Editing Talk:1743: Coffee

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For me as a non-native speaker this XKCD looks like the guests ordered Ground Coffee and Cueball didn't realize that ground might come von "grind". [[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]])--
: I hadn't even noticed that pun, thanks! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
:: Thanks for catching all the puns, that helped make the comic funnier. ''Explain xkcd'' at its best. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 01:35, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

With "I'm a regular Starbuck" Megan says, she is a regular visitor of Starbuck and has learned her skills there watching. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.168|162.158.83.168]] 08:10, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: Since the Starbucks coffee chain writes their name as a plural, I just assumed it was a cross-referential joke about the Starbuck character on Battlestar Galactica. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: I also like to think "Starbuck" here refers as much to the Battlestar Galactica character here as to the coffee shop.  I'm pretty sure he is the one who explained how things worked in the show.  Being from another time & planet, his explanations were usually a crude interpretation of actuality and were funnier for being mostly right but decidedly odd. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 19:04, 7 October 2016 (UTC) 
: On Capitain Ahab's ship in Moby Dick there was a chef mate named Starbuck. But I fail to see a connection to this XKCD. -- [[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 20:25, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

The expensive coffee filter comment might be a reference to the ridiculously high prices for vacuum cleaner bags. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.249|162.158.85.249]] 08:12, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: Ironic, since Dyson vacuums are "bagless" & use a canister instead. (Which is disgusting, by the way.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
:: Actually even Dyson vacuums have at least two filters in them. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.127|141.101.98.127]] 10:21, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
::: Filters, but not bags. Emptying & subsequently cleaning the removable canister on a bagless vacuum can be hazardous for anyone with allergies (or just anyone, if the canister contains toxic or noxious materials); Not that most vacuum-cleaners aren't basically big dust blowers anyway. Inboard HEPA filters mitigate the dust issue during use, but emptying the canister itself can be a delicate & irritatingly messy task. Aside from the bag material wasted during disposal, bag-vacuums are in some respects very much preferable to bagless. Personally, I recommend eschewing vacuum-cleaners entirely, avoiding wall-to-wall carpeting like the plague, & using area rugs which can be removed for a thorough cleaning (on BOTH sides). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:17, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
:::::why don't you just vacuum out the canister?  {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.105}}
Can you actually "hoover" something up with a Dyson? ;-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.22.72|162.158.22.72]] 08:37, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: Decidedly not! That's like saying you are "rollerblading" when you are actually just inline-skating, or calling any cola a "Coke". You don't go toyotaing in your Chevrolet & you don't Colgate your teeth; such branding idioms really annoy me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to gutenberg some compuserve post-its before my redenbachers are done kenmoring. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
::This may be a UK v. US English issue, my British friends all refer to vacuuming as "hoovering."  Through usage over years, some proper nouns become 'ordinary' nouns (e.g., linoleum, jacuzzi, etc.).  [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 03:19, 8 October 2016 (UTC)
::Additionally, there are many places in the US (especially in the south/southeast) where all colas (and sometimes, all sodas in general) are called 'Coke' and all tissues are called Kleenex.  Additionally, none of the proper nouns you mentioned as examples are often used as verbs, whereas 'to hoover' is in regular usage, as is 'to google,' even when the action is performed with a different search engine.  Finally, the term 'Rollerblading' is so commonly used instead of the phrase 'in-line skating' that it's lost its capitalization.  This entire conversation is pointless in its pedanticity.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.220|108.162.237.220]] 23:31, 9 October 2016 (UTC)
::OMG, I had always assumed that "to hoover" came from the tendency of the FBI to suck up enormous quantities of information, and was referencing the former director.  Sort of like how "the Don Ameche" meant "the telephone" to my parents' generation because of his role as Alexander G. Bell.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.126|172.68.78.126]] 10:41, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

megan explicitly calls them "grounds," probably because that's what they're called on the packet. no one mentioned beans. what made you think of beans? also, she's heard of "starbucks" and thinks it's a collection, and, since she is just one person she calls herself a starbuck. oh well. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.84|141.101.98.84]] 11:54, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

''are made of plastic and would melt or ignite if placed over direct heat from a stove'' – no, they wouldn’t; not as long as there is liquid water in it. You can even use a paper-cup to boil water. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 17:03, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: I thought about that too but it depends on the thermal conductivity of the material. Paper cups are thin enough to transmit the flame's heat to the water efficiently; the same is not true of a styrofoam cup. (Another word that is technically still a trademark, by the way.) I suspect a vacuum-cleaner canister would be thick enough and enough of an insulator that it would get damaged. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 01:35, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

::Also, some kinds of plastics, while not directly melting, will become "plastics" enough to bend under weight even in temperatures near boiling water. PET bottles will not survive boiling water, for example. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 15:21, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Another reason why the coffee will be very expensive: if you throw a package of beans on the ground, you need many, many, many beans, as there is not enough surface on the beans to make the water brown and give the water any taste. With ground coffee you can get several cans out of one package, the method illustrated here needs at least one package per try. --[[User:Anonymous guest]] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.29|141.101.104.29]] 20:19, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

I think this might also be related to the The Coffee Test, proposed by Goertzel as a way to measure [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence Artificial general inteligence]. By this standards they really seem to be "fake adults". [[User:Qbolec|Qbolec]] ([[User talk:Qbolec|talk]]) 15:16, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

When I first saw this cartoon - I thought that the point was that our heroes had looked online for a way to do this - and somehow tripped over one of those old vacuum cleaner adverts where the salesperson throws coffee grounds and water onto your rug, then vacuums it up to have it look like new.   I'm not sure that was what was in Randalls head - but it's another interpretation of the cause of the error that is being made in the story. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 01:37, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

When I saw the overall content, I thought it was in reference to the quality of Starbucks coffee... tastes about the same as drink something brewed off the floor.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.116|108.162.246.116]] 19:29, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

I have some issues with parts of the current explanation, primarily due to the fact that I own a Dyson and know its parts inside and out.  For starters, while it does have two filters, the materials collected in the canister are never in contact with either one.  Both filters are for removing fine particles from the expelled airflow, with the last one at the HEPA level.  In addition, my Dyson is not designed to vacuum liquids (although newer models may allow it), and some of the liquid might get to the first filter element at the motor and cause minor problems (yuck), but both filters are in fact washable and don't need be replaced.  Furthermore, when Megan is pouring out the canister, there's no filter in that area of the canister to remove either the coffee grounds or 'the ground' from the brewed coffee - I think this is part of the 'eewwww' factor with this comic!

Since this is a bit pedantic, I'm not going to alter the current explanation but wanted to point out these details from my own Dyson. Peace, out.  ;-)  --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 17:07, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

It could also indicate that the characters have never used the vacuum, as Cueball and Meghan don't even know how a vacuum filter works