https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.221.70&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T13:36:58ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2484:_H-alpha&diff=2146002484: H-alpha2021-07-04T02:30:32Z<p>108.162.221.70: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2484<br />
| date = July 3, 2021<br />
| title = H-alpha<br />
| image = h_alpha.png<br />
| titletext = "All the companies whose blimps I shot fireworks at are mad, but MetLife is especially miffed because I dressed up as the Red Baron."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a RED BARON. Elaborate on title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] has acquired an {{w|H-alpha}} filter. As he explains to [[Cueball]], these filters are used to look at the Sun during scientific observations, as looking at the Sun bare-eyed will do damage to one's eyes; a camera using such a filter was seen in [[1828: ISS Solar Transit]], and the consequences of not using such a filter were explored in [[2227: Transit of Mercury]]. <br />
<br />
Black Hat points out that the filter can also be used to look at {{w|nebula}}e, but doesn't see much further use for it; as the filter only transmits a very narrow bandwidth of light, one generated by hot hydrogen, it is not useful for looking at much else. This gives him an idea, and he leaves.<br />
<br />
WARNING: A deep sky nebula H-alpha filter has a wider bandwidth than a solar H-alpha filter and WILL hurt the eyes if used to try and observe the sun !!!!<br />
<br />
Upon returning, he shares with Cueball three seemingly unrelated observations which suggest what he got up to in the meantime: that most modern {{w|blimp|blimps}} use helium to keep them aloft, that their household is out of fireworks, and that an advertising company (or several, going by the title text) is upset. Before the 1960s, most {{w|airship|airships}} such as blimps and {{w|zeppelin|zeppelins}} used hydrogen as the lifting gas, which resulted in several catastrophic accidents when the highly flammable gas caught fire such as the {{w|LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg}}. Apparently, Black Hat was not aware that modern blimps use helium instead, and tried to set light to an advertising blimp using fireworks: he could then have used his H-alpha filter to look at the burning hydrogen. (Several companies use blimps for advertising, as they are an unusual and hence enticing sight in the sky, offer a large surface area that can be used to show a slogan or logo, and can stay aloft for a long time with comparatively little cost.) (While modern blimps do use helium, which is an inert gas, Black Hat also should have failed because advertising blimps typically fly higher than firework range, which raises the question of why Black Hat would have suspected that the blimps did not ignite if the fireworks did not reach the blimps. However, it's possible that Black Hat has a way to make fireworks go higher/farther, especially considering Black Hat's sadistic tendencies and the potential for fireworks to be used as weapons.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wallace |first1=Danielle |title=Crowds launch fireworks at brewery, draw guns on drivers as riots spread from Portland to smaller Oregon city |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-riots-spread-eugene-oregon-antifa |website=Fox News |access-date=3 July 2021 |date=27 July 2020 |quote=A small Oregon city less than a two-hour drive from Portland experienced rioting Saturday night as hundreds targeted a county jail and federal courthouse with fireworks before attacking businesses downtown while employees remained trapped inside.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Artemis Moshtaghian |author2=Eliott C. McLaughlin |title=Portland demonstration declared a riot after protesters launch fireworks at federal courthouse |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/portland-riots-july-4/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=3 July 2021 |quote=During demonstrations in downtown Portland, Oregon, protesters blocked traffic on Main Street and launched fireworks from the street, injuring officers, the Portland Police Bureau said in a Sunday statement.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Artemis Moshtaghian |author2=Eliott C. McLaughlin |title=Portland demonstration declared a riot after protesters launch fireworks at federal courthouse |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/portland-riots-july-4/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=3 July 2021 |quote=The crowd also blocked traffic and launched "commercial-grade fireworks" toward the justice center and at the nearby federal courthouse, police said.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Artemis Moshtaghian |author2=Eliott C. McLaughlin |title=Portland demonstration declared a riot after protesters launch fireworks at federal courthouse |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/portland-riots-july-4/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=3 July 2021 |quote=The fireworks injured several officers when they exploded on or near them, the statement said.}}</ref>) Cueball "responds" by holding whatever he's reading closer to his face, apparently hoping to avoid further conversation (or consequences).<br />
<br />
The title text references how, until 2016, insurance company MetLife used the character Snoopy as an advertising mascot. In the ''Peanuts'' comics, Snoopy would frequently imagine himself as a fighter pilot in World War I in an aerial battle with the Red Baron, which he would frequently lose.<br />
<br />
This comic was published shortly before {{w|Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day}} 2021, a US holiday that is often commemorated with fireworks, which may explain why the house had so many fireworks at the beginning of this comic. As parts of America were undergoing an extreme {{w|2021 Western North America heat wave|heat wave}} at the same time, several regions recommended against or banned the firing of fireworks, to reduce the risk of wildfires.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
''(Black Hat is holding a device in his hand)''<br />
<br />
Black Hat: I got an H-Alpha filter for looking at the sun.<br />
<br />
''(non-bordered panel with Black Hat standing behind Cueball, who is reading on an armchair)''<br />
<br />
Black Hat: It also works for nebulae. But that's about it. There just aren't that many hot blobs of hydrogen to look at, I guess.<br />
<br />
''(Black Hat is now holding his empty hand to his chin)''<br />
<br />
Black Hat: Unless...<br />
<br />
''(Black Hat leaves, away from Cueball)''<br />
<br />
''(beat panel)''<br />
<br />
''(Black Hat re-enters; his black hat is somewhat out of shape; Cueball is now hunched further forward, with his face closer to his reading material)''<br />
<br />
Black Hat: Huh, did you know blimps all use helium now? You learn something new every day! By the way, we're out of fireworks.<br />
<br />
Black Hat: And some advertising company is ''real'' mad.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2482:_Indoor_Socializing&diff=2143992482: Indoor Socializing2021-06-29T13:22:03Z<p>108.162.221.70: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2482<br />
| date = June 28, 2021<br />
| title = Indoor Socializing<br />
| image = indoor_socializing.png<br />
| titletext = The problem with learning about biology is that everyone you meet is it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a RESPIRATORY DROPLET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[Cueball]] is meeting [[White Hat]], who is probably not in the same household. White Hat asks how Cueball is, which is normal small talk, but Cueball responds by expressing his awareness that they're inhaling one another's "gross lung air". When White Hat is taken aback, Cueball backtracks, switching to a more socially acceptable "fine".<br />
<br />
A recurring theme in XKCD is characters expressing an uncomfortable awareness of realities that most people tend to ignore, particularly for experts in a particular field (examples include [[2057:Internal_Monologues]], [[913:Core]], [[203:Hallucinations]], and [[1839:Doctor_Visit]]). In this strip, likely as a result of being primed by awareness of the [[w|COVID-19_pandemic]], Cueball finds it difficult to be in the same building with other people without being aware of the fact that they're breathing the same air, meaning that particles of biological material are being freely exchanged. In an earlier era, such concerns might have been dismissed as being extreme, but the pandemic has demonstrated that there's very real reason to be concerned. Even if everyone involved is vaccinated, that doesn't entirely remove the risk, nor does it protect against other diseases, which can spread in similar ways. <br />
<br />
The title text reinforces the idea that knowing more about any subject increases the likelihood that you'll become disturbed by some constant and basic reality of life. In this case, studying biology tends to be disturbing, since the field involves in depth knowledge of our own bodies, as well as all other organisms we encounter, and which makes one uncomfortably aware of all the risks and flaws basic to being alive.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[White Hat and Cueball are having a conversation.]<br />
:White Hat: How are you?<br />
:Cueball: Excruciatingly aware of how much of each other's gross lung air we're breathing.<br />
:Cueball: I mean, fine! How are you?<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Social interactions]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2480:_No,_The_Other_One&diff=2142552480: No, The Other One2021-06-26T04:08:34Z<p>108.162.221.70: fix Atlanta rowspan and alphabetize Atlantas</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2480<br />
| date = June 23, 2021<br />
| title = No, The Other One<br />
| image = no_the_other_one.png<br />
| titletext = Key West, Virginia is not to be confused with Key, West Virginia.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by SPRINGFIELD. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is a map of the United States, showing cities or towns with the same name as other more famous places. For example, the map has a dot for a place called Los Angeles in Texas, not to be confused with Los Angeles, California. <br />
<br />
Few place names are unique, and there may be {{w|List of the most common U.S. place names|many places with the same name}}. Multiple American towns have been named after the same British town, famous person, or geographic feature.<br />
<br />
However, names can become associated with specific places on a national level, where the best-known example is usually the biggest or otherwise the most significant. The name of this comic indicates the contextualization required to specify one of the less-famous exemplars of a given name. Someone might say they are from "Los Angeles" and would have to say "no, the other one" since the listener would assume they are from Los Angeles, California.<br />
<br />
The [[title text]] references {{w|Key, West Virginia}} and {{w|Key West, Virginia}}, two places that, when spoken aloud, are only distinguishable by the pause (comma) location. Neither are to be confused with {{w|Key West|Key West, Florida}}, which is a location well-known nationally.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable" <br />
|-<br />
! Place name in comic<br />
! Well-known place<br />
! Notes<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Albany, Georgia|Albany, GA}}<br />
| rowspan="3" | {{w|Albany,_New_York|Albany, NY}}<br />
| rowspan="3" | Albany, NY is the capital of New York state.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Albany, Minnesota|Albany, MN}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Albany, Wyoming|Albany, WY}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Alexandria,_Louisiana|Alexandria, LA}}<br />
| {{w|Alexandria,_Virginia|Alexandria, VA}}<br />
| Alexandria, VA is known for being George Washington's hometown. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Alexandria|Alexandria, Egypt}}<br />
| Major economic and cultural center on the Mediterranean.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Anchorage, Kentucky|Anchorage, KY}}<br />
| {{w|Anchorage,_Alaska|Anchorage, AK}}<br />
| Anchorage, AK is Alaska's most populous city.<br />
|-<br />
| Atlanta, CO<br />
| rowspan="7" | {{w|Atlanta|Atlanta, GA}}<br />
| rowspan="7" | Atlanta, GA is the capital of Georgia, a center of the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 60's, and a major air transportation hub. The comic has a single "Atlanta" next to dots for both Atlanta, CO and Atlanta, NE.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Delaware|Atlanta, DE}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Idaho|Atlanta, ID}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Michigan|Atlanta, MI}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Nebraska|Atlanta, NE}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta, Texas|Atlanta, TX}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta, Wisconsin|Atlanta, WI}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlantic City, Wyoming|Atlantic City, WY}}<br />
| {{w|Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City, NJ}}<br />
| Atlantic City, NJ is a famous coastal resort town in New Jersey known for its casinos, boardwalk and beaches. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Austin, Minnesota|Austin, MN}}<br />
| {{w|Austin, Texas|Austin, TX}}<br />
| Austin, TX is the capital of the state of Texas, and the 11th populous city in the US.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Baton Rouge, South Carolina|Baton Rouge, SC}}<br />
| {{w|Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge, LA}}<br />
| Baton Rouge, LA is the capital of the state of Louisiana.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beaumont, California|Beaumont, CA}}<br />
| {{w|Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont, TX}}<br />
| Beaumont, TX is known for the oil discovery that sparked the Texas oil boom of the early 1900s.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beverly Hills, Illinois|Beverly Hills, IL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Beverly Hills, CA is a city in Los Angeles County, CA and is home to many celebrities, luxury hotels, and the Rodeo Drive shopping district. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beverly Hills, Texas|Beverly Hills, TX}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bloomington, Minnesota | Bloomington, MN}} <br />
| {{w|Bloomington, Indiana | Bloomington, IN}}<br />
| Bloomington, IN is the location of Indiana University.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Boston, MO}}<br />
| {{w|Boston|Boston, MA}}<br />
| Boston, MA is the capital of Massachusetts and the site of several key events of the American Revolution.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bowling Green, FL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Bowling Green, Kentucky|Bowling Green, KY}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Bowling Green, KY is the largest city of this name, and the 3rd most populous city in Kentucky. Home of the auto plant that makes the Chevy Corvette.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bowling Green, OH}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bridgeport, WV}}<br />
| {{w|Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport, CT}}<br />
| Bridgeport, CT is the most populous city in Connecticut and fifth most populous in {{w|New England}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Buffalo, TX}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Buffalo, New York|Buffalo, NY}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Buffalo, NY is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Buffalo, WY}}<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Cambridge, OH}}<br />
| {{w|Cambridge|Cambridge, England, UK}}<br />
| A city in Cambridgeshire, known as the home of {{w|University of Cambridge|Cambridge}} and Anglia Ruskin Universities. There is also a village of Cambridge in Gloucestershire.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge, MA}}<br />
| Cambridge, MA is a city in the Boston metropolitan area, known as the home of {{w|Harvard University}} and {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}} among others. Cambridge, Massachusetts is in turn named after Cambridge, England.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cedar Rapids, NE}}<br />
| {{w|Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids, IA}}<br />
| Cedar Rapids is the 2nd most populous city in the state of Iowa.<br />
|-<br />
| Charlestown, Unknown State<br />
| {{w|Charlestown, Massachusetts|Charlestown, MA}}<br />
| Charlestown, MA is an area of Boston and home to Bunker Hill, the site of a key American Revolutionary War battle. Originally a separate town, it was the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. <br /> [In the original comic, the Charlestown label was located over Long Island but there was no dot for the label, and an update later removed the Charlestown label entirely.]<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cleveland, UT}}<br />
| {{w|Cleveland|Cleveland, OH}}<br />
| Cleveland, OH, named after its founder, General Moses Cleaveland, is one of the 3 largest cities in the state of Ohio.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Columbus, GA}}<br />
| {{w|Columbus, Ohio|Columbus, OH}}<br />
| Columbus, OH is the most populous city in Ohio, as well as its state capital. It is named after {{w|Christopher Columbus}} and {{w|Columbus#United_States|many other locations}} throughout the United States bear that name. <br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, GA<br />
| rowspan="4" | {{w|Dallas|Dallas, TX}}<br />
| rowspan="4" | Dallas, TX is the 3rd most populous city in Texas and the 9th most populous city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, NC<br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, OR<br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, SD<br />
|-<br />
| Dayton, NV<br />
| {{w|Dayton, Ohio|Dayton, OH}}<br />
| Dayton, OH was a prominent city in the industrial growth of the Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but is best known as the home of the Wright Brothers, where they constructed the first airplane. <br />
|-<br />
| Des Moines, NM<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines, IA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Des Moines, IA is the capital of the state of Iowa, and its largest city by population.<br />
|-<br />
| Des Moines, WA<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit,_Alabama|Detroit, AL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Detroit|Detroit, MI}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Detroit, MI is well known as the center of the U.S. automobile industry.<br />
|-<br />
| Detroit, KS<br />
|-<br />
| Disney, OK<br />
| {{w|Disneyland}}<br>{{w|Walt Disney World|Disney World}}<br />
| Disney, OK is a small town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, but has no relation to either {{w|Walt Disney}} himself or to the Disney Corporation. There are no other towns or cities with this name, but references to being at "Disney" could include {{w|Disneyland}} in California, {{w|Walt Disney World}} in Florida, or other Disney amusement parks around the world.<br />
|-<br />
| Fayetteville, TN<br />
| {{w|Fayetteville, Arkansas|Fayetteville, AR}}<br />
| Fayetteville, AR is the 3rd most populous city in Arkansas and the home of the {{w|University of Arkansas}}. There are {{w|Fayetteville|many other places}} with this name.<br />
|-<br />
| Gettysburg, OH<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg, PA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Gettyburg, PA is well known for being the site of the {{w|Battle of Gettysburg}}, the deadliest battle in the US Civil War, and the site of Abraham Lincoln's {{w|Gettysburg Address}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Gettysburg, SD<br />
|-<br />
| Grand Rapids, MN<br />
| {{w|Grand Rapids|Grand Rapids, MI}}<br />
| Grand Rapids, MI is the second most populous city in the state of Michigan.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Houston,_Alaska|Houston, AK}}<br />
| rowspan="6" | {{w|Houston|Houston, TX}}<br />
| rowspan="6" | Houston, TX is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Houston,_Alabama|Houston, AL}}<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, FL<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, IN<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, MO<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, OH<br />
|-<br />
| Indianapolis, IA<br />
| {{w|Indianapolis|Indianapolis, IN}}<br />
| Indianapolis, IN is the capital of Indiana and the most populous city in the state.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Jackson,_Alabama|Jackson, AL}} <br />
| {{w|Jackson,_Mississippi|Jackson, MS}}<br />
| Jackson, MS is the capital of Mississippi, but there are {{w|Jackson|many other}} states with Jacksons. This one is likely particularly notable due to its proximity to Jackson, MS.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Jamestown,_California|Jamestown, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Jamestown,_Virginia|Jamestown, VA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Jamestown, VA was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.<br />
|-<br />
| Jamestown, ND<br />
|-<br />
| Jersey Shore, PA<br />
| {{w|Jersey_Shore|Jersey Shore}} region, NJ<br />
| The {{w|Jersey_Shore|Jersey Shore}} is a coastal region of New Jersey. It is also the namesake of a {{w|Jersey_Shore_(TV_series)|reality TV show}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Key West, VA<br />
| {{w|Key_West|Key West, FL}}<br />
| Key West, FL is an island city off the tip of Florida that is popular with tourists and contains the southernmost point of the continental states.<br />
|-<br />
| Knoxville, IA<br />
| {{w|Knoxville,_Tennessee|Knoxville, TN}}<br />
| Knoxville, TN is the 3rd most populous city in Tennessee and the home of the {{w|University of Tennessee}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Las Vegas, NM<br />
| {{w|Las_Vegas|Las Vegas, NV}}<br />
| Las Vegas, NV is the most populous city in the state of Nevada and is well known for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lincoln,_California|Lincoln, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="4" | {{w|Lincoln,_Nebraska|Lincoln, NE}}<br />
| rowspan="4" | Lincoln, NE is the capital of Nebraska. <br />
|-<br />
| Lincoln, IL<br />
|-<br />
| Lincoln, MT<br />
|-<br />
| Lincoln, RI<br />
|-<br />
| Lisbon, ME<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Lisbon,_Portugal|Lisbon, Portugal}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, in Europe.<br />
|-<br />
| Lisbon, NH<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Long_Beach Township, New_Jersey|Long Beach, NJ}}<br />
| {{w|Long Beach, California|Long Beach, CA}}<br />
| Long Beach, CA is the 7th most populous city in California. The location in New Jersey is typically referred to by its full name, Long Beach Township, or the more generalized location of {{w|Long Beach Island}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Los Angeles, TX<br />
| {{w|Los_Angeles|Los Angeles, CA}}<br />
| Los Angeles, CA is the 2nd most populous city in the United States, behind New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Louisville, Colorado|Louisville, CO}}<br />
| {{w|Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville, KY}}<br />
| Louisville, KY is the largest city in Kentucky.<br />
|-<br />
| Manhattan, KS<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Manhattan|Manhattan, NYC, NY}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Manhattan, NYC, NY is one of the {{w|Boroughs of New York City|five boroughs of New York City}}, corresponds to the {{w|New York County}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Manhattan, MT<br />
|-<br />
| Memphis, NE<br />
| {{w|Memphis,_Tennessee|Memphis, TN}}<br />
| Memphis, TN is the 2nd most populous city in Tennessee and had a prominent role in the US Civil Rights movement.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mesa,_California|Mesa, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Mesa,_Arizona|Mesa, AZ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Mesa, AZ is a suburb of Phoenix, and the largest suburban city by population in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| Mesa, CO<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Miami,_Arizona|Miami, AZ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Miami|Miami, FL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Miami, FL is the seventh largest city in the United States and a major tourism hub.<br />
|-<br />
| Miami, TX<br />
|-<br />
| Mountain View, HI<br />
| {{w|Mountain_View,_California|Mountain View, CA}}<br />
| Mountain View, CA is the "birthplace" of Silicon Valley, and is the location of many high technology companies, such as Google.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Nashville,_Arkansas|Nashville, AR}}<br />
| {{w|Nashville,_Tennessee|Nashville, TN}}<br />
| Nashville, TN is the capital of Tennessee and a major center for the country music industry.<br />
|-<br />
| New England, ND<br />
| {{w|New England}}, Northeast<br />
| The New England region consists of 6 states in the northeast United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.<br />
|-<br />
| New Haven, KY<br />
| {{w|New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven, CT}}<br />
| New Haven, CT is the second largest city in Connecticut, and is known for its distinctive {{w|New Haven-style pizza|pizza}}. It also home to {{w|Yale University}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|New York, Texas|New York, TX}}<br />
| {{w|New_York_City|New York, NY}}<br />
| New York City, NY is the largest city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Newark,_Delaware|Newark, DE}}<br />
| {{w|Newark,_New_Jersey|Newark, NJ}}<br />
| Newark, NJ is the largest city in the state of New Jersey, and part of the greater New York metropolitan area. It hosts one of the New York metro area's three major airports. <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" |North Pole, NY<br />
| {{w|North_Pole,_Alaska|North Pole, AK}}<br />
| North Pole, AK is a small city in Alaska known as a tourist attraction and the recipient of letters addressed to Santa Claus.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|North Pole}}<br />
| Northernmost point on Earth's surface.<br />
|-<br />
| Oakland, OR<br />
| {{w|Oakland,_California|Oakland, CA}}<br />
| Oakland, CA is currently the home to three professional sports teams including the {{w|Oakland_Athletics|Oakland Athletics}} and is the former home of several more, including the {{w|History_of_the_Oakland_Raiders|Oakland Raiders}}, now in Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| Orlando, OK<br />
| {{w|Orlando,_Florida|Orlando, FL}}<br />
| Orlando is the 4th most populous city in Florida and home to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.<br />
|-<br />
| Ottawa, KS<br />
| {{w|Ottawa|Ottawa, ON}}<br />
| Ottawa, ON, Canada is the capital of Canada.<br />
|-<br />
| Pasadena, MD<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Pasadena, CA}} <br />
| rowspan="2" | Pasadena, CA is the home to the {{w|California Institute of Technology}} and the NASA {{w|Jet Propulsion Laboratory}}. It is also the home of the New Year's Day {{w|Tournament of Roses Parade}} and hosts the college football {{w|Rose Bowl Game}} played on New Year's Day afternoon.<br />
|-<br />
| Pasadena, TX<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Peoria,_Arizona|Peoria, AZ}}<br />
| {{w|Peoria, Illinois|Peoria, IL}} <br />
| Peoria, IL is known for being considered an "Average American Town", in the phrase {{w|Will_it_play_in_Peoria%3F|"Will it play in Peoria?"}} It is actually smaller than Peoria, AZ.<br />
|-<br />
| Philadelphia, MS<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Philadelphia|Philadelphia, PA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Philadelphia, PA is the most populous city in Pennsylvania and was an important meeting place during the American Revolution.<br />
|-<br />
| Philadelphia, NY<br />
|-<br />
| Phoenix, MD<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Phoenix,_Arizona|Phoenix, AZ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Phoenix, AZ is the capital of Arizona and the 5th most populous city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| Phoenix, OR<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Plano,_Illinois|Plano, IL}} <br />
| {{w|Plano,_Texas|Plano, TX}}<br />
| Plano, TX is part of the {{w|Dallas–Fort_Worth_metroplex|Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex}}, and the home of many corporate headquarters.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Plymouth,_California|Plymouth, CA}} <br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Plymouth,_Massachusetts|Plymouth, MA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Plymouth, MA was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower Pilgrims. Named after the {{w|Pymouth|city in the Southwest of England}} which was the final port of departure. <br />
|-<br />
| Plymouth, IN<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Portland,_Maine|Portland, ME}}<br />
| {{w|Portland,_Oregon|Portland, OR}}<br />
| Portland, OR is the largest city in the state of Oregon and was {{w|Portland,_Oregon#Establishment|named after}} Portland, ME<br />
|-<br />
| Princeton, ID<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton, NJ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Princeton, NJ is famous for being the home of the eponymous {{w|Princeton University}} and the {{w|Institute for Advanced Study}}<br />
|-<br />
| Princeton, MA<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Richmond, Vermont|Richmond, VT}}<br />
| {{w|Richmond, Virginia|Richmond, VA}}<br />
| Richmond, VA is the capital of Virginia. It was named after {{w|Richmond,_London|the suburb of London, UK}} due to an observed similarity of the river. London's Richmond was named for the palace built there by Henry VII, itself named after the {{w|Richmond,_North_Yorkshire|market town}} and castle in the north of England that was a childhood home. That was in turn named for the {{w|Richemont,_Seine-Maritime|Normandy}} area from which the noble family came who were gifted this land for their part of the Norman Conquest of England in the 11<sup>th</sup> century. There are more than fifty settlements called Richmond across the world, directly or indirectly taking their names from one or other of the English 'originals'.<br />
|-<br />
| Roswell, GA<br />
| {{w|Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell, NM}}<br />
| Roswell, NM is the site of one of the most famous “alien coverups” in American history, and is well known for its alien-themed tourism.<br />
|-<br />
| Saint Louis, MI<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|St._Louis|St. Louis, MO}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | St. Louis, MO is the 2nd most populous city in the state of Missouri and has the iconic {{w|Gateway Arch}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Saint Louis, OK<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | Salem, CT<br />
| {{w|Salem,_Oregon|Salem, OR}}<br />
| Salem, OR is the capital of Oregon.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Salem,_Massachusetts|Salem, MA}}<br />
| Salem, MA was the location of the {{w|Salem_witch_trials|Salem witch trials}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Diego, Texas|San Diego, TX}}<br />
| {{w|San_Diego|San Diego, CA}}<br />
| San Diego, CA is the 8th most populous city in the US and the 2nd most populous in California.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Santa Fe, Texas|Santa Fe, TX}}<br />
| {{w|Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico|Santa Fe, NM}}<br />
| Santa Fe, NM is the capital of the state of New Mexico.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Savannah, Missouri|Savannah, MO}}<br />
| {{w|Savannah|Savannah, GA}}<br />
| Savannah, GA is the oldest city in the state of Georgia and its fifth most populous.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|South_Bend,_Texas|South Bend, TX}}<br />
| {{w|South_Bend|South Bend, IN}}<br />
| South Bend, IN is the location of {{w|University_of_Notre_Dame|the University of Notre Dame}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Texas, New York|Texas, NY}}<br />
| {{w|Texas|State of Texas}}<br />
| Texas, NY is a hamlet in Oswego County, NY, near the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario. It is officially part of the town of {{w|Mexico, New York|Mexico, NY}}. No plans for a wall {{fact}}. Not to be confused with {{w|New York, Texas|New York, TX}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Vienna,_Maine|Vienna, ME}}<br />
| {{w|Vienna, Austria}}<br />
| Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Washington, North Carolina|Washington, NC}}<br />
| {{w|Washington, DC}} <br />
| Washington, DC is the capital of the United States. The city of Washington, NC is actually older than Washington, DC, having been founded in 1776.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Washington (state)|State of Washington}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|White House, Tennessee|White House, TN}}<br />
| {{w|White House|White House, DC}}<br />
| The White House is the home of the U.S. President in Washington, DC.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A typical line-drawn map projection of the United States, with discontiguous Alaska and Hawaii moved into a convenient corner.]<br />
:[Coastlines and national borders are in a firm half-tone.]<br />
:[Non-coastal state boundaries are shown in a lighter tone and feature the standard two-letter abbreviations.]<br />
:[Location dots and labels of the settlements they represent are overlaid in solid black.]<br />
<br />
:[Within each of the states, expanded here for readability, are the following placenames...]<br />
:AK [Alaska]<br />
::Houston<br />
:AL [Alabama]<br />
::Detroit<br />
::Houston<br />
::Jackson<br />
:AR [Arkansas]<br />
::Nashville<br />
:AZ [Arizona]<br />
::Miami<br />
::Peoria<br />
:CA [California]<br />
::Beaumont<br />
::Jamestown<br />
::Lincoln<br />
::Mesa<br />
::Plymouth<br />
:CO [Colorado]<br />
::Louisville<br />
::Mesa<br />
:CT [Connecticut]<br />
::Salem<br />
:DE [Delaware]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Newark<br />
:FL [Florida]<br />
::Bowling Green<br />
::Houston<br />
:GA [Georgia]<br />
::Albany<br />
::Columbus<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Roswell<br />
:HI [Hawaii]<br />
::Mountain View<br />
:IA [Iowa]<br />
::Indianapolis<br />
::Knoxville<br />
:ID [Idaho]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Princeton<br />
:IL [Ilinois]<br />
::Beverly Hills<br />
::Lincoln<br />
::Plano<br />
:IN [Indiana]<br />
::Houston<br />
::Plymouth<br />
:KS [Kansas]<br />
::Detroit<br />
::Manhattan<br />
::Ottawa<br />
:KY [Kentucky]<br />
::Anchorage<br />
::New Haven<br />
:LA [Louisiana]<br />
::Alexandria<br />
:MA [Massachusetts]<br />
::Princeton<br />
:MD [Maryland]<br />
::Pasadena<br />
::Phoenix<br />
:ME [Maine]<br />
::Lisbon<br />
::Portland<br />
::Vienna<br />
:MI [Michigan]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Saint Louis<br />
:MN [Minnesota]<br />
::Albany<br />
::Austin<br />
::Bloomington<br />
::Grand Rapids<br />
:MO [Missouri]<br />
::Boston<br />
::Houston<br />
::Savannah<br />
:MS [Mississippi]<br />
::Philadelphia<br />
:MT [Montana]<br />
::Lincoln<br />
::Manhattan<br />
:NC [North Carolina]<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Washington<br />
:ND [North Dakota]<br />
::Jamestown<br />
::New England<br />
:NE [Nebraska]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Cedar Rapids<br />
::Memphis<br />
:NH [New Hampshire]<br />
::Lisbon<br />
:NJ [New Jersey]<br />
::Long Beach<br />
:NM [New Mexico]<br />
::Des Moines<br />
::Las Vegas<br />
:NV [Nevada]<br />
::Dayton<br />
:NY [New York]<br />
::North Pole<br />
::Philadelphia<br />
::Texas<br />
:::[Further subtitled as...]<br />
:::(Texas, Mexico)<br />
:OH [Ohio]<br />
::Bowling Green<br />
::Cambridge<br />
::Gettysburg<br />
::Houston<br />
:OK [Oklahoma]<br />
::Disney<br />
::Orlando<br />
::Saint Louis<br />
:OR [Oregon]<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Oakland<br />
::Phoenix<br />
:PA [Pennsylvania]<br />
::Jersey Shore<br />
:RI [Rhode Island]<br />
::Lincoln<br />
:SC [South Carolina]<br />
::Baton Rouge<br />
:SD [South Dakota]<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Gettysburg<br />
:TN [Tennessee]<br />
::Fayetteville<br />
::White House<br />
:TX [Texas]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Beverly Hills<br />
::Buffalo<br />
::Los Angeles<br />
::Miami<br />
::New York<br />
::Pasadena<br />
::San Diego<br />
::Santa Fe<br />
::South Bend<br />
:UT [Utah]<br />
::Cleveland<br />
:VA [Virginia]<br />
::Key West<br />
:VT [Vermont]<br />
::Richmond<br />
:WA [Washington]<br />
::Des Moines<br />
:WI [Wisconsin]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
:WV [West Virginia]<br />
::Bridgeport<br />
:WY [Wyoming]<br />
::Albany<br />
::Atlantic City<br />
::Buffalo<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:US maps]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2480:_No,_The_Other_One&diff=2142542480: No, The Other One2021-06-26T04:06:06Z<p>108.162.221.70: Add Atlanta, CO to the list of place names in the comic.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2480<br />
| date = June 23, 2021<br />
| title = No, The Other One<br />
| image = no_the_other_one.png<br />
| titletext = Key West, Virginia is not to be confused with Key, West Virginia.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by SPRINGFIELD. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is a map of the United States, showing cities or towns with the same name as other more famous places. For example, the map has a dot for a place called Los Angeles in Texas, not to be confused with Los Angeles, California. <br />
<br />
Few place names are unique, and there may be {{w|List of the most common U.S. place names|many places with the same name}}. Multiple American towns have been named after the same British town, famous person, or geographic feature.<br />
<br />
However, names can become associated with specific places on a national level, where the best-known example is usually the biggest or otherwise the most significant. The name of this comic indicates the contextualization required to specify one of the less-famous exemplars of a given name. Someone might say they are from "Los Angeles" and would have to say "no, the other one" since the listener would assume they are from Los Angeles, California.<br />
<br />
The [[title text]] references {{w|Key, West Virginia}} and {{w|Key West, Virginia}}, two places that, when spoken aloud, are only distinguishable by the pause (comma) location. Neither are to be confused with {{w|Key West|Key West, Florida}}, which is a location well-known nationally.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable" <br />
|-<br />
! Place name in comic<br />
! Well-known place<br />
! Notes<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Albany, Georgia|Albany, GA}}<br />
| rowspan="3" | {{w|Albany,_New_York|Albany, NY}}<br />
| rowspan="3" | Albany, NY is the capital of New York state.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Albany, Minnesota|Albany, MN}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Albany, Wyoming|Albany, WY}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Alexandria,_Louisiana|Alexandria, LA}}<br />
| {{w|Alexandria,_Virginia|Alexandria, VA}}<br />
| Alexandria, VA is known for being George Washington's hometown. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Alexandria|Alexandria, Egypt}}<br />
| Major economic and cultural center on the Mediterranean.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Anchorage, Kentucky|Anchorage, KY}}<br />
| {{w|Anchorage,_Alaska|Anchorage, AK}}<br />
| Anchorage, AK is Alaska's most populous city.<br />
|-<br />
| Atlanta, CO<br />
| rowspan="6" | {{w|Atlanta|Atlanta, GA}}<br />
| rowspan="6" | Atlanta, GA is the capital of Georgia, a center of the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 60's, and a major air transportation hub. The comic has a single "Atlanta" next to dots for both Atlanta, CO and Atlanta, NE.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Delaware|Atlanta, DE}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Michigan|Atlanta, MI}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Idaho|Atlanta, ID}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta,_Nebraska|Atlanta, NE}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta, Texas|Atlanta, TX}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlanta, Wisconsin|Atlanta, WI}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atlantic City, Wyoming|Atlantic City, WY}}<br />
| {{w|Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City, NJ}}<br />
| Atlantic City, NJ is a famous coastal resort town in New Jersey known for its casinos, boardwalk and beaches. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Austin, Minnesota|Austin, MN}}<br />
| {{w|Austin, Texas|Austin, TX}}<br />
| Austin, TX is the capital of the state of Texas, and the 11th populous city in the US.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Baton Rouge, South Carolina|Baton Rouge, SC}}<br />
| {{w|Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge, LA}}<br />
| Baton Rouge, LA is the capital of the state of Louisiana.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beaumont, California|Beaumont, CA}}<br />
| {{w|Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont, TX}}<br />
| Beaumont, TX is known for the oil discovery that sparked the Texas oil boom of the early 1900s.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beverly Hills, Illinois|Beverly Hills, IL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Beverly Hills, CA is a city in Los Angeles County, CA and is home to many celebrities, luxury hotels, and the Rodeo Drive shopping district. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beverly Hills, Texas|Beverly Hills, TX}}<br />
<!-- row absorbed by rowspan above --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bloomington, Minnesota | Bloomington, MN}} <br />
| {{w|Bloomington, Indiana | Bloomington, IN}}<br />
| Bloomington, IN is the location of Indiana University.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Boston, MO}}<br />
| {{w|Boston|Boston, MA}}<br />
| Boston, MA is the capital of Massachusetts and the site of several key events of the American Revolution.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bowling Green, FL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Bowling Green, Kentucky|Bowling Green, KY}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Bowling Green, KY is the largest city of this name, and the 3rd most populous city in Kentucky. Home of the auto plant that makes the Chevy Corvette.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bowling Green, OH}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bridgeport, WV}}<br />
| {{w|Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport, CT}}<br />
| Bridgeport, CT is the most populous city in Connecticut and fifth most populous in {{w|New England}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Buffalo, TX}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Buffalo, New York|Buffalo, NY}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Buffalo, NY is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Buffalo, WY}}<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Cambridge, OH}}<br />
| {{w|Cambridge|Cambridge, England, UK}}<br />
| A city in Cambridgeshire, known as the home of {{w|University of Cambridge|Cambridge}} and Anglia Ruskin Universities. There is also a village of Cambridge in Gloucestershire.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge, MA}}<br />
| Cambridge, MA is a city in the Boston metropolitan area, known as the home of {{w|Harvard University}} and {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}} among others. Cambridge, Massachusetts is in turn named after Cambridge, England.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cedar Rapids, NE}}<br />
| {{w|Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids, IA}}<br />
| Cedar Rapids is the 2nd most populous city in the state of Iowa.<br />
|-<br />
| Charlestown, Unknown State<br />
| {{w|Charlestown, Massachusetts|Charlestown, MA}}<br />
| Charlestown, MA is an area of Boston and home to Bunker Hill, the site of a key American Revolutionary War battle. Originally a separate town, it was the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. <br /> [In the original comic, the Charlestown label was located over Long Island but there was no dot for the label, and an update later removed the Charlestown label entirely.]<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cleveland, UT}}<br />
| {{w|Cleveland|Cleveland, OH}}<br />
| Cleveland, OH, named after its founder, General Moses Cleaveland, is one of the 3 largest cities in the state of Ohio.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Columbus, GA}}<br />
| {{w|Columbus, Ohio|Columbus, OH}}<br />
| Columbus, OH is the most populous city in Ohio, as well as its state capital. It is named after {{w|Christopher Columbus}} and {{w|Columbus#United_States|many other locations}} throughout the United States bear that name. <br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, GA<br />
| rowspan="4" | {{w|Dallas|Dallas, TX}}<br />
| rowspan="4" | Dallas, TX is the 3rd most populous city in Texas and the 9th most populous city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, NC<br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, OR<br />
|-<br />
| Dallas, SD<br />
|-<br />
| Dayton, NV<br />
| {{w|Dayton, Ohio|Dayton, OH}}<br />
| Dayton, OH was a prominent city in the industrial growth of the Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but is best known as the home of the Wright Brothers, where they constructed the first airplane. <br />
|-<br />
| Des Moines, NM<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines, IA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Des Moines, IA is the capital of the state of Iowa, and its largest city by population.<br />
|-<br />
| Des Moines, WA<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit,_Alabama|Detroit, AL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Detroit|Detroit, MI}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Detroit, MI is well known as the center of the U.S. automobile industry.<br />
|-<br />
| Detroit, KS<br />
|-<br />
| Disney, OK<br />
| {{w|Disneyland}}<br>{{w|Walt Disney World|Disney World}}<br />
| Disney, OK is a small town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, but has no relation to either {{w|Walt Disney}} himself or to the Disney Corporation. There are no other towns or cities with this name, but references to being at "Disney" could include {{w|Disneyland}} in California, {{w|Walt Disney World}} in Florida, or other Disney amusement parks around the world.<br />
|-<br />
| Fayetteville, TN<br />
| {{w|Fayetteville, Arkansas|Fayetteville, AR}}<br />
| Fayetteville, AR is the 3rd most populous city in Arkansas and the home of the {{w|University of Arkansas}}. There are {{w|Fayetteville|many other places}} with this name.<br />
|-<br />
| Gettysburg, OH<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg, PA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Gettyburg, PA is well known for being the site of the {{w|Battle of Gettysburg}}, the deadliest battle in the US Civil War, and the site of Abraham Lincoln's {{w|Gettysburg Address}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Gettysburg, SD<br />
|-<br />
| Grand Rapids, MN<br />
| {{w|Grand Rapids|Grand Rapids, MI}}<br />
| Grand Rapids, MI is the second most populous city in the state of Michigan.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Houston,_Alaska|Houston, AK}}<br />
| rowspan="6" | {{w|Houston|Houston, TX}}<br />
| rowspan="6" | Houston, TX is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Houston,_Alabama|Houston, AL}}<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, FL<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, IN<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, MO<br />
|-<br />
| Houston, OH<br />
|-<br />
| Indianapolis, IA<br />
| {{w|Indianapolis|Indianapolis, IN}}<br />
| Indianapolis, IN is the capital of Indiana and the most populous city in the state.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Jackson,_Alabama|Jackson, AL}} <br />
| {{w|Jackson,_Mississippi|Jackson, MS}}<br />
| Jackson, MS is the capital of Mississippi, but there are {{w|Jackson|many other}} states with Jacksons. This one is likely particularly notable due to its proximity to Jackson, MS.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Jamestown,_California|Jamestown, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Jamestown,_Virginia|Jamestown, VA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Jamestown, VA was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.<br />
|-<br />
| Jamestown, ND<br />
|-<br />
| Jersey Shore, PA<br />
| {{w|Jersey_Shore|Jersey Shore}} region, NJ<br />
| The {{w|Jersey_Shore|Jersey Shore}} is a coastal region of New Jersey. It is also the namesake of a {{w|Jersey_Shore_(TV_series)|reality TV show}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Key West, VA<br />
| {{w|Key_West|Key West, FL}}<br />
| Key West, FL is an island city off the tip of Florida that is popular with tourists and contains the southernmost point of the continental states.<br />
|-<br />
| Knoxville, IA<br />
| {{w|Knoxville,_Tennessee|Knoxville, TN}}<br />
| Knoxville, TN is the 3rd most populous city in Tennessee and the home of the {{w|University of Tennessee}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Las Vegas, NM<br />
| {{w|Las_Vegas|Las Vegas, NV}}<br />
| Las Vegas, NV is the most populous city in the state of Nevada and is well known for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lincoln,_California|Lincoln, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="4" | {{w|Lincoln,_Nebraska|Lincoln, NE}}<br />
| rowspan="4" | Lincoln, NE is the capital of Nebraska. <br />
|-<br />
| Lincoln, IL<br />
|-<br />
| Lincoln, MT<br />
|-<br />
| Lincoln, RI<br />
|-<br />
| Lisbon, ME<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Lisbon,_Portugal|Lisbon, Portugal}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, in Europe.<br />
|-<br />
| Lisbon, NH<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Long_Beach Township, New_Jersey|Long Beach, NJ}}<br />
| {{w|Long Beach, California|Long Beach, CA}}<br />
| Long Beach, CA is the 7th most populous city in California. The location in New Jersey is typically referred to by its full name, Long Beach Township, or the more generalized location of {{w|Long Beach Island}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Los Angeles, TX<br />
| {{w|Los_Angeles|Los Angeles, CA}}<br />
| Los Angeles, CA is the 2nd most populous city in the United States, behind New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Louisville, Colorado|Louisville, CO}}<br />
| {{w|Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville, KY}}<br />
| Louisville, KY is the largest city in Kentucky.<br />
|-<br />
| Manhattan, KS<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Manhattan|Manhattan, NYC, NY}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Manhattan, NYC, NY is one of the {{w|Boroughs of New York City|five boroughs of New York City}}, corresponds to the {{w|New York County}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Manhattan, MT<br />
|-<br />
| Memphis, NE<br />
| {{w|Memphis,_Tennessee|Memphis, TN}}<br />
| Memphis, TN is the 2nd most populous city in Tennessee and had a prominent role in the US Civil Rights movement.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mesa,_California|Mesa, CA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Mesa,_Arizona|Mesa, AZ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Mesa, AZ is a suburb of Phoenix, and the largest suburban city by population in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| Mesa, CO<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Miami,_Arizona|Miami, AZ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Miami|Miami, FL}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Miami, FL is the seventh largest city in the United States and a major tourism hub.<br />
|-<br />
| Miami, TX<br />
|-<br />
| Mountain View, HI<br />
| {{w|Mountain_View,_California|Mountain View, CA}}<br />
| Mountain View, CA is the "birthplace" of Silicon Valley, and is the location of many high technology companies, such as Google.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Nashville,_Arkansas|Nashville, AR}}<br />
| {{w|Nashville,_Tennessee|Nashville, TN}}<br />
| Nashville, TN is the capital of Tennessee and a major center for the country music industry.<br />
|-<br />
| New England, ND<br />
| {{w|New England}}, Northeast<br />
| The New England region consists of 6 states in the northeast United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.<br />
|-<br />
| New Haven, KY<br />
| {{w|New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven, CT}}<br />
| New Haven, CT is the second largest city in Connecticut, and is known for its distinctive {{w|New Haven-style pizza|pizza}}. It also home to {{w|Yale University}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|New York, Texas|New York, TX}}<br />
| {{w|New_York_City|New York, NY}}<br />
| New York City, NY is the largest city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Newark,_Delaware|Newark, DE}}<br />
| {{w|Newark,_New_Jersey|Newark, NJ}}<br />
| Newark, NJ is the largest city in the state of New Jersey, and part of the greater New York metropolitan area. It hosts one of the New York metro area's three major airports. <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" |North Pole, NY<br />
| {{w|North_Pole,_Alaska|North Pole, AK}}<br />
| North Pole, AK is a small city in Alaska known as a tourist attraction and the recipient of letters addressed to Santa Claus.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|North Pole}}<br />
| Northernmost point on Earth's surface.<br />
|-<br />
| Oakland, OR<br />
| {{w|Oakland,_California|Oakland, CA}}<br />
| Oakland, CA is currently the home to three professional sports teams including the {{w|Oakland_Athletics|Oakland Athletics}} and is the former home of several more, including the {{w|History_of_the_Oakland_Raiders|Oakland Raiders}}, now in Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| Orlando, OK<br />
| {{w|Orlando,_Florida|Orlando, FL}}<br />
| Orlando is the 4th most populous city in Florida and home to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.<br />
|-<br />
| Ottawa, KS<br />
| {{w|Ottawa|Ottawa, ON}}<br />
| Ottawa, ON, Canada is the capital of Canada.<br />
|-<br />
| Pasadena, MD<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Pasadena, CA}} <br />
| rowspan="2" | Pasadena, CA is the home to the {{w|California Institute of Technology}} and the NASA {{w|Jet Propulsion Laboratory}}. It is also the home of the New Year's Day {{w|Tournament of Roses Parade}} and hosts the college football {{w|Rose Bowl Game}} played on New Year's Day afternoon.<br />
|-<br />
| Pasadena, TX<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Peoria,_Arizona|Peoria, AZ}}<br />
| {{w|Peoria, Illinois|Peoria, IL}} <br />
| Peoria, IL is known for being considered an "Average American Town", in the phrase {{w|Will_it_play_in_Peoria%3F|"Will it play in Peoria?"}} It is actually smaller than Peoria, AZ.<br />
|-<br />
| Philadelphia, MS<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Philadelphia|Philadelphia, PA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Philadelphia, PA is the most populous city in Pennsylvania and was an important meeting place during the American Revolution.<br />
|-<br />
| Philadelphia, NY<br />
|-<br />
| Phoenix, MD<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Phoenix,_Arizona|Phoenix, AZ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Phoenix, AZ is the capital of Arizona and the 5th most populous city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| Phoenix, OR<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Plano,_Illinois|Plano, IL}} <br />
| {{w|Plano,_Texas|Plano, TX}}<br />
| Plano, TX is part of the {{w|Dallas–Fort_Worth_metroplex|Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex}}, and the home of many corporate headquarters.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Plymouth,_California|Plymouth, CA}} <br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Plymouth,_Massachusetts|Plymouth, MA}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Plymouth, MA was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower Pilgrims. Named after the {{w|Pymouth|city in the Southwest of England}} which was the final port of departure. <br />
|-<br />
| Plymouth, IN<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Portland,_Maine|Portland, ME}}<br />
| {{w|Portland,_Oregon|Portland, OR}}<br />
| Portland, OR is the largest city in the state of Oregon and was {{w|Portland,_Oregon#Establishment|named after}} Portland, ME<br />
|-<br />
| Princeton, ID<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton, NJ}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | Princeton, NJ is famous for being the home of the eponymous {{w|Princeton University}} and the {{w|Institute for Advanced Study}}<br />
|-<br />
| Princeton, MA<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Richmond, Vermont|Richmond, VT}}<br />
| {{w|Richmond, Virginia|Richmond, VA}}<br />
| Richmond, VA is the capital of Virginia. It was named after {{w|Richmond,_London|the suburb of London, UK}} due to an observed similarity of the river. London's Richmond was named for the palace built there by Henry VII, itself named after the {{w|Richmond,_North_Yorkshire|market town}} and castle in the north of England that was a childhood home. That was in turn named for the {{w|Richemont,_Seine-Maritime|Normandy}} area from which the noble family came who were gifted this land for their part of the Norman Conquest of England in the 11<sup>th</sup> century. There are more than fifty settlements called Richmond across the world, directly or indirectly taking their names from one or other of the English 'originals'.<br />
|-<br />
| Roswell, GA<br />
| {{w|Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell, NM}}<br />
| Roswell, NM is the site of one of the most famous “alien coverups” in American history, and is well known for its alien-themed tourism.<br />
|-<br />
| Saint Louis, MI<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|St._Louis|St. Louis, MO}}<br />
| rowspan="2" | St. Louis, MO is the 2nd most populous city in the state of Missouri and has the iconic {{w|Gateway Arch}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Saint Louis, OK<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | Salem, CT<br />
| {{w|Salem,_Oregon|Salem, OR}}<br />
| Salem, OR is the capital of Oregon.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Salem,_Massachusetts|Salem, MA}}<br />
| Salem, MA was the location of the {{w|Salem_witch_trials|Salem witch trials}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Diego, Texas|San Diego, TX}}<br />
| {{w|San_Diego|San Diego, CA}}<br />
| San Diego, CA is the 8th most populous city in the US and the 2nd most populous in California.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Santa Fe, Texas|Santa Fe, TX}}<br />
| {{w|Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico|Santa Fe, NM}}<br />
| Santa Fe, NM is the capital of the state of New Mexico.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Savannah, Missouri|Savannah, MO}}<br />
| {{w|Savannah|Savannah, GA}}<br />
| Savannah, GA is the oldest city in the state of Georgia and its fifth most populous.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|South_Bend,_Texas|South Bend, TX}}<br />
| {{w|South_Bend|South Bend, IN}}<br />
| South Bend, IN is the location of {{w|University_of_Notre_Dame|the University of Notre Dame}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Texas, New York|Texas, NY}}<br />
| {{w|Texas|State of Texas}}<br />
| Texas, NY is a hamlet in Oswego County, NY, near the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario. It is officially part of the town of {{w|Mexico, New York|Mexico, NY}}. No plans for a wall {{fact}}. Not to be confused with {{w|New York, Texas|New York, TX}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Vienna,_Maine|Vienna, ME}}<br />
| {{w|Vienna, Austria}}<br />
| Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Washington, North Carolina|Washington, NC}}<br />
| {{w|Washington, DC}} <br />
| Washington, DC is the capital of the United States. The city of Washington, NC is actually older than Washington, DC, having been founded in 1776.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Washington (state)|State of Washington}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|White House, Tennessee|White House, TN}}<br />
| {{w|White House|White House, DC}}<br />
| The White House is the home of the U.S. President in Washington, DC.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A typical line-drawn map projection of the United States, with discontiguous Alaska and Hawaii moved into a convenient corner.]<br />
:[Coastlines and national borders are in a firm half-tone.]<br />
:[Non-coastal state boundaries are shown in a lighter tone and feature the standard two-letter abbreviations.]<br />
:[Location dots and labels of the settlements they represent are overlaid in solid black.]<br />
<br />
:[Within each of the states, expanded here for readability, are the following placenames...]<br />
:AK [Alaska]<br />
::Houston<br />
:AL [Alabama]<br />
::Detroit<br />
::Houston<br />
::Jackson<br />
:AR [Arkansas]<br />
::Nashville<br />
:AZ [Arizona]<br />
::Miami<br />
::Peoria<br />
:CA [California]<br />
::Beaumont<br />
::Jamestown<br />
::Lincoln<br />
::Mesa<br />
::Plymouth<br />
:CO [Colorado]<br />
::Louisville<br />
::Mesa<br />
:CT [Connecticut]<br />
::Salem<br />
:DE [Delaware]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Newark<br />
:FL [Florida]<br />
::Bowling Green<br />
::Houston<br />
:GA [Georgia]<br />
::Albany<br />
::Columbus<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Roswell<br />
:HI [Hawaii]<br />
::Mountain View<br />
:IA [Iowa]<br />
::Indianapolis<br />
::Knoxville<br />
:ID [Idaho]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Princeton<br />
:IL [Ilinois]<br />
::Beverly Hills<br />
::Lincoln<br />
::Plano<br />
:IN [Indiana]<br />
::Houston<br />
::Plymouth<br />
:KS [Kansas]<br />
::Detroit<br />
::Manhattan<br />
::Ottawa<br />
:KY [Kentucky]<br />
::Anchorage<br />
::New Haven<br />
:LA [Louisiana]<br />
::Alexandria<br />
:MA [Massachusetts]<br />
::Princeton<br />
:MD [Maryland]<br />
::Pasadena<br />
::Phoenix<br />
:ME [Maine]<br />
::Lisbon<br />
::Portland<br />
::Vienna<br />
:MI [Michigan]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Saint Louis<br />
:MN [Minnesota]<br />
::Albany<br />
::Austin<br />
::Bloomington<br />
::Grand Rapids<br />
:MO [Missouri]<br />
::Boston<br />
::Houston<br />
::Savannah<br />
:MS [Mississippi]<br />
::Philadelphia<br />
:MT [Montana]<br />
::Lincoln<br />
::Manhattan<br />
:NC [North Carolina]<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Washington<br />
:ND [North Dakota]<br />
::Jamestown<br />
::New England<br />
:NE [Nebraska]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Cedar Rapids<br />
::Memphis<br />
:NH [New Hampshire]<br />
::Lisbon<br />
:NJ [New Jersey]<br />
::Long Beach<br />
:NM [New Mexico]<br />
::Des Moines<br />
::Las Vegas<br />
:NV [Nevada]<br />
::Dayton<br />
:NY [New York]<br />
::North Pole<br />
::Philadelphia<br />
::Texas<br />
:::[Further subtitled as...]<br />
:::(Texas, Mexico)<br />
:OH [Ohio]<br />
::Bowling Green<br />
::Cambridge<br />
::Gettysburg<br />
::Houston<br />
:OK [Oklahoma]<br />
::Disney<br />
::Orlando<br />
::Saint Louis<br />
:OR [Oregon]<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Oakland<br />
::Phoenix<br />
:PA [Pennsylvania]<br />
::Jersey Shore<br />
:RI [Rhode Island]<br />
::Lincoln<br />
:SC [South Carolina]<br />
::Baton Rouge<br />
:SD [South Dakota]<br />
::Dallas<br />
::Gettysburg<br />
:TN [Tennessee]<br />
::Fayetteville<br />
::White House<br />
:TX [Texas]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
::Beverly Hills<br />
::Buffalo<br />
::Los Angeles<br />
::Miami<br />
::New York<br />
::Pasadena<br />
::San Diego<br />
::Santa Fe<br />
::South Bend<br />
:UT [Utah]<br />
::Cleveland<br />
:VA [Virginia]<br />
::Key West<br />
:VT [Vermont]<br />
::Richmond<br />
:WA [Washington]<br />
::Des Moines<br />
:WI [Wisconsin]<br />
::Atlanta<br />
:WV [West Virginia]<br />
::Bridgeport<br />
:WY [Wyoming]<br />
::Albany<br />
::Atlantic City<br />
::Buffalo<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:US maps]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2474:_First_Time_Since_Early_2020&diff=2139212474: First Time Since Early 20202021-06-21T22:56:25Z<p>108.162.221.70: hilarious</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2474<br />
| date = June 9, 2021<br />
| title = First Time Since Early 2020<br />
| image = first_time_since_early_2020.png<br />
| titletext = Gotten the Ferris wheel operator's attention<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a FERRIS WHEEL OPERATOR. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is yet another comic part of the [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] on the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|2020-21 pandemic}} caused by the {{w|COVID-19|coronavirus disease 2019}} (COVID-19).<br />
<br />
This comic is a chart that orders things based on the level of alarm that would occur if it were revealed that someone had not done a given thing since early 2020. Many of the items, but not all, are linked to new constraints due to the pandemic.<br />
<br />
The title text serves as another chart point, though it isn't given where it is on the chart. <br />
<br />
;Been to a birthday party <br />
Going to a birthday party was a normal task before the pandemic, and it's normal to say you haven't gone to one since early 2020. <br />
<br />
;Eaten at a restaurant <br />
Eating at a restaurant was also common before governments instated lockdowns, but during the lockdowns many restaurants had to limit their service to delivery and take-out.<br />
<br />
;Seen my family<br />
Seeing your family was fairly common before the governments instated lockdowns. However, there were emergency visits during the lockdown period.<br />
<br />
;Been on a plane<br />
Governments around the world cancelled commercial flights during the pandemic. However, businessmen like Bill Gates used private jets during the pandemic.<br />
<br />
;Gone to a movie<br />
Many cinema halls around the world closed due to the pandemic. Several movies were instead released directly to TV via OTT platforms.<br />
<br />
;Gone to a store<br />
Although some stores were closed during the lockdown period, others were open for essential commodities. Therefore, going to a store for the first time since early 2020 is little strange.<br />
<br />
;Installed software updates<br />
Regularly installing software updates is recommended, mainly for security reasons. However, many people don't follow these recommendations (mostly by fear of software inconsistency or instability), although a delay of more than one year is quite long. Mentioning software updates is weird, because it is not directly related to the COVID pandemic. On the contrary, since many people spent much more time at home and worked at home, it was all the more important to keep software up to date.<br />
<br />
;Eaten a vegetable<br />
Since vegetables are essential to a healthy diet, not eating a single vegetable in a whole year is not recommended.{{fact}} Anxiety due to the pandemic, disruption of social relations, may have caused people to consume more junk food than usual.<br />
<br />
;Opened the fridge<br />
This is quite weird, since most people use their refrigerators to store fresh food. Maybe some people became anorexic because of anxiety due to the pandemic or stopped consuming fresh food and relied more on junk food. Moreover, most food products will alter or rot if stored in a fridge for more than one year, and become dangerous to eat.<br />
<br />
;Paid taxes<br />
Although some people, depending on where they live and their income, may not pay taxes in an immediately obvious way, there are some taxes, such as {{w|VAT}} in many countries and {{w|sales tax}} in the United States or Canada, which almost everyone would pay in the natural course of everyday life, though may not be 'obvious' in the paying, or even be extracted at source (withheld from payroll) in the simpler cases.. (Randall lives in {{w|Massachusetts}}, which does not have a VAT, but does have a 6.25% sales tax.) It is therefore strange that someone could have gone a year without paying any taxes, implying they made almost no monetary transactions in the period, nor are made (directly) responsible for any residential or property-owning taxations that might otherwise be payable to one or other layer of government.<br />
<br />
If the statement refers specifically to income taxes (which is often the case when people refer to "taxes", because the paperwork and large sums of money transferred at once makes the income tax highly noticeable and memorable), it might describe someone who filed a tax return for 2019 early in 2020 and then waited until later in 2021 to file a return for 2020.<br />
<br />
;Washed my hands<br />
One of the main pieces of advice during the pandemic was to wash one's hands, frequently. Even in normal circumstances, washing hands is a good idea to remain hygienic, and not do so for a year would be disgusting to most people, and a good way of catching diseases.<br />
<br />
;Seen another person<br />
Despite the restrictions, most people will have seen another person during the pandemic.<br />
<br />
;Seen a ghost<br />
The fact that the speaker apparently has seen a ghost, both now and presumably before early 2020 (else they would simply say it was the 'first time' they saw a ghost) is unusual.<br />
<br />
;Served as a decoy<br />
Similar to the previous point, this is not a normal activity, so the specificity is unusual.<br />
<br />
;Sighted land<br />
Most people live on land{{fact}}, so sighting land should not be unusual, even during a pandemic. The fact that someone has gone over a year without sighting land suggests they have been lost at sea for the duration. There are several reported cases of ships' crews refused permission to disembark, due to local restrictions and/or because their scheduled relief were unable to embark, but the unluckily held-on persons forced to remain beyond their originally planned obligations should never have been left permanently beyond any tantalisingly unreachable view of the shore.<br />
<br />
Taken more literally, it could simply mean that the person remained indoors and did not look outside, or that the person was temporarily blind.<br />
<br />
;Checked the news<br />
If someone has not checked the news since early 2020, they will likely be in for a shock upon checking. Noting that this could possibly (if increasingly absurdly) still apply to someone like [[Ponytail]] (as portrayed in strip #[[2396:_Wonder_Woman_1984|2396]]).<br />
<br />
;Checked on the customers in the {{w|escape room}}<br />
The implication is that the customers in question have been trapped in the escape room since early 2020. Most escape rooms are not equipped to support a person for that length of time, so unless the customers actually escaped, they would likely not have survived.<br />
<br />
;Contracted a novel bat virus<br />
As a 'novel bat virus' is what kicked off the whole pandemic, contracting another one may send the whole world into a repeat of the pandemic.<br />
<br />
;Gotten the Ferris wheel operator's attention (title text)<br />
It seems that the speaker has been stuck in a {{w|Ferris wheel}} for a year. It is unclear how they may have survived.<br />
<br />
Alternately, it would be perfectly normal that the speaker has not been at an amusement park with a working Ferris wheel since early 2020 - but it would be unusual to focus on interacting with the operator versus enjoying the attraction.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
: [Heading:]<br />
: "This is actually the first time I've _____ since early 2020."<br />
: [Below showing a vertical arrow with the words "normal" and "alarming" at the top and the bottom of the arrow respectively. At the right side of the arrow showing a long list of text starts with a triangle.]<br />
: ◀ been to a birthday party<br />
: ◀ eaten at a restaurant<br />
: ◀ seen my family<br />
: ◀ been on a plane<br />
: ◀ gone to a movie<br />
: ◀ gone to a store<br />
: ◀ installed software updates<br />
: ◀ eaten a vegetable<br />
: ◀ opened the fridge<br />
: ◀ paid taxes<br />
: ◀ washed my hands<br />
: ◀ seen another person<br />
: ◀ seen a ghost<br />
: ◀ served as a decoy<br />
: ◀ sighted land<br />
: ◀ checked the news<br />
: ◀ checked on the customers in the escape room<br />
: ◀ contracted a novel bat virus<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2466:_In_Your_Classroom&diff=2130022466: In Your Classroom2021-06-02T20:58:11Z<p>108.162.221.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2466<br />
| date = May 21, 2021<br />
| title = In Your Classroom<br />
| image = in_your_classroom.png<br />
| titletext = Ontology is way off to the left and geography is way off to the right.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a QUASAR IN YOUR CLASSROOM. The table is still a work in progress. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[Randall]] has created a thought experiment and corresponding chart about school courses. The idea is, "the subject of the class appears in the classroom" and the chart compares how dangerous and how unusual that would be. <br />
<br />
In the title text two points that are off the chart to the left and right are also mentioned. See details about all the subjects in the [[#Table of subjects|table]] below.<br />
<br />
Note that Randall uses similar diagrams in each of [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]], [[1242: Scary Names]] and [[1501: Mysteries]], which also contain different items. They also have extra points mentioned in the title text. In the first two comics the points are also off the chart, whereas for the last the description of the point is too long to fit on the chart. Extra info outside the chart is also used in the title text of [[1785: Wifi]], but this is a line graph.<br />
<br />
==Table of subjects==<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Breakdown of Subjects<br />
|-<br />
!Course Topic<br />
!Weirdness<br />
!Badness<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Atmospheric Physics<br />
|0%<br />
|0%<br />
|Absent very strange and unprecedented circumstances, every classroom has an atmosphere, and this is very good, because humans cannot survive without one. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ethics<br />
|25%<br />
|0%<br />
|Ethical thinking and behavior are widely considered good and should normally be present in education, but are sadly not universal.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Education<br />
|0%<br />
|10%<br />
|Learning usually goes on in classrooms, so education as a concept is both being learned about and present in the form of learning itself.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Bibliography<br />
|25%<br />
|7%<br />
|Bibliography is the study of books, and books are normally present in classrooms, particularly bibliography classrooms.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Human Physiology<br />
|0%<br />
|20%<br />
|This comic assumes that there are humans learning in the classroom, which was true at the time this comic was published, although in many places at the time the comic was published, many classrooms were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Public Speaking<br />
|25%<br />
|15%<br />
|Some classes require students to present things in front of the class, which is likely a requirement in a public speaking class. Thus, public speaking itself would be present in the class.<br />
Some classes also have a teacher talking or presenting to the students from the front of the class, another form of public speaking.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Architecture<br />
|0%<br />
|30%<br />
|All buildings can be considered architecture, and most classes take place in buildings. This comic also refers to a class''room'', which is a room, and therefore considered architecture.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Library Science<br />
|25%<br />
|25%<br />
|Library science is concerned with the organization of knowledge, and is useful for finding information. Many classes require research papers that require the use of books and other sources of information to complete them. This would be even more appropriate for a class actually taught in the school library.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Furniture Design<br />
|0%<br />
|40%<br />
|Most rooms have furniture,{{Citation needed}} so this would probably be present in a classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Culinary Arts<br />
|40%<br />
|30%<br />
|Most studies of culinary arts include the teacher and/or students preparing food using the tools and/or techniques that have been taught, so it would be fairly normal for food to be a result of classroom activities. How ''good'' it is, however, can be a mixed bag, especially for student cooking attempts.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ergonomics<br />
|5%<br />
|45%<br />
|Ergonomic equipment and workspaces promote comfort and efficiency, while non-ergonomic ones may be unpleasant, unhealthy, or even immediately dangerous.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Botany<br />
|40%<br />
|40%<br />
|The near-neutral position of Botany (aka Plant Biology) suggests that the most likely reason for plants to be present would be something like a potted plant, which is not uncommon, and usually not unpleasant, but not very noteworthy. There are other potential reasons for plants to be present, but those are generally less likely. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|20th Century Authors<br />
|65%<br />
|10%<br />
|Literature classes would benefit greatly from an open discussion or interview with the author himself. Sadly such things are rare, but not unheard of, putting it slightly on the "weird" side of the spectrum. Well-known authors of the 20th century have an increased likelihood of being retired or dead by 2021, but there are more authors of the 20th century who are well-established enough to be studied.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Exobiology<br />
|100%<br />
|0%<br />
|Exobiology is the study of extraterrestrial life. This would mean that an alien life-form was in the classroom. This is extremely weird but very good for people to investigate and research the alien.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|21st Century Authors<br />
|60%<br />
|20%<br />
|21st century authors have the advantage (over 19th and 20th century authors) of typically being alive and active at the time this comic was published. However, most authors who were primarily active in the 21st century are still developing their body of work, and/or still awaiting the judgment of history. The better availability of such authors, as compared to 20th century author probably explains the slightly lower "weirdness" score, while the limited body of truly prominent authors probably explains the lower "goodness" score. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|19th Century Authors<br />
|100%<br />
|15%<br />
|No author who was active in the 19th century was alive at the writing of this comic{{Citation needed}}, hence, having one of them show up in class would be extremely weird. The opportunity to interact with such a person would be utterly unique, meaning that it scores pretty high on the "goodness" metric, though interestingly not as high as a 20th century author. Possibly, the potential 'badness' of having a zombie or other reanimated being show up in your class is weighed against the advantage of having a historical figure there in person. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Paleontology<br />
|100%<br />
|25%<br />
|Paleontology is the study of the history of life on Earth as based on fossils. In geology classes, it would be normal to have some fossils in the classroom. However, fossils are not usually found in other classrooms, and especially below the college level. Randall is also probably implying the weirdness of finding a live ''Jurassic Park''-style dinosaur. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Robotics<br />
|55%<br />
|30%<br />
|A course on robotics would often be expected to have some form of working models of the robots being discussed.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Martian Soil Chemistry<br />
|100%<br />
|35%<br />
|Martian soil only reaches Earth in small amounts, so it would be unusual to find a meaningful amount anywhere, except Mars.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Tourism<br />
|75%<br />
|40%<br />
|Tourists coming into an active classroom would be quite unusual. It could refer to the students leaving to become tourists in another location.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Child Psychology<br />
|60%<br />
|45%<br />
|Children are rarely students in classrooms advanced enough to teach child psychology. In order for child psychology to be on display, presumably someone would have to have brought a child (either for a demonstration, or for some other reason), which is slightly weird, but not unheard of. This is considered slightly 'good', presumably because it would give students some opportunity for firsthand observation, and because most people like, or at least tolerate, children. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Entomology<br />
|15%<br />
|55%<br />
|Entomology is the study of insects. Insects getting into a classroom is a very common event, even putting aside the possibility of someone bringing insects specifically to study. Most insects that might get in are relatively benign, but some (such as mosquitoes) might sting or bite, and many people simply don't like insects, even when they're not harmful, pushing this slightly into 'bad' territory.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Occupational Therapy<br />
|10%<br />
|62%<br />
|Injury, illness or mental health problem that hinder your participation in life/school. Many students who have significant physical injuries and conditions that require occupational therapy would generally not engage in those activities during a class, although volunteers may be brought in as a demonstration of a particular health problem or method of treatment.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hydraulic Engineering<br />
|40%<br />
|62%<br />
|Likely in the form of flooding or plumbing problems.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Pest Control<br />
|25%<br />
|70%<br />
|This is not dissimilar to entymology, but pest control tends to involve larger infestations, as opposed to individual insects, and also includes non-insect animals, such as rats. Such events in classroom are not as common as individual insects getting in (especially in a well-maintained building), but are far from unheard of, and risk many negative effects, from bug bites to structural damage, and may require evacuation and fumigation to deal with. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Foodborne Illness<br />
|15%<br />
|80%<br />
|Sometimes students in a culinary arts class do not properly observe hygiene standards and the food they present would lead to illness in those that consume the food. Thankfully, this is rare if the teacher is paying enough attention to proceedings. Students could also be ill from food eaten outside of class.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Criminal Law<br />
|45%<br />
|85%<br />
|This might happen if a crime occurs in the class.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Physiology of Stress<br />
|0%<br />
|90%<br />
|Stress in a classroom, even stress that's bad enough to manifest itself in physical symptoms, is all too common. Stress that bad is very harmful, and a student realizing that they were manifesting the symptoms they're studying should take it as a warning sign. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Oncology<br />
|25%<br />
|100%<br />
|Oncology is the medical practice of treating cancer. For someone in a classroom full of students to have cancer is, unfortunately, not an uncommon event, putting it on the 'normal' side of the scale. While not abnormal, it's clearly very bad. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ornithology<br />
|60%<br />
|55%<br />
|Ornithology is the study of birds. A bird getting into a classroom would be somewhat strange, but there are circumstances under which it would happen. In most cases, that's not especially dangerous, but it would be disruptive, and introduce the possibility of the bird making a mess, and possibly getting hurt (or even hurting others), which makes it slightly bad. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Animation<br />
|100%<br />
|56%<br />
|Examples of animated works might be displayed to the students in an animation class. It would be weird for animated characters to appear physically in the classroom instead of being projected on screens. Possibly a reference to the video game ''Bendy and the Ink Machine'': when the animated characters spontaneously appeared in the animation studio, it was very weird and very bad.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Petroleum Geology<br />
|65%<br />
|60%<br />
|Crude oil coming up through the floor of the classroom would be ''very'' weird. Any potential for hands-on learning experience would be limited, and quickly outweighed by classes being disrupted entirely (be it damage to the building, or oil companies trying to negotiate for the land).<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Highway Engineering<br />
|75%<br />
|65%<br />
|A highway being built through an active classroom would be very unusual and not that safe.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Toxicology<br />
|55%<br />
|75%<br />
|Most likely, a toxic substance is present in the room. This is not very weird if the room is in a building that has asbestos-containing insulation (typically associated with buildings constructed before the 1990s, although it has not been specifically outlawed in the United States due to industrial lobbying) or lead paint (which was fully outlawed in 1978, so any paint must have been applied prior to that date). However, toxic substances are unsafe for humans{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hematology<br />
|75%<br />
|70%<br />
|Hematology is the study of blood. Given that there should be blood in each of the students present{{Citation needed}}, we should probably assume Randall means "large quantities of blood outside of one's body", which would indeed be both bad and weird.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hostage Negotiation<br />
|70%<br />
|85%<br />
|Reasons as to why there would be hostage negotiations taking place at a school have horrifying implications for the students and teacher.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|History of Siege Warfare<br />
|100%<br />
|80%<br />
|This would be an exceptionally strange event. Given that the topic is 'history', having it show up implies that either historical figures have the classroom under siege (possibly through time travel or reanimation) or at least that the besiegers are using traditional weapons and methods in their attack. In either case, it would be a very weird event, and also very bad. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Trauma Surgery<br />
|55%<br />
|95%<br />
|An injury severe enough to require trauma surgery would be rare in a classroom, but there are circumstanced under which it could realistically happen. Such an injury would be, by it's very nature, a very bad thing. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Volcanology<br />
|75%<br />
|95%<br />
|Having a live volcano in one's classroom is both very dangerous and very weird {{Citation needed}}. Volcanoes mature over very long time frames, but even the earliest stages are highly disruptive and potentially deadly, as seen in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin#Formation 1943 eruption of Paricutín] and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_lower_Puna_eruption#Eruption 2018 flank eruption of Kilauea]. Note this also applies to [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar | baking soda and vinegar volcanoes that are offshoots of much larger vinegar hotspots]].<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Quasar Astronomy<br />
|75%<br />
|100%<br />
|Quasars are distant astronomical objects that release large amounts of energy. Not only would the power of a quasar destroy the classroom (as well as the rest of Earth,) quasars are too large to fit inside any known classroom. For example, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ULAS_J1342%2B0928 ULAS J1342+0928] has a mass of 8*10^8 solar masses. This means the event horizon of the black hole is almost 16 AU in radius, and this size does not include the accretion disk. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ontology (Title Text)<br />
|<0%<br />
|?<br />
|Ontology is the philosophical study of existence and being. Since there must be ''something'' learning in the classroom, it is unsurprising that ontology is a normal subject to appear in the classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Geography (Title Text)<br />
|>100%<br />
|?<br />
|Geographers study the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth. While each classroom classroom contains a small portion of the Earth's surface (normally not enough of it to be interesting to geographers), having the ''entire Earth'' appear inside a classroom would likely demand explanation. In particular, if this is an ordinary classroom (i.e. located ''on'' the Earth), the planet's simultaneous appearance within its walls would both defy our current understanding of spacetime, and risk [[1515: Basketball Earth | disastrous consequences at the hands of curious students.]]<br />
<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption above scatter plot with labeled axes]<br />
:Caption: The thing you study just showed up in your classroom! That's...<br />
:Upper y-axis label: Good<br />
:Lower y-axis label: Bad<br />
:Upper x-axis label: Normal<br />
:Lower x-axis label: Weird<br />
<br />
:[First quadrant (left to right, top to bottom):]<br />
:20th century authors<br />
:Exobiology<br />
:21st century authors<br />
:19th century authors<br />
:Robotics<br />
:Paleontology<br />
:Martian soil chemistry<br />
:Child psychology<br />
:Tourism<br />
:[Second quadrant]<br />
:Atmospheric physics<br />
:Ethics<br />
:Education<br />
:Bibliography<br />
:Human physiology<br />
:Public speaking<br />
:Architecture<br />
:Library science<br />
:Furniture design<br />
:Culinary arts<br />
:Ergonomics<br />
:Botany<br />
:[Third quadrant]<br />
:Entomology<br />
:Occupational therapy<br />
:Hydraulic engineering<br />
:Pest control<br />
:Foodborne illness<br />
:Criminal law<br />
:Physiology of stress<br />
:Oncology<br />
:[Fourth quadrant]<br />
:Ornithology<br />
:Animation<br />
:Petroleum geology<br />
:Highway engineering<br />
:Toxicology<br />
:Hematology<br />
:Hostage negotiation<br />
:History of siege warfare<br />
:Trauma surgery<br />
:Volcanology<br />
:Quasar astronomy<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Rankings]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]<br />
[[Category:Cancer]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Geology]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Volcanoes]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2468:_Inheritance&diff=212515Talk:2468: Inheritance2021-05-26T14:02:35Z<p>108.162.221.70: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Does anyone feel this is kind of a reference to feudalism?</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2465:_Dimensional_Chess&diff=212180Talk:2465: Dimensional Chess2021-05-19T20:52:38Z<p>108.162.221.70: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
How best to describe the addition of dimensions? The admirable first author goes as far as the second row, but there appear to be more... ahem... 'depths'. The first is 'sideways', though from this non-playing angle it's depthways; the second adds verticality; the third initially looks to be '4d represented in 3d' perspective (now further represented in 2d, by perspective method), but the sole cube atop confuses me; the fourth is... busy... and seems to go with a hyper(hyper)cubic continuation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.161|141.101.99.161]] 18:05, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
not quite what is demonstrated in the comic but there is a game called 5 dimensional chess with multiverse time travel --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 19:00, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think this would require 5 dimensions rather than 4 as the middle rows are 4d slices of a 5d space just as the second row is a 2d slice of a 3d space<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.193|172.69.35.193]] 20:23, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is there an error on the top board of this image? If I look at the sequence of squares on the vertical, they alternate black/white except for the top board. Even if I were missing some aspect of the logic, I feel like there should be some symmetry between top and bottom. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.70|108.162.221.70]] 20:52, 19 May 2021 (UTC)</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Mikemk&diff=212123User talk:Mikemk2021-05-18T18:52:59Z<p>108.162.221.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>Are you a turtle though? [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]]) 23:57, 9 October 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'd quite like to know the answer to that -[[User:Char Latte49|Char Latte49]] ([[User talk:Char Latte49|talk]]) 15:49, 18 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::[[User:Mikemk|Here's an answer]] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.70|108.162.221.70]] 18:52, 18 May 2021 (UTC)</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1002:_Game_AIs&diff=1439791002: Game AIs2017-08-12T13:18:54Z<p>108.162.221.70: /* Computers Beat Humans */ fixed broken link about beer pong robot with IEEE youtube link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1002<br />
| date = January 11, 2012<br />
| title = Game AIs<br />
| image = game_ais.png<br />
| titletext = The top computer champion at Seven Minutes in Heaven is a Honda-built Realdoll, but to date it has been unable to outperform the human Seven Minutes in Heaven champion, Ken Jennings.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
To understand the comic, you have to understand what the games are, so let's go (but first, the years in parenthesis in the comic are the year that the game was mastered by a computer):<br />
<br />
===Solved===<br />
<br />
: These games are considered "solved", meaning the ideal maneuver for each game state (Tic-Tac-Toe, Connect Four) or each of the limited starting positions (Checkers) has already been calculated. Computers aren't so much playing as they are recalculating the list of ideal maneuvers. The same could be said for the computer's human opponent, just at a slower pace.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Tic-tac-toe}}''' or '''Noughts and Crosses''' in most of the rest of the British Commonwealth countries is a pencil-and-paper game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 grid. This game nearly always ends in a tie, regardless of whether humans or computers play it, because the total number of positions is small. <br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Nim}}''' is a mathematical game of strategy in which two players take turns removing objects from distinct heaps. On each turn, a player must remove at least one object, and may remove any number of objects provided they all come from the same heap.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Ghost (game)|Ghost}}''' is a spoken word game in which players take turns adding letters to a growing word fragment. The loser is the first person who completes a valid word or who creates a fragment that cannot be the start of a word. Randall himself has written a perfect solution to Ghost, [https://blog.xkcd.com/2007/12/31/ghost/ which he posted on his blog]. Depending on the dictionary used, either the first player can always force a win, or the second player can.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Connect Four}}''' (or '''Captain's Mistress''', '''Four Up''', '''Plot Four''', '''Find Four''', '''Fourplay''', '''Four in a Row''', '''Four in a Line''') is a two-player game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping their colored discs from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Gomoku}}''' (or '''Gobang''', '''Five in a Row''') is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with go pieces (black and white stones) on a go board (19x19 intersections); however, because once placed, pieces are not moved or removed from the board, gomoku may also be played as a paper and pencil game. This game is known in several countries under different names.<br />
:Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get an unbroken row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Draughts|Checkers}}''' (in the United States, or '''draughts''' in the United Kingdom) is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces.<br />
<br />
===Computers Beat Humans===<br />
<br />
:The below games cannot be "solved" due to the factors of random numbers, an incredibly large number of starting positions, or the existence of multiple "ideal" maneuvers for each position. That said, a computer's faster reaction time, higher degree of consistency in making the right decision, and reduced risk of user error make the computer objectively better than the human opponent in nearly all situations.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Scrabble}}''' is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a gameboard marked with a 15-by-15 grid.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Counter-Strike|CounterStrike}}''' most likely refers to the popular multiplayer shooter video game about terrorists and counter-terrorists. Counter-Strike is notorious for the large variety of cheating tools that have been made for it; a computer would have essentially perfect accuracy and reflexes, essentially making it the {{w|aimbot}} from hell. It is theoretically possible for a skilled player to beat an AI, but it would be ''extremely'' difficult to do so.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Beer pong}}''' (or '''Beirut''') is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end.<br />
:[https://youtu.be/HkhMCCOHFmM?t=30s Here's the video] of the University of Illinois robot mentioned in the comic.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Reversi}}''' (marketed by Pressman under the trade name '''Othello''') is a board game involving abstract strategy and played by two players on a board with 8 rows and 8 columns and a set of distinct pieces for each side. Pieces typically are disks with a light and a dark face, each face belonging to one player. The player's goal is to have a majority of their colored pieces showing at the end of the game, turning over as many of their opponent's pieces as possible.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Chess}}''' is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns, each of these types of pieces moving differently.<br />
:The note mentions "the first game to be won by a chess-playing computer against a reigning world champion under normal chess tournament conditions", in the {{w|Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov}} match on February 10, 1996, and the [http://en.chessbase.com/post/bilbao-the-humans-strike-back Ponomariov vs Fritz] game in the Man vs Machine World Team Championship on November 21, 2005, considered the "last win by a human against top computer".<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Jeopardy!}}''' is an American quiz show featuring trivia in history, literature, the arts, pop culture, science, sports, geography, wordplay, and more. The show has a unique answer-and-question format in which contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.<br />
:Ken Jennings, mentioned in the title text, is a famous Jeopardy champion who was beaten by {{w|Watson (computer)|Watson}}, an IBM computer.<br />
<br />
===Humans Beat Computers===<br />
<br />
:The below games are incredibly difficult to "solve" due to the near-infinite number of possible positions. Computers built in the early 21st century would take years to calculate a single "ideal" move. Worse, the human opponent has the ability to "bluff"; that is, to make a bad move, thus baiting the computer into a trap. Complex algorithms have been devised to make moves in a reasonable timeframe, but so far they are all highly vulnerable to bluffing. As mentioned in the comic, focused research and development is working on refining these algorithms to play the games better.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|StarCraft}}''' is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game. The game revolves around three species fighting for dominance in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector: the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth skilled at adapting to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoid aliens in pursuit of genetic perfection, obsessed with assimilating other races; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities, attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophical way of living from the Zerg. While even average Starcraft players can defeat the AIs that originally shipped with the games, Starcraft has since been adopted as a standard benchmark for AI research, largely because of its excellent balance. Thanks to that attention, computers can now challenge some expert players, and the trend does not look promising for human players.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Poker}}''' is a family of card games involving betting and individualistic play whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and combinations of their cards, some of which remain hidden until the end of the game. It is also, however, a game of deception and intimidation, the ubiquitous "poker face" being considered the most important part of the game. <br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Arimaa}}''' is a two-player abstract strategy board game that can be played using the same equipment as chess. Arimaa was designed to be more difficult for artificial intelligences to play than chess. Arimaa was invented by Omar Syed, an Indian American computer engineer trained in artificial intelligence. Syed was inspired by Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of the chess computer Deep Blue to design a new game which could be played with a standard chess set, would be difficult for computers to play well, but would have rules simple enough for his then four-year-old son Aamir to understand. On April 18, 2015, a computer won [http://arimaa.com/arimaa/challenge/ the "Arimaa Challenge"], so this comic is now out of date with respect to Arimaa; it should move above ''Starcraft'' or ''Jeopardy!''.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Go (game)|Go}}''' is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. The game is noted for being rich in strategy despite its relatively simple rules. The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white stones on the vacant intersections (called "points") of a grid of 19×19 lines (beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards). The object of the game is to use one's stones to control a larger amount of territory of the board than the opponent.<br/>'''Update:''' on March 15, 2016, Google's {{w|AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol|AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol}}, who was often seen as the dominant human player over the last decade, 4 games to 1 in a widely viewed match, and {{w|Computer Go}} was expected to become more dominant over time.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Snakes and Ladders}}''' (or '''Chutes and Ladders''') is an ancient Indian {{w|race game}}, where the moves are decided entirely by die rolls. A number of tiles are connected by pictures of ladders and snakes (or chutes) which makes the game piece jump forward or backward, respectively. Since the game is decided by pure chance, it occupies the limbo where a computer will always be ''exactly'' as likely to win as a human (indeed, Randall's arrow points at the dividing line between 'humans beat computers' and 'computers beat humans').<br />
<br />
===Computers cannot compete===<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Mao (card game)|Mao}}''' (or '''Mau''') is a card game of the Shedding family, in which the aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules. The game is from a subset of the Stops family, and is similar in structure to the card game Uno.<br />
:The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often told only "the only rule you may be told is this one." The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand. Computers would have a difficult time integrating into Mao either because they would know all the rules -- and thus be disqualified or simply ignored by the players -- or would need a complicated learning engine that quite simply doesn't exist.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Seven minutes in heaven|Seven Minutes in Heaven}}''' is a teenagers' party game first recorded as being played in Cincinnati in the early 1950s. Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space and do whatever they like for seven minutes. Sexual activities are allowed; however kissing and making out are more common.<br />
:As the game is focused on human interaction, there's not a whole lot a modern computer can ''do'' in the closet. It would need some kind of robotic body in order to interact with its human partner, and emotion engines that could feel pleasure and displeasure in order to make decisions. The title text claims that {{w|Honda|Honda Motor Company}} has invented a "{{w|RealDoll}}" (sex toy shaped like a mannequin) with rudimentary Seven Minutes in Heaven capabilities, but they pale in comparison to a human's.<br />
<br />
And finally<br />
*'''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes#Calvinball|Calvinball}}''' is a reference to the comic strip {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} by {{w|Bill Watterson}}.<br />
:Calvinball is a game played by Calvin and Hobbes as a rebellion against organized team sports; according to Hobbes, "No sport is less organized than Calvinball!" Calvinball was first introduced to the readers at the end of a 1990 storyline involving Calvin reluctantly joining recess baseball. It quickly became a staple of the comic afterwards.<br />
:The only hint at the true creation of the game ironically comes from the last Calvinball strip, in which a game of football quickly devolves into a game of Calvinball. Calvin remarks that "sooner or later, all our games turn into Calvinball," suggesting a similar scenario that directly led to the creation of the sport. Calvin and Hobbes usually play by themselves, although in one storyline Rosalyn (Calvin's baby-sitter) plays in return for Calvin doing his homework, and plays very well once she realizes that the rules are made up on the spot.<br />
:The only consistent rules state that Calvinball may never be played with the same rules twice, and you need to wear a mask, no questions asked. Scoring is also arbitrary, with Hobbes at times reporting scores of "Q to 12" and "oogy to boogy." The only recognizable sports Calvinball resembles are the ones it emulates (i.e., a cross between croquet, polo, badminton, capture the flag, and volleyball.)<br />
::Long story short, the game is a manifestation of pure chaos and the human imagination, far beyond the meager capabilities of silicon and circuitry.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Difficulty of Various Games for Computers<br />
<br />
:[A diagram. The left column describes various levels of skill for the most capable computers in decreasing performance against humans. The right side lists games in each particular section, in increasing game difficulty. There are labels denoting the hard and easy ends of the diagram.]<br />
<br />
:'''Easy'''<br />
:{| class="wikitable" style="background:white;" align="center"<br />
| rowspan="6" | Solved<br/><small>Computers can<br/>play perfectly</small><br />
| rowspan="4" | <small>Solved for<br/>all possible<br/>positions</small><br />
| Tic-tac-toe<br />
|-<br />
| Nim<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost <small>(1989)</small><br />
|-<br />
| Connect Four <small>(1995)</small><br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | <small>Solved for<br/>starting<br/>positions</small><br />
| Gomoku<br />
|-<br />
| Checkers <small>(2007)</small><br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="6" colspan="2" | Computers can<br/>beat top humans<br />
| Scrabble<br />
|-<br />
| CounterStrike<br />
|-<br />
| Beer Pong <small>(UIUC robot)</small><br />
|-<br />
| Reversi<br />
|-<br />
| Chess<div style="font-size:smaller; text-align:left;"><br />
* February 10, 1996:<br/>First win by computer<br/>against top human<br />
* November 21, 2005:<br/>Last win by human<br/>against top computer<br />
</div><br />
|-<br />
| Jeopardy<br />
|-<br />
| colspan="2" rowspan="5" | Computers still<br/>lose to top humans<br />
<small>(but focused R&D<br/>could change this)</small><br />
| StarCraft<br />
|-<br />
| Poker<br />
|-<br />
| Arimaa<br />
|-<br />
| Go<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | Snakes and Ladders<br />
|-<br />
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | Computers<br/>may ''never''<br/>outplay humans<br />
|-<br />
| Mao<br />
|-<br />
| Seven Minutes in Heaven<br />
|-<br />
| Calvinball<br />
|}<br />
:'''Hard'''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]<br />
[[Category:Chess]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1513:_Code_Quality&diff=140226Talk:1513: Code Quality2017-05-24T23:30:00Z<p>108.162.221.70: Comment</p>
<hr />
<div>I think that this series has to do with 1790: Sad. <br />
<br />
On the bright side, I now have a new array of phrases to keep me sane while doing code reviews... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 05:47, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the emojis were referring to swift where you can use emojis as variables.{{unsigned ip|108.162.250.168|05:53, 17 April 2015}}<br />
<br />
Could we get a link for the Apple language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:09, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is going on our OneNote at work. It totally made my day [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 08:06, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yet another reason I'm glad I'm not a coder anymore (went back to hardware design . . . with NO style guidelines ;^){{unsigned ip|173.245.56.182}}<br />
<br />
The description reads as if camelCase is part of every style. There are styles containing camelCase, but not all of them do. Also, different styles contain different rules, so following one specific style guide will be in conflict with others, therefore it's not necessary good idea: unless you program in team which agreed upon which style to use, it may be better if you don't worry to much to follow style exactly. On the other hand, if Ponytail's similes are accurate, Cueball is likely to discover lot of basic rules which will make the program easier to read even for him.<br />
<br />
For example, there are lot of styles for {{w|Indent_style|Indenting}} alone, but most readability comes from the basic idea to indent code according to block it belongs to. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:02, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Out of curiosity I tried using 😭 as a variable name in Common Lisp. It works in SBCL, but fails in CLISP. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.112|108.162.221.112]] 12:19, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I really wish I knew anything about coding so I could contribute, but my 8th grade HTML class didn't help me that much. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 12:50, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:The cruel person might point out that HTML isn't even 'coding'. (It's markup, for the most part, unless you're dabbling in DHTML or some of the latest bastardisations that have crept into HTML5.) But you will of course know the bit where you get "Hang on, why is that table element on the wrong line/off the end of the line/short of the end/outside the table, even?" and how it makes it easier to use a new-line and indentation scheme at appropriate places (and a logical policy of which lines ''not'' to split) so that errors like unaccounted-for COLSPANs and bad tag-pairing can be tracked down easily.<br />
:So it is with code. Liken it to obfuscation of HTML formatting (including using non-sensical, albeit consistent in themselves, id and name tags for the CSS to hang off of) can be employed deliberately (to prevent easy human readability/backformation) or incidentally (because it's created by a server-side/CMS generating script that hasn't been told to try to add useful whitespace). Moreso when it comes to <script> insertions (often deliberately obfuscated to single-letter variables, minimal whitespace and no line-feeds, perhaps in an misplaced attempt to enact 'security through obscurity', but of course that then ''is'' code. Arguably.<br />
:One of the aims could be to reduce the size of the 'code' (even when that's Markup), which is laudible given how much over-padded stuff you can get (I don't know if Microsoft Word's "Save as HTML"/whatever is currently as bad as it was in the early days, but even a web-page with just "Hello World" was chockablock full of formatting information that it never even bothered to ask if were necessary), but unless you absolutely do not need (or do not want!) people to read the code, both people and auto-generation scripts should attempt to impart visual elegance. IMO! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 16:52, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Does the second paragraph of the explanation, beginning "A common technique," add anything to explain the comic? I don't see it, but then I am from the era of COBOL. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 19:54, 18 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I would propose a rewrite to something along the lines of "A common pattern in self-taught programmers...". As for the need of the paragraph, I feel it helps to explain where some programmers with bad (or a total lack of) employed standards come from. It's the kind of programmers that are used to copy and paste code examples and edit them until it does what they want, unknowingly introducing a horrible level of disparity to the code as well as disregarding any sensible coding standards and design patterns. I can speak from experience that such behavior exists, but that most such people either drop programming quickly or learn to adapt proper standards over time. I'm glad to say I'm in the latter group. — Erim Secla [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.67|141.101.79.67]] 08:02, 19 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
How do we know that Agile and SaaS are relevant to this? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 17:38, 19 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
: It has no relation, and futhermore whoever added software-as-a-service probably think it means something else than what it does [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 19:30, 19 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::It may even have been spam or a self promotion link. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 19:32, 19 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
;Emoji<br />
IMHO the discussion on emoji is a bit off. Emoji are specifically the graphical representations (😢), not text-based smileys (T_T). And the sentences about language support use double negatives which is very confusing, and should probably mention that Javascript doesn't appear to allow it. (In my testing anyway.) [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 14:17, 20 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I agree. {{w|Emoticons}} and {{w|Emoji}} are two different things.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 14:56, 20 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Can we distinguish between graphical emoji and character-based unicode emoji? The difference being that one is swapped in to normal text via some form of markup code (client-side or server-side, either when it thinks it has an explicit emoticon/etc string like ":)" or encounters a coded statement like ":lol:") while the other one is there already with no extra image bytes necessary. Except for perhaps font-file downloading, of course.<br />
::I assume the above (😢) is the latter, although that's an unrenderable character for me, as with most examples given on this page, and I assume I need some fancy new font installed to see it on any of the browsers I've tried it with. However, I ''do'' have ☺ and ☻ available to me. So I can at least emote in the manner of Dwarf Fortress (which, ironically, uses images ''of'' the original characters). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.69|141.101.99.69]] 17:51, 21 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ew non-Emoji code. This is the 21st century, get updated: https://github.com/emj-lang Natural languages ftw! No more this_is_a_variable_that_contains_the_number_of_xkcds_ever_posted! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.246|108.162.210.246]] 21:18, 5 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On a tangential note, I once tried to install a decompiler into IntelliJ by copying and pasting a folder (not realizing it was the same decompiler IntelliJ already shipped with) and run it on Minecraft. It named all the variables and functions ☃. [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 22:28, 17 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Added info on code quality 3 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.215|141.101.104.215]] 03:43, 7 May 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1784:_Bad_Map_Projection:_Liquid_Resize&diff=1336471784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize2017-01-13T02:16:39Z<p>108.162.221.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1784<br />
| date = January 11, 2017<br />
| title = Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize<br />
| image = bad_map_projection_liquid_resize.png<br />
| titletext = This map preserves the shapes of Tissot's indicatrices pretty well, as long as you draw them in before running the resize.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Partial -- explains a few underlying concepts but needs a lead section}}<br />
<br />
There is no perfect way to draw a map of the world on a flat piece of paper. Each one will introduce a different type of distortion, and the best projection for a given situation is sometimes very disputed. Randall previously explored different projections in [[977: Map Projections]], and expressed his disdain for some types he sees as less efficient but whose users feel superior.<br />
<br />
In this comic, he suggests a new map projection which is not only useless for most map applications -- as the size, shape, and position of most countries are quite distorted -- but whose creation includes two steps which are outright counterproductive.<br />
<br />
First, this method needs a planar map projection as its starting point, thus compounding the problems right off the bat. Planar projections are reletively accurate near the center but heavily distorted toward the edges. A famous example of a planar projection is the logo of the {{w|United Nations}}. Planar projections are just about useful for 3D graphics rendering, if the user needs a quick, inexpensive way to store map textures that will later be attached to a sphere.<br />
<br />
Second, the map uses [https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/content-aware-scaling.html Photoshop's content aware resizing tool] for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The content aware resizing tool resizes images by identifying what it thinks are important details and preserving these, while shrinking or stretching less detailed areas. For example, [http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/710073-content-aware-scaling when used on a face], the algorithm detects that the eyes and mouth are important details and tries to keep these in place, while stretching the skin around it. When applied to a map, this means that areas with lots of countries - and therefore lots of detail - such as Europe, West Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Central America/the Caribbean are relatively unchanged, while big countries like India, China and the US are very warped. The choices that the resizing tool makes are also dependent on the exact visual features of the original map, such as the choice of not having any topography or infrastructure drawn on, or not including a latitude/longitude grid, so what areas are deemed as unimportant is even more arbitrary than it would be on, say, a photographic picture of the Earth. <br />
<br />
[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/content-aware-scaling Bad content aware scaling] is already a meme. This projection does do a good job, however, of making almost every country clearly visible and indicating which countries are neighbours. <br />
South America fits into Africa almost as it did in the era of the super-continent [[wikipedia:Pangaea|Pangaea]].<br />
<br />
[[wikipedia:Tissot's indicatrix|Tissot's indicatrices]] are equally sized small circles overlaid on a globe to show the distortion of a particular map projection; if the map distortion distorts the shapes or areas of countries, it will do the same to the circles. The title text suggests that the shapes of Tissot's indicatrices would be pretty well preserved by the Liquid Resize transformation, 'as long as you draw them in before running the resize'. Since drawing in the indicatrices first would be identified as details, the Photoshop filter would try not to change them. However, the rest of the map would still change around them, making them useless.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption at the top of the panel:]<br />
:Bad map projection #107:<br />
:<big>The Liquid Resize</big><br />
:A political map compressed using Photoshop's content-aware resizing algorithm to cut down on unused blank space<br />
<br />
:[Below the caption there is a map of the world divided and colored by political boundaries, with outlines around each continent in black and around each country in dark gray. Antarctica is colored in light gray, bodies of water in white, and countries in pale shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The map is heavily distorted, with Africa in the center and the other continents curving around it, approximating the bounds of a square with rounded corners. The oceans have been removed but also huge countries like the US, Australia, Brazil, Russia and especially India and Argentina have been heavily distorted while areas in the center with many smaller countries like Africa and Europe is almost unchanged.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Maps]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1784:_Bad_Map_Projection:_Liquid_Resize&diff=1336461784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize2017-01-13T02:15:28Z<p>108.162.221.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1784<br />
| date = January 11, 2017<br />
| title = Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize<br />
| image = bad_map_projection_liquid_resize.png<br />
| titletext = This map preserves the shapes of Tissot's indicatrices pretty well, as long as you draw them in before running the resize.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Partial -- explains a few underlying concepts but needs a lead section}}<br />
<br />
There is no perfect way to draw a map of the world on a flat piece of paper. Each one will introduce a different type of distortion, and the best projection for a given situation is sometimes very disputed. Randall previously explored different projections in [[977: Map Projections]], and expressed his disdain for some types he sees as less efficient but whose users feel superior.<br />
<br />
In this comic, he suggests a new map projection which is not only useless for most map applications -- as the size, shape, and position of most countries are quite distorted -- but whose creation includes two steps which are outright counterproductive.<br />
<br />
First, this method needs a planar map projection as its starting point, thus compounding the problems right off the bat. Planar projections are reletively accurate near the center but heavily distorted toward the edges. A famous example of a planar projection is the logo of the {{w|United Nations}}. Planar projections are just about useful for 3D graphics rendering, if the user needs a quick, inexpensive way to store map textures that will later be attached to a sphere.<br />
<br />
Second, the map uses [https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/content-aware-scaling.html Photoshop's content aware resizing tool] for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The content aware resizing tool resizes images by identifying what it thinks are important details and preserving these, while shrinking or stretching less detailed areas. For example, [http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/710073-content-aware-scaling when used on a face], the algorithm detects that the eyes and mouth are important details and tries to keep these in place, while stretching the skin around it. When applied to a map, this means that areas with lots of countries - and therefore lots of detail - such as Europe, West Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Central America/the Caribbean are relatively unchanged, while big countries like India, China and the US are very warped. The choices that the resizing tool makes are also dependent on the exact visual features of the original map, such as the choice of not having any topography or infrastructure drawn on, or not including an latitude/longitude grid, so what areas are deemed as unimportant is even more arbitrary than it would be on, say, a photographic picture of the Earth. <br />
<br />
[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/content-aware-scaling Bad content aware scaling] is already a meme. This projection does do a good job, however, of making almost every country clearly visible and indicating which countries are neighbours. <br />
South America fits into Africa almost as it did in the era of the super-continent [[wikipedia:Pangaea|Pangaea]].<br />
<br />
[[wikipedia:Tissot's indicatrix|Tissot's indicatrices]] are equally sized small circles overlaid on a globe to show the distortion of a particular map projection; if the map distortion distorts the shapes or areas of countries, it will do the same to the circles. The title text suggests that the shapes of Tissot's indicatrices would be pretty well preserved by the Liquid Resize transformation, 'as long as you draw them in before running the resize'. Since drawing in the indicatrices first would be identified as details, the Photoshop filter would try not to change them. However, the rest of the map would still change around them, making them useless.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption at the top of the panel:]<br />
:Bad map projection #107:<br />
:<big>The Liquid Resize</big><br />
:A political map compressed using Photoshop's content-aware resizing algorithm to cut down on unused blank space<br />
<br />
:[Below the caption there is a map of the world divided and colored by political boundaries, with outlines around each continent in black and around each country in dark gray. Antarctica is colored in light gray, bodies of water in white, and countries in pale shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The map is heavily distorted, with Africa in the center and the other continents curving around it, approximating the bounds of a square with rounded corners. The oceans have been removed but also huge countries like the US, Australia, Brazil, Russia and especially India and Argentina have been heavily distorted while areas in the center with many smaller countries like Africa and Europe is almost unchanged.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Maps]]</div>108.162.221.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1543:_Team_Effort&diff=968491543: Team Effort2015-07-02T03:26:37Z<p>108.162.221.70: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1543<br />
| date = June 26, 2015<br />
| title = Team Effort<br />
| image = team_effort.png<br />
| titletext = Given the role they play in every process in my body, really, they deserve this award more than me. Just gotta figure out how to give it to them. Maybe I can cut it into pieces to make it easier to swallow ...<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
[[Megan]] has won an award at a ceremony (presumably movie-related and possibly an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards Academy Award], as she mentions her director). When a person receives a major award, they give an acceptance speech which traditionally begins with the recipient thanking people who have helped them achieve the honour. Sometimes when a number of people are mentioned, the recipient will say that it was a team effort - a comment which elevates the "helpers" to virtually the same level as the recipient.<br />
<br />
Megan's acceptance speech takes things a step further; she thanks not only her director, family, and friends, but also the bacteria that populate her gastrointestinal tract. As she states correctly, the number of bacterial cells inside a human body outnumber the number of human cells by as much as a factor of 10. While the bacteria in the gut make digestion possible, the ecosystem formed by bacteria in the urogenital tract and on the skin also protect human health. In short, without them Megan would die — and not be able to win the award. To thank her bacteria is comparable to thanking her parents: they did not really contribute to the movie, but without them there would not have been a Megan, and no award.<br />
<br />
Recently, it has been shown that the gut bacteria has an effect on emotions, thoughts and mood. [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/magazine/can-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-explain-your-mood.html link]<br />
<br />
In the title text, Megan contemplates ''how'' to thank her microorganisms and considers to eat the trophy after having it cut in pieces. (This is an extremely bad idea, because it might kill both her and the microorganisms.)<br />
<br />
A {{w|pint}} is a volume of about half a liter (specifically, it's 28 and 7/8 cu.in.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is on a stage receiving an award from Ponytail, the latter of whom is standing behind a lectern.]<br />
<br />
:Megan:<br />
:I'd like to thank my director,<br />
:my friends and family, and–<br />
:of course–the writhing mass<br />
:of gut bacteria inside me.<br />
<br />
:I mean, there's like one or<br />
:two pints of them in here;<br />
:their cells outnumber mine!<br />
<br />
:Anyway, this was a real team effort.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.221.70