explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1981: Rickrolling Anniversary

2020-03-26T08:58:08Z

172.68.34.208:

{{comic
| number = 1981
| date = April 16, 2018
| title = Rickrolling Anniversary
| image = rickrolling_anniversary.png
| titletext = Want to feel old? The 'want to feel old?' factoid meme dates back to around 2011, closer to the Bush/Kerry election than to today.
}}

==Explanation==

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#1 Cueball] tells [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#2 Megan] that by the release of this comic in April 2018 it is the 10th anniversary of the peak of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#3 rickrolling], and she is amazed that this has been so long ago. She then expresses a half-hearted happy anniversary wish, though it's not clear whether the anniversary she is congratulating is the phenomena itself having reached 10 years, or if she and Cueball met 10 years ago, coinciding with the height of the popularity of rickrolling, and this is reminding her to wish him a happy anniversary. After a beat panel Cueball concludes that ''We've known each other for so long'', which would be an appropriate response either way, with the additional joke of "[https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?t=59 We've known each other for so long]", being the first line of the second verse of the song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#4 Never Gonna Give You Up]" the hit song by [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#5 Rick Astley] on which rickrolling is based.

The first reference to rickrolling in xkcd was in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#6 351: Trolling] from 2007, where Astley himself was Rickrolled by [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#7 Black Hat]. Black Hat then later uses Astley to show his girlfriend [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#8 Danish] how Rick rolls in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#9 524: Party], a New Year party from the end of 2008.

Rickrolling had first started in 2007, but reached a peak in about April 2008 when, as an April Fool's day prank, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#10 YouTube] linked all its featured videos to ''Never Gonna Give You Up'', and the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#11 New York Mets] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#12 were Rickrolled] by a public vote to choose a song for the 8th innings sing-song. This coincided with a sharp [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#13 peak in searches] for "Rick Astley" and related terms.

The title text refers to another ''old'' xkcd meme of giving snippets of information to the reader [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#14 that make them feel old]. Although comics such as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#15 218: Nintendo Surgeon] in 2007 refer to facts that could make you feel old, the first comic directly build around factoids to make one feel old in xkcd was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#16 891: Movie Ages] in April 2011. This was 7 years before the time of publishing. The [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#17 United States presidential election, 2004] was in November 2004, 6½ years before that comic, making the title text statement that the beginning of this meme is closer to that election that today. This is the way most of these make you feel old comics are built.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are walking.]
:Cueball: This month marks ten years since the peak of the Rickrolling phenomenon.

:[In a frame-less panel they keep walking.]
:Megan: Seriously?
:Megan: Wow. Happy anniversary, I guess.

:[They keep walking silently, beat panel.]

:[And they walk on.]
:Cueball: We've known each other for so long.
:Megan: We really have.

==Trivia==
*This comic is a return to the recurring theme of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#18 Rickrolling], which was most famous around 2008 and 2009 - also at xkcd.
*Interestingly enough the last time rickrolling was referenced in xkcd was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ#19 1757: November 2016], another comic centered around making people feel old.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Recursion]]

Talk:2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-07T03:20:57Z

172.68.34.208: Is ADHD a disorder? Depends partly on environment

This comic appears to be the only one, ever, that doesn't have mouseover text
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.160|162.158.146.160]] 05:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:Maybe our mice are just broken. Purely coincidental, I'm sure. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 05:49, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::Or it is a change, to go with the time... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:07, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:::Technically [[404]] doesn't have an alt-text either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.183|162.158.58.183]] 09:42, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::::I believe I've seen this before, where a comic _temporarily_ doesn't have title text. It may show itself yet. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.203|172.69.63.203]] 11:49, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::Maybe Randall posted it really late, staggered into bed, and will post the alt-text in the morning. I saw text but it was just the comic title. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.190|172.68.34.190]] 07:51, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::::::It is common for dynamic comics to have no title text - see [[:Category:No title text]]. But it is a first for a standard comic. So interesting to see if it shows up later, or if this will be an outlier. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::::It has title text now: "We have email and social media now, so we probably don't need to keep exchanging business cards by pressing them gently against each others' faces with an open palm and smearing them around."

And, in case you were wondering, yes, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10124306/Japanese-craze-for-eyeball-licking-leads-to-rise-in-infections.html eyeball licking is a thing] [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]]) 08:22, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:According to [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/in-the-public-eye/ Snopes] the story about Japanese eye licking is not true. I've removed it from the explanation for now. If my information turns out to be false, feel free to add it back in. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:16, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

It's possible that mouse over / touch operation is seen as another form of physical contact, that goes along the comic. {{unsigned ip|172.68.154.22}}
:I think he just forgot it. Maybe he is down with the coronavirus ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

I don't think we should overdo it with the "citation needed" joke or it will become dull. One instance in such a short explanation is definitely enough. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:22, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:It should not be used when no citation is needed! I remove them often --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:15, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::No, the whole joke is that we're asking for citations for something super obvious. I agree more than one would be overkill here though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.70|108.162.241.70]] 16:00, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

I thought this comic was referring to hand-shaking, which is effectively licking one another's eyeballs, as much as we humans touch our own eyes & mouths. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 12:19, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:There is a meme (by Corona-is-hoax promoters and Communists-did-it-on-purpose proclaimers, mostly, so treat it with a pinch of salt rather than antivjral handwash) that doorknob-licking is a thing. Usually as a fabled method of infecting the doorknobs (by manchurin super-spreaders?) rather than getting infected from them (that's just what happens next from knob-to-hand-to-face contact). There are all kinds of wierdos though - by which I mean primarily the false-memers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.217|162.158.154.217]] 15:01, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::And I though that the blinking reflex makes actually touching the eyeball almost impossible. Like, unless you hold the eyelid with other hand at least. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:20, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

For someone who is significantly introverted, might the act of shaking hands be nearly as weird and repugnant as eyeball licking would seem to most people? [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:51, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
:Pretty sure that unless there's some cultural thing at play, finding the concept of shaking hands to be ''repugnant'' would indicate some form of mental disorder. Being reticent to shake hands due to avoiding human interaction is different from finding it disgusting. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.238|172.69.34.238]] 21:39, 6 March 2020 (UTC)
::You mean like autism? You say "some form of mental disorder" as if everyone diagnosed with mental disorder would be put to asylum, while about 10% of kids are diagnosed with ADHD. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:20, 7 March 2020 (UTC)
:::Mild ADD/ADHD is more of a disorder in my culture and perhaps most modern cultures than in other circumstances and I believe representative of a tendency to put problems on an individual rather than on systemic choices. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.208|172.68.34.208]] 03:20, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-06T15:41:05Z

172.68.34.208:

{{comic
| number = 2277
| date = March 6, 2020
| title = Business Greetings
| image = business_greetings.png
| titletext = We have email and social media now, so we probably don't need to keep exchanging business cards by pressing them gently against each others' faces with an open palm and smearing them around.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EYEBALL LICKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the third comic in a row about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|outbreak in 2020}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. The first comic being [[2275: Coronavirus Name]] and the second [[2276: Self-Isolate]]. This thus makes all comics of that week about the corona outbreak.

As a reaction to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, people are refraining from personal contact. This leads to conflicts with customs in the workplace - e.g. shaking hands at the beginning of a meeting etc.

The comic shows [[Beret Guy]] addressing his employees at [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|his eccentric company]] ([[Ponytail]], [[Hairy]] and [[Hairbun]]). He states that they should not overreact to the coronavirus. But at least they should now quit their usual startup procedure at meetings where everyone is "licking each others eyeballs". Virus or not, it is not common for humans to lick anyone's eyeballs at meetings or in any other situation.{{Citation needed}}

The fun thing is that his employers state that they will miss this human contact, but that they at least understand.

Contact between saliva and eyes are a very common way to get the virus spread. But usually this occurs from one person sneezing, not by licking the other person's eye.

When the comic was first published, it did not have a title-text. This has almost exclusively occurred previously with special interactive or dynamic comics. Absence of title-text is so unusual that it broke at least one xkcd client ([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floern.xkcd Browser for xkcd by Floern]). During the day of the release, the title-text has been added, and it refers to an actual business custom (exchanging business cards), but one which is absurdly altered to promote the spread of disease by touching hands to faces.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the left addressing Ponytail, Hairy and Hairbun sitting in office chairs at a table. Hairbun is at the end of the table. All three have one arm on the table.]
:Beret Guy: I don't think we should overreact to the coronavirus,
:Beret Guy: But it might be time to put an end to the custom of starting business meetings by everyone licking each others' eyeballs.
:Hairy: I'll miss the human contact, but that's fair.
:Hairbun: Gotta change with the times.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-06T07:48:43Z

172.68.34.208: /* Explanation */ Specifying which coronavirus

{{comic
| number = 2277
| date = March 6, 2020
| title = Business Greetings
| image = business_greetings.png
| titletext =
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EYEBALL LICKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The COVID-19 coronavirus is a big deal{{Citation needed}}. As a reaction, people are refraining from personal contact. This leads to conflicts with customs in the workplace - eg shaking hands at the beginning.

This comic parodies that by claiming people are reacting to the virus by avoid "licking eyeballs" at starts of meeting. Virus or not, it is not normal lick eyeballs at meetings{{Citation needed}}. However, eyeball licking was a teen fad in Japan and other countries during the early 2000s, suggesting something else is going on{{Citation needed}}.

This comic does not appear to have a title-text. It is possible that this is to prevent further spread of the coronavirus {{Citation needed}}. Absense of title-text is so unsusual, that broke at least one xkcd client ([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floern.xkcd Browser for xkcd by Floern]).

==Transcript==

[Three people are sitting at a table (from left to right: Ponytail, Hairy and Hairbun), and the Beret Guy is standing on the left.]

Beret Guy: I don't think we should overreact to the coronavirus, but it might be time to put an end to the custom of starting business meetings by everyone licking each other's eyeballs.

Hairy: I'll miss the human contact, but that's fair.

Hairbun: Gotta change with the times.

{{comic discussion}}

2275: Coronavirus Name

2020-03-02T21:20:22Z

172.68.34.208: Fun with bot renames

{{comic
| number = 2275
| date = March 2, 2020
| title = Coronavirus Name
| image = coronavirus_name.png
| titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUTANT T. ANNEXA WOLF SPIDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

554: Not Enough Work

2020-01-14T16:29:22Z

172.68.34.208: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 554
| date = March 11, 2009
| title = Not Enough Work
| image = not_enough_work.png
| titletext = It's even harder if you're an asshole who pronounces <> brackets.
}}

==Explanation==
In some companies, programmers can find themselves under-employed. This may be because these companies have little programming work until something breaks or needs upgrading, or perhaps they are between projects, or simply waiting for a go-ahead. Coders still need to make themselves available to perform emergency fixes, but they may have no other assigned work. This requires them to find constructive ways to spend their time. Or unconstructive, if that is more fun.

{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is a keyboard layout that was proposed in 1936 as an alternative to the existing, entrenched {{w|Qwerty keyboard|QWERTY}} layout, developed in the 1870s. The QWERTY keyboard is the standard in the US, but some features in its layout are based on mechanical considerations rather than the optimum placement for typing speed. For example, common letter combinations such as 'st' and 'th' had to be arranged so that their operating levers were separated from each other, lest they cause jams and slow down the typist. More than sixty years later, such mechanical considerations could be overcome, and the DVORAK keyboard layout was made with typing efficiency in mind.

The Dvorak keyboard was ultimately unsuccessful. It still persists today, but has never threatened the dominance of the QWERTY keyboard. Even if the Dvorak layout is more efficient (which is still a matter for debate, see the uncomfortable truth in [[561: Well]]), QWERTY was and is the standard. This means that every keyboard user has to learn QWERTY anyway, and there is insufficient benefit in spending the time to learn a new layout, especially when you would have to switch back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY as the situation demands.

Therefore, even seriously considering the switch is a sign that you really have nothing better to do. Another joke is that even though the coder has plenty of spare time on his hands to practice on Dvorak, he has only been able to 'almost' match his old typing speed.

This was the first comic to refer to Dvorak, but since then it has become a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd. A later comic, [[1445: Efficiency]], mentions, in the title text, how you could waste lots of time testing to see if Dvorak is faster.

{{w|Gopher (protocol)|Gopher}} is a defunct internet protocol, which has been completely superseded by {{w|HTTP}}. It's a perfect example of the kind of thing a programmer might implement in the absence of other, more useful work. (As an aside, the protocol is named for the mascot of the University of Minnesota, where it was developed.)

{{w|HTML}} and {{w|XHTML}} are markup languages used to describe web documents. XHTML-strict is a more restricted version of HTML that excludes certain redundant tags like <nowiki><center></nowiki>, which is theoretically no longer necessary now that <nowiki><div> and </nowiki> exist. {{w|Haiku}}, on the other hand, is a kind of Japanese poetry. Rather than having a rhyming meter like Western poetry, Japanese poetry has strict restrictions on {{w|syllable}} count; a haiku must contain three lines, containing 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. The section of code given is HTML markup, and would be read by a web developer like this:

:Div class equals Main
:Span ID equals Marquee
:Blog! end span end div (or alternatively slash span slash div)

Which can be [http://www.syllablecount.com/ divided in syllables] like this:

:Div - class - e - quals - Main
:Span - I - D - e - quals - Mar - quee
:Blog! - end - span - end - div

This meets the syllable requirements. Restricting yourself to writing markup in this form would be extremely challenging and time-consuming and pointless, so it, too, is a good sign that coders need more real work to do. The title text notes that if you are one of those assholes that are actually pronouncing the angle-brackets, then it would be even harder to write HTML in Haiku format. "Left angle bracket" and "right angle bracket" take up five syllables each on their own. (The asshole part is Randall's opinion about those who do pronounce <>). Haiku was mentioned later in [[622: Haiku Proof]].

Finally, the last panel mentions the biggest timesink of them all: {{w|webcomics}}! (Or, even worse, [[Main Page|wikis devoted to explaining the jokes in webcomics]].)

==Trivia==
A haiku-compliant programming language does in fact exist: David Morgan-Mar (a creator of many esoteric and parodic languages) invented [http://www.dangermouse.net/esoteric/haifu.html Haifu], a language that will only compile if it is arranged into subsets of 5 + 7 + 5 syllables. Unlike the HTML example in the comic, Haifu derives its functions and syntax from concepts in {{w|Eastern philosophy}} (such as naming its variable types after the {{w|five elements}}, replacing true and false with {{w|yin and yang}}, and defining arithmetic in terms of creation and destruction).

The webcomic referred to in the last panel is most likely Xkcd (setting up a Deadpool-like scenario?)

==Transcript==
:[Above the first two panels there is a caption:]
:Signs your coders don't have enough work to do:

:[Cueball sitting in an office chair at his workstation, with Ponytail standing behind him.]
:Cueball: I'm almost up to my old typing speed in Dvorak

:[Cueball is standing next to a server rack pointing at it while looking the other way at a Cueball-like guy. There are three sections filled with servers, two of them together, and space for several more above and below and betwen those two and the one at the bottom. Behind the rack wires comes down tot he floor from all three servers together and the wires then exits the panel to he right along the floor.]
:Cueball: Our servers now support Gopher.
:Cueball: Just in case.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan is standing near her workstation to the right speaking to Cueball to the left.]
:Megan: Our pages are now HTML, XHTML-Strict, and Haiku-compliant.
:Cueball: Haiku?
:Megan:
::<nowiki><div class="Main"></nowiki>
::<nowiki></nowiki>
::<nowiki>Blog!</div></nowiki>

:[Ponytail sitting in an office chair at her workstation.]
:Ponytail: Hey!
:Ponytail: Have you guys seen this webcomic?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]