https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.74.32&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T14:11:22ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1412:_Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles&diff=307248Talk:1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles2023-03-05T19:06:01Z<p>162.158.74.32: Undone clear fakery by clear faker.</p>
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<div>Looks like they renamed the Wikipedia article mentioned as "Maple Syrup Urine '''Syndrome'''" to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup_urine_disease Maple Syrup Urine '''Disease'''].[[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 05:03, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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This rythmic sounding has to do with metrical <strike>foots</strike> feet, I think. Maybe someone more into it than I can explain...<br />
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_%28prosody%29 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.164|108.162.229.164]] 05:21, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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: It's just a 4-foot trochaic ("trochaic octameter"?) meter. ^- ^- ^- ^-. Also, I'm curious now, is "foots" the proper plural when discussing meter, or is that just a typo/misunderstanding? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.150|199.27.128.150]] 06:37, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:: Oh, right, the plural must be "feet". I just had a brain fart. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.164|108.162.229.164]] 10:23, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:: It is a trochaic tetrameter. Tetra = 4, octa = 8.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 12:26, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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::: Right, it's number of feet, not number of syllables. My mistake. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.150|199.27.128.150]] 15:04, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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: This one is definitely related: http://xkcd.com/856/ --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.68|141.101.104.68]] 08:08, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Unless "Gloucester" is two syllables, Randall made a mistake/wanted to see if we're awake.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.224|108.162.246.224]] 06:33, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Depending on where you're from, it can be pronounced (quasi-phonetically) as "Glow-ster". [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:24, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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: Actually it is. Silly British accents. It's pronounced roughly "Gloss-ter". [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.150|199.27.128.150]] 06:37, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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::In that case, I retract my previous statement and apologize.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.224|108.162.246.224]] 07:20, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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With regards to the roll-over text, mention could be made of the long-running BBC radio show "I'm sorry I haven't a clue" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Sorry_I_Haven%27t_A_Clue ). It is comedy panel game, and one of the regular rounds is 'One Song to the Tune of Another'. It may be coincidence, but one panellist of the show is Barry Cryer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Cryer ) who happened to have recorded Purple People Eater... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 08:26, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Why isn't Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the list? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.120|103.22.201.120]] 11:41, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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There's a typo in "Quantuum vacuum plasma thruster". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 12:08, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Dang someone beat me to writing in the transcript. Oh well, you did a much better job than I was doing anyway. =8o) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:24, 25 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Is it just me, or do these lyrics not REALLY match the TMNT title song? The first three lines are OK, but the following lines just repeats the pattern - the TMNT song has a different rhythm. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.169}}<br />
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:Each title is meant to be sung only to the "TMNT" part of the song. They aren't meant to be sung one after another to match the whole song. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.211|173.245.52.211]] 03:09, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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If you speak with a western US accent like me, museum is pronounced with 2 syllables (myoo zahm). I guess if you pronounce it correctly, its more like myoo-zee-uhm, which would make 'Edgar Allan Poe Museum' fit. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.213|108.162.246.213]] 03:18, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Please check with your friends and relations about the pronunciation of museum. All dictionaries show /mjuˈzi.əm/ (myoo-ZEE-um). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.144|108.162.238.144]] 19:49, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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It's a shame that "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer" has a syllable too many, because that would've been perfect. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.197|141.101.104.197]] 08:31, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:What's the extra syllable? I count In-fra Tur-bo Pig-cart Ra-cer. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.144|108.162.238.144]] 19:50, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Is there any particular need to have a separate section for the wikilinks, rather than just embedding them in the transcript?--[[User:Marcus Hill|Marcus Hill]] ([[User talk:Marcus Hill|talk]]) 09:26, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I wouldn't think so - that's how they were originally... [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:19, 26 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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This makes me think of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.150}}<br />
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Damnit Monroe, for two reasons: 1. Now this all I can think about whenever I find a phrase that fits the syllable stress pattern, and 2. Why couldn't you have held off until 1413 for this - XKCD fourteen thirteen fits the stress pattern as well. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.204|108.162.250.204]] 06:15, 19 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I still don't know what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme sounds like, but I can't look at more than one or two of these tetrametric trochees without immediately thinking of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oysMt8iL9UE Peter Gunn theme] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gunn_(song)] (which then stays stuck in my head for hours...). —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 17:25, 24 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Does anyone know how Randall compiled the list? {{unsigned ip|199.27.129.119}}<br />
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;Deleted pages<br />
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"Places named for Adolf Hitler" was deleted recently, which makes me wonder, how many other pages on Wikipedia that are linked here were also deleted? {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.135}}<br />
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;Missed articles<br />
Is anyone compiling a list of articles that Randall missed, but that fit the rhythm? I can think of at least one: "Random number generator". [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 09:58, 5 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I know Béla Viktor János Bartók fits the scheme. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.249|162.158.74.249]] 19:10, 31 October 2019 (UTC)<br />
:"Universal basic income" fits. It's just a redirect and not a proper page though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.206|172.69.69.206]] 19:40, 10 July 2020 (UTC)<br />
:[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Bayern_Munich_(women) FC Bayern Munich (women)] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.15|162.158.203.15]] 14:48, 10 March 2021 (UTC)<br />
:[[:Category:Monday comics|Category:Monday comics]], [[:Category:Tuesday comics|Category:Tuesday comics]], etc, Also don't forget disambiguation pages. <br />
:: And [[:Category:Airplane banner]]. [[User:I27.O.O.I|I27.O.O.I]] ([[User talk:I27.O.O.I|talk]]) 02:13, 28 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: [[2729|Planet Killer Margarita]]. {{unsigned|I27.O.O.I|06:12, 3 March 2023}}::: [http://conwaylife.com/wiki/Honey_thieves_with_test_tube_baby Honey thieves with test tube baby], and also [http://conwaylife.com/wiki/Category:Oscillators Category Oscillators]. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 12:44, 4 March 2023 (UTC)<br />
: What kind of English are you speaking? [[User:I27.O.O.I|I27.O.O.I]] ([[User talk:I27.O.O.I|talk]]) 23:03, 4 March 2023 (UTC)<br />
: Today I was at {{w|Multi Router Traffic Grapher}} and it immediately reminded me of this comic... —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 20:58, 22 June 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.74.32https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2742:_Island_Storage&diff=3069022742: Island Storage2023-02-26T23:47:14Z<p>162.158.74.32: /* Explanation */ That paragraph was inserted in the beginning rather strangely. Moving it, slightly and rephrasing so as to remove onvious redundancy.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2742<br />
| date = February 24, 2023<br />
| title = Island Storage<br />
| image = island_storage_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x435px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I always hate dragging around the larger archipelagos, but I appreciate how the Scandanavian peninsula flexes outward to create a snug pocket for the British Isles.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by A BAD MAP PROJECTOR FIRED - Are there any other islands we've forgotten?! Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is another world map vandalized{{Citation Needed}} by Randall, similarly to the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|bad map projection series]]. This time, every major island, that is not considered a continent in its own right, is relocated into similarly-sized swathes of sea partly enclosed by the outlines of adjacent continents. The caption implies it's Earth's intended "storage mode", where everything 'loose' is neatly packed away. A similar comic is found at [[1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize]].<br />
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The comic thus equates the world to a playroom in which the islands are the equivalent of scattered toys left out after playtime. It indicates that the loose islands can be properly stored away in the nooks and crannies of the larger landmasses, possibly so they can be easily located when the next person comes along to play with them.<br />
<br />
Though much of the apparent strange distortions of relocated islands are probably due to the relative changes in length/area/angle across differing parts of the planar-stretched map of the globe (depending upon the {{w|map projection}} being used<!-- I really want to tie that down specifically, when I have time! -->), Randall is clearly also not averse to distorting the landmasses slightly, to fit, even the 'immobile' continental masses. He mentions in the Title Text that he likes to make use of the jutting outcrop of {{w|Scandinavia}} (though misspelled as it was in [[850: World According to Americans]]) by flexing it somewhat like one might do with a spring-clip, thus gripping tightly whatever islands he forces within the gap (in this instance, the British Isles and Svalbard).<br />
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===Table of islands===<br />
New locations of various islands:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable" <br />
|-<br />
! Island(s)<br />
! Original Location<br />
! New Location<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kodiak Island}}<br />
| South of mainland Alaska<br />
| {{w|Cook Inlet}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Vancouver Island}}<br />
| West of mainland Canada<br />
| {{w|Salish Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Canadian Arctic Archipelago}}<br />
| North of mainland Canada<br />
| {{w|Hudson Bay}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Newfoundland (Island)|Newfoundland}}, {{w|Prince Edward Island}}, and {{w|Anticosti Island}}<br />
| {{w|Labrador Sea|Off the eastern coast of Canada}}<br />
| {{w|Gulf of St Lawrence}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Greenland}}<br />
| {{w|Greenland Sea|Northeast of Canada}}<br />
| {{w|Gulf of Mexico}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hispaniola}} and {{w|Cuba}}<br />
| {{w|Caribbean Sea}}<br />
| Gulf of Mexico<br />
|-<br />
| Other Caribbean Islands<br />
| Caribbean Sea<br />
| {{w|Gulf of Venezuela}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Iceland}}<br />
| {{w|Sargasso Sea|Northern Atlantic Ocean}}<br />
| {{w|Gulf of Lion|Coast of southern France}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Great Britain}} and {{w|Ireland}}, {{w|Svalbard}}<br />
| Northwest Europe<br />
| {{w|Baltic Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sardinia}} and {{w|Sicily}}<br />
| {{w|Tyrrhenian Sea|Off western coast of Italy}}<br />
| Coast of Italy<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Aegean Islands}}<br />
| {{w|Aegean Sea}}<br />
| Coast of Greece<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|New Guinea}}, {{w|Sumatra}}, {{w|Java}}, {{w|Sulawesi}}<br />
| {{w|Solomon Sea}}, {{w|Natuna Sea}}, {{w|Java Sea}}, {{w|Sulawesi Sea}}<br />
| {{w|Mediterranean Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Philippines}}<br />
| {{w|Philippine Sea}}<br />
| {{w|Black Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Novaya Zemlya}}<br />
| {{w|Pechora Sea}}<br />
| {{w|White Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Japan}}, {{w|Sakhalin}}<br />
| {{w|Sea of Japan}}, {{w|Sea of Okhotsk}}<br />
| Sea of Okhotsk<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Taiwan}}, {{w|Hainan}}<br />
| {{w|South China Sea}}<br />
| {{w|Yellow Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Madagascar}}<br />
| {{w|Mozambique Channel}}<br />
| {{w|Red Sea}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sri Lanka}}<br />
| {{w|Laccadive Sea}}<br />
| {{w|Persian Gulf}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Borneo}}<br />
| South China Sea<br />
| {{w|Gulf of Thailand}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|New Zealand}}, {{w|Tasmania}}<br />
| {{w|Tasman Sea|Off the coast of Australia}}<br />
| {{w|Gulf of Carpentaria}}<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hawaii))<br />
| Pacific Ocean<br />
| {{w|Gulf of Mexico}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[A map of Earth with the largest continents in their usual locations, and Antarctica off the map, but all of the major islands have been moved into various bays and seas. See explanation above for further details.]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Reminder: If you're the last one using the Earth, please put the islands away when you're done.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Maps]]</div>162.158.74.32https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2723:_Outdated_Periodic_Table&diff=3046342723: Outdated Periodic Table2023-01-12T13:17:44Z<p>162.158.74.32: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2723<br />
| date = January 11, 2023<br />
| title = Outdated Periodic Table<br />
| image = outdated_periodic_table_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 360x350px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Researchers claim to have synthesized six additional elements in the second row, temporarily named 'pentium' through 'unnilium'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by BERYLLIUM-BASED LIFE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic shows figure 6.14 from a science text book, which displays ''The periodic table of the elements''. But only the first four elements are shown, {{w|Hydrogen}}, {{w|Helium}}, {{w|Lithium}} and {{w|Berylium}}. [[Randall]] claims, in the caption, that you can use a figure of the {{w|Periodic table}} to date a book based on missing elements. The joke here is that his book was somehow published just half and hour after the {{w|Big Bang}}, at which time those four elements where the only one present.<br />
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From about 10 seconds to 20 minutes after the Big Bang, occurred what is known as the {{w|Big Bang nucleosynthesis}}. Here Helium was made in abundance with traces of Lithium. Also Berylium-7 was formed, which is an unstable {{w|Isotopes of beryllium|isotope of beryllium}}, but with a half life of 53 days it would still be around for several months after the Big Bang, and most of what was created would be there half an hour after.<br />
<br />
So when Randall's science book was published those four elements were the only ones in existence, and after all Berylium had decayed only the three first would be present until star formation began and started the {{w|Stellar nucleosynthesis}}.<br />
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Of course no life as we know it could exist until long after Stellar nucleosynthesis had created all the other elements needed to support {{w|Carbon-based life}}. And no life as we could even imagine, would be able to exist the first 370.000 years after Big Bang as atoms could not form due to the high energy of the {{w|Cosmic background radiation}}, which until the {{w|Recombination (cosmology)|Recombination}} would not allow atoms to form as the energy level before that was too high.<br />
<br />
Many {{w|Chemical elements|elements}} do not occur naturally on earth and have to be {{w|Synthetic element|synthesized}}. And others are very hard to detect, collect enough in pure form or purify enough to discover them. Until these elements were discovered one way or another they where not included in the periodic table. Or at least only as theoretical elements expected to be in a given position. <br />
<br />
Because (paper versions) of scientific textbooks do not update themselves after being published, one can determine the age of a scientific textbook by checking which elements are present in the textbook's periodic table. And Randall's joke is that those four in the figure date the book as published around half an hour after the Big Bang. (A few years after that Berylium would be gone, and a periodic table created at that time would only show the first three elements).<br />
<br />
The title text refers to how yet-undiscovered elements are given a {{w|systematic element name}} as a temporary name according to how many protons they have. The names consists of Greek and Latin roots and adding an -ium at the end. The claim in the title text is that in the text book with the figure, researchers claim they have synthesized six additional elements in the second row, temporarily named 'pentium' through 'unnilium'.<br />
<br />
Elements that cannot be found natural on Earth (or anywhere in the Universe) are generally excluded from the periodic table until they have been synthesized (and are no longer theoretical). And if elements are added to the end of the table, but it is still uncertain if they have been synthesized or who should give the new element a name, then a number system has been used, just calling for instance element 118, simply 118 using the Latin or Greek words for it digits: "Ununoctium". At the time of release of this comic, element number 118 has already been synthesized and had been called {{w|Oganesson}} and there was at that time no longer any elements higher than 118 named using this naming convention. This has been mentioned in the title text of {{w|2639: Periodic Table Changes}}, the previous comic to draw a periodic table.<br />
<br />
In the title text the new elements numbers are very low ("pentium" being based on "pent" which means "five", and thus would refer to {{w|Boron}}) because only the four elements shown in the figure had been discovered at the time of publication. ({{w|Pentium}} is also the name of a series of microprocessors launched by Intel in the 1990s). The term "unnilium" is a description of the digits of ten, i.e. 1 0, using the numerical roots established by convention, and would refer to {{w|Neon}}. In reality, had Neon once been a hypothetical element, it would more likely have been called something along the lines of "decium". <br />
<br />
Since life could not have existed at the time this book should have been published, the idea of researches synthesizing elements is of course just part of the joke.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, despite helium being one of the first elements to exist, it did not appear in the earliest period tables. Because the noble gasses do not react chemically, they were unknown to human scientists until the late 19th century.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Subheading]: Figure 6.14<br />
:[Title]: The periodic table of the elements<br />
<br />
:[The following four rectangles featuring the large element abbreviation, with the full element name written below, in a typical periodic table style]<br />
:[Top row, far left]: H Hydrogen<br />
:[Top row, far right, detached from any other box]: He Helium<br />
:[Bottom row, attached directly below the "H" box]: Li Lithium<br />
:[Bottom row, attached directly to the right of "Li"]: Be Beryllium<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel]:<br />
:You can spot an outdated science textbook by checking the bottom of the periodic table for missing elements. For example, mine was published half an hour after the Big Bang.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Chemistry]]<br />
[[Category:Cosmology]]</div>162.158.74.32https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2424:_Normal_Conversation&diff=3046112424: Normal Conversation2023-01-11T23:58:06Z<p>162.158.74.32: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2424<br />
| date = February 12, 2021<br />
| title = Normal Conversation<br />
| image = normal_conversation.png<br />
| titletext = "I think I'll pass. These days I have a hard time feeling comfortable in crowded bars with loud music and lots of shouting." --me, after the pandemic, but now for a second reason<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. <br />
<br />
[[Randall]]/[[Cueball]] has shown in many comics the difficulty of making small talk, or having a "normal" conversation, when you spent your developing years developing work skills ([[:Category:Social interactions|comics of this are here]]), a trait of nerds such as engineers that is frequently used as material in [https://dilbert.com/strip/1991-12-09 comics]. With the COVID-19 pandemic, he feels that others may have difficulty having normal conversations as well, and so this seems to be a "silver lining" for the pandemic. He can now use this excuse instead of having to admit that he has difficulty in social situations (and always has, even before the pandemic). Randall also uses a false but plausible excuse to cover unusual nerd behavior in [[1900: Jet Lag]]. He also uses another excuse which can get him out of life in general in [[880: Headache]].<br />
<br />
In the title text, he shows his dislike, which existed prior to the pandemic, of going to crowded bars. In the future, even after the pandemic passes, Cueball will still have the excuse that the pandemic made him feel uncomfortable in crowded bars due to possible virus spread and that the feeling has persisted past the pandemic. Cueball remarked on his good fortune in [[2276: Self-Isolate]], as it turns out he has been "practicing social distancing" all his life, but that it has now finally become common practice.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Randall, drawn as Cueball wearing a white face mask, is talking to Cueball wearing a face mask with striped pattern.]<br />
:Randall: So how's...everything.<br />
:Randall: I mean, I know everything is, um...but are you, uh...<br />
:Randall: Sorry, I feel like the pandemic has destroyed my ability to have a conversation like a normal human.<br />
:Cueball: Haha, I know, right?<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I'm at least glad I have this excuse now.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Social interactions]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring face masks]]</div>162.158.74.32https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2718:_New_Year%27s_Eve_Party&diff=3037042718: New Year's Eve Party2022-12-30T21:55:18Z<p>162.158.74.32: /* Explanation */ Tweaks</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2718<br />
| date = December 30, 2022<br />
| title = New Year's Eve 2023<br />
| image = new_years_eve_2023_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 306x274px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = [Earlier, at the eye doctor] 'No, for the last time, the numerals on the paper aren't my prescription, it's the shape I want you to make with the laser.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a "2023" LASER EYE SURGEON - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
{{w|New Year's glasses}} are novelty glasses typically worn at New Year's Eve parties and are shaped like the digits of the upcoming year. They were popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s since the middle digits (9 and 0) had holes large enough to look through or mount lenses into. <br />
<br />
[[Ponytail]], [[White Hat]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are at a party. The first three are wearing such glasses in the shape of the numerals "2023", in honor of the upcoming New Year. It appears that Cueball has pursued a different approach and may have obtained laser eye surgery. Usually, this is geared towards adjusting a person's corneas towards correcting long- or short-sightedness, so that glasses are less necessary in everyday life.<br />
<br />
Here, it has clearly ruined his vision enough that he mistakes a [[Hairy]]-like individual, who it seems has just arrived at the party and not yet divested himself of his outdoors jacket, as [[Rob]] (generally shown as a Cueball, himself). A second guess is that he's someone called Mike.<br />
<br />
In the title text, it becomes clear that this is because he has had the laser actually shape and/or burn the digits straight onto his eyeballs, obviously without any regard to his normal vision (not notably having required correction, before now).<br />
<br />
In actuality, {{w|scleral tattooing}} can be done for 'cosmetic' reasons, with {{w|corneal tattooing}} claiming both cosmetic and vision-improvement benefits, but the efficacy and safety of the process is not universally accepted.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[Ponytail, White Hat, Megan, Cueball, and Hairy are standing around. Ponytail, White Hat, and Megan are wearing glasses in the shape of the number 2023.]<br />
Cueball: Hey Rob! Or, Uh... Sorry, is that Mike?<br />
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Caption: I'm regretting my New Year's Eve novelty "2023" laser eye surgery.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]</div>162.158.74.32https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1745:_Record_Scratch&diff=1285801745: Record Scratch2016-10-13T02:22:16Z<p>162.158.74.32: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1745<br />
| date = October 12, 2016<br />
| title = Record Scratch<br />
| image = record_scratch.png<br />
| titletext = The 78-rpm era was closer to the Civil War than to today.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Are there more details that needs to be added?}}<br />
A vinyl disc (also known as a {{w|gramophone record}}) is a type of storage medium that stores music on the disc with a groove. As the disc turns, a stylus rides along the groove and translates the pattern of the bumps within the groove into sound. This sound then causes a magnetic or piezoelectric transducer to transform the sound into a corresponding electric current, which is then amplified. These are often played on a {{w|phonograph}} (also known as record players (since 1940s) or, most recently, turntables). The noise referred to as a "record scratch" can be caused by someone attempting to stop the record's play by dragging the stylus across the radius of the record, or by stopping the disc's rotation with one's hand (opposing the turntable's rotation). As a result, this is often used as [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RecordNeedleScratch a sound effect in movies] for comedic effect. This type of sound is also often used in hip-hop music; in particular, rapidly and manually rotating the disc in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.<br />
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The comic pokes fun at a movie cliché in which the story opens with [[Cueball]] in some kind of unbelievable predicament, followed by a record scratch, seemingly freezing time as Cueball narrates, "Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering (how I ended up in this situation)." The rest of the story then follows, often by going back in time to depict the events that leads up to the situation of the opening scene. So in this case it would be interesting to know why Cueball is at a party where everyone has wine glasses in their hands, but suddenly one of the glasses (Cueball's or his nearest adversaries) is lying on the floor. And why is both [[Ponytail]] and another Cueball-like guy threatening/pointing at Cueball while [[Megan]] stares at him waiting to see if [[Hairy]] beats him up as he advances ready for fight both fists up. This is what the movies would normally begin to tell after the scratch. At the time of the comic's posting, parodying the cliché, [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/record-scratch-freeze-frame variations on the phrase] had become a popular meme on social media.<br />
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As the record scratch continues to be used despite the fact that record players (gramophones) have largely become obsolete technology, [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by beginning this meme by giving the backstory on what that sound actually is, (many people from the younger generation may very well not know this), rather than giving context to the situation via a story. This is yet one more of Randall's comics that is trying to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make people feel old]], and is likely most relevant to those who have actually used vinyl to listen to music, comedy or other recordings.<br />
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The title text indicates (in a manner similar to that of [[891: Movie Ages]]) that the "78-rpm era" – referring to the fact that the original industry standard of records making {{w|Gramophone_record#78_rpm_disc_developments|78 revolutions per minute}} (rpm) (1925-1950s) – is now closer to the time of the {{w|American Civil War}} (1861-1865) than it is to present day, another way that Randall is making the reader feel old. Note; these records were not made from vinyl.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[In a black area, with jagged edges, at the top of the comic is a sound effect written with white text. Below there are two frames with text. This text is narrated by Cueball standing below with four people around him. Cueball is highlighted by being drawn in the regular way whereas the other four people are drawn in light gray. Cueball has just dropped a wineglass, spilling wine on the floor to the left and dropping the glass, spilling more wine, to the right, He has his arms slightly out, and seems to be turned towards three people to the right, while looking to the left at Ponytail. Ponytail is holding a glass of wine in one hand and is the other hand up waving her fist at Cueball. On his other side Hairy is advancing towards him with both hands up in fists ready for a fight. (It could be his wine glass dropped on the floor at Cueball's feet as it is also drawn in gray). Behind Hairy is Megan also with a wine glass held in one hand, and behind her is another Cueball-like guy with a wine glass holding one arm out pointing a finger at Cueball.]<br />
<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"|<font color="white"><big>''Record Scratch''</big></font> <br />
|}<br />
:Cueball (narrating): You're probably wondering what that sound was.<br />
:Cueball (narrating): Well, long ago, music was recorded on vinyl discs...<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]</div>162.158.74.32