https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.234.112&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-19T03:39:09ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2217:_53_Cards&diff=181449Talk:2217: 53 Cards2019-10-19T07:01:54Z<p>162.158.234.112: </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 />
"This page was last edited [tomorrow]." Okay, good to know. Tomorrow starts three hours from now, my time. This comic reminded me of this article: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/corkscrewing-bouncy-ion-drive-would-provide-thrust-in-different-universe/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.88|172.68.38.88]] 00:44, 19 October 2019 (UTC)<br />
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I can do this, but my flowchart would be different and involve secretly inserting a joker, using the shuffling as cover for the move. <br />
Collect a deck of 52 cards and have a spectator count the cards. - Secretly hide a joker from the deck in your off-hand (the one without the deck). - Shuffle the cards, letting the hidden card drop on top of the deck. - Keep shuffling, so the inserted joker is well mixed into the deck. - Have a spectator count the cards, looking only at the backs. - 53.<br />
[[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 04:56, 19 October 2019 (UTC)<br />
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Actually this is also what encryption scientists have to face talking to not so few encryption enthusiasts who just invented their own encryption method[[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.112|162.158.234.112]] 07:01, 19 October 2019 (UTC)</div>162.158.234.112https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2197:_Game_Show&diff=1789972197: Game Show2019-09-03T11:53:17Z<p>162.158.234.112: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2197<br />
| date = September 2, 2019<br />
| title = Game Show<br />
| before = [[2198: Throw]] is up --> Delete this line when the buttons work again!<br />
| image = game_show.png<br />
| titletext = Eventually they agreed to "an auto-retracting dog leash with one end clipped to your house, so you can press the button on the handle and water-ski home."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an UNHAPPY STATUE OF LIBERTY. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Many shows have situations where the participants are asked hypothetical questions. A common hypothetical question asked to ascertain what someone considers most important to them is the one item they would take to a deserted island -- to make the best of a boring situation.<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] is on such a game show, and he does his best to undermine the intent of the question. Instead of answering with a favorite item -- such as his favorite album or book -- he lists various things (see [[#List of Black Hat's items|below]]) that would (arguably) help him escape the island, thereby undermining the point of the question. These items would either bring him back home (e.g. a boat, a plane), might help him be found (e.g., the Crown Jewels, Earth's north magnetic pole), or a wacky combination of both (e.g. the Atlantic Ocean).<br />
<br />
The title text reveals that the game show has ultimately acquiesced to one of Black Hat's wishes in a way: the dog leash mentioned would allow him to water-ski home, though such a dog leash is implausible (for example, a dog leash from San Francisco to Hawaii would be over 2000 miles long and therefore difficult to manufacture).{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
==List of Black Hat's items==<br />
* A '''boat''', so he could sail home.<br />
* A '''plane''', so he could fly home.<br />
* '''{{w|Amelia Earhart|Amelia Earhart's}} plane''', so he could be famous. She was a female U.S. aviator who went missing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on an attempt to circumnavigate earth. Her crash site has been searched for for years, and there's still keen interest in finding her -- and coming up with interesting new ideas to guess where she crashed. This answer is a funny continuation of Black Hat's 2nd answer, a '''plane'''. Black Hat doesn't just want any plane, he wants a plane that was famous for going down in a unknown spot in the ocean. He's saying he would like his deserted island to be located where her plane went down, implicitly letting him be the first person to find her plane.<br />
* '''{{w|Amelia Earhart|Amelia Earhart's}} skeleton''', so he could be famous for finding it -- or searched for. Since there's such interest in finding her crash site, if he has her skeleton -- which is a little creepy, but sure, why not -- he might benefit from these search parties, and they would find him in the process.<br />
* '''The internal structure of The {{w|Statue of Liberty}}''' was designed by Gustave Eiffel, best known for his work on the Eiffel Tower. This is a continuation of the skeleton answer, as it's also something that the world would search for. Having it would help him be found, since if it went missing from the actual Statue of Liberty -- magically transported to Black Hat's island -- the skin of the statue would collapse (which would be a funny sight to behold) and there would be worldwide interest in finding out where it went, thus aiding in Black Hat getting rescued from the island. Stealing something of this magnitude seems like something Carmen Sandiego might try to do. This might also be a reference to the scene from the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes in which (Spoiler Alert) at the end of the movie the protagonist realizes he's on earth after all when he sees the half-sunk wreckage of the Statue of Liberty on a beach.<br />
* '''The {{w|Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom}}''', so he would be rescued -- or at least rich. The Crown Jewels are ceremonial objects owned by the kings and queens of the UK. The items are kept under heavy guard and are valued at about $4 billion, so if they were magically transported to Black Hat's desert island, the British military would be likely to find them -- and him. And if they didn't, he'd now control the most valuable jewels in the world (though it might be hard to sell them).<br />
* '''The entire television audience for the show''', so it wouldn't be deserted anymore -- and potentially to punish them for being entertained at the mean idea of having contestents be deserted on an island. If this is a popular channel/show, this could potentially be millions of people, all who have at least been exposed to the idea of how best to making the most of a boring situation. Then at least it would no longer be a deserted island, but of course it would be even more difficult to survive. The answer is similar to the action movie cliche, "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me." <br />
* '''The {{w|Greenland ice sheet}}''' is the body of ice covering the island of {{w|Greenland}}. As the second largest ice sheet on Earth, it would turn the deserted island into, well, Greenland, thus making it much easier to find. Also, it would be pretty funny for Greenland to be instantly relocated. This may also be a reference to the remarks from American President Trump in August 2019 when he suggested he'd like to buy Greenland from Denmark, which were generally received as a bit odd.<br />
* '''Earth's {{w|north magnetic pole}}''', so that all compasses would point to his location. The magnetic pole is the point on earth that all compasses point towards because of the magnetohydrodynamic ([[1851: Magnetohydrodynamics|magic]]) forces in the earth's mantle. If all compasses were to suddenly point to his location, many scientists would investigate, and they would coverge on his deserted island, and Black Hat would be rescued. <br />
* '''The {{w|Atlantic Ocean}}''', so that he could drift back to land. The Atlanta Ocean is the ocean left behind by the split of North America and Afroeurasia. If it could somehow be poured over a deserted island in the pacific, the water would run right back to its original ocean bed, thus bringing Black Hat back toward some kind of landmass -- letting him be rescued -- and probably causing huge flooding on all Pacific coasts and general global havoc on Earth's ecosystem, all for the purposes of Black Hat surfing thousands of miles to shore on the largest wave ever seen.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball, Black Hat, and Megan are game show contestants standing behind lecterns with Hairy standing in front of them as the game show host. Black Hat, standing in the middle of the three is holding a finger up while speaking.]<br />
<br />
:Black Hat: A boat. A plane. Amelia Earhart's plane. Amelia Earhart's ''skeleton''. The Statue of Liberty's internal support frame. The Crown Jewels. This show's entire television audience. The Greenland ice sheet. Earth's north magnetic pole.<br />
:Black Hat: Am I in the Pacific Ocean?<br />
:Black Hat: If so, the Atlantic Ocean.<br />
<br />
:Hairy: Uhh.<br />
:Hairy: Our producers are going to need some time on this one.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:The game show realized that they should have added some restrictions to their "take any item to a deserted island" challenge, but it was too late.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] <!-- Amelia Earhart --></div>162.158.234.112https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2178:_Expiration_Date_High_Score&diff=176930Talk:2178: Expiration Date High Score2019-07-21T06:06:42Z<p>162.158.234.112: Added remark about food sterilisation procedure</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 />
If we assume this comic is contemporary, i.e. the year she found the beans is 2019, it makes Randall's girlfriend/wife 37 years old.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.84.64|141.101.84.64]] 05:25, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Well... it makes Megan 37 years old. There is nothing here to strongly suggest that cueball and her are Randall and his gf/wife. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:54, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Well, to be exact it makes Megan 37 years, 13 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes, 13.3 seconds old (rounded to the nearest tenth of a second). This is based on 900/24.3 = 37.0370 (...) That would make her born on July 6, 1982 (if we work back from the date of publication of the comic). But to be realistic I guess she was probably rounding the score to the nearest decimal, rather than writing 24.32432... (i.e. 900/37), in which case I'm wrong. Either way, spurious accuracy is fun!! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.4|172.68.10.4]] 19:07, 20 July 2019 (UTC) <br />
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What about #933? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.88|172.68.38.88]] 21:35, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
: I think it's pretty clear that the title text varies from comic to comic. Sometimes it's clearly a character's voice. Sometimes it makes more sense as a narrator's voice. Sometimes it's clearly talking about Randall's life. I realize that this site tends to attribute the title text to Randall's voice, but personally, I consider it an unattributed voice. Sometimes it's him, sometimes it's more of a narrator or character voice. Similarly, the actions in the comics are sometimes clearly influenced by events in Randall's life, but they're also clearly not other times. If it turned out that he made Megan 37 because his wife is 37, that wouldn't surprise me, but neither would it surprise me if he did something different, because he does that on a regular basis. (In other words, without additional evidence or supporting information, I think it's weird to state as a fact that the traits of various characters are, in fact, traits of Randall and his friends and family.) [[User:Mootstrap|Mootstrap]] ([[User talk:Mootstrap|talk]]) 02:38, 20 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
:: Yes. I'm not RM but if I were I'd just write in a pretty number that has no meaning at all just to be done with the comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.65|172.68.58.65]] 03:58, 20 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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When I was working at a gas station, someone brought in a propane tank which had expired in 1963 (or so). If 1963 and using this scheme, my score would be 96.6.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.251|172.69.33.251]] 06:02, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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Propane tanks do not "expire", that is they do not go bad with time, and you do not need to throw them out after the date. The date on these tanks is when they need to be inspected for damage, as mandated by Federal and state laws. If the tank passes inspection a new date in put on and you can keep using the tank (propane suppliers can legally keep refilling it.) [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 13:40, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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: Except that it <q>must be something ''you'' purchased</q> so you can't use that one in the contest. Unless you then purchased it from whoever brought it in… <br/> I don't see any rule requiring that the item be new (or otherwise not-yet-expired) when you purchase it, so can we buy old things from other people in order to inflate our score (potentially over 100)? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.42.76|172.69.42.76]] 06:18, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
::That also circumvents the argument "we moved since 2010". If you buy the apartment with kitchen and all equipment, you also purchased the expired item... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:20, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::I think that part in the title text is referring to "how did we manage to not come across all of our expired items when we moved" rather than "this item was here before me moved in". Some very disorganised people might actually pack up and move all of the items (e.g. food) in their house without first checking or even noticing if it is expired. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.64|141.101.98.64]] 10:52, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
::::That was my initial thought too, that she either did it without of noticing, or did not notice it on purpose, to at some point reach this score. But the loophole, good 'ol 42.76 brought up, put this idea up, as an alternative.--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:56, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
:The rules say that the item must be something you, personally '''''purchased'''''...so did they BUY the pickles from Megan's mom? I'd want to see a receipt or something! (And if the pickles were dated to 1978, Megan (whom we've established is 37 years old was not born when the pickles were dated...so for sure, this is cheating! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:36, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
::They clearly attribute the pickle score to Megan's mum, not to Megan.[[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 13:42, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::Yeah - that makes more sense. I had initially read it as these were pickles MADE by her mum and given to Megan - not pickles that her mum purchased. Sadly, we can't work backwards from the 2030 date that Megan needs to wait until in order to beat that score to figure out her mom's age because we don't know on what year her mum discovered the ancient pickles. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:48, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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There is one caveat to Megan's strategy: since the fraction (year you found item - year item expired)/(your age when you found it) converges to one as time goes on regardless whether the numerator is bigger than the denominator, as long as the item expired before the year of your birth, postponing the discovery reduces your score (considerably).<br />
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Her mom's pickles could still have had an expiration date before 1978 - according to [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sell-and-best-dates-food-are-basically-made-hard-get-rid-180950304/ this article] they were around in the 1950s and on store shelves by 1970. If they were home-canned she could also have dated them herself. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.22|172.68.174.22]] 17:56, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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:Perishable foods had expiration dates in the 1970s at least (maybe earlier in some countries and some stores). But non-perishable foods did NOT had dates until the 2000's or later. A home canned jar of pickles could have a hand written date, but this would be the date it was canned, not an expiration date. Because anyone in the 1970s who knew how to can would know if they did it right the food would not go bad. If they did the canning wrong they would not need a expiration date to know this, they would know in a few weeks, by looking through the mason jar at the food inside. Or by looking at the food and glass spread around the pantry after the jar exploded. So Megan's mom could have a loaf of bread with a 1978 date, but not a jar of pickles. [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 18:17, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== FOOD SCIENCE ==<br />
<br />
''"Since then many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods. In some instances this can have the negative effect of people throwing out good food by blindly following the suggested expiration date. This behaviour can incentivise companies to adjust the expiration date so that people will re-buy the products sooner."''<br />
<br />
Since science and the truth are a big part of both xkcd.com and explainxkcd.com, I think it is important this explanation includes how/why food goes bad, and why expiration dates on jars/cans of food do not serve to protect people from eating bad food. If no one else gets to it first I'll try to type this explanation when I get a chance.<br />
<br />
Until then I don't think the explanation should say "...many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods." Although this is true, it is also true many companies put expiration on non-perishable products even through there is no law requiring them to do so. Like cosmetics and jars of pickles. [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 13:54, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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:To be fair, many items are labelled "Best Before" or "Sell By" - implying that the food item will be edible for at least some time beyond that date. Actual expiration dates on preserved food items do seem to be rarer. There are cases of canned food items from the early 1900's still being in good shape after 100+ years - and those would not have had any expiration date. But one issue is that back then, cans were made by soldering sheets of tin together - and the lead in the solder slowly leaches into the food making it unsafe to eat even though the food itself seems well-preserved. So for potential high scores, we should look to: [http://mentalfloss.com/article/555075/11-oldest-foods-and-beverages-ever-discovered The 11 oldest foods and beverages ever discovered] - except that they'd not have any kind of formal expiration date. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 14:10, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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The legal requirements of "expiration dates" for food are less stringent than many believe. In the USA, under FDA regulations, only baby formula cannot legally be sold after its expiration date. Wording like "use by" and "sell by" is not legally binding... more like "guidelines", as Capt. Barbossa would say. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.64|172.68.34.64]] 15:57, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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I think the point that needs to be made in the explanation is both the items in the comic (a can of beans and a jar of pickles) do not go bad with time but in fact remain edible indefinitely.<br />
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Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food. Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.) The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a can/jar while the food is still hot, with no air bubble. As long as this process is done correctly, as long as the jar lid has an air tight seal, and as long at the can is not punctured or gets a hole rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food can not spoil. Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it can not go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.<br />
<br />
If the canning process is done incorrectly and bacteria/fungi/yeast is sealed in the can/jar, the food goes bad in a few weeks, not years. Gases given off by the decomposition process often cause the can to swell, or the normal concave jar lid to bulge upwards. Sometimes the internal gas pressure is enough to burst the can/jar, as used to happen to people who canned at home using mason jars. If it does not burst, you are still going the know the food has gone bad the minute you open the can/jar, even without looking inside. <br />
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The above facts are more important then who/how/why expiration dates get put on which products. [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 17:13, 19 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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SO my mom's fridge! When I was a kid, my brother had a buddy who would put on his best game show announcer voice and say "It's time for Search... For... Fungus!", then check the fridge for OLD things. Hysterical, laughed our heads off, and helped us out by getting rid of the old stuff, LOL! Me and her recently cleaned her fridge, and similarly found some pre-move items. LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:53, 20 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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All Aussies can win this game with their personal vegemite jar. And they're still EATING it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.124|108.162.249.124]] 09:35, 20 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
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Canned food is first put into the can and sealed and then heated up to around 60~80 degrees Celsius. After it cools down, the label is placed on it. - sirKitKat<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.112|162.158.234.112]] 06:06, 21 July 2019 (UTC)</div>162.158.234.112https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1939:_2016_Election_Map&diff=1505861939: 2016 Election Map2018-01-08T16:50:43Z<p>162.158.234.112: changed bad character to simple ascii</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1939<br />
| date = January 8, 2018<br />
| title = 2016 Election Map<br />
| image = 2016_election_map.png<br />
| titletext = I like the idea of cartograms (distorted population maps), but I feel like in practice they often end up being the worst of both worlds-not great for showing geography OR counting people. And on top of that, they have all the problems of a chloro... chorophl... chloropet... map with areas colored in.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - 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 />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.234.112https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1926:_Bad_Code&diff=1490321926: Bad Code2017-12-11T15:14:31Z<p>162.158.234.112: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1926<br />
| date = December 8, 2017<br />
| title = Bad Code<br />
| image = bad_code.png<br />
| titletext = "Oh my God, why did you scotch-tape a bunch of hammers together?" "It's ok! Nothing depends on this wall being destroyed efficiently."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a bad coder, very incomplete, added (possibly excessive) explanation for load-bearing wall. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[Ponytail]] has caught [[Cueball]] in the act of writing some messy code - code in the form of a spreadsheet formula, which in turn produces another program in a language called {{w|Haskell (programming language)|Haskell}}. <br />
<br />
Haskell is a somewhat obscure programming language by itself, as referenced in [[1312: Haskell]].<br />
<br />
It is explained that ''this'' code will in turn interpret ''more'' source code, specifically markup in {{w|HTML}}.<br />
After Cueball excuses his bad code by stating that "nothing depends on this" (meaning that no other projects rely on this code being good to operate properly), Ponytail uses the analogy of breaking a non-load-bearing wall to ridicule Cueball's excuse.<br />
<br />
A load-bearing wall is the wall that supports main structure of the building. Damaging it may cause serious issues. Typically, not all walls in the building are load-bearing; as such, they can be destroyed fairly safely, because "a building doesn't depend on it". However, supporting the building is just ''one'' of the functions which depends on having an intact wall; walls serve many other important purposes, from creating opaque{{Citation needed}} and soundproof barriers (necessary for privacy purposes, particularly for bedrooms and bathrooms), to containing and protecting water pipes and electrical wiring. Thus Ponytail's analogy does not bear much relation to Cueball's code, which really does have no consequence beyond upsetting Ponytail.<br />
<br />
Immediately after, Ponytail appears to have realized that she's only ''inspired'' Cueball to go ahead and break the wall, instead of swaying him away from writing ugly code. If left unchecked, this will only end in tragedy. [[905: Homeownership|Hilarious, knee-slapping tragedy.]]<br />
<br />
This is most likely a continuation of the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series, but it differs slightly. For one thing, all of the previous strips were name "Code Quality <number>", with the exception of the first, which was just named "Code Quality". Also note that, unlike the previous Code Quality strips, Ponytail does not start using similes like "This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house". It's also the longest explanation of Cueball's code by Cueball himself.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests that Cueball's approach to breaking the wall, scotch-taping a bunch of hammers together, is as good as his code. And his excuse is similar.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is at his desk in a swivel chair, using his computer. Ponytail walks towards him.]<br />
:Ponytail: That's the ugliest mess of code I've ever seen! What on earth are you working on?<br />
<br />
:[Cueball swivels his chair to face Ponytail in a frameless panel.]<br />
:Cueball: It's nothing weird this time, I swear.<br />
:Cueball: It just looks bad because it's a spreadsheet formula.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is facing his computer again.]<br />
:Cueball: ...which assembles a Haskell function.<br />
:Ponytail: Uhhh.<br />
:Cueball: ...for parsing HTML.<br />
:Ponytail: ...oh my God.<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail is pointing away from the scene.]<br />
:Cueball: It's ok! Nothing depends on this.<br />
:Ponytail: That wall isn't load-bearing. Does that mean we can just throw hammers at it?<br />
:Cueball: ...I mean...<br />
:Ponytail: Wait. Crap.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]</div>162.158.234.112https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1921:_The_Moon_and_the_Great_Wall&diff=1484311921: The Moon and the Great Wall2017-11-28T08:31:35Z<p>162.158.234.112: /* Explanation */ Citation needed, of course!</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1921<br />
| date = November 27, 2017<br />
| title = The Moon and the Great Wall<br />
| image = the_moon_and_the_great_wall.png<br />
| titletext = And arguably sunspots, on rare occasions. But even if they count, it takes ideal conditions and you might hurt your eyes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is a reference to the myth that the {{w|Great Wall of China}} is the only manmade object that can be seen from the {{w|Moon}} (or from space) with the naked eye. {{w|Great_Wall_of_China#Visibility_from_space|Sadly, it cannot}}, in fact it's barely visible from the low orbit of satellites. The statement in the comic, however, is almost true, as the features on the Moon are indeed craters and valleys on the surface of the Moon, and except for the {{w|Sun}} (see title text) all other distant {{w|Astronomical object|celestial bodies}} can only be seen as points of light by the unaided human eye.<br />
<br />
The joke in this comic is that the end of the sentence: “from the Great Wall of China” is unnecessary, as the moon’s features can in fact be seen equally well anywhere on Earth. The irony is how this statement is the exact inverse of the myth. Also, Earth can technically be classified as a celestial body, and standing on the {{w|Great Wall of China}} one can easily see other structures{{Citation needed}}.<br />
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The title text states that one is sometimes able to see large {{w|sunspots}} if any are present and conditions are ideal<!--What would be ideal conditions? Sunset? Hazy skies?-->. However, looking at the sun with the naked eye risks extensive damage to the eye and should NEVER be done. (It's possible to see sunspots with {{w|solar eclipse}} glasses or other adequate {{w|Eye protection#Protection against light|protection}}, but that's not the naked eye.)<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is holding her arm up towards Ponytail as they stand atop a large brick wall to the left of a tower with three small windows.]<br />
:Megan: Did you know that the moon's craters and plains are the only structures on the surface of a celestial body that can be seen with the naked eye from the Great Wall of China?<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category: Astronomy]]</div>162.158.234.112