Editing 878: Model Rail
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | In model rail construction, | + | In model rail construction, {{w|HO scale}} refers to the currently most popular scale for modeling railroads, in which 3.5 millimeters in the model corresponds to 1 real-world Imperial foot. As the comic suggests, it works out to a ratio of about 1:87.1. In Europe, the scale is defined as exactly 1:87 instead, to avoid reference to non-metric measurements. |
− | + | [[Cueball]] is visiting his friend and they are down in his basement. The friend (who also [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|look like Cueball]]) is apparently a less-experienced train modeler, and he tells Cueball that he wants to make an HO model layout of his town. However, the more-experienced Cueball points out that this is a bad idea, due to nesting. To make it a perfectly accurate model, the modeller would have to include a model of his house, which includes his basement, which includes the model. So, he would have to make a model of the model, which will include a smaller model of the model, and so forth. This is illustrated in the comic. | |
− | At the end of these six nested models ''The Matryoshka limit'' is stated: "It is impossible to nest more than six HO layouts". {{w|Matryoshka doll|Matryoshka dolls}} are toys of Russian origin that can be stacked inside one another. Here, the "Matryoshka limit" is the hard barrier that follows as a result of the nesting. Matter is not infinitely divisible; once one gets to the level of atoms, it is impossibly difficult to go any smaller. The unit shown in the last diagram is the {{w|Angstrom|ångström}}, a very small unit of measurement ( | + | At the end of these six nested models ''The Matryoshka limit'' is stated: "It is impossible to nest more than six HO layouts". {{w|Matryoshka doll|Matryoshka dolls}} are toys of Russian origin that can be stacked inside one another. Here, the "Matryoshka limit" is the hard barrier that follows as a result of the nesting. Matter is not infinitely divisible; once one gets to the level of atoms, it is impossibly difficult to go any smaller. The unit shown in the last diagram is the {{w|Angstrom|ångström}}, a very small unit of measurement (1/10 of a nanometer, or 10<sup>−10</sup> m) that was created when humans started discovering atom sized things, like crystal structures and wavelengths. The last nested model looks like the atoms on a surface as seen using a {{w|Scanning tunneling microscope}} (STM). |
− | The rules of model train layouts reference the 1999 cult classic ''{{w|Fight Club}}'', where the first rule of Fight Club is "do not talk about Fight Club." However, while the club instituted the rule because their activities were morally and legally questionable, the rule in the comic was instituted by friends and family members who were | + | The rules of model train layouts reference the 1999 cult classic ''{{w|Fight Club}}'', where the first rule of Fight Club is "do not talk about Fight Club." However, while the club instituted the rule because their activities were morally and legally questionable, the rule in the comic was instituted by friends and family members who, apparently, were sick of hearing the train enthusiasts talk about model train layouts all the time. |
− | The "Philistines" comment is not referring to citizens of ancient | + | The "Philistines" comment is not referring to citizens of ancient Palestine (at least not directly), but rather the philosophy of {{w|Philistinism}}. {{w|Friedrich Nietzsche}} defined a Philistine as someone who is purely negative in how they define style, i.e. they know exactly what they hate and don't really have anything they like. A common stereotype for artists is to refer to anyone who dislikes their work as "Philistines," thus dismissing their criticism as being part of a larger personality defect on the critic's part rather than any particular failing of the artwork in question. |
− | The title text references {{w|HO scale}} and, more specifically, whether it should be spelled with the letter "O" or the number zero (0). Such debates often seem petty to the "layman", yet the people involved in the debates can form ''very'' strong feelings for their side. Randall recognizes "nerdy tendencies" almost immediately when he gets the urge to take a side. | + | The title text references {{w|HO scale}} and, more specifically, whether it should be spelled with the letter "O" or the number zero (0). Such debates often seem petty to the "layman", yet the people involved in the debates can form ''very'' strong feelings for their side. Randall recognizes "nerdy tendencies" almost immediately when he gets the urge to take a side. The comic [[1167: Star Trek into Darkness]] is about a similar debate on Wikipedia. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball to the left and his friend, who also looks like Cueball, are standing in the | + | :[Cueball to the left and his friend, who also looks like Cueball, are standing in the friends rather large basement, where the celling is held up by six thin columns, and the walls are shown angling in towards a point of perspective, to display how big the room is.] |
:Friend: I want to build a perfect HO-scale (~1/87) model train layout of my town. | :Friend: I want to build a perfect HO-scale (~1/87) model train layout of my town. | ||
:Cueball: In your basement? Bad idea. Never make a layout of the area you're in. | :Cueball: In your basement? Bad idea. Never make a layout of the area you're in. | ||
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:[Zoom in Cueball's friend who takes his hand to his chin.] | :[Zoom in Cueball's friend who takes his hand to his chin.] | ||
:Friend: So? That's be cool! I'd make tiny replicas of my rooms, my furniture— | :Friend: So? That's be cool! I'd make tiny replicas of my rooms, my furniture— | ||
− | :Cueball (off-screen): —And your train layout? | + | :Cueball (off-screen)l: —And your train layout? |
− | :[Beneath this first row of the comic is | + | :[Beneath this first row of the comic is zoom out of how the full model would look in the basement. The town lies beneath some small mountains. There is some water with a bridge over continuing to the roads going through the city. There is no frame around this section, but instead there follows five zoom-outs, each one going from the friends house, that proceeds to a circular frame. Within each of these are shown a nested model. Starting to the right of the main model, and then moving down, then left, and then down and right. Each layer has a broken arrow above the model between two horizontal lines to indicating the scale, the length being written between the two parts of the arrow. Some foreign objects are also labeled to help understand the scale.] |
:[Layer 1, the model with the two friends standing to the left of it.] | :[Layer 1, the model with the two friends standing to the left of it.] | ||
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:Spider web | :Spider web | ||
− | :[Layer 5, with a cold virus (labeled) shown for comparison. It covers roughly a quarter of the model, taking up the water part of the model. At this level the | + | :[Layer 5, with a cold virus (labeled) shown for comparison. It covers roughly a quarter of the model, taking up the water part of the model. At this level the hole model becomes notably "fuzzy" as individual atoms are discernible, and most of the features apart from the mountain is indiscernible. There may be two viruses. The other would then be to the right of the one in the water but above the model. The label stands between them.] |
:320 nm | :320 nm | ||
:Cold virus | :Cold virus | ||
− | :[Layer 6, is simply spheres (atoms) at this point. The mountain near the back is the only noticeable feature, consisting of five atoms jutting out from the surface of atoms, which is | + | :[Layer 6, is simply spheres (atoms) at this point. The mountain near the back is the only noticeable feature, consisting of five atoms jutting out from the surface of atoms, which is be now mean flat, but has no other features than the mountain.] |
:37 Å | :37 Å | ||
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:more than six HO layouts | :more than six HO layouts | ||
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:Friend: My God. | :Friend: My God. | ||
:Cueball: Yeah. It's the second rule of model train layouts: No nesting. | :Cueball: Yeah. It's the second rule of model train layouts: No nesting. | ||
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:Friend: ...What's the first rule? | :Friend: ...What's the first rule? | ||
:Cueball: "Do ''not'' talk about model train layouts." That rule was actually voted in by our friends and families. | :Cueball: "Do ''not'' talk about model train layouts." That rule was actually voted in by our friends and families. | ||
:Friend: Philistines. | :Friend: Philistines. | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] | ||
[[Category:Recursion]] | [[Category:Recursion]] | ||
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