the crew faced was a buildup of carbon dioxide. In order to resolve the issue, the crew needed to find a way to attach a square-shaped air-cleaning cartridge from the command module to the circular receptacle of the lunar module. In one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YZnTL596Q brief scene], the {{w|Mission Control}} staff gather together a box of items equivalent to what the crew would also have on-board and sit down with the mandate to figure out how the astronauts can connect the two with the items available to them. In that case, the ground crew took on the task of trial and error given the availability of backup supplies in case they damaged or destroyed some of the supplies. Once a working solution was devised, specific instructions were relayed to the astronauts. Cueball suggests that ''The Martian'' essentially consists primarily of the type of problem-solving showed in that scene.<br />
<br />
In the final panel, White Hat, who probably would not be so interested in this kind of story, wonders how a novel based on that kind of seemingly cerebral and procedural problem-solving became a big-budget film starring Damon. Big-budget films are generally films with a great deal of special effects and often also action sequences likely to draw big audiences — and to gain big returns. Matt Damon has become is high-profile big-budget star known for action films like the {{w|Bourne (film series)|''Bourne'' film series}}.<br />
<br />
'''Spoiler alert:'''<br><br />
The title text is a reference to a particular part of ''The Martian''s story: The astronaut stranded on Mars has previously established communications with Earth by {{w|repurposing}} the {{w|Mars Pathfinder|Pathfinder}} probe that NASA landed on Mars in 1997. While working on another piece of equipment, he accidentally subjects the probe to an electrical short-circuit, destroying its electronics and "bricking" it. "{{w|Bricking}}" is a neologism in respect of consumer electronics which essentially means to cause an electronic device to become non-functional, and essentially no more useful than a "brick". The term is commonly used in respect of an unrecoverable failure of {{w|software}} and often a corruption of {{w|firmware}}. An unexpected "bricking" can be very surprising, and in a case where the item is critical, could be devastating.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer and White Hat walks in.]<br />
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for ''The Martian!''<br />
:Whitehat: What's that?<br />
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.<br />
:Whitehat: Should I read it?<br />
<br />
:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face Whitehat.]<br />
: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?<br />
:Whitehat: Yeah?<br />
<br />
:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking. White Hat looks at his smart phone.]<br />
:Cueball: ''The Martian'' is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.<br />
:Whitehat: How on earth did ''that'' become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?<br />
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm ''so'' excited.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:Megan&diff=57772Talk:Megan2014-01-15T15:54:24Z<p>108.162.219.208: /* Age */ new section</p>
<hr />
<div>Added a picture, started "Appears In" section, and added "Just Alerting You" as first appearance. Perhaps that's too early to really count for the character? Might be good to dig through the archives to find a more coherent introduction for the character. --[[User:SuperAce99|SuperAce99]] ([[User talk:SuperAce99|talk]]) 17:27, 3 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
<br />
== Age ==<br />
<br />
She was born in 1983 ([[630|source]]) - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.208|108.162.219.208]] 15:54, 15 January 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1311:_2014&diff=56419Talk:1311: 20142014-01-02T17:16:30Z<p>108.162.219.208: Comment of Rev. Bredin</p>
<hr />
<div>Just a note that the PNG file for this comic is (or was initially) actually a TIFF file with a PNG extension. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.19|108.162.236.19]] 05:37, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
And now it's fixed. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.45|173.245.54.45]] 06:07, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I presume most of the quotes are genuine, but surely Randall has made up the one about subsisting on jellies? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.219|141.101.99.219]] 11:08, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I wouldn't be so sure. The Book-Lover - Vol. 4. (No. 17 to 22) 1903 [http://www.abebooks.com/Book-Lover-Vol-1903-Poe-Edgar-Allan/1224029705/bd contains] Poe, Edgar Allan and Dickens, Charles and Emerson, Ralph Waldo ... maybe it refers to some of Poe's horror stories? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:10, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Spherical jelliies and creams were very fashionable in the era in which it was written, so it may have been simply a prediction of great luxury for the future. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 14:37, 1 January 2014 (UTC)(Kyt)<br />
<br />
:Here's the Book-lover reference: [http://books.google.com/books?id=jaA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA264&lpg=PA264&dq=%22subsist+entirely+upon+jellies%22+wells&source=bl&ots=HsYajMhDZP&sig=yU1TMIIUcNQfh_-TUh4raXboYn8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OEPEUuq0MtDzoATWzYHwAw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22subsist%20entirely%20upon%20jellies%22%20wells&f=false]<br />
::Two sections from the H.G. Wells book it came from (When the Sleeper Wakes):<br />
::"There were several very comfortable chairs, a light table on silent runners carrying several bottles of fluids and glasses, and two plates bearing a clear substance like jelly."<br />
::"They gave him some pink fluid with a greenish fluorescence and a meaty taste, and the assurance of returning strength grew."<br />
:::-- Jim Gillogly [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.15|108.162.215.15]] 16:50, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Ok ... William Carey Jones quote: [https://archive.org/stream/universitycalif08goog/universitycalif08goog_djvu.txt] ... I would say that while technically true, he didn't meant it because he doesn't refer to first world war but instead some problems of American democracy which were probably forgotten ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:21, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Christopher Baldwin: [http://books.google.cz/books?id=Fiu4czMiCeYC] ... I would say good luck with preserving everything printed :-), but the idea is certainly good and projects like Google Books are attempting to solve the problem he was talking about. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:25, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found the reference to Shakespearian rope bridges...<br />
http://books.google.com/books?id=BJIeAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=oriental+herald+postmaster&source=bl&ots=7_NUMfRlPW&sig=6d6WLenjQBjOiGJBDoQjIa-FYkk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Q0XEUuKbKsTpoATP-4HgCg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=oriental%20herald%20postmaster&f=false {{unsigned|Androgenoide}}<br />
<br />
Found the reference to Spherical jellies: http://books.google.com/books?id=8IckAQAAIAAJ&lpg=PA87&ots=WRVY13FRwM&dq=%22subsist%20entirely%20upon%20jellies%22&pg=PA87#v=onepage&q=%22subsist%20entirely%20upon%20jellies%22&f=false [[User:Zeeprime|Zeeprime]] ([[User talk:Zeeprime|talk]]) 17:57, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another reference to Shakespearian rope bridges. In short, some British officer called Mr. Shakespeare experimented and promoted the use of rope suspension bridges in India, apparently for the ease of colonization and military operations. http://books.google.com/books?id=aZRPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA367 -furrypony [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.181|173.245.48.181]] 21:21, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it possible that the highlighted words can be shuffled to reveal a hidden message? Has Randall done this before? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.214|141.101.99.214]] 07:53, 2 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The fourth quote (.."rocked and cradled by electricity"..) seems to appear in The Champagne Standard by LANE, Annie Eichberg (Mrs. John Lane). [http://archive.org/stream/champagnestandar00lane/champagnestandar00lane_djvu.txt] {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.224}}<br />
<br />
;regarding the languages of new york city<br />
<br />
http://languagehat.com/doing-field-linguistics-in-new-york-city/ {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.168}}<br />
<br />
;Tone of the explanation<br />
<br />
I find the tone of the explanation as it stands right now not to be in line with the rest of the explanations available on the site. For example:<br />
<br />
By the twenty-first century I believe we shall all be telepaths.<br />
Absurd<br />
<br />
The plain "absurd" does not provide an explanation, only a judgement. It would be more useful it the explanation contained a link to a source with the quote, to provide context. Or provide a short bio for the person credited with the explanation. I understand the fascination behind arguing against or for the prediction, but that does not explain the comic. For example, you '''could''' argue that this particular prediction is in a sense accurate. Nowadays we all communicate in a way that people from a century ago would consider almost telepathic, given that "telepathy" means "distant experience". No, we are not mind readers, but a lot of us carry a device in our pockets that allows us to experience things at a distance.<br />
<br />
Also, I wonder why some sentences are in boldface. I tried reading only the bold text, and it is not coherent enough. I tried reading the grey text, and it isn't coherent either. I tried several other ways of reading the texts, and I cannot find any "hidden meaning".<br />
:I believe it's just to highlight content. The grey or non-bold text is (for the most part) non-essential to the content of the quote.<br />
<br />
--[[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 16:10, 2 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It seems to me that Randall believes that bolded text is false and grey text is true.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.62|173.245.50.62]] 16:13, 2 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
:This makes no sense. Most of the grey text has little content, and Abortion is still a very debated topic.<br />
<br />
There is also the recent budding prospect of technologically assisted telepathy, such as was recently done with small laboratory rodents. While not exactly "everyone" just yet, (ahem), the prospect is certainly not "absurd". Technologically enabled telepathy certainly looks possible, and given the rate of technological progress of this century, the prediction could well come true.<br />
<br />
http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/two-rats-communicate-brain-to-brain-130227.htm<br />
<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.84|108.162.221.84]] 17:06, 2 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.208|108.162.219.208]] 17:16, 2 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
I suspect that most -- but not all -- of the "predictions" are apocryphal. For instance, I can indeed find the Gumbril (not "Gumbriel") character and citation in Huxley's "Antic Hay". However, the statement attributed to a methodist preacher and proselytizer (who really existed) in Upper Canada in 1864 seems to me totally out of character, and very hard to believe for the period. It was essentially the French who called themselves "Canadiens". The "others" still saw the place they lived in as an extension of the UK. To wit, John A. MacDonald, who famously wired "Send me another $10,000", also said "A British Subject I was born, a British Subject I shall die".</div>108.162.219.208https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1311:_2014&diff=564141311: 20142014-01-02T16:14:44Z<p>108.162.219.208: /* Transcript */ "Baldwin" typo correction</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1311<br />
| date = January 1, 2014<br />
| title = 2014<br />
| image = 2014.png<br />
| titletext = Some future reader, who may see the term, without knowing the history of it, may imagine that it had reference to some antiquated bridge of the immortal Poet, thrown across the silver Avon, to facilitate his escape after some marauding excursion in a neighbouring park; and in some Gentleman&#39;s Magazine of the next century, it is not impossible, but that future antiquaries may occupy page after page in discussing so interesting a matter. We think it right, therefore, to put it on record in the Oriental Herald that the &#39;Shakesperian Rope Bridges&#39; are of much less classic origin; that Mr Colin Shakespear, who, besides his dignity as Postmaster, now signs himself &#39;Superintendent General of Shakesperian Rope Bridges&#39;, is a person of much less genius than the Bard of Avon. --The Oriental Herald, 1825<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Needs information on how much has come true, also information in general. Needs transcript, also is this the longest title text?|1311: 2014}}<br />
The comic includes many predictions from the 1800s and early 1900s. Many of them are for the twenty-first century in general, and only three specifically mention 2014 (two of them as in "a century from now").<br />
<br />
*It's desirable '''every thing printed should be preserved,''' for we '''cannot now tell how useful it may become''' two centuries hence.<br />
:A good idea. Now, with Google Books, this can be done in an easier manner.<br />
<br />
*I predict that a century hence the '''Canadian people''' will be '''the noblest specimens of humanity on the face of the earth''' (1863) The rest of the quote goes as follows: all that was good in the Celt, the Saxon, the Gaul and other races, combining to form neither English, Irish, nor Welsh, but Canadians, who would take their place among the churches of Christendom and the nations of the earth.<br />
:This religious prediction probably wasn't believed even by its author. It's only a harangue.<br />
<br />
*In the twenty-first century '''mankind will subsist entirely upon jellies.'''<br />
:Absurd<br />
<br />
*The twenty-first century baby is destined to be rocked and cradled by electricity, warmed and coddled by electricity, perhaps fathered and mothered by electricity. '''Probably the only thing he will be left to do unaided will be to make love.'''<br />
:Probably an exaggeration even in its time<br />
<br />
*To-day, in the city of New York, sixty-six different tongues are spoken. '''A century hence, there will probably be only one.''' (1907)<br />
:False<br />
<br />
*I often think '''what interesting history we are making for the student of the twenty-first century.''' (William Carey Jones, 1908)<br />
:''Pending''<br />
<br />
*China may be a '''great shoe market''' a decade or a century from now (1914)<br />
:While it is true in 2013/14, the context behind it was false, as the premise originally was that the business in the western world could export shoes to China, when currently, most of the shoes are actually manufactured in China itself and exported to western world.<br />
<br />
*'''We cannot settle the problem,''' and I venture the prophecy that perhaps '''a century from now this same question may be brought before some future society and discussed very much as it is tonight.''' (1914, on abortion)<br />
:True - it is still heavily debated.<br />
<br />
*By the twenty-first century I believe '''we shall all be telepaths.'''<br />
:Absurd<br />
<br />
*The physician of the twenty-first century… may even criticize the language of the times, and may find that '''some of our words have become as offensive to him as the term “lunatic” has become offensive to us.'''<br />
:True<br />
<br />
*Historians of the twenty-first century will look back with well-placed scorn on the '''shallow-minded days''' of the early twentieth century '''when football games and petting parties were considered the most important elements of a college education.'''<br />
:While media still encourages such images, colleges start to be much more career oriented. Also, due to two incidents involving sex themed frosh weeks, there was actually a greater emphasize to condemn sexual activities among college students<br />
<br />
*'''In the year A.D. 2014''' journalists will be writing on the centenary of the great war - '''that is, if there has not been a greater war.'''<br />
:The year is too early to tell, and thus they will definitely be writing articles of World War I. However, outside on the centenary, WWI is greatly overshadowed by World War II as well as many current wars<br />
<br />
The title text refers to a certain British officer, Mr. Shakespeare, who experimented and promoted the use of rope suspension bridges in India, apparently for the ease of colonization and military operations. <br />
http://books.google.com/books?id=aZRPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA367<br />
The reference to "River Avon" is about the river of Avon in Warwickshire, Stratford upon Avon being the town where Shakespeare (the playwright) was born and where he lived until his early twenties.<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Avon_(Warwickshire)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''Notes from the past'''<br />
:It's desirable '''every thing printed should be preserved,''' for we '''cannot now tell how useful it may become''' two centuries hence.<br />
::Christopher Baldwin<br />
:::1834<br />
<br />
:I predict that a century hence the '''Canadian people''' will be '''the noblest specimens of humanity on the face of the earth'''<br />
::Rev. John Bredin<br />
:::1863<br />
<br />
:In the twenty-first century '''mankind will subsist entirely upon jellies.'''<br />
::''The Booklover''<br />
:::1903<br />
<br />
:The twenty-first century baby is destined to be rocked and cradled by electricity, warmed and coddled by electricity, perhaps fathered and mothered by electricity. '''Probably the only thing he will be left to do unaided will be to make love.'''<br />
::Mrs. John Lane, ''The fortnightly''<br />
:::1905<br />
<br />
:To-day, in the city of New York, sixty-six different tongues are spoken. '''A century hence, there will probably be only one.'''<br />
::''The American Historical Magazine''<br />
:::1907<br />
<br />
:I often think '''what interesting history we are making for the student of the twenty-first century.'''<br />
::Willian Carey Jones<br />
:::1908<br />
<br />
:China may be a '''great shoe market''' a decade or a century from now.<br />
::''Boot and Shoe Recorder''<br />
:::1914<br />
<br />
:'''We cannot settle the problem,''' and I venture the prophecy that perhaps '''a century from now this same question may be brought before some future society and discussed very much as it is tonight.'''<br />
::Dr. Barton C. Hirst on the subject of '''abortion'''<br />
:::1914<br />
<br />
:By the twenty-first century I believe '''we shall all be telepaths.'''<br />
::Gumbriel, character in ''Antic Hay''<br />
:::1923<br />
<br />
:The physician of the twenty-first century… may even criticize the language of the times, and may find that '''some of our words have become as offensive to him as the term “lunatic” has become offensive to us.'''<br />
::Dr. C. Macae Campbell<br />
:::1924<br />
<br />
:Historians of the twenty-first century will look back with well-placed scorn on the '''shallow-minded days''' of the early twentieth century '''when football games and petting parties were considered the most important elements of a college education.'''<br />
::Mary Eileen Ahern, ''Library Bureau''<br />
:::1926<br />
<br />
:'''In the year A.D. 2014''' journalists will be writing on the centenary of the great war - '''that is, if there has not been a greater war.'''<br />
::F.J.M, ''The Journalist''<br />
:::1934<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
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