# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 109
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2163 "2023-04-30T14:08:49Z")
Then there’s also the executives at MasterCard, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2164 "2023-04-30T20:53:09Z")
The same diagram famously(?) features in _Finnegans Wake_ [![](https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.S79_NLRlqGsSeD53DDMqRQHaFs) ](https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.S79_NLRlqGsSeD53DDMqRQHaFs) where (it is claimed by commentators) it is related to the precession of the equinoxes [![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rQYansvVUkk/VljzOsJFy1I/AAAAAAAAA6s/vg_Ld7RZPgo/s1600/FullSizeRender%2B%25286%2529.jpg) ](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rQYansvVUkk/VljzOsJFy1I/AAAAAAAAA6s/vg_Ld7RZPgo/s1600/FullSizeRender%2B%25286%2529.jpg) as well as various astronomo-mystical texts and poetry related to cosmic cycles, and the source of all life, a river delta, ALP’s vagina, etc. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2165 "2023-05-01T18:13:24Z")
> **[Tapetum Lucidum](https://xkcd.com/2770/)** > > Using a reflective wall in a game to give one shot two chances to hit is called a double-tapetum lucidum. Trivia: Most Siamese cats have a defective tapetum lucidum that doesn’t reflect light very well. So if your opponent in the video game is from Thailand, does the double-tapetum lucidum technique work? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2166 "2023-05-04T12:54:26Z")
> **[College Knowledge](https://xkcd.com/2771/)** > > 'Your chitin armor is no match for our iron-tipped stingers! Better go hide in your jars!' --common playground taunt ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2167 "2023-05-06T01:53:13Z")
For the record, this is the first time I’ve seen the college-knowledge bit at all. When I was a kid, it was just Mars-stars (NOT jars!) and Jupiter-stupider. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2168 "2023-05-06T05:06:42Z")
XKCD has done this before. > **[Girls and Boys](https://xkcd.com/1202/)** > > To get more knowledge ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2169 "2023-05-06T05:09:35Z")
> **[Commemorative Plaque](https://xkcd.com/2772/)** > > \[Below\] On this site on May 12th, 2023, I finally learned how to use the masonry bit for my drill. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2170 "2023-05-08T20:48:02Z")
> **[Planetary Scientist](https://xkcd.com/2773/)** > > This rumpled fabric at the corner looks like evidence of ongoing tectonic activity. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2171 "2023-05-10T22:21:02Z")
> **[Taxiing](https://xkcd.com/2774/)** > > I don't understand why anyone would pay full price for a flatbed truck rental when you can buy 'DETOUR' signs online for like $10. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2172 "2023-05-12T20:38:57Z")
> **[Siphon](https://xkcd.com/2775/)** > > ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2173 "2023-05-16T05:59:30Z")
> **[Crystal Ball](https://xkcd.com/2776/)** > > They often use ball lenses to collect light at the ends of optical fibers, so when you look stuff up on the internet you're actually scrying through a crystal ball. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2174 "2023-05-16T23:07:57Z")
> [@](#): > > ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there. A callback to [2115: Plutonium](https://xkcd.com/2115/). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2175 "2023-05-18T09:26:49Z")
> **[Noise Filter](https://xkcd.com/2777/)** > > Party Mode also enables the feature, but reverses the slider. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2176 "2023-05-18T16:00:57Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > [xkcd: Tapetum Lucidum](https://xkcd.com/2770/) Hmm. There was an Asteroids descendant game called Subspace which allowed player-on-player combat (I quit it because there was no option to reconfigure the awkward default controls to one’s liking). Is there another game that is being referred to in this strip? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2177 "2023-05-18T21:01:48Z")
Explain XKCD claims it’s similar to XPilot: > **[XPilot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XPilot)** > > XPilot is a multiplayer video game. It is open source and runs on many platforms. Although its 2D graphics have improved over time, they still resemble the style of Thrust. Gameplay includes Capture the Flag, base defense, racing and deathmatches. XPilot uses a client–server architecture, in which a central metaserver receives information from all XPilot servers on the Internet. > In 1991, Bjørn Stabell and Ken Schouten, then computer science undergraduates at the University of Tromsø, began wri... Dunno if the game has blaster-reflecting walls. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2178 "2023-05-18T22:10:33Z")
Space Wars from 1977. > **[Space Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Wars)** > > Space Wars is a shooter video game released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1977. Like the PDP-1 program Spacewar! (1962) it is based on, it uses black and white vector graphics for the visuals. The hardware developed for Space Wars became the platform for most of the vector-based arcade games from Cinematronics. It was distributed in Japan by Taito in 1978, and a Vectrex port was published in 1982. > Two players controlled different ships. One button rotated ship left, another rotated the ship ri... ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2179 "2023-05-18T22:33:43Z")
I played that in an early arcade in Connecticut (the other games at the arcade were mechanical (pinball, skeeball, etc.)). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2180 "2023-05-20T08:19:15Z")
> **[Cuisine](https://xkcd.com/2778/)** > > My connection to it goes way back, to my early days, when I was just a cloud of primordial hydrogen collapsing in the darkness of space. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2181 "2023-05-20T12:47:36Z")
Huh, I remember when I was making crepes for Mother’s Day, and they were worried about the flare from the _alcohol_ burnoff. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2182 "2023-05-22T07:04:12Z")
I mean, neutrinos are delicious, but they go right through me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=108) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=110)