Tag: xkcd

Space Is Cool

Well we made it to Friday. One of my longtime goals is to see the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. My plan for the winter of 2020 was to travel to Norway, maybe visit a friend, and then head north to Tromsø and take in the Polar Night and, fingers crossed, catch the show. Then that whole Covid thing happened and scuppered everyone’s plans.

Fast forward to 2025 and the Sun’s magnetic storms are/have peaking/peaked in their 11-year cycle and a number of solar storms have impacted Earth and set off aurorae powerful enough to be seen here in the mid latitudes. Even in central Philadelphia I could see the sky with an uncharacteristic green and red glow. Nothing crazy, mind you, but proof that, yes, Virginia, the aurora is real.

This week xkcd posted about how cool the aurora is and I totally believe him. After all, I have seen many a lunar eclipse, partial and full, and they are very cool. And I have seen a number of partial solar eclipses, and they too are very cool. But back in April 2024 when I saw the total solar eclipse out in Ohio…it was worth every minute of that drive to get out from underneath a cloudy sky. Life changing is too strong and hyperbolic a term, but the beauty, the eerie quiet before the clamouring of the insects, the sudden chill in the air, the smallness in the scale of the universe…anyway, I hope to perhaps someday experience something similar with the aurora borealis.

So take his advice. If you get to see the show, sit down, take a breath, and take it in.

Enjoy the weekend.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

The Sun’s Over the Yardarm

After all, matey, ’tis Friday.

For those unfamiliar with the expression, what is a yardarm you ask? On traditional sailing vessels the tall thing holding the sail is the mast. Back in the day it was often crafted from a tall tree—see the critical timber industry of New England and the white pines provided to the Royal Navy. From the mast, horizontal (usually) beams of wood, called spars, anchored to the mast provide the connection points for the sails. These spars, especially for the big square-shaped sails on the famous fighting ships of yore, are called yards. The yardarm is the end of the yard after all the bits and bobs controlling the sails.

Back in the day, when the sun rose over the yardarm, sailors knew the time had arrived for their first ration of rum of the day. And as today is the Friday before—in the US—a three-day weekend, somewhere in the world the sun is over at the yardarm.

In other words, this Friday is a good Friday to highlight xkcd’s post about the common type of sailing rigs. The combinations of masts and sails can be grouped into a thing called a rigging and we classify riggings based upon shared traits.

Happy Friday, all.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Flow Diagram from Hell

Well, not hell, but xkcd.

The last several months I have had to use a number of websites where the user experience broke down and I was forced to switch to using a phone. Only to have the phone try and direct me back to the website. Nightmarish stuff, people.

So Happy Friday!

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Pick Your Pizza

As many longtime readers know, I lived in Chicago for eight years. I probably had Chicago-style pizza fewer than eight times in my life. I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and for the last nine years I have lived in central Philadelphia, where pizza is very much a different thing. And in my life I have visited New York probably more times than I can count and obviously pizza is a culture of its own there.

The other day, xkcd posted about the various different regional styles of pizza.

Now I will not venture to throw my two cents in here on which pizza is the best. Rather, each has their own qualities that make them good fits for specific types of occasions.

What I will say is the mouseover state makes mention of Altoona-style pizza. As I am someone who visits the Altoona regional annually—and will be again next spring—I have indeed heard of the style. But, no, I have never tried it. Nor does it sound particularly appealing.

However, I had also heard of a Primanti Brothers sandwich of Pittsburgh fame, which includes French fries inside the actual sandwich. A few years ago when I visited Pittsburgh for the first time I did give one a go. But, and perhaps because I am not a fan of French fries, I found the sandwich disappointing.

So maybe some year I will give the Altoona-style pizza a similar go.

But right now, a slice of pizza, any other kind of pizza, sounds pretty good right about now.

Happy weekend, all.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Sharing a Coastline Between Friends

Another week has ended. Another weekend begins. I saw this a little while ago and flagged it for myself to share on a just for fun Friday. And since I posted a few things this week I figured I would share this as well.

It is remarkable it took the similarity of the two coastlines to “discover” continental drift, but that is, very broadly, the truth of the matter.

Enjoy your weekend.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Bridging the Difference

When I was a wee lad, I entered the school science fair and made models of different types of bridges. Suspension, cantilever, &c. I saw this a little while back and bookmarked it. As I am trying to get back into the swing of publishing here on Coffee Spoons, it’s time to bring back the less than serious Friday posts. So it’s xkcd with a small multiple of bridge types.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Twelve-Mile Circle

As a wee lad I grew up south of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, an old mill town situated along the banks of the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek. Drop a little stick in the Brandywine and it would float downstream until it joins the Christina River in Wilmington, Delaware and thereafter shortly into the Delaware River.

Delaware has tax-free shopping and movie theatres I frequented in my youth. First laptop purchase for university? Delaware. Furniture for moving out to Chicago? Delaware. In other words, when I posted my most recent map of where I have been, the three counties of Delaware were some of the earliest counties filled in.

Delaware—for better or worse—is seared into my mind. If you look at the state border, you will see the northern border is circular. Look at all other state borders and that circle is kind of weird. Most other borders are straight(ish) lines, mountain ridges, rivers, or bays. The reason is the border between Pennsylvania and Delaware was, essentially, taking out a protractor and drawing a circle twelve miles distant from New Castle, Delaware, the original capital.

Anyway, I have not thought about that in quite some time. But thankfully, xkcd did.

As many of you know, I love geography and so I am aware of many of these places. Lake Manicouagan is one of those places that has an island in it, which has a lake on that island, in which there is another lake. There might even be another island/lake combination, but I could be mistaken.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Electing An Expert in Nameology

Congratulations on making it to Friday. Though it was a short week for my American audience.

Now that the State’s Labour Day holiday has passed, the 2024 electoral season can begin in earnest. And to begin the insanity we have a helpful graphic from xkcd.

Clearly I’m not cut out for high office with a name of seven letters.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

The Observation Table

We made it to the end of yet another week. Before the weekend begins for most of my audience—though for my UK readers, enjoy the extended bank holiday and God save the Queen—I wanted to take a look at a graphic from xkcd that shows one can use different types of scopes to make different types of observations.

All the scopes.

I’m constantly thinking about getting a record player. But if I do, maybe I’ll just start calling it my radiogyroscope.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.