explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:944: Hurricane Names

2012-11-17T23:59:04Z

146.115.187.103: Adam and Steve

Actually, "Abel and Steve" is a play on the phrase "Adam and Steve"[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Steve]

964: Dorm Poster

2012-11-17T23:32:48Z

146.115.187.103: /* Explanation */ ftfy!

{{comic
| number = 964
| date = October 14, 2011
| title = Dorm Poster
| image = dorm poster.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I was going to record an album with that cover under the name "PINK FTFY", so it'd come after them on the store CD rack. But at this point music stores are just rooms where CDs are set out to age before they're thrown away, so probably nobody would see it.
}}

==Explanation==
The poster on the wall is the album artwork for {{w|Pink Floyd|Pink Floyd's}} album {{w|The Dark Side of the Moon}}. It shows a beam of light passing through a {{w|Dispersive prism}} and separating into a rainbow. After thinking a bit, the new student makes a poster that uses a lens to reverse the rainbow into another prism.

In the title-text, the words "Pink FTFY" (Fixed That For You) would come alphabetically after Pink Floyd, but [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] sems to believe noone would see it.

==Transcript==
:[Person 1 finds dorm room]

:[View into the dorm room. The left half is already occupied, and Person 2 has filled his side with the normal accoutrements of dorm life. There is a Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" poster hanging on the far wall, offset and only on Person 2's side]

:[Person 1 has a bit of a ponder]

:[Person 1 leaves for a bit]

:[Person 1 returns with an item]

:[View into the dorm room. Person 1 is moving in, and has placed a second Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" poster modified with a lens in the rainbow's path. The poster is placed upside down on Person 1's side of the far wall to catch the rainbow, feed it back into the prism, and turn it back into a narrow stream of white light.]

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

Talk:1029: Drawing Stars

2012-11-17T20:58:42Z

146.115.187.103: flags are easy

They are however, incredibly easy to sew[http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html]

Talk:1063: Kill Hitler

2012-11-17T20:26:35Z

146.115.187.103: again

Also, that time machine looks an awful lot like a telephone booth, which would be a reference to Bill & Ted's Excellent adventure in which they travel through time inside said telephone booth. That in itself is a reference to the much older Doctor Who, a British television show in which a time-traveling alien (known simply as "The Doctor") travels through time and space inside a blue 60's-style police telephone booth which is bigger on the inside

The directive is reminiscent of the short story ''Wikihistory'' by Desmond Warzel[http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory]

Talk:1063: Kill Hitler

2012-11-17T20:26:02Z

146.115.187.103: fix space

Talk:1063: Kill Hitler

2012-11-17T20:25:17Z

146.115.187.103: Wikihistory

Also, that time machine looks an awful lot like a telephone booth, which would be a reference to Bill & Ted's Excellent adventure in which they travel through time inside said telephone booth. That in itself is a reference to the much older Doctor Who, a British television show in which a time-traveling alien (known simply as "The Doctor") travels through time and space inside a blue 60's-style police telephone booth which is bigger on the inside

The directive is reminiscent of the short story ''Wikihistory''
by Desmond Warzel[http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory]