explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

351: Trolling

2023-05-26T11:55:57Z

162.158.110.218: merge references to actual rick roll

{{comic
| number = 351
| date = November 30, 2007
| title = Trolling
| image = trolling.png
| titletext = And I was really impressed with how they managed to shock the Goatse guy.
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:Rick_Astley_-_Pepsifest_2009.jpg|thumb|200px| Rick Astley. (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
The term ''{{w|Trolling}}'' is used to describe provocative, destructive, or annoying behavior on the {{w|Internet}}. Especially common are Internet pranks of the {{w|bait-and-switch}} type, an example of which is {{w|Rickrolling}}. It involves placing a {{w|hyperlink|link}} that is supposed to contain interesting or funny material, but instead directs to the music video of the 1987 {{w|Rick Astley}} song ''{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}''. The prank first occurred in May 2007 on the popular {{w|imageboard}} {{w|4chan}} and has since become a widespread {{w|internet meme}}.

The comic has [[Black Hat]] and [[Cueball]] digging into the ground and splicing Black Hat's computer into the TV cables of {{w|Rick Astley}}'s house. They are feeding the video of ''{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}'' into Astley's TV signal, who can be seen sitting in his living room and wondering why CNN has been replaced by his own video. The act of Rickrolling Rick Astley himself is declared to be a "great moment in trolling".

The title text mentions {{w|Goatse.cx}} (pronounced ''goat sex''), a former {{w|shock site|shock website}} that was used in a similar prank. People clicking on the feigned link would instead see the disturbing picture of a practitioner of anal stretching. The title text suggests that Black Hat and Cueball somehow made the (unknown) founder of the site click on an even more shocking link, or possibly put him in the personal presence of anal stretching.

Also note that the comic image itself is itself a Rickroll. Anyone curious enough as to why their mouse pointer became the selection icon to click on the comic (on the original [https://www.xkcd.com/351/ xkcd page]) would find themselves watching "Never Gonna Give You Up."

==Trivia==
*Almost 13 years later, on 18th June 2020, {{w|Rick Astley}} was actually rickrolled on reddit ([https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/haucpf/ive_found_a_few_funny_memories_during_lockdown/fv505w1/ at r/pics])
**He was rick rolled by someone pretending that he had met Rick backstage when he was 12, and posted a link that was actually a rickroll.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball are in Rick Astley's yard, hacking into his cable TV connection and replacing the signal. Rick Astley is sitting in a chair in his house, watching TV.]
:TV: CNN has obtained this exclusive footage of the riot-torn-- ''*CZZZHT*'' ♫ Never gonna give you up... ♪
:Rick Astley: What the hell?

:[Caption below the frame:]
:GREAT MOMENTS in TROLLING:
:Rick Astley is successfully Rickrolled

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]

Talk:2772: Commemorative Plaque

2023-05-07T19:54:14Z

162.158.110.218: What I learned

Any bets on how many copies of this plaque people send him? [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 00:25, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

I do not understand the plaque... If the test is correct, shouldn't there be an order button for not that expensive commemorative plaques on xkcd.com/2772? Questions over questions...[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 07:31, 6 May 2023 (UTC)
:By site, they mean "location". It was in that location when Randall figured out what is on the plaque. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.82.17|172.71.82.17]] 14:08, 7 May 2023 (UTC)Bumpf

Because it's vague, not worth an Explain expansion, but I'm wondering how much of the intervening week was delivery time of the original plaque (assuming the "lesson learnt" moment was the instant the original plaque was ordered, as it was too late on receipt to then ''make'' the claim of the achievement appear upon it). And it sounds like the plaquer had the bits handy (standard "202 different bits, screwdriver heads, sockets and related hardware"-type everyman-handyman accessory kit that you might get 'because why not?'/’it was marked as a deal!' on one visit to the hardware depot) but just had never (properly?) used the whole masonry set in anger, until now. And I don't discount the possibility that the second plaque was ordered to place over some initial ill-drilled holes from the first attempt at mounting (either done without regard to where further holes would need to align to the mortar bonds and courses, or an attempted to take advantage of that but badly), making the announcement of the second 'triumphant' occasion instrumental in legitimately masking the evidence of the learning process that led up to it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.154|172.70.86.154]] 08:48, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if that's an oblique reference to the commemorative plaque Dieter Meier [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Meier#Artist had had installed at the Kassel railway station in 1972] that announced him standing there 22 years later? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.141|172.68.51.141]] 11:22, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

In Denmark we celebrate the {{w|Denmark_in_World_War_II#Legacy|liberation from the Germans}} at the end of WW2 on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_in_World_War_II#/media/File:Danmarks_Befrielse,_Sdr_Hygum.jpg May 5th 1945]. And later also my birthday ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:08, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

A bit of time paradox here. . . . . If he didn't figure out how to use a masonry drill until 12 May, then the top plaque couldn't have been installed before then. And the lower plaque would have been ordered, delivered and installed sometime after 12 May. Can we expect a third plaque commemmorating the mounting of the first and second? If so, when? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.5|172.68.210.5]] 01:12, 7 May 2023 (UTC) Beechmere
:No idea about the second, but I would assume that on 12 May, he ALSO installed the top plaque. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:46, 7 May 2023 (UTC)
:5/5, figured out the plaques thing and ordered one (or sat on it, ordered a day or two later). ⩽12/5, received plaque and tried to install. 12/5, successfully installed, second plaque ordered (or possibly shortly after). >12/5, received and installed second plaque. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.202|172.71.242.202]] 10:00, 7 May 2023 (UTC)
:Which makes this technically a science fiction comic, as it was released on 5/5. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.127|172.68.50.127]] 14:30, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

It was a few years ago when I learned how to use masonry drills. An importand difference is whether you use a “[[wikipedia:Hammer drill|Schlagbohrmaschine]]” or “[[wikipedia:Rotary hammer|Hammerbohrmaschine]]”, and you need the correct bit for both. Now I am frustrated that English uses the same word for both of them. The first one (cam action) has a disgusting user experience, while the second one (pneumatic) is a joy. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.110.218|162.158.110.218]] 19:54, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

2772: Commemorative Plaque

2023-05-06T20:31:58Z

162.158.110.218: More importantly, May 5 is Europe Day and Dutch Liberation Day. Also, Genghis Khan rose to power.

{{comic
| number = 2772
| date = May 5, 2023
| title = Commemorative Plaque
| image = commemorative_plaque_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x282px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Below] On this site on May 12th, 2023, I finally learned how to use the masonry bit for my drill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MASONRY BIT DONE BY DRILL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The narrator discovered that it is simple and inexpensive to have a {{w|commemorative plaque}} made, and so had a commemorative plaque made to record that event. This comic is similar to previous comics, such as [[2682: Easy Or Hard]]. The comic both indicates the lack of knowledge many people have about how simple or difficult it is to do a certain thing, and the over-the-top response a person might have to a relatively mundane discovery.

The comic was published on May 5, the holiday of {{w|Cinco de Mayo}}, {{w|Europe Day}} and {{w|Liberation day (Netherlands)|Dutch Liberation Day}}. The comic subverts an expectation that a plaque about May 5 would be to commemorate either one of the {{w|May 5|many world events that previously took place on a May 5}} in various years, or more specifically the 1862 {{w|Battle of Puebla}} or the 1964 founding of the Council of Europe or the 1945 Liberation of the Netherlands, which all took place on May 5 and inspired the respective holidays.

The title text tells us that it was a week later when they learned out how to use a {{w|Drill_bit#Masonry_drill_bit|masonry bit}} to mount the plaque, there being some small but useful points of technique to be learnt when drilling into one or other of stone, brick, concrete or cement. It equates it being almost exactly as much deserving of a plaque as the very act of obtaining a plaque, and now a second one, to also have finally been able to properly attach it (them) to the chosen wall.

==Transcript==
:[A light gray brick wall with a plaque on it. The plaque has a white background and its frame is gray. It has been attached to the wall with four pins one at each corner. The plaque reads:]
:On this site on
:<big><big>'''May 5<sup>th</sup>, 2023'''</big></big>
:I realized that you could order custom commemorative plaques online that say
:<big>'''whatever you want''' </big>
:and it's not that expensive

{{comic discussion}}