Bookmarks (203)

Cursed Chair

xkcd.com

The Wirecutter staff called the Herman Miller Siege Perilous "the most cursed product we've ever had...

The Wirecutter staff called the Herman Miller Siege Perilous "the most cursed product we've ever had to fight" and "nearly as immortal as it boasts."

1

Hamster Ball 2

xkcd.com

The worst is being teased by responsible, mask-wearing teens. They even spritz the hamster ball with...

The worst is being teased by responsible, mask-wearing teens. They even spritz the hamster ball with disinfectant before rolling it, carefully avoiding the filter vents.

1

Acceptable Risk

xkcd.com

Good thing I'm not already prone to overthinking everyday decisions!

2

Universal Rating Scale

xkcd.com

There are plenty of finer gradations. I got 'critically endangered/extinct in the wild' on my exam,...

There are plenty of finer gradations. I got 'critically endangered/extinct in the wild' on my exam, although the curve bumped it all the way up to 'venti.'

1

Space Basketball

xkcd.com

My shooting will improve over the short term, but over the long term the universe will...

My shooting will improve over the short term, but over the long term the universe will take more shots.

1

Oily House Index

xkcd.com

We're underwater on our mortgage thanks to the low price of water.

1

Five Word Jargon

xkcd.com

My other (much harder) hobby is trying to engineer situations where I have an excuse to...

My other (much harder) hobby is trying to engineer situations where I have an excuse to use more than one of them in short succession.

1

Endorheic Basin

xkcd.com

My biggest fear is that colonial engineers will try to flood me to generate electricity. My...

My biggest fear is that colonial engineers will try to flood me to generate electricity. My biggest hope is that I'll develop sailing stones.

1

Old Days 2

xkcd.com

The git vehicle fleet eventually pivoted to selling ice cream, but some holdovers remain. If you...

The git vehicle fleet eventually pivoted to selling ice cream, but some holdovers remain. If you flag down an ice cream truck and hand the driver a floppy disk, a few hours later you'll get an invite to a git repo.

1

Modeling Study

xkcd.com

You've got questions, we've got assumptions.

1

ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral

xkcd.com

The ISO 216 standard ratio is cos(45°), but American letter paper is 8.5x11 because it uses...

The ISO 216 standard ratio is cos(45°), but American letter paper is 8.5x11 because it uses radians, and 11/8.5 = pi/4.

1

Low-Background Metal

xkcd.com

The only effect on the history books were a few confusing accounts of something called 'Greek...

The only effect on the history books were a few confusing accounts of something called 'Greek fire.'

1

Millennium Problems

xkcd.com

The hard part about opening a hole in the proof of the Poincaré conjecture is that...

The hard part about opening a hole in the proof of the Poincaré conjecture is that Grigori Perelman will come out of retirement to try to fix it by drawing a loop around the hole and contracting it to a point.

1

Large Number Formats

xkcd.com

10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random...

10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field

1

Dynamic Entropy

xkcd.com

Despite years of effort by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced...

Despite years of effort by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced that 'dynamical' is not really a word.

1

Pinouts

xkcd.com

The other side of USB-C is rotationally symmetric except that the 3rd pin from the top...

The other side of USB-C is rotationally symmetric except that the 3rd pin from the top is designated FIREWIRE TRIBUTE PIN.

1

Hair Growth Rate

xkcd.com

Hourly haircuts would be annoying, but they'd be easier to do yourself, since you'd have adjacent...

Hourly haircuts would be annoying, but they'd be easier to do yourself, since you'd have adjacent hairs as a guide. Growing it out would be a huge pain, though.

1

Eventual Consistency

xkcd.com

Later I'm going to get a head start on the heat bath.

1

Carcinization

xkcd.com

Nature abhors a vacuum and also anything that's not a crab.

1

Wrong Times Table

xkcd.com

Deep in some corner of my heart, I suspect that real times tables are wrong about...

Deep in some corner of my heart, I suspect that real times tables are wrong about 6x7=42 and 8x7=56.

1

mbmbam

xkcd.com

Hello and welcome to Millibar Millibarn Attometer, an advice show for the Planck era.

1

Confidence Interval

xkcd.com

The worst part is that's the millisigma interval.

1

Great Attractor

xkcd.com

Living in the southern hemisphere was nice because I could jump extra high, but I like...

Living in the southern hemisphere was nice because I could jump extra high, but I like it here too. Besides, if I ever want to move back, I can just curl up in a ball and wait!

1

X

xkcd.com

The worst is when you run out of monospaced fonts and have to use variable-width variables.

2

Mount St. Helens

xkcd.com

It's a good mountain but it really peaked in the 80s.

2

Alive Or Not

xkcd.com

Computer viruses currently fall somewhere between prions and fire.

1

Common Cold

xkcd.com

Not even metapneumovirus, easily the common cold virus with the coolest name, warrants our sympathy. Colds...

Not even metapneumovirus, easily the common cold virus with the coolest name, warrants our sympathy. Colds suck. No mercy.

1

Coronavirus Polling

xkcd.com

If you want to see the polling questions we agree on MOST, you can check out...

If you want to see the polling questions we agree on MOST, you can check out Chapter 24 of my book How To, where I got the Roper Center on Public Opinion Research to help me design the world's least electable political campaign platform.

1

Preprint

xkcd.com

DOWNSIDES: Adobe people may periodically email your newsroom to ask you to call it an 'Adobe®...

DOWNSIDES: Adobe people may periodically email your newsroom to ask you to call it an 'Adobe® PDF document,' but they'll reverse course once they learn how sarcastically you can pronounce the registered trademark symbol.

1

Error Types

xkcd.com

Type IIII error: Mistaking tally marks for Roman neumerals

1

2020 Google Trends

xkcd.com

As the 'exotic animals in homemade aprons hosting baking shows' YouTube craze reached its peak in...

As the 'exotic animals in homemade aprons hosting baking shows' YouTube craze reached its peak in March 2020, Andrew Cuomo announced he was replacing the Statue of Liberty with a bronze pangolin in a chef's hat.

1

Turtle Sandwich Standard Model

xkcd.com

It's possible the bread and shell can be split into a top and bottom flavor, and...

It's possible the bread and shell can be split into a top and bottom flavor, and some models additionally suggest Strange Bread and Charm Shells.

1

Everyone's an Epidemiologist

xkcd.com

If enough people uphill decide to try the rolling strategy, they can make the decision for...

If enough people uphill decide to try the rolling strategy, they can make the decision for you.

1

Coronavirus Genome 2

xkcd.com

[moments later, checking phone] Okay, I agree my posting it was weird, but it's somehow even...

[moments later, checking phone] Okay, I agree my posting it was weird, but it's somehow even more unnerving that you immediately liked the post.

1

Coronavirus Genome

xkcd.com

Spellcheck has been great, but whoever figures out how to get grammar check to work is...

Spellcheck has been great, but whoever figures out how to get grammar check to work is guaranteed a Nobel.

2

Use or Discard By

xkcd.com

One of the things of bear spray says that, and I'm not one to disobey safety...

One of the things of bear spray says that, and I'm not one to disobey safety instructions, but there are no bears around here. Guess it's time for a camping trip where we leave lots of food out!

1

Sourdough Starter

xkcd.com

Once the lockdown is over, let's all get together and swap starters!

1

Garbage Math

xkcd.com

'Garbage In, Garbage Out' should not be taken to imply any sort of conservation law limiting...

'Garbage In, Garbage Out' should not be taken to imply any sort of conservation law limiting the amount of garbage produced.

2

Coronavirus Charts

xkcd.com

Adding data for South Korea but with their cases scaled to match the population of Japan...

Adding data for South Korea but with their cases scaled to match the population of Japan and the land area of Australia, and vice versa.

1

RIP John Conway

xkcd.com

1937-2020

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3

Thermometer

xkcd.com

I hate how many times you have to press it to get to the system normal...

I hate how many times you have to press it to get to the system normal people use, degrees Rømer.

1

New Sports System

xkcd.com

Under my system, boxing and football suffered, pair figure skating still worked but had to adapt...

Under my system, boxing and football suffered, pair figure skating still worked but had to adapt by dropping some moves, and pro wrestling was actually completely unaffected.

1

Homemade Masks

xkcd.com

I'm going to change the sign so the pole is horizontal and the sign is mounted...

I'm going to change the sign so the pole is horizontal and the sign is mounted on the front like a plunger, so I can carry it around like a lance to gently push people back if they try to approach.

1

Scenario 4

xkcd.com

Remember, models aren't for telling you facts, they're for exploring dynamics. This model apparently explores time...

Remember, models aren't for telling you facts, they're for exploring dynamics. This model apparently explores time travel.

1

Collector's Edition

xkcd.com

I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.

2

Pathogen Resistance

xkcd.com

We're not not trapped in here with the coronavirus. The coronavirus is trapped in here with...

We're not not trapped in here with the coronavirus. The coronavirus is trapped in here with us.

2

6-Foot Zone

xkcd.com

Technically now it's a 34-foot zone.

1

Recurring Nightmare

xkcd.com

Oh thank goodness, I forgot my clothes, so now everyone's looking embarrassed and backing away.

1

Sabotage

xkcd.com

So excited to see everyone after my luxury cruise home from the World Handshake Championships!

1

Exa-Exabyte

xkcd.com

To picture 10^18, just picture 10^13, but then imagine you connect the left side of the...

To picture 10^18, just picture 10^13, but then imagine you connect the left side of the 3 to close off the little bays.

1