https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.245.46&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T07:55:01ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2736:_Only_Serifs&diff=338130Talk:2736: Only Serifs2024-03-25T19:53:56Z<p>108.162.245.46: </p>
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first two letters are "A" and "R" I think [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.10|172.71.167.10]] 04:35, 11 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
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It's AaBbCcDd. Most likely in Caslon, based on the uppercase A. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.149|172.68.174.149]] 04:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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So much for a hidden message. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.238.22|172.68.238.22]] 05:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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If we've come to this page for an explanation, we probably don't know what a "solum-serif font" is. update the transcript with something more widely known? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.224|172.69.65.224]] 05:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Agreed, enthusiastically! Someone trying to show off, Google doesn't even know what it means, it found ONE result, which is a font of curved corners someone made (when I put "solum-serif" in quotes, to not allow Google to just search one or the other). But while I was Googling someone fixed it before I could, LOL! Which is weird as it's past midnight here in the Eastern time zone. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: Perhaps you haven't realised that nighttime for Americans is daytime for, um, somewhere around 80-90% of the world's population? [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 14:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::: Of course I realize this. :) Seems like YOU don't realize that this site is one of many where it seems like most activity centers around the EST time zone... Perhaps related to Randall being in this time zone, perhaps not, but I'm usually alone at this time of night (for example, I almost NEVER get Edit Conflicts because seemingly everyone is asleep). For years I'm almost always the only person making contributions at this hour. Maybe think of that before making a misguided condescending reply. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::You really live up to your username, eh? Charming ''and'' US-centric. {{unsigned ip|172.71.242.87|16>:50, 13 February 2023}}<br />
:::::You should sign your comments. :) And I'm not even in the U.S.! :) Though truthfully, it's not US-centric to be observant. Nothing wrong with said increase in site activity. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::I live on the west coast. I edit around 9pm sometimes (EST midnight). {{unsigned ip|172.71.158.23|23:00, 11 November 2023}}<br />
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::I think that's probably because it was a joke. In fact the ridiculous of the notion of a "solum-serif" font is more or less the entirety of the joke of this comic. You're right, in the future we should make sure that these descriptions are devoid of humor.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 18:17, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::But that's in the transcript particularly, the transcript should make sense as to what the image shows without prior knowledge [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.10|108.162.216.10]] 02:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yes, as Mr./Ms. 216.10 pointed out, this was the transcript. PLENTY of room for jokes in the Explanation, but the Transcript should be as concise and straightforward as possible, in an effort to be clear. NOT the place for what seemed to be a self-coined term and trying to be clever. :) I've heard some blind and sight-impaired people follow the comic by having a reading program read these Transcripts, last thing they need is a non-word the program might trip over and can't define for them. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::Exactly the transcript should not try to explain the comic. But should include all text as written text for later possibility to search for it. And finally the image should be described in some detail for those that are sight impaired. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::For anyone who is confused, 'solum' (solus) is Latin for 'only', as opposed to 'sans' (from the Latin 'sine'), without. I suppose the joke is rather hard to get, though, since the top Google search results for 'solum' refer to soil. (Not my joke, by the way. Also, first ever comment - hope I've done this right.) [[User:CryptekCathekh|CryptekCathekh]] ([[User talk:CryptekCathekh|talk]]) 21:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Thanks for the clarification, yes that makes sense. And yes, finely commented there. :) Yes, I got loads of industrial results for "Solum", which is why I had to force the search to include the "serif". [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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There was a whole thing on Wikipedia about formatting the f symbol for an arbitrary function. One camp held that f is just f, it always is and always was and if you italicize f in a san-serif font, you get an oblique ''f'' but if you italicize f in a serif font, you get a proper italic version, which I'm not sure how to display here. The italic f resembles ƒ, a character called the "hooked f," which is technically an oblique f with a descender ("hook"). That symbol has been used for florins, but sometimes it is also used to imitate the italic f to represent functions, because it has the descender in all environments. But Wikipedia uses a san-serif script, while most mathematical literature uses a serif script. However, it renders expressions in LaTeX with serif fonts and therefore these equations get an f with a descender. So some people were arguing that given this environment, the ƒ character was practically superior, even if it was conceptually wrong, because it most closely resembled the formatted LaTeX expressions. And on and on with the back and forth. I'm glad they eventually settled on just using f for f, like they use g for g and h for h, but still, it was amusingly nitpicky. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.50|172.70.100.50]] 07:58, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:What you listed as resembling italic f looks on my system like ⨍. There are lots of fun variations (some unrelated, just similar looking): ∫⨎ʄ∮∬∰⨏ƒʆᶘᔑ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:That entire argument seems silly. Obviously the correct answer to "how do you write the function $f$ outside of math mode" is "don't". Just use math mode and let KaTeX handle the formatting. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.61|162.158.63.61]] 16:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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The title text teases the idea of a font made by adding the Times New Roman serifs to Comic Sans, and now I actually want to see such a cursed font. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.237|108.162.241.237]] 11:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Ask and ye shall receive: [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]] :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Is it weird that I kind of like Sans New Roman? (anonymous) 12:49, 13 February 2023 (EST)<br />
::Thanks I will include this in the explanation. Great work. Ugly as hell ;-) It might send some graphic designers your way! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::: i think it improves both typefaces [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 22:22, 14 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Awww, thanks, I'm honoured! And I likewise kinds like Times Sans, particularly the capital C (after I cleaned it up, my paint program kept half-assing the Cut, several pixels taking a grey and leaving a grey) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:14, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I think Caslon is correct:<br />
[https://ibb.co/J2WhP1g Caslon] [https://ibb.co/MG77JMX Overlay] [https://ibb.co/3yQtqbN Low Opacity Overlay]<br />
via [http://www.identifont.com/identify?58+.+5J+1JU+3YB+3RZ+35YX+94+JIA+58C+97+22X+8R8+1JY+2Z3A+6ZR+3Q+5BU+9J+1L0+76P+8Z+1QN+7UF+DG+5QE+J+JPK+8C+99+PAE+2AA6+2ZI+8X+8W+8J+1KS+JI6+2Z36+79+8E+53K+2E+1KI+8N+7VS+7S+2C6+1U6+8A+8R0+8F+3WO+2ZGL+1LA+7G+1QY+8B+A0 questions] in Identifont. If someone can add these to the wiki, please do. [[User:DragonDave|DragonDave]] ([[User talk:DragonDave|talk]]) 12:55 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if this is related to the US State Department dropping Times Roman in favor of Calibri, under the argument that the latter is easier to read. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]] 13:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I call these fonts seul serif, keeping with the theme of using French terminology. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.59|172.71.147.59]] 16:30, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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A free, existing example of [http://www.fontgrill.com/fonts/free/comic-serif/comic-serif.php Comic Serif].<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.242|172.70.214.242]] 16:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:^ TBH Comic Serif doesn't look half bad, if only it had a consistent baseline [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.179|198.41.231.179]] 17:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Of course, since Comic is supposed to mimic casual handwriting, and people don't hand write serifs {{Citation needed}}, this messes up the concept, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:02, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Does not, if you go back far enough. Remember that a lot of old handwriting had serif-like parts due to the use of quills. {{unsigned ip|162.158.203.40|11:48, 12 February 2023}}<br />
:::True enough, but going back isn't appropriate, as computers '''''AREN'T''''' "back far enough", or at all. :) NOW, in the present day, nobody handwrites serifs. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC) <br />
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This comic reminds me of something I once actually did as a child: I once wrote a notepad full of game ideas and story concepts but wanted to keep them a secret; so I created my own "cipher" font where any straight lines in letters were removed, leaving only the curved lines. However, because some letters such as c and d would look similar without the straight lines, I gave some letters curved "serifs", which would be retained in my "font". --Jinji@donphan.social 20:32, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I'm most instances where the word "font" is used, the correct word is "typeface". "Times Roman" is a typeface whereas "Times Roman bold" is a font. -Jez [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.42|172.70.93.42]] 20:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I'd be inclined to suggest that "font", in common parlance, means what everyone here means it to mean, and that means that it is "correct". Nobody - OK, fine, potentially a negligible number of people - might wonder what's going on when "font" is used where you would prefer "typeface". It's not a matter of being "correct" though, unless we are (and we aren't) a community of people using typesetting language in a formal, technical sense. You know what ''is'' incorrect though? Writing "I'm" when you mean "In". Would I have said any of that had you not been so pedantic? You bet your sweet ass I wouldn't.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 22:08, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Yorkshire Pudding there said everything I was tempted to and more last night, but said better than I would have. Thank you! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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That can't POSSIBLY be the right link under the word "events". We have an entire category of "my hobby"/"Cueball getting kicked out of events" comics and that isn't any of them. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 22:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I concur. It links directly to comic 514, which has nothing to do with events or getting kicked out (I can't even think what comic they meant). I took a peek at 1514 and 2514, but those don't fit, either. ??? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:07, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Maybe [[541]] was meant? But I guess just linking to Category:Banned_from_conferences or even adding this to Category:Compromise would be better. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 14:58, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yup, I feel sure you got it. I tried checking around 514 (going up to like 518, going down to like 510), didn't try transposing the digits. What's funny is that I often think of that specific comic 541, whenever I want a smiley face inside brackets, :) I'll update the explanation. EDIT: Ugh, someone removed it instead of fixing it. :( [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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It looks very similar to [http://tom7.org/lowercase/ Comic Sands] by tom7! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.106|172.71.30.106]] 16:49, 12 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
:Oh incredible, I quite like the "futura work" section of that paper [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 03:52, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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<!-- NOW THERE *IS* A TALK PAGE<br />
;A note for No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO<br />
:''(...because you don't have a Talk page I can write to...)''<br />
In response to recent edits from you with, for example, "(am i doing something wrong? THERE ARE TWO MANY JOKE TAGS!)" as the comment... The tag is the Incomplete (i.e. {{template|incomplete}}, and it is indeed arguable if all those marked as such are truly so (though you can bet your bottom dollar that plenty of times where the tag is removed, someone will then quite soon find something worth editing into an Explanation). But the "joke tag" is the community replacing the 'Bot-created reference to being created by A BOT with something an editor decides is funny. (They aren't always right, but someone else may impose their own humour - right or wrong - in place of the first comedian's attempt... And possibly the process repeats a few more times.)<br />
<br />So, anyway, that's what the joke ''part'' of the tag is about, though the presence of the tag itself is a bit more serious. Maybe you could say that an explanation a couple of weeks old (from time of creation, at comic-publication) is only going to be 'normally and irregularly tweaked, from now on', and so would lose the Incompleteness happily enough, but some might say sooner ''or'' later than that, perhaps depending upon the comic concerned. Mega-comics in particular (e.g. interactive April Fool ones, or Time-like in scope, or those needing a "larger" version to be linked to to red properly) where genuinely there are potentially still more discoveries to be made for quite some time.<br />
<br />Far more certain are the Incomplete Transcript statuses, because as soon as everything in the comic image is properly described (give or take subjective opinions), and it's in the de facto meta-notation, then removal of that status can be swift and painless (and still open to edits). Though do note that Transcripts do ''not'' currently need to contain the Title Text (it's already transcribed into the comic template header area, if done correctly), and in fact this is discouraged by the consensus view. The transcript just puts in text what is not aready in machine-readable text (for various purposes). So it's not Incomplete if every bit of Randall-drawn text is in there, every bit of drawn imagery is (sufficiently) described and - if necessary - the layout and relationships of things are also described (e.g, "There is a table which has...", rather than trying to render the table only in wikitable markup). It may not be ''correct'', but it should at least be considered complete, give or take a detail or so. ;)<br />
<br />You might understand the community process best by actually going through page history for a comic's page, from the very first creation by theusafBOT (or whoever) and looking at successive diff-pages. Depends on how much time you have, though :-p [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 01:14, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Who '''''are''''' you talking to? There's no comment like that or user name like that here (at least I don't see a comment when scanning through them). I was GOING to say instead of relying on a Talk page you should Reply to his comment, with a colon, like this... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::There's a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/No_Idea_If_There%27s_A_Character_Limit_LMAO relatively new user], who has (it seems) being confused over (+ removing), Incomplete template stuff. They currently have no Talk page, so looks like the chosen approach to 'message' them was to post something in the latest Discussion spot and hope they spot it by default. May not be the ideal way, but I can imagine it maybe working?<br />
::My POV is that Incomplete tags are supposed to help direct people to explanations needing completing, but don't really. For several reasons both technical and logistical. So their harmless fall-back as a s/A BOT/SOMETHING 'FUNNY'/ canvas is probably more a thing to be cherished. Which is not to say that they should stay that way forever, but I wouldn't persoally rush to remove them.<br />
::(And, though it may confuse new readers, as with Citation Needed, if it gets them thinking about what they might add then it's a sneaky nudge to get fresh blood actively into the editing community. Win-win? Opinions will vary!) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.134|172.70.162.134]] 12:05, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Actually the comment/"by" doesn't matter, it's just intended to sign who felt it isn't done yet, in case someone wants clarity on what they feel is still missing, and this community simply co-opted it to add a joke instead. The IMPORTANT part is simply that the tag exists, it marks the page as still possibly needing editing to the Wiki system and all editors. The thing is, AS STATED it shouldn't be removed too easily, and certainly not as unilaterally as this guy seems to be doing. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:34, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yes, I see what you mean. WEIRD that he/she feels it's appropriate as a new user to unilaterally remove Incomplete tags or judge the community like that!!! I totally agree! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:34, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
Did you comment out this whole sub thread on purpose? Weird move, usually even when things change we leave comments in (see above our conversation about Solum Serif) as history, so people know how things have changed.[[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:34, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::If nobody had replied, I would have just entirely removed *my* comment the moment it was no longer the best(ish) place to make it. The follow-up of asking what I was trying to say was entirely dependant upon my having chosen to say it. The second follow-up was just building upon that. But once the purpose of this interlude was over, it really didn't need to be on public show. (Had considered using the noinclude tag on it, for 'half-hiding', or maybe onlyinclude? Tricky decision, that one. But definitely not the includeonly one! ;) )<br />
::::...anyway, chose this compromise. For what it is worth. Still here (and not merely in some versions of page-history), but ony really so important for *true* connoiseurs of the editing/diff pages, like you and I... :P ~~~~<br />
:::::I actually did the same thing as you, leaving him a note, but as he seems wont to remove the Incomplete tag, I put a comment like this next to the tag with his name on it, so he'll spot it if and when he tries to remove the Incomplete tag on the currently newest comic (the Loss Of Data scale, a week after this one). :) As a new user I figure he might not know how to check, or even ABOUT, his Talk page so I left a note asking him to check it. FYI, I found out the hard way that signing your comments doesn't work when commented out, so I had to uncomment it, then recomment it after. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:15, 19 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::::: I spotted that. Decent handling. Given the constraints of the medium.<br />
:::::: And, indeed, re: ~~~~. I (re)discovered it doesn't work only as I posted it, but thought it not worth worrying about! (...and the indent means nothing, but increasingly hard-to-count pairs of dots on the screen, while I already deliberstely reverted to plaintext *markup* to indicate tone, rather than '''markup'''-style!)<br />
:::::: But I have no identity other than a generally inconstant IP, so it's really not important to me, anyway. But what I'll do /this/ time is Preview with a set of tildes temporarily beyond the comment-markup and copy the result inside here. No guarantee it'll give the IP under which the change is saved, it won't "link" (to the useless place it would link to, without more effort) and the time will be slightly adrift, but it's something for 'posterity'. :P 141.101.98.39 17:10, 19 February 2023 (UTC) <br />
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I'm gonna make the comic sans/times new roman hybrid when I can get some time. Just calling dibs! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:54, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:yeah, this is just "comic serif". It already exists [https://twitter.com/kiersi/status/1492183706009694210 here] [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::No it's not, it SAYS "remove the serifs from Times and add them to Comic", Comic Serif has its own serifs AND is missing a Times missing serifs. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Sorry, I already decided last night I would and I just made it before I read your dibs, guess I should have said something, :) Not going to throw out my work! :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::It's fine! I kinda abandoned it anyways and I don't think I would have done quite as good a job [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:04, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I'd gotten as far as starting to manually tweak the tween-frames in a rather self-indulgent animated version. But your thing is as good as needs to be, and I don't have upload permissions here anyway, so it would have been too much fuss and probably just contributed to my own personal procrastination over the weekend. ;) {{unsigned ip|172.70.91.17|13:43 13 February 2023}}<br />
:::I have no reason to think I'd have upload permission either if there are people who don't, except my membership is a few years old. I don't think I've even had a Talk page for a year yet, and someone created that just because I said I didn't know why I wouldn't have one. This was my first ever upload, I had to look up how. (Simply starts with being logged in and clicking "Upload a file" in the menu on the left). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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In case anyone wanted to know what it would look like if you moved the serifs from Times New Roman to Comic Sans, here's the before and after. :) [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]][[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Please also adapt the [[kerning]]! This hurts my eyes. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 11:10, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I actually already knew what kerning was! And I know, right? But I wanted to leave everything else alone, just Cut and Paste the serifs, that's it, leave them as comparable as possible (in case it isn't clear, this was a case of [[Nerd Sniping]]). :) Maybe should have separated each letter with a space... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:33, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Randall's font isn't only serifs - there are some ball terminals in there as well.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.114|172.70.91.114]] 11:59, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Any guesses on what the text in the comic actually says? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.75|172.70.111.75]] 15:41, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:As the second comment in this talk box suggest, I think the serifs are consistent with AaBbCcDd (an easy way to showcase a typeface in a few characters). If I'm not mistaken, the transcript used to imply as much as well; does anyone know why that was removed, and can we be confident enough about the text to put that back in the transcript?<br />
:Also, sorry about not signing above. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 19:55, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:It's also mentioned in the (rather long) first paragraph of the Explanation. Better place. Might do better with some restructuring of the text, I might split/refactor the scrawl at some point, along the lines of various sub-points all squashed in there... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.113|172.70.91.113]] 23:06, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder whether this was a play on Only Fans -> Only Sans -> Only Serifs? {{unsigned ip|172.70.230.25|03:22, 14 February 2023}}<br />
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:If I know my fellow XKCD fans, it's only a matter of days until we'll see someone upload SEULSERIF.TTF --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.138|162.158.129.138]] 18:01, 14 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I made a version of this comic with the faint text "Aa Bb Cc Dd" overlaid in Times New Roman, showing how the serifs match up to the text, but I don't seem to have permission to create new pages so I can't upload the file. Can someone else do it for me and edit the article appropriately? The image is at https://matrix.theblob.org/2736-spoiler.png. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 20:07, 16 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I have no reason to think I'd have permission to upload if other people can't (except my membership is a few years old now), but when I wanted to - the Times/Comic Serif hybrid picture above - I just had to look up how (which starts simply by being signed in and clicking "Upload a file" on any page). Are you sure you don't have permission? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Quite sure. The upload form loads fine, but when I try to actually upload the image, it comes back with the error "You do not have permission to create new pages." --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 12:27, 8 March 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::That seems weird. Only things I can think of is either 1) You need an account of a certain age or contribution history, 2) It wants you to verify your email address (have you?) or 3) It wants you to have a User page and/or Talk page. I just created those, so maybe it'll work now? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 20:17, 10 March 2023 (UTC)<br />
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OMG, as I type this I'm at karaoke, and someone is singing a homemade karaoke track with the lyrics in Comic Sans! Coincidences dominate my life! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Is there An alphabet where the serifs affects the meaning? [[User:サ. ノ. ソ. シ.|127.0.0.1]] ([[User talk:サ. ノ. ソ. シ.|talk]]) 23:49, 25 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: The [[84|Cherokee]] syllabary may be an example. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 12:39, 4 March 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I made another version of the "Comic Serif" font. You can see an example here: https://imgur.com/a/WET4WvT. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.46|108.162.245.46]] 19:53, 25 March 2024 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:729:_Laser_Pointer&diff=334120Talk:729: Laser Pointer2024-02-03T02:56:48Z<p>108.162.245.46: /* removing the [citarion needed]s */ new section</p>
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<div>My cat still chases this hopeless dream. Sucker. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:29, 18 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The laser cavity link in the explanation now redirects to {{w|optical cavity}}. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.220|108.162.238.220]] 22:50, 28 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Cats with frickin' laser beams. *finger to lip* [[User:Jakee308|Jakee308]] ([[User talk:Jakee308|talk]]) 17:51, 9 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Cats have a large amount of morals? Since when?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 04:35, 2 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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== removing the [citarion needed]s ==<br />
<br />
does this wiki have any policey on the use of [citarion needed]s because based on wikipedia police the use's of it in this article should be removed</div>108.162.245.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Furries&diff=333986Category:Furries2024-02-01T14:47:33Z<p>108.162.245.46: </p>
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<div>{{w|Furry|Furries}} are fans of anthropomorphic animals. They often express their interests by wearing ears and tails, sometimes even constructing elaborate full-body fursuits that embody their {{w|fursona}}. They often are accused of sexual perversion, with all evidence to the contrary. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom Wikipedia:Furry Fandom] Randall's opinion on furries is currently unknown. <br />
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[[Category:Comics by topic]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>108.162.245.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=710:_Collatz_Conjecture&diff=325285710: Collatz Conjecture2023-10-10T00:40:38Z<p>108.162.245.46: /* Explanation: fixed typo: "Tn" to "In" */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 710<br />
| date = March 5, 2010<br />
| title = Collatz Conjecture<br />
| image = collatz_conjecture.png<br />
| titletext = The Strong Collatz Conjecture states that this holds for any set of obsessively-hand-applied rules.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The {{w|Collatz conjecture}} is a longstanding unsolved problem in mathematics. It states that repeating the sequence of operations described in the comic will eventually lead to the number 1. The description in the comic starts out accurate, then veers into the joke. The comic illustrates the sequence with a graph in which an arrow connects each number to its successor. For example, the number 22 is even, so the next number in the sequence is 22 ÷ 2 = 11, and there is an arrow from 22 to 11. On the other hand, 11 is odd, so the next number is 3 × 11 + 1 = 34, and there is an arrow from 11 to 34. According to the caption, [[Cueball]] is obsessively writing out the graph by hand and is so preoccupied with the task that he has stopped socializing with his friends. He will be busy for a very long time, because the Collatz conjecture has been confirmed for all starting values up to 5 × 10<sup>18</sup>.<br />
<br />
In the title text, the ''Strong Collatz Conjecture'' is a humorous extension of the Collatz Conjecture. Some other mathematical conjectures and axioms also have normal and Strong variants, where the Strong variant gives a more general rule. This practice is further parodied in [[1310: Goldbach Conjectures]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball sits in a chair at a desk, papers piled on top, writing furiously. Depicted above are apparently the writing, a series of nodes in various Collatz sequences (starting with 7, 21, 24, 29, 106, 176 and 256), all eventually leading back to 1.]<br />
:The Collatz Conjecture states that if you pick a number, and if it's even divide it by two and if it's odd multiply it by three and add one, and you repeat this procedure long enough, eventually your friends will stop calling to see if you want to hang out.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023542/https://store.xkcd.com/products/collatz-conjecture available as a T-shirt] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]<br />
[[Category:Number theory]]</div>108.162.245.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=640:_Tornado_Hunter&diff=137222640: Tornado Hunter2017-03-14T20:17:22Z<p>108.162.245.46: /* Explanation */ Grammar corrections</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 640<br />
| date = September 23, 2009<br />
| title = Tornado Hunter<br />
| image = tornado hunter.png<br />
| titletext = The Fujita scale was replaced by the enhanced Fujita scale in 2007, but I think 'EF-5' sounds stupid, so I vote we just use the new measurements for assigning number but still call them 'F-whatever'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is a play on the occupations/hobbies "{{w|tornado chaser}}" - someone who, instead of evacuating the area like normal people, actually goes in to get a closer look at the tornado - and "{{w|big game hunter}}", who often kill for trophies. Tornado chasers are typically, but not always, {{w|meteorologists}}. Here, the tornado chaser actually hunts the tornado with a gun like big game, the joke being that this is not possible in real life{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
The "F-3" is a reference to the {{w|Fujita scale}} used to classify tornado intensity. It goes from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, with an updated {{w|Enhanced Fujita scale}}, as mentioned in the title text, being used in the US since 2007.<br />
<br />
The title text is an aside from Randall, saying that he finds the notation for the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-#, for example EF-5 for a level 5 tornado,) to be stupid, and suggests that we continue to use the Enhanced Fujita scale to measure the strength of tornadoes, but abbreviate it to F instead, leading to the non-stupid "F-whatever" notation, whatever signifying the number of the tornado on the scale.<br />
<br />
This is the second comic about tornadoes, a [[:Category:Tornadoes|recurring subject]] on xkcd, but it was the first to actually show a tornado. Storm chasers hunting tornadoes was also mentioned in the first comic about tornadoes [[402: 1,000 Miles North]] and they were also shown in [[752: Phobia]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two people are in a car, which is driving past a cactus. The passenger has a pith helmet and a mustache.]<br />
:Cueball: The tornado's three miles west, moving northeast at 15 mph.<br />
:Passenger: Go right; get ahead of it.<br />
<br />
:[A tornado is visible. The passenger pulls out a gun, and stands up in the car.]<br />
:Passenger: Okay, we're in range! Stop here!<br />
<br />
:[The passenger fires the gun at the tornado.]<br />
:''BANG''<br />
:Tornado: AUGH!<br />
<br />
:Passenger: Big one! Must be an F-3!<br />
:Cueball: I'm not sure we're doing this right.<br />
:Passenger: Help me mount it on the hood.<br />
:[The passenger is holding the tornado by its tail.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]</div>108.162.245.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1738:_Moon_Shapes&diff=1315721738: Moon Shapes2016-11-26T19:11:59Z<p>108.162.245.46: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1738<br />
| date = September 26, 2016<br />
| title = Moon Shapes<br />
| image = moon_shapes.png<br />
| titletext = Whenever I see a picture of the moon where the points go more than halfway around, I assume it's being eclipsed by one of those Independence Day ships and interpret the rest of the image in light of that.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The Earth's {{w|Moon}}, being the most prominent object in the night sky, is a frequent subject of art; particularly art depicting a nighttime scene. Unfortunately, the moon often appears in works of art in ways that are very dramatic and would not be realistically possible. It may be done out of ignorance, or knowingly by taking {{w|artistic license}}. As someone interested in and who has worked in astronomy, this likely bothers [[Randall]].<br />
<br />
The Moon is well known to have "{{w|lunar phase|phases}}" describing what portion of the visible surface of the moon is illuminated by sunlight and highly visible, and what portion is dark, and generally only slightly visible when the moon appears while the sun is also up. These phases progress between "New" (when the surface facing the Earth is completely dark) and "Full" (when the surface facing the Earth is completely illuminated, appearing as a full disk as viewed from Earth). Mid-way between those extreme phases is a "Quarter" Moon, when exactly one-half of the surface facing Earth is completely dark, the light half being one-quarter of the total Moon's surface.<br />
<br />
Because the Moon is approximately spherical, its illuminated side appears as "crescent" in shape as it progresses from New to First Quarter phase. As it progresses from First Quarter to Full phase, observers on Earth see a Waxing "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gibbous Gibbous] Moon (which just means that the dark portion has formed a crescent). One can imagine this like a globe on which you draw a straight line from the north pole to the south pole down the center of the side facing you (appearing to create two semi-circles); upon rotating the globe, the line would become rounded as it moved away creating a crescent on the side the line was moved towards. Because of the geometry involved, a line connecting the two points (horns) of a Crescent Moon (or of the darkened crescent inverse of a Gibbous Moon) must be a diameter of the moon (i.e. it must pass through the center of the circle).<br />
<br />
The deliberate misidentification of a Waxing Gibbous Moon ("waxing" means going from new to full; that is increasing in illuminated area) as a "wax gibbon" (a Southeast Asian ape made of a nonpolar solid) is a source of humor in this comic. This is probably a reference to H.P. Lovecraft, who had several of his stories take place under "a gibbous moon" for dramatic effect, or even more likely a reference to the {{w|Discworld}} by {{w|Terry Pratchett}}, often referenced in xkcd (as in [[1498: Terry Pratchett]]). In the witch series the Gibbous Moon is mentioned several times as the most magic, rather than the more often used Crescent or Full Moon.<br />
<br />
Further, because the light portion of the Moon is illuminated by sunlight (whether or not the Moon is in the sky at the same time as the Sun), the light side of the Moon will always be facing towards the Sun. If the Moon is in the night sky, the Sun must be somewhere "below" the horizon on the other side of the Earth. Thus, at night, the light portion of the Moon must always be on the half of the Moon that faces the horizon (there are points during the daytime when the orientation can go the other way).<br />
<br />
It is worth noting that while the Moon's dark portion blends imperceptibly with the dark night sky, it is still a solid body. Therefore it would be impossible to see more distant objects such as stars "through" the dark portion of the Moon's circumference. This is most dramatically exemplified by a {{w|solar eclipse}} during which the Moon passes in front of the Sun and is therefore completely dark (the Sun is lighting only the far side), but the Moon's circumference still blocks a circular portion of the Sun's light. Therefore, if we were to see any lights in the part of the sky the dark side of the Moon blocks, they would need to be from sources between us and the Moon's surface, such as a nuclear war on the moon.<br />
<br />
This comic lists some of the some common mistakes. In some cases, a depiction may be unrealistic in multiple ways - for example, the {{w|Flag of Tunisia}} has both unrealistic horns and a star visible between the horns, while {{w|File:Moon tarot charles6.jpg|the Charles VI tarot}} shows a Moon with over-long horns pointing towards the horizon.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall is referring to the movie "{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}" and how one of the alien's ships (in the movie) 'eclipses' part of the Moon. He says that if the points go halfway or longer around the Moon, then he imagines it's caused by an alien ship and interprets the entire piece of art in that context (i.e. aliens are about to attack those shepherds!).<br />
<br />
==Table of the images==<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Explanation of individual items in the list<br />
!#<br />
!Image<br />
!Shape<br />
!Rating<br />
!Text<br />
!Explanation<br />
!Examples<br />
|-<br />
|1 || [[File:moon1.jpg]]|| Full moon || <font color="green">Normal</font> || rowspan="3" | "Full"&nbsp;or&nbsp;"Quarter"&nbsp;or&nbsp;"Harvest" or "Wax Gibbon" or whatever || Reality. The full moon cannot really be drawn incorrectly, and will look like this whenever it is up at night. ||<br />
|-<br />
|2 ||[[File:moon2.jpg]]|| Gibbous&nbsp;moon || <font color="green">Normal</font> || Reality, as in this is how one of the moon's phases looks on a normal basis. ||<br />
|-<br />
|3 ||[[File:moon4a.jpg]]|| Crescent moon with horns away from horizon || <font color="green">Normal</font> || Reality, as in this is how one of the moon's phases looks on a normal basis. ||<br />
|-<br />
|4 ||[[File:moon3.jpg]]|| Crescent moon with horns towards horizon || <font color="red">Not&nbsp;normal</font> || Not possible at night || This can only happen when the sun is above the horizon. Since a crescent moon means that the Sun and the Moon are relatively close in the sky, the Moon would not be visible with a naked eye, its light completely outshone by the sunlight. Randall comments that this is possible only during the daytime, marking it wrong as the background would not be black. According to this [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_phase#/media/File:Moon_phases_en.jpg image] on Wikipedia's article on {{w|lunar phase}} "Phases of the Moon, as seen looking southward from the {{w|northern hemisphere}}. The {{w|southern hemisphere}} will see each phase rotated through 180°". This might seem to indicate that shape #3, which is visible in for instance USA where Randall lives should be seen like #4 in the southern part of South America, also at night! However, because the light portion of the moon is illuminated by sunlight (whether or not the moon is in the sky at the same time as the sun), the light side of the moon will always be facing towards the sun. If the moon is in the night sky, the sun must be somewhere "below" the horizon on the other side of the Earth. Thus, at night, the light portion of the moon must always be on the half of the moon that faces the horizon. But as the text from Randall points out there can be times during daytime when the orientation can go the other way. But then the background should not be black. Originally Randall wrote a different (wrong) sentence here and then corrected to the one currently explained, see [[#Trivia|trivia]] below.|| Van Gogh, {{w|File:Van Gogh - Passeio ao Crepúsculo.jpg|Landscape with Couple Walking and Crescent Moon}}<br />
|-<br />
|5 ||[[File:moon5a.jpg]]|| Wide crescent-like moon where the horns don't connect through a diameter || <font color="red">Not normal</font>|| rowspan="2" | Only possible during a lunar eclipse (#1 only, dubious) or a solar eclipse (bright part is the Sun) || This is only possible during a partial solar eclipse or the start of an annular eclipse (in which cases the lit portion is not the moon, but the sun), or else if the Earth is casting its partial shadow on the Moon, a penumbral lunar eclipse. Randall labels the lunar eclipse "dubious", since the shadow during penumbral eclipse would be much lighter than shown here, in fact barely visible as a slight darkening of the Moon's surface. The Earth's shadow, being very large, would also likely cast a less-rounded edge than depicted here. || <br />
|-<br />
|6 ||[[File:moon6.jpg]]|| Narrow crescent-like moon where the points don't connect through a diameter || <font color="red">Not normal</font> || This situation is even harder to create than the previous one - unlike the previous example, here the diameter of the entire shadow is clear, and is too small for the Earth's shadow in a lunar eclipse. A huge ''Independence Day'' spaceship (as per the Title text) might be the right size. It does however resemble a partial {{w|annular eclipse}} if you imagine that the black area is the moon covering up the white sun. || {{w|File:AlcoholicBluesCoverVonTilze.jpg|Alcoholic Blues}}. Van Gogh, {{w|File:Van Gogh - Starry Night - Google Art Project.jpg|Starry Night}}, but turned the other way.<br />
|-<br />
|7 ||[[File:moon7.jpg]]|| Crescent moon blocking stars|| <font color="green">Normal</font> || Looks OK || Reality (as in image 3) with stars shown around the moon, but not any inside the sphere of the sky that would be blocked by the dark (but still present) side of the moon. (See [[#Trivia|trivia]] below though). ||<br />
|-<br />
|8 ||[[File:moon8.jpg]]|| Crescent moon with stars between horns || <font color="red">Not normal</font> || There's either a hole in the Moon or a nuclear war on its surface. || Many people (including artists) seem to forget that the dark portion of the moon is still a solid object that we can not see through.[http://imgur.com/S30fuOj][https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a7/7d/4a/a77d4ae9e3549e36edd350246d33700c.jpg] If stars are visible, there are either one or more holes in the moon, or the light-source is actually on the moon, such as nuclear explosions. As the {{w|Star and Crescent}}, the image is sometimes considered a symbol of Islam, although it's relatively recent and there's no traditional basis for putting the star ''between'' the horns - as originally used on the Flag of Turkey, the star appears in a realistic position. The flags of Algeria, Tunisia and some other countries show the star in the dark part of the moon. In the first Edwin Blashfield, {{w|File:Edwin Blashfield - Spring Scattering Stars.jpg|Spring Scattering Stars}} a God is standing on the moon throwing stars down, but then these stars are actually in front of the moon as are the good. Nothing in the image suggest that stars can be seen through the dark part of the moon. Also the {{w|DreamWorks Animation}} logo shows not stars. Although both show persons sitting on the seal, this is thus also clearly not an effort to make it look real. But in neither case stars can be seen in the moon. This is also the case for the live [https://youtu.be/xPpy8mYHQps?t=11 DreamWorks logo from movies]. Here there are stars in the background but they are not inside the moon as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f5/1738_Moon_Shapes_DreamWorks_logo_With_Moon_Circle.PNG can be seen here]. || An example can be found in the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/26/1738_Moon_Shapes_Mole_Car_Moon_With_Stars_Inside.png image on the last page] of [https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-mole-got-his-car/dp/B0000CKRB4 How mole got his car] with the {{w|Mole (Zdeněk Miler character)|Mole}} from the carton series by {{w|Zdeněk Miler}}. This is not just showing the stars inside from the last shape, but also the type of moon shown in the sixth image.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:'''Interpreting the shape of the moon in art'''<br />
:[The left part of the panel shows a two column chart is shown with labels above the columns. The left side shows the moons shape as white on a black square. These types of moons could be seen in certain art pieces. The right side saying whether this is normal or not as indicated with a green check mark or a red X. Right of the second column there are explanations of why the specific type of moon is marked as it is and what it could be called or how it could be possible even with the red X. The upper three moons have one common explanation as indicated with a bracket that covers all three with the text on the middle part of the bracket. Similarly moon five and six also have a bracket and only one explanation.]<br />
:Shape Normal?<br />
<br />
:[Shape #1-3 shows a white circle (full moon), a more than half full moon (Gibbon) and a thin seal at the bottom right of the square.] <br />
:<big><font color="green">✓</font></big><br />
:<big><font color="green">✓</font></big> "Full" or "Quarter" or "Harvest" or "Wax Gibbon" or whatever<br />
:<big><font color="green">✓</font></big><br />
<br />
:[Shape #4 same as #3 but with the seal in the upper part of the square.] <br />
:<big><font color="red">X</font></big> Not possible at night<br />
<br />
:[Shape #5-6 shows a full moon with a circular section taken out of the right side and a seal that goes almost all the way around the circumference of the moon with almost a full circle taken out of the top left part of the moon.]<br />
:<big><font color="red">X</font></big><br />
:<big><font color="red">X</font></big> Only possible during a lunar eclipse (#1 only, dubious) or a solar eclipse (bright part is the Sun)<br />
<br />
:[Shape #7 same as #3 but with the seal a little smaller and more to the top and less to the left. Around the moon there are several starts represented with 29 small white dots. In the center of the black square there is a black circle, coinciding with the outer rim of the seal. Within this circle (the dark side of the moon) there are no stars!]<br />
:<big><font color="green">✓</font></big> Looks OK<br />
<br />
:[Shape #8 same as #7 but apart from the 29 small white dots from before there are now also 6 more dots inside the dark circle with no stars in #7.] <br />
:<big><font color="red">X</font></big> There's either a hole in the Moon or a nuclear war on its surface.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* [[Randall]] changed the text for the fourth moon shape the next day from "Only possible during a solar eclipse" to "Not possible at night".<br />
** The original can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20160926101411/http://xkcd.com/1738/ here].<br />
* [[File:moon7a.jpg]] The image of the crescent moon blocking the stars is slightly wrong, because there are still lights on the surface of the moon.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]] <br />
[[Category:Fiction]] <!-- title text --><br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]</div>108.162.245.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:730:_Circuit_Diagram&diff=129608Talk:730: Circuit Diagram2016-10-30T22:16:40Z<p>108.162.245.46: </p>
<hr />
<div>So, is the arena a new kind of comparator or something? '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:28, 18 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
11:13, 10 April 2013 (UTC)11:13, 10 April 2013 (UTC)[[User:Jh6p|Jh6p]] ([[User talk:Jh6p|talk]])<br />
The 3 liter capacitor could also be a ball approximately 6 inches in diameter if the seams on the ball were similar to the seams on a basketball. Perhaps a volleyball?<br />
<br />
: "A squirrel. What it does as a circuit element is unsure."<br />
Perhaps an allusion to a {{w|Squirrel-cage rotor|squirrel cage}}?<br />
[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 18:51, 22 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: The shape of the squirrel's tail reminds me of a {{w|hysteresis}} curve, although this is admittedly a bit of a stretch. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 16:02, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The 'to scale' motor would be about half a mile wide. Powering the rabbit on Gaia's vibrator (also included)? --[[User:StarChaser Tyger|StarChaser Tyger]] ([[User talk:StarChaser Tyger|talk]]) 08:40, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I beg to differ on the flux capacitor thing, as cool as it sounds. Since it is right above the I-90 notation, it is more likely a fork in the road (notice the road stripes indicating that you can pass at any point in the fork). [[Special:Contributions/97.87.12.114|97.87.12.114]] 02:15, 24 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Oh, I'm pretty sure it's a flux capacitor. Compare some of [http://www.google.com/search?q=flux+capacitor&tbm=isch these images]. Yes, there are several road references in this comic, but an electronic reference (especially to a ''fictional'' electronic component!) makes more sense. Also I've never seen a Y-shaped highway intersection that looked quite like that (and especially not on an interstate). —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 14:52, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have wasted 4 hours on the puzzle, and after wasting 9 pages of A5 paper, the resistance of that terrible resistor mess worked out to be exactly 25265/33783 ohm, or about 0.74786135 ohm. --KopaLeo [[Special:Contributions/199.48.226.89|199.48.226.89]] 15:16, 27 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think that the "fishing float" might actually be a picture of an ordinary push switch (similar to foot switches used on standard lamps). [[Special:Contributions/87.194.171.29|87.194.171.29]] 16:12, 10 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isn't the "YES" resistor a reference to the anecdote of how John Lennon and Yoko Ono met? That's what I thought when I saw it, but then, I kinda like The Beatles a bit. [[Special:Contributions/200.70.22.74|200.70.22.74]] 12:27, 16 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the attempt to explain every single piece of the comic is rather silly. The humor largely draws from the absurdity of the diagram, and that can probably be summarized without going into detail about the possible references of each individual component. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 03:22, 26 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: I disagree. The joke works on multiple levels, both the absurdity of the circuit, and the smaller parts of which it is comprised. [[User:Hydroksyde|Hydroksyde]] ([[User talk:Hydroksyde|talk]]) 02:40, 21 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I concur with KopaLeo - I got the same answer for the resistance of the grid of resistors - about 0.748 when rounded. What a problem!<br />
--techdude<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.65|108.162.215.65]] 20:45, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I feel like I should point out that putting a ground connection in holy water probably creates {{w|Holy Ground}} [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.197|108.162.212.197]] 11:36, 26 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
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To center of Sun could possibly be another map reference. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.202|108.162.250.202]] 01:08, 19 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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The 'moral rectifier' seems like it's built of diodes which prevent current flow to the left, which might mean it's making the current 'more right'? with right being a synonym for moral?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.18|108.162.212.18]] 00:15, 17 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
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;3L capacitor<br />
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The capacitor reminded me of a time I asked my dad why desktop PCs (the kind we could afford at the time were 200-500 W) couldn't have capacitors to protect them from 1-second or shorter power interruptions without the cost of a UPS. He said such a capacitor would have to be as wide and tall as a 2L pop bottle. (He didn't say how much it would weigh.) [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 04:38, 9 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Where did the claim that the EKG is atrial fibrillation come from? At best it it hard to tell without a time scale what the ventricular rate is, but there is no evidence of extra P waves between QRS complexes that I see. If the diagnosis is made based on the absence of P & T waves, keep in mind that some recording conditions make those (especially T) hard to see. In an {{w|Einthoven's triangle}} arrangement, they might not show up at all above the noise. If we had a time scale that let us calculate ventricular rate, we might be able to conclude {{w|supraventricular tachycardia}}, but I'm hesitant to make a strong claim that this is abnormal at all given that it's hand drawn and we have no scale.[[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:07, 22 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Does this really belong in Category:Charts? I'm moving it to Category:Maps instead. [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 21:38, 19 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Are we really explaining "vibrator" as "a motor with an off-center weight attached to it"? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.97|141.101.91.97]] 06:51, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I just spent 3 hours trying to work out the resistor nest. I was unsuccessful. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:32, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I did an LTSpice simulation or the resistor mess. It looks like the 25265/33783 ohm answer above is correct. It drew 1.3371463 amps from a one volt source. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.133}}<br />
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Based on Randall's promotion of international standards (such as ISO 8601), it seems odd that he's using the US zigzag symbol for a resistor, rather than the IEC rectangular one. [[User:Walale12|Walale12]] ([[User talk:Walale12|talk]]) 21:37, 17 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Looking at the label "Tear Collector" I think it refers to the heartbeat below it, not the symbol above, suggesting that a heart (or heart break) is a likely source of tears. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.44}}<br />
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I'm not sure why the rat's nest of resistors is considered such a difficult problem. I would like to respectfully point out that by far the easiest way to solve it is by assuming a constant current through the network. You can then assign a name to each of the nodes, set one of the end nodes to 0V, and solve by KCL. Granted, there are 13 unknowns and 14 equations, but it still took less than 30 minutes to complete since they are all 1st order! archerator [[User:Archerator|Archerator]] ([[User talk:Archerator|talk]]) 04:57, 30 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
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120×72 @ 537,847: the coil symbol next to "Take off shirt while wiring this part. Ooh, yeah, I like that." is similar in appearance to chest hair in stylized comic strips. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 17:19, 5 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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144×177 @ 31,753 - Could the rats next of 1 Ohm resister be a reference the the sign that Blackhat holds up in: https://xkcd.com/356/ as you can't show an infinite numbers of 1 ohm resistors in the diagram?{{unsigned ip|141.101.98.108}}<br />
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To me, the arena calls to mind the one in the Labyrinth in the Percy Jackson book series. One of the figures resembles a centaur, which was a gladiator that was defeated in said arena in the scene it is introduced. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.46|108.162.245.46]] 22:16, 30 October 2016 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.46