https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=173.245.54.61&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T22:12:40ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2421:_Tower_of_Babel&diff=2058912421: Tower of Babel2021-02-06T01:16:39Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2421<br />
| date = February 5, 2021<br />
| title = Tower of Babel<br />
| image = tower_of_babel.png<br />
| titletext = Soon, linguists will be wandering around everywhere, saying things like "colorless green ideas sleep furiously" and "more people have been to Russia than I have," and speech will become unintelligible.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a COLORLESS GREEN IDEA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
The story of the {{w|Tower of Babel}} is the Biblical explanation for the existence of different languages in the world. In the story, humans endeavor to build a tower reaching heaven. Their arrogance angers God and prompts him to sabotage the project. He does this by "confounding their speech" (commonly interpreted as giving everyone their own language) inhibiting their ability to work together.<br />
<br />
In this retelling, however, the tower is actually finished. God is happy to receive the human visitors, and offers them a reward.<br />
<br />
The party that ascends to the top of the tower consists of Cueball, Megan and a third figure who might be linguist {{w|Gretchen McCulloch}}, previously seen in [[2381: The True Name of the Bear]]. When Gretchen expresses her love of words, God offers to create a panoply of languages. Megan immediately sees the problems with this, but Gretchen is enthusiastic. Instead of a punishment by God, linguistic diversity is presented as a well-intended challenge.<br />
<br />
{{w|Phonology}}, a part of linguistics, is the study of the sound system used in a language or dialect, or of the systems that languages use to organize sounds. {{w|b:Conlang/Advanced/Grammar/Alignment|Morphosyntactic alignment}} is the grammatical relationship between the noun arguments to a verb &mdash; for example, between the two arguments (in English, the subject and object) of transitive verbs like ''the dog chased the cat'', and the single argument of intransitive verbs like ''the cat ran away''.<br />
<br />
The title text presents two meaningless English-language phrases that illustrate the language's ability to convey confusing or paradoxical information. "{{w|Colorless green ideas sleep furiously}}", coined by linguist {{w|Noam Chomsky}} in 1957, is an example of a sentence that is structurally correct but contains paradoxes and meaningless comparisons: something cannot be both colorless AND green (see {{w|Invisible Pink Unicorn}}), ideas do not sleep, and sleeping is not generally done furiously. That said, the sentence "colorless green ideas sleep furiously" is so well known in linguistics that a competition to make the sentence meaningful was held in 1985 and {{w|Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously#Attempts_at_meaningful_interpretations|attracted a number of entrants}}. "More people have been to Russia than I have" is a well-known example of {{w|comparative illusion}}. It sounds like it means something but, upon actual analysis, does not, although it could be interpreted as there being more people to visit Russia than the speaker owns, or has in their household.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
In [[2381: The True Name of the Bear]], sentences spoken by Gretchen McCulloch do not have periods at their ends, a fact which she mentioned on Twitter. However, in this comic, she uses periods, so her previous periodlessness might be a coincidence and not a trait of her character on xkcd.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:(Cueball, Gretchen McCulloch and Megan are standing at the base of the Tower of Babel) <br />
:Cueball: The Tower of Babel is complete!<br />
:Megan: Let's go meet God!<br />
:(Cueball, Gretchen McCulloch and Megan are now standing at the top of the Tower of Babel)<br />
:Cueball: Hi God!<br />
:God: Wow, nice tower!<br />
:God: You did a great job! I'm so proud!<br />
:Megan: Thanks!<br />
:God: I'm going to give you a reward.<br />
:God: What do you like about the world?<br />
:Gretchen McCulloch: Hmm. Words are really cool<br />
:Megan: No, wait-<br />
:God: Great! I'm going to give you lots of languages to study, each with its own phonology, word ordering, morphosyntactic alignment...<br />
:Gretchen McCulloch: YESSSSSS!<br />
:Megan: We should not have brought a linguist.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1167:_Star_Trek_into_Darkness&diff=196573Talk:1167: Star Trek into Darkness2020-08-29T03:43:50Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
<hr />
<div>There has been a considerable amount of debate as to whether the title of this movie should have a colon in it, which would have appeared as "Star Trek: Into Darkness." They eventually decided against the colon, and I wonder if this comic is poking fun at that debate.[[Special:Contributions/169.234.40.187|169.234.40.187]] 00:49, 31 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I suspect an allusion to movie title spellings that can be seen on moviez sites, torrent sites etc. -- [[Special:Contributions/193.174.118.70|193.174.118.70]] 08:20, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The Associated Press style manual says to capitalize all prepositions that are four letters or more in titles, e.g. Into, Through, etc. --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 09:54, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This could also have to do with WP's MOS of capitalizing "The first word in a compound preposition (e.g. "Time Out of Mind", "Get Off of My Cloud")".<br />
<br />
However, you cannot simply change the title of a page on WP. This requires actually moving the whole page. [[Special:Contributions/84.208.51.23|84.208.51.23]] 14:02, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think there is a capitalization error in the comic. The second to last 's' should be capitalized in order to match the rest of the pattern in "xX_StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNess_Xx". Unless the author is trying to subtly troll us into arguing about that capitalization... [[User:Sayno2quat|Sayno2quat]] ([[User talk:Sayno2quat|talk]]) 14:31, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Non-sense, double consonants should never be capitalized! Unless of course you want to use them for structural purposes, like spacing or framing, obviously.--[[User:Pnariyoshi|Pnariyoshi]] ([[User talk:Pnariyoshi|talk]]) 15:05, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I believe Cueball's comment, "I have a new favorite edit war," is refering to the title text in this comic http://xkcd.com/878 about the great debate of HO vs. H0. [[Special:Contributions/206.39.12.245|206.39.12.245]] 15:23, 30 January 2013 (UTC)Pat<br />
<br />
"Magnificient"?<br />
<br />
The actual [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Star_Trek_into_Darkness#xkcd_Mention Talk Page] of the Wikipedia article in question has an item about this comic. --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 16:32, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh sweet mother of god. Between that and the spam on this wiki, I think I'll take the spam. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:33, 31 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Fwiw, that section has obviously been archived by now, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Star_Trek_Into_Darkness/Archive_5 Archive 5] -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.18.56|162.158.18.56]] 14:19, 29 July 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I spent a good portion of last night reading through Wikipedia's talk pages for that. Worth a good laugh. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 16:56, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Well it obviously should be capitalized. --[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 17:43, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I tried to make a point on wikipedia that Wikipedia itself went out of its way to create a "lowercase first letter" template so that iPod and things of that nature could be capitalized the way the producer styled it, but there's really nowhere to point it as all discussions have closed and been ground to a halt. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:50, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
But is it really an edit war? Have they been moving the page bach and forth? --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:18, 31 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I still feel the most retarded of discussions on Wikipedia is for the Hentai article, where a disturbing majority demand pornography. --[[Special:Contributions/59.167.191.93|59.167.191.93]] 08:05, 31 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just a minor matter of correctness... but shouldn't this page be entitled "1167: Star Trek Into Darkness", with a capital I, you know, since that's the way the movie studio is writing it, even though it doesn't follow MOS? I think someone needs to fix it RIGHT NOW! --boB<br />
:Hey boB, you should fix your username! :P I'm kidding. I think the wiki just follows what is on the xkcd website, which has the lower case "i".--[[User:Pnariyoshi|Pnariyoshi]] ([[User talk:Pnariyoshi|talk]]) 22:45, 31 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wish the Super Bowl Halftime Show could be that talk page being presented in a dramatic on stage performance. wow. Do you think Ian McKellen is available?--[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 19:29, 31 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it's been moved to the capital I. I'd say that it's definitely because xkcd mentioned it. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]]<br />
<br />
: https://twitter.com/wikisignpost/statuses/297188486421831680 :-) --[[User:Mormegil|Mormegil]] ([[User talk:Mormegil|talk]]) 07:56, 1 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wanna be the guy who has to watch the xkcd website for new Wikipedia-related comics and lock the related article as quickly as possible... [[User:Ilinamorato|Ilinamorato]] ([[User talk:Ilinamorato|talk]]) 15:44, 1 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps it is worth noting that the argument over whether to include a section about the debate and the following xkcd mention is now growing on the talk page and already has a couple thousand words of debate. {{unsigned|24.114.22.89}}<br />
<br />
:That reminds me of the time that I was reading my Encyclopedia Britannica and happened across the section on the Titmouse and it mentioned the debate the editors were having on whether to include a joke about {{w|Tufted_Titmouse|Titmice}} and {{w|tit_(bird)|tits}} being cousins of sorts. Oh Wait.... --[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 23:06, 1 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe someone who has seen Contact wants to add some comment about the meaning of the quote or why it is relevant/funny? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:45, 18 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This may be obvious to others, but I don't know why the ~*~ symbol is used for the alternate capitalization. Can someone explain what the meaning of those characters is? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:06, 22 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I think it is making fun of old AIM profiles and similar username choices, usually with 'random' capitalization and xX or ~*~* , examples: [1] http://img.ifcdn.com/images/60a97877d77df653f3c29a9f78f342958c00b864d68eda6a6324cafda44ffc69_1.jpg , http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/katy-t3h-pengu1n-of-d00m , https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-07/1/16/enhanced/webdr04/enhanced-20005-1435781306-7.jpg --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.91|108.162.221.91]] 19:29, 12 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I don't know if the title text was changed from what it was originally, but on xkcd.com it says "factions sprang up..." not "crackers..." -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.174|108.162.246.174]] 20:18, 27 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Must be the capital "I". That's final! Everything else is plainly stupid! If you like your franchise, then let the movies have beautiful titles. If you use lower-case "i", it's ugly. Btw I'm not a fan of Star Trek. And I don't want to join the war(s). I'm gone. Bye! {{unsigned ip|162.158.85.117}}<br />
<br />
<br />
Seems there was an edit war about the page title before there was even a film title. Anyway the [Ii]nto debate starts from the first talk archive and it keeps going: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Star_Trek_Into_Darkness/Archive_1#Title_redux --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.16|162.158.75.16]] 21:14, 22 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
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It’s still happening. The edit war still rages. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 13:07, 13 November 2019 (UTC)<br />
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May I suggest: Star Trek |nto Darkness<br />
<br />
::after looking at this, I spent the next three hours editing Wikipedia. Sigh. Grin [[User:Yamaplos|Yamaplos]] ([[User talk:Yamaplos|talk]]) 23:41, 30 June 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
How about ''Star Wars'' ln 2 ''Darkness'', using the notation for the natural logarithm of 2? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.61|173.245.54.61]] 03:43, 29 August 2020 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=378:_Real_Programmers&diff=196148378: Real Programmers2020-08-19T17:29:51Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 378<br />
| date = February 1, 2008<br />
| title = Real Programmers<br />
| image = real_programmers.png<br />
| titletext = Real programmers set the universal constants at the start such that the universe evolves to contain the disk with the data they want.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a satire on the idea of a {{w|Real Programmer}}. To quote Wikipedia "...the computer folklore term Real Programmer has come to describe the archetypical 'hardcore' programmer who eschews the modern languages and tools of the day in favour of more direct and efficient solutions—closer to the hardware." The implication is that modern programmers are coddled by today's tools of the trade, which eschew detailed understanding for simple workflows.<br />
<br />
The first figure is writing a piece of code when another programmer ridicules him for using {{w|GNU nano}}. Nano is a {{w|text editor}} - a program often used to edit the source code of other programs; it is modern, simple, and easy-to-use. He goes on to say that "REAL" programmers use {{w|Emacs}}. {{w|GNU Emacs}} is a popular editor known for its vast profusion of features and extensions to perform all sorts of functions beyond simple text editing, and is widely regarded as one of the best examples of software that succeeds despite being fully overtaken by {{w|feature creep}}. The comic continues from here as a series of programmers state progressively more obscure or outdated methods, culminating in the final programmer who claims that "real" programmers use butterflies.<br />
<br />
His description of his rather surreal programming method is ludicrously complicated and would require an absurd amount of knowledge and forethought to pull off, bordering on omniscience. In the final panel, the Emacs programmer claims that there's an Emacs code to do that.<br />
<br />
Emacs and {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} are both text editors. {{w|ed (text editor)|ed}} is a {{w|line editor}}. These represent progressively more "old school" solutions to the problem of editing code. {{w|cat (Unix)|cat}} is a Unix program that concatenates and outputs the contents of files; it's usually run from a {{w|Unix shell}}, which allows its output to be written or appended to a file.<br />
<br />
Using a magnetized needle to flip bits on a hard drive requires nanometric precision and intuitive mastery of binary code, but in the early days of programming, people did use needles sometimes to fix bugs on {{w|Punched card|Punched cards}}.<br />
<br />
When the final character suggests the utterly surreal idea of using butterflies, he is referring to the {{w|Butterfly effect in popular culture|Butterfly effect}}, a "phenomenon whereby a minor change in circumstances can cause a large change in outcome" as illustrated in the short story {{w|A Sound of Thunder}}. The joke at this point relies on stretching the connection between the ideas of "difficult-to-use" and "requires detailed understanding of underlying principles," to suggest that not only do ''Real'' Programmers know everything about how computers work, but they know how to manipulate the ambient physical environment in elaborate ways to cause computers to do what they want, akin to performing {{w|trick shot}}s that accomplish feats of programming.<br />
<br />
The fact that Emacs already has a command for this simply exacerbates the other programmers' frustration with modern coding tools. For reference, Emacs commands are usually referred to by the keyboard sequence required to activate them, such as "C-x M-c" (Control-x Meta-c (this would by typed by holding control and pressing x, releasing both, then holding alt and pressing c, then releasing both)), though this exact key sequence is a bit different from most Emacs commands. The butterfly programmer saying "Dammit, Emacs" plays on Emacs' notoriety for its kitchen sink design approach of including all of the features and options that anybody might ever conceivably want. For example, later versions of Emacs actually added a totally useless "M-x butterfly" command as an easter egg, in reference to this very comic: see the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQtxhuX6ano YouTube demo].<br />
<br />
The title text further suggests manipulating the {{w|Physical constant|universal constants}} in order to create a universe in which the required computer data will exist. Programming of this sort would require power and knowledge akin to the Abrahamic God.<br />
<br />
According to the logic, the programmers shown may even represent the fulfillment of this master programmer's plan. The universe may have been designed in such a way that the programmer's ancestry would result in his parents, who would meet and have a child, who would learn programming and eventually find himself in a position where he undertakes the task of creating a program that fills the disk with the desired data. In tandem, of course, all of the people involved with creating and developing all the required hardware, software, raw materials, computer science, electricity, logic (etc., etc., etc.) would have to be part of the master plan. Put simply, it would probably be simpler just to use Emacs. <br />
<br />
The use of a magnetized needle may also be a reference to the {{w|Apollo Guidance Computer|Apollo AGC guidance computer}}, whose instructions were physically written as patterns of wires looped around or through cylindrical magnets in order to record binary code.<br />
<br />
This comic hints at the "{{w|editor wars}}," an ongoing debate of Vim and Emacs users over which of the two editors is better. The editor wars are mentioned again in [[1823: Hottest Editors]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A Cueball-like man sits at a computer, programming. Cueball stands behind him and looks over his shoulder.]<br />
:Cueball: <code>nano</code>? Real Programmers use <code>emacs</code>.<br />
<br />
:[Megan appears behind him.]<br />
:Megan: Hey. <u>Real</u> Programmers use <code>vim</code>.<br />
<br />
:[A second Cueball-like man appears behind her.]<br />
:Ed Cueball: Well, <u>Real</u> Programmers use <code>ed</code>.<br />
<br />
:[A third Cueball-like man appears behind him.]<br />
:Cat Cueball: No, Real Programmers use <code>cat</code>.<br />
<br />
:[Hairbun appears behind him.]<br />
:Hairbun: <u>Real</u> Programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand.<br />
<br />
:[A fourth Cueball-like man enters, facing them all. We see him facing the last two Cueball-like men and Hairbun.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball: Excuse me, but <u>Real</u> Programmers use butterflies.<br />
<br />
:[A Cueball-like programmer is standing and holding out a butterfly in front of his computer. The butterfly flaps its wings.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): They open their hands and let the delicate wings flap once.<br />
<br />
:[The next two panels are smaller, and the two texts below are written uninterrupted respectively above and below both panels. The first panel is the Cueball-like programmer with the butterfly, and above him four curved arrows pointing up or down. The second panel shows the upper atmosphere, with large clouds far below and the earth even further down. Also here are shown seven of the same type of arrows.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): The disturbances ripple outward, changing the flow of the eddy currents in the upper atmosphere.<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): These cause momentary pockets of higher-pressure air to form,<br />
<br />
:[Also the next two panels are smaller and the texts below are written uninterrupted above both panels. The first panel shows the atmosphere, again with clouds, and four parallel lines coming from above, and then they begin to merge, getting quite close at the bottom of the panel. The second panel shows the four lines merging on a driver platter.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): Which act as lenses that deflect incoming cosmic rays, focusing them to strike the drive platter and flip the desired bit.<br />
<br />
:[All the programmers who have commented so far stand in the order they have commented facing the last Cueball-like man, who slaps his forehead.]<br />
:Cueball: Nice. 'Course, there's an emacs command to do that.<br />
:Cat Cueball: Oh yeah! Good ol' <code>C-x M-c M-butterfly</code>...<br />
:Butterfly Cueball: Dammit, Emacs.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Emacs]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Rankings]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=378:_Real_Programmers&diff=196147378: Real Programmers2020-08-19T17:28:12Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 378<br />
| date = February 1, 2008<br />
| title = Real Programmers<br />
| image = real_programmers.png<br />
| titletext = Real programmers set the universal constants at the start such that the universe evolves to contain the disk with the data they want.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a satire on the idea of a {{w|Real Programmer}}. To quote Wikipedia "...the computer folklore term Real Programmer has come to describe the archetypical 'hardcore' programmer who eschews the modern languages and tools of the day in favour of more direct and efficient solutions—closer to the hardware." The implication is that modern programmers are coddled by today's tools of the trade, which eschew detailed understanding for simple workflows.<br />
<br />
The first figure is writing a piece of code when another programmer ridicules him for using {{w|GNU nano}}. Nano is a {{w|text editor}} - a program often used to edit the source code of other programs; it is modern, simple, and easy-to-use. He goes on to say that "REAL" programmers use {{w|Emacs}}. {{w|GNU Emacs}} is a popular editor known for its vast profusion of features and extensions to perform all sorts of functions beyond simple text editing, and is widely regarded as one of the best examples of software that succeeds despite being fully overtaken by {{w|feature creep}}. The comic continues from here as a series of programmers state progressively more obscure or outdated methods, culminating in the final programmer who claims that "real" programmers use butterflies.<br />
<br />
His description of his rather surreal programming method is ludicrously complicated and would require an absurd amount of knowledge and forethought to pull off, bordering on omniscience. In the final panel, the Emacs programmer claims that there's an Emacs code to do that.<br />
<br />
Emacs and {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} are both text editors. {{w|ed (text editor)|ed}} is a {{w|line editor}}. These represent progressively more "old school" solutions to the problem of editing code. {{w|cat (Unix)|cat}} is a Unix program that concatenates and outputs the contents of files; it's usually run from a {{w|Unix shell}}, which allows its output to be written or appended to a file.<br />
<br />
Using a magnetized needle to flip bits on a hard drive requires nanometric precision and intuitive mastery of binary code, but in the early days of programming, people did use needles sometimes to fix bugs on {{w|Punched card|Punched cards}}.<br />
<br />
When the final character suggests the utterly surreal idea of using butterflies, he is referring to the {{w|Butterfly effect in popular culture|Butterfly effect}}, a "phenomenon whereby a minor change in circumstances can cause a large change in outcome" as illustrated in the short story {{w|A Sound of Thunder}}. The joke at this point relies on stretching the connection between the ideas of "difficult-to-use" and "requires detailed understanding of underlying principles," to suggest that not only do ''Real'' Programmers know everything about how computers work, but they know how to manipulate the ambient physical environment in elaborate ways to cause computers to do what they want, akin to performing {{w|trick shot}}s that accomplish feats of programming.<br />
<br />
The fact that Emacs already has a command for this simply exacerbates the other programmers' frustration with modern coding tools. xFor reference, Emacs commands are usually referred to by the keyboard sequence required to activate them, such as "C-x M-c" (Control-x Meta-c (this would by typed by holding control and pressing x, releasing both, then holding alt and pressing c, then releasing both)), though this exact key sequence is a bit different from most Emacs commands. The butterfly programmer saying "Dammit, Emacs" plays on Emacs' notoriety for its kitchen sink design approach of including all of the features and options that anybody might ever conceivably want. For example, later versions of Emacs actually added a totally useless "M-x butterfly" command as an easter egg, in reference to this very comic: see the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQtxhuX6ano YouTube demo].<br />
<br />
The title text further suggests manipulating the {{w|Physical constant|universal constants}} in order to create a universe in which the required computer data will exist. Programming of this sort would require power and knowledge akin to the Abrahamic God.<br />
<br />
According to the logic, the programmers shown may even represent the fulfillment of this master programmer's plan. The universe may have been designed in such a way that the programmer's ancestry would result in his parents, who would meet and have a child, who would learn programming and eventually find himself in a position where he undertakes the task of creating a program that fills the disk with the desired data. In tandem, of course, all of the people involved with creating and developing all the required hardware, software, raw materials, computer science, electricity, logic (etc., etc., etc.) would have to be part of the master plan. Put simply, it would probably be simpler just to use Emacs. <br />
<br />
The use of a magnetized needle may also be a reference to the {{w|Apollo Guidance Computer|Apollo AGC guidance computer}}, whose instructions were physically written as patterns of wires looped around or through cylindrical magnets in order to record binary code.<br />
<br />
This comic hints at the "{{w|editor wars}}," an ongoing debate of Vim and Emacs users over which of the two editors is better. The editor wars are mentioned again in [[1823: Hottest Editors]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A Cueball-like man sits at a computer, programming. Cueball stands behind him and looks over his shoulder.]<br />
:Cueball: <code>nano</code>? Real Programmers use <code>emacs</code>.<br />
<br />
:[Megan appears behind him.]<br />
:Megan: Hey. <u>Real</u> Programmers use <code>vim</code>.<br />
<br />
:[A second Cueball-like man appears behind her.]<br />
:Ed Cueball: Well, <u>Real</u> Programmers use <code>ed</code>.<br />
<br />
:[A third Cueball-like man appears behind him.]<br />
:Cat Cueball: No, Real Programmers use <code>cat</code>.<br />
<br />
:[Hairbun appears behind him.]<br />
:Hairbun: <u>Real</u> Programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand.<br />
<br />
:[A fourth Cueball-like man enters, facing them all. We see him facing the last two Cueball-like men and Hairbun.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball: Excuse me, but <u>Real</u> Programmers use butterflies.<br />
<br />
:[A Cueball-like programmer is standing and holding out a butterfly in front of his computer. The butterfly flaps its wings.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): They open their hands and let the delicate wings flap once.<br />
<br />
:[The next two panels are smaller, and the two texts below are written uninterrupted respectively above and below both panels. The first panel is the Cueball-like programmer with the butterfly, and above him four curved arrows pointing up or down. The second panel shows the upper atmosphere, with large clouds far below and the earth even further down. Also here are shown seven of the same type of arrows.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): The disturbances ripple outward, changing the flow of the eddy currents in the upper atmosphere.<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): These cause momentary pockets of higher-pressure air to form,<br />
<br />
:[Also the next two panels are smaller and the texts below are written uninterrupted above both panels. The first panel shows the atmosphere, again with clouds, and four parallel lines coming from above, and then they begin to merge, getting quite close at the bottom of the panel. The second panel shows the four lines merging on a driver platter.]<br />
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): Which act as lenses that deflect incoming cosmic rays, focusing them to strike the drive platter and flip the desired bit.<br />
<br />
:[All the programmers who have commented so far stand in the order they have commented facing the last Cueball-like man, who slaps his forehead.]<br />
:Cueball: Nice. 'Course, there's an emacs command to do that.<br />
:Cat Cueball: Oh yeah! Good ol' <code>C-x M-c M-butterfly</code>...<br />
:Butterfly Cueball: Dammit, Emacs.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Emacs]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Rankings]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2345:_Wish_on_a_Shooting_Star&diff=195985Talk:2345: Wish on a Shooting Star2020-08-13T03:26:09Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
The other title text references:<br />
https://meteoritecar.com/<br />
https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/11/30/on-this-day-in-alabama-history-meteorite-struck-oak-groves-ann-hodges/<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event<br />
<br />
<br />
I often wish for cool lights in the sky tho...<br />
: Not a bad wish to have. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.39|108.162.238.39]] 21:58, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I the only person who wishes for radio noise? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 21:53, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Enough radio noise on the right frequencies could drown out talk radio, so ... you're not the only one wishing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.39|108.162.238.39]] 21:58, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Meteors relative speed to Earth is surely high. However, note that Earth's orbital speed is 29.78 km/s, while the average orbital speed of meteoroids is 20km/s. In many cases it's therefore Earth which hits the meteors with it's high orbital speed ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:37, 13 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
: A laughable claim, Mister Bond, perpetuated by overzealous teachers of science.<br />
<br />
With the valuable minerals contained within meteorites, it's reasonable that shooting stars could cause money/power. And to astrogeologists, there's success right there!</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2345:_Wish_on_a_Shooting_Star&diff=195984Talk:2345: Wish on a Shooting Star2020-08-13T03:24:10Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
The other title text references:<br />
https://meteoritecar.com/<br />
https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/11/30/on-this-day-in-alabama-history-meteorite-struck-oak-groves-ann-hodges/<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event<br />
<br />
<br />
I often wish for cool lights in the sky tho...<br />
: Not a bad wish to have. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.39|108.162.238.39]] 21:58, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I the only person who wishes for radio noise? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 21:53, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Enough radio noise on the right frequencies could drown out talk radio, so ... you're not the only one wishing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.39|108.162.238.39]] 21:58, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Meteors relative speed to Earth is surely high. However, note that Earth's orbital speed is 29.78 km/s, while the average orbital speed of meteoroids is 20km/s. In many cases it's therefore Earth which hits the meteors with it's high orbital speed ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:37, 13 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
: A laughable claim, Mister Bond, perpetuated by overzealous teachers of science.<br />
<br />
With the valuable minerals contained within meteorites, it's reasonable that shooting stars could grant wealth/power.</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2278:_Scientific_Briefing&diff=1885532278: Scientific Briefing2020-03-12T13:43:38Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2278<br />
| date = March 9, 2020<br />
| title = Scientific Briefing<br />
| image = scientific_briefing.png<br />
| titletext = "I actually came in in the middle so I don't know which topic we're briefing on; the same slides work for like half of them."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete| Made by a CULTURE PRETENDING BAD THINGS ARE GOOD. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic is the fourth 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 />
<br />
Things are not good, and are going to be bad soon. The only way for things to not be bad is for someone to do something about it. [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are presenting these things to [[White Hat]], presumably hoping to encourage him to do something about things, but he instead chooses to wait for things to become bad, to which Megan replies that this is exactly the bad thing she and Cueball were hoping to prevent.<br />
<br />
What things? At the moment of release obviously the outbreak of coronavirus, which soon after was declared a pandemic as no one did enough to begin with.<br />
<br />
But in general it could be any number of things, because, as the title text remarks, this is true of "like half of" any things examined by society. While a literal 50% of ''all'' things may not be getting bad (or good), in a more general sense all line graphs would trend (at least slightly) either up or down. This binary 'either good or bad' finding may lead one to conclude that "like half" of all graphs show something getting bad (or else good).<br />
<br />
As the three preceding comics to this one also have been about coronavirus thre graph most likely refer to cases of infections. The graph shows a steadily rising line, but with a slight zigzags in it, which may be an intentional similarity to the {{w|Keeling Curve}}. <br />
<br />
Like in the first of these comics, [[2275: Coronavirus Name]], this comic seems a comment on the numerous world catastrophes that get sidelined until the very last moment, such as invading giant spiders, water quality, road systems, rising extremism and wars between groups with similar needs, lack of responsible oversight in majorly impactful international decisions, corruption and lack of trust for those with power, or climate change and related extinction of most species and cultures. Given Megan and Cueball's reaction to White Hat's failure to act, this "sidelining" or failure to take action may very likely be the subject of their graph.<br />
<br />
In short, the graph ''may'' indicate that our responses to information are going from good to bad.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Megan and Cueball are showing a graph on a projected screen. The graph is labeled "Things", with "Time" advancing to the right on the ''x''-axis. The level of "Things" has been rising over time to a point labeled "Now". The current level of "Things" is above a level labeled "Good", and about as far below a level labeled "Bad". Megan is pointing to the line of "Things" with a pointer stick, while Cueball is pointing up to the "Bad" level with a pointer stick.]<br />
<br />
:Megan: Here's the situation:<br />
:Megan: This line is here.<br />
:Cueball: But it's going up toward ''here''.<br />
<br />
:[White Hat enters the scene. His hand is on his chin. Cueball is no longer holding a pointer stick.]<br />
<br />
:White Hat: So things will be bad?<br />
:Megan: Unless someone does something to stop it.<br />
:White Hat: Will anyone do that?<br />
:Megan: ...We don't know.<br />
:Megan: That's why we're showing you this.<br />
<br />
:[A narrow panel focusing only on Megan and Cueball.]<br />
<br />
:White Hat (off-panel, left): So you don't know,<br />
:White Hat: And the graph says things are '''''not''''' bad.<br />
:Cueball: But if no one acts, they'll '''''become''''' bad.<br />
<br />
:[White Hat is back inside the frame. He is gesturing to Megan and Cueball with his palm up.]<br />
<br />
:White Hat: Well, please let me know if that happens!<br />
:Megan: Based on this conversation, it already has.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*Poorly labeled graphs were already the topic of [[833: Convincing]].<br />
*This comic was initially missing the speech line to Cueball in panel 3.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2272:_Ringtone_Timeline&diff=187707Talk:2272: Ringtone Timeline2020-02-24T18:53:47Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Doing the Title Text. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 18:07, 24 February 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
What about the era of "I would love to set my phone to a traditional ringing sound but this weird space garbage is the closest my phone will get"? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.61|173.245.54.61]] 18:53, 24 February 2020 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1307:_Buzzfeed_Christmas&diff=1870611307: Buzzfeed Christmas2020-02-09T20:37:35Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */ added links</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1307<br />
| date = December 23, 2013<br />
| title = Buzzfeed Christmas<br />
| image = buzzfeed christmas.png<br />
| titletext = The 6 Weirdest Objects The Buzzfeed Writers Are Throwing Out Their Windows At Us<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Christmas caroling is a tradition in which groups of singers travel from house to house, singing {{w|Christmas carol|carols}}.<br />
<br />
These carolers are in front of the [http://www.buzzfeed.com/ BuzzFeed] offices singing the {{w|The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas}}, which ''usually'' contains:<br />
<br />
:On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.<br />
:12 Drummers drumming<br />
:11 Pipers piping<br />
:10 Lords a-leaping<br />
:9 Ladies dancing<br />
:8 Maids a-milking<br />
:7 Swans a-swimming<br />
:6 Geese a-laying<br />
:5 Golden rings<br />
:4 Calling birds<br />
:3 French hens<br />
:2 Turtle doves<br />
:And a partridge in a pear tree.<br />
<br />
The carolers changed the lyrics to match the style of headlines of the topics published by BuzzFeed, which usually contain a number and a superlative; for example, ''13 Worst Plane Crashes of the Decade'' or ''8 Otters Who Are So Cute We Can't Even Handle It''. This method of writing headlines, referred to as {{w|clickbait}}, is used by several other news sites, because it is known to generate a lot of visits and therefore more ad revenue. [[Randall]] has touched on this subject before in [[1283: Headlines]].<br />
<br />
Carolers are usually rewarded with a gift, but the BuzzFeed writers probably didn't appreciate the song, because they threw weird stuff at them which the carolers used in their 6th verse, in place of '6 Geese a-laying'.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Four carolers (Megan, Cueball, Ponytail and Hairy) are singing.]<br />
:12 Best drummers of ''all time''<br />
:11 Pipers whose jaw-dropping good piping will make you cry<br />
:You won't ''believe'' what these 10 lords leap over<br />
:[Caption below the frame]<br />
:Carolers outside the Buzzfeed offices perform "12 Weird things I ''actually got'' for Christmas"<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The Buzzfeed YouTube Channel uploaded a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v92edGrMbY video] called ''The 12 Days of Internet Christmas'', which is similar to ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' song. But the video contains a number of strange objects and images, to name a few, a naked Ryan Gosling and four men with curly beards. Because of its absurd content, according to the like-dislike ratio, the video's quality is rather controversial.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Christmas]]<br />
[[Category:Clickbait]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1256:_Questions&diff=1252161256: Questions2016-08-14T11:01:15Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1256<br />
| date = August 26, 2013<br />
| title = Questions<br />
| image = questions.png<br />
| titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.<br />
}}<br />
A larger version of the picture can be found in http://xkcd.com/1256/large/.<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as [https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en autocomplete] that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.<br />
<br />
The largest pictured questions are: "Why are there slaves in the bible" and "Why are there ants in my laptop".<br />
<br />
All of the questions in the comic are "why" questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as "Why are there pyramids on the moon". All these questions and many more (33,171 in total) can be found in http://xkcd.com/why.txt.<br />
<br />
Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says "As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes." This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.<br />
<br />
From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: <br /><blockquote><br />
Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal ("I can feel this body dying all around me"). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. </blockquote><br />
<br />
==Selected answers==<br />
The tables below have been created so as to split the comic into almost entirely arbitrary blocks, which have then been identified with similarly arbitrary numbers. As a general rule, section numbers work top to bottom, then right to left.<br />
===Illustrated Panels===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
|Why aren't my arms growing?||Arms stop growing because longer arms would not be a very useful way to spend resources. Human DNA has programmed the body to gradually ossify the growing arms and legs, closing the epiphyseal plate, at which point these extremities stop growing.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there ghosts?||There is no hard evidence of ghosts.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there squirrels?||Squirrels are the product of a long sequence of evolution, like any other animal. They persist because they effectively reproduce and compete for resources within their niche, but they are also the product of many circumstantial events that has led to them being the way they are.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is sex so important?||Sex is important because it is the primary method of reproduction in many different species. However, it can be of varying importance to different people (see [http://www.asexuality.org/home/?q=overview.html asexuality]).<br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter? || In the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe {{w|guns}} do exist and are mentioned at the beginning of {{w|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban}} when the news gives a warning that Sirius Black has one. Muggle technology (human inventions) are often looked down on by wizards - the majority of half-blooded wizards won't touch one, let alone a wizard extremist like {{w|Voldemort}}. Not only does any Muggle device more complex than a wristwatch interfere with magical artifacts, but wands are usually more versatile than most guns; a revolver can't shoot lightning, summon items or teleport its user. Finally, while Harry himself may or may not consider using firearms due to his Muggle upbringing, ''Harry Potter'' is set in the United Kingdom (which has stricter gun laws than, say, the United States).<br />
|-<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section One===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why do whales jump? || To the whale, it's like going into outer space!<br />
|-<br />
|Why are witches green? || See {{w|Wizard of Oz}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there mirrors above beds?|| Often, these are used by couples to view themselves during coitus.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do I say Uh?||See ''[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/06/the_odd_body_language_fillers/ Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?]''.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is sea salt better? || The question likely refers to the difference between common {{w|Fortified table salt}} and usually more expensive sea salt. While the major part of both of these is sodium chloride (NaCl) the idea behind the claim is the different composition mostly in regards to trace elements of sea salt compared to "normal" salt. Table salt's composition is often influenced by a country's health department and thus addition of trace elements is regulated. While these regulations are based on scientific studies there remain to be debates concerning the additions, such as iodine.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there trees in the middle of fields? || Many images of fields contain singular trees in the middle of them. While there exist such trees it is likely an artistic choice to give a more pleasing or aesthetically satisfying image compared to just a field. In modern agriculture those would in fact be quite troublesome since they are a hindrance to large machines used and a new tree would be unlikely to grow in a constantly worked field.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company. However, if Game Freak were to develop a Pokémon MMO the MMOs would be strong competition against the console games and therefore reducing the Pokémon demographic significantly.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition continues, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from recorded tapes. See {{w|Laugh track}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there doors on the freeway?|| Highway/freeway {{w|noise barrier|noise barriers}} sometimes have doors in them to allow workers access to both sides of the barrier.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there so many svchost.exe running?||See {{w|svchost.exe}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica? || {{w|Antarctica}} is the southern most continent and is by large covered in ice and in general pretty cold. While it is a regular target of tourists and researchers it also lacks native human inhabitants. At the moment, the territorial claims concerning Antarctica are mostly handled via the {{w|Antarctic Treaty System}}. In short there are a few countries who claim certain parts of the continent as their own in theory but so far it is considered neutral territory and most maps don't concern themselves with displaying the (in some regards disputed) territorial claims because they do not matter at this point in time. If there are ever any worthwhile resources discovered, this might change.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft?|| To add atmosphere and to give players hints when there is a dark cave nearby. See [http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ambience Minecraft Wiki].<br />
|-<br />
|Why is there kicking in my stomach?||See ''[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Feeling Your Baby Kick]''. Here, ''stomach'' means ''abdomen''.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there two slashes after http?||See ''[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Sir Tim Berners-Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address 'were a mistake']''.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there celebrities?||There are certain people who are more respected and well-known than other people, whether it be because of their acting career, major advancements to science, or a sex tape.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do snakes exist?|| The question is rather general and likely based on a widespread dislike for the reptilians. Be it due to their appearance, their spread, or the danger a few snakes pose to humans (often due to being venomous) many people have a dislike for snakes and would prefer them to not exist (similar to spiders).<br />
In regards to "why do snakes exist on earth?": Because evolution. Snakes fill a gap in the ecosystem as predators and hunt different species, including vermin. Snakes are in that regard similar to many other predatory animals. The question on why snakes developed with their distinct streamlined shape is still debated but {{w|snakes|likely it either provided an advantage when burrowing or swimming}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do oysters have pearls?||{{w|pearl|From Wikipedia}}: <blockquote>Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside, injuring the mantle tissue. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation. Pearls are commonly viewed by scientists as a by-product of an adaptive immune system-like function.</blockquote><br />
|-<br />
|Why are ducks called ducks?||See {{w|Duck#Etymology}}. {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} ("to dive, bend down"), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} ("deep, hollow"), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do they call it the clap?||An old folk remedy for {{w|gonorrhea}} was to clap on the sides of the penis.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are Kyle and Cartman friends?|| The question relates to the TV show {{w|South Park}}. Both are children living in the small titular town in Colorado. Cartman is widely accepted to a be very bad person, one of his many character flaws being his antisemitism. Kyle on the other hand is a Jew. However, both, along with two other kids, Stan and Kenny, are the core focus of the show (or used to be) and to some extent are considered to be friends. While there are episodes which show Cartman being not entirely a horrible person and him holding Kyle in a position of at least a worthy adversary, most of the time the question should be "Why is anyone friends with Cartman?" However, they most likely remain "friends" because they are in the same class at school and are therefore "forced" to be around one another.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is there an arrow on Aang's head?||{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Aang}} is the main character of the TV series {{w|Avatar the last Airbender|Avatar - The last Airbender}} and features as part of a large body spanning tattoo an arrow on his head. These tattoos are made to replicate the markings of one of the shows fictional animals, the air bison which are regarded as the original air benders. They are given to human air benders once they attain the status of masters. Because Aang acquired this status very early in life he was already tattooed accordingly.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are text messages blue?||This likely refers to imessage chat being blue. These messages are blue when sending a message to another apple device.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there mustaches on clothes?||Because some people buy them. Mustaches, especially handlebar-style mustaches, were a popular fad at the time of this comic.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there mustaches on cars?||Fuzzy pink mustaches are used to designate cars in the {{w|Lyft}} service.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there mustaches everywhere?||See {{w|Movember}}<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there so many birds in Ohio?||There are an estimated [http://oh.audubon.org/bsc/SOTB.html 400 bird species] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ohio Ohio], but there are [http://www.jstor.org/discover/2419997sid=21104910103541&uid=4&uid=3739776&uid=2&uid=3739256 2.74 nesting pairs per acre].<br />
|-<br />
|Why is there so much rain in Ohio?|| {{w|lake_effect|Lake-effect}} rain develops in the same manner as lake-effect snow.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is Ohio weather so weird?||See {{w|Lake-effect snow}}.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Two===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: <blockquote>Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.</blockquote><br />
|-<br />
|Why are there bridesmaids?||See {{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do dying people reach up?|| In many works of fiction dying people are regarded with an outstretched arm, grasping for unseen objects towards the sky. In all likelihood this originates in the idea of heaven as the place where (good) people go after death. People "reach for the light" which is seen when dying according to similar beliefs or possibly for already dead relatives or other associated people waiting for them. An alternative hypothesis is that they want to hug/touch their loved ones one last time.<br />
|-<br />
|Why aren't there varicose arteries?||Blood moves through veins due to irregular pressure from skeletal muscles combined with valves to control direction. In varicose veins these valves malfunction affecting blood flow. In arteries blood flow is produced directly from pressure caused by the heart.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are old Klingons different?|| {{w|Klingon Redesign|From Wikipedia}}: <blockquote>For {{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}} (1979), the Klingons were retconned and their appearance and behavior radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a production designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors, which took on a dark and moody atmosphere. The alphabet was designed as angular, with sharp edges harkening to the Klingon's militaristic focus.[5] Costume designer Robert Fletcher created new uniforms for the Klingons, reminiscent of feudal Japanese armor.</blockquote><br />
|-<br />
|Why is programming so hard?||Programming is the art of writing instructions for a computer to do. Since the computer has a limited set of instructions for you to use it involves a new way of thinking for many. It is also hard because the computer itself is not smart or adaptable to unexpected problems. For instance when a human is told to sort books in a shelf, he or she can do that despite there might be things in the way (he or she will just move it to the side). A computer will generally just crash if it doesn't have instructions on how to deal with the unexcepted problem.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor?|| A resistor is usually designed to create a certain resistance, measured in {{w|Ohm}} in an electronic device. A 0 Ohm resistor seems pointless as it would only provide the same resistance as a normal cable. However, Wikipedia's {{w|Zero-ohm link}} article gives sufficient explanation.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do Americans hate soccer? || Soccer, or football in British English, is rather unpopular in the USA compared to most other regions of the world. Finding a particular reason behind the (dis)like for certain sports, apart from cultural spread, is difficult. One possible explanation is soccer's tendency to have far fewer points scored in an average game and a higher likelihood of draws compared to such things as American Football, basketball or baseball, which are far more popular. In how far this is a legitimate argument for regarding soccer as "less interesting" is up to debate.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do rhymes sound good?||The brain enjoys repetition especially in music.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do trees die?||Some common reasons include lack of water, lack of nitrogen in the soil and being chopped down.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is there no sound on CNN?||Some stations broadcast a {{w|second audio program}}, an alternative sound track that your TV can be configured to use instead of the primary program. This is intended to be used for broadcasting in an alternate language, or for {{w|Descriptive Video Service}} to make a program accessible to the visually impaired. Many programs that don't actually use SAP will still broadcast an SAP that is identical to the primary program; however, this is not required. If your TV is configured to use SAP and a particular channel isn't broadcasting SAP at that time, there won't be any sound.<br />
|-<br />
|Why aren't Pokémon real?||Pokémon are fantasised creatures that were designed to produce an interesting battle mechanic in a game. Some of the pokémons abilities would be impossible on earth as we know it. For instance, Magcargo is hotter than the surface of the sun.<ref name="Bulbapedia Magcargo">http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Magcargo#Trivia</ref><br />
|-<br />
|Why aren't bullets sharp?||See {{w|Terminal ballistics}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Why do dreams seem so real?|| Most dreams occur during a stage known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM, your brain is highly active and its wave pattern is the same as the wave patterns in a person who is awake. It should be noted that dreams can occur during other stages of sleep but most dreams that are vivid occur during the REM stage.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Three===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why do testicles move?|| The scrotum shrinks and expands to account for temperature changes. <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there psychics?|| Because the world would be boring otherwise.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are hats so expensive?|| Hats can be expensive depending on the quality of material, size, location, and demand. A probable answer is that hats are simply difficult to make, causing high prices. Another likely cause is the fact that hats are not widely worn in much of the western world and people who do wear them often have far fewer than they have, for example, shirts, meaning that manufacturers cannot get the same economies of scale in production and distribution.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there caffeine in my shampoo?|| Because the producers want you to believe that caffeine penetrates the hair roots and thereby somehow protects it from negative testosterone impacts and from premature hair loss. <br />
|-<br />
| Why do your boobs hurt?|| The most probable reason is that your bra doesn't fit correctly. It could also be a hormone imbalance or awkwardly shaped breasts.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Four===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't economists rich? || Economists study how society organises resources. In order to become rich, in most cases one has to own a commodity that produces more wealth, such as a large company, or be related to somebody who has done so. In rare cases, a particularly lucky individual could become rich by having an unusually high paying job, such as a famous actor or sports star. Neither of these situations are likely for someone studying the field of economics.<br />
|-<br />
| Why do Americans call it soccer? || {{w|Association Football}} is called Soccer in the USA because {{w|American Football}} is the more popular version there. Of note is that the word "soccer" originates on British soil, to distinguish it from Rugby football aka "rugger".<br />
|-<br />
| Why are my ears ringing? || {{w|Tinnitus}}, or ringing of the ears, can result from stress, foreign objects in the ear, hearing damage, wax build up, or any other number of causes.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there so many Avengers? ||The number of Avengers has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Avengers_members varied greatly] over the years and decades, each time with its own justification for why they need to work together, but the simplest answer is money. Cross-branding and cross-merchandising is successful to the brand and brings in new readers, plus creates a new franchise to profit from. <br />
|-<br />
|Why are the Avengers fighting the X Men || {{w|Avengers vs. X-Men}} was a 2012 Marvel crossover event that, like many other recent comic book events, had heroes fight other heroes. In this case, the {{w|Avengers (comics)|Avengers}} and the {{w|X-Men}} fought over the {{w|Phoenix Force (comics)|Phoenix Force}}, a godlike power that often possesses {{w|Jean Grey}} or her descendants (in this case, her alternate universe daughter Hope Summers). The Avengers believed the Phoenix Force is too powerful for humanity to control and wanted to contain it, while the X-Men believed the Phoenix was the messiah for mutants and could fix all of the Earth's problems.<br />
|-<br />
|Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers || Wolverine ''has'' been an Avenger, in some circumstances. e.g. in the {{w|The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes}} cartoon series, the episode ''New Avengers'' had Wolverine (along with Spiderman, War Machine, The Thing and Luke Cage and Iron Fist) substitute while the 'original' Avengers were unavailable to deal with the current crisis (which of course included the fate of the 'proper' Avengers). However, in general his anti-authority personality makes him a difficult team-member to field, and he has frequently disassociated himself even from the X-Men. But, in Avengers vs. X-Men (see above) Wolverine ''sided'' with The Avengers, and more modern treatments have even included the character in about as much a permanent a membership of the group as Logan is ever likely to have.<br />
<br />
But if the question is about why Wolverine didn't appear in {{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|''The Avengers''}}, the answer is that ''The Avengers'' is being produced by Marvel/Disney, while Fox still has the rights to the X-Men and all Marvel mutants in general. Unless there is studio agreement, the two properties cannot cross, except through complicated machinations. For example, there are plans to bring Avengers mainstays Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch to both the ''Avengers'' and ''X-Men'' franchises, but only the Fox films have the right to call them the children of Magneto, and Marvel/Disney cannot even identify them on-screen as "mutants".<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Five===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there ants in my laptop? || Ants usually come in your laptop when there are little crumbs of food. It is advised to get screen protectors.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is Earth tilted? || The Earth's axial "tilt", wherein its axis of rotation is not perpendicular it its orbit, is a result of conservation of momentum when the Earth was formed, because not everything orbits in the same way. This is pure happenstance.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is space black? || What we call black is the absence of light. Space is mostly empty. Whe we look at a part of space where there is nothing that can reflect the stars' light, it consequently appears black to us.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is outer space so cold? || Space is not cold. There is no matter in space. However, most of space has very little radiation hitting it, so a person won't receive any energy, but will still radiate some away, resulting in a net loss of energy, colloquially "heat."<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there pyramids on the moon? || There are no pyramids on the moon.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is NASA shutting down? ||NASA isn't shutting down. This question might have something to do with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 Government Shutdown of 2013] or perhaps due to the then-current shuttle program ending, but that is not the entirety of NASA.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section <s>Spider</s> Six===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there tiny spiders in my house?<br />
|rowspan="6"|During autumn in particular male spiders reaching maturing will set off to find a mate. By chance they may end up in your house. When encountering spiders in large numbers, it is more likely that they are young from the same female spider. Females lay {{w|Spider#Reproduction_and_life_cycle|up to 3,000}} eggs at a time. These questions also plays off of Munroe's longstanding fear of spiders, especially the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/8:_Red_spiders red spiders] mentioned in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Red_Spiders several early comics].<br />
|-<br />
| Why do spiders come inside? <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there huge spiders in my house? <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there lots of spiders in my house? <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there spiders in my room? <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there so many spiders in my room? <br />
|-<br />
| Why do spider bites itch? ||This mostly happens as an immune response to [http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch histamines] under the skin which are injected through saliva.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is dying so scary? ||Part of human nature is the fear of the unknown, and death is the ultimate unknown because it is not knowable until it's experienced, and there is nobody to report what the result was. This leaves it open to speculation, and many major religions are based on preparing ones soul for death. Also, dying would leave loved ones families with the responsibility of taking care of their remains and finances. And finally, most people don't want to die, living for as long as possible, possibly because the unknown is too unbearable to cope with. Still though several people are not afraid of death and dying, and recognize life is short and to cherish each moment while we can. Death is inevitable, so we should not fear it. In addition, it would be evolutionarily advantageous for our ancestors to have feared and avoided death. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is there no GPS in laptops? ||It is not impossible for laptops to have a GPS, and some do. But there are [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/50907/are-there-gps-tracker-for-laptops design difficulties] that have to be overcome including battery draining, room within the crowded device to place a receiver, WiFi can give a location just as well, and the product casing could interfere with its ability to functional normally and receive the signals necessary to operate as intended. Some Dell computers have these, but the privacy one needs to give up to accept the terms and conditions makes it unfavorable. <br />
|-<br />
| Why do knees click? || Typical of other clicking and cracking of joints, this may be the sound of [http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/knee-pain/features/knee-cracks-pops ligaments tightening]. However do not rely on a wiki to diagnose a medical conditions. Consult a licensed physician. <br />
|-<br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't there E grades? ||E grades [http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/e-f-grading-scale/ actually exist] in some districts, but they are rare. In their long and bizarre history, E was originally used where F is today (E was the lowest grade), but in those systems, students often received E's for an "Excellent" grade, creating much confusion. F was used in place instead and E was eliminated from a standard grading scale. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is isolation bad? ||Isolation is when a person deliberately secludes themselves away from others, often far-removed from society. This can happen in locations as small as a city apartment and as large as the open woods. People evolved as social animals and it is generally held that those who isolate themselves suffer from depression or other forms of psychological imbalance. Of course society can trigger many of these imbalances causing an individual to isolate themselves. Isolation is often seen as therapeutic so people can spend time with themselves constructively, often finding peace within themselves and through mediation. Monks and hermits generally live in solitude as well. Many people view a decision to be isolated as noble, and others as healthy. While general interaction is largely healthy, in the crowded modern world, isolation is neither good or bad; it depends on the person and what that isolation does to them. <br />
|-<br />
| Why do boys like me? ||Attraction comes in many forms: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, among others. Many people will lie about what they like about you to get something else (money, sex, etc.), but most are genuine. It is not possible to assert definitively why one person may like another person, and that is something that needs to be discussed openly and honestly with them and nobody else. <br />
|-<br />
| Why don't boys like me? ||Similar to the answer above about what makes one desirable to another, there are an equal number of factors that make one unappealing. This can include everything from physical appearance to how one treats others. If a person is rude and unfriendly, most people find that not-conducive to healthy relationship and avoid the person who is asking. Not being liked by someone you like however does not mean you're wrong or are a bad person and in most cases has to do with the person you are asking about. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is there always a Java update? ||[https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml Java] is a software that runs on most computers and mobile devices that is crucial to its security and stability. The reason why it always updates is because it needs to stay current with the ever-upgrading fleet of browsers, operating systems and software that supports Java. Additionally Java updates itself so each version can run optimally. Software coding and debugging is a never-ending process towards perfectly stable releases. <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there red dots on my thighs? || This might be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petechia Petechia], which are broken blood vessels, however do not rely on a wiki to diagnose medical conditions. Consult a licensed physician. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is lying good? ||Lying and other forms of dishonesty is typically seen as bad because it lowers one's credibility and makes them less likely to be trusted in the future. It is almost always advantageous to tell the truth, as lies have a way of escalating as you need to keep expanding on the lie to cover your tracks. There are instances however where lying may be used in more noble circumstances. For example, if a friend asks your opinion on something they have made (such as a poem or painting) that you do not like, it is okay to tell them you like it because protecting their feelings and your relationship is more important than how you feel. Often military personnel are trained to keep national security secrets at all costs and will lie about what they know to save themselves and the country.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Seven===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there slaves in the bible? ||Slavery was viewed differently in the early years of human civilization before the contemporary moral and ethical conversations began centuries later. The Jewish legal system as presented in the bible {{w|The Bible and slavery|justified slavery}} for a number of reasons, notably to pay off some sort of debt. Slaves were seen as property and their work provided value to the slave owner, but such a relationship was legally required to be temporary and slaves had some basic human rights. Similarly slave owners rationalized their ownership through scripture, pointing out that it was in the Bible and therefore okay with God — without wishing to go off on a tangent, if you have to rationalize your system of slavery then it's probably illegal under historic Jewish law.<br />
|-<br />
| Why do twins have different fingerprints? || Fingerprints are not only from the DNA, but from the conditions in the womb which differ from child to child.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are Americans afraid of dragons? ||This question was the title of a [http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/spring2012/engl387/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Why-are-Americans-Afraid-of-Dragons.docx 1974 essay] by Ursula K. LeGeuin in which she makes a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics semiotic] analysis of dragon mythology. She argues that our belief in dragons (and those outside of America as well) stems from childhood, much like other ferocious fictional creatures such as goblins and hobbits, but many hold onto these fears as a way of avoiding reality. In her closing argument, she writes, "They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom."<br />
|-<br />
| Why is HTTPS crossed out in red? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there a line through HTTPS? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook? || Facebook has an invalid SSL certificate.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is HTTPS important? || For security reasons, as a site with HTTPS has encrypted traffic.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Eight===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there swarms of gnats? || The reason gnats (and other creatures) tend to swarm together is likely a safety-in-numbers protection, and as a big gathering to find a mate.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there phlegm? ||{{w|Phlegm#Phlegm|Phlegm}} is a thick, viscous fluid produced by the mucus membranes as a way to clear the airway and aids in the release of bacteria, disease and debris in those passages. <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN || From a Minnesota Paper, [http://www.startribune.com/local/138902104.html the Star Tribune], "Laws prevent the city from poisoning the crows". "Duffy [ {{w|Steve Duffy}}, a co-owner of U.S. Bird Abatement Services, which has contracted with Rochester to get rid of the crows] isn't sure why Rochester has such a bad crow problem; probably a confluence of many bird-friendly conditions that has also made it a magnet for {{w|geese}}. He's seen worse cases, but called Rochester's situation 'hideous.'" And best of all, "The city has twice this winter hired experts to chase them off. They tried {{w|lasers}} and bullhorns — hey, get out of here, you crows — and even employed raptors to pick them off, one by one. That worked, for awhile." Unfortunately, they mean a {{w|bird of prey}}, not a {{w|velociraptor}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is Psychic weak to Bug || In Pokémon, Pokémon of the psychic type like Mr. Mime are weak to three types of attacks: Ghost, Dark, and Bug. The general theory is that Psychic Pokémon, relying heavily on their thoughts for attacks, are weak to fears, which ghosts, darkness, and bugs can be classified as.<br />
|- <br />
| Why do children get cancer? ||{{w|Cancer}} is an aggressive and often fatal disease that has the potential to affect all humans as well as other organisms. There are multiple types of cancer, each with their own epidemiology, but children are not immune to succumbing to the horrific effects of the disease. Children are human beings and are subject to the same illnesses adults have, regardless of age, or their innocence. There is no divine or supernatural explanation for this. Simply put, life is a battle for all humans regardless of how small they are. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || {{w|Poseidon}} was the patron deity of the city of {{w|Troy}}, which after a 10 years siege by the Greeks fell due to {{w|Odysseus}}' list of the {{w|Trojan_Horse|Trojan horse}}. As the Greeks were returning home after the Trojan War, Oddyseus' ship accidentally landed on the island home of the cyclops Polyphemus, who imprisoned the crew and ate many of them. In order to escape, Odysseus blinded the cyclops. Poseidon, Polyphemus' father, was extremely angered by his son being blinded, so he cursed Odysseus' ship to prevent him from reaching his home in {{W|Ithaca}}. The adventures which Odysseus encountered during his quest for reaching Ithaca are the main theme of {{w|Homer|Homer's}} {{w|Odyssey}} The Odyssey also says that before sailing, the crew forgot to offer a sacrifice as was ordained.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there ice in space? || Space is {{w|Outer_space#Environment|Cold}}. The background radiation, which is used to measure the temperature of space's vacuum, is estimated at about 3K (−270&nbsp;°C; −454&nbsp;°F). Water freezes at 273.15 K (0&nbsp;°C; 32&nbsp;°F). Because the temperature in space is less than the freezing point of water, liquids freeze in space, turning into ice.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section <s>Owl</s> Nine===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there an owl in my back yard? || Owls can be seen all over the world, and live in a wide variety of habitats. They are mainly noctural, and spend a large portion of the night hunting. The owl in your back yard is likely looking for food.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there an owl outside my window? || As with the question above, the owl is likely to be hunting for food. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is there an owl on the dollar bill? || On the front of a dollar bill, near the upper right '1' is a tiny section of the design which can be seen to represent an owl. Conspiracy theorists will note that owls were symbolically linked to the Masons, while others will instead see a spider.<br />
|-<br />
| Why do owls attack people? || While owls and human often live in close proximity without problems, as with other species, owls may attack if they feel threatened. When people irritate or otherwise make owls feel unsafe, they retaliate with violence to protect themselves.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are AK47s so expensive? || The market value of an AK47 varies depending on where in the world you live. With strict gun control laws, obtaining an AK47 in the UK is likely to be more expensive due to the risks involved for those supplying the weapon. In ex-soviet countries and the middle east, AK47s are more plentiful, and hence the price is likely to be lower.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there helicopters circling my house? ||This question is likely a joke because it is so incongruous to the others in this section. The joke is that people would be Googling about owls attacking people and assault rifle prices, which could, ostensibly alert authorities to come to your house to arrest you. If this is not the case, then the helicopter could be there for myriad reasons. <br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Ten===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there gods? || All gods and goddesses are man made and are part of ancient and fictional mythology and folklore that are used to give spiritual guidance and explanations for phenomenons that were yet unexplained by natural processes. Men for example, were thought to be produced by Darwin, King of all Finches, by manipulating apes over millions on years.<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.<br />
<br />
Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|"Mirror, Mirror"}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock). <br />
|-<br />
| Why is Mt Vesuvius there? ||The simple answer is that volcanoes are created by interactions where the Earth's tectonic plates meet. These conditions only exist in a few places on Earth. <p>The question could also be asking, "why is Mt Vesuvius near such a heavily populated area?" Humans have lived near Vesuvius throughout history, due to its pleasant climate, rich soil, and proximity to other major cities. The Italian government [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/05/italy.sophiearie offers generous cash incentives] to move people away from the danger zone, but finds few takers.</p><p>This question could also be a reference to mountaineer {{w|George Mallory}}'s famous answer as to why he wanted to climb Mount Everest: "Because it's there."</p><br />
|-<br />
| Why do they say T minus? || Time before the launch of a spacecraft is denoted as T minus because the launch has not happened yet. Any time after the launched is stated without the minus, for example T 3 seconds, so time before the launch can be seen as "minus" time. The T stands for "Test" or "Time".<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there obelisks? || {{w|Obelisk}} article has more<br />
|-<br />
| Why are wrestlers always wet? || Professional wrestling is strenuous activity, whether its fake or not. Strenuous activity results in sweat, giving the bodyan appearance of being wet. Greco-roman wrestling and Turkish Oil Wrestling both involve oiling the body, giving a similar appearance.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are oceans becoming more acidic? || Due to the higher amount of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere, which dissolves in the oceans turning into carbonic acid - CO2+H2O=H2CO3 (see {{w|Ocean acidification}})<br />
|-<br />
| Why is Arwen dying? || {{w|Elf (Middle-Earth)#Death|Elves}} can die from grief .<br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't my quail laying eggs? || Have you tried turning them off and on again?<br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't my quail eggs hatching? || Problems in incubation, probably.<br />
|-<br />
|Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''<p>This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.</p><p>These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).</p><p>So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Ironically, although no battles in the traditional sense have been fought within the U.S. since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}, foreign air force bases might have been useful on September 11, 2001. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state, but Hawaii was still a fundamental part of the United States as it was an incorporated territory.)</p><p>There are, however, foreign troops stationed at some continental US military bases. For example, RAF (British Royal Air Force) 39 Sqn and 361 Sqn at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada flying Reaper and Predator drones. But this are not foreign military bases, they are just guests.</p><br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Section Eleven===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why are my boobs itchy? ||It could be anything from dry skin to a rare life-threatening disease. Could also be related to pregnancy, PMS, or puberty. [http://www.just-health.net/Itchy-Breast.html Here's a thorough list] of possible causes and remedies.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are cigarettes legal? ||Despite the obvious detrimental affects nicotine has on health, like caffeine and alcohol, it is easy to regulate. Substances like marijuana and other drugs are mainly illegal because the government and regulatory agencies have no control over their production and distribution and therefore cannot profit from it. Nicotine however, which is the key ingredient in tobacco can be regulated and taxed and is. <br />
|-<br />
| Why are there ducks in my pool? ||Most likely, they're looking for a place to mate. Which means you'll soon have baby ducks in your pool. Most migratory birds are protected by wildlife laws, so you want to prevent them from moving into your pool in the first place. The [http://www.dfwwildlife.org/duck.html DFW Wildlife Coalition] has some tips.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is Jesus white? ||This is an ethnocentric viewpoint that varies throughout cultures. In African cultures he is portrayed as black. In short, whatever culture he is introduced to, those inhabitants will have him fit their own image. <br />
|-<br />
| Why is there liquid in my ear? ||[http://www.healthline.com/symptom/discharge-from-ear It's called otorrhea], and can be caused by infection, trauma, or changes in pressure. A common cause is [http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/swimmers-ear/basics/definition/con-20014723 Swimmer's ear], an infection of the outer ear canal.<br />
|-<br />
| Why do Q tips feel good? ||The inner ear contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_tissue erectile tissue] (as does your inner nose which is why sneezing feels good) so you are massing tissue which gets aroused upon stimulation. <br />
|-<br />
| Why do good people die? ||Everybody dies, but loved ones and ones who were known to make memorable or valuable contributions are mourned and revered more than a person who has left much pain to others as their legacy; we remember the good ones and that's why it hurts more. <br />
|-<br />
| Why are ultrasounds important? ||Ultrasound scans provide a great deal of information about a fetus, thus increasing the chances of a healthy birth. They have many other medical uses.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are ultrasound machines expensive? ||As hospital equipment goes, ultrasound machines are actually a bargain. [http://www.costowl.com/healthcare/healthcare-ultrasound-machine-costs.html A new ultrasound machine] costs about $20,000-$75,000, depending on features. Comparable devices are much more expensive: The [http://info.blockimaging.com/bid/84432/CT-Scanner-Price-Guide CT scanner] runs $90,000-$250,000, while the [http://www.ehow.com/about_4731161_much-do-mri-machines-cost.html MRI machine] easily goes over a million.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is stealing wrong? ||Stealing is theft and it is illegal. Taking something that is not yours without permission or payment hurts the livelihood of other individuals as well as damages their trust in others. <br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Vertical Questions===<br />
{| class ="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!style="width:20%;"|Question !! Possible answer<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there hell if god forgives? ||There is not a single answer to this question. The answer varies based on the religion and that religion's sect mixed with personal interpretations of that religions scripture and how a person decides to follow it. However the idea of what Hell will be like also varies. There is no one answer to this question, but the easiest explanation is that the individual did not pray hard enough, correctly, was not part of the right religion, and their forgiveness was contingent on something that the person either did not do or know to do (or say or think) <br />
|-<br />
| Why do iguanas die? ||All living things die, but iguanas may suffer from [http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/kidneyfailure.html kidney failure].<br />
|-<br />
| Why is GPS free? || GPS was originally developed by the U.S. military for its own use, not for commercial purposes. Once the satellites were launched and service began, anyone could receive the signals. Because it is a one-way transmission, there is no incremental cost to provide service to more users, and no practical way to prevent use without payment.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are trees tall? ||Tall is a relative term, and Redwoods are famous for their height - among the tallest in the world. The reason for this is, in part [http://www.nps.gov/redw/faqs.htm climate, fog, rain, good soil, few predators, among others].<br />
|-<br />
|Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is there lava? ||{{w|Lava}} is magma (molten rock) which is at the Earth's surface. Magma in the Earth comes from the melting of rock due to rising heat from deeper within the planet. {{w|Earth's internal heat budget|This heat}} is about half radiogenic and half primordial (left over from the formation and differentiation of the Earth). Most of the crust and mantle of the Earth is solid rock, but in places (usually controlled by plate tectonics, but {{w|Hawaii hotspot|not always}}) where the heat is high enough the minerals with lowest melting point start to melt and then migrate upwards towards the surface. This melt collects in {{w|Magma chamber|magma chambers}}, in which the magma may start to cool and crystallize. Sometimes it will crystallize completely, becoming an underground solid body called a pluton. Other times melt will keep migrating upwards until it reaches the surface and erupts as lava, forming a {{w|volcano}} or undersea vent.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is YKK on a zippers? || YKK Group is the name of a large group of Japanese manufacturing companies, which among other things manufacture a lot of zippers.<br />
|-<br />
| Why is life so boring? ||It is up to an individual to find meaning and interest in life. Monotony, predictability and lack of physical and intellectual stimulation would lead to a feeling of boredom. <br />
|-<br />
| Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts? ||Ghosts are a supernatural phenomenon that have not been empirically proven to exist. Those who believe in ghosts implicitly believe in a soul (of which a ghost is a materialization of), and it is a commonly held belief by religious institutions and ghost-hunters that animals do not have souls and thus dinosaurs would not have any either. <br />
|-<br />
|Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, "England" here is being read as "United Kingdom." The various name changes, mergers, and splits of kingdoms are complicated.''<p>The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as "Queen of England," creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man, and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned. Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes&mdash;Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as "{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}." Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.</p><p>The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.</p><p>Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as "queen," after decades of not having anyone referred to as "king."</p><br />
|-<br />
| Why do I feel dizzy? ||Balance is achieved from fluids in the inner-ear, but [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizziness#Epidemiology dizziness] can have nearly a dozen causes.<br />
|-<br />
| Why are dogs afraid of fireworks? ||Loud noises can trigger their flight or fight responses when they are [http://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/hyperdog/How-to-Keep-Your-Dog-Safe-and-Calm-During-Fireworks nervous].<br />
|-<br />
| Why are there weeks? || Weeks were originally important for religious reasons, primarily the requirement to observe a sabbath (day of rest) every seventh day. Today it is used to evenly divide months into equal pieces, much like the months divide a year. Similarly, hours and minutes divide a day.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/1l3na7/questions/cbvigrd, answers to all the questions.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[This strip is a rectangular word cloud, titled 'Questions found in Google autocomplete'. Embedded in the cloud are 5 single panels, with illustrated questions. These are described at the end. Questions are given in roughly columnar order. None of the questions have question marks.]<br />
<br />
:Questions found in Google Autocomplete<br />
<br />
:Why do whales jump<br />
:Why are witches green<br />
:Why are there mirrors above beds<br />
:Why do I say uh<br />
:Why is sea salt better<br />
:Why are there trees in the middle of fields<br />
:Why is there not a Pokemon MMO<br />
:Why is there laughing in TV shows<br />
:Why are there doors on the freeway<br />
:Why are there so many svchost.exe running<br />
:Why aren't there any countries in antarctica<br />
:Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft<br />
:Why is there kicking in my stomach<br />
:Why are there two slashes after HTTP<br />
:Why are there celebrities<br />
:Why do snakes exist<br />
:Why do oysters have pearls<br />
:Why are ducks called ducks<br />
:Why do they call it the clap<br />
:Why are Kyle and Cartman friends<br />
:Why is there an arraow on Aang's head<br />
:Why are text messages blue<br />
:Why are there mustaches on clothes<br />
:Why are there mustaches on cars<br />
:Why are there mustaches everywhere<br />
:Why are there so many birds in Ohio<br />
:Why is there so much rain in Ohio<br />
:Why is Ohio weather so weird<br />
:Why are there male and female bikes<br />
:Why are there bridesmaids<br />
:Why do dying people reach up<br />
:Why aren't there varicose arteries<br />
:Why are old Klingons different<br />
:Why is programming so hard<br />
:Why is there a 0 ohm resistor<br />
:Why do Americans hate soccer<br />
:Why do rhymes sound good<br />
:Why do trees die<br />
:Why is there no sound on CNN<br />
:Why aren't Pokemon real<br />
:Why aren't bullets sharp<br />
:Why do dreams seem so real<br />
:Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts<br />
:Why do iguanas die<br />
:Why do testicles move<br />
:Why are there psychics<br />
:Why are hats so expensive<br />
:Why is there caffeine in my shampoo<br />
:Why do your boobs hurt<br />
:Why aren't economists rich<br />
:Why do Americans call it soccer<br />
:Why are my ears ringing<br />
:Why are there so many Avengers<br />
:Why are the Avengers fighting the X men<br />
:Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers<br />
:Why are there ants in my laptop<br />
:Why is Earth tilted<br />
:Why is space black<br />
:Why is outer space so cold<br />
:Why are there pyramids on the moon<br />
:Why is NASA shutting down<br />
:Why is there Hell if God forgives<br />
:Why are there tiny spiders in my house<br />
:Why do spiders come inside<br />
:Why are there huge spiders in my house<br />
:Why are there lots of spiders in my house<br />
:Why are there spiders in my room<br />
:Why are there so many spiders in my room<br />
:Why do spider bites itch<br />
:Why is dying so scary<br />
:Why is there no GPS in laptops<br />
:Why do knees click<br />
:Why aren't there E grades<br />
:Why is isolation bad<br />
:Why do boys like me<br />
:Why don't boys like me<br />
:Why is there always a Java update<br />
:Why are there red dots on my thighs<br />
:Why is lying good<br />
:Why is GPS free<br />
:Why are trees tall<br />
:Why are there slaves in the Bible<br />
:Why do twins have different fingerprints<br />
:Why are Americans afraid of dragons<br />
:Why is there lava<br />
:Why are there swarms of gnats<br />
:Why is there phlegm<br />
:Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN<br />
:Why is psychic weak to bug<br />
:Why do children get cancer<br />
:Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus<br />
:Why is there ice in space<br />
:Why are there female Mr Mimes<br />
:Why is there an owl in my backyard<br />
:Why is there an owl outside my window<br />
:Why is there an owl on the dollar bill<br />
:Why do owls attack people<br />
:Why are AK47s so expensive<br />
:Why are there helicopters circling my house<br />
:Why are there gods<br />
:Why are there two Spocks<br />
:Why is Mt Vesuvius there<br />
:Why do they say T minus<br />
:Why are there obelisks<br />
:Why are wrestlers always wet<br />
:Why are oceans becoming more acidic<br />
:Why is Arwen dying<br />
:Why aren't my quail laying eggs<br />
:Why aren't my quail eggs hatching<br />
:Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America<br />
:Why is life so boring<br />
:Why are my boobs itchy<br />
:Why are cigarettes legal<br />
:Why are there ducks in my pool<br />
:Why is Jesus white<br />
:Why is there liquid in my ear<br />
:Why do Q tips feel good<br />
:Why do good people die<br />
:Why are ultrasounds important<br />
:Why are ultrasound machines expensive<br />
:Why is stealing wrong<br />
:Why is YKK on all zippers<br />
:Why is HTTPS crossed out in red<br />
:Why is there a line through HTTPS<br />
:Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook<br />
:Why is HTTPS important<br />
:Why are there weeks<br />
:Why do I feel dizzy<br />
:Why are dogs afraid of fireworks<br />
:Why is there no king in England<br />
<br />
:[We see Cueball from the torso up, with arms outstretched.]<br />
:Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing<br />
<br />
:[Megan stands with a grey ghost on either side of her.]<br />
:Megan: Why are there ghosts<br />
<br />
:[Beret Guy stands, looking at a squirrel.]<br />
:Beret Guy: Why are there squirrels<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stands.]<br />
:Cueball: Why is sex so important.<br />
<br />
:[We see Ponytail from the torso up.]<br />
:Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]<br />
[[Category:LOTR]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Google Search]]<br />
[[Category:Squirrels]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1639:_To_Taste&diff=1107091639: To Taste2016-02-05T13:44:16Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1639<br />
| date = February 5, 2016<br />
| title = To Taste<br />
| image = to_taste.png<br />
| titletext = Look, recipe, if I knew how much was gonna taste good, I wouldn't need you.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|First draft}}<br />
Some recipes tell you to add an ingredient "to taste". When cooking, you generally add spice as you go since this helps to develop the most flavor. This can lead to the need to adjust the spice levels at the end of cooking, hence adding "to taste", since the writer of the recipe does not know how much will be needed. This also gives you some freedom to pick how exactly you'd like the end result to taste. In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown as possibly having a massive sweet tooth, and adding large crates of sugar to a small pot, because sugar tastes good. However, this would most likely make the recipe very overly sweet.<br />
<br />
<br />
Alternatively he just brings in enough sugar so he will not run out of his ingredient before it reaches the correct level of sweetness for his taste.<br />
<br />
The title text indicates that bringing in this much sugar is out of ignorance: Cueball ([[Randall]]) does not know how much sugar he would like in this dish, and usually relies on the recipe specifying an exact amount and if he did know how much to put in, he would not need the recipe.<br />
<br />
The usual cliché in recepies is "add ''salt'' to taste", for savoury dishes, but perhaps we've already had [[1637|too much salt]], and/or we're skipping straight to the pudding.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball is standing near a pot on a stove. He is reading a recipe.]<br />
<br />
Recipe: ...and add sugar to taste.<br />
<br />
Cueball: ??<br />
<br />
[Cueball walks off-panel. He returns with a dolly loaded with boxes labeled "SUGAR".]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1597:_Git&diff=1042031597: Git2015-10-30T12:34:02Z<p>173.245.54.61: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1597<br />
| date = October 30, 2015<br />
| title = Git<br />
| image = git.png<br />
| titletext = If that doesn't fix it, git.txt contains the phone number of a friend of mine who understands git. Just wait through a few minutes of 'It's really pretty simple, just think of branches as...' and eventually you'll learn the commands that will fix everything.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Can someone who understands Git please explain how it works? Some information on graph theory might be helpful}}<br />
{{w|Git (software)|Git}} is a {{w|Version control|version control}} system often used to track changes to (usually) plain text files, such as computer code. Within a folder and its subfolders, the user can tell Git which files to keep track of changes for. All the files that are being tracked in this manner make up a repository. Internally, Git works by saving the differences between various versions of the files, rather than creating a new copy each time the user "commits" the current version of the code. This approach allows the user to switch between various versions of the code fairly quickly. However, this can be confusing for new users because when changing between versions, Git effectively rewrites the files under its control to match that version - one file may have several different versions depending on which state Git has set it to, but only one of these versions is visible at any given moment. The others are not hidden or moved, they do not exist until Git modifies the file to match that version.<br />
<br />
In addition to allowing the user to track changes to the files over time using "commits" (versions of the files stored by the user), Git also allows the user to develop several versions of the files in parallel using "branches" (mentioned in the title text). This allows a programmer to, for example, keep a stable, functioning version of their code in one branch, while developing a new feature in a separate branch. When the new feature is ready, Git provides tools to efficiently "merge" the changes from the development branch back into the main branch. While powerful, there are also several pitfalls which can confuse users. For example, a file may have only been committed in one branch (so it is only visible in that branch), causing a user who has switched to a different branch to think that file was lost somehow.<br />
<br />
Sharing a Git repository with other users is done through a remote repository, such as [https://github.com/ GitHub], [https://about.gitlab.com/ GitLab], or one set up by the user themselves. This remote repositories act as a central location through which collaborates share their work. Changes do not automatically propagate between users; instead, once someone has changes they are ready to share, they must upload ("push" in Git terminology) their changes to the remote repository. Other users can then download ("pull") those changes. This allows each user complete control over when changes are applied to their version of the files. Once one user has pushed his or her changes, all other users will need to merge those changes into their code before they can push. Depending on how much the changes conflict, Git may be able to automatically combine both users' version, or the user may need to do so manually.<br />
<br />
In programming, Git is a very popular way to share source code of programs between computers and users and thus work on projects collaboratively. <br />
<br />
However, problems often arise when, for example, one attempts to upload code to a file someone else has already edited. <br />
Git has quite a few tricks to handle "merging" itself. <br />
<br />
One way of simplifying collaboration is to work in a "branch", the same files that everyone has, but your changes do not become visible to other users yet. Only when you merge (there we go again) your branch with the master branch, other users will see your "commits".<br />
<br />
But, due to the complex nature of Git (and its notoriously counter-intuitively named commands), a large portion of users are unable to use it beyond basic commands. They consider it usually much more efficient just to save the code to a different file, download a newer copy, and then re-apply their original changes to the new copy than to try and understand and use Git's own convoluted built-in commands to attempt to fix it properly.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball points to a computer on a desk near Ponytail and Hairy.]<br />
:Cueball: This is Git. It tracks collaborative work on projects through a beautiful distributed graph theory tree model.<br />
:Ponytail: Cool. How do we use it?<br />
:Cueball: No idea. Just memorize these shell commands and type them to sync up. If you get errors, save your work elsewhere, delete the project, and download a fresh copy.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:674:_Natural_Parenting&diff=68898Talk:674: Natural Parenting2014-06-05T04:26:15Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
<hr />
<div>The song "Doing What Comes Naturally" from Irving Berlin's ''Annie Get Your Gun'' also explores this meaning: "Grandpa Bill is on the hill / with someone he just married. / There he is at ninety-three / doing what comes naturally." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 19:41, 22 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The title text includes the phrase "the mother of all sampling biases". This is a riff on the phrase "the mother of all battles", which was originally used by Saddam Hussein, the late president of Iraq, to refer to the first Gulf War (1990-1991, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was later beaten back to its borders by a coalition of forces from other countries). Since then, the phrase "the mother of all X" for various X has become something of a meme. Here, it's more ironic than usual, because (a) parenting can sometimes be viewed as something of a battle and (b) as the explanation already suggests, the comic is literally about being a parent.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.61|173.245.54.61]] 04:26, 5 June 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1310:_Goldbach_Conjectures&diff=57145Talk:1310: Goldbach Conjectures2014-01-10T03:34:59Z<p>173.245.54.61: </p>
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<div>If a bot can create the text I read here, we have made great strides in artificial intelligence. Probably a human editor forgot to change the "incomplete/incorrect" heading. [[User:Tenrek|Tenrek]] ([[User talk:Tenrek|talk]]) 05:53, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:You never know, AI has come a loong way. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:39, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::Let's ask: Tepples, are you a bot? And 199.27.128.62, what about you? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:09, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:::Yes, I'm a bot. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.62|199.27.128.62]] 21:42, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I thought that <nowiki>{{incomplete|Created by a BOT}}</nowiki> means that the template was inserted by a BOT. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 13:55, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:It does mean that. But as others edit the page, they should keep the "incomplete" reason up-to-date. I've changed it to "incomplete|surely not quite complete yet..." ;) [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:28, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I will change this text template beginning at the Friday update when I'm back home. Happy NEW YEAR to everybody! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:16, 30 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It all seems to work except that the extremely strong seems to imply the opposite of the extremely weak [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 02:19, 31 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I think the mistake is in the implication of the very weak to the extremely weak version. In fact, if there is any connection between those two statements it is an implication that goes the other way round. If the extremely strong version is true, we are not looking at the natural numbers. Thus, "Every number greater than 7 is the sum of two other numbers." does ''not'' imply "Numbers just keep going.", at all. (Also this accounts for no numbers at all, so the very weak version would still be correct.) Then there is the case that the extremely strong version is false. An implication from something false to anything is always true. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.200|173.245.53.200]] 07:30, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
---I disagree with this, as it is not incorrect to say that "numbers keep going towards seven" as there are an infinite number of numbers approaching 7. Also, the extremely weak conjecture could easily refer to numbers in the negative direction only.<br />
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I always find it amusing that people assume that something phrased 'scientifically' is therefore right, whereas something phrased unscientifically (eg religious beliefs taken on faith) are automatically wrong. There seems to be an unexamined assumption that science is some magical dark art for uncovering infallible truths. Of course science is really just a methodological system for testing theories. Whenever I try to explain this concept, I try to come up with a general, untestable (non-scientific) assertion that is nonetheless true, alongside a very specific, repeatedly testable (falsifiable) assertion that is therefore eminently scientific, but which happens to be wrong. (Eg "it sometimes rains on Wednesday" and "it rains at least 100mm every Wednesday in Riyadh"). So for me this comic is a commentary on that principle - that the "strength" of a statement is only really impressive if it has also survived testing. [[User:Tarkov|Tarkov]] ([[User talk:Tarkov|talk]]) 10:47, 31 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The assumption is not "that science is some magical dark art for uncovering infallible truths" but that science works. [[54: Science|Bitches]]. Also, the example you have given is quite bad considering that your first statement is so vague that it is essentially meaningless and apparently, what you want to say with your second statement is that falsifiable claims are falsifiable, which is pretty trivial. Finally, the statements that are phrased unscientifically are not assumed to be automatically wrong but they are impossible to be proven or disproven and are often worded so vaguely that nobody in the known universe knows just what the hell they are supposed to even mean. They are just empty phrases that carry no information whatsoever. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.200|173.245.53.200]] 07:30, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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According to the strong twin prime conjecture, all positive numbers greater than one are prime, due to 2 and 3 both being prime and extrapolation on primes from there. Thus, this nearly proves the very strong Goldbach conjecture, excluding one. Should this be noted in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 02:08, 1 January 2014 (UTC)(Kyt)<br />
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: I don't know if it's worth complicating things to bring the matter up. It's potentially more complicated than a simple error; in Goldbach's day, people still sometimes thought of 1 as a prime number (which simplifies his conjectures). —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 18:00, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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This also reminds me of those psychological tests that ask how you feel about this and that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.226.228|108.162.226.228]] 15:02, 1 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Don't forget the first rule of tautology club. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.236|141.101.98.236]] 18:07, 1 January 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.61