# ­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:** 323
**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 6, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6443 "2026-10-06T01:15:24Z")
I’m almost afraid to know how many of these are actually accurate. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6444 "2026-10-06T01:16:42Z")
Same. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2026, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6445 "2026-10-06T02:02:34Z")
A spectrum band allotted to a now-defunct satellite telephone service that has been tied up in litigation for twenty years is entirely plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6446 "2026-10-06T02:11:14Z")
_Jarndyce v Jarndyce_ drones on. The scarecrow of a suit has in course of time become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. The parties to it understand it least; but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises. Scores of persons have found themselves made parties in _Jarndyce v Jarndyce_ without knowing how or why. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2026, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6447 "2026-10-06T04:04:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m almost afraid to know how many of these are actually accurate. Radio (shouting) is the AM band and radio (music) is FM, so those are pretty accurate. The TV channels and 1G/2G cellular bands are close enough. Part of me hopes the death ray band is real. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6448 "2026-10-06T06:44:33Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Isaac Asimov commented that most major scientific discoveries don’t start with, Eureka!" but rather, “Hmmm. That’s odd.” Nope. > **[Quote Origin: The Most Exciting Phrase in Science Is Not ‘Eureka!’ But...](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/03/02/eureka-funny/)** ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6449 "2026-10-06T18:12:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m almost afraid to know how many of these are actually accurate. Here you go: > **[ntia-us-frequency-allocations.pdf](https://www.ntia.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/ntia-us-frequency-allocations.pdf)** > > 267.43 KB ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6450 "2026-10-07T22:43:22Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Part of me hopes the death ray band is real. So, a 1920 kHz -Style Death Ray? ---
**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 7, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6451 "2026-10-07T23:36:38Z")
> **[Juice](https://xkcd.com/3308/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/juice.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/juice.png) > [@](#): > > I need to push some updates to the remote sensing instruments, which are there to measure the surface and definitely not do anything else. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6452 "2026-10-07T23:54:42Z")
Geez, first we lose Mariner 1 because someone mistook an R̄ for an R, and now this. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6453 "2026-10-08T00:34:24Z")
Is that guy Steve? > **[New Horizons](https://xkcd.com/1532/)** ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6454 "2026-10-08T18:10:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Which reminds me of the very first What-if: **[Relativistic Baseball](https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/)**. Which even today, 160 What-if’s later, remains one of my faves. The video version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3EI08o-IGYk/maxresdefault.jpg "What if you threw a baseball at nearly light speed?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EI08o-IGYk) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6455 "2026-10-10T13:26:29Z")
> **[Dogcatcher](https://xkcd.com/3309/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/dogcatcher.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/dogcatcher.png) “People out here catching strays out here catching strays” ---
**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:** [October 10, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6456 "2026-10-10T16:51:11Z")
Okay I’m having trouble parsing the alt text. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6457 "2026-10-10T16:57:30Z")
“Catching strays” means getting unintended or unjustified criticism. So dogcatchers catch strays (are unfairly denigrated) for catching stray animals. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6458 "2026-10-10T17:29:25Z")
Thanks. I did not know that meaning. ---
**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 10, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6459 "2026-10-10T18:02:16Z")
Ditto. I was utterly baffled. Or is that buffaloed? As in the infamous **[Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo)**? 🤪 Even now knowing that “catching strays” is an idiom for misdirected criticism, I still think he’s got a missing word error in the text. It ought to read something more like "People out here catching strays are out here catching strays”. I’d also think “there” works better than “here”. I’d rework the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6460 "2026-10-10T18:34:08Z")
Same. Thanks for the translation. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6461 "2026-10-10T18:46:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Same. Thanks for the translatio Adding to the chorus. ---
**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 10, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6462 "2026-10-10T20:39:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I still think he’s got a missing word error in the text. It ought to read something more like "People out here catching strays are out here catching strays”. Seeing as “catching strays” (as in bullets) originated in gangsta culture, I suspect Randall was going for a mock-Ebonics effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=322) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=324)