https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.68.132.95&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T13:58:53ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2133:_EHT_Black_Hole_Picture&diff=1723502133: EHT Black Hole Picture2019-04-06T03:11:04Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2133<br />
| date = April 5, 2019<br />
| title = EHT Black Hole Picture<br />
| image = eht_black_hole_picture.png<br />
| titletext = [five years later] Ok, it seems we were accidentally zoomed in slightly too far. But imagine there's a cool-looking twisted accretion disc just outside this black square!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by cosmic rays from a black hole Needs more explanation Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic references the {{w|Event Horizon Telescope}}, an international project dedicated to releasing the first-ever picture of a {{w|black hole}}. The release of the picture is set for April 10, five days from this comic's release.<br />
<br />
The comic shows [[Cueball]] giving a press conference on the recent photographing of a black hole. The joke lies in the spectacular failure of several systems:<br />
<br />
* You cannot download the picture.<br />
* You cannot screenshot the picture.<br />
* The viewing period ends before a physical camera can be used.<br />
<br />
In reality, none of this should be an issue as the picture would be immediately saved by the system and would not need to be downloaded from the site.<br />
<br />
Cueball describes the system as being like {{w|Pinterest}}, where CSS prevents you from right-clicking on an image so that you could save it (or at least attempts to, there are many workarounds). Cueball states that they then tried to take a screenshot, but the key combination to make a screenshot instead turned off the monitor where the picture was being displayed. This references the fact many mobile phones incorporate the power button in their screen shot combination and the power button can also turn off the screen. Laptops and operating systems may also have undocumented key combinations that blank the screen, which users can accidentally press when in a hurry and create further stress for themselves. As a last act of desperation, Cueball took out his phone and attempted to take a photo of the observation, but by that time, the observation had ended, and the photo was lost.<br />
<br />
Cueball then states that they would try to take a picture of a black hole again next year.<br />
<br />
The title text explains that (after presumably five years of annual tries), the picture failed again as the telescope was too zoomed in and only captured a featureless square. Since a black hole by definition returns no light sent to it, the photograph would be entirely black. Researchers however are primarily presumably trying to obtain images of the more interesting edge known as an {{w|accretion disc}}, which could actually be meaningfully photographed.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is standing behind a lectern, with "Press Conference" and the EHT logo displayed on a projector screen behind him.]<br />
:Cueball: We linked up our observatories, got everything aligned, and there it was:<br />
:Cueball: The first image of a black hole!<br />
<br />
:Out of panel: Can you share the picture?<br />
:Cueball: Well, here's the thing...<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Turns out our telescope feed is like Pinterest, where you can't right-click to save an image.<br />
:Cueball: So we tried to take a screenshot, but the key combination kept turning off the display instead.<br />
<br />
:[The projector screen has changed to show a blurry picture of a white computer screen against a black background. The EHT logo remains.]<br />
:Cueball: I grabbed my phone and tried to take a picture of the screen, but I was too slow. The observation had ended.<br />
:Cueball: We're planning to try again next year, and we'll definitely record the screen this time.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2128:_New_Robot&diff=171623Talk:2128: New Robot2019-03-26T04:00:05Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Boston Dynamics does this. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:23, 25 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have to wonder if the title text is referring to the term "search and destroy", which would certainly be the second type. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 18:47, 25 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M46HvyAG2k i'ts a robot! [[User:I prefer qwerty|I prefer qwerty]] ([[User talk:I prefer qwerty|talk]]) 21:29, 25 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Anyone else reminded of the Rovers from ''The Prisoner''? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.190|172.69.69.190]] 21:54, 25 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It seems like, from both the references(E.G. Hookshot) to various things and the captions, that this bot was built with the purpose of being cool rather than any sort of destructive nature. [[User:V|V]] ([[User talk:V|talk]]) 03:13, 26 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thought I recognized [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_JcKSHUtQ&t=2m9s that stage.] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 04:00, 26 March 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2122:_Size_Venn_Diagram&diff=170993Talk:2122: Size Venn Diagram2019-03-12T00:54:54Z<p>172.68.132.95: </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 />
I think Randall kind of missed an opportunity with the title text: he should have used the new terms as a way to fill the blank areas in the diagram, for instance 'Great Emerald' for the currently empty set Great+Small+Little+Large.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 14:31, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:No, I think the diagram itself is meant to be completely correct. But I didn't check all 100+ combinations. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Yes, I believe the diagram is correct now, but as per the title text Randall will start using new combinations of terms, probably to get their usage mainstream and move the location of the words in the diagram. I'm saying he should have created terms that would fill some blank areas. For instance, his Large Dipper would make Dipper appear in the Big+Little+Large area where we already have League.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.95|141.101.99.95]] 15:16, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::I understood what you said (the first time around) and agree. Randall's title text is to acknowledge or engage the patterns he's discovered in the comic (as usual), and he could do that more thoroughly by making up words that would make the chart more balanced. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.100|162.158.78.100]] 16:27, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:He could also have placed “man” between “little” and “big” just to reference the movie ☺<br />
<br />
<br />
Any such diagram will inevitably have small lacunae. But "Friendly Giant" is a particularly large one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.172|162.158.63.172]] 15:21, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Endian? Scott? Tits?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.112|108.162.219.112]] 15:23, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah, what about Little Endian? It's missing! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.156|172.68.143.156]] 19:28, 11 March 2019 (UT<br />
<br />
Besides the transcript of what's in each category, what about a table to explain ''why'' the items categorized as they are, like:<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!Big<br />
!Great<br />
!Large<br />
!Little<br />
!Small<br />
|-<br />
|Island<br />
|Hawaii<br />
|Cork Harbor, Ireland<br />
|Antilles<br />
|movie<br />
|novel, movie<br />
|-<br />
|Pox<br />
|n/a<br />
|syphilis<br />
|n/a<br />
|n/a<br />
|disease<br />
|-<br />
|White<br />
|BC ski resort<br />
|shark<br />
|pig<br />
|n/a<br />
|butterfly<br />
|}<br />
{Unsigned|172.69.62.160}<br />
:Yeah, it seems reasonable, I like it. Add it [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Second but leave the unused cells blank dont put N/A in the cell. [[User:M|M]] ([[User talk:M|talk]]) 16:15, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know why, but the shape of this diagram feels really satisfying to me. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 16:29, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:For me it’s just hard to look at. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:41, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Came here to say exactly that. The symmetry is really pleasing. I've been considering how effective adding colours would be as well. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:55, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::It looks like these style Venn diagrams are generated by http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/Venn/ ... haven't tried it myself. Don't know if they invented it or took it from elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 21:17, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Again I wonder if he does these sorts of comics just to see how far we'll take it [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 16:51, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Uhhh...isn’t the bottom part just the transcript?[[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:08, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't this go in the Venn Diagram category? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 00:10, 12 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Can anyone make the table's cells be more regular in size across columns? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 00:54, 12 March 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2122:_Size_Venn_Diagram&diff=1709922122: Size Venn Diagram2019-03-12T00:51:30Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* List of items in the diagram */ Completed "emerald" ~~~~</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2122<br />
| date = March 11, 2019<br />
| title = Size Venn Diagram<br />
| image = size_venn_diagram.png<br />
| titletext = Terms I'm going to start using: The Large Dipper, great potatoes, the Big Hadron Collider, and Large Orphan Annie.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a Large Terror. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[File:Symmetrical_5-set_Venn_diagram.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|{{w|Branko Grünbaum}}'s multi-set Venn diagram strategy from 1975, less symmetric than Randall's.]]<br />
This comic is a {{w|Venn diagram}} illustrating the complete set of possible intersections of five different size adjectives: "little, "large", "small", "great" and “big”. Each unique intersection contains a short list of nouns that can be preceded by each of its intersecting adjectives.<br />
<br />
For example, "flying fox" (a type of bat) appears at the intersection of "large", "small", and "great", because the species {{w|large flying fox}}, {{w|small flying fox}}, and {{w|great flying fox}} all exist, but there is no such species as a "big flying fox" or a "little flying fox". Similarly, humans have organs named the {{w|small intestine}} and {{w|large intestine}}, but no "little intestine", "great intestine", or "big intestine".<br />
<br />
Some descriptors are applied in combination to their noun, rather than individually; for example, "planet" is placed in both the "little" and "big" groups in reference to the 2008 video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall declares that he will start intentionally using term combinations that don't appear in the above diagram, presumably to confuse people.<br />
<br />
A similar concept can be seen in [[181: Interblag]], but in a tabular form rather than a Venn diagram.<br />
<br />
===List of items in the diagram===<br />
The following table lists all size/noun combinations that the Venn diagram can generate, with a description of each.<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small<br />
|-<br />
|'''Aunt'''<br />
|<br />
| [[wiktionary:great-aunt|sister of one's grandparent]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bang Theory'''<br />
|currently-accepted {{w|Big Bang|scientific theory}} that explains the origin of the universe; also a {{w|The Big Bang Theory|TV sitcom}}|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Barrier Reef'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Barrier Reef|world's largest coral reef system}}, off the coast of Australia<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bear Lake'''<br />
|a {{w|Big Bear Lake, California|lake and surrounding community in California}}, in the mountains<br />
|a {{w|Great Bear Lake|lake in Canada}}, in the Northwest Territories -- the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth-largest in North America<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bend'''<br />
| {{w|Big Bend|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend National Park|US National Park}} in Texas<br />
| {{w|Great Bend (disambiguation)|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend, Kansas|city in Kansas}} and the description of the S-shaped curving of the {{w|Nile River}} in Egypt and Sudan<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Billed Seed Finch'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1851<br />
|{{w|Large-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1789<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue'''<br />
|nickname for [https://www.ibm.com IBM] and the {{w|New York Giants}}, also [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250 a movie]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|large blue|various different butterflies}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|small blue|butterfly}}, smallest found in the UK<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue Heron'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures 91–137 cm (36–54 in) long<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures about 60 cm (24 in) long<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Board'''<br />
| nickname for the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}} || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Cardiac Vein'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great cardiac vein|left coronary vein}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small cardiac vein|heart vein on the right side}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Circle'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great circle|largest possible circle}} that can be drawn on a sphere; the {{w|equator}} is an example of one on the Earth<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little_Circle|The Little Circle}}, a group of political reformists based in Manchester, UK in the early 1800s<br />
|{{w|Circle_of_a_sphere|a circle that lies on a sphere}} without passing through its center (which would make it a great circle)<br />
|-<br />
|'''Claims Court'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small claims court|judicial court}} that handles cases involving only relatively small amounts of money<br />
|-<br />
|'''enchilada'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big enchilada|important person]] || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Depression'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Depression|period of prolonged economic downturn}} that affected the world economy in the 1930's<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Dipper'''<br />
|{{w|Big Dipper|subset collection of stars}} in the constellation {{w|Ursa Major}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|name for the constellation {{w|Ursa Minor}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Emerald'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large_emerald|Geometra papilionaria}}, a bright green moth of the family {{w|Geometer_moth|Geometridae}}<br />
|{{w|Jodis_lactearia|Jodis lactearia}}, a light green or white moth of the family {{w|Geometer_moth|Geometridae}}<br />
|{{w|Hemistola_chrysoprasaria|Hemistola chrysoprasaria}}, a light green or yellow-white moth of the family {{w|Geometer_moth|Geometridae}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''End'''<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the crank shaft of a reciprocating engine.<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the gudgeon pin and hence the piston in a reciprocating engine.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Eyed Conger'''<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|-<br />
|'''Flying Fox'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great flying fox}}<br />
|{{w|Large flying fox}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small flying fox}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foot'''<br />
|The well known folk-lore monster ''{{w|Bigfoot}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Main character in the ''{{w|Land Before Time}}'' film series<br />
|''{{w|Smallfoot (film)|Smallfoot}}'' is an animated film that inverts the Bigfoot legend, focusing on a group of yetis that tell stories about humans.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Forest Bat'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|bat<br />
|bat<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Format'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large format|anything larger than 4x5 inches in photography}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foundation'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Frog'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Game'''<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, usually referring to the African {{w|big five game}} (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, cape buffalo); can also refer to the NFL's {{w|Super Bowl}} <br />
|{{w|Great Game|19th Century geopolitical competition}} between the British and Russian Empires over control of Afghanistan<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, such as bears or moose<br />
|<br />
|Small animals hunted for sport or food, such as rabbits or ducks<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hadron Collider'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Hadron Collider|particle accelerator}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hearted'''<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bighearted#English|kind, generous, selfless, noble}}<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/greathearted|generous, selfless, noble}}<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/largehearted|generous, benevolent, noble}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''House on the Prairie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little House on the Prairie|novel}} (later made into a TV show)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Intestine'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|-<br />
|'''Island'''<br />
|{{w|Big Island|largest island in Hawaii}}<br />
|{{w|Great Island|in Cork Harbour, Ireland}}<br />
|{{w|Large Island|island in the Antilles, owned by Grenada}}<br />
|{{w|Little Island|several islands named such}}, plus a song in ''{{w|Randy Newman's Faust}}''<br />
|{{w|Small Island (novel)|novel which was made into a movie}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''League'''<br />
|Nickname for top-level competition<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little League Baseball|Youth baseball organization}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Lies'''<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a [[wiktionary:big lie|form of propaganda]]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a {{w|Little Lies|Fleetwood Mac song}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Magellanic Cloud'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|-<br />
|'''Millimeter Telescope'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Millimeter Telescope|radio telescope}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''One'''<br />
|Nickname for any large natural disaster that is expected to happen in the future, such as a tsunami or an earthquake in California<br />
|Nickname for {{w|Wayne Gretzky}}, considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey player of all time, also comedian {{w|Jackie Gleason}} and many other people ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_One Wikipedia disambiguation page]).<br />
|<br />
|affectionate term for a small person<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Orphan Annie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Orphan Annie|comic strip}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Planet'''<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Potatoes'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:small potatoes|something relatively unimportant]]<br />
|-<br />
|'''Pox'''<br />
|<br />
|an old name for {{w|syphilis}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|smallpox|a deadly disease}} which was effectively eradicated by 1977<br />
|-<br />
|'''Professor'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Professor|rap artist}}<br />
|{{w|Little Professor|educational math toy}} (also "Little Professor Syndrome", an informal name for autism)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Richard'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Richard|musician}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Room'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great room|a McMansion's signature space}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|White_Blood_Cells_(album)#Track_listing|Track 6}} on "White Blood Cells," the third album by {{w|The_White_Stripes|The White Stripes}}<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Screen'''<br />
|another name for movies<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|another name for TV<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sister'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big sister|older female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:little sister|younger female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Soldiers'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|{{w|Small Soldiers|1998 movie}} about sentient animated toys at war<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sur'''<br />
|{{w|Big Sur|coastal region of California}} famed for its mountain scenery <br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Terror'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Terror|One of two periods of violent political repression}}; one during {{w|Reign of Terror|the French Revolution}} between 1793 and 1794, the other in {{w|Great Purge|the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin}} between 1936 and 1938<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Time'''<br />
|major<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|minor<br />
|-<br />
|'''Toothed Aspen'''<br />
|tree (bigtooth)<br />
|<br />
|tree<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wall of China'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Wall of China|Series of fortifications}} over 13,000 miles long that served to protect various Chinese empires from raids and invasion from their north<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''White'''<br />
|{{w|Big White Ski Resort|ski resort in British Columbia}}<br />
|{{w|Great white shark|species of shark}} or a {{w|Great White|rock band}}<br />
|{{w|Pieris brassicae|a butterfly}} or {{w|Large White pig|a common breed of pig}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Dixeia|multiple species}} of {{w|Pieris rapae|butterflies}} are known as small whites<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wonder'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''World'''<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|Ride at Disneyland<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<!-- Ordered clockwise, starting from Big. --><br />
<br />
:Big: Bang Theory, Enchilada, Board, Sur<br />
:Little: Orphan Annie, House on the Prairie, Richard<br />
:Large: format, Millimeter Telescope, Hadron Collider<br />
:Small: claims court, potatoes<br />
:Great: Barrier Reef, Wall of China, Depression, Terror, aunt<br />
<br />
:Big/Great: Bend, Bear Lake<br />
:Big/Small: time, screen<br />
:Big/Little: Dipper, Planet, lies, sister<br />
:Little/Great: Blue Heron<br />
:Little/Large: Professor, Forest Bat<br />
:Big/Large: Toothed Aspen<br />
:Large/Small: intestine, Magellanic Cloud<br />
:Little/Small: wonder, soldiers<br />
:Small/Great: pox, cardiac vein<br />
:Large/Great: Billed Seed Finch<br />
<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Great: hearted<br />
:Big/Small/Great: end<br />
:Big/Little/Small: foot<br />
:Big/Little/Great: league<br />
:Little/Large/Great: (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large: foundation<br />
:Big/Large/Small: Eyed Conger, Blue<br />
:Little/Large/Small: emerald<br />
:Little/Small/Great: circle, room<br />
:Large/Small/Great: flying fox<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Small/Great: game, white<br />
:Big/Little/Small/Great : world, one<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Great : (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small : frog<br />
:Little/Large/Small/Great : (none)<br />
<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small/Great: Island<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2122:_Size_Venn_Diagram&diff=1709912122: Size Venn Diagram2019-03-12T00:43:01Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* List of items in the diagram */ Filled in "Little Room" ~~~~</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2122<br />
| date = March 11, 2019<br />
| title = Size Venn Diagram<br />
| image = size_venn_diagram.png<br />
| titletext = Terms I'm going to start using: The Large Dipper, great potatoes, the Big Hadron Collider, and Large Orphan Annie.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a Large Terror. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[File:Symmetrical_5-set_Venn_diagram.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|{{w|Branko Grünbaum}}'s multi-set Venn diagram strategy from 1975, less symmetric than Randall's.]]<br />
This comic is a {{w|Venn diagram}} illustrating the complete set of possible intersections of five different size adjectives: "little, "large", "small", "great" and “big”. Each unique intersection contains a short list of nouns that can be preceded by each of its intersecting adjectives.<br />
<br />
For example, "flying fox" (a type of bat) appears at the intersection of "large", "small", and "great", because the species {{w|large flying fox}}, {{w|small flying fox}}, and {{w|great flying fox}} all exist, but there is no such species as a "big flying fox" or a "little flying fox". Similarly, humans have organs named the {{w|small intestine}} and {{w|large intestine}}, but no "little intestine", "great intestine", or "big intestine".<br />
<br />
Some descriptors are applied in combination to their noun, rather than individually; for example, "planet" is placed in both the "little" and "big" groups in reference to the 2008 video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall declares that he will start intentionally using term combinations that don't appear in the above diagram, presumably to confuse people.<br />
<br />
A similar concept can be seen in [[181: Interblag]], but in a tabular form rather than a Venn diagram.<br />
<br />
===List of items in the diagram===<br />
The following table lists all size/noun combinations that the Venn diagram can generate, with a description of each.<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small<br />
|-<br />
|'''Aunt'''<br />
|<br />
| [[wiktionary:great-aunt|sister of one's grandparent]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bang Theory'''<br />
|currently-accepted {{w|Big Bang|scientific theory}} that explains the origin of the universe; also a {{w|The Big Bang Theory|TV sitcom}}|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Barrier Reef'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Barrier Reef|world's largest coral reef system}}, off the coast of Australia<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bear Lake'''<br />
|a {{w|Big Bear Lake, California|lake and surrounding community in California}}, in the mountains<br />
|a {{w|Great Bear Lake|lake in Canada}}, in the Northwest Territories -- the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth-largest in North America<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bend'''<br />
| {{w|Big Bend|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend National Park|US National Park}} in Texas<br />
| {{w|Great Bend (disambiguation)|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend, Kansas|city in Kansas}} and the description of the S-shaped curving of the {{w|Nile River}} in Egypt and Sudan<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Billed Seed Finch'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1851<br />
|{{w|Large-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1789<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue'''<br />
|nickname for [https://www.ibm.com IBM] and the {{w|New York Giants}}, also [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250 a movie]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|large blue|various different butterflies}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|small blue|butterfly}}, smallest found in the UK<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue Heron'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures 91–137 cm (36–54 in) long<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures about 60 cm (24 in) long<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Board'''<br />
| nickname for the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}} || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Cardiac Vein'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great cardiac vein|left coronary vein}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small cardiac vein|heart vein on the right side}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Circle'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great circle|largest possible circle}} that can be drawn on a sphere; the {{w|equator}} is an example of one on the Earth<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little_Circle|The Little Circle}}, a group of political reformists based in Manchester, UK in the early 1800s<br />
|{{w|Circle_of_a_sphere|a circle that lies on a sphere}} without passing through its center (which would make it a great circle)<br />
|-<br />
|'''Claims Court'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small claims court|judicial court}} that handles cases involving only relatively small amounts of money<br />
|-<br />
|'''enchilada'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big enchilada|important person]] || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Depression'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Depression|period of prolonged economic downturn}} that affected the world economy in the 1930's<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Dipper'''<br />
|{{w|Big Dipper|subset collection of stars}} in the constellation {{w|Ursa Major}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|name for the constellation {{w|Ursa Minor}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Emerald'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''End'''<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the crank shaft of a reciprocating engine.<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the gudgeon pin and hence the piston in a reciprocating engine.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Eyed Conger'''<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|-<br />
|'''Flying Fox'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great flying fox}}<br />
|{{w|Large flying fox}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small flying fox}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foot'''<br />
|The well known folk-lore monster ''{{w|Bigfoot}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Main character in the ''{{w|Land Before Time}}'' film series<br />
|''{{w|Smallfoot (film)|Smallfoot}}'' is an animated film that inverts the Bigfoot legend, focusing on a group of yetis that tell stories about humans.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Forest Bat'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|bat<br />
|bat<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Format'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large format|anything larger than 4x5 inches in photography}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foundation'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Frog'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Game'''<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, usually referring to the African {{w|big five game}} (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, cape buffalo); can also refer to the NFL's {{w|Super Bowl}} <br />
|{{w|Great Game|19th Century geopolitical competition}} between the British and Russian Empires over control of Afghanistan<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, such as bears or moose<br />
|<br />
|Small animals hunted for sport or food, such as rabbits or ducks<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hadron Collider'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Hadron Collider|particle accelerator}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hearted'''<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bighearted#English|kind, generous, selfless, noble}}<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/greathearted|generous, selfless, noble}}<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/largehearted|generous, benevolent, noble}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''House on the Prairie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little House on the Prairie|novel}} (later made into a TV show)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Intestine'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|-<br />
|'''Island'''<br />
|{{w|Big Island|largest island in Hawaii}}<br />
|{{w|Great Island|in Cork Harbour, Ireland}}<br />
|{{w|Large Island|island in the Antilles, owned by Grenada}}<br />
|{{w|Little Island|several islands named such}}, plus a song in ''{{w|Randy Newman's Faust}}''<br />
|{{w|Small Island (novel)|novel which was made into a movie}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''League'''<br />
|Nickname for top-level competition<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little League Baseball|Youth baseball organization}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Lies'''<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a [[wiktionary:big lie|form of propaganda]]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a {{w|Little Lies|Fleetwood Mac song}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Magellanic Cloud'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|-<br />
|'''Millimeter Telescope'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Millimeter Telescope|radio telescope}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''One'''<br />
|Nickname for any large natural disaster that is expected to happen in the future, such as a tsunami or an earthquake in California<br />
|Nickname for {{w|Wayne Gretzky}}, considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey player of all time, also comedian {{w|Jackie Gleason}} and many other people ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_One Wikipedia disambiguation page]).<br />
|<br />
|affectionate term for a small person<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Orphan Annie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Orphan Annie|comic strip}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Planet'''<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Potatoes'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:small potatoes|something relatively unimportant]]<br />
|-<br />
|'''Pox'''<br />
|<br />
|an old name for {{w|syphilis}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|smallpox|a deadly disease}} which was effectively eradicated by 1977<br />
|-<br />
|'''Professor'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Professor|rap artist}}<br />
|{{w|Little Professor|educational math toy}} (also "Little Professor Syndrome", an informal name for autism)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Richard'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Richard|musician}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Room'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great room|a McMansion's signature space}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|White_Blood_Cells_(album)#Track_listing|Track 6}} on "White Blood Cells," the third album by {{w|The_White_Stripes|The White Stripes}}<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Screen'''<br />
|another name for movies<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|another name for TV<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sister'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big sister|older female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:little sister|younger female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Soldiers'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|{{w|Small Soldiers|1998 movie}} about sentient animated toys at war<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sur'''<br />
|{{w|Big Sur|coastal region of California}} famed for its mountain scenery <br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Terror'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Terror|One of two periods of violent political repression}}; one during {{w|Reign of Terror|the French Revolution}} between 1793 and 1794, the other in {{w|Great Purge|the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin}} between 1936 and 1938<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Time'''<br />
|major<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|minor<br />
|-<br />
|'''Toothed Aspen'''<br />
|tree (bigtooth)<br />
|<br />
|tree<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wall of China'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Wall of China|Series of fortifications}} over 13,000 miles long that served to protect various Chinese empires from raids and invasion from their north<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''White'''<br />
|{{w|Big White Ski Resort|ski resort in British Columbia}}<br />
|{{w|Great white shark|species of shark}} or a {{w|Great White|rock band}}<br />
|{{w|Pieris brassicae|a butterfly}} or {{w|Large White pig|a common breed of pig}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Dixeia|multiple species}} of {{w|Pieris rapae|butterflies}} are known as small whites<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wonder'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''World'''<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|Ride at Disneyland<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<!-- Ordered clockwise, starting from Big. --><br />
<br />
:Big: Bang Theory, Enchilada, Board, Sur<br />
:Little: Orphan Annie, House on the Prairie, Richard<br />
:Large: format, Millimeter Telescope, Hadron Collider<br />
:Small: claims court, potatoes<br />
:Great: Barrier Reef, Wall of China, Depression, Terror, aunt<br />
<br />
:Big/Great: Bend, Bear Lake<br />
:Big/Small: time, screen<br />
:Big/Little: Dipper, Planet, lies, sister<br />
:Little/Great: Blue Heron<br />
:Little/Large: Professor, Forest Bat<br />
:Big/Large: Toothed Aspen<br />
:Large/Small: intestine, Magellanic Cloud<br />
:Little/Small: wonder, soldiers<br />
:Small/Great: pox, cardiac vein<br />
:Large/Great: Billed Seed Finch<br />
<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Great: hearted<br />
:Big/Small/Great: end<br />
:Big/Little/Small: foot<br />
:Big/Little/Great: league<br />
:Little/Large/Great: (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large: foundation<br />
:Big/Large/Small: Eyed Conger, Blue<br />
:Little/Large/Small: emerald<br />
:Little/Small/Great: circle, room<br />
:Large/Small/Great: flying fox<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Small/Great: game, white<br />
:Big/Little/Small/Great : world, one<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Great : (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small : frog<br />
:Little/Large/Small/Great : (none)<br />
<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small/Great: Island<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2122:_Size_Venn_Diagram&diff=1709902122: Size Venn Diagram2019-03-12T00:34:22Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* List of items in the diagram */ Completed the "hearted" explanations ~~~~</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2122<br />
| date = March 11, 2019<br />
| title = Size Venn Diagram<br />
| image = size_venn_diagram.png<br />
| titletext = Terms I'm going to start using: The Large Dipper, great potatoes, the Big Hadron Collider, and Large Orphan Annie.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a Large Terror. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[File:Symmetrical_5-set_Venn_diagram.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|{{w|Branko Grünbaum}}'s multi-set Venn diagram strategy from 1975, less symmetric than Randall's.]]<br />
This comic is a {{w|Venn diagram}} illustrating the complete set of possible intersections of five different size adjectives: "little, "large", "small", "great" and “big”. Each unique intersection contains a short list of nouns that can be preceded by each of its intersecting adjectives.<br />
<br />
For example, "flying fox" (a type of bat) appears at the intersection of "large", "small", and "great", because the species {{w|large flying fox}}, {{w|small flying fox}}, and {{w|great flying fox}} all exist, but there is no such species as a "big flying fox" or a "little flying fox". Similarly, humans have organs named the {{w|small intestine}} and {{w|large intestine}}, but no "little intestine", "great intestine", or "big intestine".<br />
<br />
Some descriptors are applied in combination to their noun, rather than individually; for example, "planet" is placed in both the "little" and "big" groups in reference to the 2008 video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall declares that he will start intentionally using term combinations that don't appear in the above diagram, presumably to confuse people.<br />
<br />
A similar concept can be seen in [[181: Interblag]], but in a tabular form rather than a Venn diagram.<br />
<br />
===List of items in the diagram===<br />
The following table lists all size/noun combinations that the Venn diagram can generate, with a description of each.<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small<br />
|-<br />
|'''Aunt'''<br />
|<br />
| [[wiktionary:great-aunt|sister of one's grandparent]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bang Theory'''<br />
|currently-accepted {{w|Big Bang|scientific theory}} that explains the origin of the universe; also a {{w|The Big Bang Theory|TV sitcom}}|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Barrier Reef'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Barrier Reef|world's largest coral reef system}}, off the coast of Australia<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bear Lake'''<br />
|a {{w|Big Bear Lake, California|lake and surrounding community in California}}, in the mountains<br />
|a {{w|Great Bear Lake|lake in Canada}}, in the Northwest Territories -- the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth-largest in North America<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bend'''<br />
| {{w|Big Bend|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend National Park|US National Park}} in Texas<br />
| {{w|Great Bend (disambiguation)|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend, Kansas|city in Kansas}} and the description of the S-shaped curving of the {{w|Nile River}} in Egypt and Sudan<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Billed Seed Finch'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1851<br />
|{{w|Large-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1789<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue'''<br />
|nickname for [https://www.ibm.com IBM] and the {{w|New York Giants}}, also [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250 a movie]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|large blue|various different butterflies}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|small blue|butterfly}}, smallest found in the UK<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue Heron'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures 91–137 cm (36–54 in) long<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures about 60 cm (24 in) long<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Board'''<br />
| nickname for the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}} || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Cardiac Vein'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great cardiac vein|left coronary vein}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small cardiac vein|heart vein on the right side}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Circle'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great circle|largest possible circle}} that can be drawn on a sphere; the {{w|equator}} is an example of one on the Earth<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little_Circle|The Little Circle}}, a group of political reformists based in Manchester, UK in the early 1800s<br />
|{{w|Circle_of_a_sphere|a circle that lies on a sphere}} without passing through its center (which would make it a great circle)<br />
|-<br />
|'''Claims Court'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small claims court|judicial court}} that handles cases involving only relatively small amounts of money<br />
|-<br />
|'''enchilada'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big enchilada|important person]] || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Depression'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Depression|period of prolonged economic downturn}} that affected the world economy in the 1930's<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Dipper'''<br />
|{{w|Big Dipper|subset collection of stars}} in the constellation {{w|Ursa Major}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|name for the constellation {{w|Ursa Minor}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Emerald'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''End'''<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the crank shaft of a reciprocating engine.<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the gudgeon pin and hence the piston in a reciprocating engine.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Eyed Conger'''<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|-<br />
|'''Flying Fox'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great flying fox}}<br />
|{{w|Large flying fox}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small flying fox}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foot'''<br />
|The well known folk-lore monster ''{{w|Bigfoot}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Main character in the ''{{w|Land Before Time}}'' film series<br />
|''{{w|Smallfoot (film)|Smallfoot}}'' is an animated film that inverts the Bigfoot legend, focusing on a group of yetis that tell stories about humans.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Forest Bat'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|bat<br />
|bat<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Format'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large format|anything larger than 4x5 inches in photography}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foundation'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Frog'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Game'''<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, usually referring to the African {{w|big five game}} (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, cape buffalo); can also refer to the NFL's {{w|Super Bowl}} <br />
|{{w|Great Game|19th Century geopolitical competition}} between the British and Russian Empires over control of Afghanistan<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, such as bears or moose<br />
|<br />
|Small animals hunted for sport or food, such as rabbits or ducks<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hadron Collider'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Hadron Collider|particle accelerator}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hearted'''<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bighearted#English|kind, generous, selfless, noble}}<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/greathearted|generous, selfless, noble}}<br />
|{{w|https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/largehearted|generous, benevolent, noble}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''House on the Prairie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little House on the Prairie|novel}} (later made into a TV show)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Intestine'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|-<br />
|'''Island'''<br />
|{{w|Big Island|largest island in Hawaii}}<br />
|{{w|Great Island|in Cork Harbour, Ireland}}<br />
|{{w|Large Island|island in the Antilles, owned by Grenada}}<br />
|{{w|Little Island|several islands named such}}, plus a song in ''{{w|Randy Newman's Faust}}''<br />
|{{w|Small Island (novel)|novel which was made into a movie}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''League'''<br />
|Nickname for top-level competition<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little League Baseball|Youth baseball organization}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Lies'''<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a [[wiktionary:big lie|form of propaganda]]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a {{w|Little Lies|Fleetwood Mac song}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Magellanic Cloud'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|-<br />
|'''Millimeter Telescope'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Millimeter Telescope|radio telescope}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''One'''<br />
|Nickname for any large natural disaster that is expected to happen in the future, such as a tsunami or an earthquake in California<br />
|Nickname for {{w|Wayne Gretzky}}, considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey player of all time, also comedian {{w|Jackie Gleason}} and many other people ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_One Wikipedia disambiguation page]).<br />
|<br />
|affectionate term for a small person<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Orphan Annie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Orphan Annie|comic strip}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Planet'''<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Potatoes'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:small potatoes|something relatively unimportant]]<br />
|-<br />
|'''Pox'''<br />
|<br />
|an old name for {{w|syphilis}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|smallpox|a deadly disease}} which was effectively eradicated by 1977<br />
|-<br />
|'''Professor'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Professor|rap artist}}<br />
|{{w|Little Professor|educational math toy}} (also "Little Professor Syndrome", an informal name for autism)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Richard'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Richard|musician}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Room'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great room|a McMansion's signature space}}<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Screen'''<br />
|another name for movies<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|another name for TV<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sister'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big sister|older female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:little sister|younger female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Soldiers'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|{{w|Small Soldiers|1998 movie}} about sentient animated toys at war<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sur'''<br />
|{{w|Big Sur|coastal region of California}} famed for its mountain scenery <br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Terror'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Terror|One of two periods of violent political repression}}; one during {{w|Reign of Terror|the French Revolution}} between 1793 and 1794, the other in {{w|Great Purge|the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin}} between 1936 and 1938<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Time'''<br />
|major<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|minor<br />
|-<br />
|'''Toothed Aspen'''<br />
|tree (bigtooth)<br />
|<br />
|tree<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wall of China'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Wall of China|Series of fortifications}} over 13,000 miles long that served to protect various Chinese empires from raids and invasion from their north<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''White'''<br />
|{{w|Big White Ski Resort|ski resort in British Columbia}}<br />
|{{w|Great white shark|species of shark}} or a {{w|Great White|rock band}}<br />
|{{w|Pieris brassicae|a butterfly}} or {{w|Large White pig|a common breed of pig}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Dixeia|multiple species}} of {{w|Pieris rapae|butterflies}} are known as small whites<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wonder'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''World'''<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|Ride at Disneyland<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<!-- Ordered clockwise, starting from Big. --><br />
<br />
:Big: Bang Theory, Enchilada, Board, Sur<br />
:Little: Orphan Annie, House on the Prairie, Richard<br />
:Large: format, Millimeter Telescope, Hadron Collider<br />
:Small: claims court, potatoes<br />
:Great: Barrier Reef, Wall of China, Depression, Terror, aunt<br />
<br />
:Big/Great: Bend, Bear Lake<br />
:Big/Small: time, screen<br />
:Big/Little: Dipper, Planet, lies, sister<br />
:Little/Great: Blue Heron<br />
:Little/Large: Professor, Forest Bat<br />
:Big/Large: Toothed Aspen<br />
:Large/Small: intestine, Magellanic Cloud<br />
:Little/Small: wonder, soldiers<br />
:Small/Great: pox, cardiac vein<br />
:Large/Great: Billed Seed Finch<br />
<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Great: hearted<br />
:Big/Small/Great: end<br />
:Big/Little/Small: foot<br />
:Big/Little/Great: league<br />
:Little/Large/Great: (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large: foundation<br />
:Big/Large/Small: Eyed Conger, Blue<br />
:Little/Large/Small: emerald<br />
:Little/Small/Great: circle, room<br />
:Large/Small/Great: flying fox<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Small/Great: game, white<br />
:Big/Little/Small/Great : world, one<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Great : (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small : frog<br />
:Little/Large/Small/Great : (none)<br />
<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small/Great: Island<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2122:_Size_Venn_Diagram&diff=1709892122: Size Venn Diagram2019-03-12T00:27:06Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */ filled in "Little Circle" and "small circle" ~~~~</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2122<br />
| date = March 11, 2019<br />
| title = Size Venn Diagram<br />
| image = size_venn_diagram.png<br />
| titletext = Terms I'm going to start using: The Large Dipper, great potatoes, the Big Hadron Collider, and Large Orphan Annie.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a Large Terror. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[File:Symmetrical_5-set_Venn_diagram.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|{{w|Branko Grünbaum}}'s multi-set Venn diagram strategy from 1975, less symmetric than Randall's.]]<br />
This comic is a {{w|Venn diagram}} illustrating the complete set of possible intersections of five different size adjectives: "little, "large", "small", "great" and “big”. Each unique intersection contains a short list of nouns that can be preceded by each of its intersecting adjectives.<br />
<br />
For example, "flying fox" (a type of bat) appears at the intersection of "large", "small", and "great", because the species {{w|large flying fox}}, {{w|small flying fox}}, and {{w|great flying fox}} all exist, but there is no such species as a "big flying fox" or a "little flying fox". Similarly, humans have organs named the {{w|small intestine}} and {{w|large intestine}}, but no "little intestine", "great intestine", or "big intestine".<br />
<br />
Some descriptors are applied in combination to their noun, rather than individually; for example, "planet" is placed in both the "little" and "big" groups in reference to the 2008 video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall declares that he will start intentionally using term combinations that don't appear in the above diagram, presumably to confuse people.<br />
<br />
A similar concept can be seen in [[181: Interblag]], but in a tabular form rather than a Venn diagram.<br />
<br />
===List of items in the diagram===<br />
The following table lists all size/noun combinations that the Venn diagram can generate, with a description of each.<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small<br />
|-<br />
|'''Aunt'''<br />
|<br />
| [[wiktionary:great-aunt|sister of one's grandparent]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bang Theory'''<br />
|currently-accepted {{w|Big Bang|scientific theory}} that explains the origin of the universe; also a {{w|The Big Bang Theory|TV sitcom}}|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Barrier Reef'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Barrier Reef|world's largest coral reef system}}, off the coast of Australia<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bear Lake'''<br />
|a {{w|Big Bear Lake, California|lake and surrounding community in California}}, in the mountains<br />
|a {{w|Great Bear Lake|lake in Canada}}, in the Northwest Territories -- the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth-largest in North America<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Bend'''<br />
| {{w|Big Bend|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend National Park|US National Park}} in Texas<br />
| {{w|Great Bend (disambiguation)|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend, Kansas|city in Kansas}} and the description of the S-shaped curving of the {{w|Nile River}} in Egypt and Sudan<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Billed Seed Finch'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1851<br />
|{{w|Large-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1789<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue'''<br />
|nickname for [https://www.ibm.com IBM] and the {{w|New York Giants}}, also [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250 a movie]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|large blue|various different butterflies}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|small blue|butterfly}}, smallest found in the UK<br />
|-<br />
|'''Blue Heron'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures 91–137 cm (36–54 in) long<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures about 60 cm (24 in) long<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Board'''<br />
| nickname for the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}} || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Cardiac Vein'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great cardiac vein|left coronary vein}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small cardiac vein|heart vein on the right side}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Circle'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great circle|largest possible circle}} that can be drawn on a sphere; the {{w|equator}} is an example of one on the Earth<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little_Circle|The Little Circle}}, a group of political reformists based in Manchester, UK in the early 1800s<br />
|{{w|Circle_of_a_sphere|a circle that lies on a sphere}} without passing through its center (which would make it a great circle)<br />
|-<br />
|'''Claims Court'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small claims court|judicial court}} that handles cases involving only relatively small amounts of money<br />
|-<br />
|'''enchilada'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big enchilada|important person]] || || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|'''Depression'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Depression|period of prolonged economic downturn}} that affected the world economy in the 1930's<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Dipper'''<br />
|{{w|Big Dipper|subset collection of stars}} in the constellation {{w|Ursa Major}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|name for the constellation {{w|Ursa Minor}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Emerald'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''End'''<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the crank shaft of a reciprocating engine.<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|The bearing connecting a connecting rod to the gudgeon pin and hence the piston in a reciprocating engine.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Eyed Conger'''<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|<br />
|eel<br />
|-<br />
|'''Flying Fox'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great flying fox}}<br />
|{{w|Large flying fox}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Small flying fox}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foot'''<br />
|The well known folk-lore monster ''{{w|Bigfoot}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Main character in the ''{{w|Land Before Time}}'' film series<br />
|''{{w|Smallfoot (film)|Smallfoot}}'' is an animated film that inverts the Bigfoot legend, focusing on a group of yetis that tell stories about humans.<br />
|-<br />
|'''Forest Bat'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|bat<br />
|bat<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Format'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large format|anything larger than 4x5 inches in photography}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Foundation'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Frog'''<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Game'''<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, usually referring to the African {{w|big five game}} (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, cape buffalo); can also refer to the NFL's {{w|Super Bowl}} <br />
|{{w|Great Game|19th Century geopolitical competition}} between the British and Russian Empires over control of Afghanistan<br />
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, such as bears or moose<br />
|<br />
|Small animals hunted for sport or food, such as rabbits or ducks<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hadron Collider'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Hadron Collider|particle accelerator}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Hearted'''<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''House on the Prairie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little House on the Prairie|novel}} (later made into a TV show)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Intestine'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|<br />
|gut<br />
|-<br />
|'''Island'''<br />
|{{w|Big Island|largest island in Hawaii}}<br />
|{{w|Great Island|in Cork Harbour, Ireland}}<br />
|{{w|Large Island|island in the Antilles, owned by Grenada}}<br />
|{{w|Little Island|several islands named such}}, plus a song in ''{{w|Randy Newman's Faust}}''<br />
|{{w|Small Island (novel)|novel which was made into a movie}}<br />
|-<br />
|'''League'''<br />
|Nickname for top-level competition<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little League Baseball|Youth baseball organization}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Lies'''<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a [[wiktionary:big lie|form of propaganda]]<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a {{w|Little Lies|Fleetwood Mac song}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Magellanic Cloud'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|<br />
|galaxy<br />
|-<br />
|'''Millimeter Telescope'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Millimeter Telescope|radio telescope}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''One'''<br />
|Nickname for any large natural disaster that is expected to happen in the future, such as a tsunami or an earthquake in California<br />
|Nickname for {{w|Wayne Gretzky}}, considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey player of all time, also comedian {{w|Jackie Gleason}} and many other people ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_One Wikipedia disambiguation page]).<br />
|<br />
|affectionate term for a small person<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Orphan Annie'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Orphan Annie|comic strip}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Planet'''<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Potatoes'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:small potatoes|something relatively unimportant]]<br />
|-<br />
|'''Pox'''<br />
|<br />
|an old name for {{w|syphilis}}<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|smallpox|a deadly disease}} which was effectively eradicated by 1977<br />
|-<br />
|'''Professor'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Large Professor|rap artist}}<br />
|{{w|Little Professor|educational math toy}} (also "Little Professor Syndrome", an informal name for autism)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Richard'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Little Richard|musician}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Room'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great room|a McMansion's signature space}}<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''Screen'''<br />
|another name for movies<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|another name for TV<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sister'''<br />
|[[wiktionary:big sister|older female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|[[wiktionary:little sister|younger female sibling]]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Soldiers'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|{{w|Small Soldiers|1998 movie}} about sentient animated toys at war<br />
|-<br />
|'''Sur'''<br />
|{{w|Big Sur|coastal region of California}} famed for its mountain scenery <br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Terror'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Terror|One of two periods of violent political repression}}; one during {{w|Reign of Terror|the French Revolution}} between 1793 and 1794, the other in {{w|Great Purge|the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin}} between 1936 and 1938<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Time'''<br />
|major<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|minor<br />
|-<br />
|'''Toothed Aspen'''<br />
|tree (bigtooth)<br />
|<br />
|tree<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wall of China'''<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Great Wall of China|Series of fortifications}} over 13,000 miles long that served to protect various Chinese empires from raids and invasion from their north<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|'''White'''<br />
|{{w|Big White Ski Resort|ski resort in British Columbia}}<br />
|{{w|Great white shark|species of shark}} or a {{w|Great White|rock band}}<br />
|{{w|Pieris brassicae|a butterfly}} or {{w|Large White pig|a common breed of pig}}<br />
|<br />
|{{w|Dixeia|multiple species}} of {{w|Pieris rapae|butterflies}} are known as small whites<br />
|-<br />
|'''Wonder'''<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|-<br />
|'''World'''<br />
|?<br />
|?<br />
|<br />
|?<br />
|Ride at Disneyland<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<!-- Ordered clockwise, starting from Big. --><br />
<br />
:Big: Bang Theory, Enchilada, Board, Sur<br />
:Little: Orphan Annie, House on the Prairie, Richard<br />
:Large: format, Millimeter Telescope, Hadron Collider<br />
:Small: claims court, potatoes<br />
:Great: Barrier Reef, Wall of China, Depression, Terror, aunt<br />
<br />
:Big/Great: Bend, Bear Lake<br />
:Big/Small: time, screen<br />
:Big/Little: Dipper, Planet, lies, sister<br />
:Little/Great: Blue Heron<br />
:Little/Large: Professor, Forest Bat<br />
:Big/Large: Toothed Aspen<br />
:Large/Small: intestine, Magellanic Cloud<br />
:Little/Small: wonder, soldiers<br />
:Small/Great: pox, cardiac vein<br />
:Large/Great: Billed Seed Finch<br />
<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Great: hearted<br />
:Big/Small/Great: end<br />
:Big/Little/Small: foot<br />
:Big/Little/Great: league<br />
:Little/Large/Great: (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large: foundation<br />
:Big/Large/Small: Eyed Conger, Blue<br />
:Little/Large/Small: emerald<br />
:Little/Small/Great: circle, room<br />
:Large/Small/Great: flying fox<br />
<br />
:Big/Large/Small/Great: game, white<br />
:Big/Little/Small/Great : world, one<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Great : (none)<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small : frog<br />
:Little/Large/Small/Great : (none)<br />
<br />
:Big/Little/Large/Small/Great: Island<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2122:_Size_Venn_Diagram&diff=170988Talk:2122: Size Venn Diagram2019-03-12T00:10:42Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
I think Randall kind of missed an opportunity with the title text: he should have used the new terms as a way to fill the blank areas in the diagram, for instance 'Great Emerald' for the currently empty set Great+Small+Little+Large.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 14:31, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:No, I think the diagram itself is meant to be completely correct. But I didn't check all 100+ combinations. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Yes, I believe the diagram is correct now, but as per the title text Randall will start using new combinations of terms, probably to get their usage mainstream and move the location of the words in the diagram. I'm saying he should have created terms that would fill some blank areas. For instance, his Large Dipper would make Dipper appear in the Big+Little+Large area where we already have League.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.95|141.101.99.95]] 15:16, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::I understood what you said (the first time around) and agree. Randall's title text is to acknowledge or engage the patterns he's discovered in the comic (as usual), and he could do that more thoroughly by making up words that would make the chart more balanced. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.100|162.158.78.100]] 16:27, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:He could also have placed “man” between “little” and “big” just to reference the movie ☺<br />
<br />
<br />
Any such diagram will inevitably have small lacunae. But "Friendly Giant" is a particularly large one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.172|162.158.63.172]] 15:21, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Endian? Scott? Tits?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.112|108.162.219.112]] 15:23, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah, what about Little Endian? It's missing! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.156|172.68.143.156]] 19:28, 11 March 2019 (UT<br />
<br />
Besides the transcript of what's in each category, what about a table to explain ''why'' the items categorized as they are, like:<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!Big<br />
!Great<br />
!Large<br />
!Little<br />
!Small<br />
|-<br />
|Island<br />
|Hawaii<br />
|Cork Harbor, Ireland<br />
|Antilles<br />
|movie<br />
|novel, movie<br />
|-<br />
|Pox<br />
|n/a<br />
|syphilis<br />
|n/a<br />
|n/a<br />
|disease<br />
|-<br />
|White<br />
|BC ski resort<br />
|shark<br />
|pig<br />
|n/a<br />
|butterfly<br />
|}<br />
{Unsigned|172.69.62.160}<br />
:Yeah, it seems reasonable, I like it. Add it [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Second but leave the unused cells blank dont put N/A in the cell. [[User:M|M]] ([[User talk:M|talk]]) 16:15, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know why, but the shape of this diagram feels really satisfying to me. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 16:29, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:For me it’s just hard to look at. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:41, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Came here to say exactly that. The symmetry is really pleasing. I've been considering how effective adding colours would be as well. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:55, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::It looks like these style Venn diagrams are generated by http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/Venn/ ... haven't tried it myself. Don't know if they invented it or took it from elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 21:17, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Again I wonder if he does these sorts of comics just to see how far we'll take it [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 16:51, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Uhhh...isn’t the bottom part just the transcript?[[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:08, 11 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't this go in the Venn Diagram category? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 00:10, 12 March 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1917:_How_to_Make_Friends&diff=170966Talk:1917: How to Make Friends2019-03-11T21:01:00Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Please clarify: What are "friends"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.95|172.68.58.95]] 08:18, 17 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
: A friend is what you should treat people as - i.e. as a friend in themself, not as a means to a friend.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.156|141.101.105.156]] 11:36, 17 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
:D"Friends" are sacrificial humans you should always have with you while in the woods, in case of bear encounters.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.220|108.162.245.220]] 13:08, 20 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
::Or see Randall's take on this in his comic?: [[1485: Friendship]]. :) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 21 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Randall has obviously not read Stu the Cockatoo is New at the Zoo. [[User:Pmakholm|Pmakholm]] ([[User talk:Pmakholm|talk]]) 08:36, 17 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
hairy is a jerk and unworthy of cueball's friendship. --[[User:Misterstick|Misterstick]] ([[User talk:Misterstick|talk]]) 12:56, 17 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Go eat food" might be an effect of the post-"Thing explainer" simple English addiction, already mentioned in some other strip. In fact, the rest of his speech also looks a bit like that.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.162|162.158.90.162]] 17:30, 17 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Yes, I also think this comic uses simple words. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.191|162.158.238.191]] 09:36, 20 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If I had a Tumblr, I'd set this as my profile picture. But the stigma of being "the kind of person who whines about vwxyzir disability on Tumblr" is bad enough that I don't wanna go there. [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 05:28, 18 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Seems like Randall likes to blame lonely people as being morally deficient and selfish... Must be easier than acknowledging the issues they face... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.238|162.158.255.238]] 05:58, 20 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Ummmm, REALLY sure that he's identifying HIMSELF as lonely, and feels it is HIS own fault. He's not attacking abstract strangers, he's belittling himself. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 21 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Current explanation says that he "feels compelled to clarify that he does need to eat (meaning in general)". No, not in general, he is specifying he needs food at the moment, that it is time for him to eat right now, seeing as he later clarifies that he can just eat after. (So, he's hungry, but not so much that he can't wait). Also, what's H2G2? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 21 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The 'in general' interpretation seems more likely to me, and is certainly the way I read it. If he was just hungry but not that hungry, he probably wouldn't have used the word 'need'. And Randall seems like the sort of person who would feel the need to clarify, in case of confusion, that he is an organism that needs to consume food.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.156|141.101.105.156]] 16:45, 21 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
:: I felt the use of the word "need" was in reference to it being lunchtime (or dinnertime), that it's time to eat and as such he can and should, and should be figuring out what to do for a meal around now, but his hunger hasn't hit yet (or isn't that strong yet) so he can wait too. IDK, it's just that whenever Randall does one of these "I'm terribly socially awkward" comics that it really speaks to me, that we're very much the same in this regard. Maybe that leads to a greater ease in understanding what he means and where he's coming from. It certainly feels like it, like I have no problem fully understanding them with 100% certainty. As I said, the fact that he says he can just eat after confirms that he means it's time for him to eat now, but he's trying to be accommodating by saying he can just eat later. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:52, 24 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
:H2G2 is a droid from Star Wars. Like R2D2 used to be able to, it can fly, but instead of using thrusters, it flies by throwing itself at the ground and missing. (Actually, on the chance that you weren't subtly suggesting that an editor expand the acronym for the sake of others -- and by now, the information is in a link rather than in that state -- it's The '''H'''itch'''h'''iker's '''G'''uide to the '''G'''alaxy.) [[User:Nyperold|Nyperold]] ([[User talk:Nyperold|talk]]) 02:10, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Note how the text in the black bubble in the last panel is slightly darker than the text in the black bubble in the first panel. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 21:01, 11 March 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2121:_Light_Pollution&diff=170828Talk:2121: Light Pollution2019-03-09T00:53:00Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Small error in this comic. It's not possible to tile a sphere with just hexagons. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/749264/covering-earth-with-hexagonal-map-tiles<br />
[[User:AlanKilian|AlanKilian]] ([[User talk:AlanKilian|talk]]) 16:03, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Six triangles form a hexagon - just an explanation for people with less mathematical or geometric knowledge. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:17, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::but a indefinite large group of triangles doesn't automatically transform to hexagons, since it could be overlapping hexagons, or hexagons with their interim spaces filled up by triangles?--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:29, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::Look at that hexagons (consisting of six triangles), each fitting to the next, and you will understand that this is only possible in a plane but not in a sphere. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:37, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::::Yes, but if the triangles are not actually equilateral then they could form a sphere. And if the sphere is big enough (I think solar-system-surrouding or bigger counts) then you probably wouldn't be able to see it with the naked eye. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 17:08, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::::But can it form a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1365:_Inflation basketball?] [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Your eyes are making the hexagons up. Some triangles would be left over if you tried to make every group of 6 triangles a hexagon. Triangle arrays like this are commonly used in computer graphics, as they are the closest approximation to a sphere: https://mft-dev.dk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/icosahedron_frame_sub3.gif [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.185|162.158.79.185]] 17:25, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Not really. On a plane, there are only three {{W|tesselation|tesselations}} made only of identical regular polygons: {{W|triangular tiling}}, {{W|square tiling}} or {{W|hexagonal tiling}}. But since a regular hexagon can be divided into six equilateral triangles, the tiling in the picture can be seen as both triangular and hexagonal. The leaving out you write about may have come from another tesselation which uses hexagons and triangles, the {{W|trihexagonal tiling}}. On a sphere, there's a completely different discussion as there's no tesselations, only approximations of them. {{unsigned|Malgond}} <br />
There is no way to know that the triangles shown are equilateral (in fact, as drawn here they're quite ''un''even). All 3D renderings are in fact assembled from uneven-sided triangles, including renderings attempting to approximate rounded surfaces. And yes, you can buy a ball tiled only with triangles; they're not even-sided, but you can't tell with the naked eye. Also, there ''is'' one roughly spherical shape tiled only with equilateral triangles: It's the shape found on a 20-sided die. Skyboxes intended to minimize viewing angle distortions use triangles that are very nearly, but not quite equilateral. In fact, ''all shapes'' that use flat planes to tile a sphere can be broken down into triangles of one degree of asymmetry or another. Your argument is invalid. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:51, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Also note that we see just small part of sky there, so it's fully possible the few deformed/missing triangles are outside of what we see. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Oh man where are the conspiracy nuts from a few weeks ago ;-) [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 17:03, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Hey, I think this works like Beetlejuice. Shush. Don’t jinx it. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ok, I know most of the discussion is focused on the lattice, but are the ships a reference to something? LOTR maybe? Also there’s nothing about the title text at all, and the (more probable than LOTR) Lovecraft reference, considering the mentions of insanity, cosmic horror, and color. (I believe the book was Cool Air?) [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think it's notable that the world actually works this way. The sky is full of drones, satellites, {{w|Mesosphere#Exploration_and_uses|nearcraft}}, and we basically can't see them, but they can freely observe us, transmit things to us, and drop things on us. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.185|162.158.79.185]] 17:34, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:While there are drones, satellites and various tools astronauts dropped all around the sky, the reason we can't see them is simply size (they are too small), not light pollution. The features mentioned in strip are gigantic. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I may be too nerdy, but my mind went to Spelljammer on this. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.160|172.69.62.160]] 18:44, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:My thoughts exactly! it perfectly fits Spelljammer crystal spheres. I think it should be included in the explanation (and if not, then at least the source of the whole concept- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Spheres) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.34|162.158.92.34]] 00:13, 9 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I went to the sky at the end of [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/ Thirteenth Floor]. But the one image I can find suggests that was rectangular. [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 21:47, 8 March 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2121:_Light_Pollution&diff=170827Talk:2121: Light Pollution2019-03-09T00:50:56Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Small error in this comic. It's not possible to tile a sphere with just hexagons. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/749264/covering-earth-with-hexagonal-map-tiles<br />
[[User:AlanKilian|AlanKilian]] ([[User talk:AlanKilian|talk]]) 16:03, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Six triangles form a hexagon - just an explanation for people with less mathematical or geometric knowledge. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:17, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::but a indefinite large group of triangles doesn't automatically transform to hexagons, since it could be overlapping hexagons, or hexagons with their interim spaces filled up by triangles?--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:29, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::Look at that hexagons (consisting of six triangles), each fitting to the next, and you will understand that this is only possible in a plane but not in a sphere. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:37, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::::Yes, but if the triangles are not actually equilateral then they could form a sphere. And if the sphere is big enough (I think solar-system-surrouding or bigger counts) then you probably wouldn't be able to see it with the naked eye. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 17:08, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:::::But can it form a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1365:_Inflation basketball?] [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Your eyes are making the hexagons up. Some triangles would be left over if you tried to make every group of 6 triangles a hexagon. Triangle arrays like this are commonly used in computer graphics, as they are the closest approximation to a sphere: https://mft-dev.dk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/icosahedron_frame_sub3.gif [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.185|162.158.79.185]] 17:25, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
::Not really. On a plane, there are only three {{W|tesselation|tesselations}} made only of identical regular polygons: {{W|triangular tiling}}, {{W|square tiling}} or {{W|hexagonal tiling}}. But since a regular hexagon can be divided into six equilateral triangles, the tiling in the picture can be seen as both triangular and hexagonal. The leaving out you write about may have come from another tesselation which uses hexagons and triangles, the {{W|trihexagonal tiling}}. On a sphere, there's a completely different discussion as there's no tesselations, only approximations of them. {{unsigned|Malgond}} <br />
There is no way to know that the triangles shown are equilateral (in fact, as drawn here they're quite ''un''even). All 3D renderings are in fact assembled from uneven-sided triangles, including renderings attempting to approximate rounded surfaces. And yes, you can buy a ball tiled only with triangles; they're not even-sided, but you can't tell with the naked eye. Also, there ''is'' one roughly spherical shape tiled only with equilateral triangles: It's the shape found on a 20-sided die. Skyboxes intended to minimize viewing angle distortions use triangles that are very nearly, but not quite equilateral. In fact, ''all shapes'' that use flat planes to tile a sphere can be broken down into triangles of one degree of asymmetry or another. Your argument is invalid. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:51, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Also note that we see just small part of sky there, so it's fully possible the few deformed/missing triangles are outside of what we see. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Oh man where are the conspiracy nuts from a few weeks ago ;-) [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 17:03, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Hey, I think this works like Beetlejuice. Shush. Don’t jinx it. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ok, I know most of the discussion is focused on the lattice, but are the ships a reference to something? LOTR maybe? Also there’s nothing about the title text at all, and the (more probable than LOTR) Lovecraft reference, considering the mentions of insanity, cosmic horror, and color. (I believe the book was Cool Air?) [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think it's notable that the world actually works this way. The sky is full of drones, satellites, {{w|Mesosphere#Exploration_and_uses|nearcraft}}, and we basically can't see them, but they can freely observe us, transmit things to us, and drop things on us. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.185|162.158.79.185]] 17:34, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:While there are drones, satellites and various tools astronauts dropped all around the sky, the reason we can't see them is simply size (they are too small), not light pollution. The features mentioned in strip are gigantic. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I may be too nerdy, but my mind went to Spelljammer on this. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.160|172.69.62.160]] 18:44, 8 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:My thoughts exactly! it perfectly fits Spelljammer crystal spheres. I think it should be included in the explanation (and if not, then at least the source of the whole concept- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Spheres) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.34|162.158.92.34]] 00:13, 9 March 2019 (UTC)<br />
:So it isn't a reference to the celestial spheres of early Greek astronomers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_spheres)?<br />
<br />
I went to the sky at the end of [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/ Thirteenth Floor]. But the one image I can find suggests that was rectangular. [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 21:47, 8 March 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1040:_Lakes_and_Oceans&diff=1706911040: Lakes and Oceans2019-03-07T13:43:12Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1040<br />
| date = April 9, 2012<br />
| title = Lakes and Oceans<br />
| image = lakes and oceans.png<br />
| titletext = James Cameron has said that he didn't know its song would be so beautiful. He didn't close the door in time. He's sorry.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[http://xkcd.com/1040/large Full size image (2.5MB — 2592×1728)]<br />
<br />
This comic is a scale representation of our lakes and oceans, with an emphasis on how little we know about our oceans. It shows the depths and lengths to in relative scale. The ''{{w|Edmund Fitzgerald}}'' was a {{w|Great Lakes}} freighter which sank in 1975. The {{w|Russian submarine Kursk (K-141)|''Kursk'' (K-141)}} was a {{w|Russian}} nuclear submarine which sank in 2000 after an explosion. The {{w|RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania''}} was a {{w|British}} ocean liner which was famously sunk in 1915, eventually prompting the {{w|United States}} to enter {{w|World War I}}. All three of these ships were sunk in water that was shallower than they were long. The shortest was the ''Kursk'', which was 154 metres long, and sunk in water only 100 metres deep.<br />
<br />
Also on the diagram is the {{w|RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic''}}, which famously sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, and the ''{{w|Seawise Giant}}'', which is the largest ship ever built, at 485 metres. It was scrapped in 2010. The {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} is an offshore oil well which made headlines after an explosion in 2010 caused the {{w|Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill|world's largest oil spill}}. The skyscraper the {{w|Burj Khalifa}} is also shown. The Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest manmade structure, and is located in the city of {{w|Dubai}}, in the {{w|United Arab Emirates}}. The {{w|Chilean}} mine showed on the far right is the {{w|San José Mine}}, which suffered a {{w|2010 Copiapó mining accident|collapse}} in 2010, trapping 33 men 700 metres underground for 69 days. The {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}} also shown on the right was a {{w|Soviet}} (and later Russian) research project attempting to drill as deep into the {{w|Crust (geology)|Earth's crust}} as possible. It was abandoned in 2005, after reaching a record of 12,262 metres deep.<br />
<br />
Also shown are several notable bodies of water. There are the Great Lakes: {{w|Lake Superior}}, {{w|Lake Michigan}}, {{w|Lake Huron}}, {{w|Lake Erie}}, and {{w|Lake Ontario}}. {{w|Death Valley}} is a large, desert valley in {{w|California}}, named because the deadly climate and dry environment support very few life forms. {{w|Great Slave Lake}} is the deepest lake in {{w|North America}}, and is located in the {{w|North West Territories}}, in {{w|Canada}}. {{w|Crater Lake}} is located in {{w|Oregon}}, and is the deepest lake in the United States. {{w|Loch Ness}} is the {{w|Scotland|Scottish}} lake which is the location of the alleged "{{w|Loch Ness Monster}}". {{w|Lake Baikal}} is located in {{w|Russia}} and {{w|Mongolia}}, and is the world's deepest lake. On the far right side of the image is the {{w|Dead Sea}}, a lake near {{w|Jordan}} and {{w|Israel}} which is characterized for having such high salt levels that the waters are toxic to much marine life (hence a "dead" sea), although it does support a bacterial and algal ecosystem that is tolerant to high salt and magnesium concentrations.<br />
<br />
In the water, the ''{{w|Andrea Gail}}'' was a ship that sunk in a {{w|1991 Perfect Storm|storm}} in 1991, and was later eulogized with a {{w|The_Perfect_Storm_(book)|book}} and {{w|The_Perfect_Storm_(film)|film}}. Several depth limits are shown, including the {{w|free-diving}} record (273 metres), the {{w|scuba diving}} record (330 metres), the depth bike tires go flat (approximately 100 metres), the depth at which water rushes in through a hole in a scuba tank instead of air rushing out (approximately 2000 metres), the pressure that would push a cork into a bottle (approximately 250 metres), the depth that would push water up a faucet (approximately 75 metres), the depth an {{w|emperor penguin}} can dive (535 metres), the depth limit of an {{w|Ohio-class submarine|''Ohio''-class submarine}} (240 metres), the depth limit of a {{w|Typhoon-class submarine|''Typhoon''-class submarine}} (400 metres), the depth limit of a {{w|blue whale}} (500 metres), and the depth a {{w|leatherback sea turtle}} can dive (1280 metres).<br />
<br />
The small unlabeled mark under the "cork into a bottle" text is around {{w|leet|1 337}} metres deep.<br />
<br />
The comic also illustrates how {{w|sperm whales}} can dive as deep as 3000 metres (though don't frequently go deeper than 400 metres). It is presumed that they dive so deep to feed on {{w|giant squid}}, which can be found as deep as 3000 metres but, to our knowledge, are more commonly found in depths of 300 to 1000 metres. The fact that sperm whales can dive so deep and come up battered emphasizes Randall's point that we know so little about our oceans. Also shown are the depth limit of the {{w|DSV Alvin|DSV ''Alvin''}}, a deep-sea vessel, the {{w|mid-ocean ridge}}, an underwater mountain range which could be considered to be the largest mountain range in the world, the {{w|Puerto Rico Trench}} (and the included {{w|Milwaukee Deep}}), which is the deepest part of the {{w|Atlantic Ocean}}, at 8648 metres, and the {{w|Mariana Trench|Marianas Trench}}, the deepest point of the {{w|Pacific Ocean}} at 10,944 metres. At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, pressure is as high as 1086 {{w|bar (unit)|bars}} and {{w|Xenophyophore|life forms}} have been found at depths as low as 10,641 metres.<br />
<br />
The marked {{w|abyssal plains}} are a deep-sea plain believed to hold a very diverse array of life forms, but are largely unexplored. The stick figures of {{w|David Bowie}} and {{w|Freddie Mercury}} are a reference to Bowie's and Queen's songs "{{w|Under Pressure}}". The label "the abyss" with its sublabel of "it's rude to stare" is a reference to the {{w|Friedrich Nietzsche}} quote, "when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back". There's also a movie from 1989 called {{w|The Abyss}}.<br />
<br />
The door at the bottom of the {{w|Marianas Trench}} is fictional, and is a reference to {{w|James Cameron}}'s attempt to reach the bottom of the trench in his ''{{w|Deepsea Challenger}}'' vessel, which he filmed with 3D cameras in 2012. Randall is implying Cameron went so deep specifically to reach this door, rather than just for the sake of going.<br />
<br />
The title text implies that James Cameron has encountered some otherworldly, Lovecraftian being behind the door at the bottom of Challenger Deep; he thought he could access it briefly, however did not count on its hypnotic or entrancing song, which led to him leaving the door open long enough for it to enter the world and possibly precipitate some horrible calamity. This song is a reference to the {{w|Siren_(mythology)|sirens of Greek mythology}} whose singing was irresistible to sailors, who would sail toward them and crash into rock, wrecking their ships, until Odysseus survived by having his sailors plug their ears and tie him to the mast. The concept is also a reference to the sort of horror fiction popularised by {{w|H. P. Lovecraft}}, often called "[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CosmicHorrorStory cosmic horror]", whose stories often contain godlike alien beings that are locked away or hidden in remote places, such as {{w|Cthulhu}} and {{w|Azathoth}}. There is no specific story with a door at the bottom of the ocean containing an entity that sings entrancingly, Randall is making a clever reference to the concepts popularised by this genre as whole. {{w|Pacific Rim (film)| Pacific Rim}}, a movie depicting the Earth under the attack of gigantic alien monsters (called Kaiju) emerging from an inter-dimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, was released in 2013.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
{{incomplete transcript | bad table}}<br />
<br />
:[A Map of lakes and oceans showing the depths of various lakes and ocean attributes.]<br />
<br />
:Lakes and Oceans Depths and animal/ship/boat lengths are to scale; horizontal distance is not.<br />
<br />
:Fun Fact: The ''Edmund Fitzgerald'', The Kursk, and The Lusitania all sank in water shallower than they were long.<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| Edmund Fitzgerald<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Superior<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Michigan<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Huron<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Erie<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Ontario<br />
|-<br />
| Death Valley<br />
|-<br />
| Great Slave Lake Crater<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Loch Ness<br />
|-<br />
| Lake Baikal<br />
|-<br />
| Burj Khalifa<br />
|-<br />
| Kursk<br />
|-<br />
| Lusitania<br />
|-<br />
| Titanic<br />
|-<br />
| Seawise Giant (largest ship ever)<br />
|-<br />
| Free-diving depth record Andrea Gail (probably)<br />
|-<br />
| Scuba record<br />
|-<br />
| Bike tires go flat Pressure at this depth would force water up a household faucet<br />
|-<br />
| Emperor penguin<br />
|-<br />
| Ohio-class nuclear sub depth limit<br />
|-<br />
| Typhoon-class nuclear sub depth limit<br />
|-<br />
| Blue whale<br />
|-<br />
| Leatherback turtle<br />
|-<br />
| Deepwater horizion<br />
|-<br />
| Dead sea<br />
|-<br />
| Kola borehole aiolo| Soviet project to try to drill through the Earth's crust to the mantle just to see what would happen. Russians are awesome.<br />
|-<br />
| Chilean mine collapse<br />
|-<br />
| miner refuge Sperm whales dive this deep (they come up covered in wounds and sucker marks, so presumably there are big squid down here? ... man, we know nothing about the ocean.)<br />
|-<br />
| Mid-ocean ridge<br />
|-<br />
| Titanic (sunk bow & stern)<br />
|-<br />
| Abyssal plain<br />
|-<br />
| Alvin depth limit<br />
|-<br />
| David Bowie & Freddie Mercury<br />
|-<br />
| Puerto Rico<br />
|-<br />
| Trench Milwaukee<br />
|-<br />
| Deep Marianas<br />
|-<br />
| Trench Challenger<br />
|-<br />
| Deep Mysterious door which James Cameron built his sub to reach and open. He will not say what he found within.<br />
|-<br />
| Mauna Kea, Hawaii (accurate horizontal scale)<br />
|-<br />
| Marianas trench<br />
|-<br />
| Oil<br />
|}<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]<br />
[[Category:Fun fact]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:271:_Powers_of_One&diff=170188Talk:271: Powers of One2019-02-27T08:21:45Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div>I got the math joke but did not know about the documentary, very interesting. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:26, 27 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I want a "Powers of <math>i</math>" documentary. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 08:21, 27 February 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:271:_Powers_of_One&diff=170187Talk:271: Powers of One2019-02-27T08:21:03Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div>I got the math joke but did not know about the documentary, very interesting. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:26, 27 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I want a "Powers of ''i''" documentary. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 08:21, 27 February 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=474:_Turn-On&diff=169856474: Turn-On2019-02-19T20:18:34Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */ readability</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 474<br />
| date = September 10, 2008<br />
| title = Turn-On<br />
| image = turn-on.png<br />
| titletext = Supercollider? I 'ardly know 'er!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic refers to the first start-up (turn-on) of {{w|CERN|CERN's}} {{w|Large Hadron Collider}} (LHC). There was a theoretical concern that that the LHC experiments could create a {{w|black hole}} which would suck in our planet.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] uses this concern when telling [[Megan]] this could be their last night on Earth, but since the scene is in a bar this is just another lame entry he uses because he just wants to spend the night with her.<br />
<br />
Megan answers as a physicist and explains that first of all they will not start colliding particles just because they actually turn-on the collider. That will take a while during which everything needs to be checked. Secondly scientists have determined that the fears are unfounded&nbsp;— amongst other because cosmic rays have already been bombarding the earth with particles even more energetic than those created by the LHC. Thus if the LHC could create a black hole that would suck up the earth, then that would have happened long ago due to the cosmic rays! (At present time the collider has been colliding particles for years, and we are still here.{{Citation needed}})<br />
<br />
Cueball feels rejected by her answer and turns away to leave her, but she calls him back explaining very directly that she did not say "no" to his request (to try to stay a night with her). Also as she is a physics grad student she needs an excuse to party&nbsp;— the excuse being that the LHC is turned-on.<br />
<br />
Cueball feels encouraged and continues his attempt to get her in to bed. But in his next sentence he involuntarily uses three of the six {{w|Quark}} flavors ({{w|Up quark}}, {{w|Charm quark}}, and {{w|Strange quark}}). Megan continues to be very direct when asking if she has to be on top or bottom (when they are going to have sex). But this is also a sentence she chooses so she can continue using quark flavors ({{w|Top quark}} and {{w|Bottom quark}}). Cueball is flustered and complains that she is assuming too much since he hasn't even bought her a drink. Megan then makes it even worse when she does the order of two {{w|Whiskey sour|Whiskey sours}} just straight down - to use the final flavor ({{w|Down quark}}).<br />
<br />
Maybe she just teases Cueball (with her knowledge about the LHC and quarks), or else she is actually so turned-on by the LHC Turn-On that she wishes to have sex with Cueball as soon as possible.<br />
<br />
The quarks are some fundamental particles the LHC is generating. All six {{w|Flavour (particle physics)|flavors}} of quarks are in the last panel: Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Charm and Strange. They are also referenced in [[1418: Horse]], [[1621: Fixion]] and in [[1731: Wrong]], the latter also mentioning the up and down flavor. The mention of the drinks being served "straight down" is a reversal of the common bartending term "straight up", but there is no "straight down" in bartending.<br />
<br />
The title text is of course a very old joke "[http://urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=I+Hardly+Know+Her I 'ardly know 'er!]". In this case Supercollider (another name for the LHC) should be misunderstood as "(Did you) Supercollide her?", which you could put into a (nasty?) sexual context. Using this sentence at the wrong moment could be bad for a nice romance. This could be a reference to the ''{{w|Futurama}}'' episode "{{w|That's Lobstertainment!}}", in which Humorbot 5.0 tells a similar supercollider joke.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball walks up to Megan sitting at bar.]<br />
:Cueball: So, the LHC's turning on. This could be our last night on earth.<br />
:[While Beret Guy as a bartender walks into the frame Megan replies without turning]<br />
:Megan: Gimme a break. They're not even colliding yet, and it won't do anything cosmic rays haven't.<br />
:[Cueball turns and walks away. But then Megan turns towards him and says:]<br />
:Megan: Hey, I didn't say no.<br />
:Megan: I'm a physics grad student. I need the excuse to party.<br />
:[Cueball turns back and they talk:]<br />
:Cueball: So, you're up for a night with a charming stranger?<br />
:Megan: Depends. Top or bottom?<br />
:Cueball: Hey, I haven't even bought you a drink.<br />
:Megan: Barkeep, two whiskey sours, straight down.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=635:_Locke_and_Demosthenes&diff=169612635: Locke and Demosthenes2019-02-15T06:41:57Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 635<br />
| date = September 11, 2009<br />
| title = Locke and Demosthenes<br />
| image = locke_and_demosthenes.png<br />
| titletext = Dear Peter Wiggin: This letter is to inform you that you have received enough up votes on your reddit comments to become president of the world. Please be at the UN tomorrow at 8:00 sharp.}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic re-imagines a scene from {{w|Ender's Game}}, by {{w|Orson Scott Card}}, this is shown in the first two panels depicting the siblings '''Locke and Demosthenes''', as [[Cueball]] and the girl. Their real names are Peter and Valentine Wiggin (and these first names are used in the [http://xkcd.com/635/info.0.json official transcript] on xkcd). In the book these two kids write their opinions on their world's version of the internet to gain extreme political influence. Below is a synopsis:<br />
<br />
'''Spoiler alert!''' <br><br />
In the book Ender is an above-average-intelligence boy who is selected to become a potential leader of Earth's "Defense" Forces in the event of another {{w|Formics|Bugger}} invasion (later re-titled the Formic invasions). Meanwhile, Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine decide to save the world from itself. They do this by asserting themselves as wise demagogues who comment on political events on what are known as the "free nets" which are nets open to comment by anyone in the world. They choose pseudonyms to write under, as no one would take the words of children seriously, choosing Locke (Peter's pseudonym), and Demosthenes (Valentine's) and begin work. Eventually they gain enough respect to be invited to participate in moderated political debates in the higher class nets. By the end of the book, Peter has become the leader of the world, and Valentine runs away with Ender to a planet formerly inhabited by Buggers to live out their lives in peace.<br />
<br>'''End spoiler alert!'''<br />
<br />
''Ender's Game'' was published in 1985, when most people had never used (and some had never heard of) the internet. The first webpage set up with individual personal opinions (leaving out forums and bulletin board services) was online in 1994, the word "weblog" was invented in 1997 and "blog" in 1999. When Orson Scott Card wrote ''Ender's Game'', Peter and Valentine's plan was based on a sci-fi idea expected to occur in the near future.<br />
<br />
However, this apparently science-fictional future concept is now just the mundane (and extremely un-influential) act of blogging. In 1985, Orson Scott Card's idea of how politics works in practice may have seemed a little naive, but now that blogging is an everyday phenomenon, Peter and Valentine's aspirations seem downright silly. We see their plan to win vast political influence manifest itself as a WordPress blog, and a particularly unimportant one at that, with 0 comments on most posts.<br />
<br />
The joke hinges on the underwhelming reversal of Peter and Valentine's expectations. It forms both a parody of science fiction that has been rendered outdated by technology, and also a parody of the expectations well-intentioned people have going onto the internet to express their opinions.<br />
<br />
The titles of Peter's blog posts parody the arrogance of internet commentators, with names beginning with things like "Everyone's wrong about..." This further underscores the lack of influence his WordPress blog would have and his naivete, as this is a typically unconvincing way to speak to people about politics, but someone with the arrogance to think everyone will naturally see their genius and insist they be put in charge of the world would not realise it.<br />
<br />
In the bottom right corner there are links to other blogs. One is for Demosthenes, but the other is for {{w|FiveThirtyEight}}, a real political blog that was founded by {{w|Nate Silver}} in 2008, more than a year before this comic was released. It was still owned by Nate in 2009, the year of this comic's release, but in 2010 the blog became a licensed feature of The {{w|New York Times}} online and in July 2013, {{w|ESPN}} announced that it would become the owner. The blog takes its name from the number of electors in the United States electoral college: 538. It is a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging. Nate Silver has been [[:Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver|referenced]], several times in xkcd, though mainly in the title text, before this comic for instance in [[500: Election]].<br />
<br />
The title text uses Locke's full name, Peter Wiggin, and is formed as a short letter that informs him that he has become the president of the world, and that he should meet tomorrow 8:00 sharp at the {{w|United Nations}} (UN) headquarters. This is either a very child-like representation of how a presidential appointment might be announced or a sarcastic comment someone has left on his blog &mdash; either way, further riffing on the naivete of the plan in the first place. Also note that the note is addressed to "Peter" rather than "Locke"; Peter's attempt to remain anonymous has failed miserably.<br />
<br />
During their conversation, Peter is shown feeding a squirrel. In ''Ender's Game'' the character of Peter Wiggin is a sadistic sociopath - and there is a particular scene in the book where Valentine stumbles across a skinned squirrel still twitching in pain.<br />
<br />
References to both [[:Category:Ender's Game|Ender's Game]] and [[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] are frequently recurring tropes in xkcd.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The "real" names and the fact that the squirrel is vomiting comes from the official [http://xkcd.com/635/info.0.json transcript] on xkcd.]<br />
<br />
:[Valentine (a.k.a. Demosthenes, with long dark hair), is laying on her back on the ground looking up at the sky with her hands behind her head. Peter (a.k.a. Locke, looking like Cueball) is attracting a squirrel with some food his hand.]<br />
:Valentine: Ender's up there saving the world, but down here it's falling apart politically. What can we do?<br />
<br />
:[Peter turns towards and sits down, leaning back on one hand. Valentine sits up in a similar position. Her hair looks like a mix between Megan and Hairbun's hair. The squirrel behind Peter is bending over the food Peter has thrown out for it.]<br />
:Peter: I know — we get on the nets and anonymously post political opinions. People reading our articles will see our intelligence, recognize how clear and logical our arguments are, and insist that we be put in charge, so we can fix everything!<br />
:Valentine: Brilliant!<br />
<br />
:[Beneath the first two panel is large panel displaying a blog page. The background is light gray and then there are four white rectangular sections with rounded corners.]<br />
:[There is a heading in the top central section:]<br />
:<big><big>'''Locke'''</big></big><br />
:<big>Powered by Wordpress</big><br />
<br />
:[Below is the largest section, which extends below the panel. It has a scroll bar to the right which is partly scrolled down. The last sentence of a post can be seen at the top, with a time stamp below. Then follows the heading of a new post and the first line of this, which is partly cut off at the bottom of the panel:]<br />
:which is why we must reach out to the Russian leadership.<br />
::Posted at 3:15AM by <u>Locke</u><br />
::Comments (0)<br />
:<big>'''The Problem with China'''</big><br />
:In recent months much has been made of<br />
<br />
:[To the right is two sidebars. The top one shows recent posts:]<br />
:Recent posts:<br />
:>> <u>A few thoughts on...</u><br />
::Comments (0)<br />
:>> <u>Russian Aggression...</u><br />
::Comments (1)<br />
:>> <u>Trade policy and the...</u><br />
::Comments (0)<br />
:>> <u>And one more thing...</u><br />
::Comments (0)<br />
:>> <u>Everyone's wrong about...</u><br />
::Comments (1)<br />
<br />
:[Below this is list of links to other websites, this section also extends below the panel. The second link is partly cut off at the bottom of the panel, so it is not possible to see that this is probably also underlined:]<br />
:Blogroll:<br />
:>> <u>Demosthenes</u><br />
:>> FiveThirtyEight<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <!-- Even though it is a named person, Peter/Locke it is still Cueball for the sake of explain xkcd. On the other hand Valentine/Demosthenes doesn't look like Megan or Hairbun, and they should thus not be included--><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]<br />
[[Category:Ender's Game]]<br />
[[Category:Squirrels]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=635:_Locke_and_Demosthenes&diff=169611635: Locke and Demosthenes2019-02-15T06:41:22Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 635<br />
| date = September 11, 2009<br />
| title = Locke and Demosthenes<br />
| image = locke_and_demosthenes.png<br />
| titletext = Dear Peter Wiggin: This letter is to inform you that you have received enough up votes on your reddit comments to become president of the world. Please be at the UN tomorrow at 8:00 sharp.}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic re-imagines a scene from {{w|Ender's Game}}, by {{w|Orson Scott Card}}, this is shown in the first two panels depicting the siblings '''Locke and Demosthenes''', as [[Cueball]] and the girl. Their real names are Peter and Valentine Wiggin (and these first names are used in the [http://xkcd.com/635/info.0.json official transcript] on xkcd). In the book these two kids write their opinions on their world's version of the internet to gain extreme political influence. Below is a synopsis:<br />
<br />
'''Spoiler alert!''' <br><br />
In the book Ender is an above-average-intelligence boy who is selected to become a potential leader of Earth's "Defense" Forces in the event of another {{w|Formics|Bugger}} invasion (later re-titled the Formic invasions). Meanwhile, Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine decide to save the world from itself. They do this by asserting themselves as wise demagogues who comment on political events on what are known as the "free nets" which are nets open to comment by anyone in the world. They choose pseudonyms to write under, as no one would take the words of children seriously, choosing Locke (Peter's pseudonym), and Demosthenes (Valentine's) and begin work. Eventually they gain enough respect to be invited to participate in moderated political debates in the higher class nets. By the end of the book, Peter has become the leader of the world, and Valentine runs away with Ender to a planet formerly inhabited by Buggers to live out their lives in peace.<br />
<br>'''End spoiler alert!'''<br />
<br />
''Ender's Game'' was published in 1985, when most people had never used (and some had never heard of) the internet. The first webpage set up with individual personal opinions (leaving out forums and bulletin board services) was online in 1994, the word "weblog" was invented in 1997 and "blog" in 1999. When Orson Scott Card wrote ''Ender's Game'', Peter and Valentine's plan was based on a sci-fi idea expected to occur in the near future.<br />
<br />
However, this apparently science-fictional future concept is now just the mundane (and extremely un-influential) act of blogging. In 1985, Orson Scott Card's idea of how politics works in practice may have seemed a little naive, but now that blogging is an everyday phenomenon, Peter and Valentine's aspirations seem downright silly. We see their plan to win vast political influence manifest itself as a WordPress blog, and a particularly unimportant one at that, with 0 comments on most posts.<br />
<br />
The joke hinges on the underwhelming reversal of Peter and Valentine's expectations. It forms both a parody of science fiction that has been rendered outdated by technology, and also a parody of the expectations well-intentioned people have going onto the internet to express their opinions.<br />
<br />
The titles of Peter's blog posts parody the arrogance of internet commentators, with names beginning with things like "Everyone's wrong about..." This further underscores the lack of influence his WordPress blog would have and his naivete, as this is a typically unconvincing way to speak to people about politics, but someone with the arrogance to think everyone will naturally see their genius and insist they be put in charge of the world would not realise it.<br />
<br />
In the bottom right corner there are links to other blogs. One is for Demosthenes, but the other is for {{w|FiveThirtyEight}}, a real political blog that was founded by {{w|Nate Silver}} in 2008, more than a year before this comic was released. It was still owned by Nate in 2009, the year of this comic's release, but in 2010 the blog became a licensed feature of The {{w|New York Times}} online and in July 2013, {{w|ESPN}} announced that it would become the owner. The blog takes its name from the number of electors in the United States electoral college: 538. It is a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging. Nate Silver has been [[:Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver|referenced]], several times in xkcd, though mainly in the title text, before this comic for instance in [[500: Election]].<br />
<br />
The title text uses Locke's full name, Peter Wiggin, and is formed as a short letter that informs him that he has become the president of the world, and that he should meet tomorrow 8:00 sharp at the {{w|United Nations}} (UN) headquarters. This is either a very child-like representation of how a presidential appointment might be announced or a sarcastic comment someone has left on his blog &mdash; either way, further riffing on the naivete of the plan in the first place. <br />
<br />
Also note that the note is addressed to "Peter" rather than "Locke"; Peter's attempt to remain anonymous has failed miserably. The title text says that Peter got the presidential post because he received enough [https://www.reddit.com/wiki/voting up votes] on his {{w|reddit}} comments!<br />
<br />
During their conversation, Peter is shown feeding a squirrel. In ''Ender's Game'' the character of Peter Wiggin is a sadistic sociopath - and there is a particular scene in the book where Valentine stumbles across a skinned squirrel still twitching in pain.<br />
<br />
References to both [[:Category:Ender's Game|Ender's Game]] and [[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] are frequently recurring tropes in xkcd.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The "real" names and the fact that the squirrel is vomiting comes from the official [http://xkcd.com/635/info.0.json transcript] on xkcd.]<br />
<br />
:[Valentine (a.k.a. Demosthenes, with long dark hair), is laying on her back on the ground looking up at the sky with her hands behind her head. Peter (a.k.a. Locke, looking like Cueball) is attracting a squirrel with some food his hand.]<br />
:Valentine: Ender's up there saving the world, but down here it's falling apart politically. What can we do?<br />
<br />
:[Peter turns towards and sits down, leaning back on one hand. Valentine sits up in a similar position. Her hair looks like a mix between Megan and Hairbun's hair. The squirrel behind Peter is bending over the food Peter has thrown out for it.]<br />
:Peter: I know — we get on the nets and anonymously post political opinions. People reading our articles will see our intelligence, recognize how clear and logical our arguments are, and insist that we be put in charge, so we can fix everything!<br />
:Valentine: Brilliant!<br />
<br />
:[Beneath the first two panel is large panel displaying a blog page. The background is light gray and then there are four white rectangular sections with rounded corners.]<br />
:[There is a heading in the top central section:]<br />
:<big><big>'''Locke'''</big></big><br />
:<big>Powered by Wordpress</big><br />
<br />
:[Below is the largest section, which extends below the panel. It has a scroll bar to the right which is partly scrolled down. The last sentence of a post can be seen at the top, with a time stamp below. Then follows the heading of a new post and the first line of this, which is partly cut off at the bottom of the panel:]<br />
:which is why we must reach out to the Russian leadership.<br />
::Posted at 3:15AM by <u>Locke</u><br />
::Comments (0)<br />
:<big>'''The Problem with China'''</big><br />
:In recent months much has been made of<br />
<br />
:[To the right is two sidebars. The top one shows recent posts:]<br />
:Recent posts:<br />
:>> <u>A few thoughts on...</u><br />
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:>> <u>Russian Aggression...</u><br />
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:>> <u>And one more thing...</u><br />
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<br />
:[Below this is list of links to other websites, this section also extends below the panel. The second link is partly cut off at the bottom of the panel, so it is not possible to see that this is probably also underlined:]<br />
:Blogroll:<br />
:>> <u>Demosthenes</u><br />
:>> FiveThirtyEight<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <!-- Even though it is a named person, Peter/Locke it is still Cueball for the sake of explain xkcd. On the other hand Valentine/Demosthenes doesn't look like Megan or Hairbun, and they should thus not be included--><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]<br />
[[Category:Ender's Game]]<br />
[[Category:Squirrels]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1178:_Pickup_Artists&diff=1694261178: Pickup Artists2019-02-10T18:53:02Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1178<br />
| date = February 25, 2013<br />
| title = Pickup Artists<br />
| image = pickup artists.png<br />
| titletext = It sounds like a great way to make friends! Is it near that Friend Zone you keep talking about? I wanna go!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|pickup artist}} is a person who considers himself skilled at picking up (finding, attracting and seducing) women (or men), through various psychological tactics and tricks. The term "{{w|Pick-up game|pickup}}" in "pickup basketball" means informal and spontaneous. In pickup basketball the players are not part of an organized league or team but rather are just people who are available to play at that time and location. [[Beret Guy]] thinks (or wants to think) that what pickup artists really do is gather spontaneously to practice {{w|art|artistry}}, like the {{w|visual arts}}. This makes the world seem a happier place, especially considering his own disposition for (eccentric) art, and generally ability to always see the best in every situation.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] does not believe that pick-up artists have healthy attitudes towards women and has elaborated on this previously in [[1027: Pickup Artist]] (also featuring [[Hairy]]) and in [[800: Beautiful Dream]].<br />
<br />
The title text also shows Beret Guy's belief that the "{{w|friend zone}}" is a physical place. The "friend zone" refers to the state of a relationship in which one party has romantic interests, but the other person only wants to be friends. Once the friend zone is established, it is said to be difficult to try to move beyond that point into a romantic relationship. Beret Guy however believes (perhaps intentionally, like with pickup artist) that a physical place filled with his friends should be a fun place to visit. Randall previously expressed criticism towards trying to just slip into a romantic relationship from the friend zone in [[513: Friends]].<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
<br />
This comic is one of a small set of comics with the same or almost the same title as another comic (only plural form of artist the difference).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret Guy is talking with Hairy]<br />
:Beret Guy: What've you been up to lately?<br />
:Hairy: I've been hanging out with some pickup artists. <br />
:Hairy: I'm learning a ''lot!''<br />
:Beret Guy: Oh, that sounds like fun!<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:The world seems like a happier place if you think "pickup artist" is like "pickup basketball player".<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Basketball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Pickup Artist02]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2108:_Carbonated_Beverage_Language_Map&diff=1692822108: Carbonated Beverage Language Map2019-02-07T12:16:08Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2108<br />
| date = February 6, 2019<br />
| title = Carbonated Beverage Language Map<br />
| image = carbonated_beverage_language_map.png<br />
| titletext = There's one person in Missouri who says "carbo bev" who the entire rest of the country HATES.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a COMMUNIST SHILL. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
In the US, people in various parts of the country refer to carbonated beverages by {{w|Names for soft drinks in the United States|different names}} such as Soda, Pop, Coke, etc. Generally, the West Coast and Northeast say "Soda", the South says "Coke" and the rest of the country says "Pop".<br />
<br />
There are various maps of the name differences, including: [http://www.popvssoda.com/]<br />
<br />
This map leverages xkcd's mockery-maps of regional and state-by-state differences or variations in the use of language and overlays the regional variances in the terms for soda pop (for example: https://laughingsquid.com/soda-pop-or-coke-maps-of-regional-dialect-variation-in-the-united-states/), as was made trending and popular in 2013. Not only are there far more terms than are actually used by Americans, many are terms for other drinks (mead), unrelated liquids (quicksilver), or trademarked beverage names less popular than {{w|Coca Cola|Coke}}/{{w|Coca Cola}} ({{w|Mountain Dew|Code Red}}) -- and in one case, something that's not even tangible ({{w|cryptocurrency|"Crypto"}}).<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Map terms (from left to right, approximately)<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Fanta}}<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage line<br />
|-<br />
|Söde<br />
|Presumably pronounced "soda" but spelled oddly (might be reference to ''{{w|Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}'' subtitles - "Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?")<br />
|-<br />
|True Water<br />
|Possibly a reference to Tru Blood, a fictional artificial blood substitute for vampires in ''{{w|The Southern Vampire Mysteries}}'' book series by Charlaine Harris, and the television series ''{{w|True Blood}}''. Also could be a reference to "purified" mineral waters such as {{w|Glaceau Smartwater|Smartwater}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Crypto<br />
|A term meaning "hidden". Popularized as a slang term in the late '80s and early '90s to refer to anything involving the act of encryption/decryption {{w|cryptography}} through the application of ciphers, a practice which has become practically ubiquitous in the digital age. Given the highlighted region is the Silicon Valley, this is almost certainly a specific reference to {{w|cryptocurrency}}. None of these concepts are liquid and therefore not drinkable. Possibly a joke that the residents of Silicon Valley are actually computers that "drink" crypto (i.e. data).<br />
|-<br />
|Yum<br />
|Refers to {{w|Yum! Brands}}, parent company of several fast food restaurants, which was spun off from PepsiCo, maker of a carbonated beverage, in 1997, and has a lifetime contract to serve their beverages.<br />
|-<br />
|Sparkle Fluid<br />
|Roughly analogously to how "sparkling wine" and "sparkling cider" are carbonated varieties of wine and cider, "sparkling fluid" or "sparkle fluid" would presumably be any carbonated fluid<br />
|-<br />
|King Cola<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Pepsi}}<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Crystal Pepsi}}<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage<br />
|-<br />
|Ichor<br />
|Several definitions (blood of a god (or demon, or, in some dialects, any insect) or watery discharge from a wound). None of them carbonated. None of them recommended as a drinkable liquid. (Well, not by someone with your best interests at heart.)<br />
|-<br />
|You-Know-What<br />
|A phrase typically employed when a more specific term is considered unspeakable. Reference to Harry Potter and You-Know_Who<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tab (drink)|Tab}}<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage<br />
|-<br />
|Spicewater<br />
|Potentially a reference to the spice from ''Dune''.<br />
|-<br />
|Softie<br />
|On the map, it looks like the region for Softie is taking a punch from the region for Punch<br />
|-<br />
|Ohio Tea<br />
|The area in question covers much of Arizona, the namesake of {{w|Arizona Beverage Company|Arizona Iced Tea}}, itself a non-carbonated beverage. This implies that residents of Arizona view carbonated beverages as something that comes from Ohio, and thus they place Ohio’s name before the word "Tea” to indicate its carbonated state.<br />
<br />
Could also refer to [https://youtu.be/0_XAPku7SgE?t=30 "...bubbling crude. Oil that is, black gold, '''Texas tea'''.]<br />
|-<br />
|Boat Drink<br />
|An implication that carbonated beverages were popular with sailors in the region.<br />
|-<br />
|Melt<br />
|Usually used to describe a kind of sandwich where cheese is melted in the center, usually on a griddle. Or maybe just a way to say "no, the *melted* ice"<br />
|-<br />
|Fizz Ooze<br />
|The shortened name of the book "Fizz, Foam, Splatter & Ooze" about chemical reactions.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Punch (drink)|Punch}}<br />
|A drink typically found in the juice aisle. Only sometimes carbonated. It's also a pun on the word punch, meaning to hit something, and on the map it looks like the region for Punch is literally punching the region for Softie.<br />
|-<br />
|Fun Wine<br />
|Implies that normal wine is not "fun". Might be an allusion to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerwine Cheerwine], a carbonated drink from the Southeast.<br />
|-<br />
|Diet<br />
|Sometimes refers to a carbonated beverage. A common request in restaurants, as they often only have a single "{{w|Diet drink|diet soda}}" option for customers to pick. Ironically, "diet" sodas have been causally linked to metabolism related weight gain.<br />
|-<br />
|Refill<br />
|The second glass of whatever you drank previously. Works for any drinkable liquid.<br />
|-<br />
|Tickle Juice<br />
|Name of a Boston-based jazz band. <br />
|-<br />
|Bubble Honey<br />
|Reversed name of the Honey Bubble Tea brand. https://honeybubbletea.com<br />
|-<br />
|Sugar Oil<br />
|The areas of Oklahoma and north Texas that are shaded produce a significant amount of {{w|petroleum|crude oil}}.<br />
|-<br />
|The Wet Drink<br />
|Technically true of all drinks, unless one is attempting to drink sand (or anhydrous fluids - of which the least harmful may be clarified butter). It may also refer to the fact that many advertisements for carbonated beverages attempt to make the product look more appetizing by photographing or filming a beverage container covered with water droplets.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Mountain Dew|Code Red}}<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Mead}}<br />
|An alcoholic drink. Traditionally not carbonated. Often associated with Vikings, and these areas did have many Scandinavian immigrants.<br />
|-<br />
|Canadian Ale<br />
|Probably a reference to the {{w|Canada Dry}} brand of {{w|Ginger Ale}}, a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage.<br />
|-<br />
|Aether<br />
|Could refer to a highly flammable industrial solvent, also used as an anesthetic. Do not drink. Also, not carbonated. Alternately, could refer to the nonexistent fluid that was believed to carry light waves before electromagnetism was fully understood, or poetically to the sky; in either case it is not a drinkable liquid (or carbonated).<br />
|-<br />
|Carbonated Beverage<br />
|Technically correct, but a bit of an awkward term due to its unnecessary length.<br />
|-<br />
|Mouthwater<br />
|A play on the term "mouth watering" to describe delicious foods and drinks.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Capri Sun|Capri}}<br />
|Capri Sun is a brand of juice drinks, typically sold in uncarbonated pouches.<br />
|-<br />
|Skim Shake<br />
|A shortened name of the beverage "Skim Milkshake"<br />
|-<br />
|Kid's Coffee<br />
|Somewhat accurate. Coffee is typically drunk by adults for its caffeine. Carbonated beverages often have caffeine also, and are often consumed by children.<br />
|-<br />
|Regular<br />
|In the past, referred to gasoline with lead, as opposed to "Unleaded". Not a drinkable liquid, and also outlawed.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tang (drink)|Tang}}<br />
|An orange flavored beverage containing less than 2% juice extract. Normally sold in powdered form, and not carbonated.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Infant formula|Formula}}<br />
|Typically refers to an artificial replacement for mother's milk. Not carbonated.<br />
|-<br />
|Medicine<br />
|Only sometimes a drinkable liquid. Never or perhaps almost never carbonated. Alternatively, a common euphemism for alcohol, or some other drink that the person doesn't want to admit to drinking -- or at least doesn't want to share. <br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Broth}}<br />
|Liquid in which bones, meat, fish, or vegetables have simmered. Often used as a soup base. Not carbonated.<br />
|-<br />
|Fool's Champagne<br />
|Carbonated beverage is to champagne what fool's gold is to gold.<br />
|-<br />
|Sugar Milk<br />
|This may be a reference to dairy, but in this region of the US people drink a popular carbonated beverage called {{w|Moxie}} that is less familiar to people elsewhere.<br />
|-<br />
|No word for them<br />
|This region of the US does not have a word for carbonated beverages (according to Randall). Possibly they do not drink them at all.<br />
|-<br />
|Hydro<br />
|A word for water. Carbonated water does exist, but this word means all forms of water. Since this area borders Canada, it may also be a reference to the common Canadian use of "Hydro" to mean electricity.<br />
|-<br />
|Harvard Tea<br />
|The region shaded this way includes {{w|Cambridge, Massachusetts}}, which is home to {{w|Harvard University}}.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Drinking fountain|Bubbler}}<br />
|A nod to another popular map of the same type, exploring the regional dialects used to describe drinking fountains. Rhode Island and the eastern portion of Wisconsin are the only two locations where 'Bubbler' is commonly used to refer to drinking fountains, but the word is commonly used in surrounding areas to depict the strong variety of {{w|Rhoticity_in_English|rhoticity}} present, some saying 'bubblah' in for example Boston, and others saying 'water fountain'.<br />
|-<br />
|Mouthbuzz<br />
|Perhaps referring to the feeling of drinking a carbonated drink, where the releasing carbonation almost 'buzzes' in the mouth.<br />
|-<br />
|Brad's Elixer<br />
|Possibly a reference to "Brad's Drink", the original name for {{w|Pepsi}} when it was invented by Caleb Bradham in 1893. The word "elixir" is defined as "a sweetened liquid usually containing alcohol that is used in medication either for its medicinal ingredients or as a flavoring", but it is misspelled here as "elixer".<br />
|-<br />
|Hot Water<br />
|Not carbonated. Not even in Jacuzzi and hot tubs. May reference how boiled water forms bubbles before it actually comes to a boil.<br />
|-<br />
|Fluid<br />
|A word that means nearly any liquid or gas in existence. Not specific to carbonated beverages.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Coke Zero}}<br />
|Name of a carbonated beverage.<br />
|-<br />
|Carbo<br />
|Sodas sweetened with corn syrup or cane sugar are high in carbohydrates. Could also refer to carbonation.<br />
|-<br />
|Quicksilver<br />
|An old term for the element mercury, a metallic liquid in its pure form at room temperature. Extremely harmful if swallowed.<br />
|-<br />
|Glug<br />
|Onomatopoeia, referring to the sound of swallowing a large amount of liquid. Or possibly referring to {{w|Gl&ouml;gi|gl&ouml;gg}} (pronounced "glug"), a Swedish drink similar to mulled wine.<br />
|-<br />
|Water Plus<br />
|Technically the name of {{w|Water Plus|a British water retail services provider}}, this likely refers to the prevalence of "plus" as a preposition in branding nomenclature (e.g.: {{w|Google+}}, {{w|iPhone 8 Plus}}, {{w|7 Up Plus}}, etc.). Also reminiscent of "Milk Plus," the drugged milk from the movie A Clockwork Orange.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The title text may be a wry comment in light of the pocket of "soda" in the St. Louis, MO area.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[A map of the United States divided into purple, red, green, blue, and yellow colored regions.]<br />
<br />
<br />
:[A purple area in North West Washington.]<br />
:Fanta<br />
<br />
:[A blue area spanning the Western border of Washington and Oregon.]<br />
:Söde<br />
<br />
:[A yellow area spanning the remainder of Washington, North Western Oregon, Northern Idaho and the North Western corner of Montana.]<br />
:Ichor<br />
<br />
:[A yellow area corresponding to Hawaii except for the island of O'ahu.]<br />
:Pepsi<br />
<br />
:[A red area corresponding to the Hawaiian island of O'ahu.]<br />
:Crystal Pepsi<br />
<br />
:[A green area spanning the North Eastern corner of Oregon, central Idaho and the majority of Montana.]<br />
:Spicewater<br />
<br />
:[A blue area spanning Eastern Montana, the North Eastern corner of Wyoming and the majority of North and South Dakota.]<br />
:Refill<br />
<br />
:[A red area spanning Eastern North and South Dakota, the majority of Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin and Michigan North of the lakes.]<br />
:Mead<br />
<br />
:[A green area spanning the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin.]<br />
:Canadian Ale<br />
<br />
:[A yellow area spanning the South Eastern corner of Minnesota, the North Eastern corner of Iowa and the majority of Wisconsin.]<br />
:Aether<br />
<br />
:[A green area in North East Wisconsin.]<br />
:Mouthwater<br />
<br />
:[A purple area covering most of Michigan south of the lakes.]<br />
:Kid's coffee<br />
<br />
:[A red area covering Northeast & central New York.]<br />
:Hydro<br />
<br />
:[A green area covering Vermont and spanning the border with New York.]<br />
:[No word for them]<br />
<br />
:[A yellow area covering Maine and the majority of New Hampshire.]<br />
:Sugar milk<br />
<br />
:[A red area spanning Eastern Massachusetts and the border with New Hampshire.]<br />
:Harvard tea<br />
<br />
:[A blue area covering Rhode Island and spanning Eastern Connecticut, central Massachusetts and the South West corner of New Hampshire.]<br />
:Bubbler<br />
<br />
:[A yellow area spanning the South Eastern corner of New York, the South Western corner of Massachusetts, Western Connecticut and Northern New Jersey.]<br />
:Mouth Buzz<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Maps]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2070:_Trig_Identities&diff=1689202070: Trig Identities2019-01-31T20:37:38Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2070<br />
| date = November 9, 2018<br />
| title = Trig Identities<br />
| image = trig_identities.png<br />
| titletext = ARCTANGENT THETA = ENCHANT AT TARGET<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Math markup in a floating text is bad layout. Please only mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic shows several real {{w|List_of_trigonometric_identities#Trigonometric_functions|trigonometric identities}} at the first two lines and further below some identities "derived" by applying algebraic methods to the letters in the trigonometric function names, which is obviously nonsense.<br />
<br />
The first line are the known trigonometric functions: sine, cosine and tangent, and the second line contains the reciprocals of the trigonometric functions from the first line: cosecant, secant, and cotangent.<br />
<br />
The following identities are made up and are increasing in absurdity. The comic reflects on the confusion one gets when working more intensely with these identities, since there are a lot of hidden dependencies between them.<br />
<br />
The third and fourth line is made by treating the trigonometric function as a product of variables rather than a function and then using the above identities to create words. e.g. sin = b/c -> cin = b/s (this could also be a reference to the C++ cin).<br />
<br />
The second to last line performs some algebra on the individual letters of <math>(\mathrm{tan}\ \theta)^2=\frac{b^2}{a^2}</math> as a setup to the last line. The last line takes the formula <math>distance=\frac{1}{2}at^2</math> "from physics" and plugs it into the equation of the previous line, doing some algebra to replace <math>at^2</math> with <math>distance2</math> and expanding <math>(na)^2</math> into <math>nana</math> to get the final equation, <math>distance2banana=\frac{b^3}{\theta^2}</math> . This is valid algebra only if the trigonometric operators are taken as variable products rather than operators, but this is a common misconception encountered when people first learn trigonometry. The distance equation is the distance a constantly accelerating object initially at rest moves in a given length of time t, most often used to find how far an object dropped from rest will fall under the influence of gravity in a given amount of time (or how long it will take to fall a given distance).<br />
<br />
There are a few formulas that have mistakes if you simply make algebraic manipulations to the six standard trigonometric functions. <br />
<br />
* <math>\mathrm{cas}\ \theta=\frac{o}{c}</math> seems to be derived from <math>\cos\theta=\frac{a}{c}</math> but to reach "cas" from "cos" one has to divide by "o" and multiply by "a". This would lead to <math>\mathrm{cas} \theta = \frac{a^2}{oc}</math>.<br />
* In the identity <math>\sin\theta\sec\theta=\mathrm{insect}\theta^2</math> one of the "s"'s has turned into a "t", however this may be reached by 'phonetic stretch' from the sound of saying 'sin sec' together being similar to the sound of the word "insect". Another possible conversion is if you treat "s" as seconds, then "t" could be time, which keeps with the identity theme.<br />
<br />
The title text is an {{w|Anagram|anagram}}. Due to the commutative property of multiplication (which states that order does not affect the product), these equations are equivalent if treated as individual variables as earlier. Another layer of absurdity is added in that the variable Theta is spelled out and broken into its letters, which are then treated as individual variables. (The {{w|arctangent}} referred to here is the inverse tangent, a one-sided inverse to the tangent function. You would not normally write <math>\arctan\theta</math>, since the theta in the comic refers to an angle, and the arctangent has an angle as its ''value'' rather than as its ''argument''; however, using theta here is merely unconventional, not forbidden.) The arctangent generally produces theta, the meaning of it being taken on theta being poorly understood. Randall here elucidates, via tongue-in-cheek algebraic proof, that taking a second arctangent of theta produces magical effects.<br />
<br />
===From physics (and beyond)===<br />
The formula s=<sup>1</sup>/<sub>2</sub> a t<sup>2</sup> gives the distance a uniform accelerating object reaches over time. The second formula belongs to astronomy and the {{w|Kepler's laws of planetary motion#Third law of Kepler|third law of Kepler}} in which ''the square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit'', meaning the fraction of b<sup>3</sup> and t<sup>2</sup> is a constant (banana).<br />
<br />
But using the angle ''θ'' as an argument leads to {{w|Richard Feynman}}, who did many famous ''{{w|The Feynman Lectures on Physics|Lectures on Physics}}'' and his lost lecture about the ''{{w|Feynman's Lost Lecture|Motion of Planets Around the Sun}}'' from 1964 in which he only used geometry, based on the orbital ellipse, a circle around, and matching right-angled triangles to illustrate this law from Kepler. For deeper understanding why it really does work there is a nice presentation at the "Journal of Symbolic Geometry": [http://ceadserv1.nku.edu/longa/classes/calculus_resources/docs/kep.pdf Feynman Says: “Newton implies Kepler, No Calculus Needed! (Brian Beckman, 2006)”]<br />
<br />
===Proof of algebraic mistakes in the comic===<br />
Some have tried to argue there are mathematical justifications for the errors in some of the formulas, by stating (without proof) that you could prove that valid solutions to the original six trig identities (where letters are taken to be variables multiplied together) can be manipulated to show that solutions must have<br />
:<math>a=o</math> and <math>s=t</math>.<br />
These proofs are incorrect and can be shown easily with a counterexample. If you make the following assignments of variables like<br />
:<math>o=s=\frac{1}{2}</math> and set <math>c=e=2</math><br />
while leaving the other variables set to 1 (<math>a=b=i=n=t=\theta=1</math>). This variable assignment will simultaneously satisfy all six original trig identities: <br />
:<math>\sin \theta = \frac{1}{2} = \frac{b}{c}</math>; <br />
:<math>\cos \theta = 2\cdot \frac{1}{2}\cdot\frac{1}{2}=\frac{a}{c}</math>;<br />
:<math>\tan \theta = 1 = \frac{b}{a}</math>;<br />
:<math>\cot \theta = 2\cdot\frac{1}{2} = \frac{a}{b}</math>;<br />
:<math>\sec \theta = \frac{1}{2}\cdot2\cdot2 = \frac{c}{a}=2</math>;<br />
:<math>\csc \theta = 2\cdot\frac{1}{2}\cdot2 = \frac{c}{b} = 2</math>.<br />
However in this valid assignment, we have<br />
:<math>a\neq o</math> since <br />
:<math>1 \neq \frac{1}{2}</math> and we have <math>s \neq t</math> as <math>\frac{1}{2} \neq 1</math>.<br />
This demonstrates that you can not make a valid algebraic derivation of <br />
:<math>\operatorname{cas} \theta = \frac{o}{c} \frac{a^{2}}{o^2} = \frac{o}{c}</math> or <br />
:<math>\sin \theta \sec \theta = \operatorname{insect} \theta^{2}</math><br />
without additional assumptions beyond the six given trigonometric identities.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Inside a single frame comic a right-angled triangle is shown. The shorter sides are labeled "a" and "b" and the hypotenuse has a "c". All angles are marked: the right angle by a square and the two others by arcs. One arc (enclosed by "a" and "c") is labeled by the Greek symbol theta (θ).]<br />
<br />
:[Supposed trigonometric functions of the marked angle θ are shown:]<br />
<br />
:sin θ = b/c<br />
:cos θ = a/c<br />
:tan θ = b/a<br />
<br />
:cot θ = a/b<br />
:sec θ = c/a<br />
:csc θ = c/b<br />
<br />
:cin θ = b/s<br />
:cas θ = o/c<br />
:tab θ = b²/n&#8203;a<br />
<br />
:bot θ = a/c → boat θ = a²/c → stoat θ = a²/c · s&#8203;t/b<br />
<br />
:tan θ ( = b/a = b/a · c/c = b/c · c/a = sin θ sec θ ) = insect θ²<br />
<br />
:(tan θ)² = b²/a² ( → t²n²a⁴ = b²/θ² → a&#8203;t²b&#8203;a(n&#8203;a)² = b³/θ²<br />
:from physics: distance = 1/2 a&#8203;t² → ) distance2banana = b³/θ²<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Key trigonometric identities<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2104:_Biff_Tannen&diff=168724Talk:2104: Biff Tannen2019-01-28T21:00:25Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Regarding politics */ new section</p>
<hr />
<div>I thought Biff jumped from 2015 to 1955, not 1985...? Young Biff had the Almanac in his pocket at the High School dance and the tower he built was already in place in 1985.<br />
<br />
<!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Collusion with a time traveler would bring a few things into focus. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.25|173.245.54.25]] 15:24, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
:You inspire ''one'' house painter to change careers & suddenly everyone blames you for everything. <br />
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:23, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly_Elegy<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.198|172.68.65.198]] 15:39, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Do we keep the “cheat at sports betting” wording? I don’t know if this is cheating. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.136|108.162.210.136]] 17:22, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Cheating is generally heald to be using something unavailable to anyone else in the normal course of play to gain an advantage. I'd say using the almanac towards those ends definitely applies. [[User:Mjm87|Mjm87]] ([[User talk:Mjm87|talk]]) 19:07, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If anyone questions the fact that newspapers in real life did attempt to assert that the rise of Trump was inevitable, various newspaper articles may easily be found as proof with a Google Search for [Donald Trump inevitable], preferably restricted to results before 2017, so as to remove results about things he did later. I don't know how best to incorporate such results as a source in the article, as the number of citations could easily be made too big, and also I don't know if anyone cares. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.136|108.162.210.136]] 17:30, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I am from Europe, and I do not understand the issue. If event X happens while you predicted Y, isn't researching and hypothising a good way to find out why, possibly learning new things in the process? Saying you don't want to debate the issue is like hating politics. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.131|141.101.104.131]] 18:27, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Many people who understand politics hate it. On behalf of my fellow continenteans, I apologize for 141.101.104.131, who apparently believes that politics overlaps with political science. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.40|162.158.114.40]] 18:51, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Note that ''Hillbilly Elegy'' could not have been intended to explain the Trump election, having been written before it. However, it was interpreted this way. I have attempted to make this clear in the explanation.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.179|108.162.212.179]] 18:53, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If I'm not mistaken, Biff is based off of Donald Trump, so the Donald Trump analogy may be more likely than not. I can't quite recall where I read this, but there are quite a few similarities between the two. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.138|162.158.186.138]] 19:14, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Added [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.156|162.158.122.156]] 19:24, 28 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Why does this article go out of its way to avoid mentioning Hillary Clinton by name?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.19|162.158.107.19]] 20:25, 28 January 2019 (UTC)KingLeary<br />
<br />
== Regarding politics ==<br />
<br />
Wow, all this Trump stuff feels like a real stretch... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 21:00, 28 January 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2003:_Presidential_Succession&diff=1684832003: Presidential Succession2019-01-22T17:26:23Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Order of succession */ Change several entries to past tense and revert Brown</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2003<br />
| date = June 6, 2018<br />
| title = Presidential Succession<br />
| image = presidential_succession.png<br />
| titletext = Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The {{w|United States presidential line of succession}} is the order of people who serve as president if the current incumbent president is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office. <br />
<br />
The {{w|Presidential_Succession_Act#Presidential_Succession_Act_of_1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947}} was an act by the U.S. Congress that revised the presidential order of succession to its current order. This Act, though never challenged in the courts, may not be constitutional for two reasons. First, it is unclear whether members of Congress can be designated in the line of succession. Secondly, the Act allows for a cabinet officer to be "replaced" as acting President by a new Speaker of the House or a new President Pro Tempore of the Senate.<br />
<br />
An additional concern regarding the Act is that after the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the line of succession list the members of the Cabinet in the order that their department was established with the oldest departments first, irrespective of the Secretary's personal fitness or appropriateness of the office. The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of the security and protection of the United States and its citizens and would probably already be privy to sensitive intelligence and briefings related to national security, but because it is the latest of the Departments to have been established (in 2003), the Secretary of Homeland Security is all the way at the bottom of the current Presidential line of succession at 18th, behind other Secretaries such as that of Agriculture (9th) and Education (16th).<br />
<br />
Another practical concern is that, by including the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate immediately after the Vice President, there is a serious risk that the simultaneous death of the President and Vice President could cause the Presidency to change to the opposing party, which (in the current American political climate) could lead to serious political instability at the precise moment when the country is facing a national crisis, and could even encourage assassinations.<br />
<br />
The full text of the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission can be found here: <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf>. A short, readable summary, including the report's recommended new line of succession, is here: <https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-continuity-of-the-presidency-the-second-report-of-the-continuity-of-government-commission/>. The first 6 members of the commission's list are included in the current line of succession, after which they specificy that 5 new people should be appointed specifically for the purpose of succeeding the presidency if needed. Randall's list begins with these 11 people (stuffing all 5 of the new appointees into #7); afterwards, his list continues with more politicians, actors who have played Presidents, athletes, and others. <br />
<br />
Randall's list omits the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as well as many other cabinet positions. He is probably simply following the commission's report in this. But perhaps he does not find those people qualified to become President of the United States, or is concerned about the constitutionality of lawmakers becoming President. However, he does not seem to be concerned about constitutionality, because he included the entire line of succession to the British throne, most of whom do not meet the requirement to be a natural-born citizen of the United States.{{Citation needed}} {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_5:_Qualifications_for_office|Article Two of the US Constitution}} establishes that the President must be a "{{w|Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born}}" US citizen at least 35 years of age and had lived in the US for the last 14 years.<br />
<br />
Randall's list includes several other people who also might not be eligible to become President either because they are not natural-born U.S. citizens (e.g., as of the time of the comic's publication, {{w|Serena Williams}} had withdrawn from her last match in the {{w|French Open}} to {{w|Maria Sharapova}}, who is Russian) or they are under 35 years of age ({{w|Russell Westbrook}}, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player at the time of the comic's publication, was only 29 years old). These would mainly be athletes due to the relatively global reach of the four major professional sports leagues in North America and the fact that 35 is quite old for a professional athlete, let alone one who is good enough to win the league MVP. Presumably, those who wouldn't qualify for the office of President would be skipped over like in real life -- at the comic's publication, {{w|Elaine Chao}} was the Secretary of Transportation and would normally be 14th in line, but because she is a naturalized citizen of the US (she was born in Taiwan) she would not qualify for the office if the line came to her.<br />
<br />
The title text mentions whoever was closest to the surface of {{w|Europa}} when they were born. Europa is a moon of Jupiter and one of the most likely locations in the Solar System for {{w|Habitability of natural satellites|potential habitability}}. Nevertheless it's a completely meaningless way of settling a tie. However, depending on the relative positions of Earth and Jupiter when you were born, you could easily have been tens of millions of kilometers closer. Alternatively, Randall could be playing on how Europa sounds like Europe.<br />
<br />
==Order of succession==<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
!#<br />
!Randall's order<br />
!Current order by the 1947 Act<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|1<br />
|President<br />
|President<br />
|Not generally considered part of the line of succession, as incumbents cannot "succeed" to their own post. (This should really be item 0 on the list.)<br />
|-<br />
|2<br />
|Vice president<br />
|Vice president<br />
|No change<br />
|-<br />
|3<br />
|Secretary of State<br />
|Speaker of the House of Representatives<br />
|Moved up from 5th position. This is likely a serious suggestion. Existing rules of succession hand Executive power to the leaders of the Legislative branch if the President and Vice-President are both killed or removed from power. This is troubling for a number of reasons. One is that the Executive and Legislative branches are supposed to act as independent checks on one another's power, and so are supposed to be kept separate. Another issue is that the Executive and Legislative branches are frequently controlled by political rivals from different political parties. In such a case, assassins could effectively reverse the results of Presidential elections if they managed to kill the President and Vice-President in a short period of time (which is used as part of the twist ending in ''{{w|White House Down}}''). Additionally, leaders of the House and Senate aren't as deeply connected to the military and diplomatic missions of the country, and so would have a hard time maintaining continuity, particularly if an attack or disaster killed multiple national leaders at once. These problems could all be addressed by keeping the initial Line of Succession confined to the Executive branch of government. <br />
|-<br />
|4<br />
|Secretary of Defense<br />
|President pro tempore of the Senate<br />
|Moved up from 7th position<br />
|-<br />
|5<br />
|Secretary of Homeland Security<br />
|Secretary of State<br />
|Moved up from 19th position, possibly to highlight the Attorney General's place in the current order<br />
|-<br />
|6<br />
|Attorney General<br />
|Secretary of the Treasury <br />
|Moved up from 8th position<br />
|-<br />
|7<br />
|Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the President's term and confirmed by the Senate<br />
|Secretary of Defense<br />
|{{w|Washington, D.C.}} is the capital of the United States, and is where the {{w|White House}}, the President's residence, is located. Presumably this provision covers the case where much of the government, including positions 1–6 here, are killed by a natural disaster or attack in Washington, D.C.<br />
<br />
This suggestion establishes no qualifications for these people, but the fact that they'd need to be confirmed by the Senate suggests that they would be chosen to be competent for the role. It is also unclear if an order is determined among these five or if they take up a joint presidency. This suggestion is taken from the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission as a potential mechanism to ensure members of succession are not in Washington DC during a catastrophic attack.<br />
|-<br />
|8<br />
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}<br />
|Attorney General<br />
|Academy Award-winning American actor. This is the first unambiguously unserious suggestion.{{Citation needed}} Tom Hanks is very popular and considered exceptionally likeable by many Americans, but has never served in public office or displayed any particular affinity for politics. He has also never played a president, though he has received a {{w|Presidential Medal of Freedom}}, and appeared in a {{w|Last Week Tonight with John Oliver}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyPRssh2rk0 skit], where he rallies five (wax) presidents to action. The implication is that Mr. Hanks would be easily accepted as a leader, based solely on his personal charm. <br />
|-<br />
|9<br />
|State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census<br />
|Secretary of the Interior<br />
|Also taken from Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission. At the time of publication, the last {{w|United States Census}} was the 2010 Census. As California is the most populous state, its Governor ({{w|Jerry Brown}} at the time of publication) would have been first in line. <br />
<br />
See also the {{w|2010_United_States_Census#State_rankings|state population rankings}} and the {{w|list of current United States governors}}. As worded, this criterion would exclude territorial governors (and the Mayor of Washington, D.C.).<br />
|-<br />
|10<br />
|Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor<br />
|Secretary of Agriculture<br />
|Oscars, or {{w|Academy Awards}}, are annual film awards awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of publication, the only Oscar awarded for playing a governor was {{w|Broderick Crawford}}'s 1949 Best Actor award for the fictional Willie Stark in ''{{w|All the King's Men (1949 film)|All the King's Men}}'' (a character based on {{w|Huey Long}}). However, Crawford died in 1986, so would be unable to serve as President.<br />
<br />
May be a reference to the {{w|Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger}}: a highly-lauded actor who became governor of California, but did not win an Oscar or play a governor before being elected. (As a naturalized citizen, he is also ineligible for the Presidency.)<br />
|-<br />
|11<br />
|Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar<br />
|Secretary of Commerce <br />
|The {{w|Governors Awards}} are an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present lifetime achievement awards within the film industry. As this award is a lifetime achievement award, it does not seem possible that an actor could win this award for simply playing someone named Oscar. Notwithstanding the nature of the award, at the time of publication, no recipient of a Governors Award has played a character named Oscar.<br />
<br />
Obviously, the joke is that changing the order of the words from the previous proposal produces something that could actually exist.<br />
|-<br />
|12<br />
|{{w|Kate McKinnon}}, if available<br />
|Secretary of Labor<br />
|Comedic actress famous for being a cast member on {{w|Saturday Night Live}}. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions. She has recently done impersonations of members of the Trump administration including Spokeswoman {{w|Kellyanne Conway}} and Attorney General {{w|Jeff Sessions}}. She also played {{w|Hillary Clinton}} during the 2016 campaign and presumably would have played her when she was President had she won; but since Clinton lost, McKinnon has not actually played a President.<br />
|-<br />
|13<br />
|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)<br />
|Secretary of Health and Human Services <br />
|The {{w|Billboard Hot 100}} is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. The weekly data is aggregated into a cumulative {{w|Billboard Year-End}} (based on a "year" that ends the third week of November, in order to meet December publication deadlines). At the time of publication, the most recent such list was the {{w|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017}}.<br />
<br />
Based on that list, the artists considered for the presidential succession would be: {{w|Ed Sheeran}}, {{w|Luis Fonsi}}, {{w|Bruno Mars}}, {{w|Kendrick Lamar}}, Alex Pall (of {{w|The Chainsmokers}}), {{w|Quavo|Quavoius Keyate Marshall}} (of {{w|Migos}}), {{w|Sam Hunt}}, {{w|Dan Reynolds}} (of {{w|Imagine Dragons}}), and {{w|Post Malone}}. There are only nine names instead of ten because The Chainsmokers had two of the top 10 singles in 2017. Of these, only Luis Fonsi (40 years old, born in Puerto Rico) was legally eligible for the office; all the others were too young, and Sheeran is additionally from the United Kingdom.<br />
|-<br />
|14<br />
|The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time<br />
|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development <br />
|Astronauts are highly respected and rigorously selected, but most have little involvement in politics. According to [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-station-astronaut-record-holders NASA], the top 5 US astronauts by cumulative space time at the time of publication were: {{w|Peggy Whitson}}, {{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}}, {{W|Scott Kelly (astronaut)|Scott Kelly}}, {{w|Mike Fincke}}, and {{w|Mike Foale}}. However, it is unclear whether Foale would qualify as a natural-born citizen, as he was born in the United Kingdom to a British father and American mother.<br />
|-<br />
|15<br />
|{{w|Serena Williams}} (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)<br />
|Secretary of Transportation<br />
|As of the time of publication, Serena Williams was a top female tennis player. She is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all-time, winning 39 {{w|Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam}} titles, including 23 women's singles titles. At the time of publication Serena Williams did win her most recent match (2018 French Open, third round, on June 2nd), although she withdrew from her next match against Maria Sharapova (which perhaps should count as a loss, especially if she withdrew in order to preserve her place in the line of succession and killed everyone in place ahead of her).<br />
<br />
If her most recent defeat was to a non-US player, presumably she would be skipped over in line although this is not explicitly stated (the current succession list skips over anyone who would not normally qualify for not being a natural-born US citizen).<br />
|-<br />
|16<br />
|The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs<br />
|Secretary of Energy<br />
|MVP stands for {{w|Most Valuable Player}}. The 4 listed leagues are the major sports leagues in the United States, the {{w|National Basketball Association}} (NBA), the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), {{w|Major League Baseball}} (MLB), and the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). We're assuming that Randall meant the regular season MVPs of each league, as each league also awards MVPs for their respective championships (or in the case of the NHL's {{w|Conn Smythe Trophy}}, their entire playoffs).<br />
<br />
As of the time of publication, the most recent MVPs for the listed sports were {{w|Russell Westbrook}} (NBA), {{w|Tom Brady}} (NFL), {{w|José Altuve}} and {{w|Giancarlo Stanton}} (MLB has two, one for the American League and one for the National League), and {{w|Connor McDavid}} (NHL). Of these, only Brady would qualify for the list - Altuve and McDavid are Venezuelan and Canadian citizens respectively, and Westbrook (29) and Stanton (28) were too young.<br />
|-<br />
|17<br />
|{{w|Bill Pullman}} and his descendants by absolute primogeniture<br />
|Secretary of Education <br />
|American actor, known for playing President Thomas J. Whitmore in the 1996 film ''{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}''. <br />
<br />
Absolute primogeniture is a form of succession where the oldest direct descendant regardless of gender receives the title. This is contrasted to {{w|Male-preference primogeniture}}, in which males come before females in the order of the throne, whether the males were born first or not. This may be a reference to the British law {{w|Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}, which changed the order of the throne from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This act allows {{w|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge|Princess Charlotte}} to retain her place in line before {{w|Prince Louis of Cambridge|Prince Louis}}. <br />
<br />
At the time of publication, Pullman's immediate descendants consisted of three children, with Maesa Pullman being the oldest at age 29. Thus all but Bill Pullman himself were too young for the presidency.<br />
|-<br />
|18<br />
|The entire line of succession to the British throne<br />
|Secretary of Veterans Affairs <br />
|According to the Constitution, only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become President, which means that at least most of the line of succession to the British throne is ineligible. However, it is possible that someone in the line of succession to the British throne either is a dual citizen (especially one who is a U.S. citizen based on place of birth and a British citizen based on having a parent who was a British citizen descended from {{w|Sophia of Hanover}}) or is not British (a person from outside of Britain can become King; for example, some, including George I, were from what is now Germany).<br />
<br />
The first 57 names on the list are {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne#Current_line_of_succession|here}}, as of the time of publication. [https://lineofsuccession.co.uk/?date=2018-06-06 British Line of Succession on 6 June 2018] shows the list as it was at the comic's publication. American citizens [http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-11/news/vw-42233_1_royal-house have, at times] been on the list, but no natural-born Americans are currently in the top 100. In theory, however, the full British succession list includes [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html several thousand people] (living descendants of {{w|Sophia of Hanover}} who are not Roman Catholic or otherwise disqualified), and it is possible that one or more such people would also be eligible to be President of the United States.<br />
<br />
The humor here derives from the fact that the United States was established by declaring independence from the United Kingdom, with rejection of the British monarchy being a basic founding principle, and a core principle of US governance. To appoint the British monarchy to the American presidency would contradict the basic goals of American independence. Alternatively, it may reference the recent wedding of {{w|Prince Harry}} to {{w|Meghan Markle}}, although she is not in the order of succession to the British throne (and she is planning to renounce her U.S. citizenship in favour of British citizenship, so her children (who would come immediately after Harry in the British line of succession) would not be born U.S. citizens either). A similar sequence of events was the plotline of the comedy film ''{{w|King Ralph}}'', which saw an American become the British monarch after the death of the royal family.<br />
|-<br />
|19<br />
|The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest<br />
|Secretary of Homeland Security<br />
|The {{w|Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest}} is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition sponsored by {{w|Nathan's Famous}} held on July 4th. As of the time of publication, the most recent men's winner was {{w|Joey Chestnut}} and the women's winner was {{w|Miki Sudo}}. At the time of publication, neither was old enough to assume the office.<br />
<br />
The comic does not specify whether the men's or women's winner should take office, creating a tie that would be broken by distance from Europa at birth. Had they both been eligible, [https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/29132/was-earth-closer-to-europa-on-1983-11-25-or-1985-07-22 Sudo would have won] by between 0.125 and 4 {{w|Astronomical unit}}s.<br />
|-<br />
|20<br />
|All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament<br />
|''None''<br />
|Effective for a population up to 536,870,912 individuals (2^29) which would be enough to cover the entire US population (estimated at around 325 million at time of publication), although additional rounds can be added should the population grow further.<br />
<br />
This is probably a reference to the {{w|Matter of Britain}} (e.g., {{w|The Sword in the Stone (film)|The Sword in the Stone}}), where, after the death of Uther Pendragon, with no known successor to the throne of England for years, it is decided that the winner of a jousting tournament shall be crowned. However, Arthur, the Wart, pulls the Sword from the Stone.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===List of specific individuals===<br />
Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the date the comic was published'''. <br />
#{{w|Donald Trump}} ({{w|President of the United States}})<br />
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})<br />
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})<br />
#{{w|Jim Mattis}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})<br />
#{{w|Kirstjen Nielsen}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}})<br />
#{{w|Jeff Sessions}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})<br />
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks) <br> As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately follows after Sessions.<br />
#{{w|Jerry Brown}} (Governor of California)<br />
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)<br />
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)<br />
#{{w|Rick Scott}} (Governor of Florida)<br />
#{{w|Bruce Rauner}} (Governor of Illinois)<br />
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)<br />
#{{w|John Kasich}} (Governor of Ohio)<br />
#{{w|Rick Snyder}} (Governor of Michigan)<br />
#{{w|Nathan Deal}} (Governor of Georgia)<br />
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)<br />
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)<br />
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)<br />
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)<br />
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)<br />
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)<br />
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)<br />
#{{w|Bill Haslam}} (Governor of Tennessee)<br />
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)<br />
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)<br />
#{{w|Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker}} (Governor of Wisconsin)<br />
#{{w|Mark Dayton}} (Governor of Minnesota)<br />
#{{w|John Hickenlooper}} (Governor of Colorado)<br />
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)<br />
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)<br />
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)<br />
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)<br />
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) <br> Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.<br />
#{{w|Mary Fallin}} (Governor of Oklahoma)<br />
#{{w|Dannel Malloy}} (Governor of Connecticut)<br />
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)<br />
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)<br />
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)<br />
#{{w|Jeff Colyer}} (Governor of Kansas)<br />
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)<br />
#{{w|Brian Sandoval}} (Governor of Nevada)<br />
#{{w|Susana Martinez}} (Governor of New Mexico)<br />
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)<br />
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)<br />
#{{w|Butch Otter}} (Governor of Idaho)<br />
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)<br />
#{{w|Paul LePage}} (Governor of Maine)<br />
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)<br />
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)<br />
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)<br />
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)<br />
#{{w|Dennis Daugaard}} (Governor of South Dakota)<br />
#{{w|Bill Walker (U.S. politician)|Bill Walker}} (Governor of Alaska)<br />
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)<br />
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)<br />
#{{w|Matt Mead}} (Governor of Wyoming)<br />
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon) <br> If she is available. Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list have no eligible living members.<br />
#{{w|Luis Fonsi}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017, #2 artist) <br> Fonsi is the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion.<br />
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)<br />
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)<br />
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)<br />
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)<br />
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) <br> Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list until further notice.<br />
#{{w|Serena Williams}} <br> Serena's place on this list assumes that you do not count her withdrawal against Maria Sharapova as a ''loss''; if that counts as a loss, then subsequent entries move up one position (as Sharapova is ineligible).<br />
#{{w|Tom Brady}} ({{w|National Football League Most Valuable Player Award|NFL MVP}}) <br> The MVPs of all other listed sports leagues are ineligible for the office due to age or nationality.<br />
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) <br> None of his children are old enough to become President at this time.<br />
#''line of succession to the British throne''<br />
#''everyone else'' (Jousting tournament) <br> Assumes that no eligible member of the British order of succession exists due to citizenship issues. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champions were too young to hold the office. Further assumes that the number of eligible US Citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
: A proposal for a new presidential line of succession<br />
: Current politics aside, most experts agree the existing process is flawed. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 is probably unconstitutional on several counts, and there are many practical issues with the system as well.<br />
: <span style="color:gray">(For more, see the surprisingly gripping ''Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission'', June 2009.)</span><br />
: Proposed line of succession:<br />
:# President<br />
:# Vice president<br />
:# Secretary of State<br />
:# Secretary of Defense<br />
:# Secretary of Homeland Security<br />
:# Attorney General<br />
:# Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the president's term and confirmed by the Senate<br />
:# Tom Hanks<br />
:# State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census<br />
:# Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor<br />
:# Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar<br />
:# Kate McKinnon, if available<br />
:# Billboard year-end Hot 100 singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)<br />
:# The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time<br />
:# Serena Williams (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)<br />
:# The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs<br />
:# Bull Pullman and his descendants by absolute primogeniture<br />
:# The entire line of succession to the British throne<br />
:# The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest<br />
:# All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2099:_Missal_of_Silos&diff=1682222099: Missal of Silos2019-01-16T20:45:07Z<p>172.68.132.95: Trivia addition</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2099<br />
| date = January 16, 2019<br />
| title = Missal of Silos<br />
| image = missal_of_silos.png<br />
| titletext = Welcome to Wyoming, motto "We'd like to clarify that Cheyenne Mountain is in Colorado."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Cremated by a BOB. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
{{w|Approximate string matching|Fuzzy, or approximate, string matching}} is a technique used for searching text for specified "strings" of characters. Normal string matching would only find results that fit the search exactly (searching for "''missile''" would find only occurrences of "''missile''". Fuzzy string matching instead finds results that are "close enough" by some metric (searching for "''missile''" would find "''missile''" but also close variants like "''missal''" or "''missel''"). This is often used in search engines, as typos, misspellings, and inexact searches are commonplace.<br />
<br />
Missile silos are often thought to be the first targeting priority in event of a nuclear strike, in hopes of preventing retaliation from the target. If a list of potential nuclear missile targets were stored, and a fuzzy search was looking for "missile silos", the {{w|Missal of Silos}} would most likely be returned as a result and could be made a target. <br />
<br />
{{w|Cheyenne Mountain}} is a mountain in Colorado, which houses an underground compound (aptly named the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex}}) designed to withstand a nuclear strike, armed with missiles of their own. {{w|Cheyenne, Wyoming}}, on the other hand, is the capital of Wyoming. The residents of Cheyenne, Wyoming would prefer their home isn't the target of a nuclear attack because of confusion with Cheyenne Mountain{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
The transcript of the Wikipedia article shown on the comic is currently dramatically different from the article today; this is because a spurt of editing took place on Wikipedia on the day of the comic, since xkcd and Wikipedia editing have similar target demographics.<br />
<br />
This "xkcd-Wikipedia effect" has happened before. One other example of this revolved around [[878: Model Rail]], in which the alt-text mentioned that the debate over the title of the HO/H0 system was disturbingly long, and "coincidentally", the talk page debate got a little longer on that very day.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:'''Missal of Silos'''<br />
:<small>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</small><br />
:The {{w|Missal}} of Silos is the oldest known {{w|paper}} document created in the Christian West; it is 11th century in date.[1]<br />
:The missal is held in the library of the {{w|Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos}} near {{w|Burgos, Spain}}. It is one of a number of liturgical manuscripts...<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Spain would like to remind everyone not to use fuzzy string matching in their nuclear strike target lists.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2096:_Mattresses&diff=167915Talk:2096: Mattresses2019-01-09T15:09:37Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
I wonder if the fact that it's unclear is in intentional, or if it was somehow a mistake [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 13:46, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it just me, or has the image got some graphical artefacts?[[User:Cyclic3|Cyclic3]] ([[User talk:Cyclic3|talk]])<br />
<br />
It's not just you! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.221|141.101.96.221]] 13:52, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I see it too, I saved a picture in case he fixes it [[User:Catnerd8695|Catnerd8695]] ([[User talk:Catnerd8695|talk]]) 14:09, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Both "1x" and 2x versions are black and white, not grayscale, causing artifacts. The 2x image, being larger, have less artifacts. Maybe it's caused by some kind of bug, otherwise, if it was intentional, both versions would look similar.<br />
<br />
Maybe Randall is having problems with his computer and had to scan the comic with a far less capable software tool than usual. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:15, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
How does one contact him to let him know that he messed up when saving/editing/uploading/whatevering this comic? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:16, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Also, does he actually have a podcast? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:18, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thought it might be a pun based on "new years resolution" but that would've been a couple of comics ago. Came here to see if anyone could explain it as there is normally reason behind his madness.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.71|141.101.99.71]] 14:29, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's a 2-bit png, haven't seen one of those for over a decade [[Special:Contributions/172.68.215.112|172.68.215.112]] 14:31, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
:So you mean the only difference is that it has no greyscales? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:36, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe we should pre-emptively add the original image to the trivia section. [[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 15:07, 9 January 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just a thought, it's not on purpose, is it? Something to do with the quality of the mattress vs. the quality of the image? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 15:09, 9 January 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1845:_State_Word_Map&diff=1678561845: State Word Map2019-01-07T23:11:21Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1845<br />
| date = June 2, 2017<br />
| title = State Word Map<br />
| image = state_word_map.png<br />
| titletext = The top search for every state is PORN, except Florida, where it's SEX PORN.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This is another of the many comics where [[Randall]] used a map of the United States for his joke (see below for examples).<br />
<br />
Similar in spirit to [[1138: Heatmap]], this comic pokes fun at many maps that attempt to use data to discern unique characteristics about various sub-regions, in this case {{w|U.S. state|American states}}. This map may have been inspired by [https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/869624196921303040 this map] posted on Twitter by Google Trends the day before the comic was posted. Many web companies use maps like this in viral marketing, but the methodology behind them is pretty weak. The random noise in the data will mean that there will be variations between states even if there is no underlying pattern - and this can be further boosted by statistical tricks. A common one is to show the "most characteristic" or "most distinctive" term for each state. For instance, [http://www.businessinsider.com/most-common-causes-of-death-in-each-state-2014-6?IR=T the most common cause of death is heart disease or cancer] in every US state, but this makes for a boring map. Looking at the [https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2015/14_0395.htm most distinctive cause of death] produces a more interesting map, but it highlights very minor trends - Lousiana is marked as having syphilis as its most distinctive cause of death, even though [https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/stateprofiles/pdf/louisiana_profile.pdf only 15 Louisianans in every 100,000 have the disease] and there were only 22 syphilis deaths in the state over a whole decade. These maps can give a misleading impression of huge variation between states that doesn't really exist.<br />
<br />
This map does not include real data, but says (when read left to right/west to east): <br />
:You can make these maps say whatever you want by adjusting the methodology. Half of the time you're just amplifying random noise because the underlying data doesn't vary that much from one state to another. But whatever. Nobody checks this stuff. Just pick whatever normalization lets you make fun of Florida.<br />
<br />
The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. <br />
<br />
The joke about Florida is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered. <br />
<br />
The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn means images and film of people having sex. This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state.<br />
<br />
{{w|Florida}} is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}<br />
<br />
Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the map, with sub caption:]<br />
:<big>Most-Used Word in Each State</big><br />
:Based on Something Something Search Data<br />
<br />
:[Beneath the captions are a colorful map of the United States of America. Each state has one color, but the colors do not change from state to state, but rather between rows of states. The top "row" is purple, the second row is gray-blue, but only goes half across. Where it stops a pink row of states begins. Beneath this runs a yellow row, except it does not take California with it, since it belongs to the next purple line beneath this yellow line. Finally the two states not in the contiguous states as well as the southern states from Texas to Florida are again pink. Inside each state is written one, and only one word (or for small states the word is outside and if needed a line indicates which state it belongs to). The words size depends on the size of the state and the word. If it can fit inside the state it will be written in a font large enough to fill the entire state if possible (in one case a hyphen is used). So a short word, like "lets" in huge Texas becomes huge, but a word like "noise" which has been fitted inside small Massachusetts becomes small.]<br />
<br />
:[Here are the 50 words written in lines resembling the colors on the map (from left to right). Purple, gray-blue, pink, yellow, purple and pink:]<br />
:You can make these maps say whatever you want <br />
:by adjusting the methodology. <br />
:Half the time you're just amplifying random noise. <br />
:Because the underlying data doesn't vary that much from one state to another. <br />
:But whatever. Nobody checks this stuff. Just pick<br />
:whatever normal-ization lets you make fun of Florida.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* In [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/0/04/20170602113432%21state_word_map.png the original version of this comic] the border line dividing {{w|New Hampshire}} and {{w|Maine}} was missing, although both states had distinct words attributed to them ("you" for NH and "want" for ME). The error was later corrected by Randall to the current version.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Maps]]<br />
[[Category:Geography]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=887:_Future_Timeline&diff=167682887: Future Timeline2019-01-04T06:58:24Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 887<br />
| date = April 18, 2011<br />
| title = Future Timeline<br />
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]<br />
| image = future timeline.png<br />
| titletext = Not shown: the approximately 30,000 identical, vaguely hysterical articles titled "WHITE PEOPLE IN [THE US/BRITAIN] TO BECOME MINORITY BY [YEAR]!", which came up for basically any year I put in.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{incomplete | transcript: lineless table is still a table}}<br />
<br />
This comic uses the same strategy as comic [[715: Numbers]], in which [[Randall]] uses Google to search for phrases and then charts the results. This one is charted as a timeline, whereas 715 was charted as line graphs.<br />
It is a list of things predicted or announced by anyone at any time (the ones you see on Google search using "by the year..." or similar statements).<br />
<br />
"2101 - War Was Beginning" is a reference to the opening narration of video game ''Zero Wing''; the same narration is famous for the internet meme "{{w|All your base are belong to us}}". As there are not any other out and out references in the comic, and the rest are actually results that you can find using Randall's methods, "War Was Beginning" was probably the only thing he got when he googled 2101 as well.<br />
<br />
Certain events in this comic, e.g. "Social Security stops running surplus", are repeated multiple times. Also, certain bizarre events, like "Apocalypse occurs", or "Flying cars reach market", happen before rather plausible things, like "HTML 5 Finished". Certain events, like "Japan is a robot-only country" or "Gillette introduces 14-blade razor" may be related to the recurring theme [[605: Extrapolating]].<br />
<br />
The title text is born of a recurring "white people panic" situation; scaremongers will predict white minority in the very near future in order to get the panicked racist people to pay attention to them (without actually using valid or accepted scientific measurements to back up these claims- panicked racist people don't exactly fact-check very much), while level-headed sociologists will usually come up with more distant, if not nonexistent, dates from their extrapolations.<br />
<br />
This comic has similar features to [[1413: Suddenly Popular]], [[1093: Forget]], and [[891: Movie Ages]].<br />
<br />
===Accuracy===<br />
====2012-2014====<br />
The only predictions for this period that came true are that the world population has surpassed 7 billion. Canada formally withdrew from the Kyoto protocol in December 2011, and its emissions in 2012 were 18% ''above'' 1990 levels (though its population had grown 26% and its GDP had grown 67% in that period). Sadly, homelessness is still a problem in Massachusetts. The prediction about GNU/Linux operating systems remains false; although Android (which is built on the Linux kernel) is currently the most dominant OS, it is not completely GNU/Linux, which remains an extreme minority on consumer devices. And so far as we're aware, the apocalypse has yet to occur.<br />
<br />
====2015-2016====<br />
{{w|New Horizons}} made its closest approach to Pluto in July 2015. It was never intended to ''land'' on Pluto, though the comic does not necessarily imply this.<br />
<br />
The other 2015 predictions did not come true, though some might claim gender equality was reached.<br />
<br />
{{w|Android OS}}' market share was already 84.4% as of the third quarter of 2014, showing that both estimates were overly conservative.<ref>http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp</ref> {{w|Windows Phone}} continued to have less than 30% of {{w|iOS}}' market share.<br />
<br />
====2017-2018====<br />
None of the predictions for this period have come true.<br />
<br />
==The predictions==<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Year<br />
! Prediction<br />
! Further Details<br />
! Outcome<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2012<br />
| World population<br />
| Ever since the advent of modern medicine and the more efficient agricultural processes developed since the Industrial Revolution, the human population had been growing at an unprecedented rate. This has caused some people to worry about overpopulation, which would cause a scarcity of resources and overcrowding, and propose various solutions, most of which involve some form of eugenics. 7 billion is a landmark number because it is a multiple of 1 billion.<br />
| Close: Earth reached 7 billion in late 2011.<br />
|-<br />
| Flying cars<br />
| For decades, flying cars have been a staple of futuristic sci-fi and technological predictions. So far very few of these predictions, which to tend to hover around 5–10 years from whatever the current date is, have come true.<br />
| False; still 5-10 years away. You could argue that helicopters count as flying cars.<br />
|-<br />
| Canada cuts greenhouse emissions<br />
| Currently, the Earth is experiencing an unprecedented period of warming we call global warming, caused in part by greenhouse emissions, which are gases that help trap heat in the atmosphere. Countries have repeatedly gotten together and promised to stop emitting greenhouse gases, but so far they have failed to meet their targets.<br />
| False. Canada withdrew from Kyoto treaty in late 2011.<br />
|-<br />
| Apocalypse occurs<br />
| The end of a cycle of the Mayan calendar on December 22, 2012 has been used in popular culture as a basis for predicting the end of the world. Amongst other things, this included the film '2012'. Some people took this rather more seriously, and actually believed that the world would end on this date. <br />
| False.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2013<br />
| National debt paid off<br />
| For years, the subject of national debt has been a political point of contention, with the Republicans typically favoring paying it all off, and the Democrats more willing to spend to pull the country out of recessions in the economy. Clinton, a Democrat, at one point proposed [http://money.cnn.com/1999/06/28/economy/clinton/ paying off the debt by 2015].<br />
| False.<br />
|-<br />
| Microchipping Americans<br />
| Microchips are small computer chips, typically embedded in pets in case they get lost, that contain information about the pet. Some, more paranoid, people worry about the government microchipping everyone in an effort to monitor their activities.<br />
| False, although [https://www.google.com/search?q=rfid+implants RFID implants] do exist.<br />
|-<br />
| Homelessness ended in MA<br />
| In 2008, the Commission To End Homelessness in Massachusetts, under Governor Deval Patrick, proposed a plan to all but eliminate homelessness over the next five years (hence the 2013 end-date on the comic).<br />
| False.<br />
|-<br />
| Health care reform law repealed<br />
| A health care reform law, popularly known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010. Ever since, many Republicans have tried (in vain) to repeal it, disliking the idea that government should provide and require healthcare.<br />
| Too early; almost repealed in 2017.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2014<br />
| US leaves Afghanistan<br />
| After the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan, which at the time allegedly hosted the headquarters of al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization behind the attacks. The war has gone on since then, with the public growing increasingly tired of it. Public support now favors a withdrawal, but for military and logistical reasons, the government cannot simply move all the troops currently in Afghanistan home right now. For one, that would cause immediate chaos in the country. Therefore, the government instead promises to eventually withdraw all troops, planning on doing so by the end of 2014. <br />
| False. As of April 2017, 11,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan.<br />
|-<br />
| GNU/Linux dominant OS<br />
| An operating system, or OS, is the software that forms the structure in which applications on you computer function. Some typical OSs include Mac OS X, Windows 10, and Linux. The first two of those three are commercial products, sold as a copy by a company. The last is an open-source OS, one that anyone can download and modify free. Typically, open-source software is used by a small number of socially conscious people. <br />
| False, although Linux-based Android dominated phones since 2011.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2015<br />
| New Horizon reaches Pluto<br />
| The New Horizon spacecraft is a U.S. space mission designed to go to Pluto and take photographs, collect samples, etc. <br />
| True. [http://pluto.jhuapl.edu It reached Pluto on July 14, 2015].<br />
|-<br />
| Healthcare law causes hyperinflation<br />
| The National Inflation Association warns that the [http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthcare-bill-to-cause-us-hyperinflation-by-2015-88711032.html Healthcare Bill to Cause U.S. Hyperinflation By 2015]<br />
| False.<br />
|-<br />
| Millennium development goals achieved<br />
| {{w|Millennium Development Goals}}<br />
| False.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2016<br />
| Baby boomers begin turning 65<br />
| {{w|Baby boomers}} are individuals conceived in the years following World War Two, roughly defined as those born from 1946-1959. This isn't so much a prediction as basic math; if you were born in 1946, you turned 65 in 2011.<br />
| True.<br />
|-<br />
| Android takes 38%/45% of market share<br />
| {{w|Android (operating system)|Android}} is a popular operating system for smartphones and tablets, created by Google. Market share is the percentage of all devices that use the product, in this case the Android operating system. These entries together are humorous because they cannot both happen at the same time.<br />
| Too late; passed these marks in 2010.<br />
|-<br />
| Windows phone overtakes iOS<br />
| {{w|iOS}} is the operating system used by Apple iPhones. At the time of the comic, Apple's mobile OS is much more popular than Microsoft's. The article Randall found predicts that the tables will turn.<br />
| False.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="5"| 2017<br />
| China completes lunar mission<br />
| The {{w|Chinese space program}} has plans for extraterrestrial exploration, including a manned mission to the moon.<br />
| False.<br />
|-<br />
| Social Security stops running surplus<br />
| The first of many predictions about the United States {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}} trust fund program, all predicting its decline due to a variety of factors.<br />
| False<br />
|-<br />
| US budget balanced<br />
| The {{w|United States federal budget}} outlines how much the US government spends on what in a given fiscal year. The budget is not required to be balanced, and so often more money is spent than is earned in revenue, causing the national debt to rise.<br />
| False. Still far negative.<br />
|-<br />
| Newspapers become obsolete and die out<br />
| The increasing popularity of internet media and mobile devices has caused a steady decline in the popularity of print media.<br />
| False. Though newspapers are in decline, they are certainly not obsolete as of 2017.<br />
|-<br />
| Cosmetic surgery doubles<br />
| {{w|Cosmetic Surgery}}<br />
| False. According to the ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons), 1.6 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in 2011, while 1.8 million were performed in 2017, an increase of only 0.2 million.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2018<br />
| Social Security stops running surplus<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}} again.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Jesus returns to Earth<br />
| A number of Christians have attempted to predict the return of Christ (a.k.a. the second coming, the rapture) using clues from The Bible, even though the Bible itself says that "no man can know the date". Several predicted dates have come and gone.<br />
| False<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2019<br />
| Social Security stops running surplus<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}} again.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Every baby has genes mapped at birth<br />
| {{w|Gene Mapping}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2020<br />
| Solar power becomes cheaper than fossil fuels<br />
| Scientists estimate that more than half of the {{w|fossil fuels}} in existence have already been found and that fossil fuel production will begin to decline due to the scarcity, causing prices to increase. At the same time, improvements in {{w|Solar Power|solar technology}} are causing the prices for solar energy to steadily decrease.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Keyboards and mice become obsolete<br />
| {{w|Computer input device}} are beginning to adopt other methods of input, such as voice commands, touch screens, and eye tracking. While the use of touch screens in particular is gaining widespread use, as of 2014 none has come close to making keyboards and mice obsolete. None of them allows text input as fast as a keyboard, and none is suitable for writing program code.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| New Tappan Zee bridge constructed<br />
| A {{w|Tappan_Zee_Bridge#Replacement_bridge|replacement bridge}} was announced in 2008.<br />
| Too late; completed in 2017.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2021<br />
| US debt reaches 97% of GDP<br />
| {{w|US Debt}}<br />
| Too late; reached in 2011.<br />
|-<br />
| US unemployment falls to 2.8%<br />
| {{w|Unemployment in the United States}}<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Restored caliphate unifies Middle East<br />
| A {{w|caliphate}} is a form of {{w|Islam|Islamic}} political-religious leadership, centred around a Caliph, or successor to the prophet {{w|Muhammad}}. This may be foreshadowing of the Islamic State of Iraq and greater Syria, which has as its goal the creation of a restored caliphate.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Mead evaporates<br />
| Formed by the {{w|Hoover Dam}} on the {{w|Colorado River}}, {{w|Lake Mead}} is the largest reservoir in the United States (measured by maximum capacity). It hasn't reached its capacity since 1983, due to drought and increased demand for water. This could be linked to {{w|global warming}}.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2022<br />
| Kilimanjaro snow-free<br />
| At 5,895 metres, {{w|Kilimanjaro}} is the highest mountain in {{w|Africa}}, and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Around 85% of its ice cover disappeared between 1912 and 2011, and it continues to recede.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| HTML 5 finished<br />
| The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) began work on {{w|HTML 5}} in 2004.<br />
| Too late; 5.0 specification released in 2014, but incremental updates continue.<br />
|-<br />
| Newspapers become obsolete and die out<br />
| This is the second time this prediction has appeared.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2023<br />
| Jesus returns to Earth (again)<br />
| A number of Christians have attempted to predict the return of Christ (a.k.a. the second coming, the rapture) using clues from The Bible, even though the Bible itself says that "no man can know the date". Several predicted dates have come and gone.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| US debt passes 100% of GDP<br />
| This references the common fear that {{w|US Debt}} will exceed GDP, possibly causing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble economic turmoil].<br />
| Too late; reached in 2012.<br />
|-<br />
| All unprotected ancient forests gone from Pacific Northwest<br />
| Likely due to a combination of wildfire and {{w|deforestation}}<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="5"| 2024<br />
| Atlantis begins to reappear<br />
| {{w|Atlantis}} is the name of a fictional island, which is supposed to have been lost beneath the sea.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Orangutans extinct in wild<br />
| {{w|Orangutan|Orangutans}} are a species of great ape, currently classed as an {{w|endangered species}}, and found only in the {{w|Rainforest|rainforests}} of {{w|Borneo}} and {{w|Sumatra}}.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| China lands men and women on the moon<br />
| The {{w|Chinese space program}} has plans for extraterrestrial exploration, including a manned mission to the moon.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| NASA sets up permanent moon base<br />
| There has been a lot of hype recently about finally returning to the moon, vis-a-vis Orion.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Female professionals pass males in pay<br />
| There are two possible explanations for this entry: Either it's fear-mongering from misogynists or, more probably, an erroneous extrapolation from the current rate at which female incomes are catching up to male incomes.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2025<br />
| World population reaches 8 billion<br />
| Given current rates, it seems unlikely it will take this long to hit 8 billion, but advances in birth control options and especially their availability in developing nations may slow the current rate considerably.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Two billion people face water shortages<br />
| http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/28-01-2008/103693-water_crisis-0/<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| 62 MPG cars introduced<br />
| 62 miles per gallon, ~3.8 L/100km. 62 MPG is a very good mileage rate at today's standard, even though [http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5231050&page=1 some cars can be driven carefully so as to attain over 100 MPG].<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| US power fades<br />
| http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-us-power-will-fade-by-2025/<br />
| Hard to know what the precise metric for this would be.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="5"| 2026<br />
| Atlantis emerges completely<br />
| {{w|Atlantis}} is the name of a fictional island, which is supposed to have been lost beneath the sea. It seems that it has taken 2 years for it to emerge completely.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Rock Bands die out<br />
| https://bestbands.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/rock-bands-to-die-out-by-2026/<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| US debt paid off<br />
| {{w|US Debt}}<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Car accidents cease<br />
| Presumably, cars will be fully automated and able to pilot themselves at this point and will have fail-safes that prevent collisions currently attributed to user error. Car accidents will always be possible, however, due to mechanical and electrical failures.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| West coast falls into ocean<br />
| Most likely due to {{w|San_Andreas_Fault#The_next_.22Big_One.22|a significant seismic event}}<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2027<br />
| Japan introduces new fastest Maglev train<br />
| Japan's railway systems are famous for their "bullet trains", or {{w|Shinkansen}}.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Lyndon Larouche-planned Mars colony is established<br />
| http://totse.mattfast1.com/en/technology/space_astronomy_nasa/moonmars.html<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Social Security stops running surplus<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}} again.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2028<br />
| Tobacco outlawed<br />
| Tobacco products (cigarettes and chewing tobacco) have become more and more taboo in modern culture, with most public places and private businesses forbidding their use indoors and near places children congregate.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| 40% of coral reefs gone<br />
| Many factors have been attributed to the decline of {{w|Coral_reef#Threats|coral reefs}}, including mining, over fishing, and rising ocean tempteratures.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| US debt paid off<br />
| {{w|US Debt}} [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/business/27view.html It’s 2026, and the Debt Is Due].<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Social Security stops running surplus<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}} again<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2029<br />
| Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}}<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Computers pass the Turing test<br />
| It is no coincidence that 2029 is the timeline for Terminator Movies.<br />
| Some computers already clear the Turing Test about 30% of the time.<br />
|-<br />
| Aging reversed<br />
| Manhattan Beach Project to reverse aging by 2029<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Wikipedia reaches 30 Million articles<br />
| <br />
| As of 00:00, 5 January 2015 (UTC), Wikipedia has over 34 million total articles, if all languages are included. The source being cited may have meant the English language Wikipedia, which has only 5.549 million articles, as of 12 January 2017.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2030<br />
| Half of Amazon rain forest lost to logging<br />
| WWF press release - [http://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/climate-change-speeds-up-amazon-s-destruction-says-wwf Climate Change Speeds Up Amazon’s Destruction] referring to a report on the [http://assets.panda.org/downloads/amazonas_eng_04_12b_web.pdf Amazon's vicious cycles] (PDF)<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Cancer deaths double from 2008 levels<br />
| From the [http://www.cancer.org/myacs/newengland/global-cancer-burden-to-double-by-2030 Global Cancer Burden to Nearly Double by 2030] article about the article from page 37 of [http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsfigures/globalcancerfactsfigures/global-facts-figures-2nd-ed Global Cancer Facts & Figures 2nd edition].<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Arctic ice-free in summer<br />
| http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091015-arctic-ice-free-gone-video-ap.html<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2031<br />
| Computers controlled by thought<br />
| http://www.gizmag.com/future-mobile-technology/17554/<br />
| As of 2017, this is {{w|Brain–computer interface|already possible}}<br />
|-<br />
| Realtors replaced by technology<br />
| http://agbeat.com/editorials/will-realtors-be-replaced-by-technology-by-the-year-2031/<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
| http://crfb.org/blogs/cbo-95-percent-confident-social-security-trust-fund-runs-out-25-years<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2032<br />
| "Big One" hits San Francisco<br />
| http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Quake-scientists-predict-Big-One-likely-by-2032-2653745.php {{w|San Franscisco}} is located on the {{w|San Andreas Fault}}, which is predicted to produce a magnitude 7+ earthquake in the 'near future'. This event is referred to as {{w|San_Andreas_Fault#The_next_.22Big_One.22|"The Big One"}}.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| US elects first married lesbian President<br />
| http://4chandata.org/g/In-what-major-ways-do-you-think-the-world-of-2032-will-be-different-from-that-of-today-a20155<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Entire world converted to Christianity<br />
| http://www.goddiscussion.com/38920/christian-domininionsts-to-take-over-the-world-by-2032/<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2033<br />
| Kilimanjaro ice disappears<br />
| http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/02/idUSL2210825<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| India becomes superpower<br />
| https://www.facebook.com/pages/India-A-SuperPower-by-2033/151177191568098 ?<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Europe reaches Mars<br />
| [http://www.spacedaily.com/news/esa-general-03zb.html Specifically, a manned European mission]. ESA's {{w|Mars Express}} probe landed in 2003.<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2034<br />
| US diabetes cases double, treatment costs triple<br />
| [http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/27/us-diabetes-usa-costs-idUSTRE5AQ0C220091127 U.S. diabetes cases to double, costs triple by 2034]<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| US builds autonomous robot army<br />
| The concept of robots built for military service is another common element of science fiction stories. [http://www.aos-inc.com/index.php/medialias/press-releases?id=112 Unmanned Systems] article, about the [http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA522247 2009-2034 Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap] publication ([http://www.amazon.com/2009-Unmanned-Integrated-Aircraft-Technologies-ebook/dp/B0047743A0 details at Amazon])<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2035<br />
| 80% of America's energy comes from renewable sources<br />
| From fact sheet on Obama's [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/25/fact-sheet-state-union-president-obamas-plan-win-future State of the Union]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Himalayan glaciers down 80% in size<br />
| From an IPCC report on [https://web.archive.org/web/20100116132657/http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch10s10-6-2.html The Himalayan glaciers] that has been analysed in quite some depth. See for example detailed article on an [http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2010/02/anatomy-of-ipccs-himalayan-glacier-year-2035-mess/ anatomy of IPCC’s mistake].<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Arctic sea lane opens<br />
| [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/730ef8fe-27e1-11e0-8abc-00144feab49a.html#axzz3OBgEHYNY Arctic sea lane could open by 2035]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2036<br />
| 80% of US has access to high-speed rail<br />
| [http://www.wnyc.org/story/284946-obama-80-percent-of-americans-should-have-access-to-high-speed-rail-by-2036/ Obama: 80 Percent of Americans Should Have Access to High Speed Rail By 2036]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Asteroid Apophis misses/hits Earth<br />
| http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/ http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/ 99942 Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 because initial observations indicated a probability of up to 2.7% that it would hit Earth on April 13, 2029.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2037<br />
| Arctic ice-free in September<br />
| {{w|Arctic sea ice decline}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2038<br />
| 32-bit timestamps roll over, causing Y2K-level chaos<br />
| 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038, the value of time_t rolls over, that is it will return to zero. time_t is a computing standard measurement of time; it is a count of the number of seconds since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970. time_t is used by most computer systems to store date and time information. It is recommended that new software should convert to a 64 bit time_t; indeed, most operating systems designed to run on 64-bit hardware already use signed 64-bit time_t integers. This would give an epoch of 15:30:08 UTC on 4 December 292,277,026,596 (292 billion years away). Of course, legacy systems may not be upgradable so action taken now should prevent this becoming a problem closer to 2038...<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| "Big One" hits California<br />
| [http://www.presstelegram.com/technology/20080414/the-big-one-likely-to-hit-by-2038 `The big one' likely to hit by 2038]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2039<br />
| US population hits 400 Million<br />
| [http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2008/us400million.aspx U.S. Population Projected to Hit 400 Million in 2039]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Severe heat waves become commonplace<br />
| [http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/july/extreme-heat-study-070810.html Heat waves and extremely high temperatures could be commonplace in the U.S. by 2039, Stanford study finds]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Scientology becomes majority religion in US<br />
| [http://home.snafu.de/tilman/2039.html Essay: Scientology in the year 2039]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2040<br />
| Arctic summers ice-free<br />
| [http://www.livescience.com/9419-arctic-summer-ice-free-2040.html Arctic Summer Could be Ice-Free by 2040]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Nanotechnology makes humans immortal<br />
| [http://www.computerworld.com/article/2528330/app-development/nanotech-could-make-humans-immortal-by-2040--futurist-says.html Nanotech could make humans immortal by 2040, futurist says]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2041<br />
| Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2043<br />
| World population passes 9 Billion<br />
| {{w|Population growth}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2044<br />
| Mankind genetically engineered to be happy<br />
| Premise of the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1363468/ Zenith] - further details are in the [http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/esearch/e3i25130cd57f1590bda4527c098ac85b01 film review for Zenith]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Childhood obesity reaches 100%<br />
| [http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=11414 100-Percent Childhood Obesity Predicted by 2044]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2045<br />
| Humans and machines merge<br />
| Ray Kurzweil predicts of 'singularity' which will lead to race of super intelligent beings<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2046<br />
| World's natural resources depleted<br />
| [http://raphaelvanlaer.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/peak-uncertainty-when-will-we-run-out-of-fossil-fuels/ Peak uncertainty, when will we run out of fossil fuels?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2047<br />
| World ruled by banks and corporations<br />
| [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Schlock-2047-RM-Krakoff-ebook/dp/B0039IT37Q Future Schlock] - the story of a world turned upside down in 2047<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Tobacco industry fails<br />
| [http://www.news.wisc.edu/16857 Experts: Big Tobacco dead by 2047, possibly sooner]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| US begins using autonomous attack drones<br />
| [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/22/us-air-force-drones-pilots-afghanistan US Air Force prepares drones to end era of fighter pilots]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2048<br />
| Salt-water fish extinct from overfishing<br />
| WWF report on [http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fishing/ Unsustainable fishing]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Unisex bathing suits cover body from shoulder to ankle<br />
| [http://future.wikia.com/wiki/RyansWorld:_Bathing_Suits_of_the_Future RyansWorld: Bathing Suits of the Future]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Entire US population overweight<br />
| Article archive - [https://web.archive.org/web/20090321075605/http://thestatsblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/scientists-say-thin-people-face-extinction-in-united-states-everyone-will-be-overweight-by-2048-%E2%80%93-and-less-smart Scientists Say Thin People Face Extinction in United States: Everyone Will Be Overweight by 2048 – And Less Smart]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2049<br />
| $1.000 computer exceeds computational ability of humanity<br />
| [http://www.americanbar.org/content/newsletter/publications/technology_e_report_home/2007_may_technotes.html TechNotes: Trends in Technology]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Singularity occurs<br />
| [http://www.prismdecision.com/the-singularity-is-near The Singularity Is Near]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Fishing industry collapses<br />
| This tends to happen when your food-stock is extinct - see WWF report on [http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fishing/ Unsustainable fishing]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="5"| 2050<br />
| 80% of Earth's population lives in urban centers<br />
| [http://infochangeindia.org/population/books-a-reports/80-of-world-population-will-soon-be-in-urban-areas.html 80% of world population will soon be in urban areas]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| China controls space<br />
| [https://books.google.com/books?id=op851Uf99LQC&dq=China+controls+space+2050&source=gbs_navlinks_s Space Science & Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Sex with robots possible<br />
| [http://www.livescience.com/1951-forecast-sex-marriage-robots-2050.html Forecast: Sex and Marriage with Robots by 2050]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Cars banned from European cities<br />
| [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8411336/EU-to-ban-cars-from-cities-by-2050.html EU to ban cars from cities by 2050]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| One million species extinct from climate change<br />
| [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0107_040107_extinction.html By 2050 Warming to Doom Million Species, Study Says]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2051<br />
| Atmosphere escapes into space<br />
| [http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-outdoor-photos/255705-have-you-ever-seen-fallstreak-hole.html Conspiracy theory] relating to {{w|Fallstreak hole}} or hole punch clouds.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2052<br />
| Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security spending exceed total US revenue<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2053<br />
| US budget balanced<br />
| [http://crfb.org/blogs/omb-releases-long-term-projections-fy2015-budget-proposal OMB releases long-term projections for the FY2015 budget proposal]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Majority of Americans in prison<br />
| [http://articles.philly.com/1992-06-14/news/26032105_1_prison-officials-prison-time-prison-commissioners 'Beyond Bricks And Bars' As Jails Overflow, The Lock-'em-up Credo Is Drawing Unlikely Criticism - From Prison Officials Themselves]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Cars driven by dogs<br />
| <br />
| This has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWAK0J8Uhzk already occurred] in 2012!<br />
|-<br />
| 2054<br />
| Hunger becomes unimaginable global problem<br />
| [http://www.albionmonitor.com/0403a/earth2054.html Hunger Could Be 'Unimaginable' Global Problem By 2054]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2055<br />
| Atmospheric CO2 doubled<br />
| [http://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/flash_intro.php Carbon Mitigation Initiative: Stabilization Wedges]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Oil runs out<br />
| [http://raphaelvanlaer.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/peak-uncertainty-when-will-we-run-out-of-fossil-fuels/ Peak uncertainty, when will we run out of fossil fuels?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Copper, tin, lead, gold, and nickel all exhausted<br />
| [http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/environment/5-valuable-metals-that-could-vanish-by-2055 5 Valuable Metals That Could Vanish by 2055]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2056<br />
| RFID-tagged driverless cars<br />
| [http://www.zdnet.com/article/rfid-tagged-driverless-cars-on-roads-by-2056/ RFID-tagged driverless cars on roads by 2056]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Robots given same rights as humans<br />
| [http://www.cc.gatech.edu/news/robots-given-same-rights-humans-2056 Robots Given Same Rights As Humans By 2056]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2057<br />
| 150 Japanese settlers on Mars<br />
| [http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9011051292/will-japan-colonize-mars Will Japan colonize Mars?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Colorado River runs dry<br />
| [http://news.agu.org/press-release/colorado-river-reservoirs-could-bottom-out-from-warming-business-as-usual/ Colorado River Reservoirs Could Bottom Out From Warming]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2058<br />
| Smoking ends in New Zealand<br />
| [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10698966 Smoking to die out in NZ by 2058]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2059<br />
| Humans have domesticated robots<br />
| [http://diehardempiricist.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/6-may-2011-virtual-necking-demography.html Virtual necking, demography, and robots]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2060<br />
| Human race lives in peace<br />
| [http://www.arasfoundation.org/vision.html ARAS vision/mission]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Extreme droughts across much of Earth<br />
| [http://wdas.cosmosmagazine.com/news/extreme-drought-across-most-earth-30-years/ Extreme drought across most of Earth by 2060]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Global temperature rise reaches 4&nbsp;°C<br />
| {{w|Avoiding dangerous climate change}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Oil runs out again<br />
| [http://business.financialpost.com/2011/04/01/oil-may-run-out-by-2060-hsbc/?__lsa=98a7-5c61 Oil may run out by 2060: HSBC]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2061<br />
| Halley's comet returns<br />
| Halley's comet returns to the inner solar system (the vicinity of earth and the sun) every 75.3 years. The last time it was near earth was in 1985-1986. When it next returns, its closest approach to the sun will occur on 28 July 2061.<ref name=horizons>[http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi Donald K. Yeomans. "Horizon Online Ephemeris System". California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 8 September 2006.]</ref><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2062<br />
| Uganda hosts World Cup<br />
| [http://shillingscents.blogspot.co.nz/2010/07/uganda-to-host-world-cup-in-2062.html Uganda to host world cup in 2062]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| The Jetsons<br />
| {{w|The Jetsons}} was an animated science fiction sitcom that first aired in 1962. The show was set in the year 2062.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2063<br />
| First human clones reach adulthood<br />
| [http://au.ign.com/articles/2004/04/28/the-fall-last-days-of-gaia-diary-2 The Fall - Last Days of Gaia Diary #2]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Population of Moon reaches 100,000<br />
| Reading Eagle newspaper article from July 17, 1963 - [http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19630717&id=PhgrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B50FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4055,6599008 Moon Population of 100,000 Is Predicted for 2063] and [http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2008/3/14/air-force-predictions-for-2063-1963.html Air Force Predictions for 2063 (1963)]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Population of Mars reaches 10,000<br />
| [http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2008/3/14/air-force-predictions-for-2063-1963.html Air Force Predictions for 2063 (1963)]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Spacecraft exceed speed of light<br />
| Physics as currently understood states that it is impossible to exceed the speed of light. A monumental shift in our physics would have had to have occurred for this to come true. This is a reference to the 8th Star Trek feature Film: "Star Trek: First Contact" where Zefram Cochrane performs the first human Warp Flight on April 5, 2063.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2064<br />
| Clean Air Act finishes reducing haze in national parks to natural levels<br />
| [http://www.cleanhouston.org/air/features/hazyfuture.htm State plan guarantees a hazy future for Texas’ wilderness areas]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2065<br />
| Last coral reefs die out<br />
| From an [http://www.edgeofexistence.org/coral_reef_conservation/coral_reef_video.php article about a video called Reefs on the Edge] set in 2065 where a 15-year-old girl tells her grandfather's stories of coral reefs, and their demise.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Chernobyl cleanup complete<br />
| [http://rt.com/politics/chernobyl-clean-in-55-years-time/ Chernobyl clean in 55 years time?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2066<br />
| Cyprus achieves its goal<br />
| This is from some [http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus33608-110.html#p665612 forum posts on the decendants of Cypriots] that lends support to the autonomy of Cyprus from Greek or Turkey.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2067<br />
| Americans live in domed cities and watch 3D TV<br />
| The article at [http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/ncm/index.php/2013/11/15/artifact-of-the-month-slide-rule-1916/ Artifact of the Month: Slide rule, 1916] includes information from the International Slide Rule Museum that "in 1967, Keuffel & Esser Co. commissioned a study of the future, predicting that Americans in 2067 would live in domed cities and watch 3D television."<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Redheads go extinct<br />
| [http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/redhead-extinction.htm Are redheads going extinct?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2068<br />
| Ozone hole over Antarctic finishes recovering<br />
| [http://www.theozonehole.com/recovery.htm NASA Study Finds Clock Ticking Slower On Ozone Hole Recovery]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Lord Jesus rules the Earth from Throne in Jerusalem.<br />
| [http://myth-one.com/chapter_8.htm The Resurrections -- What Really Happens]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Entire world population gay due to chemicals in the water<br />
| [http://thedailybanter.com/2013/01/alex-jones-the-government-is-trying-to-make-more-gay-people/ Alex Jones talks about chemicals that make people gay]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2069<br />
| Public masturbation legalized<br />
| [http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/UnNews:It's_still_not_okay_to_Pull_Your_Penis_out_in_Public It's still not okay to Pull Your Penis out in Public]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="3"| 2070<br />
| World population peaks<br />
| [http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1108-global-population-to-peak-in-2070.html Global population to peak in 2070]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| City-scale flooding disasters<br />
| [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/3317033/City-scale-flooding-disasters-predicted-by-2070.html City-scale flooding disasters predicted by 2070]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 60% of world's energy comes from renewable sources<br />
| [http://www.ssisolarenergy.com/solar-alternative-energy/ What Is Alternative Energy All About?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2071<br />
| Europe's temperatures rise by 3&nbsp;°C<br />
| [http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/climate-energy/climate-change-adaptation/adaptation-tools/project-catalog/peseta-projection-of-economic-impacts-of-climate Projection of Economic impacts of climate change in Sectors of the European Union based on bottom-up Analysis]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| World summer temperatures rise by 5&nbsp;°C<br />
| [http://www.climateadaptation.eu/denmark/climate-change/ See "Air temperature changes in the 21st century"]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2072<br />
| US retirement age is set to 75<br />
| [http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2012/06/11/how-high-will-the-retirement-age-go Up to 70-80 years]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2073<br />
| Oceans do not rise one foot<br />
| [http://www.skepticalscience.com/sea-level-rise-predictions.htm More like 2 feet]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2074<br />
| Number of 100-year-olds reaches one million<br />
| [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8848188.html UK to have 1 million centenarians by 2074]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Supertyphoons hit Japan<br />
| [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/09/08/national/super-typhoons-in-store-as-seas-warm/ Super typhoons in store as seas warm]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2075<br />
| US retirement age set to 69<br />
| [http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2010/1112/Retirement-age-at-69-Deficit-plan-hits-Social-Security Retirement age at 69? Deficit plan hits Social Security]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2076<br />
| Average scientific paper has more than 24 authors<br />
| [https://doclib.uhasselt.be/dspace/bitstream/1942/871/1/yitzhaki373.PDF Multiple Authorship in Biochemistry and Other Fields] (PDF)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
| {{w|Social Security (United States)|Social Security}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2078<br />
| Newspapers become obsolete and die out<br />
| The same prediction was made for 2017 and 2022. Even when most prognosticators agree that something will happen, there can still be much disagreement about ''when'' it will happen.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4"| 2079<br />
| US debt reaches 716% of GDP<br />
| {{w|US Debt}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Lodgepole pines disappear from Northwest<br />
| [http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2011/feb/climate-change-causing-demise-lodgepole-pine-western-north-america Climate change causing demise of lodgepole pine in western North America]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Floods commonplace<br />
| [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108101627.htm Floods To Become Commonplace By 2080]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Religion marginalized<br />
| http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11347073<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2080<br />
| Federal spending reaches 70% of GDP<br />
| [http://crfb.org/sites/default/files/our_debt_problems_are_far_from_solved_updated_2.pdf Our debt problems are far from solved] (PDF)<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| UK population doubles<br />
| [http://forums.canadiancontent.net/international-politics/69603-britains-population-hit-110-million.html Britain's population to hit 110 million]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2082<br />
| World population declines to one billion<br />
| [http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Population.html Population: The Elephant in the Room]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2084<br />
| Robot policemen introduced<br />
| [http://www.thetechherald.com/articles/Robotic-cops-set-to-stamp-out-crime-by-2084 Robotic cops set to stamp out crime by 2084]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2085<br />
| US deficit reaches 62% of GDP<br />
| [http://moneybob.com/2010/06/28/paul-krugman-throws-in-towel-says-were-headed-for-another-depression/ Paul Krugman Throws In Towel, Says We’re Headed For Another Depression]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2088<br />
| Japan becomes all-robot country<br />
| [http://www.theretributioners.tv/erics-blog/2009/11/25/-japan-to-become-all-robot-country-by-2088.html Japan To Become All Robot Country By 2088]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2089<br />
| World halts fossil fuel use<br />
| {{w|Fossil Fuels}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2"| 2090<br />
| Global warming hits 7&nbsp;°C <br />
| [http://www.reportingclimatescience.com/news-stories/article/models-warn-of-7c-dangerous-climate-change-by-2090.html Models warn of 7C dangerous climate change by 2090]. Climate change, especially global warming, is a [[:Category:Climate change|recurring theme]] in xkcd.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Global warming hits 4&nbsp;°C<br />
| Summarized [http://www.global-warming-forecasts.com/2090-climate-change-global-warming-2090.php here]. In reference to Andy Bowers, “Analysis: Scientists say global warming could affect California's drinking water supply,” NPR All Things Considered, June 22, 2001<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="11"| 2100<br />
| Global warming around 5-7&nbsp;°C<br />
| [http://grist.org/article/bau-fd/ Hadley Center study warns of ‘catastrophic’ 5-7°C warming by 2100 on current emissions path]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Sea levels have risen by a meter or more<br />
| {{w|Future sea level}}<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Joshua trees nearly extinct<br />
| [http://news.discovery.com/earth/joshua-trees-climate-change-110325.htm Joshua Trees Nearly Wiped Out by 2100?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Earth's climate resembles that of the Cretaceous<br />
| [http://www.pnas.org/content/107/2/576 Atmospheric CO2 concentrations during ancient greenhouse climates were similar to those predicted for A.D. 2100]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Germany tropical<br />
| [http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/climate-change-predictions-a-tropical-germany-by-2100-a-463378.html Climate Change Predictions: A Tropical Germany by 2100?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Emperor penguins extinct<br />
| [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7851276.stm Emperor penguins face extinction]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Arctic permafrost thaws<br />
| [http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/surface-permafrost-could/ Surface Permafrost Could Disappear by 2100]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Rising seas flood coastal cities<br />
| [http://uanews.org/story/rising-seas-will-affect-major-us-coastal-cities-2100 Rising Seas Will Affect Major U.S. Coastal Cities by 2100]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Rain forests mostly gone due to climatic shifts<br />
| [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/08/06/890970/-Massive-Loss-of-Rainforest-Species-by-2100-eKos-Earthship-Friday Massive Loss of Rainforest Species by 2100]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| All coral reefs gone <br />
| [http://planetsave.com/2010/10/15/coral-reefs-gone-by-2100/ Coral Reefs Gone by 2100?]<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Gillette introduces 14-bladed razor<br />
| Each iteration of the Gillette line of safety razors has one more blade than the previous one. MadTV has also [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FAP8o5ZEo0 parodied] this. Over five years before MadTV did so, the Australian comedy group the D-Generation parodied the first two-bladed razor as the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YleuLyCUx28 Gillette 3000] with 16 blades.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| 2101<br />
| WAR WAS BEGINNING<br />
| References {{w|Zero Wing}}, a 1989 Japanese computer game set in 2101, famous for poorly translated English and the source for "{{w|All your base are belong to us}}".<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
{{incomplete transcript | lineless table is still a table }}<br />
<br />
:<big>'''THE FUTURE'''</big><br />
:'''According to Google search results'''<br />
:Events for each year determined by the first page of Google search results for the phrases:<br />
:<small>"By <year>" "In year"</small><br />
:<small>"By the year <year>" "In the year <year>"</small><br />
:<small>"Will * by the year <year>" "Will * in the year <year>"</small><br />
:<small>"In <year>, * will" "By <year>, * will"</small><br />
:<br />
:;2012<br />
::World population reaches 7 billion<br />
::Flying cars reach market<br />
::Canada cuts greenhouse emissions to 6% below 1990 levels as per Kyoto<br />
::Apocalypse occurs<br />
:;2013<br />
::National debt paid off through President Clinton's plans<br />
::Microchipping of all Americans begins<br />
::Homelessness ended in Massachusetts<br />
::Health care reform law repealed<br />
:;2014<br />
::US leaves Afghanistan<br />
::GNU/Linux becomes dominant OS<br />
:;2015<br />
::New Horizons reaches Pluto<br />
::Health care law causes hyperinflation<br />
::192 UN member nations achieve millennium development goals:<br />
::*Extreme poverty and hunger eradicated<br />
::*Universal primary education implemented<br />
::*Women empowered, gender equality reached<br />
::*Environmental stability ensured<br />
:;2016<br />
::Baby boomers begin turning 65<br />
::Android takes 38% of the smartphone market<br />
::Android takes 45% of the smartphone market<br />
::Windows Phone overtakes iOS in smartphones<br />
:;2017<br />
::China completes unmanned Lunar sample-return mission<br />
::Social Security stops running surplus<br />
::US budget balanced<br />
::Newspapers become obsolete and die out<br />
::Cosmetic surgery doubles<br />
:;2018<br />
::Social Security stops running surplus<br />
::Jesus returns to Earth<br />
:;2019<br />
::Social Security stops running surplus<br />
::Every baby has genes mapped at birth<br />
:;2020<br />
::Solar power becomes cheaper than fossil fuels<br />
::Keyboards and mice become obsolete<br />
::New Tappan Zee bridge constructed<br />
:;2021<br />
::US debt reaches 97% of GDP<br />
::US unemployment falls to 2.8%<br />
::Restored caliphate unifies Middle East<br />
::Lake Mead evaporates<br />
:;2022<br />
::Kilimanjaro snow-free<br />
::HTML 5 finished<br />
::Newspapers become obsolete and die out<br />
:;2023<br />
::Jesus returns to Earth (again)<br />
::US debt passes 100% of GDP<br />
::All unprotected ancient forests gone from Pacific Northwest<br />
:;2024<br />
::Atlantis begins to reappear<br />
::Orangutans extinct in wild<br />
::China lands men and women on the moon<br />
::NASA sets up permanent moon base<br />
::Female professionals pass males in pay<br />
:;2025<br />
::World population reaches 8 billion<br />
::Two billion people face water shortages<br />
::62 MPG cars introduced<br />
::US power fades<br />
:;2026<br />
::Atlantis emerges completely<br />
::Rock Bands die out<br />
::US debt paid off<br />
::Car accidents cease<br />
::West coast falls into ocean<br />
:<br />
:{|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2027<br />
|Japan introduces new fastest Maglev train<br />
|-<br />
|Lyndon Larouche-planned Mars colony is established<br />
|-<br />
|Social Security stops running surplus<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="4" valign="top"|2028<br />
|Tobacco outlawed<br />
|-<br />
|40% of coral reefs gone<br />
|-<br />
|US debt paid off<br />
|-<br />
|Social Security stops running surplus<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="4" valign="top"|2029<br />
|Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
|-<br />
|Computers pass the Turing test<br />
|-<br />
|Aging reversed<br />
|-<br />
|Wikipedia reaches 30 Million articles<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2030<br />
|Half of Amazon rain forest lost to logging<br />
|-<br />
|Cancer deaths double from 2008 levels<br />
|-<br />
|Arctic ice-free in summer<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2031<br />
|Computers controlled by thought<br />
|-<br />
|Realtors replaced by technology<br />
|-<br />
|Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2032<br />
|"Big One" hits San Francisco<br />
|-<br />
|US elects first married lesbian President<br />
|-<br />
|Entire world converted to Christianity<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2033<br />
|Kilimanjaro ice disappears<br />
|-<br />
|India becomes superpower<br />
|-<br />
|Europe reaches Mars<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2034<br />
|US diabetes cases double, treatment costs triple<br />
|-<br />
|US builds autonomous robot army<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2035<br />
|80% of America's energy comes from renewable sources<br />
|-<br />
|Himalayan glaciers down 80% in size<br />
|-<br />
|Arctic sea lane opens<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2036<br />
|80% of US has access to high-speed rail<br />
|-<br />
|Asteroid Apophis misses/hits Earth<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2037<br />
|Arctic ice-free in September<br />
|-<br />
|Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2038<br />
|32-bit timestamps roll over, causing Y2K-level chaos<br />
|-<br />
|"Big One" hits California<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2039<br />
|US population hits 400 Million<br />
|-<br />
|Severe heat waves become commonplace<br />
|-<br />
|Scientology becomes majority religion in US<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2040<br />
|Arctic summers ice-free<br />
|-<br />
|Nanotechnology makes humans immortal<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2041<br />
|Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2042<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2043<br />
|World population passes 9 Billion<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2044<br />
|Mankind genetically engineered to be happy<br />
|-<br />
|Childhood obesity reaches 100%<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2045<br />
|Humans and machines merge<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2046<br />
|World's natural resources depleted<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2047<br />
|World ruled by banks and corporations<br />
|-<br />
|Tobacco industry fails<br />
|-<br />
|US begins using autonomous attack drones<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2048<br />
|Salt-water fish extinct from overfishing<br />
|-<br />
|Unisex bathing suits cover body from shoulder to ankle<br />
|-<br />
|Entire US population overweight<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2049<br />
|$1.000 computer exceeds computational ability of humanity<br />
|-<br />
|Singularity occurs<br />
|-<br />
|Fishing industry collapses<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="5" valign="top"|2050<br />
|80% of Earth's population lives in urban centers<br />
|-<br />
|China controls space<br />
|-<br />
|Sex with robots possible<br />
|-<br />
|Cars banned from European cities<br />
|-<br />
|One million species extinct from climate change<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2051<br />
|Atmosphere escapes into space<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2052<br />
|Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security spending exceed total US revenue<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2053<br />
|US budget balanced<br />
|-<br />
|Majority of Americans in prison<br />
|-<br />
|Cars driven by dogs<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2054<br />
|Hunger becomes unimaginable global problem<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2055<br />
|Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> doubled<br />
|-<br />
|Oil runs out<br />
|-<br />
|Copper, tin, lead, gold, and nickel all exhausted<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2056<br />
|RFID-tagged driverless cars<br />
|-<br />
|Robots given same rights as humans<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2057<br />
|150 Japanese settlers on Mars<br />
|-<br />
|Colorado River runs dry<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2058<br />
|Smoking ends in New Zealand<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2059<br />
|Humans have domesticated robots<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="4" valign="top"|2060<br />
|Human race lives in peace<br />
|-<br />
|Extreme droughts across much of Earth<br />
|-<br />
|Global temperature rise reaches 4&nbsp;°C<br />
|-<br />
|Oil runs out again<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2061<br />
|Halley's comet returns<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2062<br />
|Uganda hosts World Cup<br />
|-<br />
|The Jetsons<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="4" valign="top"|2063<br />
|First human clones reach adulthood<br />
|-<br />
|Population of Moon reaches 100,000<br />
|-<br />
|Population of Mars reaches 10,000<br />
|-<br />
|Spacecraft exceed speed of light<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2064<br />
|Clean Air Act finishes reducing haze in national parks to natural levels<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2065<br />
|Last coral reefs die out<br />
|-<br />
|Chernobyl cleanup complete<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2066<br />
|Cyprus achieves its goal<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2067<br />
|Americans live in domed cities and watch 3D TV<br />
|-<br />
|Redheads go extinct<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2068<br />
|Ozone hole over Antarctic finishes recovering<br />
|-<br />
|Lord Jesus rules Earth from throne in Jerusalem<br />
|-<br />
|Entire world population gay due to chemicals in the water<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2069<br />
|Public masturbation legalized<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="3" valign="top"|2070<br />
|World population peaks<br />
|-<br />
|City-scale flooding disasters<br />
|-<br />
|60% of world's energy comes from renewable sources<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2071<br />
|Europe's temperatures rise by 3&nbsp;°C<br />
|-<br />
|World summer temperatures rise by 5&nbsp;°C<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2072<br />
|US retirement age is set to 75<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2073<br />
|Oceans do not rise one foot<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2074<br />
|Number of 100-year-olds reaches one million<br />
|-<br />
|Supertyphoons hit Japan<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2075<br />
|US retirement age set to 69<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2076<br />
|Average scientific paper has more than 24 authors<br />
|-<br />
|Social Security trust fund exhausted<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2077<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2078<br />
|Newspapers become obsolete and die out<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="4" valign="top"|2079<br />
|US debt reaches 716% of GDP<br />
|-<br />
|Lodgepole pines disappear from Northwest<br />
|-<br />
|Floods commonplace<br />
|-<br />
|Religion marginalized<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2080<br />
|Federal spending reaches 70% of GDP<br />
|-<br />
|UK population doubles<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2081<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2082<br />
|World population declines to one billion<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2083<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2084<br />
|Robot policemen introduced<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2085<br />
|US deficit reaches 62% of GDP<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2086<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2087<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2088<br />
|Japan becomes all-robot country<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2089<br />
|World halts fossil fuel use<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="2" valign="top"|2090<br />
|Global warming hits 7&nbsp;°C<br />
|-<br />
|Global warming hits 4&nbsp;°C<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2091<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2092<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2093<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2094<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2095<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2096<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2097<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2098<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2099<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="11" valign="top"|2100<br />
|Global warming around 5-7&nbsp;°C<br />
|-<br />
|Sea levels have risen by a meter or more<br />
|-<br />
|Joshua trees nearly extinct<br />
|-<br />
|Earth's climate resembles that of the Cretaceous<br />
|-<br />
|Germany tropical<br />
|-<br />
|Emperor penguins extinct<br />
|-<br />
|Arctic permafrost thaws<br />
|-<br />
|Rising seas flood coastal cities<br />
|-<br />
|Rain forests mostly gone due to climatic shifts<br />
|-<br />
|All coral reefs gone<br />
|-<br />
|Gillette introduces 14-bladed razor<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="1" valign="top"|2101<br />
|WAR WAS BEGINNING<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]<br />
[[Category:Timelines]]<br />
[[Category:Google Search]]<br />
[[Category:Climate change]]<br />
[[Category:Singularity]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2093:_Reminders&diff=1676422093: Reminders2019-01-02T22:44:59Z<p>172.68.132.95: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2093<br />
| date = January 2, 2019<br />
| title = Reminders<br />
| image = reminders.png<br />
| titletext = The good news is that if the number of work and friend relationships you have exceeds your willingness to do the bare minimum to keep up with everyone's life events and stuff, one way or another that problem eventually solves itself.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
In this comic, Cueball is using an email client program on a laptop, which is a common way to read and write emails from/to other people. Advanced email client software frequently provides reminders of various kinds to aid the user, and in this case we see a series of reminder alerts with Cueball's response to each one. The final reminder results in the realization by Cueball that he's not very conscientious about what's going in other people's lives, and he expresses this in the text below the image.<br />
<br />
While the comic shows this series of interactions with Cueball, we could interpret this as being how Randall feels about his own lack of attention to the people in his own life.<br />
<br />
The title text points out that if you have too many work and friend relationships to effectively keep up with all of the details in their lives, eventually the number of friends and coworkers will be reduced to the point where you can keep up. Alternatively, your level of commitment could raise to match the amount of relationships you need to keep up with.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Cueball using a laptop]<br />
:Laptop: You got this email six days ago. Do you want to follow up?<br />
:Cueball: Oh, right, I should do that.<br />
:<nowiki>*type type*</nowiki><br />
:Laptop: Did you forget the attachment?<br />
:Cueball: Oops, yes.<br />
:Laptop: Today is the recipient's birthday. Did you want to mention that?<br />
:Cueball: Wait, it is?<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:These reminders make me uncomfortable, not because computers are getting too smart, but because it reminds me how often I fall short of even baseline levels of conscientiousness.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Email]]</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1683:_Digital_Data&diff=167256Talk:1683: Digital Data2018-12-22T07:23:07Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
Ewww, Verizon? **** them [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 04:58, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Don't forget the whole "Verizon Math" incident and Randall's much passed around check image. I'd be surprised if it isn't on 9GAG somewhere.... [[User:Psu256|Psu256]] ([[User talk:Psu256|talk]]) 17:12, 23 May 2016 (UTC) <br />
:: https://xkcd.com/verizon/ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 02:30, 15 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ironically, the title text on explainxkcd is different from the one on xkcd.com, demonstrating the reinterpretation of text encoded in UTF-8 as if it were encoded in ISO 8859-1. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.231|162.158.85.231]] 05:45, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
-Exactly; this nicely proves Randall's point. On my computer, different characters appear in different browsers, but of course in one browser the characters are reproducible.--[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 07:26, 20 May 2016 (UTC) <br />
<br />
Here is the decoded title text:<br />
“If you can read this, congratulations–the archive youʼre you're using still knows about the mouseover text”!<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Grungy details:<br />
:*“ -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-9C -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-011100 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/201C/index.htm U-201C "LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK"]<br />
:*— -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-94 -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-010100 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2014/index.htm U-2014 "EM DASH"]<br />
:*’ -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-99 -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-011001 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2019/index.htm U-2019 "RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK"]<br />
:*â€! -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-9D -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-011101 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/201d/index.htm U-201D "RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK"]<br />
:[[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 17:31, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::The ''convert to hex'' step is really ''encode with Windows-1252''. Also, in the last sequence, the "!" is not part of the encoded quotation mark. The third byte of the quotation mark comes from an unprintable U-009D between the "â€" and the "!". U-009D isn't a valid Windows-1252 character, so either the encoding is actually a superset of Windows-1252 that includes U-009D, or the encoding process just allowed it.<br />
:: [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.103|162.158.255.103]] 17:26, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
He's written you're twice, but one is with a curly apostrophe, often favoured by americans (and maybe brits?), possible because of their keyboard. The simple apostrophe is “just” html-formatted, whereas the curly one has been molested by a UTF-8 / ISO-8859-1 misreading.<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: I'm British, and I don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 11:01, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I'm American, and I also don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard, but word processing programs (like MS-Word) are configured by default to automatically replace an ASCII apostrophe in a conjunction with the fancy right-single-quote mark. Also when using quotation marks around text those programs automatically replace the repeated single ASCII quotation marks with the fancy left and right quotation marks (single if using single quotes, double if using double quotes). Most people don't care enough to disable that "feature"... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.143|162.158.252.143]] 15:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Ok. I've never experienced that from any text processor (incl. MS Word), so maybe it's dependant on the system locale or another mysterious factor. I've just noticed a prevalence in english language texts online, but an absence in other european languages. Not even french, which has as many or more contractions. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 08:11 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is a phenomenon that has always both fascinated me and frustrated me. I find it fascinating how, even today, data degrades as more and more people copy it (remember the old days when people used to copy VHS tapes, and the further you were from the original tape the more copying artefacts your copy had in it?). It also frustrates me, though, when I'm trying to find an original, undegraded image or video and it seems impossible to find. It's also annoying because it's actually pretty easy to copy something without causing any quality loss, yet practically every copied image on the internet has been degraded in some way or another. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:08, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:If you haven't yet, you should check out this guy who ripped and reuploaded his own Youtube video 1000 times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIzS_27Vt0 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.150|162.158.222.150]] 08:28, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::...and after 100 iterations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6GMvihskBQ ...and the summary of all of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icruGcSsPp0 [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 16:50, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It can be frustrating to try to convince new people drawing schematics on the computer to not use 4-way junctions because they don't expect digital images to degrade over multiple generations of copying. This xkcd demonstrates the way multiple generations can degrade even digital images, potentially making it difficult to differentiate two crossing (but electrically separate) signal lines from a 4-way junction on a schematic. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. ;-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.143|162.158.252.143]] 15:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's also funny because just a few moments ago I was trying to compress some video to send to someone. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:12, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
http://fotoforensics.com/analysis.php?id=274fcf46426f2da31b057f1652ae5269cfdbd70a.190103 this page highlights the encoding blocks so that the degration of quality can be seen better. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.205|141.101.91.205]] 09:42, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Nice example. Their picture is already a bad copy. While it's still a PNG, it's already reduced in size (600x228 instead of 720x282, 131381 byte instead of 190103). Btw. the file used in this wiki is also slightly different from what I see on xkcd. It's just 3 minutes older and 308 bytes larger. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.48|162.158.83.48]] 01:28, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The phenomenon that Randall is making fun of in this comic is actually called a "shitpic" http://www.theawl.com/2014/12/the-triumphant-rise-of-the-shitpic The explanation should probably make reference to that. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:57, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the watermarks on the last frame are from an unregistered screenshot tool, not "9gag" or similar. The references to shit pics are interesting, but aren't you over interpreting the whole thing? {{unsigned ip|162.158.83.174}}<br />
: ...You realise that over-interpreting is what this wiki is ''for'', right? Also, not really, since all I said was that a "shitpic" is what this type of degraded image is called. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 15:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There's a 9gag thing in the image, clean your glasses and look again. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 12:15, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Both screenshots from iOS definitely. Safari browser and… anybody knows? Some kind of other web browser? Maybe Chrome or Opera? <Need to finally create account> [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.152|162.158.202.152]] 15:32, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Apparently Russians have been getting this a lot, as they (up to the point of the existence of UNICODE) have had to deal a lot with people using bad codepages. Example of their post office dealing with a physical package addressed with a bad codepage: http://worldlanguages.wikia.com/wiki/Mojibake?file=Letter_to_Russia_with_krokozyabry.jpg [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 16:54, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Here is the progression as I see it:<br />
*Frame 1 - The original PNG<br />
*Frame 2 - The PNG converted to a JPEG<br />
*Frame 3 - The JPEG as viewed on a mobile browser (Safari on iOS in this case)<br />
*Frame 4 - A screen-shot of the mobile browser uploaded to Tumblr and then stolen by 9GAG<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 19:37, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Note that while the term "digital" is new, first digital format of information appeared long ago, with the development of standard alphabet. Images hand-drawn on paper can't be copied without loss, but if you write letters in fixed alphabet, it can be copied without errors forever (not counting errors caused by some letters getting out of use through history). Egyptian literature is probably lost due to us not knowing the (very big) full set of hieroglyphs, but [https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%9F%CE%B4%CF%8D%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B1/%CE%B1 Odyssey] could (and hopefully even was) be stored exactly how it was written. Wouldn't help read it, of course, language changed since then and it would need to be translated which, again, can lose some meaning ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:16, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There's a much much older example. RNA and subsequently DNA are digital representations of the protein structures (also digital representations of 3-D molecular shapes). Degradation through copying is 1 source of variation which evolution selects over.[[User:MerlinMM|MerlinMM]] ([[User talk:MerlinMM|talk]]) 11:28, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Right. Humans were using digital data for their own reproduction long before they knew what "digital", "data" or even just "letter" is. DNA even uses primitive error correction techniques. Although when humans finally found out about RNA being digital, they already had other digital formats. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:21, 15 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::There's nothing primitive at all about DNA error correction techniques, just some people's understanding of them. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 02:35, 15 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it possible that the watermark in the bottom left of the last panel is supposed to read "drama.tumblr.com"?<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.67|173.245.52.67]] 20:42, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
The alt text has been fixed, the second "You're" has been removed. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.80}}<br />
<br />
The phenomenon is related to {{w|Generation loss}} --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:50, 27 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Btw, does anybody know a digital archive that actually "knows about the title-text"? {{unsigned ip|162.158.17.66}}<br />
<br />
;Source image updating?<br />
<br />
If you look at the comic on the website, the first couple of frames are much more "decayed" than they are on the wiki copy. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 01:47, 19 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
: The source image has definitely been changed. [http:////imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_data.png Here's] the original image, and [http:////imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_data_2x.png here's] the new one. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.190|162.158.59.190]] 01:13, 23 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: Ok, this is weird - earlier today (2018-12-21), I was seeing the low-res version. But this evening, I'm seeing the high-res version. In between, I had linked it from reddit, maybe it switches based on popularity? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 07:23, 22 December 2018 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:870:_Advertising&diff=147418Talk:870: Advertising2017-11-05T21:06:20Z<p>172.68.132.95: </p>
<hr />
<div>Am I confused, or is the the third graph wrong with the independent and dependent variables. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 21:06, 5 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
But the Geico commercial doesn't say up to, it says 15% or more... ~Jfreund<br />
:That may depend on your region. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.30|108.162.216.30]] 03:24, 30 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Saying that something "could save you 15% or more" and saying it "could save you ''up to'' 15% or more" are the same thing. Both statements take into account the very real possibility that some percentage less than 15 could be saved.[[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 13:37, 21 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Not to mention that Geico says "'''Could''' save you..." (In combination with "up to", the "could" should be "will".) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 03:09, 18 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
A justification for "The more you buy, the more you save" is that the more discounted products you buy, the more money you save as opposed to buying them at list price. For things we will buy anyway (e.g. food), it may be true. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 20:01, 6 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Added to the article. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 04:10, 25 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
::It doesn't work when the items can expire. [[User:Cflare|Cflare]] ([[User talk:Cflare|talk]]) 14:38, 14 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::it does to a certain point- my family can eat a lot of food before it expires, especially if it's something we like. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.163}}<br />
<br />
Brilliant comic Randall. I wonder what your next one is about.<br />
<br />
[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 00:20, 24 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Doesn't the title text imply that Randall realised nothing is truly free and concluded that Santa wanted something from him, prompting his parents to reveal the big secret? (I conclude this based on Randall claiming that these two events are related) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.49|141.101.104.49]] 21:16, 25 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Given that "up to x or more" must necessarily be true, how can it be "construed as false advertising?" Meaningless advertising, yes; false, no.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.174|173.245.50.174]] 04:22, 4 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I just spent 2% of my life looking for the fine print to that FREE* drink<br />
(* given during time of kidney-harvesting scam test. Limit one per customer. No purchase necessary to win. Please see rules to apply.)[[User:Beastachu|Beastachu]] ([[User talk:Beastachu|talk]]) 10:33, 13 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't the expression in panel 2 be (x+1)/n, not x/(n+1)? If we define Y as how much each person pays, then the company would earn $YN. YN > X ---> YN = X + 1 ---> Y = (X + 1)/N.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.144|162.158.255.144]] 03:26, 18 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Randall defines N as the number of people ''other than you'' who read the flier. Therefore the total number of people who got the flier is N+1. The advertiser spent $X to produce the flier and assuming that it wants to make a profit on the advertisement, it needs to make at least X/(N+1) on average for each person that gets the flier. Given this your equation should be $Y(N+1) > X not $YN > X because the total number of people is N+1. Obviously Y(N+1) > X ---> Y > X/(N+1), which is exactly what we already found out. I'm not really clear on how you get the transformation YN > X ---> YN = X + 1.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.60.11|162.158.60.11]] 15:19, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've always been "mathematically annoyed" by 'X% off' signs (like "40% off"). OFF from what? From the price they asked for beforehand? But they couldn't sell this particular unit for that price; maybe they didn't even sell any unit at that price (and, even if they did, they clearly got more units to sell than available buyers at that price). So, the X% off is from a meaningless seller-wishful-thinking number, not anything resembling a fair market value (where willing sellers and willing buyers meet). [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 03:32, 6 January 2016 (UTC)</div>172.68.132.95