What-if: chat thread

cellocgw · Postby **cellocgw** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:43 pm UTC

ramblinjd wrote:
cellocgw wrote:Used to be that Randall would post a note warning us there'd be a late (or no) new What-If , but nothing at all for a couple weeks now?

I was wondering the same thing...

cellocgw wrote:What If... every NFL player who committed an assault or other crime were kicked out of the league?

I was actually wondering this too...

In that case you need to say "GOOMHC[ellocgw]" :mrgreen:

Flumble · Postby **Flumble** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:24 pm UTC

cellocgw wrote:Used to be that Randall would post a note warning us there'd be a late (or no) new What-If , but nothing at all for a couple weeks now?

1. There is obviously no room for a notice when there's already an advert for the book.
2. He hasn't missed a second deadline yet. (which seems to be Wednesday at 23:59 UTC-12)

squall_line · Postby **squall_line** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:14 pm UTC

Well he WAS on tour 5-September-2014 until 14-September-2014. He may have had a few comics in the queue waiting to post while he was away, but What-If's take more time to research and write, so I can see how the travel schedule may affect his ability to get new What-If's cranked out and posted.

Actually, I was pretty miffed this afternoon to see that there was still a dearth of What-If newness until I remembered his Tour and checked the dates.

teelo · Postby **teelo** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:21 pm UTC

What if I threw a series of coins at the tax man? How much money would it then cost to kill him?

Djehutynakht · Postby **Djehutynakht** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 3:22 am UTC

teelo wrote:What if I threw a series of coins at the tax man? How much money would it then cost to kill him?

Depends how good of a catcher he is.

operagost · Postby **operagost** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:13 pm UTC

cellocgw wrote:Used to be that Randall would post a note warning us there'd be a late (or no) new What-If , but nothing at all for a couple weeks now?

What, one appearance on Colbert and a few book-signing events and it's all over for the webcomic .

Well, then, here goes: What If... every NFL player who ~~committed~~ was accused of an assault or other crime were kicked out of the league?

I think my version is what we're really interested in. None of this suddenly large group of defendants has been convicted of anything yet.

teelo · Postby **teelo** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 9:24 am UTC

Still no new what if this week. I wonder that he has cut them back to every 2 weeks now and hasn't told us?

Neil_Boekend · Postby **Neil_Boekend** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:05 pm UTC

teelo wrote:What if I threw a series of coins at the tax man? How much money would it then cost to kill him?

Depends on how hard you throw. The difference between killing him with the weight of the coins on him and one coin at mach 1 is quite staggering.

Whizbang · Postby **Whizbang** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:16 pm UTC

Neil_Boekend wrote:
teelo wrote:What if I threw a series of coins at the tax man? How much money would it then cost to kill him?

Depends on how hard you throw. The difference between killing him with the weight of the coins on him and one coin at mach 1 is quite staggering.

{insert punsaw here}

rundlesm · Postby **rundlesm** » Fri May 15, 2015 8:29 am UTC

"What If updates are temporarily on hold ,and will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT"

Darn!

cellocgw · Postby **cellocgw** » Sat May 16, 2015 12:32 pm UTC

Well....

Let the competition for Best Reason He Chose That Exact Time and Date begin!

What-If we tried MORE PRECISION. "Note: What If updates are temporarily on hold,
and will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59.999999999999999999999997 AM EDT."

I'm pleased to note that it'll be my 35th wedding annniversary that day. :oops:

At least he isn't making us wait for a certain Unix epoch date in 2038

JonasRahbek · Postby **JonasRahbek** » Sun May 17, 2015 7:34 am UTC

Keyword: Pluto!

Jackpot777 · Postby **Jackpot777** » Wed May 20, 2015 6:54 pm UTC

Things happening on July 14th, 2015.

MLB's All-Star Game in Cincinnati, Ohio. Maybe someone will be HBP traveling at 0.9c before then.

First fly-by of the New Horizons spacecraft past Pluto. It's intended to pass within 10,000 km (6,200 mi) of Pluto, with this closest approach date estimated to occur on July 14, 2015 at 11:50 UTC. 1150 hours Universal, or GMT, is 0750 hrs EDT. Considering the time, this looks more likely a reason than a Devon Travis / Andrew Miller "What If: Major League Baseball Trading Places Edition."

jewish_scientist · Postby **jewish_scientist** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:01 am UTC

It took me a while to realize that this thread is about Randall not updating his blug and not how we should hypothetically react if Randall stopped updating his blug.

Sn0zz · Postby **Sn0zz** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:50 am UTC

I'm pretty curious to see what Randall has dreamt up this time for the New Horizons project. I assume that's what the date is referring to (as aothers have already pointed out), but knowing the nature of XKCD and Randalls interests, I'd say it's a safe bet. :wink:

mathmannix · Postby **mathmannix** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 5:54 pm UTC

I don't know about you all, but I am really pumped about New Horizons! After all, Pluto has a moon literally named after me.

Wikipedia wrote:Of the four small Plutonian moons, New Horizons is expected to get the best pictures of Nix.

Spoiler:

Copper Bezel · Postby **Copper Bezel** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:56 pm UTC

I bet it was named literally before a lot of people were named, and probably after a lot of other different people were named, too....

flymousechiu · Postby **flymousechiu** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:00 am UTC

But what if Randall doesn't resume the what-ifs?
JK, cannot wait to see the next issue. What-if is what got me into xkcd at first. (remember about the one with lasers? yeah, that one.)

SPACKlick · Postby **SPACKlick** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:14 pm UTC

3 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes

I am rather excited

Dthen · Postby **Dthen** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 5:59 pm UTC

Well, what if updates are temporarily on hold?

Pfhorrest · Postby **Pfhorrest** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:09 pm UTC

If updates are temporarily on hold then there will be a lack of updates for some finite period of time.

(Cue BHG: "What if we waited more time?")

Dthen · Postby **Dthen** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:39 am UTC

Ahh, I see. Thanks. What happens if we wait less time?

Flumble · Postby **Flumble** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 1:23 am UTC

Pfhorrest wrote:If updates are temporarily on hold then there will be a lack of updates for some finite period of time.

Who said anything about temporaries being finite? (well, in this case it is finite, because a finite end date is specified)

Dthen wrote:Ahh, I see. Thanks. What happens if we wait less time?

If you wait less time, there is still time to wait after waiting.

If you experience you meet someone multiple times and you have waited less time in between than the other, you might suffer from time dilation. In that case, keep a safe distance from black holes and visit a doctor.

Pfhorrest · Postby **Pfhorrest** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:29 am UTC

An infinite wait time is not temporary, it is permanent.

Neil_Boekend · Postby **Neil_Boekend** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:49 am UTC

That's where forever minus a day comes in.

PaintedDead · Postby **PaintedDead** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:26 pm UTC

Obviously the Pluto mission is only a consistence and the real reason is for end of Windows Server 2003. I mean that is far more important to science.

trpmb6 · Postby **trpmb6** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:15 pm UTC

New theory.

The time Randall posted is just a coincidence. It isn't going to be about New Horizons at all.

In fact, his new post will be about the release of Harper Lee's novel, Go Set a Watchman.

Whizbang · Postby **Whizbang** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:19 pm UTC

The What If? articles are due a fancification a la Umwelt or Time or Landing.

HES · Postby **HES** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:21 am UTC

Perfectly aligned to my lunch break!

yahiek · Postby **yahiek** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:51 am UTC

Where's my update?? The suspense is killing me now!

Edit: there we go

Agent K · Postby **Agent K** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:51 am UTC

Nothing so far....I can't take it anymoooore!

EDIT:
Five seconds later: Finally. :wink:

edo · Postby **edo** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:05 pm UTC

Ok, so do you folks think we are back on a two week "schedule" or is this a new hiatus?

rmsgrey · Postby **rmsgrey** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:21 pm UTC

edo wrote:Ok, so do you folks think we are back on a two week "schedule" or is this a new hiatus?

We'll never know that we've seen the last What If - only that the one before the most recent wasn't the last.

edo · Postby **edo** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:04 pm UTC

I don't know if I can take "What-if" being so spuroddic

cellocgw · Postby **cellocgw** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 4:29 pm UTC

What if... there are no new What-Ifs because nobody is asking good enough questions?

I think we can assume RM is not retiring filthy rich just yet since the regular comics still show up.

MitraSmit · Postby **MitraSmit** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 3:41 pm UTC

I have started to hate the proton earth and electron moon article. I've seen the first lines dozens of times now, and every time the hope for a new article that shimmers in my heart takes a harder beating, and sadness clouds my mood more and more. But I'm afraid if I don't regularly check if there's a new one, I will miss out entirely.

CharonPDX · Postby **CharonPDX** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 8:29 am UTC

MitraSmit wrote:I have started to hate the proton earth and electron moon article. I've seen the first lines dozens of times now, and every time the hope for a new article that shimmers in my heart takes a harder beating, and sadness clouds my mood more and more. But I'm afraid if I don't regularly check if there's a new one, I will miss out entirely.

+1

I know it's not due to lack of questions, I've sent in a few that haven't been answered.

The lack of updates (or even an announcement regarding when it will be updated again, like when this thread was started,) is making me sad. :cry:

kytau · Postby **kytau** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:05 pm UTC

CharonPDX wrote:
MitraSmit wrote:I have started to hate the proton earth and electron moon article. I've seen the first lines dozens of times now, and every time the hope for a new article that shimmers in my heart takes a harder beating, and sadness clouds my mood more and more. But I'm afraid if I don't regularly check if there's a new one, I will miss out entirely.

+1

I know it's not due to lack of questions, I've sent in a few that haven't been answered.

The lack of updates (or even an announcement regarding when it will be updated again, like when this thread was started,) is making me sad.

I took comic 1590 "The Source" to be the announcement that the plug was getting pulled on What-If?

Copper Bezel · Postby **Copper Bezel** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:05 pm UTC

There's an update indicating that that massage was a prank, encoded in the shading on the pyramid on the back of the US dollar bill.

ubikuberalles · Postby **ubikuberalles** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:10 pm UTC

edo wrote:I don't know if I can take "What-if" being so spuroddic

Google asked me: "Did you mean: sporadic ". I was hoping "spuroddic" was a new word I hadn't heard of before meaning "Will post, eh, whenever".

I'll take sporadic (or even spuroddic) any day if it means he'll post at least once in a while. But it's been FOUR months! I'm dying here!

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