explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1373: Screenshot

2014-05-26T15:53:39Z

173.245.54.12:

Guys I feel so strange right now, I woke up thinking "My battery is low, I need a charger but wait ... A new xkcd comic!" I have uploaded my screenshot : http://imgur.com/kjK1S1B
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.54|108.162.219.54]] 09:45, 26 May 2014 (UTC)bluelightzero

That subreddit made me feel dirty. And all this after seeing some long "friendzone" rants on Imgur. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 10:10, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

For completeness: http://imgur.com/YLNKqlC
15:53, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:731: Desert Island

2014-03-26T02:02:49Z

173.245.54.12:

There's a shark, a manta ray, giant jellyfish, and a giant squid in the water. It's totally safe. And what the heck are those worms at the ocean bed? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:27, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

:Those worms are ''extremophiles'' feeding off of the nutrients emitted by the volcanic column... and from what I understand, they're completely harmless. Their entire ecology centers around the extreme heat and alternative chemical sources of energy provided by the center of the earth (vs sun-based photosynthetic life.) Oh, and I think Randall left off the "not to scale" attribute of the map, otherwise the ocean floor would only be a few hundred feet deep... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:50, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
The title text seems to be alluding to a song. No idea what it could be. --[[User:Qwach|Qwach]] ([[User talk:Qwach|talk]]) 18:27, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

In my mind, I hear the alt-text as lyrics to the Can-Can song, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0WRJES4cyw "Infernal Gallop"]. See if you agree!

Also the title text is a poem since no one mentions it: 
''Telescopes and bathyscapes 
''and sonar probes of Scottish lakes, 
''Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse 
''explained with abstract phase-space maps, 
''some x-ray slides, a music score, 
''Minard's Napoleonic war: 
''the most exciting new frontier 
''is charting what's already here. 
--[[User:7buergen|7buergen]] ([[User talk:7buergen|talk]]) 09:32, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I think the point of the commentary is "there's more than meets the eye". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.216|141.101.81.216]] 13:47, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1299: I Don't Own a TV

2013-12-04T06:14:26Z

173.245.54.12: Graphs

Annual Data for households between 1958-1970
http://www.tvhistory.tv/Annual_TV_Households_50-78.JPG

Plotted next to a fitted logarithmic function
http://imgur.com/aVWmQ9z

The negative second derivative of this function
http://imgur.com/xywpEJZ

If someone can find more data for television ownership I'd love to see it :)

1293: Job Interview

2013-11-20T18:27:00Z

173.245.54.12: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1293
| date = November 20, 2013
| title = Job Interview
| image = job_interview.png
| titletext = When you talk about the job experience you'll give me, why do you pronounce 'job' with a long 'o'?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
Following on from [[1032: Networking|his attempts at networking]], [[Beret Guy]] conducts an interview for a programmer position (someone to "write on our computers") at his mysteriously successful company.

The comic makes fun of a virtual economy where any actual connection to goods or services vanishes. The purported "company headquarters" look suspiciously like a fast-food place, although the online soup (a take on soup.io[http://soup.io]?) makes it somewhat more nerdy.

The label is a variation on the countless humorous signs near wall outlets and faucets.

The title text makes reference to the story of [[wikipedia:Job (biblical figure)|Job]] ("Job" pronounced with a long O), who was put through some horrendous ordeals by God to test his faith. This suggests that taking the job will make the interviewee feel like Job.

Another job interview was portrayed in [[1094: Interview]]

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy ushers a prospective employee into a room.]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to our company! We're headquartered right here, in this real building I found.

:[They sit down at a table carrying dishes. There is a wall outlet with a lopsided sign SOUP.]
:Interviewee: What do you...''do''?
:Beret Guy: We make stuff for phones!
:Beret Guy: Like apps and stickers.

:Beret Guy: We want to hire you to write stuff on our computers.
:Beret Guy: We can offer you a bunch of paychecks!
:Beret Guy: There are ghosts here.

:Interviewee: Are you sure this is a company?
:Beret Guy: I hope so!

:[Beret Guy plugs a cable into the wall outlet, a liquid pours into a soup bowl.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

1094: Interview

2013-11-20T18:24:20Z

173.245.54.12: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1094
| date = August 13, 2012
| title = Interview
| image = interview.png
| titletext = Hey, before you go, can you explain to me what job I now have?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is based on a common annoyance when job hunting, being told that they'll "keep you in mind", but don't offer you a job. A job interviewer tells [[Black Hat]] that the job he was applying for was already filled.

Black Hat offers a briefcase to his interviewer. From the vague phrasing "this" and the context, one would expect the briefcase to contain money to bribe the interviewer into hiring Black Hat. Instead, it contains a portal or gateway into an impossibly deep chasm.

After falling through the chasm, the interviewer lands in the interviewee's seat, and Black Hat is now sitting in the interviewer's seat, effectively switching their roles.

The former interviewer tries to pull the same trick on Black Hat, creating a momentary illusion of an {{w|infinite loop}} through {{w|recursion}}, a common theme in xkcd comics.

When Black Hat opens the briefcase, however, he reveals another common annoyance when job hunting, being told that the opening has already been filled. Black Hat's statement works on two levels, one meaning that "the job opening has been filled", and the second meaning "the opening to the briefcase's chasm has been filled".

The title text is said by Black Hat. It refers to the fact that, even though Black Hat now has the interviewer's job, he has no idea what his function is.

Another job interview was portrayed in [[1293: Job Interview]]

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and another person interviewing.]
:Person: ...But thank you for applying. We'll keep your resume on file.

:[Black Hat pushes a suitcase over the table.]
:Black Hat: Perhaps ''this'' could change your mind?

:[Person opens suitcase.]
:''Click''

:[Suitcase opens up to reveal a hole with horizontal lines along the walls.]

:[Camera pans over the suitcase to reveal a deep hole.]

:[Camera zooms into the hole.]

:[Person is falling into the hole.]
:Person: AAAAAA

:[Person falls into a chair with the suitcase.]
:''THUMP''

:[Person is dazed.]
:Black Hat: ...But thank you for applying. We'll keep your resume on file.

:[Person looks bemused at the the suitcase.]

:[Person lifts suitcase.]

:[Person pushes the suitcase over the table.]
:Person: Perhaps ''this'' could change your mind?

:[Black Hat opens suitcase.]
:''Click''

:[Black Hat looks inside.]

:[Black Hat turns suitcase around.]
:Black Hat: I'm sorry-

:[Suitcase now has some paper and an envelope in it.]
:Black Hat: -That opening has been filled.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]