https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.244.6&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T06:45:21ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1742:_Will_It_Work&diff=1282501742: Will It Work2016-10-05T06:13:02Z<p>108.162.244.6: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1742<br />
| date = October 5, 2016<br />
| title = Will It Work<br />
| image = will_it_work.png<br />
| titletext = 'Copy and paste from a random thread on a website' is the hardest to predict, and depends on the specific website, programming language, tone of the description, and current phase of the moon.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}<br />
<br />
regarding alt. text: http://www.hacker-dictionary.com/terms/phase-of-the-moon<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1713:_50_ccs&diff=124396Talk:1713: 50 ccs2016-07-29T17:40:06Z<p>108.162.244.6: </p>
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<div>I don't fully get this joke but I do get that people do all sorts of strange things to cure hiccups so I think it has to do with that but I don't understand the title text at all [[User:MrEnder|MrEnder]] ([[User talk:MrEnder|talk]]) 05:26, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Thinking more CCs is a measurement of medicine usually referring to pain killers. Maybe people are coming in with the hiccups and the doctor is going to hand out pain killers (or just sugar pills) saying they are a hiccup vaccine and is annoyed at having to do so. So this could be a joke about placebo drugs. [[User:MrEnder|MrEnder]] ([[User talk:MrEnder|talk]]) 05:33, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:No, 1 cc here literally mean "cc" which is egnogh c's to spell va'''cc'''ination -- so 25 cc's is literally "cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.113|162.158.255.113]] 13:53, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
50cc is a volume measurement typically used to measure injectible dosages. A metric measure meaning "cubic centimetre" it is equivalent to 1 millilitre. Thus, the title is referring to volume of injection. However, the words hiccup and vaccine both include the letter combination "cc", hence writing them down 25 times each will be a total of 50 "cc" words. This is supported by the additional "cc" words in the mouseover text<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.78|141.101.98.78]] 05:36, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Folks, it's a matter of spelling: it takes 50 pieces of the letters "cc" to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times {{unsigned ip|162.158.85.141}}<br />
<br />
Could it be related to http://xkcd.com/1383/ ? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.241|198.41.242.241]] 05:45, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:No I see no connection. This is about words with cc and the volume cm^3 as cc, whereas the [[1383: Magic Words]] is about language and sex... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just noticed something else! maybe coincidence! But raccoons are known to have rabies. If you read the title texts first letters of the description of what happened fuck you get R A A A A B (could be pronounced Ray Bee) because accordions have nothing to do with women's roman drinking and ecstasy parties as far as I can tell [[User:MrEnder|MrEnder]] ([[User talk:MrEnder|talk]]) 05:47, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:#overthinking [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.115|141.101.104.115]] 11:10, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Agree ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Y'all are making this too complicated. It's the classic garden-path joke which says something simple and obvious, then says something that completely changes the meaning of what went before. "I shot a nigger in my pajamas. I don't know how he got into my woodpile." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.136|108.162.237.136]] 14:17, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:That joke makes no sense; maybe you meant to use the slur "coon" instead...?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.244.6|108.162.244.6]] 17:40, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Is that not what the explanation says? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Drinking has been known to cause hiccups. Do you think the raccoons from the bacchanalia are the ones who need the hiccup vaccine? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.51|173.245.54.51]] 16:19, 29 July 2016 (UTC)</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=50:_Penny_Arcade&diff=12367450: Penny Arcade2016-07-20T02:20:48Z<p>108.162.244.6: Just fixed a tiny typo</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 50<br />
| date = January 17, 2006<br />
| title = Penny Arcade<br />
| image = penny_arcade.jpg<br />
| titletext = Of course, Penny Arcade has already mocked themselves for this. They don't care.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Penny Arcade}} is a popular web comic that focuses on the video game culture. The character above is Tycho Brahe, one of the two main characters of Penny Arcade (the other being Jonathan "Gabe" Gabriel). Penny Arcade has a reputation for making obscure references to video games without explaining, expecting the reader to be as well-versed in gaming culture as they are. Hence, the attitude shown in this comic.<br />
<br />
'Seiken Densetsu' as mentioned in the strip probably refers to {{w|Seiken Densetsu 3}}, an {{w|Action role-playing game}} (Action-RPG) released for the {{w|Super Nintendo Entertainment System}} (SNES) in Japan in 1995. The game was never released in the North American region or officially translated to English. However, many North American game players may recognize Seiken Densetsu 2, the predecessor in the series, by its North American name: {{w|Secret of Mana}}.<br />
<br />
As the title text admits, they know they behave like this, and have this reputation, but they don't care, and even refer to it in their own comic.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A color drawing of Tycho, a man with wild brown hair in blue and cyan colored shirt. He has a big open mouth and holds one arm up while the other may be in his (unseen) pocket. He has two speech bubbles,]<br />
:Tycho: You know what? If you've never played the 1995 SNES RPG 'Seiken Densetsu' don't even <u>bother</u> reading today's strip. <br />
:Tycho: We don't <u>need</u> your kind here.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 47th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].<br />
**The previous was [[49: Want]].<br />
**The next was [[54: Science]].<br />
*This comic kept its original title: "Penny Arcade"<br />
**It was the first comic to do so since [[46: Secrets]] four comics back.<br />
**And apart from that comic, it was the first title to do so as well as to not include the word "Drawing" since [[31: Barrel - Part 5]] ten comics further back.<br />
**Apart from the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal, there were only three other comics without the word "Drawing" in the title before these last six.<br />
*It is the first of the last six comics on LiveJournal which all had a title without the word "Drawing" in it. <br />
**Five of these had exactly the same title on both sites.<br />
**Only 11 comics have the same title on both sites.<br />
**Apart from the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal, there were only three other comics without the word "Drawing" in the title before these last six<br />
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I'm actually pretty fond of Penny Arcade, when I get the jokes."<br />
*This comic was one of the last 11 comics posted on LiveJournal.<br />
**These 11 comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]] after the [[xkcd]] site opened on the 1st of January 2006. <br />
**This comic was posted on the same day on both sites.<br />
**They were not all posted on the same day though.<br />
*During the start-up of xkcd several of the comics were released on days that deviated from the normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday scheme. <br />
**This one was thus '''released on a Tuesday'''.<br />
**It was the last of a series of three where the release day was shifted to one day later. <br />
**This one was though posted quite early, 1:53 am, so it could almost have become a normal Monday comic.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 47]]<br />
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1701:_Speed_and_Danger&diff=1230021701: Speed and Danger2016-07-07T23:24:22Z<p>108.162.244.6: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1701<br />
| date = July 1, 2016<br />
| title = Speed and Danger<br />
| image = speed_and_danger.png<br />
| titletext = NASCAR removed the passenger seats because drivers hated how astronauts kept riding along with them and loudly announcing "Ahh, what a nice and relaxing drive."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|More on the speed of sport cars and the race cars. How much faster does it feel for a human to see a regular sports car on a high way and then a formula one car. More on why a rocket seems slow? Also worth noting: the acceleration (deceleration) experienced in a high-speed car crash greatly exceeds what astronauts typically experience...}}<br />
<br />
In this {{w|scatter plot}} [[Randall]] plots the speed of several vehicles (including people on foot for "normal sports") and how disastrous a crash would be. The punchline is that space {{w|rocket}}s travel so dangerously fast, and crashes are so utterly catastrophic, that it pushes literally every other kind of crash to the "slow and safe" corner by comparison. (A similar punchline was used in the title text of [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]].)<br />
<br />
With the plot Randall makes the observation that the danger of a crash is greatly influenced by its speed and highlights the concept of relativity between what we perceive as "fast," normal sports and two different types of racing cars, vs. a much faster vehicle, a rocket during launch. A rocket may appear to ascend slowly (and of course it begins its ascent slowly), but on the way to orbit it ends up moving very fast. But before it reaches the more extreme speed regime it will be far away from the ground (and the casual observer), where there is nothing to compare this speed to as opposed to a race car speeding by a spectator during a race. (Of course rockets are slow compared to the speed of light.)<br />
<br />
Apart from the high speed, there is also the altitude to take into account for a rocket launch, and the vast amount of fuel needed to get into orbit, and any sort of catastrophic failure is almost certainly fatal. <br />
<br />
Racing cars are often involved in crashes, but at that speed it is possible to construct them so even serious crashes may not be fatal. Although rockets are also made as safe as possible, it is a completely different regime of ''speed and danger'', and the risk of something going wrong during a take off is much higher, and it is impossible to prevent a lethal disaster if the launch fails during the ascent. This results in a much higher mortality rate for each crashed rocket (probably 100%) vs. crashed sports/race cars.<br />
<br />
Rocket launches are compared to "normal {{w|sports}}" (presumably meaning people running approximately 25 km/h, and possibly also {{w|polo}} {{w|horse}}s galloping approximately 40 km/h), {{w|NASCAR}} (which reaches speed of 320 km/h), and {{w|Formula One}} (F1), where the fastest race cars go 380 km/h. Although peak speed for an F1 car is higher than NASCAR, the average lap speed is much lower as F1 tracks have slow corners while NASCAR ovals can be negotiated with much less speed variation. It is also arguable whether F1 is more dangerous than NASCAR - there have been fewer fatalities in F1 this millennium, though fewer cars compete and races are of shorter duration.<br />
<br />
A rocket launched to reach the {{w|International Space Station|ISS}} needs to match the speed of the space station which moves at 27,600 km/h. A rocket that needs to {{w|Escape velocity|escape}} from Earth needs to reach 40,270 km/h, but so far no humans have escaped. However, the astronauts going to the Moon came close, with {{w|Apollo 10}} setting the {{w|List_of_spaceflight_records#Fastest|speed record}} for manned flights with 39,896 km/h. (It was only about [https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Apollo-10-the-fastest-of-all-the-Apollo-missions 0.4% faster] than the next 7 missions that, in contrast to Apollo 10, were supposed to land on the Moon). The lowest of the rocket speeds mentioned above is still more than 70 times as fast as the highest speed for race cars.<br />
<br />
The title text serves to emphasize the point further, as an astronaut (used to the several G's of acceleration during takeoff and overall much higher speeds) would likely find a NASCAR car moving at ~300 km/h paltry compared to what they're acclimated and has supposedly aggravated NASCAR drivers by making a point of saying so. And thus this is used to explain why there are no passenger seats in NASCAR cars, to prevent astronauts from joining the drivers for a nice, slow ride.<br />
<br />
Of the many [[:Category:Charts|charts in xkcd]] this one is notable for containing the fewest sample points of any [[:Category:Scatter plots|scatter plots]] in xkcd. <br />
<br />
The scatter plot uses logarithmic scales. If they were linear, the origin would be at the bottom left. With a logarithmic scale you can have fast, slow, safe and dangerous unbounded in all 4 directions.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A two-axis diagram with two double headed arrows centered in the middle of the panel. Each arrow is labeled. There are four large dots in the diagram, three close together in the top left corner and one in the bottom right corner. Each dot is labeled.]<br />
<br />
:[Y axis:]<br />
:Top: Crashes are safe<br />
:Bottom: Crashes are dangerous<br />
<br />
:[X axis:]<br />
:Left: Slow<br />
:Right: Fast<br />
<br />
:[Dots from top left to bottom right:]<br />
:Normal sports<br />
:NASCAR<br />
:Formula One<br />
:Rocket launches<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Scatter plots]]<br />
[[Category:Sport]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1683:_Digital_Data&diff=1204831683: Digital Data2016-05-20T04:34:09Z<p>108.162.244.6: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1683<br />
| date = May 20, 2016<br />
| title = Digital Data<br />
| image = digital_data.png<br />
| titletext = ââ¬ÅIf you can read this, congratulationsââ¬âthe archive youââ¬â¢re you're using still knows about the mouseover textââ¬Â!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Initial draft.}}<br />
Digital information, strictly speaking, does not degrade. While physical media themselves (such as books, or hard drives) may degrade as the universe continues, information, by itself, does not decay over time, and can be copied indefinitely with no changes. [This could be phrased much better.]<br />
<br />
However, in this comic, Randall points out that while information itself doesn't degrade, things that are on the internet are often degraded through copying, because the copy is not 1:1. As the frames continue, they gain the appearance of images which have been screenshotted repeatedly, with a resulting loss of quality due to compression of the original resolution. In the last frame, this is taken to an extreme, as the frame appears to have been very sloppily screenshotted off of a smartphone or two, and covered in watermarks from various websites and programs.<br />
<br />
[9Gag is well known, maybe also provide the example of iFunny. Talk about things like "unregistered HyperCam" and the phenomenon in more detail.]<br />
[You can also see the word tumblr in the last panel. Additionally, the phone frame on the top of panel 4 would not have come from the same device as the bottom of panel 3.]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball and a White Hat are walking.]<br />
<br />
Cueball: The great thing about digital data is that it never degrades.<br />
<br />
[The next panel is slightly pixelated]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Hard drives fail, of course, but their bits can be copied forever without loss.<br />
<br />
[The third panel is more pixelated, the white is slightly discolored, and it contains part of the interface of some program]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Film degrades, paint cracks, but a copy of a century-old data file is identical to the original.<br />
<br />
[The fourth panel is even more pixelated and discolored, and contains watermarks and more 'frame' elements]<br />
<br />
Cueball: If humanity has a permanent record, we are the first generation in it.<br />
<br />
White Hat: Amazing.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1683:_Digital_Data&diff=1204811683: Digital Data2016-05-20T04:29:56Z<p>108.162.244.6: /* Explanation */ Minor edit.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1683<br />
| date = May 20, 2016<br />
| title = Digital Data<br />
| image = digital_data.png<br />
| titletext = ââ¬ÅIf you can read this, congratulationsââ¬âthe archive youââ¬â¢re you're using still knows about the mouseover textââ¬Â!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In the first two panels, Cueball is discussing how precise and unchanging digital data is; how you can keep it exactly the same indefinitely, however from each panel to the next the comic becomes more blurry, and in the last panel it is a screenshot with a watermarked, suggesting that even though we have powerful tools to maintain data, the average computer user does not favour quality in the face of copying ease.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball and a White Hat are walking.]<br />
<br />
Cueball: The great thing about digital data is that it never degrades.<br />
<br />
[The next panel is slightly pixelated]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Hard drives fail, of course, but their bits can be copied forever without loss.<br />
<br />
[The third panel is more pixelated, the white is slightly discolored, and it contains part of the interface of some program]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Film degrades, paint cracks, but a copy of a century-old data file is identical to the original.<br />
<br />
[The fourth panel is even more pixelated and discolored, and contains watermarks and more 'frame' elements]<br />
<br />
Cueball: If humanity has a permanent record, we are the first generation in it.<br />
<br />
White Hat: Amazing.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1683:_Digital_Data&diff=1204801683: Digital Data2016-05-20T04:29:23Z<p>108.162.244.6: /* Explanation */ The second panel is also lower quality than the first.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1683<br />
| date = May 20, 2016<br />
| title = Digital Data<br />
| image = digital_data.png<br />
| titletext = ââ¬ÅIf you can read this, congratulationsââ¬âthe archive youââ¬â¢re you're using still knows about the mouseover textââ¬Â!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In the first two panels, Cueball is discussing how precise and unchanging digital data is; how you can keep it exactly the same indefinitely, however from each panel to the next the comic becomes blurry, and in the last panel it is a screenshot with a watermarked, suggesting that even though we have powerful tools to maintain data, the average computer user does not favour quality in the face of copying ease.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball and a White Hat are walking.]<br />
<br />
Cueball: The great thing about digital data is that it never degrades.<br />
<br />
[The next panel is slightly pixelated]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Hard drives fail, of course, but their bits can be copied forever without loss.<br />
<br />
[The third panel is more pixelated, the white is slightly discolored, and it contains part of the interface of some program]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Film degrades, paint cracks, but a copy of a century-old data file is identical to the original.<br />
<br />
[The fourth panel is even more pixelated and discolored, and contains watermarks and more 'frame' elements]<br />
<br />
Cueball: If humanity has a permanent record, we are the first generation in it.<br />
<br />
White Hat: Amazing.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1673:_Timeline_of_Bicycle_Design&diff=1189151673: Timeline of Bicycle Design2016-04-27T22:13:06Z<p>108.162.244.6: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1673<br />
| date = 27 April, 2016<br />
| title = Timeline of Bicycle Design<br />
| image = timeline of bicycle design.png<br />
| titletext = I'll be honest--the 1950s were a rough time for cycling.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Still only scratching the surface of possible explanation. Also title text not mentioned.}}<br />
[[Randall]] created a 200 year history for bicycles with 13 designs ranging from 1810 to 2016.<br />
<br />
The only model that both looks like a real model and fits the year is the 1875 model, which resembles the {{w|Penny-farthing}} The Penny-farthing was popular in the 1870s until the {{w|Safety bicycle}} took over around 1880. The 1875 model appears to be missing handlebars, but it's worth noting that on the real bicycle, the handlebars were very small and close to the saddle, and may be too small to appear in the drawing.<br />
<br />
The 1860 model looks like the {{w|American Star Bicycle}}, but that bicycle was first invented in the 1880s.<br />
<br />
Some of the other examples of "bikes" could, however, look like those in the image at the top of the {{w|Velocipede}} Wikipedia page.<br />
<br />
Several of the "bikes" are shown with a human - [[Ponytail]] is "riding" the pole-vaulting bike, [[Cueball]] appears in four designs, and [[Megan]] appears in three. These humans provide a sense of scale and, in some cases, a demonstration of how the bike might be operated. Cueball's appearance in the 1900 design shows how huge that bike is, appearing to dwarf the previous two models while continuing the short trend of ever-increasing size.<br />
<br />
Only two of the bikes have pedals (1875 and 2016) and only one has a sprocket with a chain (1980). Seven designs include a seat for the rider - eight if you count the device holding Megan in the 1980 model.<br />
<br />
The 1925 model is reminiscent of a {{w|fractal}}; {{w|Benoit Mandelbrot}} was born in October 1924.<br />
<br />
The 1880 model could be the result of an {{w|evolutionary algorithm}} trying to produce a bicycle. Some sub-optimal algorithms that have been given the task of creating a vehicle have been shown to misplace parts in ways that makes them completely useless and/or inaccessible - for example, placing a small wheel inside a much larger wheel.<br />
<br />
This comic (especially the 2016 bicycle) is possibly also a reference to [https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~rlawson/cycleweb.html The Science of Cycology], a cognitive psychology project run by Rebecca Lawson at the University of Liverpool, which asked study participants to draw a bicycle from memory. The error rate was high, supporting a hypothesis that humans over-estimate their ability to explain how things work. Gianluca Gimini ran a similar project, [http://www.gianlucagimini.it/prototypes/velocipedia.html Velocipedia], in which he asked people to draw free-hand sketches of bicycles from memory, then later rendered some of the results as if they were real bikes.<br />
<br />
Also, the designs given for the years from 1825 to 1925 distinctly resemble designs that tend to evolve in the various challenge environments in the genetic evolution games [http://boxcar2d.com/ BoxCar2D] ({{w|Flash Player}}) or [http://rednuht.org/genetic_cars_2/ Genetic Cars 2] ({{w|HTML5}}).<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the scene labeled "1955" which depicts Cueball being chased by 3 bicycle wheels. Whatever caused the wheels to chase Cueball down a hill is left to the reader's imagination.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[13 drawings 8 in the top and 5 in the bottom row of different and weird "bicycle" designs. Above them there is a heading, and below each bike a year is given. On the very last cycle there is a drinking bottle with a label.]<br />
:'''Timeline of Bicycle Design'''<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail hanging on to a bending rod that goes down to a single normal sized bike wheel. It looks like a unicycle with no seat. The rod is bending quite a lot so she looks like she is about to use the contraption as a pole vault]<br />
:1810<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is running after a device holding on to a rod bend in several places before reaching the ground at a very small wheel that then is connected with a shorter rod to a normal sized bike wheel.]<br />
:1825 <br />
<br />
:[Two normal sized bike wheels connected with a single rod between them.]<br />
:1840 <br />
<br />
:[Megan sits on a large saddle on top of a double sized bike wheel, she has some kind of handle bars to hold on to (or it could just be the saddle) and then a small rod goes down to a half size front wheel.]<br />
:1860 <br />
<br />
:[A regular drawing of a Penny-farthing with very small back wheel (half the size of the front wheel on the 1860 bike) and very large front wheel (larger than the 1860 bike) and pedals in the middle of the front wheel. The handle bars on such a bike is so small that it is likely they cannot be seen in this drawing.]<br />
:1875<br />
<br />
:[A huge wheel twice the size of the one on the Penny-farthing, and then a small wheel (like the small one on the Penny-farthing) hangs in a rod from the center of the giant wheel. The small wheel has a saddle attached, but it is not straight up.]<br />
:1880 <br />
<br />
:[This is the largest bike. Not the largest drawings, but where the other have the characters in roughly the same size, this one has a small drawing of Cueball standing on top of the wheel holding on to some kind of handle bar. The wheel is about three time his height.]<br />
:1900 <br />
<br />
:[Cueball sits in the "saddle" of a bike design the is similar to the Penny-farthing, but the saddle is more a rod, and the back wheel is on a rod going straight down from where the saddle ends. Also there are no pedals, and Cueball seems to hang on to the saddle reaching forward rather than having any control of the bike.]<br />
:1915<br />
<br />
:[A symmetrical saddle sits on top of single bike wheel, as with a unicycle but no pedals, but then there are (at least) six progressively smaller wheels in-line to the first, three to front and three to the rear, each new wheel approximately half the size of the one before. A possible fourth wheel, presumed to complete the set of medial stabilisers, can no longer be discerned from the rod that goes through the center of the larger wheels.]<br />
:1925 <br />
<br />
:[Megan stands on top of a saddle with a oar that looks like the single-oar sculling used for gondolas in Venice. She holds this to the ground behind her, while trying to move her bike forward. The bike consists of four small wheels, one straight under her, one behind, one equally in front of her and the last even further in front. They are all connected to the saddle with individual rods.]<br />
:1940 <br />
<br />
:[Three normal sized bike wheel are rolling down a hill after Cueball who runs away from them with his arms up.]<br />
:1955<br />
<br />
:[Megan sits on a bike contraption that seems to have a holder around her mid section rather than her sitting on a saddle. This holder goes to the back wheel below her, and there is actually a sprocket with a chain, although no clear pedals beneath her feet. She holds on to a very long handle bar, which connects with two long rods coming from the sprocket at the front end of the bike far ahead of Megan, below which is a wheel, to where the chain is actually going. Both wheels seems to be normal size.]<br />
:1980 <br />
<br />
:[Another weird contraption of a bike with pedals on both normal sized wheels which have wheel guards on the side pointing down towards the front. The saddle hangs in a swing that connect to a rod above it which goes to the front of the bike and splits in two rods that connects to the center frame of the bike. In front of these there is a contraption that reminds of a handle bar, which sits just above the front wheel. The two wheels are connected with a long rod between the center of the wheels and in the middle of this is the center part of the frame going up toward the handle. On the middle of this is a bottle with a label. Towards the back wheel there are two rods sticking out, with no clear meaning.]<br />
:2016 <br />
:Bottle: Milk<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1352:_Cosmologist_on_a_Tire_Swing&diff=64862Talk:1352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing2014-04-08T04:54:17Z<p>108.162.244.6: ted talk link</p>
<hr />
<div>See this TED talk for clue: http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_adams_the_discovery_that_could_rewrite_physics<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.101|108.162.218.101]] 07:54, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The question "what lies outside our observable universe?" is pretty easily answered with a "the same stuff as inside it, we just can't observe it". The more poignant question is whether the universe as a whole (not just its observable part) has an edge and if so, what lies beyond it. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 08:09, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The parts of universe which are not observable due to speed of light looks the same as the ones we can observe, sure. Just bigger. But there is nothing in physics saying there can't be something even more "outside". In fact, some theories consider it probable. And what can be THERE? Anything. Dragons. Possibly literally. Unfortunately, according to current physic, we can't PROVE something outside exists, much less look at it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:21, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
What's the setting of the first panel? Given the cosmological context, could it be a reference to the {{w|Wood between the Worlds}} from the ''Narnia'' series? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.29|108.162.219.29]] 10:57, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Someone please rewrite my shunted in assertion about the aforementioned wood. There's a reason for the setting in the first panel, I just can't think of a better place to put it in the explanation.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.244.6|108.162.244.6]] 11:43, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The tire swing also evokes the cosmology field in itself; accepted theories keep changing like the swing, endlessly being replaced by the next one. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:19, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Seems to me Randall is referring to the the A and B theories of time. ''&mdash; [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 14:24, 7 April 2014 (UTC)''<br />
:Seems to me Randall is referring to Physics and not philosophy. {{unsigned|ExternalMonolog}}<br />
<br />
It's possible the tire swing might also be a reference to the idea that the universe is "shaped like a doughnut". [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.24|173.245.48.24]] 16:32, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's important to note that the cosmologist is also portrayed as somebody not serious, and also doing "silly" science? A jab at the state our most serious scientists are, because we know, in a way, so little? Not sure if that's the kind of thing you put here, but it's relevant. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.237|141.101.80.237]] 17:21, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
;Maybe some of our most "serious" scientists.<br />
<br />
Randall seems to be referring directly to the discovery of dark energy and the perpetual acceleration it gives to the expansion of the universe. "Tire swing" girl directly addresses this when she speaks of her surprise that her momentum increases rather than decays.[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 00:18, 8 April 2014 (UTC)ExternalMonolog<br />
<br />
<br />
Maybe I shouldn't be writing here, since I'm a new guy around and I'm not well versed in the ways of this wiki, but it seems to me that aside from all that you've said, the main point of the idea of "Cosmologist on a tire swing" seems to be a parody of the fact that not only does every simple person apears to have a definite explanation for those universal unanswered riddles, (even though "It might have! Or maybe not! We don't know!"), the scientific community also seems to 'swing' between answers constantly as they discovers new clues or evidence. And even though it would seem that having more knowledge would bring them closer to getting the one true answers, it only gets them more and more doubts and questions about the nature of, well, everything (hence the swing not stopping but accelerating). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.206|141.101.89.206]] 02:39, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It'd be cool to have the link to the TED talk or something similar about the gravity wave detection and its potential multiverse-ish implications; it seems relevant to the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.244.6|108.162.244.6]] 04:54, 8 April 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1352:_Cosmologist_on_a_Tire_Swing&diff=64756Talk:1352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing2014-04-07T11:43:31Z<p>108.162.244.6: Apology of Narnia edit and request for refinement</p>
<hr />
<div>See this TED talk for clue: http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_adams_the_discovery_that_could_rewrite_physics<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.101|108.162.218.101]] 07:54, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The question "what lies outside our observable universe?" is pretty easily answered with a "the same stuff as inside it, we just can't observe it". The more poignant question is whether the universe as a whole (not just its observable part) has an edge and if so, what lies beyond it. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 08:09, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The parts of universe which are not observable due to speed of light looks the same as the ones we can observe, sure. Just bigger. But there is nothing in physics saying there can't be something even more "outside". In fact, some theories consider it probable. And what can be THERE? Anything. Dragons. Possibly literally. Unfortunately, according to current physic, we can't PROVE something outside exists, much less look at it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:21, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
What's the setting of the first panel? Given the cosmological context, could it be a reference to the {{w|Wood between the Worlds}} from the ''Narnia'' series? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.29|108.162.219.29]] 10:57, 7 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Someone please rewrite my shunted in assertion about the aforementioned wood. There's a reason for the setting in the first panel, I just can't think of a better place to put it in the explanation.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.244.6|108.162.244.6]] 11:43, 7 April 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1352:_Cosmologist_on_a_Tire_Swing&diff=647551352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing2014-04-07T11:35:24Z<p>108.162.244.6: Explanation of meta-verse setting in light of trees and many small pools in the first panel. (the forest of pools of water leading to many different worlds/universes in The Magician's Nephew)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1352<br />
| date = April 7, 2014<br />
| title = Cosmologist on a Tire Swing<br />
| image = cosmologist_on_a_tire_swing.png<br />
| titletext = No matter how fast I swing, I can never travel outside this loop! Maybe space outside it doesn't exist! But I bet it does. This tire came from somewhere.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Simply put, the tire swing is a metaphor for the universe. Scientific observation seems to tell us that the universe is ~13.8 billion years old. The first 6 panels reference the fact that no one seems to have any explanation for where the universe came from, or even why it exists in the first place. The last 2 panels are about the inexplicable fact that the universe's rate of expansion appears to be increasing, rather than slowing down, as conventional wisdom tells us it should. The title text references the question of whether or not the universe is infinite, and if so, what lies outside of our observable universe? The setting of trees interspersed with many small pools resembles the meta-verse described in C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew. Each pool leads into a different universe, one of which is ours and another of which is Narnia.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Girl: What was before the big bang?<br />
:Cueball: I think time began with the big bang. So it doesn't make sense to ask what came before it.<br />
:Cosmologist (off panel): ''Look out''<br />
<br />
:Cosmologist: ''WHEEEE'' Hi I'm a cosmologist on a tire swing!<br />
<br />
:Cosmologist: We don't know whether time<br />
<br />
:Cosmologist: started at the big bang.<br />
<br />
:Cosmologist: It might have!<br />
<br />
:Cosmologist: Or maybe not! We don't know!<br />
:Cueball: Oh. OK!<br />
<br />
:Girl: ...Your tire swing looks fun!<br />
:Cosmologist: I can't stop!<br />
<br />
:Girl: Won't the swing stop on its own?<br />
:Cosmologist: I thought it would, but it seems to be accelerating.<br />
:Girl: Cosmology sounds pretty confusing.<br />
:Cosmologist: ''WHEEEEE!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1335:_Now&diff=613861335: Now2014-02-28T16:33:15Z<p>108.162.244.6: </p>
<hr />
<div><div class="plainlinks"><br />
{{comic<br />
| number = 1335<br />
| before = ''Explainxkcd note: The image below is accelerated to show a full day's spin in approximately 10 seconds. The actual comic completes one revolution per day. <br/>For the current state, see [http://xkcd.com/now/ http://xkcd.com/now]''<br />
| date = February 26, 2014<br />
| title = Now<br />
| image = now.gif<br />
| titletext = This image stays roughly in sync with the day (assuming the Earth continues spinning). Shortcut: [http://xkcd.com/now xkcd.com/now]<br />
}}<br />
</div><br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Too many guesses, too many parentheses, maybe more. The time zones need an explain.}}<br />
The picture is divided in 22 segments representing the 24 hours of the day. Noon and midnight actually mean 11-13 and 23-1.<br />
<br />
The picture rotates by 3.75 {{w|degree (angle)|degrees}} every 15 minutes (so far, and presumably forever), as does the Earth, so that it is constantly up to date in showing which regions are currently at which times of day. The picture change seems to happen half-way through a 15-minute time increment (that is, at 7½, 22½, 37½, and 52½ minutes after each hour), so that the picture is always correct for the nearest multiple of 15 minutes.<br />
<br />
The map projection of the earth in the middle of the picture shows an {{w|azimuthal equidistant projection}} with the {{w|South Pole}} in the center which is uncommon because most times this projection has the North Pole at its center. [[Randall]] was playing on projections before here: [[ 977: Map Projections ]].<br />
<br />
The list of cities and countries doesn't always match the map, because the list takes into account local variations in {{w|time zone}}s. The map shows the current (February 2014) configuration of time zones with respect to {{w|daylight saving time}} (also known as summer time), which is being observed at the time of the comic's initial release in parts of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and other countries not named in this comic. If the map is to stay accurate through the year, the location of place names will have to move over the next few months as parts of the southern hemisphere go off DST and parts of the northern hemisphere go onto it, but we don't yet know whether this will happen.<br />
<br />
In many countries, {{w|business hours}} are considered to be from 9&nbsp;am to 5&nbsp;pm. With some exceptions, including emergencies, it is generally considered rude to place a {{w|telephone}} call to someone's residence during the hours when most people are asleep (Randall portrays this time period as extending from 10&nbsp;pm to 8&nbsp;am). This may be a reference to the 10&nbsp;pm "cutoff" time [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0WeQJW-H3Y discussed] in an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." <br />
<br />
On midnight at UTC we can see this situation:<br />
*00:00 UTC {{w|Greenwich Mean Time}}<br />
::UK, Portugal<br />
::West Africa<br />
*01:00 UTC {{w|Central European Time}}<br />
::Most of central Europe<br />
::Nigeria, and many more countries belonging to the {{w|West Africa Time}} zone<br />
*02:00 UTC {{w|Eastern European Time}}<br />
::Eastern Europe, many countries like Bulgaria, Romania or Greece<br />
::The {{w|Levant}} (Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, and a part of southern Turkey)<br />
::Egypt<br />
*03:00 UTC {{w|UTC+03:00}} (East Africa Time, Eastern Europe Forward Time, and Arabia Standard Time)<br />
::Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, and more<br />
::Kaliningrad and Belarus<br />
::Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and more.<br />
::Iran is at {{w|Iran Standard Time}}, using an offset of UTC+03:30<br />
*04:00 UTC {{w|UTC+04:00}} <br />
::{{w|Moscow Time}}<br />
::United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, and more<br />
::Afghanistan is at {{w|Time in Afghanistan}}, using an offset of UTC+04:30<br />
::Iran is at {{w|Iran Standard Time}}, using an offset of UTC+03:30<br />
*05:00 UTC {{w|UTC+05:00}}<br />
::Pakistan, Western Australia, Maldives and some France former colonies.<br />
::Afghanistan is at {{w|Time in Afghanistan}}, using an offset of UTC+04:30<br />
::India and Sri Lanka using {{w|UTC+05:30}}<br />
::Nepal is using a much more odd offset at {{w|UTC+05:45}}<br />
*06:00 UTC {{w|UTC+06:00}}<br />
::Bangladesh, Bhutan...<br />
::UK {{w|British Indian Ocean Territory}}<br />
::Russia at {{w|Yekaterinburg Time}}, also Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan<br />
::China doesn't use only a single time zone because Xinjiang and Tibet are different.<br />
::India and Sri Lanka using {{w|UTC+05:30}}<br />
::Nepal is using a much more odd offset at {{w|UTC+05:45}}<br />
*07:00 UTC {{w|UTC+07:00}}<br />
::South-east Asia like Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and more<br />
::Christmas Island belonging to Australia<br />
::Russia is also using the {{w|Omsk Time}}<br />
*08:00 UTC {{w|UTC+08:00}}<br />
::Western Australia<br />
::China uses only {{w|Time in China|one time zone}} while the country spans about five.<br />
::Singapore<br />
::Philippines<br />
::Perth<br />
*09:00 UTC {{w|UTC+09:00}}<br />
::Japan<br />
::The Koreas<br />
*10:00 UTC {{w|UTC+10:00}}<br />
::Brisbane and the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria<br />
::US: Guam and Northern Mariana Islands<br />
*11:00 UTC {{w|UTC+11:00}}<br />
::Micronesia, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu<br />
::Russia {{w|Vladivostok Time}}<br />
*12:00 UTC {{w|UTC+12:00}} or {{w|UTC−12:00}}<br />
::Kamchatka (a Russian peninsula at the east Siberia), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Tuvalu, Tuvalu, and more<br />
*13:00 UTC {{w|UTC+13:00}} or {{w|UTC−11:00}}<br />
::New Zealand, Kiribati, Tonga, Hawaii<br />
*14:00 UTC {{w|UTC+14:00}} or {{w|UTC−10:00}}<br />
::Hawaii, Samoa<br />
::Alaska, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, and more<br />
::Line Islands, belonging to Kiribati<br />
*15:00 UTC {{w|UTC−09:00}}<br />
::Alaska and French Polynesia <br />
*16:00 UTC {{w|Pacific Time Zone}}<br />
::US West Coast<br />
::Canada (British Columbia and Yukon)<br />
::Mexico (Baja California)<br />
*17:00 UTC {{w|Mountain Time Zone}}<br />
::US: Denver, and much more<br />
::Canada: Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton), British Columbia, more<br />
*18:00 UTC {{w|Central Time Zone}}<br />
::Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua and more<br />
::US: Chicago, Texas except of some most westernmost counties, and many more<br />
*19:00 UTC {{w|Eastern Time Zone}}<br />
::Eastern Canada like Ontario or Quebec<br />
::US East Coast including New York and Florida.<br />
::But also Cuba, Haiti, Panama and much more countries<br />
*20:00 UTC {{w|UTC−04:00}} or {{w|Atlantic Time Zone}}<br />
::Canadian Maritimes: New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia. (Newfoundland uses {{w|UTC-03:30}} )<br />
::Chile<br />
::Greenland<br />
::Most of the Caribbean Islands.<br />
*21:00 UTC {{w|UTC−03:00}}<br />
::Coastal Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, French Guiana, the UK Falkland Islands, and more<br />
*22:00 UTC {{w|UTC−02:00}}<br />
::UK: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands<br />
::Brazil: Fernando de Noronha<br />
*23:00 UTC {{w|UTC−01:00}}<br />
::Cape Verde<br />
::Portugal: Azores<br />
<br />
==Technical notes==<br />
When first posted, the picture was exactly 12 hours off. Somewhere around 5:10 UTC, this was fixed. The original version also included a listing for Inland Brazil; this could have created a conflict with US East Coast when Daylight-Saving Time begins in the US, and it has been removed.<br />
<br />
The names used for the image files refer not to {{w|Universal Time|UTC (Universal Time)}} as one might expect but rather to the time exactly 12 hours off of that. The name of the image file linked from the page matched Universal Time during the first few hours, but the file-naming scheme did not change when the comic was corrected.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|The table should be removed by a more simple way for showing the content here. And the table is incorrect.}}<br />
<br />
[The comic is a moving circle with a static outer ring]<br />
<br />
[The outermost part of the static ring is divided in 22 segments representing the 24 hours of the day. Noon and Midnight actually mean 11-13 and 23-1]<br />
:Noon - 6 PM - Midnight - 6 AM<br />
<br />
[The innermost part of the static ring contains descriptions of the time intervals]<br />
:Business hours (9-5) [i.e. 9 AM - 5 PM]<br />
:Rude to call [11 PM - 6 AM]<br />
<br />
[On the outermost ring of the moving circle are written names of the regions of the Earth]<br />
:UK - Most of Europe - Eastern Europe - Iraq - Moscow - Pakistan - Southeast Asia - China - Singapore - Japan - The Koreas - Kamchatka<br />
:Alaska - US West Coast - Denver - Mexico - Eastern Canada - Canadian Maritimes<br />
<br />
[On the second ring, counting from out to in, are the names of some cities, countries and states.]<br />
:West Africa - Nigeria - The Levant - Egypt - East Africa - Iran - Afghanistan - India - Java - Philippines - Perth - Brisbane - Most Australian cities - New Zealand<br />
:Chicago - Texas - US East coast - Coastal Brazil<br />
<br />
[On the third ring are the names of some continents.]<br />
:Europe Asia <br />
:North America<br />
<br />
[On the fourth ring are the names of the other continents.]<br />
:Africa - Oceania<br />
:South America<br />
<br />
[On the innermost part of the circle is the Earth as seen from the south pole.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1306:_Sigil_Cycle&diff=556961306: Sigil Cycle2013-12-20T20:17:44Z<p>108.162.244.6: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1306<br />
| date = December 20, 2013<br />
| title = Sigil Cycle<br />
| image = sigil_cycle.png<br />
| titletext = The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
In computer programming, a {{w|Sigil (computer programming)|sigil}} is a symbol attached to a variable name, showing the variable's datatype or scope, usually a prefix, as in $foo, where $ is the sigil. Sigils are meant to allow the reader of the code to see at a glance what type a given variable is without having to refer back to a declaration (which may be in a distant part of the code from the section you are reading) or to provide some level typing in languages that do not have explicit type delclarations.<br />
<br />
;{{w|QBASIC}}<br />
:Variables of type string end with the $ symbol. Other symbols are used (% for integers, ! for single-precision, # for double-precision and, in some versions of BASIC, & for long integers), however the usual QBASIC program will use only the $ symbol and not any of the others, as the default type if no symbol is used is double-precision and that's OK for most numeric uses.<br />
<br />
;{{w|C++}}<br />
:Pronounced "see plus plus." Variables are just words with regular letters. Ironically, it is the name of the language itself that includes symbols.<br />
<br />
;{{w|bash (Unix shell)|bash}}<br />
:This is not typically thought of as a full-featured programming language, but a Unix shell. However, the shell command syntax is rich enough to be able to write simple (and sometimes really complex) programs called shell-scripts. In this language, all variable dereferences start with the symbol $.<br />
<br />
;{{w|Perl}}<br />
:In Perl, variables of simple types, and references to items in arrays and hashes, start with $. Arrays start with @. Hashes start with %.<br />
<br />
;{{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}<br />
:Variables are just words with regular letters.<br />
<br />
;{{w|Google}}<br />
:In the beginning, Google was only a search engine. However, it now includes many things, in particular a social network called Google+ (pronounced "google plus"). Google+ accounts are referenced with a + prefix.<br />
<br />
;{{w|Twitter}}<br />
:Twitter account IDs are identified by the leading symbol @. When an account is "mentioned" in a tweet using @, it triggers smart behavior. For example, account owners can configure Twitter to forward tweets that mention them. This feature was not present in the early days of Twitter.<br />
<br />
;{{w|Hashtag}}s<br />
:In 2007 Twitter users began a convention that a # sign (whose {{w|Number sign|many names}} include the "hash") can be prepended to words to mark them as keywords. Twitter could then be searched for those words. In 2009 Twitter recognized the existence of hashtags and began hyperlinking them. Some other microblogging services followed suit. Google+ eventually added hashtag support as did Facebook.<br />
<br />
As is noted by the comic, the use of sigils to indicate types of variables varies between programming languages, from strict enforcement in languages like Perl, to their complete absence in languages like C++ (but see {{w|Hungarian Notation}}). The comic notes that the use of sigils seems to be cyclic, especially if you count things like hashtags as extensions of the pattern.<br />
<br />
The title text describes the two competing influences responsible for the cycle: The first impulse finds sigils useful to elucidate the type of the variable, especially when variable names are not very descriptive, while the latter impulse notes that descriptive variable names are much more useful for that purpose, especially in extensible languages where the built-in types form only a small part of the type system.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
*Y axis: Odds that the words I type will start with some weird symbol<br />
*X axis: Time<br />
*Data labels: $QBASIC, C++, $BASH, @$PERL, PYTHON, +GOOGLE, @TWITTER, #HASHTAGS<br />
*The line alternates between high and low, with $QBASIC starting at high, moving to C++ at low. $BASH and @$PERL are high, Python is low, and +GOOGLE, @TWITTER and #HASHTAGS are the next high.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Comics presenting a compromise]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Social networking]]</div>108.162.244.6https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=428:_Starwatching&diff=52194428: Starwatching2013-11-07T06:13:22Z<p>108.162.244.6: Fixed spelling error</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 428<br />
| date = May 26, 2008<br />
| title = Starwatching<br />
| image = starwatching.png<br />
| titletext = I always figured the word 'blog' would sound *less* silly as the years went by.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
It's night and [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] lie down on the earth while looking into the sky. Cueball begins to quote the Lion King, where King Mufasa tells prince Simba that the 'great Kings of the past are up there'. Later in the film, once (spoiler alert) King Mufasa is dead, he appears in the clouds calling to his son. Here Cueball is presenting Cory as the great master blogger {{w|Cory Doctorow|Cory Efram Doctorow}}, his name is the largest one at the {{w|Tag cloud}}. <br />
<br />
In the title text, [[Randall]] mentions that the word {{w|blog}} is a silly word, despite becoming common in usage. <br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: Just look at those stars.<br />
:Cueball: My father once told me that the great bloggers of the past are up there, watching over us.<br />
:Cueball: High above the blogosphere, a gap opens in the tag clouds. Cory Doctorow's voice booms forth...<br />
:Megan: You need to get out either more or less. I can't decide.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>108.162.244.6