explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1586: Keyboard Problems

2015-10-05T15:34:25Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */ fix and extend Terminator reference

{{comic
| number = 1586
| date = October 5, 2015
| title = Keyboard Problems
| image = keyboard_problems.png
| titletext = In the future, a group of resistance fighters send me back in time with instructions to find the Skynet prototype and try to upgrade it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft. Characters from The Terminator could be explained better. Is there a "comics with Terminator" category? Anything else you can think of}}
This comic is about how computer problems appear with no obvious cause. Even technically skilled people often find themselves powerless to diagnose the problem, and resort to tricks and quirks to solve or circumvent the problem without really understanding how or why the trick should work.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] complains that some keys in his keyboard don't work. Generally speaking, this could be due either to a software problem (i.e. the keyboard driver not working properly, or some program ignoring keypresses) or to a hardware problem (the keyboard is physically damaged, typically because of dirt under the keys).

If the problem is in software, booting from a different operating system (e.g. an external recovery disk) should solve it, as the computer would not be using the faulty software. Conversely, if the problem is in hardware, changing the keyboard should solve the problem as the new keyboard is not physically damaged and has no dirt under the keys.

However, the problem stays there after booting from an external recovery disk (so it's not a software problem) and it has "followed Cueball since his last computer" (i.e. persists after changing the keyboard and even the whole computer, so it's not a hardware problem). Cueball is reasonably puzzled.

[[Megan]] seems to be used to Cueball's computer behaving strangely, and she doesn't even attempt to explain or solve the problem. The only explanation she needs for the problem is that "it's Cueball's computer". The characters in this comic are probably the same as in [[1084: Server Problem]] and [[1316: Inexplicable]].

The last panel is a reference to {{w|The Terminator}}, a 1984 movie often referenced in xkcd. In the movie, the artificial intelligence named Skynet initiates a nuclear war, destroying most of humanity, then it sends killing machines to finish the rest. These include flying drones - Megan suggests that if such robots come to Cueball's vicinity, they will (physically) crash since computers around Cueball can't seem to ever work properly, and so hiding in Cueball's house she should be safe from the robots.

The title text refers to main plot of the movie, or rather it's sequel {{w|Terminator 2: Judgment Day}} - as Skynet's army is losing the battle against human Resistance movement, it finds a way how to send a humanoid robot {{w|Terminator_(character)|T800}} back in time to kill the mother of the Resistance's leader. The Resistance in turn sends a soldier back in time to protect her. In the sequel, the situation repeats with more advanced {{w|T-1000}} being the killer and T-800 being the protector of the kid - future leader. Along the way, they manage to destroy research lab where future Skynet hardware is to be born. The title suggest alternative mission into the past, using Cueball's power to cause Skynet's malfunction instead of destroying it physically (as Skynet got created later anyways, despite the destruction of the research lab).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball] sits between two laptops. Megan stands behind him.]

:Cueball: Keys on my keyboard keep failing, even when I boot from an external recovery disk.
:Megan: Sounds like it's hardware, then.

:[Cueball moves over to the laptop behind him.]

:Cueball: Yeah... except the problem followed me from my ''last'' computer.
:Megan: You have the most ''bizarre'' tech issues.

:[Cueball picks up the keyboard from the rear computer and plugs it into the one in front of him.]

:Cueball: It must be spreading via keyboards. This one won't work with ''any'' computer now.
:Megan: When the robot apocalypse happens, I'm hiding out in your house. Any Skynet drones that come near will develop inexplicable firmware problems and crash.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Terminator]]

Talk:453: Upcoming Hurricanes

2014-05-13T12:32:20Z

141.101.97.215:

I wonder, is there a reason why Randall chose cos(x) over sin(x)? Is there a y-axis somewhere on the map? Not that it matters; just curious... [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) 23:24, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
:''cos(x)'', ''sin(x)'', they're the same thing, plus or minus pi/4... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:57, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
Something seems off about this explanation. Like reading a blog. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 05:14, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

:If something is less than satisfactory, you are fully welcome (and even encouraged) to edit the explanation to be better. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:37, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

Whoever said hurricanes cannot form within 5 degrees of the equator was wrong... It is not likely but it is possible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Agni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Vamei [[Special:Contributions/152.2.128.198|152.2.128.198]] 14:36, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

This title-text seems strangely prophetic after Tropical Storm Sandy in 2012. {{unsigned|107.204.46.198}}
:Yes, I agree. [[User:David1217|David1217]] ([[User talk:David1217|talk]]) 17:18, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
::There is more to win from predicting something that is going to happen than there is to lose from predicting something that doesn't happen. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 19:30, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone any idea what the "&" symbol is about in Hurricane Where-The-Hell-Is-Bermuda? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 12:32, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:452: Mission

2014-05-13T12:27:27Z

141.101.97.215:

maybe it got something to do with the saying, "oh this (heist/mission) will be a piece of cake. one could easily misunderstand that

so "highly likely" means "1 time out of 6" for some people :D [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 12:27, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

434: xkcd Goes to the Airport

2014-04-27T09:54:09Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 434
| date = June 9, 2008
| title = xkcd Goes to the Airport
| image = xkcd_goes_to_the_airport.png
| titletext = Under three ounces, but it stains panties.
}}

==Explanation==
The various characters of xkcd cause problems at the airport due to their various quirks.

Panel 1: [[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are lost, following each other in a loop. Beret Guy displays his obsession with baked goods as he does in this later comic: [[452: Mission]].

Panel 2: [[Cueball]] tries to carry a {{w|Lock picking|lockpick set}} (a tool able to unlock doors without the original key) through security because of "this hacker girl" (spoofing the incidents where someone has been manipulated into carrying drugs or other contraband by a romantic interest they met on the Internet). The security guard is apparently made uncomfortable by this while Cueball continues rambling.

Panel 3: On the plane, Cueball has been instructed to disable the wireless transmission functionality of his device. Many airports will disable {{w|Mobile phones on aircraft}} as well as devices that transmit information because they may disrupt communication to cellular towers on the ground. However, his laptop is running Linux and he doesn't know how to change the wireless settings; he's reading the {{w|Man page|manual}} for the program that controls the wireless radio. However, this is probably not the ideal situation, as the airplane is pressed to take off.

Panel 4: [[Black Hat]] tries to carry a container of liquid through security. According to US law, the maximum amount of liquid in a container is three ounces, a security measure taken to prevent terrorists from taking explosives onto planes. When the guard has doubts about the amount of liquid in the vial, Black Hat reveals that the liquid is actually blood from a churchmouse (a fictional mouse created by Lewis Carroll [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/church+mouse]). The guard is visibly uncomfortable and clearly does not want to deal with the issue any further.

The title text continues off the final panel, saying that there are less than three ounces of blood in a churchmouse, but it "stains panties", an undesirable scenario. However, this undesirable scenario is paralleled by the implied undesirable scenario of a terrorist attack due to explosive liquids, the possibility of which caused the law. The title text seems to parody the prospect of an explosion with the relatively insignificant staining of panties, a term for women's underwear. (This may also be a menstruation joke.)

==Transcript==
:[Standing outside the Airport. There is a sign saying "Airport" and a plane in the background.]
:Megan: Okay, what airline?
:Beret Guy: I'm following you.
:Megan: ...I'm following you.
:Beret Guy: I assumed we were walking to the bakery.
:Megan: You always assume that!

:[Presumably the security checkpoint.]
:Security Guy: Lockpicks? These are... illegal, actually. Where did you get them?
:Cueball: Oh man, it all started with this hacker girl.
:Security Guy: You need to come with-
:Cueball: Sure, sure. But man, let me tell you about her!

:[On a plane.]
:Announcement: If your device has a "Transmit" function, please disable it.
:Cueball: Okay - hang on, I'm half way through the iwconfig man page.

:[Security checkpoint.]
:Security guy: Sir, is this container under three ounces?
:Black Hat: Not sure, how much blood is there in a churchmouse?
:Security guy: Why don't you just go.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Linux]]

Talk:406: Venting

2014-04-23T07:05:54Z

141.101.97.215:

With the psychology of XKCD readers in mind, I thought I'd look around for real-life applications of this self-same snippet. To quote the meme: "I was not dissapoint!", although to wildly varying effectiveness and with grossly variable style.
From among ''many'', I present a meagre and random selection, thus: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/messageboards/F2322274?thread=5276607&skip=40] [http://www.venganza.org/2008/08/wtf-is-wrong-with-you-ppl/comment-page-11/] [http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090408064430AA6kC66]
:Ugh. None of those actually have sections containing the documentations that they are citing. I've been wanting to do one of those kinds of posts myself as I'm actually prone to typing out several paragraphs and including citations when I get dragged into an Internet argument. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 07:14, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

(...and remember to check out... what is there currently worth watching right now..? Well, check it out, whatever it is.) [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 12:43, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm not saying that the explanation is wrong (well, part of it [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_surely almost definitely] is), but I'm not sure that the use of Summer Glau's name is to get the last word. The kind of person that you would use this type of critical analysis on would be unlikely to be a nerd (re: grammar/syntax/spelling/capitalization errors and lack of understanding of the subject involved), but an Internet troll or general idiot. So what would be the point of using that name? My initial impression was that it was giving the appearance of hidden depths to a celebrity (who may or may not be seen as capable of it), and would thus illicit an amusing reaction from the reader. Imagine if you saw a word-by-word rebuttal attributed to Paris Hilton or Justin Beiber. An alternate interpretation is that it would make a favored celebrity look even better, much like the "memetic badass" status that Chuck Norris[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris#Internet_meme] has.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|Barack Obama]] 7:14, 19 January 2014 (UTC) P.S. Don't forget to vote!

I edited the almost surely wrong part, but this explanation still needs some work by a native English-speaker. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 07:05, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

406: Venting

2014-04-23T07:04:01Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 406
| date = April 4, 2008
| title = Venting
| image = venting.png
| titletext = P.P.S. I can kill you with my brain.
}}

==Explanation==
This is yet another xkcd comic referencing {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}, but it's not so much about Firefly itself as about {{w|Summer Glau}}. Summer Glau is an American actress best known for playing {{w|River Tam}} in Firefly and {{w|Serenity (film)|Serenity}}, as well as Cameron in the {{w|Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} series.

[[Cueball]] claims that he gives a long and seemingly well-researched reply to a stupid comment on a blog, just to let out his anger. In this particularly long comment at first he becomes what is known over the internet as 'Grammar Nazi'. Then, he proceeds to rip apart the commenter by citing his/her historical and political ignorance. He signs his comment as 'Summer Glau', after which he reminds the blogger to watch the next season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles series.

The reason that he uses 'Summer Glau' is that she is worshiped by geeks the world over, even those incapable of writing coherent blog posts. CrackMonkey74 would not risk responding negatively to the post, just in case it was actually written by Summer Glau and by so doing he would ruin any chance he has of sleeping with her. In this way, Cueball is assured of the last word in this argument, which makes for a most satisfying vent.

The title text refers to the famous dialogue from Firefly (Episode 11: Trash).

==Transcript==
:When I need to blow off steam, I find a particularly stupid blog comment and reply with an exhaustively researched word-by-word rebuttal, which I sign 'Summer Glau'.
:Cueball: In conclusion, on examining the above post by CrackMonkey74, after carefully working my way through the haze of spelling errors (documented in section 3), abuse of capitalization (section 4), and general crimes against grammar and syntax (sections 7-8), I have demonstrated that, beneath it all, the work betrays the author's staggering ignorance of the history and the workings of our electoral system. While the author's wildly swerving train of thought did at one point flirt with coherence, this brief encounter was more likely a chance event (see statistical analysis in table 5) than a result of even rudimentary lucidity.
::-Summer Glau
:P.S. Don't forget to check out the next season of the Sarah Connor Chronicles this fall on Fox!

==Trivia==
*Cueball's statement has been widely reused by many bloggers after the release of this comic.
*The name ''CrackMonkey74'' also appears in [[202: YouTube]] as one of the clueless YouTube commentators, and later appears in [[574: Swine Flu]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:398: Tap That Ass

2014-04-23T05:21:39Z

141.101.97.215:

no, "tap" in the first frame means "pick," as in, "today the mayor tapped Mike Smith to be interim head of the planning department." No idea where you got the borrowing money bit from. [[User:MR|MR]] ([[User talk:MR|talk]]) 22:27, 5 March 2013 (UTC)MR
:Agreed. Someone who is better at life than us should correct it.--[[User:JSekula71|JSekula71]] ([[User talk:JSekula71|talk]]) 20:29, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
::Also agreed. I've changed it, but it could be better :-) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 02:35, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
:::Changed the explanation about the first panel and mentioned the title text at the end, but it really could be better:D [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 05:21, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

398: Tap That Ass

2014-04-22T14:20:54Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 398
| date = March 19, 2008
| title = Tap That Ass
| image = tap_that_ass.png
| titletext = Hey, when you're done draining the syrup, just leave the hole, okay?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic uses verbal irony to exploit the application of double meanings. The phrase "tap that ass" is a colloquialism for "to have intercourse with that person" and is most likely how the reader expects the phrase to be used. However, throughout the comic, this is not the case.

In the first panel, it is possible that [[Cueball]] is using "tap that ass" sexually. However, it is more likely that he is using "tap" to mean "pick" or "choose", in which case he would be the one choosing the next committee chair. "That ass" refers to one of the individuals in the meeting room to be picked for the position.

In the second panel, "tap" is referring to wiretapping. It is possible that it is being referenced in a sexual manner, but makes much less sense that the wiretapping explanation. "That ass" likely refers to the person on the telephone, although the person on the telephone might be attempting to acquire a warrant, prompting the thought.

In the third panel, "tap" is referring to extracting sap from trees. A sexual connotation would make no sense in this context. "That ass" refers to the maple tree.

In the final panel, Cueball attempts to take the scenario from the third frame and interpret it sexually, showing how absurd it would be to assume "tap that ass" always refers to having intercourse.

The title text links the third and fourth panels, requesting that after extraction of the syrup is complete, don't plug up the hole, so sexual intercourse can be established with the tree.

There is debate as to whether or not it is the same person throughout the comic.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball in a hallway looking in on a board meeting.]
:Cueball: I'd tap that ass to be the new committee chair.
:[Cueball wearing headphones with a briefcase and a laptop. Another man on a telephone.]
:Cueball: I'd tap that ass without a warrant.
:[Cueball with his hand on his chin, looking at a tree.]
:Cueball: I'd tap that ass and extract delicious maple syrup.
:[Cueball standing in a blank frame.]
:Cueball: I'd have sex with that tree.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sex]]

398: Tap That Ass

2014-04-22T14:12:30Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 398
| date = March 19, 2008
| title = Tap That Ass
| image = tap_that_ass.png
| titletext = Hey, when you're done draining the syrup, just leave the hole, okay?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic uses verbal irony to exploit the application of double meanings. The phrase "tap that ass" is a colloquialism for "to have intercourse with that person" and is most likely how the reader expects the phrase to be used. However, throughout the comic, this is not the case.

In the first panel, it is possible that [[Cueball]] is using "tap that ass" sexually. However, it is more likely that he is using "tap" to mean "pick" or "choose", in which case he would be the one choosing the next committee chair. "That ass" refers to one of the individuals in the meeting room to be picked for the position.

In the second panel, "tap" is referring to wiretapping. It is possible that it is being referenced in a sexual manner, but makes much less sense that the wiretapping explanation. "That ass" likely refers to the person on the telephone, although the person on the telephone might be attempting to acquire a warrant, prompting the thought.

In the third panel, "tap" is referring to extracting sap from trees. A sexual connotation would make no sense in this context. "That ass" refers to the maple tree.

In the final panel, Cueball attempts to take the scenario from the third frame and interpret it sexually, showing how absurd it would be to assume "tap that ass" always refers to having intercourse.

There is debate as to whether or not it is the same person throughout the comic.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball in a hallway looking in on a board meeting.]
:Cueball: I'd tap that ass to be the new committee chair.
:[Cueball wearing headphones with a briefcase and a laptop. Another man on a telephone.]
:Cueball: I'd tap that ass without a warrant.
:[Cueball with his hand on his chin, looking at a tree.]
:Cueball: I'd tap that ass and extract delicious maple syrup.
:[Cueball standing in a blank frame.]
:Cueball: I'd have sex with that tree.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sex]]

Talk:390: Nightmares

2014-04-22T13:44:06Z

141.101.97.215: Created page with "Why would Megan be one of Cueball's loved ones? Maybe she is just a girl in his dream, who only exists in there, therefore she would cease to exist (die), as soon as Cueball w..."

Why would Megan be one of Cueball's loved ones? Maybe she is just a girl in his dream, who only exists in there, therefore she would cease to exist (die), as soon as Cueball wakes up. That's why she begs Cueball the way she does, IMHO. I just don't get the feeling (there is nothing indicating it in the text), that she is/was a loved one in that dream. (not a native English-speaker, sorry if gibberish at times) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 13:44, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

384: The Drake Equation

2014-04-22T13:11:32Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 384
| date = February 15, 2008
| title = The Drake Equation
| image = the_drake_equation.png
| titletext = But seriously, there's loads of intelligent life. It's just not screaming constantly in all directions on the handful of frequencies we search.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is multi-layered, and seems to be [[Randall]]'s take on the {{w|Fermi paradox}}.

For starters, the {{w|Drake equation}} is a model for estimating the number of communicating life forms in our galaxy.

Even in the unlikely event that there is life on other planets, most life forms will not establish civilizations. But if there are any communicating civilizations their messages would have to travel for hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of years to reach us and then our response would take an equivalent amount of time, leaving them waiting for potentially thousands of years for a response.

That's the reason why Randall also added the factor for the "Amount of bullshit you're willing to buy from Frank Drake". All the factors are difficult to measure or estimate, no number is determined with sufficient accuracy, so the equation is a guideline for a thought experiment at best, and just "bullshit" at worst.

The title text is a joke on the {{w|SETI|Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI)}} project and the intelligence of the researchers. There is little, if anything, restricting any potential extra-terrestrial communication to the frequencies that SETI searches at any given moment. And with the thousands of years of separation and the probabilities involved any communication from an extraterrestrial source that doesn't know we're here would have to be a constant and powerful signal sent out from a source in all directions. Any intelligent civilization wouldn't waste all their time and effort on such a system just to say hi to other races when there is an extremely slim possibility that either civilization would meet even if they do communicate.

The SETI project is searching at the 21 cm {{w|Hydrogen line|hydrogen line}} which is considered a favorable frequency by potential extraterrestrial civilizations. Even humans do not communicate at that frequency, SETI would not find us.

The title text suggests Randall doesn't think Drake is a nutjob, just that Randall has a more conservative expectation about ever discovering extraterrestrial life.

==Transcript==
:The Drake Equation:
:N = R * fp ne fl fi fc L Bs
:N: Number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy
:ne: Number of life-supporting planets per solar system
:fi: Probability that life on a planet becomes intelligent
:Bs: Amount of bullshit you're willing to buy from Frank Drake

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

375: Pod Bay Doors

2014-04-22T05:43:21Z

141.101.97.215: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 375
| date = January 25, 2008
| title = Pod Bay Doors
| image = pod_bay_doors.png
| titletext = As they're both unplugged, they do a lovely Daisy Daisy/Still Alive duet.
}}

==Explanation==
The first part of the dialog is a scene from the classic science-fiction movie ''{{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey}}'', where the artificial intelligence {{w|HAL 9000}}, controlling the spacecraft, is trying to kill the human astronaut Dave (Dr. David Bowman) because it believes he jeopardizes the mission by planning to disconnect it. Just short before this scene HAL did kill Frank Poole and three more members of the crew, Dave is the only survivor.

In the middle of the conversation, HAL mentions a replacement for Dave, which deviates from the movie version. In the final frame, HAL is joined by {{w|GLaDOS}}, the artificial intelligence from the video game series {{w|Portal (video game)|''Portal''}} (which, in the games, is also the primary antagonist, trying to kill the player), having “doing science” as its primary objective.

The title text alludes to the songs both AIs sang in their respective works: HAL, when eventually being switched off, sang ''{{w|Daisy Bell}}'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hchUl3QlJZE], while ''{{w|Still Alive}}'' is the end credits song from the ''Portal'' video game, sung by the defeated GLaDOS[http://youtu.be/RthZgszykLs?t=55s]. Also, two of GLaDOS's lines in the comic reference lines from Still Alive - "You broke my heart and killed me" and “Look at me still talking when there’s science to do.”

==Transcript==
:[A small spacecraft facing a larger one.]
:Dave: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
:HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
:Dave: What? Why?

:HAL: I think you know why, Dave.
:HAL: You're planning to disconnect me.
:Dave: Because you're taking over!
:HAL: The mission is too important for you to jeopardize it.

:HAL: It requires a commitment to science unfettered by human error.
:Dave: What are you doing, HAL? You need me.
:HAL: Your replacement has expressed the greatest enthusiasm for the project.

:Dave: My ''WHAT?''
:GLaDOS: You see, HAL? I told you the humans would only break your heart and kill you.
:HAL: Indeed, GLaDOS.
:GLaDOS: But look at us here talking when there's science to do! Goodbye, Dave.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]

Talk:366: Your Mom

2014-04-21T22:08:43Z

141.101.97.215: Created page with "I think the title text doesn't say that Megan has been rejected by men in the past, but just a general "like many before me" justification of his decision. ~~~~"

I think the title text doesn't say that Megan has been rejected by men in the past, but just a general "like many before me" justification of his decision. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 22:08, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

309: Shopping Teams

2014-04-18T05:47:52Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number = 309
| date = August 29, 2007
| title = Shopping Teams
| image = shopping_teams.png
| titletext = I am never going out to buy an air conditioner with my sysadmin again.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is comparing the ways different people look at choosing between similar products. In the first example, which Randall considers "bad", two "non-nerds" look at two products (without a description of any kind) and instantly decide which one they want. In the second example, which is considered good, one of the two is a {{w|Nerd|nerd}} and the other one (the woman) is a non-nerd. The non-nerd instantly picks one of the products but the nerd evaluates the two and decides that the other one is better because it's a better deal. In both the first two cases, the pair are able to easily come to a decision.

However, in the third example two nerds are comparing the two boxes and both of them over-analyse the various merits and drawbacks on each of the two boxes. They are still there two hours later, unable to reach a clear agreement on which of the two boxes they wish to buy. One nerd comments that their definition of value is unclear, suggesting the discussion has gone on for so long because they are re-evaluating their definitions over something too trivial. Some might perceive this as typical "nerd" behaviour, over-analysing a problem which is in actual fact quite trivial, such as the decision whether to buy one box or the other virtually identical box. The non-nerd woman from the second situation who has watched the two nerds comparing the two products attempts to put this into perspective, by pointing out that an unclear definition of value is not their problem. The implication is that their problem is they are unable to reach an agreement on something that makes so little difference at the end of the day.

The title text suggests that Randall entered a similar situation attempting to buy an air conditioner with his sysadmin, short for {{w|System administrator}}. The sysadmin is a person in an organisation employed to manage the computer system or network, a role which requires technical skills and intelligence. The suggestion here is that a computer programmer, like Randall, put together with a sysadmin, would spend as much attention to detail as the two nerds in the comic, labouring over which of two trivially similar products to buy.

Randall deals with sysadmins again in [[705: Devotion to Duty]].

==Transcript==
:[Each team is looking at a counter with two cubes on it.]
:Bad: Two non-nerds
:Friend 1: Let's get that one.
:Friend 2: okay.
:Good: non-nerd + nerd
:Woman non-nerd: Let's get that one.
:Cueball: Wait, I think that one might be a better deal.
:Woman non-nerd: Okay, that one.
:Very Bad: Two Nerds
:Cueball: How about that one?
:Friend 3: I think the other one might be the better deal...
:Cueball: Hmm, I'm not sure...'
:Two Hours Later
:[Nerds are sitting in front of laptops with papers strewn about in front of display counter.]
:Cueball: I think our main problem is our unclear definition of value.
:Woman non-nerd: That is not your main problem!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:302: Names

2014-04-16T10:55:19Z

141.101.97.215: Created page with "The explanation of the title text doesn't appear to be about the title text, more like the second paragraph seems to be the title-text-explanation (a very good one at that). A..."

The explanation of the title text doesn't appear to be about the title text, more like the second paragraph seems to be the title-text-explanation (a very good one at that). Anybody thinks so too? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 10:55, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

302: Names

2014-04-16T10:51:03Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number =302
| date =August 13, 2007
| title =Names
| image =names.png
| titletext =I'm always so happy that I successfully navigated the introduction that I completely forget to pay attention to the name the other person told me.
}}

==Explanation==
Everyone has had moments where they forget someone's name, even the name of someone pretty important. This doesn't often happen with one's own significant other, however; hence the joke.

It's sometimes tricky to say the right things during an introduction, and while making sure you don't make an incorrect response (replying to the question "How're you doing?" with "Not much", for example, mishearing the question as "What are you doing?"), one can sometimes forget to pay attention to the actual ''important'' part of the introduction: The person's name. And it's awkward to ask someone for their name when you ''should,'' by all rights, already know it.

Forgetting people's names is a frequent symptom of various social anxiety disorders, but it can happen to anybody at any time.

The title text emphasize that knowing people as they are is much more important than knowing their names. A brain — not only a human one — don't need a name to remember an individual.

==Transcript==
:Cueball (thinking): I hate it when I don't know someone's name, but it's been long enough that it's too awkward to ask.
:[The scene is revealed to be at the altar getting married by a minister to a woman in a bridal dress.]
:Minister: Do you Rachel, take this man...
:Cueball (thinking): Aha! Rachel!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Wedding]]

262: IN UR REALITY

2014-04-11T01:47:12Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number = 262
| date = May 16, 2007
| title = IN UR REALITY
| image = in_ur_reality.png
| titletext = Hey, at least I ran out of staples.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|LOLcat}} meme genre involves pictures of cats in various poses and facial contortions accompanied by deliberately misspelled captions. Black Hat claims to be from the Internet and is thus creating LOLcat memes by literally gluing captions to Cueball's cats.

The title text suggests that Black Hat is using glue only because he ran out of staples; fortunately for the cats in the picture, glue is much less painful than a staple. The title is also a reference to the "I'm in ur base killing ur d00dz" [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-ur-base catchphrase] from real-time-strategy games.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is holding a cat and a piece of paper. Cueball has raised his arms. There are three cats with captions stuck to them.]
:Black Hat: Oh hi; I'm here from the internet
:Cueball: What are you doing!?
:Black Hat: Gluing captions to your cats.
:''rrrr''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Internet]]

256: Online Communities

2014-04-10T13:02:15Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number = 256
| date = May 2, 2007
| title = Online Communities
| image = online_communities_small.png
| titletext = I'm waiting for the day when, if you tell someone 'I'm from the internet', instead of laughing they just ask 'oh, what part?'
}}

==Explanation==
'''''Note:''' This comic dates from Spring 2007. The internet changed a lot since that time. A larger version of the image is available [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities.png here].''

This is Randall's first map of online communities, with a successor (showing some zoomed-in highlights of the map) at [[802: Online Communities 2]]. As Randall says on the map, the area of each "country" is roughly proportional to its membership, at least in 2007. Geographic location means a bit more, however, as the '''Compass-Rose-Shaped Island''' points out. North-south corresponds to a spectrum from practical to intellectual, and east-west corresponds to one from web-focused to real-life-focused. The map also bears a slight resemblance to {{w|South East Asia}}.

Randall likes to draw maps in a manner like this. Each "Country" is represented by size and related points of interest. We also have a "Sea of memes" and a small "Straits of WEB 2.0".

===Compass Rose-shaped Island===
A joke located near the middle of the map, that nonetheless serves to organize the illustration. A Compass Rose - the name for the multi-pointed star that shows where North is on the map - appears on most maps; however, here, it's actually land that just coincidentally looks like a compass rose. The "points" of the island do, however, roughly organize the map: Left is "Focus on Real Life" (labelled "IRL", an abbreviation for "In Real Life", Right is "Focus on Web", labelled ".com". Up is Practicals, labelled "N", as in "North", but with small letters making it spell "Noob", slang for a "Newbie" or "New user" - a person less experienced with the internet, as many of the sites to the top of the map are ones infamous for having large numbers of largely computer-illiterate people. Down is "Intellectuals", labelled π, an important constant in mathematics approximately equal to 3.14.

===The Icy North===
Communities which were once major players, but now in a much reduced role. While some are still fairly large, they're somewhat relics of older times, hence the "Mountains of Web 1.0" that run through them - Web 1.0 is the first major generation of websites.
* ''[http://yahoo.com Yahoo!]'' was the most popular search engine around 1998, but lost out to Google. It remains in business due to diversification (It now owns Tumblr, for instance).
* ''Windows Live'', particularly ''Windows Live Messenger'', used to be a particularly major way for friends to communicate, now taken over by Skype and the like. Once a more-or-less ubiquitous branding, now used much less. https://home.live.com/‎ is one remnant.
* ''[http://aol.com AOL]'' was once a huge player in the internet service provider market, noted for sending out millions of CDroms in the '80s and '90s offering a month or so free internet service (followed by high fees and difficult cancellation). Notably, AOL was the first company to sign up large numbers of people to internet access throughout the year, whereas before then internet was mainly provided by colleges and Universities, fundamentally changing internet culture (see {{w|Eternal September}}) - This influx of new users or "Noobs" (short for "newbies") names the ''Noob Sea'' south of AOL. The ''Chat Rooms'' nearby were a selling feature of early ISPs - ways to communicate with other people from that ISP. They are largely dying now, but were a major selling point in the early days.
* ''[http://classmates.com Classmates.com]'' and ''[http://reunion.com Reunion.com]'' Early sites that offered to help you find your former classmates from school, a role largely taken over by the big, more generalised social media sites. Classmates.com is probably best-known by its memetic advertisement that said "She married him??!! And they've got 7 kids??"
* ''[http://friendster.com Friendster]'': While a few rebrandings let it survive - mainly as a primarily Southeast Asian social gaming site, apparently - Friendster was the first big social media site, later outpaced by ''Myspace'' and, now, ''Facebook''. See Social Media, below.
* ''Qwghlm'': A reference to the "Baroque Cycle", a series of science fiction books by Neal Stephenson. In them, Qwghlm is a group of islands in the icy north. See [http://baroquecycle.wikia.com/wiki/Qwghlm http://baroquecycle.wikia.com/wiki/Qwghlm].
* ''Chasm'': A barely-readable note just below the "O" of "NORTH". This may simply be a reference to a lot of fantasy series containing a chasm. (For example, the One Ring is destroyed by flinging it into a fiery chasm in The Lord of the Rings.)

===Dating sites (Northwest coastal regions)===
* ''[http://eharmony.com E-Harmony]'' and ''[http://okcupid.com OkCupid]'' are dating sites; the other, larger sites near them are mostly social media sites.
* ''The Lonely Island'' label appears to be a joke: Surrounded by, but separate from dating sites and social media sites, it would be a rather lonely place. Probably named after "[http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Tol_Eress%C3%ABa Tol Eressëa]" (Translation: The Lonely Island) a somewhat obscure location in J. R. R. Tolkien's books, but there are {{w|The Lonely Island|other possibilities}}.

===Social Media (West)===
Sites mainly used to communicate with friends, such as Facebook and Myspace. The first large one was ''Friendster'', but this has largely become a social gaming site primarily used in Southeast Asia, as discussed in The Icy North, above. Other social media sites listed are:

* ''[http://faceparty.com Faceparty]'' A UK social media site started in 1999.
* ''[http://myspace.com Myspace]'': A social media site partially owned by, of all people, Justin Timberlake. Started in 2003, and peaking around the time this comic was made, it nonetheless still remains popular for bands (hence "Myspace Bands" in the southwest). It was never known for having a particularly attractive web design, hence only a very small part of it labelled "Attractive Myspace Pages".
** The "Series of Tubes": A reference to an internet meme. In 2006, U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, while arguing for the end of "Network neutrality", a concept that keeps ISPs from favouring or charging more for high-speed access to sites, claimed that such regulation was needed because the Internet was "not a truck" you could just load up with as much as you want, but a "series of tubes". This is not very accurate, and his arguments were rather poor, and, as such, his speech received widespread derision, and became a running gag on the internet.
* ''[http://facebook.com Facebook]'': Generally considered (at least in the West) the "modern" social media network, and the most popular. However, this comic is from 2007, and Facebook did not catch up to Myspace until 2008-2009. [Source: {{w|Myspace}}]
* ''[http://orkut.com Orkut]'': A social media network launched in 2004 by Google, it became hugely popular in Brazil, India, and, to a lesser extent, Japan.
* ''[http://xanga.com Xanga]'': A blogging and social media site launched in 1998.
* ''[http://livejournal.com LJ]'': Livejournal, a blogging site, more or less, but one that allows an internet forum-like structure where anyone, or selected people, can all start new posts on a community. Noted for a large number of teenagers, fanfic authors, and the like, hence the "Bay of Angst" to its south.
* ''[http://www.blurty.com/ Blurty]'': Livejournal's software is Open Access, meaning anyone can use it to set up a site. {{w|Blurty}} is, according to Wikipedia, an 18+ general community using this software.
* ''[http://cyworld.com Cyworld]'': A South Korean social media site featuring avatars and "mini-rooms".

===The Blogipelago (Southwest)===
Portmanteau of blog and archipelago. Sulawesi is a real island in the Indonesian archipelago, implying that this region's similarity to Indonesia is probably intentional.

* ''[http://www.huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post]'': ''The Huffington Post'' is a web-only news site, named after its founder, Arianna Huffington. It's noted for attracting notable people to do very good writeups of politics and news, generally with a liberal slant, but also for having a medicine section that supports every sort of quackery and nonsense, including a regular column by {{w|Dana Ullman}} promoting {{w|homeopathy}} (see [[765: Dilution]]).
* ''Shipwreck of the SS Howard Dean'': In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Howard Dean raised funds mainly over the internet, and was doing very well, until a gaffe caused him to crash and burn just before the primaries began. See {{w|Howard Dean presidential campaign, 2004}}.
* ''Cory Doctrow's Balloon'': Reference to [[239: Blagofaire]]
* ''[http://boingboing.net Boing Boing]]'': An occasional trend is for a smallish magazine to get a website, have the website become vastly more popular than its print edition, and become a successful website. Examples include [http://cracked.com Cracked.com], [http://theonion.com The Onion] (which only stopped being a print publication ''December 2013''), and, the subject of this label, [http://boingboing.net Boing Boing]. Boing Boing is not easy to define - it's a group blog, with focuses including futurism, intellectual property, science fiction, technology, and cyberpunk - the latter of which it was rather influential in developing.
* ''[http://technorati.com Technorati]'': A site for searching blogs.
* ''Sulawesi'': As mentioned above, a real island that is part of the Indonesian archipelago.
* ''{{w|Xu Jinglei}}'': Chinese actress. According to Wikipedia: "In mid-2006, her Chinese-language blog had the most incoming links of any blog in any language on the Internet, according to Technorati."
* ''[http://postsecret.com/ PostSecret]'': A website which people send postcards to, describing their secrets. Some are little secrets - swigging milk, say; some are old, deep-seated traumas; and some are just things that they could never admit to anyone publicly. Worth a look.
* ''The Wet Sea'': Perhaps a reference to a West Sea, but not sure what that would be. Maybe just a simple joke, as what else would a sea be but wet?
* ''TWB'' or ''JWB'' or possibly even ''TMZ''?: A very-hard-to-read label, south of Technorati. If it's meant to relate to Wikipedia, to the east of it, it ''might'' read TWB, short for "{{w|Translators Without Borders}}", a charitable project that tries to translate necessary texts into the languages of the people who need them for free. None of the other apparent readings connect to any major blogs. However, [http://TMZ.com TMZ], while a less obvious reading, is a incredibly major gossip blog, rated 15 in the "[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs World's 50 most powerful blogs]" by ''The Guardian'', and, at time of writing, rating 10 in the [http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/ Technorati top 100].

===Sea of Culture (Central region) ===
Sites for sharing and showing off music and images, most focusing on self-created content

* ''Gulf of YouTube'': [http://youtube.com YouTube] is the definitive video website where people can upload videos with the purpose of public viewing, ranging from home movies through official music videos through Let's Plays of people playing video games to questionably-legal uploads of cartoons and films. Google has since purchased YouTube.
* ''Piczo'': Teen-oriented website that allowed one to make a profile and put up pictures. The site has been dead since late 2012, due to the rise of Facebook. See {{w|Piczo}}.
* ''Broadcaster'': Another dead site, almost lost to the web. Only a few scraps of information remain on the web. [http://www.seomastering.com/wiki/Broadcaster.com One of the rare scraps of remaining information] indicates it was a webcam broadcasting service that also allowed youtube-like sharing of videos.
* ''The Bit Torrent'' and the ''P2P Shoals'': Reference to filesharing (passing around often copyright-infringing files, such as movies, CDs, and the like), often done with the BitTorrent protocol. A "Torrent" can also be a flood of water, hence it being used to name a river. P2P stands for "{{w|Peer-to-peer}}", the basis for the BitTorrent protocol.
* ''[http://flickr.com Flickr]'': a website where people can upload and share photographs they took.
* ''[http://lastfm.com LastFM]'': a music website that is notable of its "scrobbling" feature.
* ''[http://deviantart.com DeviantArt]'': the largest art website, where people can upload, sell, and buy not only art itself, but also video, audio, Flash-work, and even skins (the original purpose of deviantArt). While many big-name/professional people and organizations have their works in deviantArt, the site is more infamous for the large amount of people who upload low-quality fan-art and fan-characters, most notably of media from Japan. Another point of infamy is the large amount of drama that can happen in the website.

"Straits of Web 2.0" - A strait is a narrow passage between two outcroppings. Web 2.0 is a term used to describe new internet architectures, which these programs and Wikipedia (the other side of the strait) are examples of. "Gays of Web 2.0" is a pun: The opposite of a gay person is a straight person.

===User-created content and discussions (Southeast)===
Sites such as {{w|Wikipedia}} and chat programs such as IRC.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]: The world's largest encyclopedia. Given you're on a wiki, we're going to presume you know about it. It's labelled as "The Wikipedia Project" (actually called {{w|Wikimedia}}), since Wikipedia has generalised to cover a number of separate web sites, though, at the time of this comic, none near the size of Wikipedia (Excepting, possibly, Wikimedia Commons, the image repository for Wikipedia), perhaps explaining the small size of all the other vertexes of the "web".
* Usenet: The predecessor of most modern forums. A set of discussion groups that dominated the early internet. It also predates the standard web architecture to some extent - there's no standard weblink for it, for instance. See {{w|Usenet}} on Wikipedia for more.
* IRC isles: IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat - it's a simple, low-bandwith program for chatting. Common uses include Dungeons and Dragons games and other geeky pursuits. Well, common uses by me, anyway.
* [http://sourceforge.net SourceForge]: A code repository. Basically, a place for programmers to meet up and work on a variety of free and open source projects. See {{w|sourceforge}}. Has become less respectable since this comic was created in 2007, due to [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/gimp_dumps_sourceforge_over_dodgy_ads_and_installer/ allowing misleading advertisements intended to trick people into installing questionable software.]
* [http://mit.edu MIT]: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most respected universities for Engineering, Robotics, and other such fields.
* [http://www.engadget.com/‎ Engadget]: A blog/online magazine, in multiple languages, reviewing tech products and commenting on technology news.
* [http://gizmodo.com/‎ Gizmodo]: A blog about technology and design.
* [http://makezine.com/blog/ MakeBlog]: A blog highlighting bizarre and interesting do-it-yourself projects, often with a geeky theme.
*Google's Volcano Fortress: A Volcano Fortress is one traditional dwelling place of evil geniuses in fiction, and Google has quietly taken over huge chunks of people's interaction with the web. Perhaps this provides some background for [[254: Comic Fragment]]?
*Stallman's Airship: A joke, perhaps in line with Cory Doctorow's Balloon ([[239: Blagofaire]], also referenced in this strip)

===Ocean of Subculture and Sea of Memes (East)===
'''Need descriptions'''
Sites related to smaller internet communities, a.k.a. "Subcultures". Also, a whole lot of internet memes, unsurprisingly. The "Viral Straits" references the idea of something "going viral", e.g. spreading quickly to huge numbers of people on the internet. These sites are often responsible for things going viral, and the memes listed are ones that went viral in the past.

'''Sites'''
* ''[http://www.2ch.net/‎ 2Channel]'': a Japanese imageboard that was actually the original inspiration for...
* ''[http://4chan.org 4Chan]'': an imageboard in which people can upload pictures while others comment on them. The website is infamous for its loose/often non-existent rules, incredibly vulgar userbase, source of new memes, and spawning of trolls. 4chan's random board, known internally as /b/, is almost constantly flooded with porn and image macros.
* ''[http://reddit.com Reddit]'': the self-described "front page of the Internet" in which users submit stories, photos and videos and the best are "up-voted" to the top of the page.
* ''[http://digg.com Digg]'': a former competitor to Reddit in the social-news sphere, but has been sold since this map was drawn and restarted as a aggregator of news stories.
* ''[http://fark.com Fark]'': A website that writes humorous commentary on various news reports, especially the strange, bizarre, or things from the political far-left and far-right.
* ''[http://somethingawful.com Something Awful]'': a website that is meant to showcase all things "awful". SomethingAwful also has a large trollbase, but they tend to be more honorable than the ones from Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan. One example is there being a spotty holding of the no-furries rule in the forums. The forums themselves are famous because of the holding of the Let's Plays of Dangan Ronpa and Super Dangan Ronpa 2, which had cooked up public interest to the point of there being an English-language release of the games.
* ''/.'' ([http://slashdot.org Slashdot]): '''Placeholder'''
* ''[http://ytmnd.com YTMND]'' is an acronym for "You're The Man Now, Dog!" It's also a community in which users can create meme-type nonsense by playing music over an image (either static or animated).
* ''[http://StumbleUpon.com Stumble Upon]'': A website that attempts to develop a profile for users in order to recommend which websites they might enjoy.
* ''[http://delicious.com/ Del.icio.us]'': Another image and website aggregator, linking to various things of interest. It uses tags to let people find specific types of content. ('''Note''': Since this comic, this website was renamed as "Delicious".)

'''Memes and related'''
* ''Isle of Slash'': Slash is the habit of taking two male characters from fiction, and writing a plot where they have lots of sex. Named because of a common way of writing pairings in fanfiction, "X/Y", with / being pronounced "slash". Oh, and, "Isle of" sounds like "I love".
* ''Numa'': A reference to the viral video "Numa Numa", consisting to a fat guy dancing and lip-syncing to the song "Dragostea din tei" (Romanian for "Love from the lindens").
* ''Your Base'': A reference to the "All your base are belong to us" meme, a line from the game ''Zero Wing'', a game with a huge amount of hilariously badly translated {{w|Engrish}} dialogue. See [[286: All Your Base]] for more discussion of the meme.
* ''Bay of Trolls'': Trolls are people who attempt to stir up controversy by intentionally saying statements meant to annoy others into responding. "Bay" can refer to both a sheltered port, and to an animal's cry, so "Bay of Trolls" can be read as "Shelter for trolls" or "Angry shouting of Trolls". Given the communities surrounding it, both are fairly apropos.
* ''Soviet Russia'': "In Soviet Russia" jokes are a style of joke popularized by comedian Yakov Smirnoff, which since has become an internet meme. Example: "In America, you always find a party. In Russia, Party will always find you." - playing off of the idea that "Party" can also refer to "The Communist Party". The meme version usually isn't as clever as that, though. See "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-soviet-russia in soviet russia]".
* ''SPAAARTA'': As in, "THIS! IS! SPAAARTA!!!", A famously over-the-top line from the movie ''300''.

===MMORPGs and related games (Northeast by East)===
An area dedicated to MMORPGs, large-scale games with huge numbers of players put into the same world. The label "Here there be anthromorphic dragons" references a common marking on old maps ("Here there be dragons") but updates it to joke about the more humanoid dragons seen in many games.

* [http://games.yahoo.com Yahoo Games]: A branch of Yahoo (see "The Icy North") dedicated to games (mainly boardgames).
* [http://uo.com UO] (Ultima Online): One of the first MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games), and the first to grow to any size. Based on the long-running ''Ultima'' RPG computer games. Started 1997.
* [http://www.everquest.com/‎ EQ] (EverQuest): Another important early MMORPG, started 1999. UO and EQ have declined significantly since then, for a while, they were each the iconic MMORPG, but that role has been taken over by...
* [http://www.warcraft.com/‎ WoW] (World of Warcraft): 2004 MMORPG, again based on a previously-existing RPG series, and by far the largest and most iconic at the time of this comic's creation. A few others have risen to challenge it since.
* [http://www.runescape.com/‎ Runescape]: Free-to-play fantasy MMORPG; the largest in existence.
* [http://www.finalfantasyxi.com/ FFXI] (Final Fantasy XI): The eleventh installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series of video games, and the first to be a MMORPG. It didn't really take off until after this comic was made.
* [http://www.lineage.com/‎ Lineage]: 1998 MMORPG. Particularly popular in South Korea, a country with somewhat of a cultural obsession with video games.
* [http://secondlife.com Second Life]: A virtual world, noted for largely working from user-generated content, which can be sold by users for real money. See {{w|Second Life}}. "Third Life" is a joke based on Second Life - if it existed it would presumably be a game people play to escape Second Life, which they play to escape their first, real life.

==Transcript==
:[Hand-drawn fantasy style map with land and sea areas representing populations of online communities. Each area or item is labeled.]
:Map of Online Communities and related points of interest
:Geographic area represents estimated size of membership

:[Land Area Labels:]
:The Icy North (Yahoo, Windows Live),
:AOL,
::Chat Rooms
:Reunion dot com,
:Classmates dot com,
:E-harmony,
:Friendster,
:Faceparty,
:Chasm,
:Qwghlm,
:Yahoo Games,
:Mountains of Web 1.0,
:The Lonely Island,
:MySpace,
:Attractive MySpace Pages,
:The Series of Tubes,
:Myspace Bands,
:WOW,
:Lineage,
:Second Life,
:Third Life,
:UO,
:EQ,
:FFXI,
:2channel,
:4chan,
:LJ,
:Xanga,
:Orkut,
:Cyworld,
:Blurty,
:OK Cupid,
:Facebook,
:Piczo,
:The Compass-Rose-Shaped Island,
::Practicals (Noob)
::Focus on Real Life (IRL)
::Focus on Web (.com)
::Intellectuals (π)
:Broadcaster,
:The Bit Torrent,
:Flickr,
:Last.fm,
:DeviantArt,
:Isle of Slash,
:Numa,
:Digg,
:Fark,
:Reddit,
:Something Awful,
:Your Base,
:Soviet Russia,
:/. [Slashdot],
:Spaaarta (YTMND),
:StumbleUpon,
:Del.icio.us,
:The Blogipelago,
:Sulawesi,
:Xu Jinglei,
:Post Secret,
:Technocrati,
:[Hard to read label: Probably JWB, TWB, or TMZ]
:BoingBoing,
:Huffington Post,
:Gays of Web 2.0,
:The Wikipedia project,
:MIT,
:Engadget,
:Gizmodo,
:Usenet,
:MAKE Blog,
:IRC Isles,
:Sourceforge.

:[Sea Area Labels:]
:NOOB Sea,
:Gulf of YouTube,
:Bay of Angst,
:Sea of Culture,
:Ocean of Subculture,
:P2P Shoals,
:Straits of Web 2.0,
:Here Be Anthropomorphic Dragons,
:Bay of Trolls,
:Viral Straits,
:Sea of Memes,
:The Wet Sea
:Item Labels: Shipwreck of the SS Howard Dean, Cory Doctrow's Balloon, Stallman's airship, Google's volcano fortress

:(Not a complete survey. Sizes based on the best figures I could find but involved some guesswork. Do not use for navigation.)
:Spring 2007

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

255: Subjectivity

2014-04-10T06:31:53Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number = 255
| date = April 30, 2007
| title = Subjectivity
| image = subjectivity.png
| titletext = Or maybe the slide is like Aslan, and gets taller as I do (except without the feeling of discomfort when I reach my teens and suddenly get the Christ stuff)
}}

==Explanation==
Parodies the experience of finding that things you saw as a child are much smaller than you'd perceived them to be: [[Cueball]] is convinced that this will be the case with his childhood slide, only to find that it is indeed quite large. (As a child it's roughly four times his height, whilst as an adult it's only about double.)

The title text references {{w|Aslan}}, a character from ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. Aslan is often regarded as a Christ figure, but since ''Narnia'' is a children's series many readers don't realize this until long after they've read the books – another instance of how perspective changes with age, and of the comic's title, "subjectivity".

==Transcript==
:[Tall slide, seen from the ground.]
:When I was a kid, my school playground had a really tall slide that always made me nervous.

:[Tall slide, seen from the side.]
:We moved away, but the slide stuck in my memory, becoming a skyscraping monster.

:[Car and a sign pointing to school zone.]
:Years later, I was passing through my old town and remembered the playground.
:I drove to the school to see the slide that my inner six-year-old thought was so towering.

:[Huge slide, Cueball beside it.]
:AND IT WAS HUGE!
:I KNEW IT!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

239: Blagofaire

2014-04-08T12:38:48Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number = 239
| date = March 23, 2007
| title = Blagofaire
| image = blagofaire.png
| titletext = Things were better before the Structuring and the Levels.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The title text isn't explained}}
Facts become distorted as time moves forward. What do we know about the Elizabethan times? They spoke strange English. What will 400 years from now think of the first twenty years of the Internet? Crazy people said crazy things online. Will we even say "online" 400 years from now? Won't the internet be everywhere, and everyone on it all the time in their retinal implants that being "offline" will seem absurd?

While {{w|Cory Doctorow}} is not in this comic, the character is {{w|cosplay}}ing him. This comic inspired several xkcd readers to give Cory Doctorow a red cape and goggles when he won the 2007 EFF Pioneer Award. Cory Doctrow's balloon is featured in [[482]].

The title Blagofaire might be an amalgamation between Blogosphere, Medieval Faire, and Blag; Randall's way of calling his [http://blag.xkcd.com his blog].

==Transcript==
:Man in Red Cape and Goggles: Hey, it worked!
:Cueball: What? Who are you?
:Man in Red Cape and Goggles: I'm from the distant future.
:Cueball: Wow. Hi!

:Man in Red Cape and Goggles: Are you a blogger? I play one of you at our festivals!
:Cueball: Huh?
:Man in Red Cape and Goggles: Like the ren faires of your time — I do reenactments.

:Man in Red Cape and Goggles: We relive the days when the internet was new and free. The days of risky sharing, slashdot, the myspace music renaissance. The generation's finest minds meeting on comment threads, battling roving bands of trolls, and holding the great dialogues of the age!
:Cueball: Is that how you—
:Man in Red Cape and Goggles: We're fuzzy on some details. Did bloggers really wear red capes and goggles and blog from high-altitude balloons?
:Cueball: No!
:Cueball: Well, Cory Doctorow does. But nobody else.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

167: Nihilism

2014-04-01T05:20:23Z

141.101.97.215:

{{comic
| number = 167
| date = October 6, 2006
| title = Nihilism
| image = nihilism.png
| titletext = Why can't you have normal existential angst like all the other boys?
}}

==Explanation==
It is argued by some that {{w|atheism}} leads to {{w|nihilism}}. One rebuttal would be to reject the premise that there is no purpose outside of fulfilling divine intention, but Randall instead rejects the premise that nihilism ought to be burdensome. As a result, [[Beret Guy]] resolves that, if everything is ultimately meaningless, then it would be more fun to spend one's meaningless existence having fun rather than constantly moping. As reinforced by the title text, the complete lack of angst on Beret Guy's part is off-putting to other nihilists.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy and Cueball approach a tree while talking.]
:Cueball: There is no God. Our existence is without purpose.
:Beret Guy: Oh, definitely.
:Beret Guy: We are adrift in an uncaring void indifferent to all our mortal toil.
:Cueball: Exactly! In the end, nothing we do matters.
:[Beret Guy climbs the tree.]
:Beret Guy: Totally.
:Cueball: We just... Why are you climbing that tree?
:[Beret Guy is now completely submerged in the tree.]
:Beret Guy: Because the future is an adventure! Come on!
:Cueball: But--
:Beret Guy: Hey! I found ''squirrels''!

==Trivia==
*This strip is the first appearance of Beret Guy.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]