explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

130: Julia Stiles

2012-12-04T05:31:15Z

99.140.166.83: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 130
| date = 2006-07-19
| title = Julia Stiles
| image = julia_stiles.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = I found an old tape of this episode in my family's closet. Check the news section of the forums to see the clip!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Julia Stiles}}, who later became a well-known actress as an older teenager and adult, did in fact appear in the children's television show ''{{w|Ghostwriter (TV series)|Ghostwriter}}'' as a 12-year-old in 1993. The sketch in this comic depicts Stiles as she appeared in the episode, and all the dialogue attributed to her is taken from her character's actual dialogue.

Although this dialogue was supposed to establish Erica (Stiles' character) as an expert on hacking, it actually consists mostly of buzzwords (some of which are fake), none of which would impress an actual computer hacker.

The thread in the news section of the forums, as referenced in the titletext, can be found [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=92 here]. However, a copy of the video with better audio can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bLlj_GeKniA here].

==Transcript==
The best thing ever to appear on TV: 12-year-old Julia Stiles as a hacker in a 1993 episode of PBS's "Ghostwriter"

[A sketch of Julia Stiles, as a 12-year-old, with a bandanna over her head, long wavy hair, elbow shirt, wrist band, and pants]

Julia Stiles: Do you know anything about hackers? Can you jam with the console cowboys in cyberspace? Never experienced the new wave? Next wave? Dream wave? *OR* cyberpunk?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Julia Stiles]]

130: Julia Stiles

2012-12-04T05:30:42Z

99.140.166.83: create page

{{comic
| number = 130
| date = 2006-07-19
| title = Julia Stiles
| image = julia_stiles.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = I found an old tape of this episode in my family's closet. Check the news section of the forums to see the clip!
}}

==Explanation==
Julia Stiles, who later became a well-known actress as an older teenager and adult, did in fact appear in the children's television show ''{{w|Ghostwriter (TV series)|Ghostwriter}}'' as a 12-year-old in 1993. The sketch in this comic depicts Stiles as she appeared in the episode, and all the dialogue attributed to her is taken from her character's actual dialogue.

Although this dialogue was supposed to establish Erica (Stiles' character) as an expert on hacking, it actually consists mostly of buzzwords (some of which are fake), none of which would impress an actual computer hacker.

The thread in the news section of the forums, as referenced in the titletext, can be found [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=92 here]. However, a copy of the video with better audio can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bLlj_GeKniA here].

==Transcript==
The best thing ever to appear on TV: 12-year-old Julia Stiles as a hacker in a 1993 episode of PBS's "Ghostwriter"

[A sketch of Julia Stiles, as a 12-year-old, with a bandanna over her head, long wavy hair, elbow shirt, wrist band, and pants]

Julia Stiles: Do you know anything about hackers? Can you jam with the console cowboys in cyberspace? Never experienced the new wave? Next wave? Dream wave? *OR* cyberpunk?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Julia Stiles]]

780

2012-12-04T04:55:32Z

99.140.166.83: create page

{{comic
| number = 780
| date = August 16, 2010
| title = Sample
| image = sample.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There are two or three songs out there with beeps in the chorus that sound exactly like the clock radio alarm I had in high school, and hearing it makes me think my life since junior year has been a dream I'm about to wake up from.
}}

==Explanation==
This strip suggests that even a band with the most brilliant and catchy music would soon become the most hated band in the world if it included sound effects of car horns, cell phones, or alarm clocks in its songs. Listeners would mistake the sound effects for the real thing.

For comparison, "{{w|Indiana Wants Me}}", a 1970 hit single by {{w|R. Dean Taylor}}, had the sound of police sirens removed from later pressings because drivers were reportedly mistaking the sound effects for actual police cars and pulling over.

==Transcript==
HOW TO BECOME THE MOST HATED BAND IN THE WORLD:

Record an album that's nothing but brilliant, catchy instant classics guaranteed popularity and airtime,

:[Cueball at the steering wheel of a car]

:[music]: So far from hooome but I can't sto-- HONK

:Cueball: AUGH! WHAT?

with a sample of a car horn, cell phone, or alarm clock inserted randomly in each song.

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