https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.159.19&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T15:55:22ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2724:_Washing_Machine_Settings&diff=3047832724: Washing Machine Settings2023-01-15T05:05:59Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Explanation */ I'm sure I've not exhausted the separately interpretated meanings of the word "light" (illuminated?), but in such an abbreviated context this is *exactly* the kind of thing I'd like a manual to properly elaborate upon.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2724<br />
| date = January 13, 2023<br />
| title = Washing Machine Settings<br />
| image = washing_machine_settings_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 308x524px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I guess the engineers who built my dishwasher MIGHT have some insight into how to load it, but instead of reading the booklet they gave me, it seems easier to experiment for years and then get in arguments so heated that I get banned from Quora.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a GUY ON QUORA TYPING RTF(WM)M - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
The comic strip depicts Cueball (possibly [[Randall]]) standing in front of a washing machine, wondering which settings starts to use on his washing machine. He starts guessing which settings would do what from the perspective of an engineer, planning to look up detailed information on what the settings do and when to use them. However, he doesn't realize that all the information he is looking for should be found by looking at his product manual. Most of the time, people don't spend time on viewing product manuals and instead just use whatever settings seem best to them, obviously not going into the depth of thought Cueball has fallen into.<br />
<br />
This comic may allude to the fact that product manuals are easy to lose, at which point the person having questions about the product is obliged to find other ways to find out how to use the product.<br />
<br />
Settings on appliances with dials or radio-button selectors are often contradictory and arbitrary. In this case Cueball likely is trying to wash something that is both "delicate" and has "colors", but is forced to choose between them, even though there would ideally be a washer setting that includes both. Due to the vaguaries of the terminology employed by the interface design team, the "(Light)" ''may'' indicate that the treatment is actually gentle, for this colors-specific setting; but it might just as easily be specifying suitability for either brighter ''or'' more pastel hues, in some manner, or even be there to take over the function of the "half load" control for the quicker and less resource-intensive cycle. <br />
<br />
The title text proposes deliberately ignoring the manual for a dishwasher and continuing to use the internet and other people for information on household devices, as with in the comic itself. It references [http://quora.com Quora], a website which allows users to publicly ask questions and answer the questions of others. This website is not typically known for its debates, although the situation in this comic could probably lead to one - when someone who doesn't really understand the subject provides an answer, it could lead to a lengthy and unnecessary argument as multiple parties, at least one of them being incorrect, continue to stand their ground rather than be persuaded. Although Quora moderation is notably inconsistent, being inflammatory (as people tend to be in debates that progress too long) could lead to one's account being reported and banned, like on a typical social network or forum.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is standing in front of a large combination washing machine/dryer, holding a coat, wondering.]<br />
:Cueball: Okay, do I want "Colors (light)" or "Delicate"? Does delicate mean less agitation? Or a slower spin?<br />
:Cueball: I should Google, I bet clothing experts have experimented with various settings/clothing combos.<br />
:Cueball: Ooh, someone should make a tool that indexes people's results by washer model, so you can look up what settings to use for a given...<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel]:<br />
: Every now and then I forget that product manuals exist and spend a while reinventing them.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=2962761729: Migrating Geese2022-10-09T16:13:47Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Table of labels */ Ok, so the reason the sentence broke was the removal of an explanatory chunk, I just realised. Replacing that and making my own (rather more drastic not just correcting/rephrasing) interpretation.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1729<br />
| date = September 5, 2016<br />
| title = Migrating Geese<br />
| image = migrating_geese.png<br />
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the "leading" one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in "alpha" positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others "lead" the swarm. Popular earlier beliefs about an "alpha goose" heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br />
<br />
This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br />
<br />
Apart from a "twin engine" goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, "Dammit, Kevin" when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): "I thought of an idea for a vacation..." This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br />
<br />
===Table of labels===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Name<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Head Goose<br />
(4th in line to the British throne)<br />
|Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}}. As of the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}, in 2022, she gained one place and the new fourth in line became {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} (her younger brother).<br />
In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a "Canadian" goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} are being Protestant and directly related to {{w|Sophia of Hanover}}, who died in 1714, the line of succession is long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] Though there probably aren't any geese in that list (even Catholic ones), the head goose being deemed the fourth in line (or the fourth in line being deemed a head goose) may be mocking the concept of the line of succession and/or any perception of the arbitrary nature of its membership.<br />
|-<br />
|Quarterback<br />
|A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br />
|-<br />
|Comptroller<br />
|A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br />
|-<br />
|Migration abort goose<br />
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br />
|-<br />
|Twin-Engine Model<br />
|This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The "tails" also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two motors: one on each wing instead of one in the nose. Later Randall made no less than eight plane/birds combination like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br />
|-<br />
|CIA Informant<br />
|A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|Backups<br />
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data "migrations" where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br />
|-<br />
|Shock Front<br />
| A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br />
|-<br />
|Missing Valence Geese<br />
|In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of "electron sharing" (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper "valence geese" in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br />
In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the "valence holes". It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br />
|-<br />
|Stealth cargo being escorted <br />
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled "{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}". This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin<br />
|Also mentioned in the title text. It is unclear what the name refers to. It may refer to:<br />
* The "go-to name" for [[Randall]] at the time of this comic's release, as he also used the name in [[1719: Superzoom]], ten comics before this one; as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This was thus the only second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictitious person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]. Here is also mentioned the only four real Kevins that has been mentioned by name in xkcd. (None of those are mentioned here below).<br />
* An {{w|Eddie Izzard}} skit about migrating birds (Eddie Izzard - Religions, Cats & Migrating Birds). A group of birds are following Kevin, assuming that he knows where he is going, but he gets lost and they end up in the wrong place.<br />
* Kevin McCallister from the {{w|Home Alone}} movies, who gets separated from his parents a lot. (see [[1164: Home Alone]]).<br />
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp Kevin of reddit fame], the dumbest person ever.<br />
* One of the {{w|Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions}} from the "{{w|Despicable Me}}" franchise ([http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin]), who leaves the main Minion group in search of a new master.<br />
* The intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}. <br />
* [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. Especially the "Dammit Kevin" mentioned in the title text could arise from this.<br />
* [http://the321penguins.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguins! 3-2-1 Penguins!], who "will answer questions and save planets without even knowing he could."<br />
* {{w|We Need to Talk About Kevin}}, a book and drama film about a deranged child.<br />
* Kevin Beckman, the dimwitted receptionist from the 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Answer_the_Call Ghostbusters] movie.<br />
* The internet meme (especially in Europe) according to which being named Kevin connotates being the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&edit-text=&act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br />
* The <u>'''''idiot.'''''</u><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Understanding Migration of Geese<br />
<br />
:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br />
:Head goose: Head goose <small>(4<sup>th</sup> in line to the British throne)</small><br />
:Right no. 1: Quarterback<br />
:Right no. 3: Comptroller<br />
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br />
:Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br />
:Right no. 8: CIA informant<br />
:Bottom right corner: Kevin<br />
:Behind center: Backups<br />
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br />
:Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br />
:Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=2962751729: Migrating Geese2022-10-09T16:04:48Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Table of labels */ Forgot the first markup line-break did not need explicit (additional) tag-breaking. And trying to make a sentence say what it must have been intended to.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1729<br />
| date = September 5, 2016<br />
| title = Migrating Geese<br />
| image = migrating_geese.png<br />
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the "leading" one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in "alpha" positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others "lead" the swarm. Popular earlier beliefs about an "alpha goose" heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br />
<br />
This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br />
<br />
Apart from a "twin engine" goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, "Dammit, Kevin" when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): "I thought of an idea for a vacation..." This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br />
<br />
===Table of labels===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Name<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Head Goose<br />
(4th in line to the British throne)<br />
|Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}}. As of the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}, in 2022, she gained one place and the new fourth in line became {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} (her younger brother).<br />
In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a "Canadian" goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} make the list long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] The head goose being fourth in line may be mocking the length of the line of succession.<br />
|-<br />
|Quarterback<br />
|A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br />
|-<br />
|Comptroller<br />
|A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br />
|-<br />
|Migration abort goose<br />
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br />
|-<br />
|Twin-Engine Model<br />
|This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The "tails" also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two motors: one on each wing instead of one in the nose. Later Randall made no less than eight plane/birds combination like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br />
|-<br />
|CIA Informant<br />
|A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|Backups<br />
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data "migrations" where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br />
|-<br />
|Shock Front<br />
| A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br />
|-<br />
|Missing Valence Geese<br />
|In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of "electron sharing" (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper "valence geese" in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br />
In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the "valence holes". It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br />
|-<br />
|Stealth cargo being escorted <br />
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled "{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}". This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin<br />
|Also mentioned in the title text. It is unclear what the name refers to. It may refer to:<br />
* The "go-to name" for [[Randall]] at the time of this comic's release, as he also used the name in [[1719: Superzoom]], ten comics before this one; as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This was thus the only second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictitious person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]. Here is also mentioned the only four real Kevins that has been mentioned by name in xkcd. (None of those are mentioned here below).<br />
* An {{w|Eddie Izzard}} skit about migrating birds (Eddie Izzard - Religions, Cats & Migrating Birds). A group of birds are following Kevin, assuming that he knows where he is going, but he gets lost and they end up in the wrong place.<br />
* Kevin McCallister from the {{w|Home Alone}} movies, who gets separated from his parents a lot. (see [[1164: Home Alone]]).<br />
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp Kevin of reddit fame], the dumbest person ever.<br />
* One of the {{w|Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions}} from the "{{w|Despicable Me}}" franchise ([http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin]), who leaves the main Minion group in search of a new master.<br />
* The intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}. <br />
* [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. Especially the "Dammit Kevin" mentioned in the title text could arise from this.<br />
* [http://the321penguins.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguins! 3-2-1 Penguins!], who "will answer questions and save planets without even knowing he could."<br />
* {{w|We Need to Talk About Kevin}}, a book and drama film about a deranged child.<br />
* Kevin Beckman, the dimwitted receptionist from the 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Answer_the_Call Ghostbusters] movie.<br />
* The internet meme (especially in Europe) according to which being named Kevin connotates being the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&edit-text=&act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br />
* The <u>'''''idiot.'''''</u><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Understanding Migration of Geese<br />
<br />
:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br />
:Head goose: Head goose <small>(4<sup>th</sup> in line to the British throne)</small><br />
:Right no. 1: Quarterback<br />
:Right no. 3: Comptroller<br />
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br />
:Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br />
:Right no. 8: CIA informant<br />
:Bottom right corner: Kevin<br />
:Behind center: Backups<br />
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br />
:Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br />
:Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=2962741729: Migrating Geese2022-10-09T16:02:24Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Table of labels */ More clarification. Added a para-break within the table cell, for hopefully more readability of an already dense clump of information..</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1729<br />
| date = September 5, 2016<br />
| title = Migrating Geese<br />
| image = migrating_geese.png<br />
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the "leading" one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in "alpha" positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others "lead" the swarm. Popular earlier beliefs about an "alpha goose" heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br />
<br />
This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br />
<br />
Apart from a "twin engine" goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, "Dammit, Kevin" when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): "I thought of an idea for a vacation..." This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br />
<br />
===Table of labels===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Name<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Head Goose<br />
(4th in line to the British throne)<br />
|Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}}. As of the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}, in 2022, she gained one place and the new fourth in line became {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} (her younger brother).<br />
<br />In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a "Canadian" goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] The head goose being fourth in line may be mocking the length of the line of succession.<br />
|-<br />
|Quarterback<br />
|A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br />
|-<br />
|Comptroller<br />
|A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br />
|-<br />
|Migration abort goose<br />
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br />
|-<br />
|Twin-Engine Model<br />
|This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The "tails" also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two motors: one on each wing instead of one in the nose. Later Randall made no less than eight plane/birds combination like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br />
|-<br />
|CIA Informant<br />
|A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|Backups<br />
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data "migrations" where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br />
|-<br />
|Shock Front<br />
| A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br />
|-<br />
|Missing Valence Geese<br />
|In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of "electron sharing" (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper "valence geese" in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br />
In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the "valence holes". It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br />
|-<br />
|Stealth cargo being escorted <br />
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled "{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}". This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin<br />
|Also mentioned in the title text. It is unclear what the name refers to. It may refer to:<br />
* The "go-to name" for [[Randall]] at the time of this comic's release, as he also used the name in [[1719: Superzoom]], ten comics before this one; as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This was thus the only second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictitious person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]. Here is also mentioned the only four real Kevins that has been mentioned by name in xkcd. (None of those are mentioned here below).<br />
* An {{w|Eddie Izzard}} skit about migrating birds (Eddie Izzard - Religions, Cats & Migrating Birds). A group of birds are following Kevin, assuming that he knows where he is going, but he gets lost and they end up in the wrong place.<br />
* Kevin McCallister from the {{w|Home Alone}} movies, who gets separated from his parents a lot. (see [[1164: Home Alone]]).<br />
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp Kevin of reddit fame], the dumbest person ever.<br />
* One of the {{w|Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions}} from the "{{w|Despicable Me}}" franchise ([http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin]), who leaves the main Minion group in search of a new master.<br />
* The intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}. <br />
* [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. Especially the "Dammit Kevin" mentioned in the title text could arise from this.<br />
* [http://the321penguins.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguins! 3-2-1 Penguins!], who "will answer questions and save planets without even knowing he could."<br />
* {{w|We Need to Talk About Kevin}}, a book and drama film about a deranged child.<br />
* Kevin Beckman, the dimwitted receptionist from the 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Answer_the_Call Ghostbusters] movie.<br />
* The internet meme (especially in Europe) according to which being named Kevin connotates being the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&edit-text=&act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br />
* The <u>'''''idiot.'''''</u><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Understanding Migration of Geese<br />
<br />
:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br />
:Head goose: Head goose <small>(4<sup>th</sup> in line to the British throne)</small><br />
:Right no. 1: Quarterback<br />
:Right no. 3: Comptroller<br />
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br />
:Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br />
:Right no. 8: CIA informant<br />
:Bottom right corner: Kevin<br />
:Behind center: Backups<br />
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br />
:Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br />
:Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=2962731729: Migrating Geese2022-10-09T15:58:54Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Table of labels */ Correction (punctuation, e.g. missing paren) turned into a sentence rewrite/reordering edit.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1729<br />
| date = September 5, 2016<br />
| title = Migrating Geese<br />
| image = migrating_geese.png<br />
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the "leading" one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in "alpha" positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others "lead" the swarm. Popular earlier beliefs about an "alpha goose" heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br />
<br />
This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br />
<br />
Apart from a "twin engine" goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, "Dammit, Kevin" when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): "I thought of an idea for a vacation..." This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br />
<br />
===Table of labels===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Name<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Head Goose<br />
(4th in line to the British throne)<br />
|Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}}. As of the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}, in 2022, this became {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} (her younger brother). In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a "Canadian" goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] The head goose being fourth in line may be mocking the length of the line of succession.<br />
|-<br />
|Quarterback<br />
|A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br />
|-<br />
|Comptroller<br />
|A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br />
|-<br />
|Migration abort goose<br />
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br />
|-<br />
|Twin-Engine Model<br />
|This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The "tails" also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two motors: one on each wing instead of one in the nose. Later Randall made no less than eight plane/birds combination like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br />
|-<br />
|CIA Informant<br />
|A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|Backups<br />
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data "migrations" where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br />
|-<br />
|Shock Front<br />
| A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br />
|-<br />
|Missing Valence Geese<br />
|In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of "electron sharing" (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper "valence geese" in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br />
In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the "valence holes". It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br />
|-<br />
|Stealth cargo being escorted <br />
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled "{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}". This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin<br />
|Also mentioned in the title text. It is unclear what the name refers to. It may refer to:<br />
* The "go-to name" for [[Randall]] at the time of this comic's release, as he also used the name in [[1719: Superzoom]], ten comics before this one; as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This was thus the only second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictitious person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]. Here is also mentioned the only four real Kevins that has been mentioned by name in xkcd. (None of those are mentioned here below).<br />
* An {{w|Eddie Izzard}} skit about migrating birds (Eddie Izzard - Religions, Cats & Migrating Birds). A group of birds are following Kevin, assuming that he knows where he is going, but he gets lost and they end up in the wrong place.<br />
* Kevin McCallister from the {{w|Home Alone}} movies, who gets separated from his parents a lot. (see [[1164: Home Alone]]).<br />
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp Kevin of reddit fame], the dumbest person ever.<br />
* One of the {{w|Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions}} from the "{{w|Despicable Me}}" franchise ([http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin]), who leaves the main Minion group in search of a new master.<br />
* The intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}. <br />
* [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. Especially the "Dammit Kevin" mentioned in the title text could arise from this.<br />
* [http://the321penguins.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguins! 3-2-1 Penguins!], who "will answer questions and save planets without even knowing he could."<br />
* {{w|We Need to Talk About Kevin}}, a book and drama film about a deranged child.<br />
* Kevin Beckman, the dimwitted receptionist from the 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Answer_the_Call Ghostbusters] movie.<br />
* The internet meme (especially in Europe) according to which being named Kevin connotates being the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&edit-text=&act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br />
* The <u>'''''idiot.'''''</u><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Understanding Migration of Geese<br />
<br />
:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br />
:Head goose: Head goose <small>(4<sup>th</sup> in line to the British throne)</small><br />
:Right no. 1: Quarterback<br />
:Right no. 3: Comptroller<br />
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br />
:Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br />
:Right no. 8: CIA informant<br />
:Bottom right corner: Kevin<br />
:Behind center: Backups<br />
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br />
:Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br />
:Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=2962721729: Migrating Geese2022-10-09T15:52:21Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Table of labels */ ...also this mysterious editing error (or at least I hope it was an error!)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1729<br />
| date = September 5, 2016<br />
| title = Migrating Geese<br />
| image = migrating_geese.png<br />
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the "leading" one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in "alpha" positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others "lead" the swarm. Popular earlier beliefs about an "alpha goose" heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br />
<br />
This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br />
<br />
Apart from a "twin engine" goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, "Dammit, Kevin" when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): "I thought of an idea for a vacation..." This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br />
<br />
===Table of labels===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Name<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Head Goose<br />
(4th in line to the British throne)<br />
|Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}} (now {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} by the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}. In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a "Canadian" goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] The head goose being fourth in line may be mocking the length of the line of succession.<br />
|-<br />
|Quarterback<br />
|A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br />
|-<br />
|Comptroller<br />
|A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br />
|-<br />
|Migration abort goose<br />
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br />
|-<br />
|Twin-Engine Model<br />
|This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The "tails" also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two motors: one on each wing instead of one in the nose. Later Randall made no less than eight plane/birds combination like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br />
|-<br />
|CIA Informant<br />
|A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|Backups<br />
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data "migrations" where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br />
|-<br />
|Shock Front<br />
| A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br />
|-<br />
|Missing Valence Geese<br />
|In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of "electron sharing" (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper "valence geese" in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br />
In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the "valence holes". It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br />
|-<br />
|Stealth cargo being escorted <br />
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled "{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}". This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin<br />
|Also mentioned in the title text. It is unclear what the name refers to. It may refer to:<br />
* The "go-to name" for [[Randall]] at the time of this comic's release, as he also used the name in [[1719: Superzoom]], ten comics before this one; as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This was thus the only second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictitious person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]. Here is also mentioned the only four real Kevins that has been mentioned by name in xkcd. (None of those are mentioned here below).<br />
* An {{w|Eddie Izzard}} skit about migrating birds (Eddie Izzard - Religions, Cats & Migrating Birds). A group of birds are following Kevin, assuming that he knows where he is going, but he gets lost and they end up in the wrong place.<br />
* Kevin McCallister from the {{w|Home Alone}} movies, who gets separated from his parents a lot. (see [[1164: Home Alone]]).<br />
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp Kevin of reddit fame], the dumbest person ever.<br />
* One of the {{w|Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions}} from the "{{w|Despicable Me}}" franchise ([http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin]), who leaves the main Minion group in search of a new master.<br />
* The intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}. <br />
* [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. Especially the "Dammit Kevin" mentioned in the title text could arise from this.<br />
* [http://the321penguins.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguins! 3-2-1 Penguins!], who "will answer questions and save planets without even knowing he could."<br />
* {{w|We Need to Talk About Kevin}}, a book and drama film about a deranged child.<br />
* Kevin Beckman, the dimwitted receptionist from the 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Answer_the_Call Ghostbusters] movie.<br />
* The internet meme (especially in Europe) according to which being named Kevin connotates being the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&edit-text=&act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br />
* The <u>'''''idiot.'''''</u><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Understanding Migration of Geese<br />
<br />
:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br />
:Head goose: Head goose <small>(4<sup>th</sup> in line to the British throne)</small><br />
:Right no. 1: Quarterback<br />
:Right no. 3: Comptroller<br />
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br />
:Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br />
:Right no. 8: CIA informant<br />
:Bottom right corner: Kevin<br />
:Behind center: Backups<br />
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br />
:Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br />
:Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=2962711729: Migrating Geese2022-10-09T15:49:19Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Table of labels */ Somehow, the prior edit managed to push two (not at all obviously similar) joke entries into a single item. If actually believed that Quarterbacks are related to Royals, make a comment upon the QB 'row' about its relationship.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1729<br />
| date = September 5, 2016<br />
| title = Migrating Geese<br />
| image = migrating_geese.png<br />
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the "leading" one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in "alpha" positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others "lead" the swarm. Popular earlier beliefs about an "alpha goose" heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br />
<br />
This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br />
<br />
Apart from a "twin engine" goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, "Dammit, Kevin" when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): "I thought of an idea for a vacation..." This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br />
<br />
===Table of labels===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Name<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Head Goose<br />
(4th in line to the British throne)<br />
|Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}} (now {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} by the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}. In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a "Canadian" goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] The head goose being fourth in line may be mocking the length of the line of succession.<br />
|-<br />
|Quarterback<br />
|A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br />
|-<br />
|Comptroller<br />
|A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br />
|-<br />
|Migration abort goose<br />
|This might be a reference to launch af bort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br />
|-<br />
|Twin-Engine Model<br />
|This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The "tails" also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two motors: one on each wing instead of one in the nose. Later Randall made no less than eight plane/birds combination like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br />
|-<br />
|CIA Informant<br />
|A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|Backups<br />
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data "migrations" where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br />
|-<br />
|Shock Front<br />
| A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br />
|-<br />
|Missing Valence Geese<br />
|In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of "electron sharing" (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper "valence geese" in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br />
In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the "valence holes". It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br />
|-<br />
|Stealth cargo being escorted <br />
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled "{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}". This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin<br />
|Also mentioned in the title text. It is unclear what the name refers to. It may refer to:<br />
* The "go-to name" for [[Randall]] at the time of this comic's release, as he also used the name in [[1719: Superzoom]], ten comics before this one; as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This was thus the only second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictitious person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]. Here is also mentioned the only four real Kevins that has been mentioned by name in xkcd. (None of those are mentioned here below).<br />
* An {{w|Eddie Izzard}} skit about migrating birds (Eddie Izzard - Religions, Cats & Migrating Birds). A group of birds are following Kevin, assuming that he knows where he is going, but he gets lost and they end up in the wrong place.<br />
* Kevin McCallister from the {{w|Home Alone}} movies, who gets separated from his parents a lot. (see [[1164: Home Alone]]).<br />
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp Kevin of reddit fame], the dumbest person ever.<br />
* One of the {{w|Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions}} from the "{{w|Despicable Me}}" franchise ([http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin]), who leaves the main Minion group in search of a new master.<br />
* The intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}. <br />
* [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. Especially the "Dammit Kevin" mentioned in the title text could arise from this.<br />
* [http://the321penguins.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguins! 3-2-1 Penguins!], who "will answer questions and save planets without even knowing he could."<br />
* {{w|We Need to Talk About Kevin}}, a book and drama film about a deranged child.<br />
* Kevin Beckman, the dimwitted receptionist from the 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Answer_the_Call Ghostbusters] movie.<br />
* The internet meme (especially in Europe) according to which being named Kevin connotates being the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&edit-text=&act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br />
* The <u>'''''idiot.'''''</u><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Understanding Migration of Geese<br />
<br />
:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br />
:Head goose: Head goose <small>(4<sup>th</sup> in line to the British throne)</small><br />
:Right no. 1: Quarterback<br />
:Right no. 3: Comptroller<br />
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br />
:Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br />
:Right no. 8: CIA informant<br />
:Bottom right corner: Kevin<br />
:Behind center: Backups<br />
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br />
:Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br />
:Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2678:_Wing_Lift&diff=2956702678: Wing Lift2022-09-29T23:04:47Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Explanation */ Reassessing the description of the various stages of motion.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2678<br />
| date = September 28, 2022<br />
| title = Wing Lift<br />
| image = wing_lift_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 679x358px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Once the air from the top passes below the plane of the wing and catches sight of the spooky skulls, it panics, which is the cause of turbulent vortices.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SPOOKED OUT BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Wings can produce {{w|Lift (force)|lift}}.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
Randall previously dealt with explanations of wing lift in [[803: Airfoil]].<br />
<br />
There are three actual reasons why airplane wings produce lift:<br />
* {{w|Bernoulli's principle}} (which is the most frequently cited)<br />
* The airplane wing is angled up at the front so that air hits the bottom and is pushed downwards.<br />
* {{w|Coandă effect}} (The top is curved, so air going over the wing must curve downwards in order to avoid creating a vacuum above the back of the wing, and by Newton's third law, this results in an upwards force on the wing.)<br />
The comic references all three of these reasons. Airflow splitting references Bernoulli's principle, while the air at the bottom being scared and fleeing downwards is similar to the actual effect, which is caused by air hitting the angled bottom of the wing. The air going over the top curving down references the Coandă effect, claiming that this effect is instead caused by the top-flow of air itself noticing the bottom side of the wing, fleeing from the printed skulls after first only going down to investigate why the bottom-flow had done so. The mention of Newton's third law is indeed correct, even if the movement of the air is for the wrong reasons.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Caption at the top of the panel:] How a wing produces lift<br />
<br />
[A diagram of the cross-section of a plane wing. It is large and rounded on the left end and flat on the bottom while the top curves down to meet it at a sharp point. There are many small arrows indicating the flow of wind, as well as captions.]<br />
<br />
[The arrows come from the left of the panel, point towards the wing, and then half begin to go over and half begin to go under. A caption in the middle of this flow reads:] Airflow splits around the top and bottom of the wing<br />
<br />
[A circle underneath the diagram is connected to an arrow which points to the underside of the wing. A repeating pattern of small black (simplified) skulls fills the circle and arrow. The caption to the right of this is:] Spooky skulls microprinted on the bottom of the wing frighten the air, which flees away downward<br />
<br />
[The arrows begin to curve downwards after this caption, and are joined by the top arrows which have also begun to curve downward. In these arrows is a caption:] Top air goes to see what's wrong<br />
<br />
[Both streams of arrows have joined and are pointing to the bottom right of the panel. In front of them is a caption:] By Newton's third law, downward deflection of air pushes wing upward<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[category:Engineering]]<br />
[[category:Physics]]<br />
[[category:Aviation]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2677:_Two_Key_System&diff=295595Talk:2677: Two Key System2022-09-27T18:51:54Z<p>162.158.159.19: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Ah, for many long moments, I thought the "dual-key-turner" was a "dual-key-''cutter''" (but that it was a silly implemention, anti-parallel coaxial positioning of key blanks needs a complicated (pantograph?) cutting-heads system, more so than with parallel and adjacent blanks of ''any'' number). But now I'm on the right track and I laugh at the ''correct'' joke, and can think of any number of developments in safe (as in not 'forgotten') and secure (as in not misappropriated) password use that went into and out of the various "convenience for user"/"security for systems" modes, often mutually exclusive to the other mode. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.61|172.70.90.61]] 15:33, 26 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've long been annoyed that I can't use password auto-fill on Chrome's online password manager webpage. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:36, 26 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Do you remember how banks were all "two-factor authentication" when we used to access them from computer and made us use the phone for confirmation? And how they don't seem to mind now when the bank can be completely controlled just from the (smart)phone? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:35, 26 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Although I think this extends well beyond 'merely' "passwords" (in all their forms and combinations, from PINs to fingerprints!) I've taken the general feeling so far seen here in Talk and bulked up the explanation with the allegorical connections that ''might'' be the source of inspiration for the comic. And if you gave me the time to do it, I'd put an awful lot more (strange, really, I was often tired of rewriting SOPs to reflect the latest best-practices in 2FA/3FA when that was actually a big part of my job! "What you know/What you have/What you are"...) and without skipping over huge chunks. But (even if some bits get cut back down again) I think I've added value and maybe some narrative flow to the initial explanation, which was ok but perhaps not even how I would have arranged it (having then tried to preserve that skeleton arrangement of ideas). Darnit, I now sound full of myself. That's just me winding down from a big hot-edit that maybe even was too big, and anxiously awaiting someone else doing an even better total-rewrite/summary, regardless of what I just splurged there... ;) ((But, to clarify, the comic never mentions passwords. Highly likely it is (keys!) but it could be more wider ranging development issues. I'm sure I'll understand the moment someone clues me in on some other scope that this might actually reference.)) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.245|172.70.90.245]] 22:00, 26 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just to add something 'from the old days' (n.b., probably still applies to many non-web server logins, just rarer in more ubiquitous weblogins) is that any system that forces users to regularly change their passwords also tended to encourage the use of "Password1", "Password2", "Password3", sequentially (well, at least then you had a recent password to refresh in your mind), as they ''at least'' disallowed the immediate reuse of the last current password to replace itself, and possibly 'remembered' a number of past incarnations. But you tend not to get that feature (forced change/no reuse) on much of the modern infrastructure. It tends to focus more on a general form ("use special characters/uppercase!", as well as minimum lengths), which doesn't preclude bad 'sequential' practices (if you're even needing to do that) if you get ever "g!b³riZh1", "g!b³riZh2", "g!b³riZh3" started, then compromised by whatever means or reason... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.49|172.70.85.49]] 22:45, 26 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"This could also be something of a reference to ‘two factor authentication’ a security annoyance which also requires ‘two keys’ (typically something from a dynamic physical token, as well as the static password which is susceptible to unauthorised reuse) that was adopted by more secure websites." - a stretch too far, IMO. This is a situation that has never gone from 'two keys' to 'one key (operator)' and back to 'two keys'. If anything, it might have been 2FA(password + token)->2FA(browser/password-manager + token), or even 1FA(password)->1FA(browser/whatever)->2FA( +token) for the slower/earlier adopters who had not originally worked out the token element. I've commented it out, because it isn't a good enough fit to really fit the analogy presented. Unless one of the other experts here can radically fix it to do so.<br />
<br />I don't personally use third-party PMs (either it's safe enough to just let the browser manage it, for convenience, or I actually remember all the individual passwords for things and untick any "Save password?" suggestion it gives me) so I also don't know how much 2FA is built into them in order to authorise them to "dual-key turn" (or if they even turn more than the one key, in any logical way), if you don't count the use of the installed PM itself as a virtual "possession" factor somehow. And I don't bank online, because I've never seen the advantages outweigh the potential problems. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 18:51, 27 September 2022 (UTC)</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2052:_Stanislav_Petrov_Day&diff=2955672052: Stanislav Petrov Day2022-09-27T00:14:07Z<p>162.158.159.19: Undo revision 295561 by 172.70.230.109 (talk) If not vandalism, then more than merely a mistake...</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2052<br />
| date = September 28, 2018<br />
| title = Stanislav Petrov Day<br />
| image = stanislav_petrov_day.png<br />
| titletext = I was going to get you an alarm clock that occasionally goes off randomly in the middle of the night, but you can ignore it and go back to sleep and it's fine.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{w|Stanislav Petrov|Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov}} was a lieutenant colonel of the {{w|Soviet Air Defence Forces}} who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from {{w|nuclear war}}" for his role in the {{w|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}. The incident was unknown to the public until it was revealed shortly before the {{w|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} in 1991.<br />
<br />
On 26 September 1983, during the {{w|Cold War}}, the satellite-based early-warning system of the {{w|Soviet Union}} reported the launch of multiple {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles}} from the {{w|United States}}. At the time, tensions with the U.S. were on edge, and high officials of the Soviet Union, including General Secretary {{w|Yuri Andropov}}, were thought to be highly suspicious of a U.S. attack.<br />
<br />
Petrov checked ground-based radars which had not detected a launch, noted that the warning system had detected only 1-5 missiles instead of the hundreds that would have been expected in the event of a {{w|pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike}}, and chose to mark the system alert as a false alarm. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would have probably resulted in immediate escalation of the Cold War stalemate to a full-scale nuclear war and the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had indeed malfunctioned.<br />
<br />
While it is highly probable that if Petrov had reported this incident to his superiors they would have come to the same conclusion, it was a point in time when many people feared that the Cold War might become hot. Andropov, the new Soviet leader, was considered weak by the US president {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, and the Western countries were deploying new missile installation in Europe to counter existing missiles in the Eastern Bloc. This fear of nuclear war meant that at this time the {{w|Peace movement|peace movement}} in most western countries reached one of its highest levels.<br />
<br />
In this comic [[Cueball]] reacts to his alert on Stanislav Petrov Day as if it was a false alarm. This is of course a truly ironic since what we celebrate is that Stanislav treated an alert as a false alarm. Also his first comment "Oh shoot" could have been the reaction of Stanislav if he had not assumed it was a false alarm.<br />
<br />
In real life, many ''alerts'' reach everybody on their mobile devices, often causing them to be ignored without deeper knowledge about the issue behind. This was however not the point in this comic.<br />
<br />
The title text presents a much less important false alarm where one of them, probably [[Cueball]] (or perhaps [[Randall]]), was thinking about giving a gift to the other one in the form of an alarm clock that alerts randomly in the middle of the night. That particular alarm is one where she or he can just breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep because it's not a real alarm and is perfectly safe to ignore. However if this keeps going off when it’s not supposed to, then when you are actually supposed to wake up you may very well end up assuming that it’s another false alarm, and thus will sleep late anyway, completely defeating the point of the alarm. Also when a real alarm is supposed to wake you up in the middle of the night, you will have been trained to ignore alarms. This is all part of the joke.<br />
<br />
====History of Petrov Day as a holiday====<br />
On the 2007 anniversary, {{w|Eliezer Yudkowsky}} wrote a [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day blog post] for {{w|LessWrong}} suggesting that "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world." Not destroying the world has since evolved into an annual tradition. There is a [http://petrovday.com/ website] for the holiday, with several variations of a ritual involving lighting and snuffing candles. The intended mood is that of a somber holiday, somewhere between {{w|Thanksgiving}} and a funeral.<br />
<br />
However, there are also [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day more lighthearted takes]. A "hardcore mode" would be just like the normal holiday, but "During said ceremony, unveil a large red button. If anybody presses the button, the ceremony is over. Go home. Do not speak." Alternatively, "you use a website connected to *another* house where people are also celebrating Petrov Day. If anyone in one house presses the button, the other house receives a launch alarm. They have 60 seconds to respond. At the end of 60 seconds, their party is over, and they must go home silently. The website has some chance of giving you a false alarm." The website can be found [https://petrovday.bubbleapps.io/ here] with instructions on how to use it [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day#s4XtBX7Qg9btGf5Kx here]. <br />
<br />
Stanislav Petrov himself died in 2017, but in 2018 the {{w|Future of Life Institute}} decided to [https://futureoflife.org/2018/09/26/50000-award-to-stanislav-petrov-for-helping-avert-wwiii-but-us-denies-visa/ award] his surviving family a $50,000 prize for his contributions. However, in the words of MIT Professor Max Tegmark, who presented the award, the fact that Petrov's son couldn't "get a visa to visit the city his dad saved from nuclear annihilation is emblematic of how frosty US-Russian relations have gotten, which increases the risk of accidental nuclear war.”<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is looking at her phone while Cueball stands in front of her.]<br />
:Megan: Hey, Wednesday was Stanislav Petrov Day. We missed it.<br />
:Cueball: Oh, shoot!<br />
:Cueball: I got a calendar alert for it, but I assumed it was a false alarm.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2663:_Tetherball_Configurations&diff=293560Talk:2663: Tetherball Configurations2022-08-27T11:39:50Z<p>162.158.159.19: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Is anyone else reminded of the "classes of a lever" sort of classification? Where the load, fulcrum, and force are permuted. I know that's not explicitly connected to this comic, but it feels like a similar vibe, since you've got 4 (or 3 out of the 4) elements, and you're just changing the order they're oriented relative to each other. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 03:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ground-rope-ball is arguably a playable cooperative configuration. Player 1 whirls the ball above her head like a bola; Player 2 attempts to hit the ball and get it to reverse direction. Play continues until the ball hits the ground. The final score is equal to the number of reversals. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.43|172.70.93.43]] 06:29, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
: Ground-rope-ball is actually quite legit - I have one of these somewhere in the basement... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FT0Z95kN4w [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:59, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:: How does that base stay on the ground? --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: It's quite heavy. You could have the same result by somehow connecting the rope directly to the ground. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:35, 25 August 2022 (UTC) <br />
: Ground-rope-ball (GRB) definitely looks good. If you just place it in a playground and let some kids mess around, I guarantee they will eventually come up with rules that make for a fun game. It might not be Tetherball, but it's gotta be worthy of at least 4 stars. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Not agreeing that it would work in any way related to Tetherball. But a call stuck in the ground like this would definitely get kicked by kids. So as a game it might be used, gut not as Tetherball. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:27, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::Though I take your point that the original comic probably intends the meaning of the rating as being "how good AS tetherball" I disagree that it's that bad at being tether ball. There is still a ball, it is tethered and you can even kick it and have it orbit back towards you. [[User:Nbrader|Nbrader]] ([[User talk:Nbrader|talk]]) 12:20, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I feel like this comic missed some opportunities:<br />
*Pole-Rope-Pole: Nunchuks<br />
*Ground-Pole-Rope-Pole-Ground: Tightrope<br />
*Pole: This configuration could be used at the same time as the above for added stability<br />
I'm sure there are more![[User:Nbrader|Nbrader]] ([[User talk:Nbrader|talk]]) 12:20, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:"Pole" could also be for Festivus. [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 04:36, 26 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:If it doesn't have a ball, can it really be called tetherball? I think the ball and rope are the minimum requirements. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:48, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Rope: Otherwise known as Tug-of-war. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 10:22, 26 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Denmark I never played this game, but often played {{w|Totem tennis}} (tether tennis or swingball). Had to find out what it was called in English first before I could write it here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:27, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I always assumed that tetherball/swingball was effectively the same whether entirely freely pivoting/rolling-over or as the helical-track system (which just automated the 'scoring' system, and undeniably triggered the top to pop up when either limit of travel was reached) that I recall from my teen years. Not sure if it was branded to Mookie Toys, but was definitely more than a decade before the 1993 date that this article appears to suggest the helix-version was created (by some interpretations*) so it could have been amongst the properties it says they bought at that time.<br />
:(* - I'd check exactly what it should mean and rewrite that article accordingly, but my mobile IP at any given moment is almost always on Wikipedia's no-editting list, so I'd need to wait to be tethered to a landline broadband again, and by then I'll have forgotten...)<br />
:I also recall a 'ground weight'-tethered version (with optional peg-holes for further immobilisation if placed upon peggable ground, like your average lawn) in the box of sports equipment taken on cub-/scout-camps, which was full of many other (and often not very Health-And-Safety-compatible) outdoor 'toys' and sports equipment like lawn-darts and several rather antique-looking boxing gloves. Can't recall any branding. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.78|172.70.91.78]] 09:03, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:In wikipedia it mentions something I think which is similar: "An early variant described in Jessie H. Bancroft's 1909 book Games for the Playground... involves a tethered tennis ball hit by racquets, with similar rules of the game." It sounds like this would be a rather dangerous version, with kids swinging racquets wildly in close quarters. Are there a lot of racquet-related injuries? [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 11:42, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Wait, I didn't even notice thst thetherball was ''not'' played with rackets. Whatever-it-was-I-played used rackets (probably light plastic toy rackets/flyswat-griddle-alikes), though, not full-blown competition tennis rackets with a strung wooden frame. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 13:39, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In France, we have "Jokari" which is pretty similar to the first scenario, except that the rope is a rubber band, played by two people. It's a bit like tennis but without the net and with a ball that comes back. Totally playable. The article on English Wikipedia is not the same thing. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.130.29|172.71.130.29]] 10:17, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ground-Pole-Ground is described in What-if 157: https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/<br />
<br />
Pole-Rope-Ground is like the biggest flail ever. But where do you stand? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.177|172.68.110.177]] 20:42, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is there the reason why the Explanation focuses so much on keeping score as a playability measure? Is it a Western/American thing? E.g. ground-rope-ball becomes very playable with a somewhat elastic rope, even single-player. ˜˜˜<br />
:I agree that it seems a little odd, to me the better metric would be how playable the actual game is in terms of being able to have fun with it. --[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 00:46, 27 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On another note, thinking the third one could be another example of White Hat's odd powers? He seems to be quite casually holding the ball and appl, which must be pretty heavy. --[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 01:48, 27 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's not a wrong change, but I've seen several times where the likes of "...but this pole supported only by..." has been changed to "...but this pole is supported only by...", amongst a general grammatical/punctuating clean-up. Maybe it's a dialect thing, yet I find the original to be just as correct. And possibly even flows/scans better against the text that runs into and out of it at either end. (c.f. "(a pole...), but supported only by (...the ball)". I'm less sure about "They are standing equal distances on either side of..." (now "They are standing at equal distances on either side of..."), which I may instead have (re)written as "They are standing, equally distanced, to either side of..." if only had I assumed authorship of these bits myself, but I think it fits under verbing noun-phrases or adjectival verbs or somesuch practice. Yet it seems to me slightly picky when there are other interesting and obvious grammatical elisions that were peacefully left in elsewhere. — But not to complain, just to get my thoughts into the open after seeing such slight (and, IMO, unnecessary) tweaks being made often enough to make me begin to wonder if it's a personal vernacular issue. The more cumbersome form works just as well, however, so let it stand regardless. Not really seeking discussion, just opening the steam-valve a little, lest it build up inside me and I run amok. ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 11:39, 27 August 2022 (UTC)</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2659:_Unreliable_Connection&diff=2928892659: Unreliable Connection2022-08-16T01:37:12Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Transcript */ Minor description/image correlation issues.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2659<br />
| date = August 15, 2022<br />
| title = Unreliable Connection<br />
| image = unreliable_connection.png<br />
| titletext = NEGATIVE REVIEWS MENTION: Unreliable internet. POSITIVE REVIEWS MENTION: Unreliable internet.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by ROUND TRIP LATENCY BACKOFF. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
In this comic, [[Randall]] solves the social problem of demands for {{w|synchronous conferencing|synchronous teleconferencing}} with a deliberately less than optimal internet device that causes {{w|Asynchronous communication|asynchronous}} methods of communication to be relatively more reliable and efficient for personal use. The device appears to be an automated version of a {{w|Galton board}} or {{w|Jin Akiyama}}'s mathematical {{w|pachinko}} machine[https://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.05706.pdf] with a series of eleven "on" and one "off" switches at the bottom to be pressed by falling balls. This is funny because such a device could likely much more easily be implemented in the {{w|firmware}} of the internet or WiFi {{w|modem}} or {{w|Router (computing)|router}}s. (See [[1785: Wifi]] for an explanation of firmware.) It's not clear whether the switches merely interrupt the connection momentarily or control power to the modem, which would involve a much longer booting sequence.<br />
<br />
Assuming the machine is symmetric (and ordinary [https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2018/8817/pdf/LIPIcs-FUN-2018-26.pdf]), the probability of a single ball hitting the "off" switch is 165/2048, or about 8%. We don't know the frequency with which new balls are dropped, so we can't estimate the frequency with which the device is likely to trigger {{w|Session Initiation Protocol}}, {{w|Transmission Control Protocol}}, or similar {{w|Timeout (computing)|timeout}} conditions that would likely close synchronous {{w|VOIP}}, video conferencing, and e.g. {{w|VRChat}} connections. Even if such connections were to survive the induced service interruptions, the {{w|application layer}} call or teleconference quality would suffer during them. The device may cause interruptions rarely enough that the connection is usable for casual purposes, but the user can still reasonably claim that it's unreliable to get out of online obligations.<br />
<br />
The title text reflects on today's increasingly always-connected world, where emphasis may be changing from finding vacation spots that have reliable internet to finding somewhere worthwhile to go that still doesn't have it. It could also be a comment on the mild paradox that a nominally unreliable internet connection has advantages for those whose communication schedules, volume, or style preferences make synchronous teleconferencing less practical, as indicated by the reviews for the new vacation spot.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[A gigabit fiber connection is shown leading to twelve switches under an automated Galton board or pachinko machine, eleven of which are linked to a large item marked "on" but the eighth of which is linked to one marked "off", apparently controlling the operation of a modem connected to a gigabit data-socket and also connected onwards to a WiFi router. There is a supply of balls in a hopper above the board, with a triangular configuration of pins directing the balls chaotically to one or other of the switches.]<br />
<br />
:Caption: My new vacation spot has very fast internet that turns off randomly every now and then, just so you can tell people you'll be staying somewhere without a reliable connection.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2594:_Consensus_Time&diff=2285632594: Consensus Time2022-03-17T09:22:18Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Explanation */ Clarification?</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2594<br />
| date = March 16, 2022<br />
| title = Consensus Time<br />
| image = consensus_time.png<br />
| titletext = Now, you may argue that the varying hour lengths and feedback effects would cause chaos. To which I say, yeah, and I'm also curious to see how the weekday cycle interacts with it! So, you in?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Daylight Saving Time}}, in which clocks in the United States are turned an hour forward, has recently occurred at the time of this comic in the United States. It is frequently complained about due to having been invented for a no-longer-relevant cause. One of many complaints about this is that it will still "feel" like 5am at 6, or whatever other case. A few days before this comic went up, the United States Senate passed the {{w|Sunshine Protection Act}}, which would permanently abolish the biannual daylight savings adjustment, setting (what was) the local daylight savings time offset as the year-round time zone for all but a handful of states and territories.<br />
[[Randall]], jumping on this topic, proposes a system that allows everybody to say when it "feels" like 9am, and then the median 9am will become the real 9am. This happens every day. As the title text points out, this would be chaotic and, to put it bluntly, awful.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
Presumably the times indicated on this diagram are as the clocks in this time zone would indicate, as opposed to an "ordinary" reference time.<br />
<br />
Although the hours between midnight and 9 am are labeled as "longer" (which we can assume means each would take longer than an hour of ordinary time to pass) the effect on the remaining hours is left unstated. If we assume that the remaining hours pass at the usual rate then this would suggest that midnight would come sooner or later than normal and hence the next vote would occur sooner or later respectively. This implies the time in this time zone could drift further than a day (or even multiple days) from existing time-zones which could be what is meant by "feedback", "chaos" and the effect on weekdays mentioned in the title text.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:Proposal: Consensus Time<br />
<br />
:Every day, anyone in the time zone can press a button when they feel like it's 9 AM. The next day, clocks slow down or speed up to match the median choice from the previous day.<br />
<br />
:[A diagram representing the hours of two days with tick marks, with some of the tick marks longer than others and/or in boldface, and some of them labeled as follows:]<br />
<br />
:Midnight<br />
:6AM<br />
:9AM today<br />
:Median<br />
:Noon<br />
:6PM<br />
:Midnight<br />
:6AM<br />
:9AM tomorrow<br />
:Noon<br />
:6PM<br />
:Midnight<br />
<br />
:[A brace connects the period from the second "Midnight" to "9AM tomorrow". It is labeled:]<br />
:Longer hours<br />
<br />
:[A scatterplot of 57 dots appears below the hashmarks, indicating the distribution of when participants pushed the "9 AM" button. The most extreme outliers are at roughly 3AM and 9PM, but they most densely cluster around a vertical dotted line labelled "Median" at approximately 11:15AM, interupted as it passes through the main mass of dots at roughly the position of the 29th plotted dot from either end.]<br />
<br />
:[Megan, facing to the left, and Cueball, facing to the right, each hold a handheld device. The devices are too small to see clearly but are making sounds, implying that each of them has just pressed the "9 AM" button.]<br />
:Beep<br />
:Beep<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Time]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1003:_Adam_and_Eve&diff=2282661003: Adam and Eve2022-03-11T13:19:02Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Explanation */ Missed a couple of connotations...</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1003<br />
| date = January 13, 2012<br />
| title = Adam and Eve<br />
| image = adam_and_eve.png<br />
| titletext = Abel and Steve would've been fine! I like Steve!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a take on the anti-homosexual refrain, used often at those sorts of rallies "It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve". This refrain is used to support the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman because in the {{w|Old Testament}} God created a man and a woman to start the human race. {{w|Adam and Eve}} are in the story in the Bible of the creation ({{w|Book of Genesis}}), and are the first pair of humans, created by God.<br />
<br />
Adam walks in on Eve having sexual relations with {{w|Cain and Abel|Abel}}, who is Adam's son, which turns the joke from a homosexual one into an incest one.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Adam continues that he would have preferred walking in on Abel and Steve. As well as probably no longer needing to be irked at the surprise involvement of his presumed spouse, and mother to his son, Adam seems not to have a homophobic prejudice (or less of one) — unlike those who use the contemporary version of the phrasep. What's more, he doesn't personally dislike Steve in general and possibly considers him one of the better partners available at this time.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Adam, portrayed as Cueball, has his palms out.]<br />
:Adam: It's '''''Adam''''' and '''''Eve''''', not '''''Abel''''' and '''''Eve!!'''''<br />
<br />
:[Caption below panel:] <br />
:Adam was freaked out by what he'd just walked in on.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1717:_Pyramid_Honey&diff=2267811717: Pyramid Honey2022-02-09T01:15:10Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Explanation */ Singular source, multiple derived articles. Fudging the it/them issue to be inclusive of both levels of refutation-scope.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1717<br />
| date = August 8, 2016<br />
| title = Pyramid Honey<br />
| image = pyramid_honey.png<br />
| titletext = They CLAIM honey was found in the chambers under the pyramids, but this conspiracy goes all the way to the TOP, where the GIANT EYE is!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Bee {{w|honey}} is a food item with natural antimicrobial properties. It can remain unspoiled for a person's entire lifetime, making it practically nonperishable for ordinary consumers. It is frequently claimed that archaeologists have found jars of honey that have been well-preserved for thousands of years in ancient tombs, often those found in {{w|Egyptian pyramids}}, hence the title ''Pyramid Honey''. The claims are generally assertions that may point to other similar assertions as supporting evidence but do not provide specific details, such as the identity of the actual tombs where such jars have been found, or the names of the archaeologists who have affirmed finding such jars. Repeated encounters with the assertion lead some people to claim that honey's shelf life is "infinite", which is a much stronger claim which would not necessarily be supported by the assertion even assuming it is true.<br />
<br />
In the comic, [[Cueball]] tells [[Megan]] about an article in ''{{w|Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine}}'' (presumably [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/ this one]) that claims honey has an infinite shelf life. The article links to a book that makes the assertion of such findings but does not provide factual support of the findings. Megan thinks the source for this article, and others that covered the subject, is wrong and wants to refute them all. She tells Cueball ''Believe it or not'' which [[Black Hat]] hears and he immediately states that he believes her, and is convinced without hearing any arguments from Megan. He then decides to begin a Facebook page so he can ''tell the Internet'' without giving Megan a chance to explain any further.<br />
<br />
"A hill to die on" is a phrase from {{w|Ernest Hemingway|Ernest Hemingway's}} 1940 novel "{{w|For Whom the Bell Tolls}}", about an American who volunteers in the 1936-1939 {{w|Spanish Civil War}} to fight {{w|fascism}}, who ends up wounded and alone, about to ambush the enemy to give his comrades a chance to escape; "a weird hill to die on" would thus mean a weird cause, if not a just one, to fight for to the bitter end. This expression is also the subject of [[2247: Weird Hill]]. Black Hat asserts that he needs such a cause because the "real" weird hills are too far from his house, humorously implying he would be equally satisfied with a literal weird hill.<br />
<br />
Black Hat's actions are clearly premature since he has not heard any evidence to back up the claim and does not understand the nuances of Megan's position. Cueball states that it could have gone better, whereas Megan seems to be resigned to it, perhaps as it notionally supports her (aborted) argument and it's at least a short-term 'win' that she won't fuss over the details of.<br />
<br />
Presumably, the best Black Hat can do would be to parrot what he has heard from Megan, without any understanding or critical thinking on his part. Due to his lack of understanding, he may even interject his own ideas (ones Megan never believed nor stated) into his posts. These are all consistent with him calling himself "pyramid honey truther". The word ''truther'' refers to people who reject established facts and instead choose to believe in conspiracies, like people who claim {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories|the moon landings never happened}}, or {{w|9/11 Truth movement|believe the US government is behind}} the {{w|9/11 attacks}}. While a few conspiracy theories turn out to be true, most are easily proved to be fake, but this does not stop people from believing in them anyway, just like the two mentioned here, which are not easily dismissed by believers. This turns Megan, who likely has a reasonable and well-justified position, unwillingly into the source of conspiracy theories.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, he only does this to troll Megan (and Cueball), and everyone else that reads his Facebook page, just because he knows they will get annoyed. And also to state that this is an unimportant subject (a weird hill to die on) to make such a fuss over. No one would wish to eat that old honey or wish to keep it for that long anyway, so he may see this as a completely uninteresting subject and thus makes fun of Megan with his statements. This would also be more in line with his usual behavior.<br />
<br />
It is also possible that Black Hat is simply mocking conspiracy theorists' obsessions with factually incorrect ideas, comparably to what may be the case in [[Secretary: Part 3]].<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the {{w|Eye of Providence}}, a symbol of an eye at the top of a pyramid, found on US currency and often associated with conspiracy theories of the {{w|Illuminati}}. Black Hat again refers to the pyramid honey found under the pyramids and calls it a ''conspiracy that goes all the way to the top''. This usually means that the politicians (or the government agencies) ruling the country know about it, but keep it a secret from the public. But in this case, he mixes up terms and says it goes to the top of the pyramid (from the bottom), to where the giant eye is. As promised he also writes four words in all capital letters, shouting out the TRUTH!<br />
<br />
This comic is likely a satire of the stereotypical internet mindset and plays up the frequent confusion between legitimate scientific skepticism, where unsupported claims are rejected, and conspiracy-theory faux-skepticism, where legitimate evidence is rejected because it does not support a specific viewpoint.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan are talking.]<br />
:Cueball: Apparently honey has an infinite shelf life. They just found jars of it in the pyramids, still good.<br />
:Megan: You know, I've heard that, and I don't think it's true.<br />
<br />
:[Black hat enters.]<br />
:Cueball: Really? Smithsonian magazine confirmed it.<br />
:Megan: Believe it or not, I think their source is wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: '''''I believe you.'''''<br />
<br />
:[Megan has turned to Black Hat raising her hands.]<br />
:Megan: See I read about the archaeologists who-<br />
:Black Hat: I'm convinced. Gonna go to tell the internet.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat moved closer to Megan and Cueball.]<br />
:Megan: Wait, are you sure? Let me explain why I-<br />
:Black Hat: Don't need it. I've heard enough.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom-in on Black Hat's head.]<br />
:Black Hat: I've been looking for a weird hill to die on, and all the real ones are too far from my house.<br />
:Black Hat: So this is mine. I'm now a pyramid honey truther.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom back out. Black Hat starts walking left, pointing a finger up. Cueball and Megan turn to look after him.]<br />
:Black Hat: Time to start a Facebook group and post a bunch of all-caps comments everywhere.<br />
:Cueball: This could have gone better.<br />
:Megan: Oh well.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2578:_Sword_Pull&diff=2267492578: Sword Pull2022-02-08T14:36:52Z<p>162.158.159.19: I see it now. (Also a Citation Needed, but we've already got others, so not restoring.)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2578<br />
| date = February 7, 2022<br />
| title = Sword Pull<br />
| image = sword_pull.png<br />
| titletext = Merlin really shouldn't leave his dirt bike lying around.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DIRT BIKE WITH UNBREAKING II AND CURSE OF VANISHING (I SHOULD REALLY LEARN S.G.A.)- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A surprised [[Cueball]] walks up to a stone where apparently a sword is stuck in almost to the hilt, stuck in a stone much like a particularly well-known fable in the legends of {{w|King Arthur}} which may mean this sword is called {{w|Excalibur}}. Usually the narrative is that the one who can free the significant sword becomes king of England (or, technically, Britain), see for instance Disney's {{w|The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)|The Sword in the Stone}} &mdash or the scene as featured in [[1521: Sword in the Stone]], where [[Megan]] decides to return the sword back into the stone after reading about {{w|England}} on Wikipedia. (It has been commented that the one who managed to embed the sword in the stone in the first place may have had the greater skill and/or strength.)<br />
<br />
Cueball rises to the challenge and stands atop the stone, for leverage, and pulls hard to yank it almost out of the stone. With a surprise even greater than before, he finds that the pulling of the sword merely starts a motor within the stone and, almost immediately, the whole assemblage starts moving to the right with Cueball still stood upon it. Having failed to fcully remove the sword from the stone, after he releases it the sword is retracted back to its original position inside the now moving stone.<br />
<br />
According to the title text the sword is actually the {{w|rope start|rope starter}} for Merlin's {{w|dirt bike}}. {{w|Merlin}}, a wizard, is typically known as King Arthur's mystical advisor. The title text mentions that Merlin really should not just let his dirt bike lie around, indicating that this is a common occurance and has caused problems before. Since rocks are usually not dirt bikes in disguise,{{citation needed}} [[Randall]] may be describing this literally, as in a stone-bike that travels through the dirt, as it appears to represent in the last panel.<br />
<br />
Since Merlin is an ancient person, if this comic is set today then maybe it is not really a stone, but rather a pile of dirt (sediment) that has covered Merlin's old dirt bike. Of course rope starters (and engines) were not invented in Merlin's time. But he was a great wizard who famously had a complicated relationship with time and prophecy, so we can only conjecture what has been possible for him.<br />
<br />
Some similarly-sized stones, namely {{w|Sailing stones|sailing stones}}, do move spontaneously with up to 0.3 km/h in precise conditions. However, the stone in the comic appears to be moving at a higher speed, and sailing stones require no rope starting.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball walks towards a large stone on the ground from which the hilt of a sword is protruding. The ground he walks on is uneven, with small plants growing and small stones lying on the ground.]<br />
:Cueball: ??<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stands on the stone and attempts to pull the sword out of the stone using both hands and leaning a bit back away from the sword.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball manages to pull the sword partially out of the stone, still using both hands, and now he is almost standing in full height, but still leaning a bit back. Both he and the sword is vibrating from the effort, as indicated by several sets of two lines around the sword and Cueball's arms. The pull gives off a loud sound, and also a snoring sound comes because of the pull. And three small lines above the right part of the stone indicated that other sounds are coming from the stone]<br />
:Pull: <big><big>''Yank!''</big></big><br />
:Sword: ''Zzz<big>z</big>z'' <br />
:Stone: Put put put<br />
:Stone: <small>Brrr</small>rr<big>rr</big><br />
<br />
:[Cueball is still holding on to the sword, with the tip still inside the stone. But he is not pulling anymore and is now looking down on the stone beneath him. There are now several lines from both sides of the stone indicating noises coming from the stone, which now is written on both sides of Cueball on the stone.]<br />
:Cueball: ?? ??<br />
:Stone:<small>Rr</small>r<big>r<big>rrrrrrrr</big></big>r<small>r</small><br />
<br />
:[Cueball has released the sword which has then returned to the original position deep in the stone. The stone is now clearly moving to the right of the panel, with Cueball on top of it. He is looking behind him and holding his arms out to the side to keep his balance. The patch where the stone lay to start is dark. Four large lines behind the stone indicates how it is moving. The stone is already partially outside the right edge of the panel. The sound from the stone is floating behind the stone as it moves to the right]<br />
:Stone: <small>R</small>r<small>r</small>r<big>rrrrrr<big>r</big>rr</big><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2578:_Sword_Pull&diff=2267482578: Sword Pull2022-02-08T14:34:55Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Explanation */ General scrub-through of meaning, context and structure (without actually flipping paragraphs around). Hit an edit-conflict, but not sure what with. Let me post this then check.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2578<br />
| date = February 7, 2022<br />
| title = Sword Pull<br />
| image = sword_pull.png<br />
| titletext = Merlin really shouldn't leave his dirt bike lying around.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DIRT BIKE WITH UNBREAKING II AND CURSE OF VANISHING (I SHOULD REALLY LEARN S.G.A.)- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A surprised [[Cueball]] walks up to a stone where apparently a sword is stuck in almost to the hilt, stuck in a stone much like a particularly well-known fable in the legends of {{w|King Arthur}} which may mean this sword is called {{w|Excalibur}}. Usually the narrative is that the one who can free the significant sword becomes king of England (or, technically, Britain), see for instance Disney's {{w|The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)|The Sword in the Stone}} &mdash or the scene as featured in [[1521: Sword in the Stone]], where [[Megan]] decides to return the sword back into the stone after reading about {{w|England}} on Wikipedia. (It has been commented that the one who managed to embed the sword in the stone in the first place may have had the greater skill and/or strength.)<br />
<br />
Cueball rises to the challenge and stands atop the stone, for leverage, and pulls hard to yank it almost out of the stone. With a surprise even greater than before, he finds that the pulling of the sword merely starts a motor within the stone and, almost immediately, the whole assemblage starts moving to the right with Cueball still stood upon it. Having failed to fcully remove the sword from the stone, after he releases it the sword is retracted back to it's original position inside the now moving stone.<br />
<br />
According to the title text the sword is actually the {{w|rope start|rope starter}} for Merlin's {{w|dirt bike}}. {{w|Merlin}}, a wizard, is typically known as King Arthur's mystical advisor. The title text mentions that Merlin really should not just let his dirt bike lie around, indicating that this is a common occurance and has caused problems before. Since rocks are usually not dirt bikes in disguise,{{citation needed}} [[Randall]] may be describing this literally, as in a stone-bike that travels through the dirt, as it appears to represent in the last panel.<br />
<br />
Since Merlin is an ancient person, if this comic is set today then maybe it is not really a stone, but rather a pile of dirt (sediment) that has covered Merlin's old dirt bike. Of course rope starters (and engines) were not invented in Merlin's time. But he was a great wizard who famously had a complicated relationship with time and prophecy, so we can only conjecture what has been possible for him.<br />
<br />
Some similarly-sized stones, namely {{w|Sailing stones|sailing stones}}, do move spontaneously with up to 0.3 km/h in precise conditions. However, the stone in the comic appears to be moving at a higher speed, and sailing stones require no rope starting.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball walks towards a large stone on the ground from which the hilt of a sword is protruding. The ground he walks on is uneven, with small plants growing and small stones lying on the ground.]<br />
:Cueball: ??<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stands on the stone and attempts to pull the sword out of the stone using both hands and leaning a bit back away from the sword.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball manages to pull the sword partially out of the stone, still using both hands, and now he is almost standing in full height, but still leaning a bit back. Both he and the sword is vibrating from the effort, as indicated by several sets of two lines around the sword and Cueball's arms. The pull gives off a loud sound, and also a snoring sound comes because of the pull. And three small lines above the right part of the stone indicated that other sounds are coming from the stone]<br />
:Pull: <big><big>''Yank!''</big></big><br />
:Sword: ''Zzz<big>z</big>z'' <br />
:Stone: Put put put<br />
:Stone: <small>Brrr</small>rr<big>rr</big><br />
<br />
:[Cueball is still holding on to the sword, with the tip still inside the stone. But he is not pulling anymore and is now looking down on the stone beneath him. There are now several lines from both sides of the stone indicating noises coming from the stone, which now is written on both sides of Cueball on the stone.]<br />
:Cueball: ?? ??<br />
:Stone:<small>Rr</small>r<big>r<big>rrrrrrrr</big></big>r<small>r</small><br />
<br />
:[Cueball has released the sword which has then returned to the original position deep in the stone. The stone is now clearly moving to the right of the panel, with Cueball on top of it. He is looking behind him and holding his arms out to the side to keep his balance. The patch where the stone lay to start is dark. Four large lines behind the stone indicates how it is moving. The stone is already partially outside the right edge of the panel. The sound from the stone is floating behind the stone as it moves to the right]<br />
:Stone: <small>R</small>r<small>r</small>r<big>rrrrrr<big>r</big>rr</big><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2574:_Autoresponder&diff=2259112574: Autoresponder2022-01-29T04:08:44Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Transcript */ Indent.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2574<br />
| date = January 28, 2022<br />
| title = Autoresponder<br />
| image = autoresponder.png<br />
| titletext = I ADMIRE HOW YOU SET BOUNDARIES AND I HOPE YOUR COLLEAGUES RESPECT THEM! PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE!<br />
}}<br />
*This was the ninth comic to come out after the [[Countdown in header text]] started.<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an AUTORESPONDER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball and White Hat are facing each other, and a figure stands behind White Hat, who could be Meghan, drawn with thicker/rougher lines as if clad in bulky clothing, wearing spiky knee and elbow guards, a spike-embossed and notably scarred crash-helmet upon their head and a holding a glintingly sharp sword in their hand]<br />
:Cueball: Ready to go?<br />
:White Hat: Yup! Can you email me the tickets before we leave?<br />
:Cueball: Sure, one sec.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Okay, I sent it to-<br />
:[The third figure aggressively moves forward, sword-arm raised, the other hand now pushing White Hat behind them, by the face, causing him to stumble backwards and his hat to start falling off] <br />
:Armored figure: '''''It is outside work hours!'''''<br />
:Armored figure: '''''Prepare to die!'''''<br />
:Cueball: ''Augh!''<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I always feel bad when I trigger my friends' work autoresponders.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:609:_Tab_Explosion&diff=222762Talk:609: Tab Explosion2021-12-18T02:30:10Z<p>162.158.159.19: </p>
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<div>It also has a link, not only to the comic, but also to the ''explained'' comic here! Talk about a loop. Anonymous07:20, 4 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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you can't access title-text on mobile devices [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.75|173.245.62.75]] 14:29, 16 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
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could someone please poste a link to the cracked.com column that pay tribute to this comic? {{unsigned ip|141.101.81.222}}<br />
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This could be the one that makes some reference: http://www.cracked.com/blog/clippy-finally-messes-with-the-wrong-word-doc/ (the text appears inside) {{unsigned ip|Mercastan}}<br />
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To access the title text on mobile devices, hold down the thing you need to see the title text of. Nate {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.20}}<br />
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You can also go to m.xkcd.com, and tapping on the image or the alt-text link makes the title text appear below the title (for those chrome users who can't see the entire title text by tap-holding). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.143|162.158.74.143]] 13:20, 24 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I have that website blocked by an application that blocked websites. The reason is NOT because of what is described in the comic, but it's because I got permabanned from that site back in 2017 for something I did not even know was against the rules, with no prior warnings, and the only appeal option that they gave that they did not consider "ban evasion" was an email address that never replied back to you, even years later, and I don't think they even deserve viewing traffic from people who they have treated so unfairly/punished so harshly like that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.135.48|172.70.135.48]] 01:56, 18 December 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Waitwhat? Presuming even that you mean Cracked (not sure what you did to annoy them, it must have been... interesting) and not m.xkcd.com, I'm not sure how they could remain targetted against you, nor how it'svan application. Assuming you're not reinstalling a Child-Safe-style application of your own on every machine you try to access via, and making sure it's using PG-13 limits of some kind.<br />
:I doubt they can reliably IP-block you. If I go to edit wikipedia and it refuses because some idiot has previously made a nuisance of themselves under my current dynamic IP, it is trivial (without VPNing or similar) to get a newish IP-of-the-moment that usually lets me do my (non-nuisance) editing.<br />
:Even if you stick to a single device then aggressive cookie-style tracking can be 'forgotten' so that you machine isn't traitorously restating your apparent blockability.<br />
:...never mind me, it's way too late (GMT) and I'm just far too intrigued by your statement. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 02:30, 18 December 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2492:_Commonly_Mispronounced_Equations&diff=222585Talk:2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations2021-12-14T19:42:12Z<p>162.158.159.19: </p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
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This comic is obviously a take on the generation Z style of writing words without vowels so that they fit on T-Shirts, text messages or to avoid censorship, like "BRLN", "O RLY", "PIX PLZ". Some of the people from that generation are now established scientist, leading their respective fields forward. Obviously this is how they refer to common equations. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.29|162.158.92.29]] 13:10, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I think the wave equation is wrong based on units, but it's been a while. The wave speed ought to be squared. Of course, ''c'' could be a squared speed, but it's usually not. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 01:22, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:I agree, normally it's written as C squared... The equations in order are 1: Gravitational Attraction, 2: Einstein's Mass / Energy Conversion, 3: Pythagorean Theorem (triangle side relations), 4: Area of a Circle, 5: Entropy equation, 6: Ideal Gas Law, 7: Euler's Identity, 8: Newtons Second law, 9: Wave equation, 10: The derivative of a function f, and, 11: The Quadratic Equation... I don't understand the linguistic rules being applied to the names, but they seem to be visual as much as anything [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.66|108.162.237.66]] 02:04, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
::You should turn that into a table in the explanation. We can have a column where we try to come up with the pronunciation rule. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:10, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The equation for the thing I have as what it was made by is 𝓛 = i(ѱ-macron)γᵘ(∂ᵤ)ѱ-e(ѱ-macron)γᵘ(Aᵤ + Bᵤ)ѱ - m(ѱ-macron)ѱ - (FᵤᵥFᵘᵛ)/4 {{w|Quantum electrodynamics#Equations_of_motion|here is the link:}} [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_electrodynamics#Equations_of_motion These are both the links.] <br />
For archival, this is the thing: LAGRONJ EYSIBARYMOODMOOSIOYLERSIBRYMOOAMOOBAMOOSIMASIBRSIQORTFAHMOOVYFAHMOOVY. <br />
[[User:4D4850|4D4850]] ([[User talk:4D4850|talk]]) 02:22, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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My friends and I actually pretty often say "PəV-nert" for the ideal gas law. First syllable is kind of vowel-less, sort of a schwa if anything. But also stressed? Didn't know you could stress a schwa but, guess I did.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.160|172.70.130.160]] 02:36, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:My teachers always pronounced it PIV-nert. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.20|172.69.62.20]] 18:38, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I think this is the XKCD that has made me laugh the most, out of all 2492.<br />
:I'd say it might be the one that made me laugh the most, out of all {{LATESTCOMIC}}. I won't, because it didn't, but I could. --[[User:4D4850|4D4850]] ([[User talk:4D4850|talk]]) 03:23, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:"Doot-ca-doox" is so funny. I'm imagining Pingu saying that. !!!!<br />
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I tried to transcribe these pronunciations into IPA, because reading them like this is kind of ambiguous. I probably got a bunch of stuff wrong though.<br />
fəˈdʒæmɚ |<br />
ˈɛmkɑˌtu |<br />
ætˈbutkut |<br />
ˈæpɚˌtu |<br />
həˈsplɒgpi |<br />
ˈpævnɚt |<br />
ˈaɪpɪn |<br />
ˈfimɑ |<br />
dut kəˈduks |<br />
ˈfækslɪmˌoʊ ˈfæksəˌfɒx |<br />
zəˈbɔbə fækˈtoʊɑ |<br />
ˌɛpsɪˈhutəˌmu ˈdupsɪˌkwɔrps<br />
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Why is it a soft G in the gravity equation? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:10, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I believe it's a reference to the "gif" pronunciation debate. "Fuh-gam-er" is the obvious pronunciation, Randal is facetiously asserting "Fuh-jam-er" is correct.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.130|108.162.250.130]] 05:00, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I think it might be because the English letter "G" is pronounced "Gee" (i.e. "Jee"), which made its way into the pronunciation here.[[User:BenjaminTheBenevolent|BenjaminTheBenevolent]] ([[User talk:BenjaminTheBenevolent|talk]]) 10:27, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ok_GMxThuo How would you pronounce the word 'give'?] !!!!<br />
:(The English ''letter'' pronunciation is "Jee". It's also pronounced as an "F" in "Enough" and "" in "Gnome", etc.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.197|162.158.158.197]] 19:37, 28 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
The most similar time when equations are actually 'pronounced' a bit like this is the "soh cah toa" mnemonic for the trigonometric identities - should this be in the explanation? (the comic made at least me think that might be the original inspiration) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.204|141.101.99.204]] 06:42, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:How is "soh cah toa" a mnemonic?? It's just a bunch of random letters. Normally you memorize random letters by coming up with words that fit together, not vice versa. I think this is much harder to remember than the thing it is supposedly a mnemonic for. If anyone actually finds it useful, can you explain how it works for you? I've seen this before so I suppose it's a real thing, but I find it baffling. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.220|108.162.221.220]] 04:15, 23 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
::You ask how it's a mnemonic, yet you say you've seen it before. Think about that for a sec.<br />
[[User:Klo876|Klo876]] ([[User talk:Klo876|talk]]) 01:58, 24 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
::Not sure it's a mnemonic, no, but I was taught SOHCAHTOA by a very good (but strict) maths teacher as in "... (like?) that volcanic eruption". Given we were 10, 11 years old, I don't think we even ''knew'' about {{w|Krakatoa}} at that point (despite having also a very good Geography teacher who readily identified lumps of 'Gneissian schist' that I may have brought back from holiday - he also had a much better sense of humour...) so whether I (or the teacher?) was mistaken in understanding "Sohcahtoa" to be purported to be a (now ironically memorable) volcano rather than it was a "it rhymes with..." mnemonic, I don't now know. But since then I have always used SOHCAHTOA to confirm in my mind which trigonometric identity I should use. And, later, I learnt and never forgot that {{w|Krakatoa,_East_of_Java|Krakatoa is/was ''west'' of Java}}! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.230|141.101.98.230]] 08:20, 23 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
::(PS - If I ever have to use the "Many Very Elderly Men Just..." mnemonic (or whatever it is, I was sure it had had Earthenware Vases, but maybe only in a reversed version!), I tend to have to ''backform'' it from my unclear recollection of the mnemonic(s) I've been told plus just ''knowing'' that it's "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, **, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune*, Pluto-if-we're-counting-it*" (* - except between 1979 and 1999 when it was "...Pluto-definity-counted-at-this-time, Neptune") (** - and then there's possibly an A, B or C here for Asteroid, Belt or Ceres; nobody I know has ever added Kuiper and/or Oort into the string of words to need remembering, though) using very non-mnemonical direct or indirect knowledge about the solar-system, like Clarke's written version of 2001 aiming at Saturn but Kubrik's film 'only' going as far as Jupiter. So I "(Sometimes?) Might Very Earnestly Make And Join Something Unprecedented Never Known Originally" on the spur of the moment.)<br />
:: The point of soh-cah-toa is that you learn to say it aloud as one word (which is therefore memorable), and then can expand it out as an acronym for sin(x) = o/h, cos(x) = a/h, tan(x) = o/a, which wouldn't be memorable. Much like BIDMAS/PEDMAS is pronounced as one word to learn an acronym. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.176|162.158.158.176]] 18:32, 26 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:The circle area might be meant to read out like "upper two", referencing the square. I can't see the same for any of the others though. / [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.157|162.158.183.157]] 06:52, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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:Mneumonics are supposed to make it easier to remember the equations; this collection would actually make it more challenging to remember these. Mind you, as a math tutor, my first thought was that these were attempts at mnemonics that missed the mark, '''badly'''. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 15:04, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I see nobody has attempted the Transcript yet. (Also I'm wondering how to 'properly' pronounce P-One V-One Over T-One Equals P-Two V-Two Over T-Two.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.157|162.158.155.157]] 10:41, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I started a transcript. --[[User:4D4850|4D4850]] ([[User talk:4D4850|talk]]) 16:54, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Sorry to come in as an amateur, but I think the equation pronounced Ha-SPLOG-pee is actually the equation for Shannon diversity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.134|162.158.126.134]] 11:58, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
: In my opinion, most of the contributions here are from people pretending to know more than they do. Edit away. Be bold. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.172|172.70.114.172]] 21:04, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The Pythagorean Theorem one made me think of the AT-AT debate for Star Wars<br />
:The wave equation reminded me of Jimmy Durante's Ink A Dinka Doo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWqi9eWwXvk I think I'm dating myself (no one else will). [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:55, 22 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I don't think it's clear if the provided pronunciations are the ''Correct'' ones or the common ''mispronunciations''<br />
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It's worth noting that the majority of these equations are especially likely to be elided, and that the way they're routinely elided is generally incorrect - and more than that, the stressed syllable in particular is likely wrong. Especially notably "Fu-Jam-Er" should be "Fu-Gam-Er" and "Pav-Nert" should be "Piv-Nert". The joke works on the level of equation pronunciation being pretty intrinsically funny if you're not familiar with the specific equation, but also on the level of the specific equations having a standard pronunciation that pointedly isn't the one in the comic.<br />
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It would be interesting to try and reverse-engineer the original equations behind, for example, "Fus ro dah", or "Avada Kedavra". [[User:Cavaler|Cavaler]] ([[User talk:Cavaler|talk]]) 12:53, 23 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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What is the pronounciation notation this comic is using?? I can't even find them in Oxford/Cambridge/Merriam-Webster/Collins dictionary, though I think I occasionally see them somewhere else. --[[User:Lamty101|Lamty101]] ([[User talk:Lamty101|talk]]) 08:43, 24 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
: It's probably not actually right to consider it a notation, ''per se''. It's a trivial method that anyone can use (no need to use funny stuff like ɛ, ʑ or ɖʐ in IPA notation - or remember what they mean!), but it's also liable to inconsistency as you can be inconsistent in both production (some might consider "DOO" ''or'' "DU" an acceptible rendering for the same thing) or understanding (if "BAI" is written used, was that as in "good''bye''" (see also "BIE") or "e''Bay''" (also could have been "BAE"), etc?). How would you indicate syllable boundaries, "IN-DUH-KAYT" or "IND-UCK-ATE" or ? A Cockney or a Kiwi or a Cajun might each produce ''and'' voice notations completely differently. But it's better than nothing. And with either bolding (as in here), italicising or uppercase-contrasting-with-the-rest-in-lowercase you can indicate the stressed syllable(s). Maybe look at {{w|Pronunciation respelling for English}} (I didn't see a further link to qualify any 'standards' for this non-phonomic system, and doubt that there are any that travel well beyond any actual particular narrow dialectical territory).<br />
: I actually think it's part of the joke that it's an imprecise 'pronunciation guide', rather than a technically advanced one like /aɪ pʰiː eɪ/ itself is, further confusing the deliberately confused issue. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.29|141.101.99.29]] 19:45, 24 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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We teach the impulse-momentum equation f*(delta)t = m*deltaV as FAT MAV. And you're far more likely to hear a mentor remind a student to use 'FAT MAV' than 'the impulse-momentum equation' this comic seemed an obvious evolution that idea. [[User:Sraben|Sraben]] ([[User talk:Sraben|talk]]) 20:54, 25 July 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Something similar does indeed happen in reality, when you have to read things like tan y = sinh x, cot y = csch x. Many people read sinh like sin-ch, while some others read it as shine, etc. [[User:Yosei|Yosei]] ([[User talk:Yosei|talk]]) 23:22, 17 August 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Just undone [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2492:_Commonly_Mispronounced_Equations&diff=222584&oldid=222578 an apparent mistakenly placed comment]... Nearly moved it here, but I'm hoping the author sees this and understands. (Might explain why I just found (and edited for over-commaing!) comments on a File:(image) page. Hope the new editor isn't going to do this a lot...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 19:42, 14 December 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.159.19https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2546:_Fiction_vs_Nonfiction&diff=2213852546: Fiction vs Nonfiction2021-11-26T03:06:29Z<p>162.158.159.19: /* Movies and Books */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2546<br />
| date = November 24, 2021<br />
| title = Fiction vs Nonfiction<br />
| image = fiction_vs_nonfiction.png<br />
| titletext = The real challenge is how to file Boba Fett's biography of Doris Kearns Goodwin.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by A FICTIONAL DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN WATCHING STAR WARS ON A DURASTEEL-BESKAR TV- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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[[Cueball]] is asking [[Ponytail]] and [[White Hat]] to classify different ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' books and movies as fiction or nonfiction. (Perhaps he is working at a library or bookstore, or sorting a personal collection.) ''Star Wars'' as a whole is a multimedia franchise, which includes films, TV series, novels, etc, but often singularly refers to {{w|Star Wars (film)|the original 1977 film}} later more lengthily titled ''Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope''. The classifications get more complicated to determine as the conversation progresses while revealing a quite specific obsession with the character of {{w|Boba Fett}}. The complexity may even end up converting {{w|Lumpers and splitters|lumpers into splitters}}, a philosophical distinction that another [[2518: Lumpers and Splitters|recent comic]] touched upon. <br />
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Nonfiction (also spelled non-fiction) is any document or media content that intends, in good faith, to present only truth and accuracy regarding information, events, or people. In contrast, fiction offers information, events, or characters expected to be partly or largely imaginary, or else leaves open if and how the work refers to reality.<br />
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In the end, White Hat suggests that, since Cueball has so many works featuring Boba Fett, it would be more useful to group them together in a new category rather than sorting them into the fiction and nonfiction sections.<br />
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===Movies and Books===<br />
{| class="wikitable" <br />
!Media name <br />
!Explanation <br />
|-<br />
| ''{{w|Star Wars (film)|Star Wars}}''<br />
| ''Star Wars'' is a science-''fiction'' movie released in 1977 (re-released in 1981 as ''Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope'')<br />
|-<br />
| ''{{w|The Making of Star Wars}}''<br />
| This was a television special about how ''Star Wars'' was made, which would make it nonfiction.<br />
|-<br />
| ''Star Wars: The Adventures of Boba Fett''<br />
| This would be one of the ''Star Wars'' franchise's continuity of stories, making it fictional. Not a currently extant release, but something like this {{w|List_of_Star_Wars_films#Unproduced_films|has been long anticipated}}, and now possibly inspired by the imminent release (as of the comic's time of posting) of {{w|The Book of Boba Fett}}.<br />
|-<br />
| ''Star Wars: The Official Guide to Boba Fett's Armor and Weapons''<br />
| While the content of this guidebook is entirely fictional, the book is factual. Boba Fett (a fictional character){{citation needed}} does in fact [https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/253196 have durasteel]/[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Boba_Fett%27s_armor Beskar] armor (a fictional material), so the book is technically non-fiction. <br />
|-<br />
| ''Boba Fett's Gadgets and How He Got Them''<br />
| This could either be a non-fictional book or docuseries similar to the previous entry, or instead an in-universe adventure series or film. The rhythm of the words is similar to the in-universe guidebook "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Beasts_and_Where_to_Find_Them Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]" from the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe - this is a non-fiction book used educationally for young wizards within the fictitious world{{citation needed}} and also a fiction book within the real{{citation needed}} world.<br />
|-<br />
| ''Boba Fett: A Life'' by Doris Kearns Goodwin<br />
| {{w|Doris Kearns Goodwin}} is a historian and biographer who has written biographies of many influential people. Since Goodwin is a non-fiction writer, one would have to read this (not actually existent) book to determine whether the biography is a fictional account of the character, or a factual account of the fictional history of the character. If the book doesn't establish any new canon, and is instead citing only recorded (fictional) facts from the Star Wars Universe and, perhaps, the real-world influences on and by the character, it could legitimately be considered non-fiction. Doris Kearns Goodwin is also mentioned in [[2160: Ken Burns Theory]]<br />
|-<br />
| (title text) Boba Fett's biography of Doris Kearns Goodwin<br />
| It is unclear how, or why, a fictional character would write a biography on a real life person, but there's always the possibly that there was already a fictional Doris, in-universe to Boba, whose own life and exploits would be natural for an actually fictional factual output. <br />
|}<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Star Wars''?<br />
:Ponytail: Fiction.<br />
<br />
:[Same setting.]<br />
:Cueball: ''The Making of Star Wars''?<br />
:White Hat: Nonfiction.<br />
<br />
:[Closeup of Cueball.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Star Wars: The Adventures of Boba Fett''?<br />
:Off-panel voice: Fiction.<br />
<br />
:[Closeup of Ponytail.]<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): ''Star Wars: The Official Guide to Boba Fett's Armor and Weapons''?<br />
:Ponytail: Nonfiction, technically.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball has lifted a hand palm up as he talks to Ponytail and White Hat.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Boba Fett's Gadgets and How He Got Them''?<br />
:Ponytail: ...Fiction? <br />
:Ponytail: It depends.<br />
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:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat. Ponytail has turned towards White Hat and has taken a hand to her chin.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Boba Fett: A Life'', by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin?<br />
:Ponytail: Hm.<br />
:White Hat: Maybe we should just have a Boba Fett section.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>162.158.159.19