# ­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:** 62
**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:** [February 5, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1222 "2022-02-05T03:07:35Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Sept 13th? That’s such an early teaser it’s frustrating rather than enticing. The way I read it, the countdown was just until it was available for preorder—i.e., when you could buy it. I wonder if the preorders are being used to help determine how many copies will be printed, given how far out it is. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1223 "2022-02-05T05:28:52Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > it’s frustrating rather than enticing I agree. I honestly don’t understand why any book would have such a long lead time in this day and age. If it’s edited and ready for publishing, an ebook can be published instantly, and it doesn’t take seven months to do a print run and distribute it. I know that in the 1930s, without computers and with manual typesetting, it usually took about two months from the time the text was finished until a book was published and distributed. If Randall is going to spend seven months promoting this book before it even appears, that seems like a bad decision to me. It makes me less likely to buy it. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1224 "2022-02-05T15:43:12Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > If Randall is going to spend seven months promoting this book before it even appears, that seems like a bad decision to me. It makes me less likely to buy it. Maybe he’s trying to give it time for the McMinn County school board to ban it to help to drive up sales. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1225 "2022-02-07T23:50:03Z")
> **[Sword Pull](https://xkcd.com/2578/)** > > Merlin really shouldn't leave his dirt bike lying around. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1226 "2022-02-08T14:37:18Z")
Somehow that feels like an xkcd out of time. Like something Randall would have written years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1227 "2022-02-08T15:33:08Z")
Maybe he did. It would be smart to have a few comics in his back pocket in case he doesn’t make a deadline, which is bound to happen from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1228 "2022-02-09T19:12:07Z")
> **[Tractor Beam](https://xkcd.com/2579/)** > > Did you base the saucer shape on pop culture depictions of aliens, or was that stuff based on your ships? Does the rotational symmetry help with ... hey, where are you going? ---
**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:** [February 9, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1229 "2022-02-09T22:47:38Z")
Reminds me of one time that I was dreaming that I was flying, and while still dreaming, designed some experiments to help determine how I was flying. For instance, monitoring where waste heat was dumped, to determine what part of my body was enabling the flight (and if there wasn’t waste heat anywhere, that would be even more interesting). Sadly, I wasn’t able to actually conduct the experiments. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1230 "2022-02-09T22:50:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sadly, I wasn’t able to actually conduct the experiments. Funding is so hard to get these days. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1231 "2022-02-11T19:44:11Z")
> **[Rest and Fluids](https://xkcd.com/2580/)** > > Remember not to take it easy. Put a hot washcloth on your forehead, remain standing, and breathe dry air while taking lots of histamines. You need to give your body a chance to get sick again. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1232 "2022-02-11T19:51:22Z")
Black Hat Guy was perfectly cast for this comic. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1233 "2022-02-15T18:53:59Z")
> **[Health Stats](https://xkcd.com/2581/)** > > You will live on forever in our hearts, pushing a little extra blood toward our left hands now and then to give them a squeeze. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1234 "2022-02-18T03:00:01Z")
> **[Data Trap](https://xkcd.com/2582/)** > > It's important to make sure your analysis destroys as much information as it produces. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1235 "2022-02-18T20:27:56Z")
I can certainly relate to this one, for several reasons. > **[Seven Years](https://xkcd.com/1928/)** > > \[hair in face\] "SEVVVENNN YEEEARRRSSS" ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1236 "2022-02-18T21:11:44Z")
Post that one again in about 2 years and a month. Which how long it’ll be until that next eclipse.\* . \*Actually eclipses happen every year or two. Seven years after the last one is when the next one happens in the US. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1237 "2022-02-18T23:53:54Z")
That was pretty touching. Is there a background story there? ---
**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:** [February 18, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1238 "2022-02-18T23:59:02Z")
An explanation, and a link to most of the related comics (there are several): [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Cancer](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Cancer) It’s now been \>11 years. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1239 "2022-02-19T05:14:26Z")
This is why I can relate to it. > [@I had an abnormal screening mammogram.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abnormal-screening-mammogram/797018): > > Yesterday, I went to another center to have a more advanced mammogram, as well as a breast ultrasound, and the doctor found something that she called an “architectural anomaly” and she wants me to have a needle biopsy, which is scheduled for next Thursday. I know women (and men too) have this done all the time, and the findings are usually benign, but I’m still terrified. Of course, me the idiot had to consult Dr. Google and really scared myself. :rolleyes: None of the images looked anything … ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1240 "2022-02-19T08:55:06Z")
> **[Chorded Keyboard](https://xkcd.com/2583/)** > > And even though it all went wrong / I'll stand before the lord of song / with nothing on my tongue but 'I don't understand, I swear I backed up my keyboard config before messing with it' ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1241 "2022-02-19T10:50:05Z")
That’s a reference to Leonard Cohen’s _Hallelujah_. But it also brings to mind Arthur Sullivan’s _The Lost Chord_. I doubt that Randall would know it, though. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ToBxsZKrUQU/hqdefault.jpg "Webster Booth- The Lost Chord") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToBxsZKrUQU) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=61) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=63)