https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.158.113&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T14:32:07ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:697:_Tensile_vs._Shear_Strength&diff=211456Talk:697: Tensile vs. Shear Strength2021-05-03T10:51:27Z<p>162.158.158.113: </p>
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<div>Does anyone know the tensile vs. shear strength of nanotubes? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User <br />
talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:33, 3 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"but it can be cut with a simple pair of pruning shears (also a pun on shear strength)" - I don't know the precise etymology of the word shears, but I would assume they are called such precisely because they operate on a shearing principle. While it is fair to assume that the use of the words 'pruning shears' is intentional (rather than 'scissors' or similar) , I wouldn't call it a pun (exploiting multiple meanings of words). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 16:07, 11 September 2014 (UTC) (Retroactively signed)<br />
<br />
I agree, it's not a pun. I'm going to change that.<br />
[[User:Spiral phi|Spiral phi]] ([[User talk:Spiral phi|talk]]) 19:32, 27 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I can't immediately think of any other rhyming comics. Are there any others? --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 16:07, 11 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
:At least [[206: Reno Rhymes]], [[491: Twitter]] and [[805: Paradise City]], and probably others. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 17:32, 23 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Though the thing would have buckled before all this could even have a chance to happen [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.71|108.162.254.71]] 16:22, 11 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Buckling is specifically a failure under compressive load. I'm assuming we are looking at a cable under tensile load caused by centrifugal force. (The old swinging a bucket on a rope trick). Wikipedia has an interesting {{w|Space Elevator}} article. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 12:23, 12 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Aargh! The first line lacks a syllable... E.g. THEN after countless engineers...[[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 10:31, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure the 3rd line's been changed; when I first read it, it ended with either "turns to tears" or "ends in tears". Can anyone confirm? [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 19:03, 31 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
More accurate to refer to punched holes in terms of being stress concentrators than in terms of cross-section reduction. Sharp corners can reduce stress to failure massively while only marginally reducing cross-sectional area [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.18|108.162.216.18]] 16:09, 24 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In reality, I believe that any space elevator would be nearly perfectly balanced, to the point that it would not even need to necessarily be connected to the ground. That is of course why a space elevator in and of itself is possible and why a material with great tensile strength is needed, as it would be perfectly balanced. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.170}}<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure you guys missed the reference to Burma Shave. The setup of the text is identical to the "burma shave" campaign (4 rhyming lines + "Burma Shave"). In this case Pruning Shears is used instead of Burma Shave which sounds quite similar (this is why he choose that over "scissors" or similar). See comic 491 for another reference. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.169|188.114.102.169]] 15:11, 24 August 2016 (UTC) msx80<br />
<br />
The Burma Shave connection is weak. The signs used only three or four syllables per line and just one rhyme (e.g., "Ben met Anna / Made a hit / Neglected beard / Ben Anna split"), and the "Burma Shave" was on a fifth, separate sign, not part of the rhyme. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 20:23, 25 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I find it cool there is a melody "Cerebral Plumbing" by Rom di Prisco, which fits the pattern of the poem. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.201|141.101.104.201]] 07:21, 28 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It’s written in Common Meter (mostly) which means that it fits to quite a number of tunes (especially if one is prepared to force the syllables a bit). The second line is the main one to break a little from this but with a bit of effort it can be sang to O Little Town or Bethlehem or even the Original Pokemon Theme.</div>162.158.158.113https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:697:_Tensile_vs._Shear_Strength&diff=211455Talk:697: Tensile vs. Shear Strength2021-05-03T10:50:11Z<p>162.158.158.113: Elaboration on claim that the lyrics fit to a given tune</p>
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<div>Does anyone know the tensile vs. shear strength of nanotubes? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User <br />
talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:33, 3 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"but it can be cut with a simple pair of pruning shears (also a pun on shear strength)" - I don't know the precise etymology of the word shears, but I would assume they are called such precisely because they operate on a shearing principle. While it is fair to assume that the use of the words 'pruning shears' is intentional (rather than 'scissors' or similar) , I wouldn't call it a pun (exploiting multiple meanings of words). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 16:07, 11 September 2014 (UTC) (Retroactively signed)<br />
<br />
I agree, it's not a pun. I'm going to change that.<br />
[[User:Spiral phi|Spiral phi]] ([[User talk:Spiral phi|talk]]) 19:32, 27 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I can't immediately think of any other rhyming comics. Are there any others? --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 16:07, 11 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
:At least [[206: Reno Rhymes]], [[491: Twitter]] and [[805: Paradise City]], and probably others. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 17:32, 23 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Though the thing would have buckled before all this could even have a chance to happen [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.71|108.162.254.71]] 16:22, 11 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Buckling is specifically a failure under compressive load. I'm assuming we are looking at a cable under tensile load caused by centrifugal force. (The old swinging a bucket on a rope trick). Wikipedia has an interesting {{w|Space Elevator}} article. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 12:23, 12 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Aargh! The first line lacks a syllable... E.g. THEN after countless engineers...[[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 10:31, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure the 3rd line's been changed; when I first read it, it ended with either "turns to tears" or "ends in tears". Can anyone confirm? [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 19:03, 31 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
More accurate to refer to punched holes in terms of being stress concentrators than in terms of cross-section reduction. Sharp corners can reduce stress to failure massively while only marginally reducing cross-sectional area [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.18|108.162.216.18]] 16:09, 24 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In reality, I believe that any space elevator would be nearly perfectly balanced, to the point that it would not even need to necessarily be connected to the ground. That is of course why a space elevator in and of itself is possible and why a material with great tensile strength is needed, as it would be perfectly balanced. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.170}}<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure you guys missed the reference to Burma Shave. The setup of the text is identical to the "burma shave" campaign (4 rhyming lines + "Burma Shave"). In this case Pruning Shears is used instead of Burma Shave which sounds quite similar (this is why he choose that over "scissors" or similar). See comic 491 for another reference. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.169|188.114.102.169]] 15:11, 24 August 2016 (UTC) msx80<br />
<br />
The Burma Shave connection is weak. The signs used only three or four syllables per line and just one rhyme (e.g., "Ben met Anna / Made a hit / Neglected beard / Ben Anna split"), and the "Burma Shave" was on a fifth, separate sign, not part of the rhyme. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 20:23, 25 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I find it cool there is a melody "Cerebral Plumbing" by Rom di Prisco, which fits the pattern of the poem. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.201|141.101.104.201]] 07:21, 28 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It’s written in Common Meter (mostly) which means that it fits to quite a number of tunes (especially if one is prepared to force the syllabus a bit). The second line is the main one to break a little from this but with a bit of effort it can be sang to O Little Town or Bethlehem or even the Original Pokemon Theme.</div>162.158.158.113https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2456:_Types_of_Scientific_Paper&diff=211328Talk:2456: Types of Scientific Paper2021-04-29T19:54:36Z<p>162.158.158.113: </p>
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<div>I've a feeling we could find actual papers that paraphrase down to those in the comic. Also, lol at the 500 scientists' "citation" section. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.104|162.158.159.104]] 20:36, 28 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
As we edit this we should probably pay attention to the content / layout of the article images: The number of lines beneath the title and layout of each "paper" he's drawn could be relevant to the joke. For example, the "500 scientists" presumably have a massive authors list, and the one on how "everyone else is doing it wrong" has a single author and a particularly "article-esque" layout.<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.45|172.68.132.45]] 21:04, 28 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:True. Do you think we should add another column describing the pictured paper to the explanation chart?<br />
[[User:Reywas|Reywas]] ([[User talk:Reywas|talk]]) 21:06, 28 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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For the "student volunteers" paper, many experiments involve adding hurdles for the participants to deal with. Like interrupting them, depriving them of sleep, adding distracting information, etc. It's not uncommon that these make them worse at the tasks. So this is just another research paper like that. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 01:24, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:Isn't the 'hurdles' style of paper WAY more common than the proposed psychological experiment? It's describing a simple tasks cognitive function test. They run those all the time to prove the effects of oxygen, caffeine, sleep, sugar, music, trauma, comfortable chairs, the color yellow, etc. I can't recall seeing ANY paper like the suggested psychology experiment to make people unlearn skills, let alone enough for that to be a whole category.<br />
<br />
Nobody has pointed out that the "Maybe all these categories are wrong" title directly pertains to this very comic... [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 02:17, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:I think that’s the more likely ‘correct’ interpretation, honestly. Maybe we should add more detail now that it’s mentioned? [[User:Tague|Tague]] ([[User talk:Tague|talk]]) 12:56, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Should we add another colum to include the corresponding LaTeX template? Some of them seem like that could easily be found.<br />
<br />
These are titles of papers, so shouldn't each word be capitalized? For example: "We Put a Camera Somewhere New". I realize that the original is in all caps, but that's because that's the usual format for comics . . . . [[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.179|172.68.57.179]] 10:45, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:Paper titles are usually not capitalized, contrary to journal names. You can see an example at the [https://repositorio.uc.cl/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11534/13948/Observation%20of%20a%20new%20particle%20in%20the%20search%20for%20the%20Standard%20Model%20Higgs%20boson%20with%20the%20ATLAS%20detector%20at%20the%20LHC.pdf Higgs Boson] paper cited in the comic description (there are, of course, others.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 11:32, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Why does the explanation say "There are no headers" for the "We put a camera somewhere new" paper? I assume "headers" refers to "section headers", of which I see more in the camera-paper than in e.g. the immune system-paper (or the old records-paper). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.28|141.101.96.28]] 11:25, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:Probably referring to the lack of actual legible ''text'' for us to comment on the content of the paper. [[User:Tague|Tague]] ([[User talk:Tague|talk]]) 12:49, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I feel that the assumption made in a lot of the table that the text in each Paper is meant to be their literal title, is wrong. It strikes me more as an humorous explanation of "what sort of paper this is" for instance the first paper would indicate that a relevant category of scientific papers are about a camera being put someplace new and the data/photo's gathered from that, rather than an example of "clickbait". The actual papers in that category would presumably have an actual name relating to where the camera was actually put. 14:29, 29 April 2021 (UTC)~<br />
<br />
::I interpret them as a mix of "over-generalized" headlines and less-than-literal summaries of that general sort of paper's content. [[User:Tague|Tague]] ([[User talk:Tague|talk]]) 14:41, 29 April 2021 (UTC)<br />
::I read (e.g., for starters) "We put a camera somewhere new" both as very true to the emotional spirit ''and'' a paraphrasing of the true archetype membership being referenced - such as something like "Rat-mounted cameras for remote surveying of sewer pipes" (if that's not already been done, which I suspect it has!), etc. I suspect there's a few "one weird thing"-inspired title out there, influenced by modern 'headline' links (with or without self-awareness), and ''know'' there's a whole history of "my colleague is wrong!" papers, even if not in exactly that wording, pushing the author's own biases in a self-important ranting style, or a rambling one that's an unstructured manifesto of 'thoughts' about all prior 'expeets' on a pet issue. There's some deconstruction involved, but with easy reconstruction back to reality. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.113|162.158.158.113]] 19:54, 29 April 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.158.113https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2456:_Types_of_Scientific_Paper&diff=2112042456: Types of Scientific Paper2021-04-28T21:43:57Z<p>162.158.158.113: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2456<br />
| date = April 28, 2021<br />
| title = Types of Scientific Paper<br />
| image = types_of_scientific_paper.png<br />
| titletext = Others include "We've incrementally improved the estimate of this coefficient," "Maybe all these categories are wrong," and "We found a way to make student volunters worse at tasks."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a RESEARCH DEPARTMENT ON A LUNCHBREAK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
In this comic, Randall describes categories of scientific papers with somewhat humorous generalized titles.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Breakdown of Papers<br />
|-<br />
|Paper Title<br />
|Explanation<br />
|Article Description<br />
|-<br />
|We put a camera somewhere new<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Hey, I found a trove of old records! They don't turn out to be particularly useful, but still, cool!<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|My colleague is wrong and I can finally prove it<br />
| This title refers to the occasional rivalries between scientists within a field, which can push them to seek proof that they, and not their colleague, are correct.<br />
|Note the single author listed, and the lack of headers, suggesting an argument more than an explanation of data<br />
|-<br />
|The immune system is at it again<br />
|The human immune system is notoriously complex, and there are countless papers in medical fields just describing its strangeness<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|We figured out how to make this exotic material, so email us if you need some<br />
|Researchers often attempt to create materials despite there not being any demand, predicting that in the future their material will be game-changing without any actual applications. These researchers have created such a material, and are offering to produce it for anyone who needs it<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|What are fish even doing down there<br />
|Deep sea marine biology regularly discovers [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7QXdlSBGGY strange lifeforms] in unexpected places, and theories explaining deep sea ecosystems are regularly confounded by new data. <br />
|This paper does not appear to have any headers<br />
|-<br />
|This task I had to do anyway turned out to be hard enough for its own paper<br />
|There is a huge variety in the complexity and importance of subjects studied in scientific papers, and often some supposedly easy task will be sufficiently complicated as to merit its own paper.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Hey, at least we showed that this method can produce results! That's not nothing, right?<br />
|One of the struggles of the scientific method is that many experiments will not produce the results scientists desired or expected. These results are still (sometimes) important, but are often ignored compared to research with important findings<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Check out this weird thing one of us saw while out for a walk<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|We are 500 scientists and here's what we've been up to for the last 10 years<br />
| Some papers summarize the work of big research teams, like those working on the [https://repositorio.uc.cl/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11534/13948/Observation%20of%20a%20new%20particle%20in%20the%20search%20for%20the%20Standard%20Model%20Higgs%20boson%20with%20the%20ATLAS%20detector%20at%20the%20LHC.pdf Higgs Boson] (list of authors starts at page 17) or LIGO. Since the discoveries which are made are a team effort, the papers have many authors listed.<br />
|A huge portion of the page is taken up by the presumably 500 authors' names, above the main horizontal bar.<br />
|-<br />
|Some thoughts on how everyone else is bad at research<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|We scanned some undergraduates<br />
|Some initial research, especially that on a low budget, may recruit students at the same institution as easily available test-subjects. Quite often these are psychological or sociological studies, but can involve more medical (but non-invasive) 'scans', from simple eyeball-tracking to full-body MRI.<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
Trivia: Originally, this comic's title text misspelt volunteers as volunters. This may be intentional (WE might be the volunteers). This was quickly corrected.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Title: Types of Scientific Paper<br />
<br />
''An array of scientific papers is shown, with only their titles legible. Titles are as follows:''<br />
<br />
We put a camera somewhere new<br />
<br />
Hey, I found a trove of old records! They don't turn out to be particularly useful, but still, cool!<br />
<br />
My colleague is wrong and I can finally prove it<br />
<br />
The immune system is at it again<br />
<br />
We figured out how to make this exotic material, so email us if you need some<br />
<br />
What are fish even doing down there<br />
<br />
This task I had to do anyway turned out to be hard enough for its own paper<br />
<br />
Hey, at least we showed that this method can produce results! That's not nothing, right?<br />
<br />
Check out this weird thing one of us saw while out for a walk<br />
<br />
We are 500 scientists and here's what we've been up to for the last 10 years<br />
<br />
Some thoughts on how everyone else is bad at research<br />
<br />
We scanned some undergraduates<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.158.113https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2455:_Virus_Consulting&diff=2110852455: Virus Consulting2021-04-27T02:27:41Z<p>162.158.158.113: /* Explanation */ Too complicated. Made differently complicated.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2455<br />
| date = April 26, 2021<br />
| title = Virus Consulting<br />
| image = virus_consulting.png<br />
| titletext = All our teams make an effort to stay optimistic, but I will say that once our virus division saw the vaccine efficacy data, they started asking for payment up front.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a COVID virus. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic imagines a scenario where Ponytail and Black Hat work for a {{w|consulting firm}}, which offers advice about viruses, specifically COVID-19. Ponytail tells a panel of people (the government?) that though they are worried about COVID-19 variants, the fact that the number of people vaccinated is exponentially increasing is a good sign. One of the people she is speaking to accuses Ponytail of simply "telling them what they want to hear".<br />
<br />
The punchline comes when the panel discovers that another client for the firm is the ''viruses'' themselves. Black Hat presents the same graph to the viruses and gives them the opposite message: though COVID-19 variants seem to be exciting to them, vaccination numbers are terrible news to their propagation and survival. This repeats the tone of #[[2287]]: from the virus' perspective, they are in a lot of trouble, which is another way of saying that humanity stands a good chance of surviving this situation.<br />
<br />
{{w|Variants of SARS-CoV-2|SARS-CoV-2 variants}}, commonly called "COVID variants", have been in the news. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has mutated into many different strains, some of which spread more easily among humans. It is unknown whether the different variants have a greater individual fatality rate. The current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as well as the Regeneron therapeutic monoclonal<br />
antibodies all effectively protect against at least the New York, South African, and U.K. variants according to [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/health/covid-ny-variant-vaccine.html two recent study preprints] released April 22, 2021. Further research and peer review is ongoing.<br />
<br />
The title text notes that the firm's "virus division" (the group advising the viruses themselves) has started to get worried that their jobs are becoming obsolete, due to vaccine efficacy. Thus, they are demanding to be paid "up front", or before consulting/advising services have been rendered to their clients. Dependant upon the expectations of each party, payment can be asked for "up front", defered for invoicing once services have been rendered or a combination of the two. The weaker party to a contract may often need to submit their transaction, or a guarantor, before the other spends too much effort in fulfilling their element.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Ponytail stands in front a chart, labeled "Vaccinations", with an upward-curving line, and several box-and-whisker plots below. She is holding a pointer and speaking to a panel composed of Hairbun, Cueball and Megan.]<br />
:Ponytail: Now, I know you're worried about the variants, but this graph should be encouraging.<br />
:Ponytail: Your rollout is going well. The vaccines are good. They work.<br />
<br />
:[The comics pans to the left to show just the panel and Ponytail. Ponytail has the pointer to her side.]<br />
:Hairbun: You're just telling us what we want to hear.<br />
:Ponytail: If you think that, you should see the reports from my colleagues who work for COVID.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Ponytail.]<br />
:Off-screen voice: They work for '''''who??'''''<br />
:Ponytail: Our firm has lots of clients.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat stands in front of the same graph as panel one, and points to it with a pointer. He is speaking to a panel of three large coronaviruses.]<br />
:Caption: Meanwhile...<br />
:Black Hat: Now, I know you're excited about the variants, but this graph should be terrifying.<br />
:Black Hat: We're in real trouble here.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>162.158.158.113https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1086:_Eyelash_Wish_Log&diff=200817Talk:1086: Eyelash Wish Log2020-10-30T21:26:26Z<p>162.158.158.113: Is Feb 19 a jibe at the dysfunctionalityof US law making?</p>
<hr />
<div>This is one of my favorite xkcd comics ever. I can't stop laughing. -- #TEBOWTIME 17:14, 17 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
: i know right?? feb. 27th is by far the best... --[[User:Douglasadams472|Douglasadams472]] ([[User talk:Douglasadams472|talk]]) 03:12, 16 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: It seems to me that February 6th's wish implies that, as a result of the previous day's wish, he now has an absurdly large number of eyelashes. Opinions? --[[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) 02:58, 26 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:i thought they were absurdly long eyelashes, like his wings in infinite wings (sry cant make links) {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.5}}<br />
::Actually, the guy with unlimited wings is Beret Guy.. (as seen in the "strange powers of beret guy" category on this site).. Black Hat's the "classhole". --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 11:31, 13 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I thought of Black Hat having a crazy number of eyelashes, but not attached to him, so he can't pull them for a wish. They're just in a pile on the floor or something. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.187}}<br />
<br />
I feel that each wish should be thoroughly explained, or at least briefly mentioned. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.193}}<br />
: +1, Marking this 'incomplete' [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 20:09, 7 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
March 15 may reference a painting of M.C. Escher so named "House of Stairs" [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.79|199.27.128.79]] 08:19, 8 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:"Revocation of rules" and especially "meta-wishes" must be references to [http://amberbaldet.com/uploads/little-harmonic-labrynth.html "Typeless Wish" scene in Göedel, Escher, Bach]. "banish people into the TV show they're talking about" might(?) also reference the plot there where Achiles and Tortoise enter Escher's Convex and Concave painting after discussing it. Surpsingly to me, that episode's only Escher illustrations are Concave and Convex & Reptiles; House of Stairs does not appear anywhere in the book. [[User:Cben|Cben]] ([[User talk:Cben|talk]]) 00:48, 9 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
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What did "zero wishes" mean? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.86|173.245.48.86]] 18:16, 2 April 2014 (UTC) <br />
:Often when configuring software (especially regarding limits) 0 is taken to mean infinite, for example in a mail server's config file there may be an entry that looks like "Max number of connections: (enter 0 for unlimited)" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.170|141.101.98.170]] 19:24, 7 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:My take on "zero wishes", is that it is a bit of black hattery. He wants to abuse any system he finds, by asking for zero wishes he wants to cause the eyelash wish system to crash in some way. Its not an attempt to gain more wishes, its an attempt to bring the wish system down.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.165|141.101.98.165]] 21:16, 8 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
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My take on the title text was that Black Hat wanted to alter friction for his own amusement, rather than to affect the outcome of a sporting event as the current explanation seems to lean towards.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 12:32, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Agreed. It is very in-characcter for Black Hat to simply want to mess with people, and would be very out of place to care about such trivialities as points. Ima change the mouseover description now.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.97|173.245.48.97]] 16:18, 22 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I took the April 22 wish to mean that Black Hat would have a Pokeball that works in real life, allowing him to steal the pets of random strangers on the street.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.124|173.245.52.124]] 23:34, 27 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:"Hey! No stealing another Trainer's Pokémon!". Also, talk of changing friction coefficients reminds me of the GTA "Carmageddon" videos, where the wheel friction on all the cars was set to -1, leading to most of the game being filled with cars flying through the air and exploding. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 23:30, 13 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
::I may have used my Masterball trying to catch another trainer's Pokemon. I cracked up after it failed, but now I have no Masterball. :( {{unsigned ip|198.41.239.34}}<br />
:::You know, there was a side series of Pokemon games that let you capture another trainer's Pokemon. It was kind of required if you wanted more than one or two Pokemon on your team. And on that day, Black Hat was mailed a copy of Pokemon Colosseum... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.65|162.158.79.65]] 23:06, 14 March 2017 (UTC)<br />
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The first wish is an example of bootstrapping. I love it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.76|108.162.238.76]] 23:31, 14 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I think the title text is a reference to the comics where he talks about Pole vaul's record involving that some records where obtain because they were nearest of equators[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.112|108.162.229.112]] 11:22, 20 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
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It would appear, for March 7th, that this came true... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.96|173.245.52.96]] 00:05, 24 November 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I got rickrolled. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.67|162.158.62.67]] 00:50, 13 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
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I personally like these wishes: (1) The power to know all knowable things (to include a full understanding of all available trigger conditions for wishes in the universe),<br />
(2) the ability to always win arguments with wish granting entities, including about numbers of wishes they should grant, (3) for a stone so heavy no wish could lift it, (4) to lift that stone.<br />
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(3) and (4) together form the Russell Paradox. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.170|108.162.219.170]] 18:09, 27 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I interpreted the February 19 entry as being a joke that the US Congressional process of passing legislation is '''so''' dysfunctional that it ends up establishing laws that did not conform to the wishes of ''anyone at all''!</div>162.158.158.113https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2378:_Fall_Back&diff=200803Talk:2378: Fall Back2020-10-30T01:02:21Z<p>162.158.158.113: </p>
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Ah, that American thing. Late to The Great War, late to WW2, every year late turning the clocks back in '''autumn'''... ;) <br />
(Seriously, though - at least under xkcd terms - surely [[320|2''9''-hour]] days.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.32|162.158.159.32]] 02:02, 29 October 2020 (UTC)<br />
:That schedule doesn't change the length of the day, though, just the sleep cycle to accommodate 20 hours of wakefulness. [[User:OhFFS|OhFFS]] ([[User talk:OhFFS|talk]]) 16:40, 29 October 2020 (UTC)<br />
[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:51, 29 October 2020 (UTC)Yep, both sides are convinced the other side has been in a state of altered consciousness for the past 6 years. And the 20% in the center thinks that both sides have gone insane.<br />
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The election has only been bitter to the liberals, because they are going to loose. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 21:16, 29 October 2020 (UTC)<br />
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@SDSpivey: Right? I still really like XKCD, but the peppering of political bias in the last few years is irritating. Not everything has to be fused with political commentary. Can't XKCD be it's own thing? It feels like how different TV shows start off great, then with their success start just riding the wistless wave of popular culture and public opinion in a sad attempt to stay relevant without making any substantive commentary (think about Simpsons, for instance). We've gone from normal life being fine to now EVERYONE having to state what side of every issue they're on. Just... be you. Stop making everything about whatever current story is in the news. I miss XKCD being XKCD rather than another player on the public stage imposing their political opinions. Just be a human we can all relate to, no matter the political persuasion. Political ideology doesn't correlate with IQ, and since XKCD caters to an audience with above-average IQ, Randall's making the same mistake as everyone else by isolating half the audience. [[User::Anonymous|Anonymous]] 16:01, 29 October 2020 (MST)<br />
:Hello, you two. Look at the comic. Look at the explanation. Look in this segment. Look at your two comments in particular. Which bit is stating an actual full on bias/preference? The bit with you two in. We know which way Randall leans as preference, as it happens, but if we thought he leant the other way the same comic coming from the anti-Randall would ''still'' work as well. If you can't see that, the problem isn't with xkcd. (And even if it was, everyone is free to find and appreciate anti-Randall's 'dckx' webcomic. In fact, if you know a good one, I wouldn't mind a look.) As to the result, those who can and wish to vote should do so (if they haven't already) and only when everyone has done that and been tabulated will we know this. If you have a sincere prediction, remember that loads of others have similarly sincere (but dissimilarly tinted) predictions and the universe isn't going to automatically obey your personal preference without everything else lining up. So maybe you'll he lucky. Me, I've got no skin in the game (except as someone living on the same planet) and can't influence the election even by a single vote. This isn't about changing opinions, it's about changing attitudes. And that's even less likely. Meh. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.113|162.158.158.113]] 01:02, 30 October 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.158.113