explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1746: Making Friends

2016-10-14T08:05:57Z

108.162.219.73:

Does something like this happen in one of the Star Wars films? *headscratch* --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 06:32, 14 October 2016 (UTC)
:I guess I can take that to mean you don't know what he's talking about? It's too bad I'm going to bed now, this is finally a comic where I'm early enough to provide the explanation AND I understand the comic enough to do so! LOL! The method Cueball is suggesting in the second panel is how animals (or a person) might try to lure in a/many vultures, mostly in cartoons. Vultures are notorious for feeding on dead bodies, and for flying in slowly-descending circles above a dead body they find (presumably to ensure the body IS dead and abandoned by whatever animal might have killed it) before feeding from it. If an animal or human wanted to trap or hunt a vulture, pretending to be dead or about to die on your own would be the way to do it. Actually, the other day I was reading a joke where an oversexed rooster was doing exactly this, attempting to lure in some vultures by pretending to be dead.

:The joke here obviously being that humans don't tend to act like vultures. The alternate behaviour - taking Cueball's things instead of eating him - seems to me to be a nod towards video games where you exhibit such vulture-like behaviour, retrieving useful supplies from dead bodies you find (and create), such as in the Assassin's Creed games. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 08:01, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1746: Making Friends

2016-10-14T08:02:22Z

108.162.219.73:

Does something like this happen in one of the Star Wars films? *headscratch* --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 06:32, 14 October 2016 (UTC)
:I guess I can take that to mean you don't know what he's talking about? It's too bad I'm going to bed now, this is finally a comic where I'm early enough to provide the explanation AND I understand the comic enough to do so! LOL! The method Cueball is suggesting in the second panel is how animals (or a person) might try to lure in a/many vultures, mostly in cartoons. Vultures are notorious for feeding on dead bodies, and for flying in slowly-descending circles above a dead body they find (presumably to ensure the body IS dead and abandoned by whatever animal might have killed it) before feeding from it. If an animal or human wanted to trap or hunt a vulture, pretending to be dead would be the way to do it. Actually, the other day I was reading a joke where an oversexed rooster was doing exactly this, attempting to lure in some vultures by pretending to be dead.

:The joke here obviously being that humans don't tend to act like vultures. The alternate behaviour - taking Cueball's things instead of eating him - seems to me to be a nod towards video games where you exhibit such vulture-like behaviour, retrieving useful supplies from dead bodies you find (and create), such as in the Assassin's Creed games. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 08:01, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1746: Making Friends

2016-10-14T08:01:27Z

108.162.219.73:

Does something like this happen in one of the Star Wars films? *headscratch* --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 06:32, 14 October 2016 (UTC)
:I guess I can take that to mean you don't know what he's talking about? It's too bad I'm going to bed now, this is finally a comic where I'm early enough to provide the explanation AND I understand the comic enough to do so! LOL! The method Cueball is suggesting in the second panel is how animals (or a person) might try to lure in a/many vultures, mostly in cartoons. Vultures are notorious for feeding on dead bodies, and for flying in slowly-descending circles above a dead body they find (presumably to ensure the body IS dead and abandoned by whatever animal might have killed it) before feeding from it. If an animal or human wanted to trap or hunt a vulture, pretending to be dead would be the way to do it. Actually, the other day I was reading a joke where an oversexed rooster was doing exactly this, attempting to lure in some vultures by pretending to be dead.

The joke here obviously being that humans don't tend to act like vultures. The alternate behaviour - taking Cueball's things instead of eating him - seems to me to be a nod towards video games where you exhibit such vulture-like behaviour, retrieving useful supplies from dead bodies you find (and create), such as in the Assassin's Creed games. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 08:01, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1745: Record Scratch

2016-10-12T21:47:36Z

108.162.219.73:

;Misleading title text

Note: this is a ridiculous pedantic rant. Tl;dr: the xkcd alt text for today is misleading, and I read a lot about the history of music storage to back up that claim.

http://xkcd.com/1745/

So, this alt text is actually pretty misleading, because he's misusing the "whoa! Event A was closer to Event B than to today" meme by implying that 78s were vinyl, when in fact they were largely shellac -- and also I would argue that he's just got the facts wrong about when the 78-rpmera ended. The 78-rpm era arguably began as early as 1898, and arguably ended as late as the 1950s. In became the standard in 1925. So, ok, we could say, "Yeah, 78-rpm era should be considered to mean some time before 1940. That's reasonable, because the 1940s is really when the age of the 33 1/3 begins. So, OK, Randall, the 78-rpm era was closer to the Civil War than to today. But here's the thing. You implied that the 78-rpm era was a vinyl thing. That's not really true. Vinyl is what ushered in the 33 1/3 days. So while it's maybe a cool piece of trivia to say "we first started using 33 1/3 rpm vinyl records in earnest only slightly closer to today than to the Civil War," it's not really a "wow, compare these well known events! Look how old this record scratch reference is!" Because tapes didn't start to seriously compete with vinyl until the late 1970s, and didn't overtake it until about 1985. So it would be fair to say, "the vinyl era ended closer to the start of the Vietnam War than to today," assuming we treat the Vietnam War as beginning in 1954 or later.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.66|108.162.219.66]] 05:04, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
: Well, doncha think that it's Randall's comic and we shouldn't mess with it? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 10:11, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
: Agreed. Half way between the end of the US civil war and today was 1940. Vinyl LPs didn't overtake 78's until around 1952 according to Wikipedia (and 78's were being sold until 1960). So I guess what Randall means is that the time between the end of the era, and now is less than the time between the end of the civil war and the start of the 78 era. Might add something to this effect (if nobody else beats me to it) since this does require some clarification. [[User:Luckykaa|Luckykaa]] ([[User talk:Luckykaa|talk]]) 08:06, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Why is the explanation even mentioning "gramophones" or "phonographs"? Never mind making them sound important to this comic? (I'm not sure of the spelling, but think "gramophone" is wrong). As someone whose childhood was still during the record era, I've never seen either, but have played many records, and heard said scratch sound many times when I was sloppy or unlucky. It seems likely that 78-rpm records are from the grammophone era, but as the above commentor points out, those weren't vinyl. I would suspect vinyl records are all well past the time of grammophones. The device in question was "commonly" known simply as a record player. The current explanation is making the reference sound a LOT older than it is (and Randall already went there in the title text). - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 05:53, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
:He did not write that the 78-rpm area was a vinyl thing. The vinyl thing is about the scratching of modern records... Gramophone is the Wikipedia name for record player. So chill man ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:40, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
::Exactly my point. He did NOT write that 78-rpm was vinyl, that's a separate reference. When I said "Randall already went there", I mean he made a second, even older reference in the title text. And double checking the Wikipedia link, in the incorrect statement "records (also known as grammophone records)", that article starts with a picture of the latter as being 78-rpm, which as discussed is NOT the same as the records from the record era of 60's and 70's and early 80's. I disagree, "gramophone" is not the Wikipedia name, and a record player is a different device. I'm just saying, in the era in question, "grammophone" and "phonograph" were out of date terms, "records", "record player" and "turntable" are the terms which should be used here. And I'm totally chill, LOL! - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 21:33, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Somebody said it "stores music on a disc with very small bumps". I had to correct that. I feel old. I was born closer to World War 1 than to the present day.{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.81}}

I think Randall chose the exact perfect moment for this comic since vinyls are getting more and more popular, again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_revival#Sales I doubt they will get as widely spread as in past times, but at least here in my town here in Germany even the bigger electronic retailers have fairly large vinyl supplies again. Enough to consider them back in popular culture? I don't know, because I don't know how the situation applies in the US which would be the relevnat part for the understanding of the comic. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:24, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

To me, the 'record scratch' sound in movies is not the sound made by a scratch ON a record, which is normally just a pop, but rather the sound of either the stylus being dragged ''across'' the grooves, more of a "ZZREEEIIP" sound, or of spinning the turntable in reverse. I have not changed the explanation as I may be the only person who feels this way. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:35, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, the stylus being dragged across the grooves ON a record, being scratched across a record. Nobody means they think the sound is simply applying the stylus in the first place. That's the whole point of the concept to begin with, it's a sound you hear if the record player is bumped or jarred, much like such a moment is supposed to "jar" you, like "Whoops! Whoa! Back the needle up! I just missed something." - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 21:33, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

* What was the first movie to do the "*Record Scratch* *Freeze Frame* Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering..." --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.20|141.101.70.20]] 08:58, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Gramophone records are played on a gramophone, not a phonograph. Gramophones use discs, phonographs use cylinders.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.74|141.101.104.74]] 10:50, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

record scratch is in the list of baby names on http://xkcd.com/1011/ [[User:Cooperstandard|Cooperstandard]] ([[User talk:Cooperstandard|talk]]) 16:31, 12 October 2016 (UTC) cooper

Talk:1745: Record Scratch

2016-10-12T21:33:57Z

108.162.219.73:

;Misleading title text

Note: this is a ridiculous pedantic rant. Tl;dr: the xkcd alt text for today is misleading, and I read a lot about the history of music storage to back up that claim.

http://xkcd.com/1745/

So, this alt text is actually pretty misleading, because he's misusing the "whoa! Event A was closer to Event B than to today" meme by implying that 78s were vinyl, when in fact they were largely shellac -- and also I would argue that he's just got the facts wrong about when the 78-rpmera ended. The 78-rpm era arguably began as early as 1898, and arguably ended as late as the 1950s. In became the standard in 1925. So, ok, we could say, "Yeah, 78-rpm era should be considered to mean some time before 1940. That's reasonable, because the 1940s is really when the age of the 33 1/3 begins. So, OK, Randall, the 78-rpm era was closer to the Civil War than to today. But here's the thing. You implied that the 78-rpm era was a vinyl thing. That's not really true. Vinyl is what ushered in the 33 1/3 days. So while it's maybe a cool piece of trivia to say "we first started using 33 1/3 rpm vinyl records in earnest only slightly closer to today than to the Civil War," it's not really a "wow, compare these well known events! Look how old this record scratch reference is!" Because tapes didn't start to seriously compete with vinyl until the late 1970s, and didn't overtake it until about 1985. So it would be fair to say, "the vinyl era ended closer to the start of the Vietnam War than to today," assuming we treat the Vietnam War as beginning in 1954 or later.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.66|108.162.219.66]] 05:04, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
: Well, doncha think that it's Randall's comic and we shouldn't mess with it? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 10:11, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
: Agreed. Half way between the end of the US civil war and today was 1940. Vinyl LPs didn't overtake 78's until around 1952 according to Wikipedia (and 78's were being sold until 1960). So I guess what Randall means is that the time between the end of the era, and now is less than the time between the end of the civil war and the start of the 78 era. Might add something to this effect (if nobody else beats me to it) since this does require some clarification. [[User:Luckykaa|Luckykaa]] ([[User talk:Luckykaa|talk]]) 08:06, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Why is the explanation even mentioning "gramophones" or "phonographs"? Never mind making them sound important to this comic? (I'm not sure of the spelling, but think "gramophone" is wrong). As someone whose childhood was still during the record era, I've never seen either, but have played many records, and heard said scratch sound many times when I was sloppy or unlucky. It seems likely that 78-rpm records are from the grammophone era, but as the above commentor points out, those weren't vinyl. I would suspect vinyl records are all well past the time of grammophones. The device in question was "commonly" known simply as a record player. The current explanation is making the reference sound a LOT older than it is (and Randall already went there in the title text). - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 05:53, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
:He did not write that the 78-rpm area was a vinyl thing. The vinyl thing is about the scratching of modern records... Gramophone is the Wikipedia name for record player. So chill man ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:40, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
::Exactly my point. He did NOT write that 78-rpm was vinyl, that's a separate reference. When I said "Randall already went there", I mean he made a second, even older reference in the title text. And double checking the Wikipedia link, in the incorrect statement "records (also known as grammophone records)", that article identifies the latter as 78-rpm, which as discussed is NOT the same as the records from the record era of 60's and 70's and early 80's. I disagree, "gramophone" is not the Wikipedia name, and a record player is a different device. And I'm totally chill, LOL! - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 21:33, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Somebody said it "stores music on a disc with very small bumps". I had to correct that. I feel old. I was born closer to World War 1 than to the present day.{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.81}}

I think Randall chose the exact perfect moment for this comic since vinyls are getting more and more popular, again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_revival#Sales I doubt they will get as widely spread as in past times, but at least here in my town here in Germany even the bigger electronic retailers have fairly large vinyl supplies again. Enough to consider them back in popular culture? I don't know, because I don't know how the situation applies in the US which would be the relevnat part for the understanding of the comic. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:24, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

To me, the 'record scratch' sound in movies is not the sound made by a scratch ON a record, which is normally just a pop, but rather the sound of either the stylus being dragged ''across'' the grooves, more of a "ZZREEEIIP" sound, or of spinning the turntable in reverse. I have not changed the explanation as I may be the only person who feels this way. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:35, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, the stylus being dragged across the grooves ON a record, being scratched across a record. Nobody means they think the sound is simply applying the stylus in the first place. That's the whole point of the concept to begin with, it's a sound you hear if the record player is bumped or jarred, much like such a moment is supposed to "jar" you, like "Whoops! Whoa! Back the needle up! I just missed something." - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 21:33, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

* What was the first movie to do the "*Record Scratch* *Freeze Frame* Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering..." --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.20|141.101.70.20]] 08:58, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

Gramophone records are played on a gramophone, not a phonograph. Gramophones use discs, phonographs use cylinders.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.74|141.101.104.74]] 10:50, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

record scratch is in the list of baby names on http://xkcd.com/1011/ [[User:Cooperstandard|Cooperstandard]] ([[User talk:Cooperstandard|talk]]) 16:31, 12 October 2016 (UTC) cooper

1581: Birthday

2015-09-30T04:59:07Z

108.162.219.73: /* Explanation */ actually, they usually don't sing it (though maybe they can now)

{{comic
| number = 1581
| date = September 23, 2015
| title = Birthday
| image = birthday.png
| titletext = I guess I need to apologize to my parents, friends, and the staff at Chuck E. Cheese's for all the times I called the cops on them.
}}

==Explanation==
[[xkcd]] turns 10 years old on September 30, 2015 (a week after the release of this comic). In this comic [[Randall]] honors his webcomic by singing to it the classic "{{w|Happy Birthday to You}}" song.

"{{w|Happy Birthday to You}}" is one of the most commonly sung songs in the English language (and is common in many others). Because of its age, ubiquity and simplicity, it has long surprised people to learn that it was not in the public domain. {{w|Warner/Chappell Music}} claimed the copyright to the lyrics, and has demanded royalties for any recording, publication or public performance for commercial purposes. Total revenues for this song were estimated at $2 million annually.

This strip refers to a ruling, from the day before the release of this comic, by a federal judge in California ({{w|George H. King|George King}}), stating that the song is not covered by a valid copyright (see [http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-happy-birthday-song-lawsuit-decision-20150922-story.html Warner's 'Happy Birthday' Copyright Not Valid, Judge Rules]). This ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed by Good Morning To You Productions (singer {{w|Rupa Marya}} and filmmaker {{w|Robert D. Siegel|Robert Siegel}}) against Warner/Chappel Music to declare Warner/Chappel's copyright claim in the song invalid (filing at [http://www.scribd.com/doc/147645129/Happybirthday]). With this ruling, the court declared that Warner/Chappell does not have a copyright claim to the song, and therefore the song can now be sung or published by anyone, in any context, without having to pay royalties to Warner/Chappell.

The ruling does not go so far as to declare the song to be in the public domain, leaving it more correctly defined as an {{w|Orphan works|orphan work}}. Randall seems to be celebrating the fact that this strip, which would have put him at risk for a lawsuit the day before, is now unlikely to be challenged since the odds of a new party appearing and successfully claiming copyright on the lyrics and subsequently demanding license fees is approximately zero.

The title text is a joke that refers to Randall calling the police against {{w|Chuck E. Cheese's}} as well as his own friends and parents when they sang "Happy Birthday" and did not pay royalties. The song is very commonly used in entertainment restaurants, such as Chuck E. Cheese's, and at both grown-ups' and children's birthdays. Because restaurants are commercial enterprises, public performances of the song, prior to this ruling, would potentially have exposed the restaurant to liability claims (though singing it at a private birthday party would not). In either case, calling the police would be an extreme overreaction.

However, many restaurants (for example, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG9yZigKk0I Olive Garden]) actually have staff sing a special birthday song (not ''Happy Birthday To You'') to avoid having to pay royalties.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the frame:]
:xkcd turns 10 years old this month.
:In light of last night's court ruling in
:''Rupa Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music Inc.'',
:I would just like to say:

:[The song text is written, with nine musical notes, three groups on each side of the text, above a birthday cake with 10 lit candles. The cake has two distinct layers. On each layer there are drawn 6 xkcd stick figures with small black bullets between them. The center bullet in the bottom layer is shaped like a heart. The figures at the edges can be difficult to recognize. The figures in the upper layer and from the left are: A man with a hat (hard to see if it is one of the recognized characters), White Hat, Megan, Pony Tail, Hairy and Cueball (hard to see him properly). Similar in the lower layer: Black Hat, Danish, Beret Guy, Rob, Cutie, and a girl (hard to see, but looks like girls hair, not a hat).]
:Happy birthday to you
:Happy birthday to you
:Happy birthday, dear xkcd
:Happy birthday to you

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

1578: Squirrelphone

2015-09-18T05:52:47Z

108.162.219.73: /* Explanation */ spl

{{comic
| number = 1578
| date = September 16, 2015
| title = Squirrelphone
| image = squirrelphone.png
| titletext = After a while, the squirrel starts making that beeping noise and doesn't stop until it hops back up onto the stump.
}}

==Explanation==
A "squirrelphone" is a {{w|Compound (linguistics)|compound word}} combining "{{w|squirrel}}" and "{{w|phone}}".

In this comic, we see a squirrel pretend to be a telephone, only to bite [[Cueball]] who tries to pick it up and use it as one. This is humorous because a living squirrel is not an appropriate creature to maintain a phone call{{Citation needed}}. This could be seen as an example of {{w|mimicry}} in nature, or parasitism where one creature gains a benefit from another.

It may be an allusion to the {{w|Tufted ground squirrel|vampire squirrel}} which was [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/11/vampire-squirrel-caught-on-camera-for-the-first-time-ever/ documented recently] that allegedly 'attacks and kills' deer. The comic follows the absurd conclusion that the squirrel uses mimicry to 'attack and kill' humans. Cueball may be lucky to still be alive.

The sounds the squirrel makes correspond to the tones that the terminals make when you use the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) in the US:
* When someone else calls you and the receiver of your phone is on the hook, the phone makes loud and long "riiing riiiing" tones. --- This is the case in the first frame of the comic.
* When you pick the receiver up, the phone call is established and no extra noises are made.
* When no phone call is established and you pick up, a continuous humming tone is heard, meaning the service is up and you can dial someone else's number. (A {{w|dial tone}})
* If a phone is left off hook for too long, a loud {{w|Off-hook tone|howler-tone}} is played. This is to alert anyone present that the phone is off-hook. In this case, you should hang up so that you can receive calls. Once on-hook, the receiver can be picked up again to dial. Many cordless phones will also beep if left off their cradles for too long, to warn that their rechargeable batteries are getting drained.

[[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] have been used frequently in xkcd, also in [[what if?]], where it has for instance been used as a cute animal to replace a drawing of something scary or unpleasant like in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ Blood Alcohol] or [http://what-if.xkcd.com/105/ Cannibalism]. So this is some twist for the cuteness factor of squirrels in xkcd.

It may also be the case that "squirrelphone" is a reference to the popular web-mail software [http://squirrelmail.org/ SquirrelMail].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is approaching a stump with a squirrel perched on it. A ringing noise is coming from the squirrel's back.]
:Squirrel: Riiiiing
:Squirrel: Riiiiiing

:[Cueball has picked up the squirrel and is holding it to his left ear]
:Cueball: Hello?

:[The squirrel bites Cueball's head]
:Squirrel: Chomp!
:Cueball: Ow!

:[Cueball holds his hand to his cheek while the squirrel leaps away, fleeing]
:Cueball: ???

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:404: Not Found

2014-04-16T15:16:40Z

108.162.219.73:

Maybe it was skipped because he had to. In some, if not all websites, there's the 404.html file that is displayed when there's a 404 error (example: /var/www/404.html/), so it would have shown the '404' page that existed the whole time, because xkcd.com/404 would have shown 404.html.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.73|173.245.55.73]] 22:58, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

April 1st, 2008 was a Tuesday, so no xkcd comic would have normally come out then. For that week, [[403|xkcd 403]] was Monday, March 31st, 2008, [[405|xkcd 405]] was Wednesday, April 2nd, and [[406|xkcd 406]] was Friday, April 4th. 404 was just skipped. It is also skipped in the "previous comic"/"next comic" links on his site. I don't think it was an April Fools gag. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 19:03, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

:Well, I'd say that it certainy might be. In any case, it's an interesting observation! [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:22, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

:Then again, his skipping from 403 to 405 (making 404 come up "404: Not Found") may have been his April Fool joke that year. The timing may have been coincidental, but I don't blame him for taking advantage of it. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 23:16, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

::No, because there was already another April's Fool joke in 2008: xkcd, Questionable Content and Dinosaur Comics rotated their content ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_Comics#April_Fool.27s_jokes]). However the timing does seem quite suspicious. -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 21:52, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

This entry isn't on the list of all comics 1-500, and I made the mistake of adding this comic to the list. I was about to add an explanation, with a link to a webcomic about it, when I found this page. I think that this page should be liked in the all comics 1-500 list so that others don't make the same mistake and so that curious people can easily get to it. [[User:Rylon|Rylon]] ([[User talk:Rylon|talk]]) 18:10, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:The link is changed.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:55, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

;The hidden link
Nobody did find that hidden link? A shame. Just a simple test on this [http://www.xkcd.com/test/ http://www.xkcd.com/test/] gives me a link to this comic: [[1335: Now]]. And this page still appears like it was on the original release date on February 26 this year. I'm pretty sure there is still a link, some avant-garde, and Randall still giggles about that nobody did find this within six years. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:12, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
: Actually, you may be interested to note that xkcd.com/test now links to the Lorenz comic (#1350). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.73|108.162.219.73]] 15:16, 16 April 2014 (UTC)