# ­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:** 69
**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:** [April 26, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1362 "2022-04-26T17:35:43Z")
Pockels beats Popcorn in the final for me ---
**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:** [April 27, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1363 "2022-04-27T23:12:33Z")
> **[Lightsabers](https://xkcd.com/2612/)** > > A lot of Jedi romances start with this turning into a Lady and the Tramp spaghetti situation. I note that at the end, the two hilts are still stuck together. Maybe they both need to be turned off? And I’d have liked to see the blades in color. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1364 "2022-04-28T00:43:45Z")
Didn’t Spaceballs do this? ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1365 "2022-04-28T00:52:53Z")
In Spaceballs, the sabers wrapped around each other (“I hate it when my Schwartz gets twisted!”); Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis had to work together to separate them, resulting in them stumbling back to the walls. ETA: Or, to put it in a way the kids will understand- [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pPkWZdluoUg/maxresdefault.jpg "Spaceballs (11/11) Movie CLIP - Your Schwartz Is as Big as Mine (1987) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPkWZdluoUg) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1366 "2022-04-29T19:49:05Z")
> **[Bad Map Projection: Madagascator](https://xkcd.com/2613/)** > > The projection's north pole is in a small lake on the island of Mahé in the Seychelles, which is off the top of the map and larger than the rest of the Earth's land area combined. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1367 "2022-04-30T01:56:54Z")
I’m a little disappointed he told us where the projection’s pole is, because it would have been fun to try to find it. Little-known fact, by the way: A full Mercator projection is infinitely tall. Real maps just cut off at whatever latitude they think there isn’t anything sufficiently interesting beyond. That’s why that single tiny island ends up larger than all the rest of the world, and the lake on the island would end up larger than everything. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1368 "2022-05-03T01:48:36Z")
> **[2](https://xkcd.com/2614/)** > > It's like sigma summation notation, except instead of summing the argument over all values of i, you 2 the argument over all values of 2. Needs [square brackets] and {curly brackets}. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1369 "2022-05-03T04:46:23Z")
Is the cursed one a real thing? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1370 "2022-05-03T05:48:45Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Is the cursed one a real thing? . Don’t think so. The title text is making a joke that the lower 2 should be treated like the variable below the capital sigma in a summation. Now if the lower 2 was the same size as the upper, it’d be combinatorics notation. Although that would be a trivial combination, since it’s equal to 1. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1371 "2022-05-05T09:21:14Z")
> **[Welcome Back](https://xkcd.com/2615/)** > > 'We're shocked by the Notre Dame fire. Click for our tribute to--' \[okay\] 'Now that we're all staying at home these past few weeks thanks to this new coronavirus, we--' \[okay\] ---
**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 5, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1372 "2022-05-05T21:24:31Z")
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this app: > **[TornadoGuard](https://xkcd.com/937/)** > > The bug report was marked 'could not reproduce'. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1373 "2022-05-09T00:42:39Z")
> **[Deep End](https://xkcd.com/2616/)** > > Hey! No running in the back-arc basin! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1374 "2022-05-10T06:43:11Z")
> **[Maps](https://xkcd.com/2617/)** > > OpenStreetMap was always pretty good but is also now \*really\* good? And Apple Maps's new zoomed-in design in certain cities like NYC and London is just gorgeous. It's cool how there are all these good maps now! Can’t figure out how to get to Apple Maps. Probably only available on Apple computers. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1375 "2022-05-10T14:52:20Z")
> **[Maps](https://www.apple.com/maps/)** > > Maps is packed with smart features that make getting to and getting the most out of your destination fast and easy. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1376 "2022-05-10T17:08:09Z")
Ya know, I went to that page before posting. It has all kinds of what are more or less ads about the features of Apple Maps, but strangely enough, no actual maps. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1377 "2022-05-10T18:26:19Z")
Oh, I see now that when I click “Open Maps” at top right, it launches a different app. I’ll have to try it on my Windows machine and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1378 "2022-05-10T19:29:58Z")
Don’t get the “Open Maps” link. It may be because I’m running Ubuntu or may be because I don’t have an Apple account. Google may not have the prettiest maps around, but at least they don’t require me to have an account to use them. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1379 "2022-05-11T22:14:25Z")
> **[Selection Bias](https://xkcd.com/2618/)** > > We carefully sampled the general population and found that most people are familiar with acquiescence bias. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1380 "2022-05-11T22:25:18Z")
Re: Apple Maps Before the xkcd on it, I didn’t even know Apple was doing a map thing. Now today, only two days later, I’m out bicycling and what do I see? An Apple Maps car. I’ve been using Google Streetview for several years now and have never seen one of their cars in the wild. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2022, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1381 "2022-05-12T01:06:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Before the xkcd on it, I didn’t even know Apple was doing a map thing. They launched “Apple Maps” with iOS 6 in the 2012 release making it the default mapping feature in iDevices. Across the land millions were utterly underwhelmed by what it brought to the table, and promptly shoved it into the “unused bundleware” folder and installed Google Maps onto the home screen. …but they got better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=70)