explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

624: Branding

2016-01-29T18:51:00Z

108.162.240.30: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 624
| date = August 17, 2009
| title = Branding
| image = branding.png
| titletext = Actually, 'RSS&M' is kinda catchy.
}}

==Explanation==
This strip shows four advertisements that appear to [[Cueball]] as he browses the internet without Adblock. ({{w|Adblock Plus|Adblock}} is a browser extension for Firefox/Chrome which prevents advertisements from being displayed). All four ads are for adult-themed websites.

The first advertises a website that brands itself as the "{{w|Facebook}} of sex". Because Facebook is ubiquitous, this is probably a good branding idea. Facebook is known to most users and connotes an easy-to-use platform where it's very easy to find people, chat with them, share pictures, etc. For someone looking for sex, this would probably seem like a good site to use. There are, in fact, sites that use this branding in their advertisements and/or their user interface which is likely what inspired [[Randall]] to write this comic. Cueball sighs and moves on, probably having seen this kind of ad many times already.

The second brands itself as "Twitter for 18+ singles!". It is a similar but (seemingly) invented ad which again plays on the ubiquity and popularity of {{w|Twitter}}. Twitter being a (generally) public chat forum which limits posts to 140 characters is still popular enough to get some attention and make someone think about going to the site, although sending messages to the world in 140 characters or less might be somewhat less of a versatile platform than Facebook for chatting with other singles, but still perhaps viable. Cueball notes that it is becoming more and more popular to brand adult sites by comparing them to popular non-adult sites.

This third takes a turn for the unusual, branding itself as "We're like Google Reader for S&M!". {{w|Google Reader}} is a now-defunct platform that allows users to aggregate web feeds such as RSS feeds into one place for convenience. The service is notably less well-known and popular than Facebook or Twitter, and given that it doesn't directly link you with other people, doesn't have the same connotation of allowing you to connect with others. Perhaps it would be a site that allowed you to aggregate various fan fictions or other written works relating to {{w|Sadomasochism|S&M}}. However, Cueball is still surprised such a site would exist.

The final ad brands itself as "the new GitHub for lesbians!". {{w|GitHub}} is a website that allows developers to collaborate on software projects using the {{w|Git (software)|Git}} revision control system. The concept is absurd — GitHub has a specialized function unrelated to anyone's orientation and it's barely a social network at all; the usefulness or appeal of such a system made specific to lesbians is not apparent. Cueball is surprised and possibly even intrigued by this last ad.

{{w|RSS}} is a technology involved in Google Reader. RSS&M is a portmanteau of RSS and S&M.

==Transcript==
:Browsing without adblock
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
:[Pop-up window with red background.]
:The Facebook of SEX! Click now!
:Cueball: Sigh.
:<nowiki>*Close*</nowiki>

:[Pop-up window with green background.]
:Twitter for 18+ singles! Join today!
:Cueball: Does every porn site have to brand itself like this?
:<nowiki>*Close*</nowiki>

:[Pop-up window with blue background.]
:We're like Google Reader for S&M!
:Cueball: ''Really?''
:<nowiki>*Close*</nowiki>

:[Pop-up window with orange background.]
:Try the new GitHub for lesbians!
:Cueball: Ok, wait, what?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

1384: Krypton

2015-10-17T19:00:38Z

108.162.240.30: /* Removed extraneous and subjective details. */

{{comic
| number = 1384
| date = June 20, 2014
| title = Krypton
| image = krypton.png
| titletext = Their Sun and gravity will make you, uh, something, I guess. Out of earshot from Earth, mostly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvertedTrope inverse] version of the {{w|origin story}} of the {{w|superhero}} character {{w|Superman}}.

In the Superman story, {{w|Jor-El}} and his wife {{w|Lara (comics)|Lara}} notice that their home planet {{w|Krypton (comics)|Krypton}} is about to be destroyed in a giant explosion, so they decide to send their baby {{w|Superman|Kal-El}} to {{w|Earth}} to save him - and there he becomes Superman.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] also notice that the planet Krypton is about to explode, but instead of attempting to save a baby from Krypton, they decide to send a baby to Krypton from Earth so that it'll stop annoying them with his crying.

In the fourth panel both spaceships can be seen. The rocket containing the Earth baby arrives at planet Krypton, while the crystal star shaped spaceship containing Kal-El leaves Krypton towards Earth - this is a reference to the [http://collectingsuperman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/stmstoryboard1a.jpg version of the spaceship] depicted in the 1978 {{w|Superman_(1978_film)|Superman movie}}, (see [[#Trivia|trivia section]]).

In the fifth and last panel we see Krypton explode.

In the Superman movie, Kal-El carries with him a lot of information pre-recorded by his parents. During the very long trip he listens to the recordings, one of which explains that the Sun and gravity of Earth will give him (Kal-El) great powers (this is the way he becomes Superman). The '''title text''' is a satirical version of this information, given to the Earth baby during his trip: That Megan & Cueball do not have the faintest idea (or care about) what the sun and gravity of Krypton will do to him - but their best guess at what these ''mostly'' will do to him is to "make you out of earshot from Earth", which was their original reason for shipping the baby off in the first place.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing near a telescope.]
:Cueball: The distant planet Krypton is becoming unstable!
:Baby crying (from outside the panel): Waaaaaa
:Megan: That crying baby is really annoying.

:[Cueball and Megan looking at each other.]

:[Spaceship taking off.]

:[Spaceship passing another spaceship on route to distant planet.]

:[Planet exploding.]

==Trivia==
*Whereas the Kal-El rocket clearly looks like the one in the 1978 Superman, a movie which is also the origin of the title text joke, the Earth baby rocket looks like any nondescript rocket. It has some features in common with the one used in [[1350: Lorenz]] as can be seen here under the [[1350: Lorenz#Rocket launch|Rocket launch theme]] - color scheme the same, but different body of the rocket. One could also argue that it resembles some of the [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7D1hE_0cz0/TS88t-Rs2vI/AAAAAAAAEMY/EnIOj3AGFu8/s800/SupermanOrigins.jpg various] [http://thecomicmuseum.com/superman146.jpg versions] of the rocket that brought Superman to Earth as depicted in early {{w|List of Superman comics|comic books}} - Not that big a resemblance though, due to the very different tip and fins.
*As the nearest stars are several light years away, this comic does of course not make any sense if you look at it from a scientific point of view, but can still do if you don't.
**First of all - how would Cueball be able to see that Krypton is unstable in a telescope - as we at the moment can only just detect planets around other stars.
**And even if he did detect this and immediately shipped his baby away in a close to light-speed rocket, then it would take several years to reach Krypton; at best - more likely to be somewhere between a hundred to a thousand years.
***Plus, because light takes time to travel, Cueball was seeing the planet as it was many years ago, meaning it had been unstable for some time already. So even for the closest star (exclusive of the Earth's sun), it would be 4.3 years to see the instability and then over 4.3 more years for the ship to travel, even with close to light speed travel, for a total of over 8.6 years from when the light left the planet until the rocket arrived there.
**As faster than light-speed travel is impossible according to the current model of our universe this option is not really relevant here.
**During all those years, the unstable planet should still keep together - in spite of being so unstable that Cueball can determine this instability with his telescope on Earth.
**And then the rocket arrives just when Kal-El is being shipped the other way a few moments before the planet explodes. Of course if the arrival of the rocket causes the explosion this would explain the last two events. Kal-El is shipped off at the last moment when his parents realizes an incoming rocket will destroy their planet.

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

1460: SMFW

2014-12-16T13:09:59Z

108.162.240.30: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1460
| date = December 15, 2014
| title = SMFW
| image = smfw.png
| titletext = wtfw it's like smho tbfh, imdb.
}}

==Explanation==

Randall gives some examples of confusing acronyms that closely resemble more commonly-used acronyms. He depicts [[Cueball]] apparently puzzling over the meaning of one such acronym.

"SMFW", the title of the comic and an acronym used as the caption, is eerily close to a number of other common acronyms, including:

* "SFW" (meaning "safe (or suitable) for work", denoting that something does not have suggestive content)
* "MFW" (meaning "my face when...", setting up for a user's reaction to something: possibly the intended replacement for the caption at the bottom of the comic)
* "SMH" (meaning "shaking my head", used to indicate dismay)
* "SMF" (meaning "so much fun")
* "NSFW" (meaning "not safe for work", the opposite of "SFW").

The sense in which Randall uses "SMFW" is most closely matched by the phrase "My face when..."; therefore, a semantically correct version of the comic text using an existing acronym would be "MFW an acronym ''almost'' makes sense." This could be extended to "See My Face When an acronym ''almost'' makes sense."

The title text contains more examples of imaginary acronyms of a similar nature:

* "WTFW" is a combination of "WTF" ("What the fuck?") and "TFW" ("That feel when...", used in a similar nature to "MFW"), and possibly "FTW" ("For The Win") and "FWIW" ("For What It's Worth")
* "SMHO" is a combination of "SMH" ("shake my head") and "IMHO" ("In my humble opinion...")
* "TBFH" is a combination of "TBF" ("to be fair") and "TBH" ("to be honest"), also similar to "BOFH" ("Bastard Operator From Hell")
* "IMDB" is, of course, [http://www.imdb.com/ the Internet Movie Database], but also resembles "IMHO" ("in my humble opinion")

Below are possible examples of potential (already existing, albeit rare) representations for each acronym, according to [http://www.urbandictionary.com/ Urban Dictionary]:

* SMFW is an acronym for "Smoke more fucking weed".
* WTFW is an acronym for "What the fuck, what?".
* SMHO is an acronym for "Shaking my head off".
* TBFH is an acronym for "To be fucking honest".

Knowing Randall, the sentence is not supposed to make sense, but there are some mildly-plausible translations (if one discounts IMDB, which is only there to make an already obnoxious sentence completely absurd). One way would be "What the fuck, what? It's like shaking my head off, to be fucking honest."

==Transcript==

[Cueball is sitting at a desk, crouched over a laptop]

SMFW an acronym ''almost'' makes sense

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1446: Landing

2014-11-12T05:58:37Z

108.162.240.30: Add links for 00:10:00 through 00:25:00 (which are all empty :V)

I would bet money that this comic will have to do with the Rosetta Lander that will be landing on a comet for the first time in history this morning. Info about it at Rosetta.esa.int

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.173|108.162.237.173]] 05:37, 12 November 2014 (UTC)pH

Almost definitely. The URL for the image (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-40-00_wmf0bPtxDN.png) contains 'landing'.

[[User:DeedleFake|DeedleFake]] ([[User talk:DeedleFake|talk]]) 05:44, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

The image changes every five minutes. (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-35-00_lVC98SMY1X.png) followed by (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-40-00_wmf0bPtxDN.png) followed by (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-45-00_MZprhbADHL.png) then (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-50-00_Z63bWhoaxd.png), also I'm sorry about deleting other people's comments - firefox decided to not show the "other people have edited this" page :( [[User:Forkbomb|Forkbomb]] ([[User talk:Forkbomb|talk]]) 05:47, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

Forkbomb, you are not supposed to delete other's comments...
Yes. It is definitely about Rosetta. The image changed at 9.35 pm PST and it says "Three hours to separation", i.e. 12.35am PST, which is exactly the time at which PHILAE is going to separate...
[http://imgur.com/fK9Ddrx image_seen]
[http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/11/07/rosetta-and-philae-landing-timeline/ rosetta timeline]

[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.237|199.27.128.237]] 05:50, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

Is anyone collecting URLs? I assume there's an easy automated way to do this that was used for Time. If not...

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! URLs
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-10-00_fUWUYNkxwp.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-15-00_74eSd3x7BQ.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-20-00_UT4FKycrmC.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-25-00_FX6hlfSQHR.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-30-00_FjnXADopvO.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-35-00_lVC98SMY1X.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-40-00_wmf0bPtxDN.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-45-00_MZprhbADHL.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-50-00_Z63bWhoaxd.png
|-
| http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-55-00_2wCeCFN0R1.png
|}

--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.244|108.162.219.244]] 05:56, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/landing/r_00-45-00_MZprhbADHL.png) "Has anyone ever tried this before?" "No but fetishes have to start somewhere, right?" [[User:Nexxuz|Nexxuz]] ([[User talk:Nexxuz|talk]])

Probably just a mistake, but the transcript in the html source of 1446 is from 1445. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 05:58, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T15:18:03Z

108.162.240.30:

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred

Vinland != America

Since "Leaf" Ericson is a pun on Leif, I think Vinland is a pun for Finland, but with the prefix "Vin" from "Vine". All of these puns make sense since the boat is made from a leaf.
:Try reading the wikipedia entry for Vinland. That makes a lot more sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:18, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the game discordian game "Sink"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T15:15:28Z

108.162.240.30: comment and removing title marks some asshole put in his

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred

Vinland != America

Since "Leaf" Ericson is a pun on Leif, I think Vinland is a pun for Finland, but with the prefix "Vin" from "Vine". All of these puns make sense since the boat is made from a leaf.

Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the game discordian game "Sink"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)