https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=173.245.54.197&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T14:33:52ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2279:_Symptoms&diff=1885962279: Symptoms2020-03-13T18:38:08Z<p>173.245.54.197: I fixed some of the article to get more relevant but it still needs a lot of rewriting.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2279<br />
| date = March 11, 2020<br />
| title = Symptoms<br />
| image = symptoms.png<br />
| titletext = This medicine says it may cause lightheadedness, dry mouth, and blurred vision, but my head feels incredibly heavy, water is pouring from my mouth, and I can see individual hummingbird wingbeats, so I think I'm fine.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a PERSON WITH ICY SKIN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic is the fifth comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] (with at least five in a row) about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. <br />
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The comic states that the symptoms of a disease are {{w|shortness of breath}}, {{w|fever}}, {{w|fatigue}} and {{w|dry cough}}. These are the top 3 and 5th most {{w|Coronavirus_disease_2019#Signs_and_symptoms|common symptoms}} reported for {{w|COVID-19}}, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. This is thus the fifth comic in a row about this disease, released on the day that the {{w|World Health Organization}} declared the outbreak a {{w|pandemic}}.<br />
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Looking these symptoms up on his phone, [[Cueball]] reads them to [[Megan]] who expresses relief. The experiences of hers she claims as normal are so extremely opposite to the symptoms of the virus, that getting it might even be a boon rather than a harm. If a person has powerful lungs, shortness of breath wouldn't be very noticeable. She references icy skin, normally not a fever symptom, although heavy sweating caused by fever can lower temperature. She describes having frenzied energy, the opposite of fatigue.<br />
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The last symptom is an "incredibly wet cough", and although that is the opposite of a dry cough, it still sounds quite bad. The description she gives opposes COVID-19, but may be indicative of something else.<br />
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The focus on how symptoms play out differently for people with different normal experiences distantly touches on, but deftly evades, the harsh reality that people who, unlike the comic's characters, already have severe respiratory issues, may die in large quantities unless our response to the virus improves. This is because the impact of a disease relates to how bad its symptoms are for the carriers.<br />
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Megan's optimistic reaction is ironic, considering these could be symptoms of a whole host of medical situations, including any kind of flu.<br />
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The title text expands on this joke. Cueball reads up on the side effects from some medicine. Here again they don't have the common side effects of the medicine but the exact opposite, so they think they must be fine, even though those "anti-symptoms" are themselves cause for concern.<br />
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It also reflects on the whole concept of symptom/side effect warnings themselves as often people have no good frame of reference for when a particular symptom is actually abnormal. It is often easy for one to believe they match some or all of a list of symptoms because for someone to be absolutely sure they do not have the a specific symptom, they would need an almost comic level of "normality".<br />
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The medicine is supposed to make the user:<br />
#{{w|Lightheaded}}, but Megan's head feels heavy.<br />
#Have a {{w|dry mouth}}, but water is pouring out of Megan's mouth.<br />
#Have {{w|blurred vision}}, but Megan sees so clearly that she can spot individual {{w|hummingbird}} wingbeats.<br />
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Having a heavy head, is not a good sign, even though the opposite is also not good. Dry mouth can be annoying but her condition sounds dangerous. And although blurred vision is a bad thing, it is impossible for a human eye to follow the 12-80 beats a second of a hummingbird.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing each other, with Cueball looking down at his smartphone held up in one hand.]<br />
:Cueball: It says here common symptoms include shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, and a dry cough.<br />
:Megan: That's reassuring to me, a person with powerful lungs, icy skin, frenzied energy, and an '''''incredibly''''' wet cough.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>173.245.54.197https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1940:_The_Food_Size_Cycle&diff=188561Talk:1940: The Food Size Cycle2020-03-12T15:56:08Z<p>173.245.54.197: </p>
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Does panini have a different meaning in the USA? In the UK, it basically means a sandwich made in a flattish rectangular roll, usually toasted (sometimes also the roll itself). They can be quite large; not necessarily smaller than sandwiches in general.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 16:44, 10 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:From my experience its the flatishness off panini that make them more comfortable to eat, but who knows maybe we're on the end of the panini cycle. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.9|162.158.74.9]] 23:43, 10 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I think you're inadverently proving Randall's point. :) First I ever heard of paninis must have been something like 15 years ago, and the buns were slightly longer than my (admittedly large) hand, putting their length about the same as standard sandwich bread, but a smaller width making them smaller than a sandwich. I do note that if I see panini rolls in the grocery store, they're still that small size. Sounds to me like this size arms race is well underway for paninis where you live (I like never order them, but I suspect here too). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:15, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: I'm pretty sure that when they first appeared widely over here they were already substantially larger than that. Perhaps we just imported already outsized ones from the US? Also, at that point, sandwiches generally hadn't undergone much inflation over here, so panini(s) and sandwiches have probably gone through a parallel expansion. The grocery stores here do also sell hand-sized panini rolls, but those are a relatively recent introduction, and they just match the general size of the rest of their roll selection.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 10:10, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Is it generally known that "panini" is the plural form of the Italian word "panino"? We don't say "burritos" or "taquitos" for one example, so why "panini"? [[User:Gearoid|Gearóid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 07:46, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: But we do say 'a biscotti'. Probably because when selling them you would advertise in the plural, and those not familiar with Italian linguistics would not know how to construct a singular from it, and so would simply use the word as it stands. As a result, of course, panini and biscotti are, through use, now correct ''english'' singulars.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 09:34, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: perhaps because of its unfortunate similarity to other English words, and the fortunate immaturity of the human race.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.9|162.158.74.9]] 00:37, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:As a non-Italian speaker, I can say I was unaware "panini" was a plural word (though I feel vaguely familiar with the concept that Italian pluralizes words with an i like that). That'll be why, of course, most people are likewise unaware, and it has caught on. Especially considering that we'll often see "panini" itself pluralized, as "paninis". Reminds me of when I see things like "NASA Association", the final A of the acronym already means Association. "Scuba Apparatus", the A already stands for Apparatus. Etc. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:38, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Expanding on the theme, there are rivers in the U.K. routinely referred to as the "River Avon", ignoring the fact that "Avon" already means "River"... [[User:Gearoid|Gearóid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 07:29, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: We may not say "a burritos" or "a taquitos", but we do say "a tamale" and there is no such word in Spanish. The singular in Spanish is "tamal"; "tamale" is a backformation from the Spanish plural "tamales". [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.106|172.68.34.106]] 02:06, 13 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:In English, words ending in "i" often lack an explicit plural form, since many words which end in a "s" or "sh" sound use an "i" ending when pluralized. Illiteracy has lessened this somewhat in recent decades: The correct plural for octopus is octopi & the correct plural for virus is virii. Saying "octopuses" & "viruses" are modernisms which have become so prevalent that they are now widely accepted, but grammatically they are incorrect.[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:51, 24 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
::The correct plural for ''octopus'' is not ''octopi'', because ''octopus'' is not a Latin word, it is a Greek one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.163|162.158.154.163]] 15:21, 31 January 2018 (UTC)Jack Rudd<br />
:::''Octopuses'' (the most commonly used), ''octopi'' (a misguided Latinisation), and ''octopodes'' (a Greekification) are all acceptable English plurals for ''octopus''. You can't really apply rules to determine whether things are "correct" in language; the only meaningful way in which something can be said to be "correct" is through common usage / understanding. If enough of us decided the plural of ''octopus'' was ''octoplops'', then that would be correct.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 16:36, 31 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::It's not a Latin word or a Greek word, it's an English word. As such it follows english language rules which dictate that because of its ending, its plural should end in "i" rather than "s". It may or may not ALSO occur in those other languages, but that has no bearing whatsoever on its english pluralization. By way of comparison, consider the English word "Hinterland" and the German word "Hinterland" - they're spelled the same, they mean the same thing, but the correct plural of the English word is "Hinterlands" whereas the correct plural of the German word is "Hinterlande" or "Hinterlander"; each is correct in its own language but incorrect in the other. Similarly, "octopodes" may be correct in Greek but is not correct in English. Additionally, I would like to call out the overt fallaciousness of the implication that people have Latin in mind when they use a plural ending in "i". I guarantee you that nobody who says "Octopi" does do because they think the word derives from Latin; I would bet money that the vast majority of them have not considered the word's origin at all. 08:20, 12 March 2020 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|162.158.78.160}}<br />
::::Well Hinterland does per definition not have any plural. At least in German. ([[https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Hinterland According to the most common German dictionary]]). If I (native German speaker) had to use a plural of it, it would be Hinterländer, but usually I would avoid using a plural of that word. I cannot think of a context where it would be needed. But other examples work as well: Kindergarten in German would in plural be Kindergärten (a in Kidnergarten pronounced as the "u" in "luck", while ä in Kindergärten pronounced as "a" in "have"). English doesn't try to reproduce this slight change in sound for building plural, but instead would go with kindergartens I guess. ("Walking through the city I saw various schools and kindergartens.") - Regarding your second point: I'd say octopi because I learnt latin in school, and in the o-declination the singular word ending in -us will end in -i in plural. So your guarantee regarding "nobody" is worthless. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:46, 12 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I suppose that's what I get for using wiktionary instead of a proper German-to-English dictionary. As for Latin, I'm at least confident that none of the people in my town who say "octopi" are thinking of Latin, because the highschools in my town don't teach latin. I don't even think my college offered it as a course. They offered Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, but not Latin [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.197|173.245.54.197]] 15:56, 12 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Ah, but what about the slider effect? Mini versions of (in this case burgers) to be served in a collective? --[[User:Thomcat|Thomcat]] ([[User talk:Thomcat|talk]]) 17:01, 10 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Related, perhaps, is the sizing issue. Some places sell medium, large, and extra large drinks. Note no small.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.154|108.162.216.154]] 20:29, 10 January 2018 (UTC) Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net><br />
: And the 'regular' is what used to be the 'large'; the 'small', if it exists, is what used to be the 'regular' - to try to make you feel like you're short-changing yourself if you buy a normal sized one.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 09:27, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The alt-text seems backwards: The way Randall's presented it, it looks like he's asserting that thick crusts get thinner, then the cycle repeats. This matches anecdotal evidence based upon the style favored by my local pizza shops over the years, but more research is needed. Thin crusts also tend to be cheaper to make, so... [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:08, 10 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: I don't think so - 'deep-dish' is listed first, as the one on the original track; 'thin crust' is then the one on the replacement track. The original pizzas, as imported from Italy, would have been thin crust. These then got thicker until they begat deep dish, and, indeed, beyond, with the ridiculous proliferation of stuffed and sandwich crusts. Then, as some people lost patience with this, there was a trend to re-introduce the thin crust (the replacement track).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 09:25, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Some original pizza from Italy had thick crust. My uncle, an immigrant to the US from Bari, Italy, made extremely thick crust pizza at his restaurant in the 1960s, almost a pizza bread. Pizza Hut initially advertised their 'deep dish' as 'Sicilian Pan Pizza'. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.166|162.158.75.166]] 21:54, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Thick crust is listed first, giving it precedence. To get thinner or thicker would be a logical progression which can loop back without significant alteration, whereas a replacement track would imply calzones, or taco-pizza, or some other such alternative to traditional pizza. By the simple fact that he listed thick crust first, reading it in English implies a progression from thick to thin. Also, see 75.166's reference to Sicilian pizza: I'm pretty sure thin crust is a modernism; Pizza crust is not unleavened, it is meant to rise. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:38, 24 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Portion inflation makes dietary information misleading. One would be hard pressed to find a muffin of the size used in nutrition information guides. <br />
Recipe books show similar inflation, recipes as printed make larger amounts of food, but they are listed as feeding fewer people than they used to. [https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/7-expert-tricks-calorie-portion-control]<br />
Analagous inflation can also be seen in clothes sizes. What used to be a size 8 is now labeled a size 4. Regular becomes "slim cut." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.127|172.68.189.127]] 00:01, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Is the ratio between subsequent food size bifurcations consistent with the first Feigenbaum constant? [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feigenbaum_constants] [[User:Docstout|Docstout]] ([[User talk:Docstout|talk]]) 01:15, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Does this remind anyone of a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram? [[User:Capncanuck|Capncanuck]] ([[User talk:Capncanuck|talk]]) 02:51, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Yes. It reminds me of a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, but being inversed. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.188|162.158.88.188]] 13:42, 26 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:That's what I thought too, except its mirror reversed along the diagonal08:20, 12 March 2020 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|162.158.78.160}}<br />
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BTW, I find it amusing that this comic came out the next day after a report on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation shrinkflation] of Mondelez chocolates in Europe hit the news here ... --kavol, [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.197|141.101.96.197]] 07:57, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Is this phenomenon specific to the US? I don't really recognize it here in the Netherlands, but the US has a reputation of having giant versions of everything: food, cars, people (width mostly) & so on. Maybe specific to a "big is beautiful" cultural attitude? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.187|162.158.111.187]] 15:22, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
:This happens, albeit to a considerably lesser extend, in the UK. Here, the phenomenon is restricted primarily to American fast food restaurants. I've eaten in America and was able to get 6 meals from the left-over food from a single-portion meal at Pinky's Pupu Bar & Grill in Kailua, Hawai`i. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.96|141.101.105.96]] 21:31, 11 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Living in Canada, I find it amusing to note that my Netherlands-born-and-raised mother often complains about large portion sizes, about how anything she might order is way more food than she can eat (and in fact has this weird effect on her that a large amount of food makes the food unappetizing to her). As far as I know, this is a North American phenomenon, but moreso in the States. For example, if I go to McDonald's and order a trio, and tell them to Supersize it, that means change the Regular drink and Regular fries to Larges. In the States, apparently "Supersize" is its own size, this changes them to a size above Large that doesn't even exist here. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:38, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Common in the Netherlands also: https://huisvlijt.com/2016/11/krimpflatie-minder-product-zelfde-prijs.html, https://forum.fok.nl/topic/2255412. Though some of the examples seem to be normal inflation combined with downsizing. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.4|162.158.222.4]] 09:29, 12 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Is it just me, or did this look like a reference to BitCoin to you when you first read it. Big block size, forks, the creation of new coins... I think Randall was really just making fun of BitCoin, because it seems like an otherwise boring topic --vikarjramun<br />
: I think it might just be you. :) I suspect it's that you've read and heard more about BitCoin than I have. All I know about BitCoin is that it's an online-only virtual currency almost exclusively used for criminal activity (ransoms for ransomware, selling off stolen pictures hacked from celebrities, etc), and that their price has gotten ridiculous (like a ransomware I heard about asking only 3 BitCoins, amounted to about $2,000 at the time. Idiots outpriced themselves, the only people who'd pay that are companies big enough to have backup solutions which make it unnecessary). I don't know any of these phrases in relation to BitCoin, and out of context here they have no logical connection (except creating being self-explanatory), they clearly require the context. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:29, 16 January 2018 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.197https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1982:_Evangelism&diff=188455Talk:1982: Evangelism2020-03-11T16:24:15Z<p>173.245.54.197: </p>
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I want to know where vi vs. emacs fits on this spectrum. <br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.53|108.162.238.53]] 15:12, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I use vi by virtue of the fact that it once opened on my computer and I don't know how to close it [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 15:20, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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When you say people open bananas from the other side, which side is the proper side and which is the other? I open from the proper side, not the side with the stem (just like the monkeys taught us) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 15:20, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Why are you being taught by monkeys? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.28|108.162.219.28]] 22:43, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Since the stem makes for a natural handle to peel from, it's the intuitive side from which to peel. Which makes it the "proper" side for that part of the discussion here. :) At one point I saw a thing say "Just check out videos of monkeys eating bananas", only videos I found showed monkeys mashing the banana out of the peel, LOL! (for reference though, I've been opening bananas from the non-stem end for months, it feels like the peel breaks apart easier). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:36, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Also, by opening it away from the stem you can hold the banana from the stem while eating it [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 12:16, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Also (the selling point for me) is that you end up with a banana peel that looks like ones in cartoons, with the stem in the middle. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:06, 22 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The title text seems to be a reference to the big-endian/little-endian war in "Gulliver's Travels".[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:04, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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And 3 miles to the right of the banana conflict is "iPhone vs. Android" [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 17:07, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:What about tabs vs spaces? It somehow feels like a lot of popular and appropriate conflicts and opinions were left out. Another example of high evangelism intensity is people who eat kiwis whole. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.58|162.158.134.58]] 09:00, 19 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I ''LOVE'' the "Pun Intended" tag. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.28|108.162.219.28]] 22:43, 18 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I suggest we use the metric system, and keep Fahrenheit, but modify it so "0" is room temperature. So a positive temp is usually warm, and vice versa. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 02:11, 19 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The day this comic was posted was Banana day (https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/banana-day/). I noticed because a popular radio station in my area has a recurring segment talking about "What day" it is, obviously they also talked about the "other end" factoid yesterday. I'm not sure who came up with this "day", but daysoftheyear.com may have been an inspiration for the comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.151|162.158.111.151]]<br />
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The following paragraph was in the article:<br />
“Due to the fact that these issues have a more trivial impact on life, evangelists may become more frustrated when people refuse to adopt these ‘simple’ changes and therefore argue more strongly for them.”<br />
I removed it because an increase in frustration from unsuccessful convincement does not follow from the triviality of the issues. However, I note this here because the writer (or someone else) may be able to extract a more coherent thought from this. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.71|172.68.26.71]] 16:15, 19 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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'''The CAPTCHA system for this page (and presumably others) is broken. If I'm not logged in it says reCAPTCHA V1 IS SHUTDOWN" and to tells someone about it...which is what I'm doing right now. Weirdly (or perhaps not!), typing "reCAPTCHA v1 IS SHUTDOWN" into the text entry box works just fine!''' [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.179|172.69.70.179]] 18:24, 19 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Any text at all will work, as it turns out! But you do have to type in something.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.220|108.162.237.220]] 13:40, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::And ''that'' is why they are upgrading the wiki. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:36, 22 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I'm sceptical that people actually aggressively promote their ideas in this order, which the comic explanation takes at face value. I want citations, and I want the number of TV station dedicated to promoting each belief taken into account. I say only National Geographic has the banana thing. Thnks for the reCAPTCHA tip. I think it's not broken but closed. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.49|162.158.154.49]] 00:52, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:It has the ring of truth to me, and I've actually done the door to door proselytizing thing. People are more likely to push friends to adopt metric conversion or weird sock tricks to others than to invite them to come to church. You mention dedicated TV stations. Those are just that: dedicated stations where the evangelism is the only thing on them. Compare to the number of you-tube channels that have at one time or another promoted metric over imperial. Your note is true in a few ways. A lot more MONEY gets put into religious evangelizing. That's not quite the same thing as "intensity", which is pretty hard to define in the first place. Also, as the scale moves from left to right it does intentionally get sillier.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.220|108.162.237.220]] 13:38, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I'm greatly amused by the fact that I tried opening bananas from the other end several months ago, have been doing it ever since (it actually opens easier, the bonds in the peel are far weaker down there, like it's waiting for it), yet I've told almost nobody about it. LOL! Then I got irritated at the Fahrenheit vs. Celsius thing. :) F allows smaller measurements without decimals? I grew up with Celsius, and I've never seen decimals except in scientific context. If I hear a summer day is 23, 24, 25, 26 Celsius, it's all about the same, mid-20s is as precise as anybody needs to know. If I hear it's 24 and it's actually 25, I won't even know. 1 degree is plenty of precision. Honestly, this whole idea of F being based on how things feel just seems horribly vague and imprecise. Celsius having 0 be the freezing temperature of water and 100 being the boiling temperature just feels scientific. Nice solid basis. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:31, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Oh, sure, play the reasonable non-fanatic. Leftist! According to the strip anyway. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.220|108.162.216.220]] 05:22, 20 April 2018 (UTC) Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net<br />
:: But he is sooo right (not left ;-). Come one now US, start using the same system as the rest of us. And to those from the UK start driving on the RIGHT side of the road! as well as also using the metric system in daily life, not just in principle (I had a pint, a mile down the road, sitting on a four feet stool) :p --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:15, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Arguing that people should buy all one type of sock is a no-brainer. It's far cheaper and easier. It saves a HUGE amount of time! Everyone should do it. But telling people that isn't evangelism. It's like arguing that iPhones suck, the Kia Sol is ugly or the dress is blue. It's just common sense, and anyone who disagrees can just suck it, and spend all their time folding socks. [[User:Roguetech|Roguetech]] ([[User talk:Roguetech|talk]]) 12:36, 20 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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;The sock thing isn't about color<br />
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The whole sock subsection is wrong or at least doesn't match the "one kind of sock" people I've seen in the wild. <br />
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There are three kinds of people in this world (usually it's two, but sock choice is unusually complex). <br />
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# People who buy any old sock and wear them until they develop holes or massive stains<br />
# People who have an obscene variety of novelty "fun socks" and are constantly loosing and replacing them<br />
# People who have found their One True Sock, and won't buy anywhere else. <br />
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Randall's talking about group 3. It's based on manufacturer or sometimes generic material, not color. I don't know who's that worried about time lost to matching sock colors, but I wouldn't trust them with sharp instruments. The One True Sock is some unreal combination of durable, comfortable, breathable, and warm. It's offered in at least a few colors, one pair costs as much as a whole pack of generic gym socks, and apparently, it will change your life. <br />
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Examples: https://gear.lifehacker.com/these-are-your-five-favorite-everyday-mens-socks-1785365259<br />
https://www.powder.com/gear/the-all-american-sock/<br />
https://www.runnersworld.com/man-i-just-love-this/why-i-only-wear-swiftwick-socks<br />
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--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.198.10|172.69.198.10]] 05:57, 21 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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:I'd say the people Randall is talking about are Group 1 people who converted to Group 3. At least, Group 1 people who feel "Well, I should make sure they at least MATCH", and are tired of trying to match socks everytime. I especially think so because it specifies throwing out their old socks. :) They're so worn they're disposible anyway, right? :) That they then find one good sock that's effective but also CHEAP, so that it isn't ridiculous to do this and buy a bunch at once. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:03, 22 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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;Randall forgot<br />
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Randall forgot the people from comic 1070<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.58|172.68.174.58]] 16:51, 21 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
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What if you want to keep US units but modify them with metric/SI prefixes (so instead of the mile we'd have the approximately equivalent measure of 5 kilofeet?) 16:24, 11 March 2020 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.197https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1407:_Worst_Hurricane&diff=73720Talk:1407: Worst Hurricane2014-08-15T08:56:16Z<p>173.245.54.197: </p>
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<div>I tried to list all the unnamed hurricanes, but I gave up after 1938. Anybody feel like finishing it? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.195|108.162.219.195]] 05:37, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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The current explanation seems to interpret the title text completely wrongly; it isn't about finding a person that lived in *all* of the states, but finding people that lived in *each*. The point is that the entire data is estimated based on rainfall, not based on actually asking people the question. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.231}}<br />
:I very much doubt that the data was based on rainfall, which is pretty irrelevant to the severity of most hurricanes. The severity is generally a factor of storm surge and windspeed, rainfall only becomes relevant far inland.<br />
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:And the map is too small scale to really represent what you would get if actually asked people - for instance, in Fort Lauderdale it's unlikely anyone would say Andrew was worst (having been thru both Andrew and Wilma, I'd say Wilma was worse, but old timers in Fort Lauderdale would say the 1947 hurricane was worst).{{unsigned ip|108.162.238.182}}<br />
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Hurricane Audrey was in June 1957.{{unsigned|Jkrstrt}}<br />
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Some areas in the map is pretty large se Opal, Katrina, Hugo while others are very small like 1946 near the tip of Florida. I don't know much about hurricanes but could one draw a conclusion that the hurricanes in the small areas are not as bad as the larger ones (and that some large ones like those near Mexico, are large only because they don't receive many hurricanes)? Should one add a note in the description why not entire America is mapped? We know that the Atlantic is very good at producing hurricanes but why doesn't the Pacific Ocean produce as many? I write my comment out of curiousity hoping someone has the answers, not that I know much about this (I am not even an American). [[User:Aquaplanet|Aquaplanet]] ([[User talk:Aquaplanet|talk]]) 10:09, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:That would be a false conclusion. The area of severe damage for a hurricane is fairly narrow (perhaps 50 miles wide), so if another hurricane has hit nearby, each would just be "worst" in a small area. Conversely, in an area that gets few hurricanes even light damage would count as "worst". Just for reference, in terms of deaths the three most severe hurricanes would be 1915 Galveston TX, 1926 Palm Beach FL, and 2005 Katrina MS/LA. In terms of wind strength, the three most severe would be 1935 Florida Keys, 1969 Camille MS, and 1992 Andrew (FL).{{unsigned ip|108.162.238.182}}<br />
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:On the Pacific coast of the US we get no hurricanes. This is due to the cold water flowing south from Alaska rather than coming north from the equator. This in turn is due to the clockwise flow of large bodies of water in the northern hemisphere, which is in turn due to the coreolis effect (caused by the rotation of the earth.) In California we only remember hurricanes because we here about them on the news, or occasionally when we travel. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.134|108.162.215.134]] 10:25, 13 August 2014 (UTC)BluDgeons<br />
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:There are no hurricanes in Pacific because they are called {{w|Typhoon}}s ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoonhttp://www.diffen.com/difference/Hurricane_vs_Typhoon difference]) and damage places like South East Asia where the concentration of news reporters is lower. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:01, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: Both of the above comments are mistaken. Tropical cyclones in the western Pacific are called hurricanes. It is possible (altho rare) for a hurricane to hit California (it's common in Baja California). If the map were expanded to include California and Arizona, 1997 Kathleen would probably be the worst anyone remembered.{{unsigned ip|108.162.238.182}}<br />
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:::West Pacific and Baja are not US which I specifically stated for that reason. I also doubt anyone remembers Hurricane Kathleen, I certainly don't. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.197|173.245.54.197]] 08:56, 15 August 2014 (UTC)BluDgeons<br />
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::I swear there must be a small joke in there about the reporters, but the veil is a bit too opaque for me, I fear... Also, is it kosher for me to fix people's links, if it's evident what needs to be fixed, and what they ''meant'' to put? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:19, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::You're welcome, and actually encouraged, to do that; a wiki is a group project, with every editor contributing their knowledge and fixing others' errors.--[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 12:12, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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"'If you think there was a worse one, find a 105 year old resident who agrees!'" I would like to point out that if someone has the specific hurricane that they would like to claim to be worse than the presented one, they only need to find someone who experienced both hurricanes; there is no need for 105-year-olds every time.--[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 12:16, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Is there any rhyme or reason to the parentheses? I can't figure out why we have ''Connie (1955)'' and ''Diane 1955''. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] <small>([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]])</small> 13:10, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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If we make a complete list, are we ordering it chronologically or north-to-south? It seems easier to list it from Maine to Texas. Unless we can create a list that lets you adjust those fields which I don't know how to do[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.152|173.245.56.152]] 12:44, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:There is no proper north to south order, but we could create a table with name, year, state and description, so you can order by it. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:07, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Very cool. And next someone could mash this up with a population density map and find the number of people likely to remember each one as "worst", then sort by that ro find the hurricane most-remembered as "worst". [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:43, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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This comic might have been inspired by Robin William's bit on hurricanes in ''Weapons of Self-Destruction'' in light of his recent death.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.95|108.162.217.95]] 15:19, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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It might be of interest to colour the hurricanes by decade; see if there's a visible secular trend in hurricane "worseness". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.187|141.101.98.187]] 20:24, 13 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Like this? (smaller version isn't yet available or I'd link to that) --[[User:Mwarren|Mwarren]] ([[User talk:Mwarren|talk]]) 00:36, 14 August 2014 (UTC) <br /><br />
[[File:XKCD_1407_with_timeline.png]] <br />
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::Not really. That doesn't distinguish between hurricanes which were the worse over a small area, and the worse over a large area. A less bad hurricane that by chance hasn't been topped in a small locality has the same weight as a more intense one that was the worse over large tracts of land. What I was thinking of was colouring the map according to date - start at hue 0 (red) in 1914 and end at hue 200 (magenta) in 2014. The problem is that the potential sample bias mentioned would lead to a apparent trend to worser hurricanes, so any map so coloured wouldn't necessarily represent the reality of the record. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.187}}<br />
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That's beautiful but I thought it would be more like the tables here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements (maybe not the best example) but each vertical column would be ordered so we'd have dates, states, severity, etc. Just basically like a grid. Maybe I was alone in that thought. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.152}}<br />
:Restructured the list into a table. Would you like to fill in the states (I'm not familiar enough with US geography)? [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 06:38, 15 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
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The 105 year old comment is probably based on the earliest storm shown on the map being 1915 Galveston; you'd have to be 105 years old to remember that one.{{unsigned ip|108.162.238.182}}</div>173.245.54.197