explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

985: Percentage Points

2012-12-20T21:07:39Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ changed "Josh Wilkes Booth" to "John Wilkes Booth"

{{comic
| number = 985
| date = December 2, 2011
| title = Percentage Points
| image = percentage_points.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Grayton also proposed making college scholarships available exclusively to sexually active teens, amnesty for illegal immigrants who create room for themselves by killing a citizen, and a graduated income tax based on penis size. He has been endorsed by Tracy Morgan, John Wilkes Booth's ghost, and the Time Cube guy.
}}

==Explanation==
Senator Grayton is a fictional name, made up for this comic, which is a bit surprising as the names used in xkcd are usually references to something.

A line on each of the issues that Grayton fictionally supports:

*Tax Breaks to Drunk Drivers - Grayton proposed to give money back on their taxes for people who have been convicted of a DUI or DWI. Driving Under the Influence or Driving While Intoxicated
*{{w|Predator Drones}} and the {{w|Christmas controversy|War on Christmas}} - The War on {{w|Christmas}} is a not a real war, it is simply {{w|Christian}}s who believe that non-Christians are trying to get rid of Christmas trees, Christmas music and the endless barrage of Christmas-themed nonsense we get from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
*College Scholarships to Sexually Active Teens - Not sure how they would test for this on the scholarship application, but it is funny nonetheless.
*Illegal Immigrants Who Murder - This is an argument for immigration, but only if they make "room" and possibly an open job for themselves by getting rid of another person. This one is pretty evil.
*Income Tax Based on Penis Size - Wow, this one would never pass!

On To the Names:

*{{w|Tracy Morgan}} is an actor in the TV Show {{w|30 Rock}}, who plays {{w|Tracy Jordan}}, he is known for his outlandish statements on politics and everything else in the world. He has been reprimanded for controversial comments on homosexuals and {{w|Sarah Palin}} (in separate incidents).
*{{w|John Wilkes Booth}} is the person who assassinated {{w|Abraham Lincoln}}. He was a sympathizer with the {{w|Confederate}} cause and was for slavery and all its trappings.
*{{w|Time Cube}} Guy is Gene Ray, also known as Otis E. Ray. He has a website known as Time Cube (Thanks Wikipedia) where he sets out his personal model of reality, which he calls Time Cube. He suggests that all of modern physics is wrong, in addition to claiming religion to be evil, specifically Christianity, and the idea of family is poisoning children.

Ok, finally to the numbers:

If his polling is at 20% and drops by 19%, without specifying percentage points, that means that his support has only dropped 3.8 percentage points, because 19% of 20% is only 3.8%. That would mean after all his outrageous statements, his support dropped from 20% to 16.2%. However, if they had said his 20% polling dropped 19 percentage points, that would mean his support has dropped to 1%. Therefore, the distinction is important.

==Transcript==
[An average news anchor reading news copy of below average intelligence appears on a TV, with one person watching it in utter disgust]

News Anchor: Senator Grayton's campaign has imploded following the candidate's promise to give tax breaks to drunk drivers and to authorize the use of unmanned Predator drones in the War On Christmas. Grayton had been polling at 20%, but his support has since plunged by 19%.

I hate the ambiguity created when people don't distinguish between percentages and percentage points.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Politics]]

838: Incident

2012-12-06T21:21:36Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ Removed verbiage that was not strictly part of the explanation.

{{comic
| number = 838
| date = December 24, 2010
| title = Incident
| image = incident.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he's copied on /var/spool/mail/root, so be good for goodness' sake.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic, fittingly posted on Christmas Eve in the United States. Christmas being a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25th.

In this comic, Cueball is on a Linux computer and tried to change his user account from his normal access to the access of a super user by using the command "sudo su". Sudo is a famous phrase in xkcd lore, made famous by comic [[149: Sandwich]]. When Cueball is unable to use "sudo" because his account is not authorized, the system says that the incident "will be reported".

In the comic, sudo and the system report the incidents to Santa Claus, who in Christmas lore makes a list of who is naughty and who is nice. If you are nice, you get presents, if you are naughy, you get a lump of coal. When sudo reports to Santa that Cueball's account is not authorized, he puts Cueball on the naughty list.

In the image text, which is a parody of the famous Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", /var/spool/mail/root is the root/superuser Inbox on a Linux system.

==Transcript==
:[Someone is sitting at a computer. The computer's prompt is shown.]
:robm@homebox~$ sudo su
:Password:
:robm is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
:robm@homebox~$
:
:[A second person approaches.]
:Person: Hey -- who does sudo report these "incidents" to?
:Second person: You know, I've never checked.
:
:[Santa Claus is sitting at a desk supported by candy canes, with a red monitor. On the wall are two lists labeled 'naughty' and 'nice'. He is adding a name to the 'naughty' list.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Linux]]

609: Tab Explosion

2012-11-27T21:48:00Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ spelling correction

{{comic
| number = 609
| date = July 13, 2009
| title = Tab Explosion
| image = tab_explosion.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Cracked.com is another inexplicable browser narcotic. They could write a list of '17 worst haircuts in the Ottoman Empire' and I'd still read through to the end, then click on all the links at the end.
}}

==Explanation==
[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage TVtropes] is a popular site which allows conversation on {{w|tropes}}. A common joke with the site is how you will read a page, find a certain trope, which will open another tab on your web page. Then, as you read another article, you'll open even more pages. Pretty soon, this will cause an extremely long cycle of opening new pages and closing old ones.

In the comic, this is exactly what happens to our unfortunate victim. He starts on a single page, then opens more and more tabs on different pages. Pretty soon, he finds himself stuck in a loop of opening pages.

The last frame refers to {{w|Rickrolling}}, which is the practice of being linked to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" on YouTube.

The title text refers to the comedy site [http://www.cracked.com Cracked.com]. This site is also known for its addictive articles. Most articles are formatted in the same way the title text notes.

The original comic links to TVtropes' page of [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UniversalTropes Universal tropes]. TVtropes has taken notice and has a welcome letter for you at the end of the main article.

==Transcript==
[A man is sitting at a computer.]

<<Click>>

Man: Huh.

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

[The man stares at the computer.]

Man: I never noticed that!

<<Click>>

Man: Haha, yeah.

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

Man: So true.

<<Click>>

[The man stares at the computer.]

[The man stares at the computer.]

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

<<Click>>

[The man stares at the computer.]

<<Click>>

Voice: Are you in there?

Man: Help!

Woman: Okay, who linked you to TVTropes? What's with that site?

Man: Can't... stop...

Woman: It's like Rickrolling, but you're trapped all day.

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

574: Swine Flu

2012-11-27T15:40:16Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ spelling correction

{{comic
| number = 574
| date = April 27, 2009
| title = Swine Flu
| image = swine_flu.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Bad flu epidemics can hit young adults hardest because they provoke their powerful immune systems into overreaction, so to stay healthy spend the next few weeks drunk and sleep-deprived to keep yours suppressed.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Swine flu}} is a strain of the flu which can be transmitted from pigs to humans. In 2009, it was the origin of the {{w|Pandemic H1N1/09 virus}}, which most news stations called either "H1N1" (the subtype name) or "swine flu". Because of the ambiguous name given to it and the somewhat hazy description of the transmittal process and dangers to humans, many people were concerned about the virus in ways that weren't going to be threats. This comic pokes a bit of fun at the overreaction by users on {{w|Twitter}}.

[[Randall]] (or someone else) seems to have created twitter accounts for all referenced handles (that may not have already existed). Some of the handles continue their interactions with each other in later tweets.

[https://twitter.com/SKEEVE37 SKEEVE37] is a self described {{w| Hypochondriac}}. The tweet exemplifies the general populace's over-concern with the "animal themed" pandemics. Similarly after the "bird flu" scare, people avoided eating chicken.

[https://twitter.com/hanneloreEC HANNELOREEC] is a self described "young lady who is concerned about many things".

[https://twitter.com/PAULYSHOREFAN PAULYSHOREFAN]'s tweet is a reference to the flash game "[http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Pandemic-2.html Pandemic 2]", in which players try to create a disease that infects the whole world. [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=madagascar Madagascar] is the most difficult country to infect, as it only has 1 port and often closes it at the slightest hint of an infection.

[https://twitter.com/CrackMonkey74 CrackMonkey74]'s tweet is a parody of viral Christian(?) messages that say that current tragedies are God's punishment, [[http://bible.cc/mark/13-7.htm: despite the fact that the Bible says that the end is not yet to come.]] More specifically, Crackmonkey74 blames the ACLU, lesbians (a reference to the current culture wars that give big press towards proponents of gay marriage against fundamentalist Christians), {{w|9/11}} (the day when the Twin Towers fell, causing controversy on whether Muslim terrorists crashed their planes on the towers or whether the government staged this by purposefully demolishing the towers) and {{w|nanobots}} (possibly a reference towards the highly promising but still relatively not understood field of nanotechnology, plus another reference towards the phrase "playing God").

[https://twitter.com/Twilight7531 Twilight7531]'s tweet implies that she got a {{w|Compound_fracture#Orthopedic|compound fracture}} which ended up protruding from her arm. However, she seems to lack medical knowledge [or intelligence in general, given that her name carries both a reference toward the infamous {{w|Twilight}} books and a "gimicky" naming scheme (7531 has the numerals of every odd number that is less than 9)], so she is worried that her fracture is actually swine flu (though how can she be typing with a broken arm confuses me).

[https://twitter.com/Wigu Wigu]'s tweet is a reply towards [https://twitter.com/Untoward Untoward]'s. Given the context, Untoward seems to have "gotten intimate" with a pig (since syphilis is a venereal disease). Given the fact that Untoward got sick because of a pig, Untoward seems to have concluded that he got swine flu. (In light of the fact that [[471|Randall considers furries in general to have an animal fetish]], to consider Untoward a furry would be a safe assumption here.)

The last comment by [https://twitter.com/2011SENIORSRULE 2011SENIORSRULE] references a medical paper published by the journal The Lancet, in which it is proposed that autism is caused by vaccination. Since then, the paper was partially retracted in 2004, and fully retracted in 2010 because of conflicts of interest. The entire incident has been defined as the {{w|MMR vaccine controversy}} and more details can be found on the Wikipedia page. This stance has still been seen since the retraction of the paper, and still holds some popularity. The most famous figure in support of it is {{w|Jenny McCarthy}}.

The title text refers to the common notion that young adults are hard drinking individuals who get limited sleep.

==Transcript==
:Twitter is great for watching uninformed panics unfold live.
:[Twitter search results page with "Swine flu" in the search box]
:Realtime results for '''Swine flu'''
:1,918 more results since you started searching. Refresh to see.
:{All tweets are "Less than 10 seconds ago from web"}
:SKEEVE37: Oh God I ate pork yesterday before I knew about swine flu!
:HANNELOREEC: Without duct tape I can't seal the door to keep out swine flu but I can't get duct tape without going outside! Help!
:PAULYSHOREFAN: How long until the swine flu reaches me here in Madagascar?
:CRACKMONKEY74: Swine flu is God's punishment for the ACLU and lesbians and 9 11 and nanobots!
:TWILIGHT7531: I fell down the stairs and there was a crack and a jagged white thing is sticking out of my arm guys is this swine flu?
:WIGU: @UNTOWARD: No, that sounds like syphilis, not swine flu. What did you say you did with a pig?
:2011SENIORSRULE: My Dad said flu vaccines are linked to autism, so to be safe from swine flu I'm trying to lick an autistic kid.

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

574: Swine Flu

2012-11-27T15:15:41Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ corrected spelling of the word "news"

{{comic
| number = 574
| date = April 27, 2009
| title = Swine Flu
| image = swine_flu.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Bad flu epidemics can hit young adults hardest because they provoke their powerful immune systems into overreaction, so to stay healthy spend the next few weeks drunk and sleep-deprived to keep yours suppressed.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Swine flu}} is a strain of the flu which can be transmitted from pigs to humans. In 2009, it was the origin of the {{w|Pandemic H1N1/09 virus}}, which most news stations called either "H1N1" (the subtype name) or "swine flu". Because of the ambiguous name given to it and the somewhat hazy description of the transmittal process and dangers to humans, many people were concerned about the virus in ways that weren't going to be threats. This comic pokes a bit of fun at the overreaction by users on {{w|Twitter}}.

[[Randall]] (or someone else) seems to have created twitter accounts for all referenced handles (that may not have already existed). Some of the handles continue their interactions with each other in later tweets.

[https://twitter.com/SKEEVE37 SKEEVE37] is a self described {{w| Hypochondriac}}. The tweet exemplifies the general populace's over-concern with the "animal themed" pandemics. Similarly after the "bird flu" scare, people avoided eating chicken.

[https://twitter.com/hanneloreEC HANNELOREEC] is a self deszcribed "young lady who is concerned about many things".

[https://twitter.com/PAULYSHOREFAN PAULYSHOREFAN]'s tweet is a reference to the flash game "[http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Pandemic-2.html Pandemic 2]", in which players try to create a disease that infects the whole world. [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=madagascar Madagascar] is the most difficult country to infect, as it only has 1 port and often closes it at the slightest hint of an infection.

[https://twitter.com/CrackMonkey74 CrackMonkey74]'s tweet is a parody of viral Christian(?) messages that say that current tragedies are God's punishment, [[http://bible.cc/mark/13-7.htm: despite the fact that the Bible says that the end is not yet to come.]] More specifically, Crackmonkey74 blames the ACLU, lesbians (a reference to the current culture wars that give big press towards proponents of gay marriage against fundamentalist Christians), {{w|9/11}} (the day when the Twin Towers fell, causing controversy on whether Muslim terrorists crashed their planes on the towers or whether the government staged this by purposefully demolishing the towers) and {{w|nanobots}} (possibly a reference towards the highly promising but still relatively not understood field of nanotechnology, plus another reference towards the phrase "playing God").

[https://twitter.com/Twilight7531 Twilight7531]'s tweet implies that she got a {{w|Compound_fracture#Orthopedic|compound fracture}} which ended up protruding from her arm. However, she seems to lack medical knowledge [or intelligence in general, given that her name carries both a reference toward the infamous {{w|Twilight}} books and a "gimicky" naming scheme (7531 has the numerals of every odd number that is less than 9)], so she is worried that her fracture is actually swine flu (though how can she be typing with a broken arm confuses me).

[https://twitter.com/Wigu Wigu]'s tweet is a reply towards [https://twitter.com/Untoward Untoward]'s. Given the context, Untoward seems to have "gotten intimate" with a pig (since syphilis is a venereal disease). Given the fact that Untoward got sick because of a pig, Untoward seems to have concluded that he got swine flu. (In light of the fact that [[471|Randall considers furries in general to have an animal fetish]], to consider Untoward a furry would be a safe assumption here.)

The last comment by [https://twitter.com/2011SENIORSRULE 2011SENIORSRULE] references a medical paper published by the journal The Lancet, in which it is proposed that autism is caused by vaccination. Since then, the paper was partially retracted in 2004, and fully retracted in 2010 because of conflicts of interest. The entire incident has been defined as the {{w|MMR vaccine controversy}} and more details can be found on the Wikipedia page. This stance has still been seen since the retraction of the paper, and still holds some popularity. The most famous figure in support of it is {{w|Jenny McCarthy}}.

The title text refers to the common notion that young adults are hard drinking individuals who get limited sleep.

==Transcript==
:Twitter is great for watching uninformed panics unfold live.
:[Twitter search results page with "Swine flu" in the search box]
:Realtime results for '''Swine flu'''
:1,918 more results since you started searching. Refresh to see.
:{All tweets are "Less than 10 seconds ago from web"}
:SKEEVE37: Oh God I ate pork yesterday before I knew about swine flu!
:HANNELOREEC: Without duct tape I can't seal the door to keep out swine flu but I can't get duct tape without going outside! Help!
:PAULYSHOREFAN: How long until the swine flu reaches me here in Madagascar?
:CRACKMONKEY74: Swine flu is God's punishment for the ACLU and lesbians and 9 11 and nanobots!
:TWILIGHT7531: I fell down the stairs and there was a crack and a jagged white thing is sticking out of my arm guys is this swine flu?
:WIGU: @UNTOWARD: No, that sounds like syphilis, not swine flu. What did you say you did with a pig?
:2011SENIORSRULE: My Dad said flu vaccines are linked to autism, so to be safe from swine flu I'm trying to lick an autistic kid.

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

528: Windows 7

2012-11-21T16:29:27Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ spelling correction

{{comic
| number = 528
| date = January 9, 2009
| title = Windows 7
| image = windows_7.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Disclaimer: I have not actually tried the beta yet. I hear it's quite pleasant and hardly Hitler-y at all.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, a girl (possibly [[Megan]]) is observing [[Cueball]] use a laptop on which he has installed the Windows 7 beta. However, the alleged Windows 7 beta is showing nothing but a picture of Adolph Hitler and Cueball is unable to do anything. Cueball then presses Control-Alt-Delete (the well-known Windows Secure Attention Sequence which opens Task Manager or displays a list of options which includes 'Shut Down' and 'Restart') as suggested by Megan, but only manages to make the picture's eyes flash.

The fourth panel shows Megan commenting that this Windows 7 beta is better than Windows Vista, to which Cueball agrees. The joke is that Megan deems a mostly non-functional OS better than Windows Vista, which had problems that were mocked in Apple Mac OS TV commercials.

The title text is a disclaimer stating that [[Randall]] has not tried the beta at the time this comic was written, but has heard positive opinions about it.

==Transcript==
:[A girl is standing behind a guy sitting at a desk using his laptop]
:Girl: What are you doing?
:Guy: Trying the Windows 7 beta.
:Girl: Why is it showing a picture of Hitler?
:[The laptop's screen is shown with Adolph Hitler's face on it]
:Guy: I don't know. I can't get it to do anything else.
:Girl: There's no UI?
:Guy: No, just Hitler.
:[Return to the original scene, except the girl is now scratching her head in confusion]
:Girl: Did you try Ctrl-Alt-Delete?
:Guy: It just makes Hitler's eyes flash.
:Girl: Huh.
:[Scene remains basically the same, except the girl is no longer scratching her head and the guy is no longer typing on the laptop]
:Girl: Well, it's better than Vista.
:Guy: True.

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

[[Category:Hitler]]
[[Category:Windows]]

149: Sandwich

2012-11-15T14:49:56Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ fixed a spelling error

{{comic
| number = 149
| date = April 19, 2006
| title = Sandwich
| image = sandwich.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Proper User Policy apparently means Simon Says.
}}

==Explanation==
On a {{w|UNIX}}-type system, users can be assigned all kinds of rights, for example access to certain directories or files, executing certain commands etcetera. The “sudo” command overrides these policies by executing the command typed behind it as if the user were an administrator (the Super User) of the system. To prohibit abuse of the command, the user first must type (one of the) administrator password(s) before the command will be executed.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] is demanding a sandwich from a friend. Not being properly asked, the friend denies the request. Cueball then (ab)uses the sudo command on the friend, which then has no choice but to go and make the sandwich, because Cueball has all rights. The image text references this abuse, noting that an administrator should set a proper use of the command in order to control his system.

==Transcript==
:[A man is sitting on a couch, talking to another man.]
:First man: Make me a sandwich.
:Second man: What? Make it yourself.
:First man: Sudo make me a sandwich.
:Second man: Okay.

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

118: 50 Ways

2012-11-07T21:42:49Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ Fixed spelling and runon errors

{{comic
| number = 118
| date = April 19, 2006
| title = 50 Ways
| image = 50_ways.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I woke up to find that I had scrawled the last line of this sleepily on a sheet of paper on my desk. I shouldn't have listened to the 70's hit marathon on the way home from work the night before.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic provides alternate lyrics to the chorus of the 1975 song [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_ways "50 Ways to leave your lover"] ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5--Sje98jI Video]) by American artist {{w|Paul Simon\}}. Both the original and alternate lyrics provide a textual hook because the first name at the end of the line is rhymed with the last word of the line before (back/Jack, plan/Stan, go/Joe).

[[Randall]], we learn from the image text, heard Simon's song during a 70's hit marathon, went to sleep, and while being sleepy replaced "lover" by "hover" while writing the title of the song. Clearly, this amused him so much he decided to create a comic where people learn how to hover, rather then leaving their lover.

==Transcript==
[Two figures stand around a levitating person.]
:You gotta let go, Joe
:Just rise off your feet, Pete
:Just stay in the air, Claire
:Gotta levitate, Kate
:There must be 50 ways
:to learn to hover.

{{Comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

93: Jeremy Irons

2012-11-06T13:51:34Z

63.115.63.178: /* Explanation */ The word "many" in the last sentence was missing the letter n, so I added it.

{{comic
| number = 93
| date = April 24, 2006
| title = Jeremy Irons
| image = jeremy_irons.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = Movies that I know word-for-word, part one
}}

==Explanation==
Similar to the "[[My Hobby]]" series, this comic depicts one of [[Randall Munroe|Randall]]'s goals in life: He wants to hire Academy-Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons to deliver all of Randall's dialogue in life (while Randall, perhaps, lip syncs it). He is apparently basing this desire on the fact that Irons, a clasically trained English actor, portrayed Scar, the main antagonist in the 1994 Disney animated feature ''{{w|The Lion King}}''.

The line that is spoken in the comic is from the song "Be Prepared" which Scar sings in the film. Thus, it's not entirely clear whether Randall enjoys Irons's deep, rumbling British-accented voice, or whether it's Scar's dialogue in the film that Randall truly would like to be speaking.

The title text suggests that Randall knows the dialogue of The Lion King from memory; it also suggests there are others he knows as well. He is around the appropriate age to have been in the target market for the film (he would have been around 10 at the time) and probably saw it many times.

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