# ­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:** 189
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3763 "2024-12-06T01:03:54Z")
An Infinite Armada of HttpQueryInfo Forbidden Successfully Completed Operations. Such an age of wonders we live in. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3764 "2024-12-06T19:51:33Z")
> **[Seismologists](https://xkcd.com/3021/)** > > And even when they're not distracted, they usually get kicked out for illegal under-the-net 'subduction spikes'. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3765 "2024-12-10T04:43:34Z")
> **[Making Tea](https://xkcd.com/3022/)** > > No, of course we don't microwave the mug WITH the teabag in it. We microwave the teabag separately. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3766 "2024-12-10T09:00:20Z")
Making tea in a kettle would I think anger any Brit more than the pot+mug combo, it certainly angers me and I’m just Anglophilic. You just boil the water in a kettle, you make the tea in a teapot (or in the cup, if you must). ---
**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:** [December 10, 2024, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3767 "2024-12-10T09:19:29Z")
Yeah, I think Randall accidentally transposed the words “kettle” and “pot”. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2024, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3768 "2024-12-10T09:34:44Z")
He transposed them solely to anger non-American anglophones _even more_. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3769 "2024-12-10T15:32:44Z")
My son was on a school trip to the UK this past summer. He and his friends stopped in a Starbuck’s. He ordered a tea (he dislikes coffee), and was delighted and amazed that it was served in a pot. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3770 "2024-12-10T17:31:22Z")
This is really, really common. They just put the teabag in the pot and pour in hot water, obviously, but still. I had an american friend who got themselves a kettle to make tea, and used to boil the water with the teabags in the kettle and pour it out. The very thought makes me ill, but they seemed to enjoy it. I just make tea in a mug these days. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3771 "2024-12-10T17:47:45Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > This is really, really common. They just put the teabag in the pot and pour in hot water, obviously, but still. This ia not meaningfully different from putting loose tea in an infuser and the infuser into the pot before adding the appropriate-temperature water to the pot and allowing it to steep. Other than the tea itself can be better than the floor sweepings often put into tea bags. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3772 "2024-12-10T23:18:32Z")
All guides to how to make tea invariably skip the most important step: Use quality tea. It’s true that some teabags are of horrible quality, but there’s no fundamental law to that effect, and it’s quite possible to get good teabags, or horrible loose tea. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3773 "2024-12-12T21:13:41Z")
> **[The Maritime Approximation](https://xkcd.com/3023/)** > > It works because a nautical mile is based on a degree of latitude, and the Earth (e) is a circle. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3774 "2024-12-12T22:12:21Z")
For metric sailors, there’s 1 m/s = 2 knots (error 2.8%). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3775 "2024-12-12T23:08:13Z")
The statute mile isn’t even the base distance measurement of the imperial system; it’s derived from the surveyor’s [Rod (unit) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(unit)), forty rods to a furlong and eight furlongs to the statute mile. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3776 "2024-12-12T23:29:14Z")
\pi \cdot \text{surveyor's miles} = \frac{4992}{1589} \cdot \text{international miles} , correct to 0.000000645%. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3777 "2024-12-13T00:01:38Z")
That’s not _that_ amazing since the international mile was created to reconcile really minute differences between the countries that still used British Imperial measurements, and a four-digit divided by four-digit number is by definition going to yield a ratio precise to eight digits. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3778 "2024-12-13T00:13:50Z")
I was hoping \frac{355}{113} would be close enough that I could use it, but it’s actually way _too_ precise! I had to use a bigger denominator to get a worse result. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3779 "2024-12-13T00:57:58Z")
Having to spend more to get a worse result– there’s an allegory in there somewhere. 😁 BTW: the code for fractions is new to me. Is that Discourse or some more general provision of preformatted text? We really need a quick reference for all the things the general toolbar doesn’t cover. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3780 "2024-12-13T01:05:59Z")
It’s inline LaTeX code. Can do all sorts of stuff. You can write it manually or use an online editor like this one: > **[Equation Editor for online mathematics - create, integrate and download](https://editor.codecogs.com/)** > > LaTeX equation editor that creates lightweight graphical equations (gif, png, swf, pdf, emf) and produces code to quickly and directly embedding equations into HTML websites, forums or blogs. Once you have the code, put it between two dollar signs. The fraction above looks like this in the editor: `$ \frac{355}{113} $` ---
**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:** [December 13, 2024, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3781 "2024-12-13T01:22:44Z")
It’s still a bit buggy here, though, especially when it’s quoted. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3782 "2024-12-13T21:13:42Z")
> **[METAR](https://xkcd.com/3024/)** > > In the aviation world, they don't use AM/PM times. Instead, all times are assumed to be AM unless they're labeled NOTAM. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=188) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=190)