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{{Incomplete}}
 
{{comic
 
{{comic
 
| number    = 1037
 
| number    = 1037
 
| date      = April 1, 2012
 
| date      = April 1, 2012
 
| title    = Umwelt
 
| title    = Umwelt
| image    = umwelt_the_void.jpg
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| image    = umwelt.png
| titletext = Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit--from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your web browser.}}
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| imagesize =
{{TOC}}
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| titletext = Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit--from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your web browser.
*To view your personal version of the comic, visit the {{xkcd|1037|original comic}}.
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}}
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
This was the third [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] released by [[Randall]]. The previous fools comic was [[880: Headache]] from Friday April 1st 2011. The next was [[1193: Externalities]] released on Monday April 1st 2013.
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An {{w|umwelt}}, as the image text explains, is the idea that ones entire way of thinking is dependent on their surroundings. Thus, this {{w|April Fools}} comic changes based on the browser, location, or referrer. Thus, what the viewer is viewing the comic on, where they live, or where they came from determines which comic they actually see. As a result, there are actually multiple comics that went up on April Fools Day (although only one is seen).
  
An {{w|Umwelt}}, as the title text explains, is the idea that one's entire way of thinking is dependent on their surroundings. Thus, this {{w|April Fools}} comic changes based on the browser, location or referrer. Thus, what the viewer is viewing the comic on, where they live or where they came from determines which comic they actually see. As a result, there are actually multiple comics that went up on April Fools' Day, although only one is seen.
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==Transcript==
(The term 'Umwelt,' as mentioned in the comic, refers to the semiotic theories of Jakob von Uexküll and Thomas A. Sebeok)
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[Two people...]
  
Information about how the wide variety of data was collected and credit for the viewers who contributed can be found [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/rnst4/april_fools_xkcd_changing_comic/ here].
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(..wait.. <scrolls through a listing of everything> oh goddammit Randall. Thanks a bunch, dude. I better get a raise for typing out all this)
  
===The Void===
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{Note to courageous readers- The transcript has been reordered in the order in which the comics appear in the picture and appropriate names have been given}
[[File:umwelt the void.jpg]]
 
  
If the device or browser you are using does not support Javascript, you will simply see a static image of a white swirl on a dark background.
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===The void===
 +
[An epic void with a bright light shining right on you]
  
Possible reference to The Ring (https://imgur.com/wlGmm), as though to suggest that using an alternative browser is dismal and horrific.
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===Aurora===
 +
[Person heading out past another person comfortably sitting in front of a desk]
  
Davean (xkcd's sysadmin): "[This] comic isn't available everywhere and it can come up i[n] some situation[s] only for recognized browsers."
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Person 1: Apparently there's a solar flare that's causing some Great Aurorae. CBC says they may even be visible here! Wanna drive out to see?
  
Browser: Alternative Browser
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Person 2: Hockey's on.
  
===Aurora===
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Person 1: Ok. Later.
[[File:umwelt aurora.png|800px]]
 
  
One could interpret that since Megan didn't go out and therefore missed seeing the {{w|Aurora}} (northern lights), Cueball in his [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|knit cap]] lied about it. That way, she wouldn't have felt sad that she missed out. Another interpretation could be that he decides that since she did not even bother to go outside to see such a spectacular sight he will not tell her about it. And yet another could be that he did not think it was interesting.
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[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky]
  
Cueball could possibly also be red-green colorblind, seeing the green aurorae as grey "clouds". This would serve as an example for the theme of the comic, as a non-colorblind person and a colorblind person seeing the same color would perceive it differently, one seeing it as its true color, and the other seeing it without the shade of color they cannot see. If this is the case, then it would be a reference to umwelt, as Cueball would be living in a world where the auroras do not reach his location.
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Person 2: See anything?
  
In real life, [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-northern-lights-dont-look-anything-like-they-do-in-photos_n_5500a4d9e4b0e62d0dd4f9bb aurorae are usually seen as grey/white clouds] to the naked eye, as our eyes cannot perceive the "greener" colors as well in the dark.
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Person 1: No, just clouds.
  
This image changed based on the size of the browser window including different panels at different sizes.
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Person 2: Not surprised.
  
Locations: Canada, Boston, Indiana, Maine, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Minnesota, Norway, Denmark, France, Ireland, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Seoul (Safari), London (on Firefox). Also in Virginia, but using Ohio in the first panel; in Wisconsin and Maryland, but using Canada in the first panel; in Marion, Illinois, but using Canada in the first panel along with the phrase "as far south as us" in the first panel, and in Utah, also using the phrase "as far south as us", same with Colombia, Spain, Georgia, Florida and California.
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===Snake===
  
In [[1302: Year in Review]] a possibly different Megan has a completely different approach to the chance of seeing northern lights, as that was the only event she was looking forward to in 2013, and it failed. If this is the same Megan, perhaps she learned that there actually were northern lights in her area from another source, and so desperately wanted to have another chance to see them.
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[Two people standing next to each other. One is holding the head end of a snake. Depending on the width of your browser, the snake is: three frames, the third of which  has a little bit of a bump; the first frame has a human-size bump, the second has a third person looking at the snake, and the third has the snake going though two Portals; a squirrel and the human-size bump in the first frame, a ring next to the third person in the second frame, and Beret Guy riding the snake in front of the portal; or The squirrel, a fourth person within the snake being coiled, and the human bump in the first frame, the ring, a fifth person in love, and the third person in the second frame, Beret Guy and the portal in the third frame, and the same two people in the fourth frame.]
  
===Snake===
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Person holding snake head: I found a snake, but then I forgot to stop.
[[File:umwelt snake composite 1024.png]]
 
[[:File:umwelt snake composite.png|Full size]]
 
  
The joke here is the extreme length of snakes. The world's longest living snake is the {{w|reticulated python}}, the longest ever measuring over 22 feet (6.95 meters). The blue and orange circles refer to the hit game {{w|Portal}}.
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===Black hat===
There is also a reference to the book "The Little Prince" in the second panel, where there is a large bulge in the snake that looks like an elephant. The Little Prince starts out by mentioning a drawing that the author made when he was six that showed an elephant inside a snake.
 
  
Also, the number and content of the panels changes depending on the size of your browser window.
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[Two people sitting at a desk. One is Black Hat Guy. The other is an analyst. Black Hat Guy has a number of terminals attached to his head]
  
This image changed based on the size of the browser window including different panels at different sizes.
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Analyst: You come across a tortoise in the desert. You flip it over. It struggles to right itself. You watch. You're not helping. Why is that?
  
Specific AltText for this image: Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit -from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your browser window size.
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Black Hat Guy: It *knows* what it did.
  
Location: Texas (on Chrome Version 33.0.1750.154 m), New Jersey, California (on Chrome Version 39.0.2171.95), Maryland, Massachusetts (Safari for iOS, Chrome version 49.0.2623.112), Connecticut (Safari for iOS, Chrome Version 73.0.3683.103, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge), Virginia (on Chrome), Michigan (Firefox v46.0.1), Penang (Chrome Version 65.0.3325.162), London (Microsoft Edge), Germany (on Opera One (version: 106.0.4998.70)), Fruita, Colorado (on Chrome for Android version 123.0.6312.80).
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[View of the entire scene, with said turtle off in the distance on its back and trying to right itself.
  
===Black Hat===
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===Too quiet===
[[File:umwelt tortoise 1024.png]]
 
[[:File:umwelt tortoise.png|Full size]]
 
  
Cueball as an analyst attempts to psychoanalyze [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] [[72: Classhole|classhole]] tendencies. Cueball's quote and the whole setup is a direct reference to the movie {{w|Blade Runner}} (1982) and Black Hat is taking the Voight-Kampff test which is used to identify replicants from real humans.
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[A group of four scale down a wall into a field in the middle of the night. They walk off single-file]
  
Black Hat's reason for not helping the tortoise is that ''it '''knows''' what it did'' and thus in Black Hat's world view it deserves being turned over. The final part of the joke is that when zooming out it turns out that there is a tortoise behind Black Hat and he has actually already turned it over for what it did.
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Person 1: It's quiet.
  
Location: Seems to appear mostly in "other countries" — those without location-specific comics.
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Person 3: Yeah - *Too* quiet.
  
===Too Quiet===
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[A Velociraptor is off in the distance, following the group]
[[File:umwelt too quiet 1024.png]]
 
[[:File:umwelt too quiet.png|Full size]]
 
  
A reference to {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} which has been [[87: Velociraptors|constantly]] [[135: Substitute|referred]] [[1110: Click and Drag|to]] [[155: Search History|before]] [[758: Raptor Fences|in]] this comic.
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Person 4: Yeah - too *too* quiet.
  
Also referencing the film {{w|2 Fast 2 Furious|2 Fast 2 Furious}}, an entertaining, yet intellectually unprovoking sequel in a popular film franchise, which is aimed at teenagers and young adults, prompting the blunt response from the stickman. The fact that Steve would use such a cliché {{w|2000s (decade)|noughties}} movie term in such an intense moment, and the subsequent curse, is the joke in this comic.
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Person 2: Yeah - 2quiet2furious.
  
Location: short version — iPhone 5c Safari browser in Texas, iPhone 5 Chrome Browser in Minnesota, long version - Google Chrome browser in Indiana, Windows 8 Laptop
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Person 1: Fuck off, Steve.
  
 
===Pond===
 
===Pond===
[[File:umwelt pond mobile.png]][[File:umwelt pond wide.png]]
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[A landscape showing a pond, some reeds, and a set of mountains off in the distance]
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 +
===Galaxies===
 +
[A trio of galaxies]
  
Two different versions showed, the narrower version for mobile devices.
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Galaxy 1: He's not looking!
  
Location: The Netherlands and various other countries.
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Galaxy 3: Let's get him!
  
===Galaxies===
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[Lines draw in illustrating the eye-line of one of a pair of people]
[[File:umwelt galaxies 1024.jpg]]
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[[:File:umwelt galaxies.jpg|Full size]]
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Person 1: So he said he didn't get the text, but c'mon, he *never* misses texts. Right? ..hello?
 +
 
 +
Person 2: I'm just staring at your head freaked out by th efact that there are millions of galaxies *directly behind it*.
 +
 
 +
===xkcd Gold/Beehive part 1===
 +
 
 +
[Person holding bat]
  
Megan is distracted from her conversation with [[Cueball]] by realizing that the space behind his head, from her vantage point, contains millions of galaxies. This is similar to an [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/astro/hst_deep_field.jpg incredible photograph] taken by the Hubble Telescope, in which a tiny dark area of space in fact contained numerous galaxies.
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Person: Sorry, but this comic
  
The title text is an imaginative leap from this scenario: that the galaxies would be up to no good once Cueball is turned away from them.
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[Person starts to wind up]
  
This comic was only reported once... the intended environmental context is a mystery.
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requires
  
Location: unknown
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[Person prepares to strike with bat]
  
===xkcd Gold===
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XKCD
[[File:umwelt xkcd gold.png]]
 
  
This is probably a reference to the 4chan Gold Account, an implementation on 4chan that does not actually exist, and is usually used to trick newcomers into revealing their credit card numbers. The joke is that "Gold Account" users can supposedly block other users from viewing images they have posted. The fifth panel is probably a reference to Beecock, a notorious set of shocker images. 4chan's moderators have been known to give out "beecock bans" or "/z/ bans" to particularly annoying users, which redirect the user to a page containing beecock and the text "OH NO THE BOARD IS GONE".
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[Person swings at a beehive]
  
Referrer: 4chan
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GOLD
  
===Yo Mama===
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===Beehive part 2===
[[File:umwelt dog ballast.png]]
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[Penis Bees fly out of the beehive]
  
Possible reference to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s "{{w|Harrison Bergeron}}."
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===Yo mamma===
 +
[Person yells at another person]
  
The joke is that people's different experiences shape how they perceive the world in that the people who live in this world would perceive the joke as funny, while people in our world would not get it. This is the idea of umwelt mentioned at the top of the context where different individuals perceive the world differently.
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Person 1;Oh yeah? Well you mama's so *cynical*, her only dog ballast is a *leash*!
  
Refer: Facebook
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(This comic takes place in a dystopian future where the government is afraid dogs can hover, so it requires them to wear weights at all times, and some people privately doubt the government, but not enough to stop buying dog weights)
  
 
===Reddit===
 
===Reddit===
[[File:umwelt reddit.png]]
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Five seconds ago:
  
Reference to referencing, because Reddit, as a referring site, likes references to its referencing in its references.
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[You sitting in front of a desk, reading a reddit thread]
  
This comic also features recursive imagery similar to [[688: Self-Description]] where the second panel embeds the entire comic within itself. (Except, conspicuously, the arrow indicating that it is "You" in the first panel.)
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You: Oh, hey, reddit has a link to some XKCD april fools comic.
  
One of the browser tabs visible in the center panel is {{w|Elk}} on Wikipedia.
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Now: [An image of this very page]
  
Referrer: Reddit
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Five seconds from now:
  
===Buns and Hot dogs===
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You: ..hey
[[File:umwelt somethingawful.jpg]]
 
  
This is a reference to the question "Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6 while buns come in packages of 8?"
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30 seconds from now:
  
Another, more sexual reference to this question can be found in [[1641: Hot Dogs]].
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[DANCE PARTY!]
  
Referrer: SomethingAwful, Questionable Content, & MetaFilter
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===Buns and Hotdogs===
 +
 
 +
Person: What I wanna know is why do hot dogs come in packages of six while buns come in these huge sacks of ash and blood from which "Ave Maria" is faintly audible?
 +
 
 +
[Chanting sacks of gore in the background]
  
 
===Twitter===
 
===Twitter===
[[File:umwelt twitter.jpg]]
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[A twitter account page with the following: Many tweets, fewer following, even fewer followers, A bunch of assholes in the suggested follow box, trending topics partitioned into: Word Games, Misogyny, and Bieber, stuff your eyes automatically ignore, A really pleasant blue. and the timeline: Something about a podcast, Someone confused because the description doesn't match the link, The link you clicked on to get to this comic, Rob Delaney, Passive Aggression, and horse_ebooks.]
  
A summary of the "content" typically found on Twitter.
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===Wikipedia===
 +
[There's no comic here because instead of drawing one, I spent the last hour reading every news story cited in the Wikipedia article on "The Mile High Club"]
  
In the tweet feed, there are three tweets about some podcast on the top, followed by the tweet containing link they clicked on to get to the comic, tweets about Rob Delaney, unspecified passive-aggressive tweets, and a tweet from {{w|Horse_ebooks}} retweeted by one of the users the reader follows.
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===Google Chrome===
 +
[A Chrome plugin error page]
  
On the left, the topmost dialog, with profile information, shows that the user has posted 1,302 tweets, but only follows 171 people and has even fewer followers, at a measly 48. This is marked with a sad face, implying that the user wants more followers.
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Chrome: This plugin requires Sergey Brin's permission to run. Please wait while he is woken.
  
Below that is the "who to follow" dialog, which is written up as consisting of "assholes".
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===Chrome/Firefox===
 +
[Two people; one is sitting at a desk in front of a laptop.]
  
Below that is the "trending tags" dialog for the United States. It is full of tags about word games, tags about misogyny, and tags about Justin Bieber.
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Person 1: Man, chrome's hardware acceleration really sucks.
  
Below that is an unidentified dialog full of "stuff your eyes automatically ignore". And finally, on the bottom is the background color, which is "a really pleasant blue".
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Person 2: Oh - Theres' a great add-on that fixes it.
  
"Aggression" is misspelled.
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Person 1: Oh? What's it called?
  
Referrer: Twitter
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Person 2: "Firefox".
  
===Wikipedia===
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===Google Chrome-2===
[[File:umwelt wikipedia wide.jpg]]
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[A Chrome plugin error page with the characteristic jigsaw piece]
[[File:umwelt wikipedia mobile.png]]
 
  
The term {{w|Mile High Club}} (or MHC) is a slang term applied collectively to individuals who have had sexual intercourse while on board an aircraft. Randall says that reading the news articles on it has distracted him from making that comic.
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Chrome: Chrome is looking for this piece. Have you seen it? Chrome thinks it links up with a corner.
  
Two different versions shown, the narrower version (the single panel with all the text) for mobile devices.
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===Mozilla Firefox Private Browsing===
 +
[Firefox error page]
  
Referrer: Wikipedia
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Firefox: Well, this is embarassing. You know how I'm not supposed to peek at your browsing in private mode? Firefox.. is sorry. Firefox will not blame you if you
  
===Google Chrome===
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[button with text]
[[File:umwelt chrome1.jpg]]
 
  
{{w|Sergey Brin}} (born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies. As of 2013, his personal wealth was estimated to be $24.4 billion. Randall makes the joke that as the founder of Google, Brin's permission would be needed to use Google Chrome. Because there are millions of people who use Google, it is likely that at least some of the time Brin would be asleep, thus he would need to be woken.
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click here to report this incident.
  
Browser: Chrome
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===Internet Explorer===
 +
[IE error page]
  
===Chrome/Firefox===
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IE: Error: Internet Explorer has given up.
[[File:umwelt chrome2.png]]
 
  
Mozilla {{w|Firefox}} is a free and open-source web browser developed for Windows, OS X and Linux, with a mobile version for Android and iOS, by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. Cueball is complaining about {{w|Google Chrome}}, to which [[Ponytail]] replies that there is an {{w|add-on}} that fixes what he is complaining about. When questioned, she replies that the add-on is Firefox, which isn't an add-on at all and is instead a different browser.
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===Maxthon===
 +
Person: Maxthon? Hey, 2005 called. Didn't say anything. All I could hear was sobbing. This is getting harder. Anyway, yeah, Maxthon's still cool! Didn't know it was still around!
  
Browser: Chrome
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===Netscape Navigator===
 +
[Person with tentacle arms]
  
===Google Chrome-2===
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Person: Netscape Navigator? Hey, the nineties called - drunk as usual. I hung up without saying anything. This is getting harder. Anyway - it's cool that you'e got netscape running.
[[File:umwelt chrome3.png]]
 
  
This panel references Google Chrome's error screen, which shows a puzzle piece. The comic humorously implies that Chrome is looking for that piece. When completing jigsaw puzzles, a common strategy is to figure out where the pieces must be from their geometry rather than from the picture they create. In this case, the text suggests that Chrome believes the puzzle piece connects to the pieces which form one of the corners of the puzzle, which may seem impossible because any piece that links up to a corner would usually have at least one flat edge, which this piece has none. However, more complicated puzzles have complex shapes and are not always simply approximate squares with tabs and blanks.
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===Rockmelt===
 +
[Person running to laptop]
  
Browser: Chrome or silk on desktop view
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I ran to Rockmelt to hide my face
  
===Mozilla Firefox Private Browsing===
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[Person sitting at laptop]
[[File:umwelt firefox incognito.png]]
 
  
Another reference to crashing web browsers.
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But Rockmelt cried out -
Firefox shows the history when it crashes.
 
Browser: Firefox (Incognito only?)
 
  
===Internet Explorer===
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[Laptop shouting]
[[File:umwelt ie.png]]
 
  
This is yet another reference to crashing web browsers but instead, Internet Explorer has given up. It could be because there are too many sessions, they are shutting it down, or maybe it was too lazy to do anything.
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NO HIDING PLACE
  
Browser: Internet Explorer
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[zoom out]
  
===Maxthon===
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NO HIDING PLACE DOWN HERE
[[File:umwelt maxthon.png]]
 
  
Browser: {{w|Maxthon}}
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===Google Chrome-4===
 +
[A chrome plugin error page]
  
===Netscape Navigator===
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Chrome: There does not exist --nor could there *ever* exist-- a plugin capable of displaying this content.
[[File:umwelt netscape womanoctopus.png]]
 
  
[[File:umwelt netscape man.png]]
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===Microsoft/Amazon/The Times/Google - Chrome===
 +
[Chrome error page]
  
{{w|Netscape Navigator}} was a web browser popular in the 1990s.
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Chrome: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run.  Remember, Microsoft/Amazon/The Times/Google is a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.
  
Browser: Netscape
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===Military===
 +
[Person looking at two browser windows]
  
===Rockmelt===
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I know y'all know what you're doing. But if you're on a military machine and youre supposed to be watching for missiles or something, I hope you're keeping an eye on that in the background while you're reading comics. Also: Thanks.
[[File:umwelt rockmelt.png]]
 
  
{{w|Rockmelt}} is a social-media-based browser.
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===T-Mobile===
 +
[Error page]
  
Reference to the gospel song {{w|Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934)|"There's no hiding place down here" by The Carter Family}}, later covered by Stephen Stills.
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Data Error: T-Mobile was unable to establish a connection
  
:I run to the rock just to hide my face
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===AT&T/Verizon===
:And the rocks cried out, no hiding place
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[Error page] Error; You have exceeded your AT&T/Verizon monthly bandwidth cap. Mobile web browsing has been disabled.
:There's no hiding place down here
 
  
It may additionally be a reference to the ''Babylon 5'' episode "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," which featured the song.
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===France===
 +
[Two people; one of which is browsing using a laptop]
  
Browser: Rockmelt
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Person 1: Hey, you're French, right? Ever see what happens when you type "French Military Victories" into Google?
  
===Plugin Disabled===
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French person: Does it take you to an article on Napoleon?
[[File:umwelt plugin disabled.png]]
 
  
When the Google Chrome web browser does not have the required software (called a plug-in) to display a web page's content, it displays a puzzle piece icon and an error message. In this case, Chrome informs the user that the content is impossible to display.  
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French person: ..no? Strange, given how he kicked everyone's asses up and down europe for over a decade.
  
Browser: Plugin (?) Disabled, Safari Desktop
+
[beat]
  
===Corporate Networks===
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Person 1: Touche.
[[File:umwelt corporate general.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon chrome.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon firefox.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon other.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate google chrome.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft chrome.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft firefox.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft other.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate nytimes chrome.png]]
 
[[File:umwelt corporate nytimes other.png]]
 
  
These error messages appear if the user is on a network owned by one of the corporations noted. The error message includes a warning against speaking on the company's behalf.
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French person: You know, that'd sound smarter if you didn't pronounce it like it rhymes with "douche".
  
ISP: Corporate networks of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, NY Times
+
===Germany===
 +
[A person dropping food from an unorthodox high perch]
  
===Military===
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June 1948: In response to the Soviet blockade of East Germany, the western allies construct the Berlin Chairlift.
[[File:umwelt military.png]]
 
  
[[Cueball]] assumes that anyone using a military network has an important job like watching for incoming missiles. He includes a thank-you to the user for their military service.
+
Person on chairlift: Food!
  
ISP: Military networks
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===Israel===
 +
[Person on phone]
  
===T-Mobile===
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(Translation from Hebrew)
[[File:umwelt tmobile.png]]
 
  
Reference to T-Mobile's distinguishing feature (at the time it was written) of weaker coverage, in relation to other major providers.
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Person: Mom, I met a great guy! But he's not Jewish. ... Wait, what do you mean "neither are we"? I'm completely confused.
  
ISP: T-Mobile
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===Carnot Cycle===
 +
[Person on a motorcycle with a heat-entropy graph on the side]
  
===Verizon and AT&T===
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Person 1: Check out my new Carnot Cycle!
[[File:umwelt verizon.png]]
 
  
[[File:umwelt att.png]]
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Person 2: Neat -- how fast does it go?
  
Reference to Verizon and AT&T's scandals/controversy regarding implementation of bandwidth caps.
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Person 1: Depends how cold it is outside.
  
ISP: Verizon and AT&T
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===Great Britain===
 +
[Illustration of the atlantic ocean]
  
===France===
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American person: Sorry I don't have a comic poking fun at the UK here. I only had time to get to the most *important* US states.
[[File:umwelt france.jpg]]
 
  
A common joke about France is that the nation does not win wars. This originated from France's annexation by Germany during World War II, and America's late entry into the war, which is sometimes portrayed humorously as a case of America 'saving' Europe, in this joke particularly France (the role of the French resistance is usually not mentioned), leading to a common American joke at the expense of France's military prowess [https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html][https://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-frenchmilitaryvictories.htm][https://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokefrenchmilitaryhistory.htm]. When France did not form part of the coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003, aligning with the many countries that condemned U.S. action, the joke was revived.  
+
British person: Hey -- At least we have free health care and real ale.
  
A Google search of "French Military Victories" + 'I'm feeling lucky' used to direct to "did you mean: french military defeats" (due to a {{w|Google bomb}}). Cueball is trying to show this to his friend, who is French. However, his joke backfires, as his friend immediately points out that the stereotype of France not having military victories is undercut by the fact that one of the most innovative military commanders in history, Napoleon, was French by citizenship (though Italian/Corsican by culture, as the French annexed Corsica a few months before his birth to an Italian noble family), and in fact conquered much of Europe.
+
===Earthquake-Blizzard===
 +
[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]
  
Following the theme of umwelt, the comic highlights the two characters' differing perspectives: The American thinks that France is a military failure, while the Frenchman thinks of Napoleon.
+
Person 1: Stop jiggling your leg.
  
The last line of the comic further implies that Cueball is not as smart as he thinks he is in regards to anything French, as he mispronounces the French loan word "{{w|Touché (fencing)|touché}}".
+
Person 2: I'm not ji-.. oh!
  
Locations: France & Quebec
+
Person 1: What!
  
===Germany===
+
Person 2: You'll get it..
[[File:umwelt germany.png]]
 
  
This comic references the {{w|Berlin airlift#The start of the Berlin Airlift|Berlin Airlift}}, a relief measure for citizens in West Berlin (surrounded by East Germany) instituted by the Western Allies after World War II. In reality, the Western Allies flew a grand total of 500,000 tons of food over the Soviet blockade in planes. Randall puts a twist on this event by making it more fun: dropping supplies from a grand chairlift. The play on words is that "chairlift" rhymes with "airlift" and thus makes an easy substitution. The chair force is also a name that other service branches use to make fun of the air force.
+
[EVERYTHING RUMBLES]
  
Location: Germany
+
Person 1: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!
  
===Israel===
+
Person 2: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.
[[File:umwelt israel.png]]
 
  
Translation: Mom, I met a great guy! But he's not Jewish. ...Wait, what do you mean "neither are we"? I'm completely confused.
+
Person 1: But this is {Options: "Alabama", "Boston", "Chicago", "Dallas", "Georgia", "Halifax", "Illinois", "Michigan", "Minnesota", "Missouri", "the Northeast", "Ohio", "Oklahoma", "Ottawa", 'Pennsylvania", "Philadelphia", "Texas", "Toronto", "Tennessee", "New York", "Wisconsin"}! That was huge!
  
A reference to the multiple use of the word Jewish to denote both a {{w|Judaism|religious group}} and a {{w|Jews|nationality/ethnicity}}, as well as the stereotype of Jews holding low opinions of interfaith marriage.
+
Person 2: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.
  
A side note: Randall accidentally drew an apostrophe instead of the similar-looking Hebrew letter י everywhere that letter should appear.
+
Person 1: Oh *really*...  Six Months Later..
  
Location: Israel
+
[Both people are trudging through a massive blizzard]
  
===Carnot Cycle===
+
Person 2: In pictures, snow always looked so nice and sof -- AAAA! MY NECK! How do people live here?!
[[File:umwelt japan.png]]
 
  
A pun on "cycle"; a "{{w|Carnot cycle}}" is a thermodynamic cycle (e.g. refrigeration). Its efficiency depends on the temperature of the hot and cold 'reservoirs' in which it is operating.  The icon on the side of the motorcycle resembles a [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Carnot_cycle_p-V_diagram.svg/1000px-Carnot_cycle_p-V_diagram.svg.png graph of the Carnot cycle.]
+
Person 1: Come on - it's only three more miles.
  
Location: Japan
+
===Earthquake-Tornado===
 +
[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]
  
===UK===
+
Person 1: Stop jiggling your leg.
[[File:umwelt uk.jpg]]
 
  
He worded this as though to imply that the UK is a state of the U.S., and an unimportant one at that, which pokes fun at the UK, creating a paradox (sort of).
+
Person 2: I'm not ji-.. oh!
  
Location: UK
+
Person 1: What! Person 2: You'll get it..
  
===Blizzard===
+
[EVERYTHING RUMBLES]
[[File:umwelt disasters blizzard.png]]
 
  
This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or blizzards are harsher conditions to live under. In keeping with the theme of umwelt, the comic demonstrates that the two people perceive the world in two different ways due to their different experiences: The Californian perceives a mild earthquake and a severe blizzard, while the Northeasterner perceives a severe earthquake and a mild blizzard.
+
Person 1: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!
  
For each particular location in which this displayed, the state name was substituted in the third panel.
+
Person 2: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.
  
Locations: Alabama, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Georgia, Halifax, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, the Northeast, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Texas, Toronto, Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin
+
Person 1: But this is {Options: "Alabama", "Dallas", "Illinois", "The Midwest", "Missouri", "Ohio", "Oklahoma", "Ottawa", "Tennessee", "Texas"}!
  
===Tornado===
+
That was huge!
[[File:umwelt disasters tornado.png]]
 
  
This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or tornadoes are harsher conditions to live under. In keeping with the theme of umwelt, the comic demonstrates that the two people perceive the world in two different ways due to their different experiences: The California perceives a mild earthquake and a severe tornado, while the Midwesterner perceives a severe earthquake and a mild tornado. It's similar to [[#Blizzard|Blizzard]].
+
Person 2: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.
  
For each location this displayed in the state name was substituted in the third panel.
+
Person 1: Oh *really*...
  
Locations: Alabama, Dallas, Illinois, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Tennessee, Texas (and Virginia, but it used Ohio in the third panel)
+
Six Months Later..
  
Tornadoes are a [[:Category:Tornadoes|recurring subject]] on xkcd. The picture used in [[1754: Tornado Safety Tips]] very reminiscent of the one from this version of Umwelt. [[Category:Tornadoes]]
+
[Both people are in a shelter in a prairie with a rapidly-approaching tornado]
  
===Hurricane===
+
Person 2: AAAA CLOSE THE SHELTER DOOR!
[[File:umwelt disasters hurricane.png]]
 
  
This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or hurricanes are harsher conditions to live under. In keeping with the theme of umwelt, the comic demonstrates that the two people perceive the world in two different ways due to their different experiences: The Californian perceives a mild earthquake and a severe hurricane, while the Easterner perceives a severe earthquake and a mild hurricane. It's similar to [[#Blizzard|Blizzard]] and [[#Tornado|Tornado]].
+
Person 1: Say the magic words...
  
For each location this displayed in the state name was substituted in the third panel.
+
Person 2: THIS PLACE IS THE WORST!
  
Locations: D.C, Florida, Georgia, Houston, Miami, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
+
Person 1: Thank you.
  
 
===Lake Diver Killer===
 
===Lake Diver Killer===
[[File:umwelt lake diver.png]]
+
[TV Field Reporter in front of a cordoned-off lake]
  
This comic shows a news reporter standing in front of a lake. She is reporting on a serial killer who targets divers. As more divers are sent in to investigate and/or search for bodies, more divers go missing, the implication being that they were also murdered. The more likely reason is the lake itself is dangerous for diving, and the divers probably drowned from natural hazards (undercurrents, entanglement, running out of oxygen in tanks, etc.) instead of a malicious assailant. Also, this is a sort of loop, where each time a diver gets killed, the investigative team goes and investigates, causing more divers to get killed, causing more deaths, and so on.
+
Police divers searching the bay say they have recovered thebody of another victim of the "Lake Diver Killer" During the search, three more divers were reported missing.
  
Location: Bay Areas, Metro Detroit, Vermont showed an image specifically referencing Lake Champlain
+
===Washington===
 +
[The Lincoln Monument]
  
===Lincoln Memorial===
+
In this Marble Prison As in the nightmares of the nation they tried to devour The nanobots that constituted Abraham Lincoln Are entombed forever.
[[File:umwelt lincoln memorial.png]]
 
  
{{w|Abraham Lincoln}}, the 16th president of the United States of America, was not an entity composed wholly of nanobots that attempted to consume the entire nation to then be imprisoned within the {{w|Lincoln Memorial}}.{{Citation needed}} The inscription references the epitaph at the actual Lincoln Memorial, which reads "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever".
+
===Alaska===
 +
[A snowy Alaskan field]
  
Locations: Illinois & Washington, D.C.
+
Person: Some people hunt wolves from helicopters. I hunt helicopters from a wolf.
  
===Helicopter Hunting===
+
===Life in lab===
[[File:umwelt helicoptor.png]]
+
[Newspaper headline]
  
In Alaska, governments and individuals have {{w|Wolf hunting#North America 2|shot wolves en masse from helicopters}} in an attempt to artificially inflate populations of game, such as moose and caribou, to make hunting them easier. This is opposed by many, as the game populations are not endangered (thus, this threatens ecological balance); wolves are a small threat to livestock in North America; most of the wolf body —including meat and bones— goes wasted as they are sought mainly for their pelts.
+
Scientists/UMass Amherst students/RIT students create life in lab
  
Knowledge of this issue was popularized by press around vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's infamous support for this culling method.
+
[caption under picture of scientists]
  
Location: Alaska
+
"The trick was fuckin'"
  
===Newspaper===
+
===American Revolution===
[[File:umwelt life scientists.png]][[File:umwelt life rit.png]][[File:umwelt life umass.png]]
+
Robot Paul Revere: Remember: Zero if by land, One if by sea.
  
Creating new life has long been a well understood process, in a lab or otherwise.
+
===MIT===
 +
[Two people in front of a group of students]
  
This comic is likely a reference to the title text of [[983: Privacy]]
+
Person 1: I've hired a team of MIT students to count cards for us.
  
Location: Various
+
Person 2: We'll be rich!
  
Specific versions appeared for RIT and UMass Amherst
+
[Person 2 deals some cards while the students watch]
  
===Robot Paul Revere===
+
[The gears turn..]
[[File:umwelt paul revere.png]]
 
  
Combination of the legend of {{w|Paul Revere#"Midnight Ride"|Paul Revere}} and a computer bit that differentiates between two situations by indicating a zero or a one.
+
Student: Five. There are five cards.
  
Location: Boston
+
Person 1: I see their admission standards have been slipping.
  
===Counting Cards===
+
Person 2: Yeah - there are actually four.
<!-- card counting explanation needed. -->
 
All four colleges in this series are in Massachusetts and, being similar, in pairs, rival each other to some extent (Harvard-MIT and Smith-Wellesley). The comic contains a reference to the {{w|MIT Blackjack Team}}, which entered popular culture via the {{w|21 (2008 film)|film 21}}, and a possible reference to Orwell's book '1984' and/or {{w|Chain of Command (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|popular homage to it via Star Trek}}: "There are four lights."[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChYIm6MW39k]
 
  
Bonus: The thought-gears in panel 3 are spinning against each other.
+
===MIT Course 15c===
 +
[Two people in front of a group of students]
  
Location: Harvard
+
Person 1: I've hired a team of MIT students to count cards for us.
  
[[File:umwelt counting cards harvard.png]]
+
Person 2: We'll be rich!
  
Location: MIT
+
[Person 2 deals some cards while the students watch]
  
[[File:umwelt counting cards mit.png]]
+
[The gears turn..]
  
"Course 15s" at MIT are the business major students, often mocked for taking a less-rigorous program. The different interpretation for why the MIT students could not count cards compared to Harvard may be a reference to the theme of umwelt.
+
Student: Five. There are five cards.
  
Location: Smith
+
Person 1: I *knew* we shouldn't have picked course 15s.
  
[[File:umwelt counting cards smith.png]]
+
Person 2: Yeah - there are actually four.
  
Location: Wellesley
+
===Smith/Wellesley===
 +
[Two people in front of a group of students]
  
[[File:umwelt counting cards wellesley.png]]
+
Person 1: I've hired a team of Smith/Wellesley students to count cards for us.
  
Both Wellesley and Smith are all-women colleges in Massachusetts.
+
Person 2: We'll be rich!
  
===Giant Box Trap===
+
[Person 2 deals some cards while the students watch]
[[File:umwelt box trap.png]]
 
  
Randall got his undergrad in Physics at the {{w|Christopher Newport University}}, and was scheduled to return shortly to give a talk. The "Trible" figure on the right is Paul Trible, the then-president of CNU. This comic depicts a classic trap, where an upside-down box is propped up with a stick. When the stick is removed, by pulling a string, the box falls and traps whatever is underneath it. Aside from the joke of the obvious trap, there's also the fact that the president would not be responsible for revoking unearned diplomas.
+
[The gears turn..]
  
Location: Christopher Newport University
+
Student: Five. There are five cards.
  
===Chemo Support===
+
Person 1: We should've gone with Wellesley/Smith.
[[File:umwelt chemo.jpg]]
 
  
[[Cueball]] has shaved his head in support of people going through {{w|chemotherapy}} but, as he is always depicted as a stick figure with no hair, no one can tell.
+
Person 2: Yeah - there are actually four.
  
Randall's now-wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and apparently DFCI is where they've been spending much of their time.
+
===CNU===
 +
[Person unsuspectingly strolls under a giant box trap controled by a Trible.]
  
Location: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
+
I worry that CNU only invited me back as a ruse because they realized I never turned in my final paper and want my diploma back. But if it turns out it's for real, I'll see you wednesday at the Ferguson!
  
===Reviews===
+
===Dana Farber===
[[File:reviews.png]]
+
[Cueball, pointing towards head]
  
The previous strip appears twice when using [[wikipedia:Tor (anonymity network)|Tor]].
+
Cueball: Check it out - In support of people going through chemo, i shaved my head.
  
Browser: Any using Tor, xkcd API (JSON, RSS, Atom), w3m and reports of seeing it on a Kindle Fire HD; also happens if visiting with a browser that does not support JavaScript (such as Firefox with NoScript)
+
Lots of love to everyone reading this at Dana Farber. Cancer sucks. If you are new to DCFI, there's a great little garden on the third floor of the yawkey if you need somewhere quiet to just sit for a little bit and breathe.
  
===Nothing===
+
===Earthquake-Hurricane===
 +
[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]
  
[[File:Umwelt blank.jpg]]
+
Person 1: Stop jiggling your leg.
  
In some cases, the comic can be completely absent, with only the top and bottom buttons visible. On most newer browsers, this is caused by a script loading part of the comic via a HTTP request while the rest of the webpage is delivered over HTTPS. This is referred to as [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Mixed_content mixed content] and is blocked on modern browsers by default due to security concerns. This version of the comic is therefore likely not an intended outcome, but rather an unintended consequence of how this comic was implemented. [https://mastodon.social/@chromakode/109531309722997557 It has been confirmed] that this was not intentional and will be fixed. Since this comic's release, all devices viewing it have returned two rows of navigation buttons if near IP address 69.114.249.104.
+
Person 2: I'm not ji-.. oh!
  
The http(s) issue seems to have been fixed.
+
Person 1: What! Person 2: You'll get it..
  
==Transcript==
+
[EVERYTHING RUMBLES]
:'''[This section only covers the first three comics. For the transcript of the entire comic, go to the [[1037: Umwelt/Transcript|full transcript page]].]'''
+
 
 +
Person 1: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!
 +
 
 +
Person 2: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.
 +
 
 +
Person 1: But this is {Options: "D.C", "Florida", "Houston", "Miami", "New Jersey", "North Carolina", "South Carolina", "Virgina"}! That was huge!
 +
 
 +
Person 2: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.
 +
 
 +
Person 1: Oh *really*...
 +
 
 +
Six Months Later..
 +
 
 +
[Both are in the middle of a hurricane. Person 2 is grabbing onto a signpost to avoid being swept away]
 +
 
 +
Person 2: AAAAA WHAT THE SHIIIIT!
 +
 
 +
Person 1: Calm down - this is barely a category 2.
 +
 
 +
===Corporate===
 +
[Error page]
 +
 
 +
Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run.  Remember, we work as a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.
  
===The Void===
+
===Microsoft/Amazon - Firefox===
:[An epic void with a bright light shining right on you.]
+
[Firefox error page]
  
===Aurora===
+
Chrome: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/Amazon is a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.
:[Cueball heading out past Megan comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]
 
:Cueball: Apparently there's a solar flare that's causing some Great Aurorae. CBC says they may even be visible here! Wanna drive out to see?
 
:Megan: Hockey's on.
 
:Cueball: Ok. Later.
 
  
:[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]
+
===Microsoft/The Times===
 +
[Error page]
  
:Megan: See anything?
+
Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run.  Remember, Microsoft/The Times is a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.
:Cueball: No, just clouds.
 
:Megan: Not surprised.
 
  
 
===Aurora-US===
 
===Aurora-US===
:[Cueball heading out past Megan comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]
+
[Person heading out past another person comfortably sitting in front of a desk]
:Cueball: Apparently there's a solar storm causing northern lights over Canada. CNN say they might even be visible {Options: "As Far South As Us", "Here in Boston", "Maine", "Ohio", "Oregon", "New York"}! Wanna drive out to see?
 
:Megan: It's cold out.
 
:Cueball: Ok. Later.
 
  
:[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]
+
Person 1: Apparently there's a solar storm causing northern lights over Canada.  CNN say they might even be visible {Options: "As Far South As Us", "Here in Boston", "Maine", "Ohio", "Oregon", "New York"}! Wanna drive out to see?
 +
Person 2: It's cold out.
 +
Person 1: Ok. Later.
  
:Megan: See anything?
+
[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky]
:Cueball: No, just clouds.
 
:Megan: Not surprised.
 
  
===Snake===
+
Person 2: See anything?
:[Two people standing next to each other. Megan is holding the head end of a snake. Depending on the width of your browser, the snake is: three frames, the third of which  has a little bit of a bump; the first frame has a human-size bump, the second has a third person looking at the snake, and the third has the snake going though two Portals; a squirrel and the human-size bump in the first frame, a ring next to the third person in the second frame, and Beret Guy riding the snake in front of the portal; or The squirrel, a fourth person within the snake being coiled, and the human bump in the first frame, the ring, a fifth person in love, and the third person in the second frame, Beret Guy and the portal in the third frame, and the same two people in the fourth frame.]
 
  
:Megan: I found a snake, but then I forgot to stop.
+
Person 1: No, just clouds.
  
:'''[For the transcript of the entire comic, go to the [[1037: Umwelt/Transcript|full transcript page]].]'''
+
Person 2: Not surprised.
  
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
* The Reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/SomePostMan SomePostMan] created a [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/t6wmh/all_umwelt_1037_comics_in_two_imgur_albums/ post] that collected all of the Umwelt comics and added explanations. Much of his information is now included in this wiki.
+
* Reddit user [http://www.reddit.com/user/SomePostMan SomePostMan] created a [http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/t6wmh/all_umwelt_1037_comics_in_two_imgur_albums/ post] that collected all of the Umwelt comics and added explanations.
* At the start of the [https://xkcd.com/1037/info.0.json official transcript of this comic], the writer added a note alluding to its extreme length:
 
:: <nowiki>[[Two people...]]</nowiki>
 
:: ((..wait.. <scrolls through a listing of everything> oh goddammit Randall. Thanks a bunch, dude. I better get a raise for typing out all this))
 
:: [[Two people standing next to each other.
 
* This comic was released on April 1 even though that was [[:Category:Sunday comics|a Sunday]] (only the third comic to be released on a Sunday). But it was only due to the April Fools' joke, as it did replace the comic that would have been scheduled for Monday, April 2nd. The next comic, [[1038: Fountain]], was first released on Wednesday, April 4th. This was the first that could be different for different readers.
 
* This comic displays the previous comic, Reviews (1036), when you try to view it on uni.xkcd.com.
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
 
[[Category:April fools' comics]]
 
 
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
 
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
 
[[Category:Philosophy]]
 
[[Category:Penis]]
 
[[Category:Video games]]
 
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
 
[[Category:Your Mom]]
 
[[Category:Puns]]
 
[[Category:Squirrels]]
 
[[Category:Comics with blood]]
 
[[Category:Characters with hats]] <!-- aurora comic-->
 

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