Talk:2549: Edge Cake

2021-12-02T09:50:06Z

162.158.102.11:

The cake being all edges is a reference to everything about her birth being an edge case.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.227|172.70.110.227]] 03:41, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: It seems likely that the title of the comic is a related pun: her birthday is an edge case, and so she has an edge cake.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.221|162.158.106.221]] 04:22, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
So is Hairbun officially named Emily now, sort of like how all instances of Megan are Megan even though she's only called that once? I know all the names here are just placeholders of convenience, but even then I've never know what the rules for naming are. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 06:11, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Edge pieces on cake are often sought after because they hold more frosting, for cakes which are frosted while out of the pan. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.23|172.70.134.23]] 06:37, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: I have an impression that Cueball is delighted by having only edge pieces, however some cakes edge pieces may be either sought for or avoided, depending on one's tastes. E.g. tarts have more crispy base cake content and less filling at the edges. One person may go for the filling, another for the crispy base. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

So it seems the events in the comic happened on Apr 1., as the "last month" birthday could be either Feb 28. or 29. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

2544: Heart-Stopping Texts

2021-11-20T01:17:38Z

162.158.102.11: everyday lived experience -> everyday lives (more natural phrasing)

{{comic
| number = 2544
| date = November 19, 2021
| title = Heart-Stopping Texts
| image = heart_stopping_texts.png
| titletext = Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LITERAL HEART STOPPING ROBOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Text messages have become a ubiquitous form of communication in most countries, and have become a basic part of many peoples' everyday lives. Conversations over text frequently jump straight to the purpose of the communication, without salutation or prelude. Certain texts, particularly when delivered without context, can carry implications that cause immediate anxiety.

"Out of the blue" is an English expression meaning to appear in a sudden and unexpected fashion. 'The blue' alludes to the clear daylight sky. Something arriving/appearing/dropping/flying "out of the blue" has appeared not just without warning, but there's no reason for you not to have seen it (e.g. looming out of a foggy night), which sort of implies that it's not just a surprise, but even the fact that you are getting surprised by something is surprising.

This comic lists texts that would be extremely worrying to receive with no context, for a variety of reasons. It seems to suggest that sending these is a good way to prank someone; particularly the title text, where deliberately sending an animated loading icon seems like it couldn't be intended for any other purpose. The different messages are explained below.

==== Did you forget what day it is? ====
This implies that the recipient has forgotten some important event happening today. This could be an important day to a spouse or friend, and a relationship can be damaged by the recipient having forgotten. Or it could mean that the recipient has failed to deliver on an important commitment scheduled for that day, which can create a variety of other problems.

==== I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh? ====
This implies that something of major significance has happened, that would make many people want to get in touch with the recipient. There are a lot of possibilities, many of which are negative. The non-specific nature of the text leaves the recipient wondering what has happened, and how bad it is.

==== Did you mean to post that to everyone? ====
Implies that the recipient has made a public post (presumably on some form of social network) that was offensive or otherwise inappropriate to post publicly; so much so that the text sender is asking if they perhaps meant it to be forwarded to a more contained group or possibly not even revealed to anyone else out there at all. This is not an uncommon occurrence as on many platforms it can be easy to accidentally post something with the wrong visibility or mis-click something private into a media post.

==== Is this your house? ====
{{w|CNN}} is a popular news outlet in the United States. This text implies that the recipient's house has for some reason been mentioned (or probably photographed) in a CNN article. This would mean that a newsworthy event has occurred there, or at least very nearby. Many newsworthy events are upsetting, possibly dangerous (eg. a fire, a natural disaster, a violent crime, etc).

==== You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you? ====
{{w|Phishing}} is the practice of sending fraudulent messages to someone in order to steal information (credentials, etc.), infect them with {{w|malware}}, or otherwise perform some undesirable action. One overwhelmingly common form of this is getting people to click on {{w|hyperlink|hyperlinks}} in emails, which generally purport to lead somewhere reputable but instead lead to somewhere controlled by the sender.

This text implies something makes the sender think the recipient has fallen victim to such an attack. It's not uncommon for the victim of such an attack to not be the first to discover it. For example, some attacks hijack the victim's email, and use it to bombard everyone in their contact list with further phishing attempts. If the sender of this text had received such an email, they might suspect an attack. If this has already happened, it's likely to cause major problems.

==== Can I call? ====
While this is a seemingly benign and simple request, contacting someone by text to ask whether you can call is usually a sign that they expect the conversation to be long and serious, and want to ensure that the other party is available for such a discussion. Many such situations are negative (ranging from a breakup to the death of a loved one), and there's a great deal of tension in knowing that something is serious, but not knowing what it is.

==== Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name? ====
{{w|Joe Rogan}} is a public personality, best known for his podcast {{w|The Joe Rogan Experience}}. This message implies that the recipient has been discussed by Rogan for some reason. Similarly to the CNN case, this is likely to cause worry about what possible circumstances would prompt this.

Joe Rogan has recently been in the news for his anti vaccine stance so people may not want to be associated with him.

==== Why are you trending on Twitter? ====
{{w|Twitter}} is a social network, which – among other features – tracks and shows topics that are currently being discussed by a large number of users on the platform, or "trending". An individual trending across the entire network (unless that person is a public figure) is usually either because they're connected with a news story, or because something they did or wrote has gone viral. There are sufficiently many negative things that can cause such unexpected fame that hearing about it would be worrying..

Twitter in particular is known for frequently involving very heated discussion, and often even the targeting of individuals by mobs who perceive them to have done something wrong.

==== Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation] ====
(title text) The past tense ('was') implies that your car no longer exists, with the animation additionally implying a video of it being damaged or destroyed somehow.

==Transcript==

:[Comic heading:]
:Most heart-stopping texts to receive out of the blue

:[A collection of light gray text bubbles in two columns:]

:Did you forget what day it is?

:I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh?

:Did you mean to post that to everyone?

:Is this your house? cnn.com/2021/11/19/S...

:You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you?

:Can I call?

:Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name?

:Why are you trending on Twitter?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2549: Edge Cake

2544: Heart-Stopping Texts