Difference between revisions of "1765: Baby Post"

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(Explanation)
(Explanation)
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The joke begins when Cueball discovers an apparent pattern in new posts.  The subjects being posted in the last two panels (as well as part of the second), if they were made consciously by an adult, would strongly suggest the poster was planning a heist, namely to break into the tower of {{w|London}} to steal the {{w|Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom|crown jewels}}.  It is very unlikely for a baby to be capable of designing and carrying out such a plan.  However, it is also very unlikely for these specific subjects to be posted all by accident.  The reader is thus left wondering what could have caused these posts, and whether Cueball and/or his daughter might know more than they let on.
 
The joke begins when Cueball discovers an apparent pattern in new posts.  The subjects being posted in the last two panels (as well as part of the second), if they were made consciously by an adult, would strongly suggest the poster was planning a heist, namely to break into the tower of {{w|London}} to steal the {{w|Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom|crown jewels}}.  It is very unlikely for a baby to be capable of designing and carrying out such a plan.  However, it is also very unlikely for these specific subjects to be posted all by accident.  The reader is thus left wondering what could have caused these posts, and whether Cueball and/or his daughter might know more than they let on.
  
The title text continues this by notifying Cueball that his flight to London is leaving soon, and an {{w|Uber}} driver is coming to pick him up. Since his daughter was using the tablet, and he is surprised by this suggests she is in fact the mastermind who has already started executing her plan.  Alternatively, Cueball is being roped into the crime.
+
The title text continues this by notifying Cueball that his flight to London is leaving soon, and an {{w|Uber}} driver is coming to pick him up. Since his daughter was using the tablet, and he is surprised by this suggests she is in fact the mastermind who has already started executing her plan.  Either these are for her, or Cueball is being roped into the crime.
  
 
The crown jewels are famous in several movies for being overly complicated to steal. They are also mentioned in [[1698: Theft Quadrants]].
 
The crown jewels are famous in several movies for being overly complicated to steal. They are also mentioned in [[1698: Theft Quadrants]].

Revision as of 21:50, 28 November 2016

Baby Post
[bzzzt] "REMEMBER TO CHECK IN FOR YOUR FLIGHT TO LONDON." "My wha-" [bzzzt] "YOUR UBER WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR MINUTES."
Title text: [bzzzt] "REMEMBER TO CHECK IN FOR YOUR FLIGHT TO LONDON." "My wha-" [bzzzt] "YOUR UBER WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR MINUTES."


Explanation

In this comic, Cueball is questioned about a series of posts made to his Facebook account. Initially he explains the posts as the result of leaving his daughter unattended with his tablet. (She is presumably a baby, according to the title.) Readers are meant to assume all posts were made by accident, which happens often to people with children. This makes sense for the first two panels: sharing the same video six times could be the result of the child repeatedly hitting the same area of the screen (e.g. a "share" link), and the gibberish text "FHFF,,,M,,,," could be due to the child randomly tapping on the screen as well, all without knowing what she has done.

The joke begins when Cueball discovers an apparent pattern in new posts. The subjects being posted in the last two panels (as well as part of the second), if they were made consciously by an adult, would strongly suggest the poster was planning a heist, namely to break into the tower of London to steal the crown jewels. It is very unlikely for a baby to be capable of designing and carrying out such a plan. However, it is also very unlikely for these specific subjects to be posted all by accident. The reader is thus left wondering what could have caused these posts, and whether Cueball and/or his daughter might know more than they let on.

The title text continues this by notifying Cueball that his flight to London is leaving soon, and an Uber driver is coming to pick him up. Since his daughter was using the tablet, and he is surprised by this suggests she is in fact the mastermind who has already started executing her plan. Either these are for her, or Cueball is being roped into the crime.

The crown jewels are famous in several movies for being overly complicated to steal. They are also mentioned in 1698: Theft Quadrants.

The comic is similar to 1419: On the Phone, though here it seems that the daughter isn't just a cover story.

Transcript

[Ponytail is looking at something on her phone while talking to Cueball]

Ponytail: Why did you post a The Wheels on the Bus Youtube video to Facebook six times?
Cueball: Haha, whoops! My daughter was watching the tablet and must have hit something.

[Cueball is talking to someone on the phone while pushing a shopping cart with a few items in it]

Phone: Hey, did you mean to post "FHFF,,,M,,,," and a link to a map of hardware stores?
Cueball: I should really look up how to lock the screen.

[White Hat is holding his phone while walking with Cueball]

White Hat: You just posted videos on metal-working, zip lines, and camouflage.
Cueball: Uhh...

[Ponytail is looking at her phone while talking to Cueball]

Ponytail: Um, you posted blueprints of the Crown Jewel rooms in the Tower of London.
Cueball: Maybe we should be keeping more of an eye on her.

Trivia

  • On the day of this comic's release, the header was changed to show some new T-shirts were on sale in the xkcd store.


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Discussion

Somebody doesn't know young children very well. Or the amount of time they spend watching old movies. I know a couple of four year olds who might just do this after catching a rerun of one of the Pink Panther movies. Get away with it, though, is something entirely different.Seebert (talk) 14:35, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Check the header, new shirts! Jacky720 (talk) 15:01, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

If the cell phone or tablet is set to remember passwords, it's not impossible to a children to buy a ticket to london or even call an uber. Wrojr (talk) 15:24, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

This cartoon would be funnier if it didn't imply there were years (or decades) between the first and last frames. 198.41.239.32 21:35, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

It doesn't, what makes you say that? Jacky720 (talk) 21:47, 28 November 2016 (UTC)
Wrong use of plurals?

Shouldn't this be Crown Jewels Rooms? Beside which, how can one jewel be in more than one room? Bitsofstring (talk) 15:54, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that Ponytail just doesn't care about pluralizing in this informal context. Jacky720 (talk) 16:05, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with saying "crown jewel rooms". As an analogy, if you had several rooms for your trophies, you'd say "these are my trophy rooms" (ie. my rooms for trophies) even though, presumably, you have more than one trophy. The only part that makes me a bit hesitant is that they are called the "crown jewels". But "crown jewels rooms" sounds really awkward to me. 141.101.98.248 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

There is also the puzzle of using blueprints to describe a room's security plan. But it might just be simplified to put into a strip. 18:15, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Feels like the baby might be related to Stewie from Family Guy... --IByte (talk) 10:00, 29 November 2016 (UTC)


Is Fhfffm supposed to be something? 162.158.69.142 14:29, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

Does anybody else think that "FHFF,,,M,,,," is supposed to be some sort of code? Like his daughter was sending a secret message as part of the heist or something? 108.162.216.67 23:16, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

"The Wheels on the Bus" song was also used as a plot line in the TV series Eureka in connection with nuclear escalation/mutually assured destruction. http://eureka.wikia.com/wiki/The_Wheels_on_the_Bus And don't evil geniuses usually have some earth-destroying plan in mind? cavac 162.158.92.15 12:27, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Clearly, Stewy is planning something, and only Brian knows the truth. Keybounce (talk) 00:27, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

Am I the only person who believes that Cueball is behind this, and his daughter is accidentally (or purposefully) uncovering his plans, and Cueball is pretending not to know about it?108.162.241.244 18:44, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

Would it be worth mentioning that panel 4 seems to be a literal copy and paste of panel 1, with only the lettering different? Nitpicking (talk) 02:17, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

They're not the same. The distance between Cueball and Ponytail is larger in the first panel, Cueball's left leg is straighter in the last panel and Ponytail's ponytail goes higher up and further back compared to her head in the first panel Kvarts314 (talk) 18:17, 24 April 2022 (UTC)