# ­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:** 257
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5123 "2025-10-30T01:29:17Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Or is that the point? IMO that’s _exactly_ the point. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5124 "2025-10-30T01:31:01Z")
I assume the resemblance between “OOH” and “.001” is coincidental… ---
**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:** [October 30, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5125 "2025-10-30T23:12:26Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Wouldn’t that be groundspeed, as the airspeed of an unpowered lighter than air craft tends to zero? Or is that the point? No, launching during a hurricane would work. It’d start off with a ground speed of zero, and it would take some nonzero amount of time to accelerate to match the wind. So for the moment right after launch, you’d have an airspeed of 200 MPH. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5126 "2025-10-30T23:39:47Z")
Something _mutatis mutandis_ like this kitesurfer? (Triggerwarning: [Blurry alleged youtube death on camera far away](https://youtu.be/Yzr_kkNHAiQ?t=10)) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5127 "2025-10-31T00:31:45Z")
Qualifier was level flight … ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5128 "2025-10-31T00:39:01Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Qualifier was level flight Even with that, a hurricane is where a record could be set. Hurricanes have sustained winds, but gusts of many mph higher. So either at the beginning of a gust or when a gust quickly slacks off, the balloon will have a very high airspeed. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5129 "2025-10-31T00:54:11Z")
My uninformed image is a quick vertical up down done. If the balloon lasts the up gust. I don’t imagine it surviving long enough to have any level flight. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5130 "2025-11-01T06:59:01Z")
> **[Heart Mountain](https://xkcd.com/3162/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/heart_mountain.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/heart_mountain.png) “Even geology papers about Heart Mountain are like, "Look, we all agree this ‘volcanic gas earthquake hovercraft’ thing seems like it can’t possibly be right, but…"” ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5131 "2025-11-01T13:17:36Z")
Maybe there was a [category 6](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-category-6-hurricane-meteorologically-possible) hypercane that day? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5132 "2025-11-01T13:31:29Z")
More, or as much as you want to know, about Heart Mountain. > **[Heart Mountain](https://www.geowyo.com/heart-mountain.html)** > > Largest terrestrial landslide in the world (49 million years ago) with memorable summit hike. Geology, maps, photos, directions, hike ​"For over a century geologists have been trying to understand the emplacement mechanism for the HMD that allowed it to move on such a flat surface. Recent work has focused on release of gas (CO2) along the detachment surface that allowed it to move like a hovercraft." Munroe sends me down a history rathole yet again. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5133 "2025-11-01T13:55:19Z")
From that article: > The white carbonate rocks on the top are blocks of Paleozoic Madison and Bighorn formations. They were originally deposited in a shallow sea about 350 and 450 million years ago, respectfully, about 30 miles away near the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park. It is nice to know that geological processes once had an ingrained sense of respect. Seems to be lost on today’s young volcanoes and earthquakes, which just go off with no respect for their surroundings or their elders. Looking at you, Mount St Helens! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5134 "2025-11-01T21:06:36Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5135 "2025-11-04T04:43:40Z")
> **[Repair Video](https://xkcd.com/3163/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/repair_video.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/repair_video.png) “The statue should be in the likeness of whatever sculptor posted the sculpting tool repair video that was most helpful during the installation of the statue.” ---
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5136 "2025-11-04T15:08:57Z")
While many such videos are genuinely helpful, there’s a distressing tendency for two minutes of useful information to get padded out to ten minutes. Worse, the information necessary for me to determine if the advice offered is actually useful tends to be buried several minutes in. IOW, actual utility is a secondary consideration to getting clicks. If they could post ten minutes of footage of dogs defecating and somehow get clicks, that would supersede genuine guidance. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5137 "2025-11-04T21:46:28Z")
running YT at 1.5 times the orig. speed and checking the “eyeballs histogram ™” on the slider saves me a great deal of time … ---
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5138 "2025-11-04T22:26:04Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > While many such videos are genuinely helpful, there’s a distressing tendency for two minutes of useful information to get padded out to ten minutes. Worse, the information necessary for me to determine if the advice offered is actually useful tends to be buried several minutes in. My biggest headache is usually that they are talking about a _slightly_ different version of the device in question, most common when we are talking about computers. " ‘Step 5: Select the Accessibility menu’–‘ **WHAT** Accessibility menu?!’ " ---
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5139 "2025-11-04T23:16:33Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > and checking the “eyeballs histogram ™” on the slider Today I learned. Thanks! ---
**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:** [November 5, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5140 "2025-11-05T15:11:14Z")
A lot of YouTube tutorials are pretty good. Every once in a while, you get one like a tutorial like the one I found for changing a spark plug on a generator. We had several small generators for the marching band that had not been maintained for a number of years. It seems that quite a number of band dads believe that owners’ manuals are for wimps. Honorary band dad, **Mrs Magill** thought that immediately throwing out the manuals (and the assorted tools that are included with the generators) was a Really Stupid IdeaTM, so she kept a set. After a couple of years (without being maintained… at all), the generators ran like shit. At this time, she was the leader of the band dads. She brought home six generators, set them on the back porch, gave me the manuals and tools, and told me to get them working. I did the easy things first, like changing the oil and cleaning the air filters. I then went to tackle the plugs. Knowing that not doing the plugs correctly can totally fsck up an engine, I decided to watch a tutorial. This guy, after spending five minutes talking about how the plastic body of this model always breaks, then proceeded to pry off the access panel with a screwdriver, rather than unscrewing the handy-dandy knob that was _right there_. At this point, i realized this tutorial was going to be an object lesson. He then drilled a massive hole in the top of the generator, so he could use his drill to unscrew the spark plug. Of course, he could have used the nice, little tool that came with the generator, but then he wouldn’t be able to use a power tool. He did show a shining example of a craptastic, dirty plug, but then re-earned my contempt by immediately putting a new plug in without checking the gap. To top it all off, he used his drill to tighten it. I wonder why his generators don’t run well. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5141 "2025-11-05T21:15:36Z")
> **[Metric Tip](https://xkcd.com/3164/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/metric_tip.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/metric_tip.png) “The package weighs 7 kg 9 oz.” ---
**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:** [November 6, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5142 "2025-11-06T01:39:58Z")
Perhaps something analogous to when the common usage of the weight unit “stone” got phased out? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=256) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=258)