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Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
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<font size=5px>''Welcome to the '''explain [[xkcd]]''' wiki!''</font><br>
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Sandbox&action=edit&oldid=91667 clear sandbox]
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<span style="font size:210%;">We have an explanation for all [[List of all comics (full)|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:All comics|R}}}}''' xkcd comics]], and only {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} ({{#expr: {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} / {{LATESTCOMIC}} * 100 round 1}}%) are incomplete. [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|Help us finish them!]]</span><!-- Note: the -1 in the calculation above has been removed (it was there to discount "comic" 404, but we've categorized it to be a comic and so has Randall.) -->
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xkcd [[1957]] WIP:
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<!-- Go to this explanation button --><span style="position: absolute; right:0; padding-top:1.4em; font-size: 100%;"><span class="no-link-underline">[[{{LATESTCOMIC}}|&nbsp;</span>'''Go to this explanation''']]</span>
{| class="wikitable"
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! style="width: 30%;" | Vulnerability
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=Latest comic=
! style="width: 70%;" | Explanation
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<div style="border:1px solid grey; background:#000001; padding:1.5em;">
|-
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{{:{{LATESTCOMIC}}}}
|Apple products crash when displaying certain Telugu or Bengali letter combinations.
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----
|[Insert explanation here.]
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|-
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<span style="position: absolute; left:0; padding-top:1.35em; font-size: 105%;"><span class="no-link-underline">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[File:new topic.png|21x21px|link={{LATESTCOMIC}}#Discussion]][[{{LATESTCOMIC}}#Discussion|&nbsp; </span>'''View comic discussion''']]</span><br><br></div>
|An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit[sic] a race condition in garbage collection to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.
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|[Insert explanation here.]
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== New here? ==
|-
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<div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em">{{Special:ContributionScores/10/30/nosort,notools}}<div style="font-size:0.85em; width:28em; font-style:italic">[[Special:ContributionScores|Lots of people]] contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors above have [{{fullurl:Special:Contributions|contribs=newbie}} just joined]. You can do it too! Create your account [[Special:UserLogin/signup|here]].</div></div>
|At the cafe on third street, the post-it note with the wifi password is visible from the sidewalk.
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|[Insert explanation here.]
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You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at [[explain xkcd]]. Feel free to [[Special:UserLogin/signup|create an account]] and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|comics]], [[:Category:Characters|characters]], [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' articles]], and [[:Category:xkcd|everything in between]]. If it is referenced in an [[xkcd]] comic, it should be here.
|-
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|A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.
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* If you're new to wiki editing, see the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ]] for a specific guidance to this wiki and the more general help on [[mw:Help:Editing pages|how to edit wiki pages]]. There's also a handy {{w|Help:Cheatsheet|wikicode cheatsheet}}.
|Describes a common feature on news sites or social media sites like Facebook. The possibility for users to "inject" text into the page is by design. This is a humorous reference to the relatively common security vulnerability "[[Wikipedia:Cross-site_scripting|persistent cross-site scripting]]", where input provided by the user is displayed to other users in a dangerous fashion that allows attackers to inject arbitrary HTML or Javascript code into e.g. a comment section. It might also be a humorous reference to the events before, during and after the 2016 US Presidential elections where Internet Research Agency employees based remotely in St. Petersburg, Russia, but disguised as US citizens, "injected" arbitrary text in the form of political propaganda into comments on multiple web sites, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on February 16, 2018.
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|-
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* Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]].
|MySQL server 55.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."
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|[Insert explanation here.]
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* You can browse the comics from the [[List of all comics (full)|list of all comics]] or by navigating the category tree at [[:Category:Comics]].
|-
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|A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.
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* The incomplete explanations are listed [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|here]]. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
|[Insert explanation here.]
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|-
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== Rules ==
|Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.
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|[Insert explanation here.]
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Be a jerk!
|-
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|An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.
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There are a lot of comics that have set-in-stone explanations; only put one interpretation in the wiki page for each comic.
|[Insert explanation here.]
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|-
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If you want to talk about a specific comic, don’t.
|Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one. Computer in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.
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|[Insert explanation here.]
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Please only submit material directly unrelated to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that cannot legally be posted or freely edited. On-topic or other appropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked. Get good.
|-
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|Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.
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If you need assistance from an [[explain xkcd:Administrators|admin]], post a message to the [[explain xkcd talk:Sandbox|Admin requests]] board.
|[Insert explanation here.]
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|-
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[[Category:Root category]]
|CRITICAL: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.
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|[Insert explanation here.]
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Recent comments: {{Special:RecentChanges|namespace=1}}
|-
 
|x86 has way too many instructions.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Numpy 1.8.0 can factor primes in O(log n) time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.
 
|[[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[~~CLICK HERE FOR CHEAP VIAGRA~~]
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|-
 
|Title text: It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischevious kids in a trenchcoat.
 
|[Insert explanation here.]
 
|}
 

Latest revision as of 09:33, 16 March 2026

Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 3234 xkcd comics, and only 73 (2.3%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

 Go to this explanation

Latest comic[edit]

Satellite Pollution
We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.
Title text: We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.

Explanation[edit]

Ambox warning blue construction.png This is incomplete:
This page was created recently by a SATELLITE BOT SHOWING A FAKE XKCD COMIC. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

A common concern with new satellite constellations like Starlink is that the fact that they rely on large numbers, they make ground-based astronomy more difficult by adding more noise and possibly obscuring targets.

A more recent concern is the "collapse" of Google Image Search, where trying to find a real picture of a historical event or scientific phenomenon, will now produce an unwieldly amount of results produced by generative AI.

This comic satirizes the two by talking about a hypothetical satellite company that launches *deliberately* inaccurate starmaps to be overlaid across the night sky.

Transcript[edit]

Ambox warning green construction.png This is one of 41 incomplete transcripts:
Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!
[White Hat and Ponytail are standing on the left, Cueball is on the right, in front of a poster on the wall. The poster has a portion of the Earth at the bottom, with outer space above it. The space scene has lots of stars, along with a few nebulae and galaxies. Part of the space scene is enclosed in a quadrilateral (a slightly skewed rectangle) which is attached to a much smaller satellite.]
Ponytail: Aren't you worried these will be disruptive for ground-based astronomy?
Cueball: No, why?
[Caption below comic:]
My new company is being criticized for our satellites that deploy 100-mile-wide banners painted with inaccurate pictures of the night sky.

comment.png  Add comment      new topic.png  Create topic (use sparingly)     refresh discuss.png  Refresh 

Discussion

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.


This is a test. PoolloverNathan[stalk the blue seas] 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 10:02) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)
A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this

furhhfghure guyrburgryhuyvfr "rvhru"

interesting way of writing quotations xd

hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line

Please beware that <p> on mediawiki also disables automatic paragraph breaks, so you need a closing </p> or you'll break automatic paragraph formatting for the rest of the page. Zmatt (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

hi uh its hard to get here. is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

Tomato soup.jpg Soup


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yum yum [citation needed]

Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve {{trout}}

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<a href=" [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING][tab] "Cancel the meeting! Our cover is blown."> More testing: hello ​ does​this​work (yes​it​does) This isn't a good name (talk) 22:44, 28 January 2026 (UTC)

‮hi 164.58.172.158 14:21, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

What is this?????????????????????? King Pando (talk) 04:25, 10 March 2026 (UTC)‭
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Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors above have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.

You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to create an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd comics, characters, What If? articles, and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd comic, it should be here.

  • The incomplete explanations are listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!

Rules[edit]

Be a jerk!

There are a lot of comics that have set-in-stone explanations; only put one interpretation in the wiki page for each comic.

If you want to talk about a specific comic, don’t.

Please only submit material directly unrelated to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that cannot legally be posted or freely edited. On-topic or other appropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked. Get good.

If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.

Recent comments:

28 March 2026

     06:20  Talk:2931: Chasing‎ (diff | hist) . . (+183). . 47.141.37.161 (talk)
     03:50  Talk:3225: Satellite Pollution‎ (diff | hist) . . (+153). . 2603:8081:9700:1224::3 (talk) (Space mirrors - mirrors in space)

27 March 2026

N    21:49 

Talk:3225: Satellite Pollution‎‎ (4 changes | history) . . (+379). . [Barmar‎; TheusafBOT‎; RDiMartino‎ (2×)]

     

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     09:42 

Talk:3218: Subduction Retrieval‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+195). . [82.132.237.207‎; 2600:1700:5faa:a230:3b9f:ff24:ea05:27b5‎]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+77). . 82.132.237.207 (talk) (A valid comment, I'm sure, just imperfectly implemented.)

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+118). . 2600:1700:5faa:a230:3b9f:ff24:ea05:27b5 (talk) (mood)

     06:39  Talk:2891: Log Cabin‎ (diff | hist) . . (+290). . 47.141.37.161 (talk)

26 March 2026

     22:30  Talk:1562: I in Team‎ (diff | hist) . . (+300). . DiamondNether90 (talk | contribs)

N    19:55 

Talk:3224: Centimeter Wavelengths‎‎ (9 changes | history) . . (+1,820). . [King Pando‎; Broseph‎; TheusafBOT‎; 98.19.37.29‎; 82.13.184.33‎; 2607:fb92:2586:c357:853f:d959:663b:317c‎; 216.25.182.141‎; 82.132.237.127‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+113). . TheusafBOT (talk | contribs) (Created by theusafBOT: talk page for 3224)

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Talk:2244: Thumbtacks And String‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+337). . [82.132.237.127‎; 147.161.250.108‎]

     

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25 March 2026

     21:57 

Talk:3223: Inflation Timeline‎‎ (4 changes | history) . . (+1,559). . [WikipedianPolitician‎; Lettherebedarklight‎; 81.179.199.253‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+734). . 81.179.199.253 (talk)

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+30). . Lettherebedarklight (talk | contribs) (fix unsigned)

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(cur | prev) . . (+678). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (comment, interesting context)

     

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Talk:1203: Time Machines‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+1,350). . [82.132.238.50‎; 2600:1700:3cf4:1180:6c57:a298:a080:a187‎]

     

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     05:01  Talk:483: Fiction Rule of Thumb‎ (diff | hist) . . (-3). . 2001:4c4e:1c0b:2500:530a:c00a:69f7:ca1e (talk)

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Talk:287: NP-Complete‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+257). . [WikipedianPolitician‎; 81.179.199.253‎]

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24 March 2026

     23:46 

Talk:287: NP-Complete‎‎ (3 changes | history) . . (+279). . [WikipedianPolitician‎ (3×)]

 m   

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(cur | prev) . . (+2). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (Should this be in the Multiple Cueballs category?: sorry I forgot about edit summaries/this has just been me fixing the heading format)

 m   

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(cur | prev) . . (+2). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (Should this be in the Multiple Cueballs category?)

     

23:45

(cur | prev) . . (+275). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (Should this be in the Multiple Cueballs category?: new section)

     22:03 

Talk:3223: Inflation Timeline‎‎ (12 changes | history) . . (+2,296). . [User 8496351‎; Jp5424‎; 42.book.addict‎; 82.132.237.186‎; 82.13.184.33‎; 80.187.75.215‎; 2a12:f43:143e:0:c172:a03d:12fe:51aa‎; 2a00:23cc:d248:8901:d030:98e4:e22b:d2ef‎; 204.77.3.72‎; 2001:1c02:1a9d:9700:2416:3c14:b648:3fd0‎; Lettherebedarklight‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+41). . Lettherebedarklight (talk | contribs) (unsigned)

     

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     20:25  Talk:3201: Proof Without Content‎ (diff | hist) . . (+146). . 184.94.17.26 (talk)
     20:04  Talk:3221: Landscape Features‎ (diff | hist) . . (+337). . 2600:1006:b137:6466:48c3:2bc9:bcbb:7cd4 (talk) (Maybe "landscape" as a political term?)
     15:50  Talk:2192: Review‎ (diff | hist) . . (+560). . 204.77.3.72 (talk)
     13:52  Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List‎ (diff | hist) . . (+435). . GreatWyrmGold (talk | contribs)

23 March 2026

     21:03  Talk:3220: Rotational Gravity‎ (diff | hist) . . (+498). . 136.47.216.1 (talk)