explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1104: Feathers

2022-05-21T00:55:44Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 270832 by Explain xkcd server admin (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1104
| date = September 05, 2012
| title = Feathers
| image = feathers.png
| titletext = Click to see a video of a modern bird using stability flapping during predatory behavior. It all fits! Also, apparently Microraptor had *four* wings? The past keeps getting cooler! (And there's more of it every day!)
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Dinosaur}}s have been a fascinating topic in popular science and have captivated children's interest since the first fossils were discovered in modern times, around the 1700s; prior discoveries in China and elsewhere were thought to be the bones of dragons or other mythical creatures. The success of the ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' movies perpetuated an erroneous understanding of the physical characteristics of dinosaurs. Since the first movie of that series, scientific evidence has emerged suggesting that {{w|Dromaeosauridae}}, or "[[:Category:Velociraptors|raptors]]", the main antagonists of that movie, looked quite different from their animatronic and CGI versions. In particular, they are now known to have been much smaller, and are believed to have had feathers and even wings, as evidenced by quill nobs observed on the arms of raptors.

[http://denverfowler.com/ Denver W. Fowler] is among the scientists who support this hypothesis. (incidentally, a "{{w|Fowler}}" is a hunter of wildfowl/birds) The comic refers to [http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0028964 a publication by him and his colleagues] ("{{Wiktionary|et al.}}"), in the ''{{w|PLoS ONE}}'', an online scientific journal ("PLoS" stands for "Public Library of Science").

[[Megan]] believes this new model of the appearance of raptors makes them much less cool, but the way in which [[Science Girl]] reformulates the facts to make them seem like even more vicious predators re-ignites her interest and makes the new raptors seem like at least as good a candidate for a good action thriller movie like the original version, if not better. Thus the phrase "the past keeps getting cooler". (Or that Megan, like Randall, has an irrational fear of raptors and is updating her knowledge of them.)

Clicking on the original cartoon links to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJKBPyavWlI&t=87s a YouTube video] of a bird of prey (in this case a {{w|Secretarybird}}) using its wings for stability while standing on top of a struggling prey, from which one can easily envision instead a raptor upon its prey—especially in case of some kind of "raptorphobia", as for [[Randall]] (see [[87: Velociraptors]] and [[135: Substitute]]). {{w|Microraptor}} was a small raptor with four wings, which lets you imagine even scarier scenes.

The same idea is later explored from a different perspective in [[1527: Humans]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan is walking up to Science Girl with a bow in her hair bun. Science Girl has a stack of three books in front of her, is reading another book and a fifth book lies behind her on the floor.]
:Megan: What are you reading about?
:Science Girl: Dinosaurs!
:Megan: Oh, yeah.

:[Zoom out of the same scene, with Megan standing and Science Girl looking up at her.]
:Megan: They've gotten all weird since when I was a kid.
:Megan: They used to be awesome, but now they all have dorky feathers, right?
:Science Girl: Yup!

:[Same scene in a frame-less panel. Science Girl looks down and below the two characters there is a footnote.]
:Science Girl: This says they now think raptors used their wings for stability, flapping to stay on top of their prey while hanging on with their hooked claws and eating it alive.
:<small>*Fowler et. al., PLoS ONE 6(12), 2011</small>

:[Zoom in on the same scene, the book on the floor is outside the panel. Megan just stands staring at Science Girl who reads on. Beat panel.]

:[Megan is now on the floor next to Science Girl flipping through the top book she has taken from the pile.]

==Trivia==
*In the comic it says "et. al." instead of the correct "et al.", this is a common mistake.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2102: Internet Archive

2022-05-21T00:51:03Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 270933 by Explain xkcd server admin (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2102
| date = January 23, 2019
| title = Internet Archive
| image = internet_archive.png
| titletext = The fact that things like the npm left-pad incident are so rare is oddly reassuring.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Internet Archive}} is a project that is invaluable for internet research. It is a public archive of information, including public domain books and music. It also runs the {{w|Wayback Machine}}, an archive of backups of web pages all over the Web at various times that can be used to see past versions of a page, even if that site has since shut down. The Internet Archive accepts submissions of any type of information, including new backups of web pages and newly-made public domain content.

Ponytail and Cueball first remark upon how weird the concept of the Internet Archive is, commenting that it would seem like an implausible concept if not for the fact that it already existed.

This revisits a point that Randall made in [[2085: arXiv]]: in the title text for that comic, he wrote,

:''Both arXiv and archive.org are invaluable projects which, if they didn't exist, we would dismiss as obviously ridiculous and unworkable.''

Our culture has an overarching theme of equating profit with success, so when efforts succeed due to inherent public benefit, this can often yield surprise.

They then become more philosophical, and wonder about invaluable systems that are maintained by a just a few individuals, meaning that they could disappear if any of those people stopped doing what they were doing. They relate this to the function of the {{w|human body}}, which does contain many {{w|List of systems of the human body|systems}} whose function and inner workings are unknown to the average person.

Again, as in [[2085: arXiv]], the two try not to "jinx things" by drawing attention to the improbability of this system working perfectly. In arXiv, when Megan exclaims that being able to post research papers as free PDFs on arXiv "makes no sense at all", Ponytail responds, ''"Shhh, you'll jinx it!"'' Here, Cueball tells Ponytail, "Probably best not to think about it." This is ironic as the inclusion of this information in a popular comic like xkcd is drawing attention to it.

As an example of "invaluable systems maintained by just a few individuals", the title text refers to the "[https://blog.npmjs.org/post/141577284765/kik-left-pad-and-npm npm left-pad incident]", a 2016 incident where a package for the {{w|npm (software)|npm}} package manager was removed from the software library by its author. As this particular package was used by many projects, both directly and indirectly, this caused a severe disruption in the software world. Randall is relieved that cases like this do not occur more frequently. This topic appears to stay on his mind for a while, since [[2347: Dependency]] covers a similar theme.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are walking to the right.]
:Ponytail: The Internet Archive is so weird. If it didn't exist, it would sound totally implausible.
:Cueball: ''Seriously.''

:[Ponytail and Cueball continue walking to the right.]
:Cueball: Do you ever worry about how reliant we are on systems that someone happens to maintain for some reason but which could disappear at any time?

:[Ponytail and Cueball are seen in silhouette from a distance.]
:Ponytail: Yeah - the same thing freaks me out about having a body.
:Cueball: I know, right?? I don't even know what half these parts ''do''!
:Ponytail: And yet if they stop, we die!
:Cueball: Probably best not to think about it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Internet]]

157: Filler Art

2022-05-04T02:05:15Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233788 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 157
| date = September 15, 2006
| title = Filler Art
| image = filler_art.png
| titletext = Maybe I should let up on Megatokyo a little?
}}

==Explanation==
There are times in which the owner of a webcomic can not make a comic on time for the next scheduled update (for example, needing to attend to a family emergency). Some deal with these situations by creating a "buffer" of comics (that is, making several comics ahead of time) in anticipation for these events. However, if the buffer runs out (or if there was no buffer in the first place), the owner might have to resort to uploading whatever is available (e.g. concept art, random sketches, a draft of the planned comic, etc.). Many webcomic owners prefer to upload filler art so that their more fickle fans can see that they have not abandoned the comic.

Here, [[Randall]] parodies this situation with two separate punchlines. First, he tells us that he has to go to the doctor to get his thighs rotated, which is medically unnecessary (as a "thigh rotation" is physically impossible, and is likely a play on {{w|tire rotation}}). Second, he refers to "new character art" for his comic. The punchline here is that, since the characters are drawn in a [[stick figure]] style, there are no distinguishable features between the man here and most other males in the comic series. In addition, the fact that this stick figure should not have taken more than 10 seconds to draw makes the notion that Randall has been "working on" it ridiculous.

The title text refers to {{w|Megatokyo}}, a popular webcomic widely known for its use of filler art. Creator {{w|Fred Gallagher (cartoonist)|Fred Gallagher}}, who goes by his online moniker Piro, frequently makes use of what have come to be called "[http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=27 Dead Piro Days]", in which he posts character art, or concept art often based in the comic's world or characters, generally of draft or unfinished quality. By his own admission, these days of filler art are sometimes the result of nothing more than his feeling too under the weather, or tired, or emotionally depressed to put in the necessary amount of work to finish a proper update. While Gallagher has been raked over the coals for this by the broader webcomics community, longtime fans of Megatokyo tend to be highly tolerant and have been described as "[http://ca.ign.com/articles/2006/06/21/take-a-trip-to-megatokyo some of the most patient and forgiving]" readers, often viewing these lapses as endearing rather than inconvenient.

[[Randall]]'s mention of letting up on Megatokyo refers to [[142: Parody Week: Megatokyo]], in which Megatokyo and Gallagher were also teased.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands in the middle of a single panel. The text above reads:]
:Sorry guys no comic today. I've gotta go to the doctor to get my thighs rotated. But here's some new character art I'm working on!

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

151: Mario

2022-05-04T02:03:25Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234263 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 151
| date = September 1, 2006
| title = Mario
| image = mario.png
| titletext = Why would anyone ever, ever say that? Please, nobody ever say that.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|One-upmanship}} is the act of surpassing another person. In this case, one female character is one-upping her friend's claim of being taken on a mountain hike with a claim that she was proposed to.

Mario is the major figure in the {{w|Super Mario}} series. In the games, completing specific conditions causes a "1-up" (but the marks are chevrons («»), used in some languages like Russian instead of quotation marks) to appear on screen, referring to an additional life. The comic relies on the homonym of the action of one-upmanship and the event of one-ups in Mario.

In the title text, [[Randall]] implies that this is a pretty bad joke.

==Transcript==
:Megan: For our anniversary, my boyfriend took me hiking in the mountains.
:Ponytail: My boyfriend proposed to me.
:Ponytail: They should call you Mario, 'cause you just got <<1 up'd.>>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Video games]]

150: Grownups

2022-05-04T02:02:39Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234652 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 150
| date = August 30, 2006
| title = Grownups
| image = grownups.png
| titletext = I've looked into this, and I can't figure out a way to do it cheaply. And I guess it wouldn't be sanitary.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is again playing with the child/grownup mental setup. During childhood, adults ("grownups") make most of the decisions and put constraints on what their children do. As children age and eventually become grownups, there are some things that they do not do anymore, as they see them as childish.

[[Megan]] has taken these thoughts seriously, and realizes that with her newfound freedom as a grownup, she gets to define what her adulthood means. Free from constraints, she goes ahead and creates a {{w|ball pit}} in her apartment of colored plastic balls. [[Cueball]] admires this spirit and enters the ball pit. It is difficult to decipher Randall's true intent behind this somewhat cryptic comic, but it seems from the heart that the two are engaging in sexual activity in the pit.

The trend with adults participating in children's activities is continued in [[219: Blanket Fort]], and with adults who feel like children while doing adult things as in [[616: Lease]], which references this comic in the title text.

The title text reveals that [[Randall]] also would like to make his own ball pit, but he finds it [http://playpenballs.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=60 expensive to buy] and also [http://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1q6bru/this_is_how_they_clean_the_plastic_balls_from_the/ hard to keep clean]. Both of these are true - see links. Most public ball pits can easily become very dirty, as many children and toddlers play in them.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Megan who is behind a waist-high screen across a doorway with colorful playpen balls behind her.]
:Cueball: Hey, I was wondering if you had plans for-- holy crap, what happened to your apartment?
:Megan: I filled it with playpen balls!
:Cueball: I... what? Why?

:[Megan is seen from the front through the door with the colored balls behind her.]
:Megan: Because we're grown-ups now, and it's our turn to decide what that means.

:[Cueball is seen from the side standing next to the open door. Megan cannot be seen, except her hands on the screen, but some of the coloured balls can be seen through the door. A beat panel.]

:[Same view but both have entered into the apartment, removing the screen so coloured balls have been spilling out into the corridor. A big pink love heart drifts out the door.]

==Trivia==
*This is one of the [[:Category:Footer comics|six footer comics]] linked at the bottom part of the {{xkcd}} website.
*Randall, author of the comic, actually built one in his apartment, which he talks about and shows pictures of at [http://blog.xkcd.com/2007/11/19/growing-up/ here] and [http://blog.xkcd.com/2008/02/27/ballpit-phase-ii/ here].
*The Website [http://www.chiliahedron.com/ballroom/ chiliahedron.com] provides a calculator for how much it would cost to make your own ball pit.
*China takes the cake for this, though. China currently holds the record for the worlds largest ballpit: a [http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/china-worlds-largest-ball-pit swimming pool filled with 1 million balls].
*This comic is available as a signed print in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints xkcd store].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Footer comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

148: Mispronouncing

2022-05-04T02:02:22Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233251 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 148
| date = August 25, 2006
| title = Mispronouncing
| image = mispronouncing.png
| titletext = My pal Emad does this all the time. 'Hey man, which way to the airpart?'
}}

==Explanation==
This is the sixth comic in the [[My Hobby]] series. [[Cueball]] is deliberately mispronouncing words while talking. It's just his hobby. Hobbies in the ''My Hobby'' series are generally annoying or weird, but with an element of cleverness. Here, Cueball persists in mispronouncing his words despite the second character's attempt to correct him.

In the title text, [[Randall]] explains that he got the idea for this comic from one of his friends, although it could just be his friend's accent.

Interestingly, when Randall started the xkcd blog in October 2006, 6 weeks after the publication of this comic, he named it "[[Blag]]," and he has used that name in several other comics, such as [[181: Interblag]] and [[239: Blagofaire]].

==Transcript==
:[Caption at top of panel:]
:My hobby:
:Mispronouncing words

:[Cueball and a friend are talking:]
:Cueball: Yeah, did you see what he said on his wobsite?
:Friend: ...his what?
:Cueball: Wobsite.
:Friend: ... I think you mean "website."
:Cueball: Why don't you write about it in your blag?

==Trivia==
Today if you visit https://www.blag.xkcd.com, you get redirected to blog.xkcd.com, but the title is still "xkcd - The blag of the webcomic".

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

147: A Way So Familiar

2022-05-04T02:02:06Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233183 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 147
| date = August 23, 2006
| title = A Way So Familiar
| image = a_way_so_familiar.png
| titletext = Two Hedwig references, an obscure Joey Comeau reference, and a girl with a mohawk. Yes.
}}

==Explanation==
Some {{w|Introversion|introverts}} tend to empathize with other people they perceive as being shy or introverted. Sometimes, their imagination leads them to obscure visions. A person outside the imaginative world can easily see through this and judge it as a delusion.

[[Hairy]] points out that he saw a girl at the bank and probably started having platonic romantic feelings toward her, describing many characteristics that would be impossible to know about her without actually talking to her. Cueball has clearly experienced Hairy's bad judgements before, and so responds with a "Oh no, not again."

In the last panel, the reader finds out that she probably does not look like the sweet girl the reader imagined, having a mowhawk and shoveling (presumably dead) prostitutes into a car. This quickly prompts Cueball to say "back up," wanting to know what exactly had happened.

{{w|Joey Comeau}} is a Canadian writer, best known for the webcomic “A Softer World”. The "obscure" reference is probably to one of the entries in his 'Overqualified' series, another project in which he submits sincere-sounding, but clearly unacceptable, job inquiries to real companies. That particular entry is addressed to the marketing department of Toyota, the makers of the {{w|Toyota Camry}}. The post could be found [https://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=57 here].

Hedwig refers to the musical'' {{w|Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch}}'', and the comic references the musical's song "The Origin of Love." This song is based on a satirical idea from {{w|Symposium (Plato)#Aristophanes|Plato's ''Symposium''|}}, whereby every person originally consisted of two bodies joined together; the gods eventually violently tore us apart, and we fall in love when we find the person who was once physically joined to us. This song contains the lyrics:

:''You had a way so familiar''
:''I couldn't recognize''
:'''cause you had blood on your face''
:''I had blood in my eyes''
:''But I could tell by your expression''
:''That the pain down in your soul''
:''Was the same as the one down in mine'' [http://www.amazon.com/Hedwig-Angry-Inch-Vocal-selections/dp/0634068814/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366215386&sr=1-1&keywords=hedwig+and+the+angry+inch]

The joke is that Hairy seems oblivious to the fact that his imagination is a very obvious delusion. While people could forgive a guy empathizing with a "cute pretty girl," [[Cueball]] seems annoyed by the lack of judgment of Hairy.

==Transcript==
:Hairy: I saw a cute girl outside the bank today. She looked nice.
:Cueball: Oh no, not again. You are the <u>worst</u> judge of these things.
:Hairy: But she was so sweet. Shy, but there was something in her eyes. A pain down in her soul, the same as the one down in mine.
:Cueball: Mm hmm.
:Hairy: The police light played through her mohawk like the sun setting through pine trees as she shoveled the third hooker into the trunk of the Camry...
:Cueball: Back up.

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

144: Parody Week: A Softer World

2022-05-04T02:01:42Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234581 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 144
| date = August 17, 2006
| title = Parody Week: A Softer World
| image = a_softer_robot.jpg
| titletext = The robot is pregnant. It isn't mine.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a part of the [[:Category:Parody Week|Parody Week]], just joking about other {{w|webcomics}}. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday-Friday), not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, and it comprises the following five {{w|parodies}}:
*[[141: Parody Week: Achewood]]
*[[142: Parody Week: Megatokyo]]
*[[143: Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]
*[[144: Parody Week: A Softer World]]
*[[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]]

This comic is a parody of {{w|Joey Comeau}} and Emily Horne's {{w|A Softer World}} webcomic that usually consists of three photos with some white text superimposed over them. The title of the comic is written above, and this has here been replaced with xkcd.

The first panel references the {{w|Kill (command)|Kill command}} that would be used to turn off the robot every morning. This joke is a reference to the classic {{w|Science Fiction}} theme of robots taking over and killing humans (see for instance [[1613: The Three Laws of Robotics]]).

The second and third panels then turn the comic to a more introspective thought per A Softer World's usual style. There are two possible meanings of these panels.

The first references human's natural reaction to be afraid of love because it requires vulnerability and honesty, which is very difficult. In the comic, they are afraid to tell it to love, because then it would experience these same difficulties and fears.

The second meaning deals with {{w|Artifical Intelligence}} (AI); specifically {{w|strong AI}}. The idea is that the {{w|Intelligent agent|AI agent}} would not only act as if it was intelligent, but truly '''be''' intelligent and have emotions and feelings as well. There has been much debate over whether an AI agent could actually feel {{w|Emotion|emotions}} in the same manner as humans, as well as much consternation over the ethical concerns and moral ramifications it would have. Thus the comic's "We're afraid to tell it to love."

The title text takes {{w|love}} to be an act of love-making instead of an emotional feeling, thus why the robot is pregnant. Given that [[Randall|Randall Munroe]] has signed the comic (which he normally never does, but what is the style of A Softer World), the title text must be his comment. So he knows the robot is pregnant, but claims it is not his child. This does not rule out that he has been together with the robot though... Of course this is not possible. But having sex with a robot is the theme in the [[:Category:Android|Android series]], and falling in love with one was the theme in the 2nd parody [[142: Parody Week: Megatokyo]].

==Transcript==
:[The comic uses lowercase letters throughout for all the text, which is written in white rectangular areas superimposed on top of the images. Above the first frame there is a title:]
:x k c d

:[To the left is a red robot with a triangular lower body with panels with buttons and indicators, and the red head on top of two gray sticks has two video cameras for eyes. It is shown standing in a lab with a green brick wall behind it. It stands beneath a poster with text and a piece of paper taped to the wall with unreadable text, but only the first line of text can be seen on these, as the first of the two white text areas in the panel covers the rest. To the right there is a blue table with a computer screen (most of it visible, but it is cut of at the right panel), with blue background and three overlapping windows - unreadable text in the first window, some graphics in the second window, and only white in the last window. Two black items (one looks like a pen) lie on the table to the left, and beneath the table is a shelve where the keyboard lies. A wire goes from the robot to the computer. The other white text box is beneath the computer table, partly obscuring the lower part of the robot as well.]
:Poster: SAFETY
:when we open the lab each morning, we tell the robot to kill
:it's our little joke

:[Zooming in on the center of the first frame between robot and table reveals that the paper on the wall was a drawing of the red robot with three wheels. The panel cut down the middle of the robot's eyes to the left, below the text on the paper drawing at the top, through the middle of the screen to the right and at the keyboard at the bottom. Again, there are two white text panels, one over the drawing and beneath it, which goes partly over the screen:]
:but secretly
:we're just afraid

:[Zooming further in to the edge of the robot's eye, the wheel on the poster, the edge of the screen, and the edge of the table. Only one white panel in the middle over the green wall.]
:to tell it to love

:[Below the first frame is a signature:]
:r munroe

==Trivia==
*This was how the [http://web.archive.org/web/20060818220618/http://www.asofterworld.com/ Softer World page] looked the day after this comic.
**There is no date on the archive, and the comics were not numbered back then.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Parody Week]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]] 
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Sex]]

138: Pointers

2022-05-04T02:00:59Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 232895 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 138
| date = August 7, 2006
| title = Pointers
| image = pointers.png
| titletext = Every computer, at the unreachable memory address 0x-1, stores a secret. I found it, and it is that all humans ar—SEGMENTATION FAULT.
}}

== Explanation ==
This comic is about a play on the dual meaning of the word "pointer." [[Cueball]] is playing a video game, but he seems to be stuck. So he asks [[Black Hat]] for a few tips ("pointers") to progress in the game. Black Hat is, as usual, annoying, so he spits out a couple of (seemingly random) 32-bit hexadecimal addresses, which are "{{w|Pointer (computer programming)|pointers}}" in a programming language. These pointers are used to access a certain location in the computer's memory in order to fulfill a task; however, this would not be helpful in the game. Cueball is then annoyed at [[Black Hat]] for not answering his question.

A {{w|segmentation fault}}, as referred to in the title text, is a result by accessing invalid memory addresses. If you define a pointer to an invalid address, then try to access the memory location associated with it, you could end up with this exception. The hexadecimal address 0x-1 is definitely invalid, because it's out of range. If you treat pointers as signed numbers, it points below the lowest address, 0; if you treat them as unsigned (meaning the numbers wrap around, so -1 is the same as the highest address - 0xFFFFFFFF on a 32-bit system), if it's pointing at any object larger than a byte, most of that object is past the highest address. So, this is a "hidden location," but as soon as you try to read more than one byte at that location, you will get a segfault.

The ending letters of the pointers are spelling, reading top to bottom, the word ACE. As Cueball is playing a game, Black Hat could be additionally saying that he's an ace of the game.

=== Alternate Explanation ===
Pointers are often used to cheat in games and do things like change the amount of money you have. The pointers Black Hat spits out could also be cheat codes giving an extra reason for Cueball to hate him.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is playing a video game, with Black Hat standing behind him.]
:Cueball: Man, I suck at this game. Can you give me a few pointers?
:Black Hat: 0x3A28213A 0x6339392C, 0x7363682E.
:Cueball: I hate you.

==Trivia==
In ''xkcd: Volume 0'', the pointers are different, specifically 0x4B657932, 0x6F66383A, and 0x73CD4542.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Puns]]

137: Dreams

2022-05-04T02:00:39Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233510 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 137
| date = August 4, 2006
| title = Dreams
| image = dreams.png
| titletext = In Connor's second thesis it is stated 'There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.' Does the routine destroy our creativity or do we lose creativity and fall into the routine? Anyway, who's up for a road trip!
}}

==Explanation==
In the first panel of this comic, it is clear that Cueball has just written some comment that his friend thinks will lower his chances for getting a job in the future. This is common advice given to teenagers and young professionals, given as a warning that their posts online could be seen by a potential future boss.

In the next panel, Cueball replies with a seeming non-sequitur: when did we forget our dreams? Without explanation, this seems like one of the overly philosophizing, ultimately meaningless questions that also happen to pop up on social media sites. Cueball's friend is confused by the sudden shift in conversation.

The long monologue Cueball delivers focuses around the fact that as people get older, their lives becomes narrower and less filled with possibilities and novelty. This is a speech made in the manner of someone getting older and missing the simpler days of youth, where everything was much more exciting. From this point, he explains that part of the deadening process is responding the same way to each event that happens, and creating a routine. Routines, Cueball believes, remove our ability to act on our dreams.

Finally, Cueball gets to relating this monologue to posting inappropriate material to social media sites: he will not let his concerns for a nebulous future hinder the outlook on life he has now. He will not limit his choices in order to conform with the expectations of an uninspired future. He ends with the clear and simple explanation of his choices—"Fuck. That. Shit."

Cueball's use of periods between words in this closing phrase is itself another reference to practices on social media sites; people will sometimes {{tvtropes|PunctuatedForEmphasis|put a period after each word in a short phrase to show emphasis.}}

Connor's second thesis from the title text is a quote from the character {{w|Sarah Connor (Terminator)|Sarah Connor}} in the film {{w|Terminator 2: Judgment Day|Terminator 2}}. The message expressed is a restatement of Cueball's monologue: While it sounds trite, each and every one of us has the ability to change our situation, whether by quitting the job we don't like, telling ''that person'' that we love them, or some other action. Our action (and inaction) creates our future, including the way in which we react to those things outside our control.

The title text also poses the question of whether the more creativity lost to conformity, the more routine life becomes, or the more routine life becomes, the less creative you become. This is a chicken and egg type question, which is dramatically broken by the suggestion of a roadtrip. This is the situationally unexpected break that shows that the speaker is willing to break out of the routines threatening to set in.

Other comics with a similar theme about finding or taking unexplored paths, instead of fitting into the mold, include [[59: Graduation]] and [[267: Choices: Part 4]].

==Transcript==
:[A friend is standing behind Cueball, who is typing at a computer.]
:Friend: You should be more careful what you write. Future employers might read it.

:[The friend still stands while Cueball looks at his computer.]
:Cueball: When did we forget our dreams?
:Friend: What?

:[Cueball stands beside his friend.]
:Cueball: The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live trapped in loops, reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a handful of paths laid out before us. We see the same things every day, we respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, each day a slight variation on the last, every moment smoothly following the gentle curves of societal norms. We act like if we just get through today, tomorrow our dreams will come back to us.
:Cueball: And no, I don't have all the answers. I don't know how to jolt myself into seeing what each moment could become. But I do know one thing: the solution doesn't involve watering down my every little idea and creative impulse for the sake of some day easing my fit into a mold. It doesn't involve tempering my life to better fit someone's expectations. It doesn't involve constantly holding back for fear of shaking things up.
:Cueball: This is very important, so I want to say it as clearly as I can:

:[The next three panels are Cueball standing.]

:Cueball: <big>'''FUCK.'''</big>

:Cueball: <big>'''THAT.'''</big>

:Cueball: <big>'''SHIT.'''</big>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Dreams]]
[[Category:Terminator]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

121: Balloon

2022-05-04T01:59:52Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234740 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 121
| date = June 28, 2006
| title = Balloon
| image = balloon.png
| titletext = So I'm a bad person.
}}

==Explanation==
An unidentified narrator, probably [[Randall]], says how he saw a kid with a balloon stand next to a ceiling fan in a restaurant. He explains how for fifteen minutes, he watched the kid's balloon, hoping the balloon would get caught in the ceiling fan and make the kid fly up towards it. This looks like it could cause serious injury to the child and/or damage to the venue. The title text concludes that the narrator is now considering himself {{tvtropes|WouldHurtAChild|a bad person}} for hoping for this to happen. This might be a poke to people who think that waiting for a disaster to happen makes you a bad person like in [[611: Disaster Voyeurism]].

It is unlikely that the strength of the balloon rope and of the ceiling fan would be enough to lift the child.

==Transcript==
:[Three drawings in one panel. A Cueball-like kid is holding a red balloon; The balloon gets caught in ceiling fan; The kid still holds on and is thus pulled up. Above the drawings is the following caption:]
:I watched the scene in the restaurant for a full fifteen minutes, hoping this would happen:

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

98: Fall Apart

2022-05-04T01:57:55Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233742 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 98
| date = May 5, 2006
| title = Fall Apart
| image = fall_apart.jpg
| titletext = #pugglewumper Tashari got me some ink pens! I've been experimenting with them.
}}

==Explanation==
Despite [[Randall]] being enthusiastic about receiving ink pens, his first experiment with them has resulted in a rather bleak comic.

Instead of multiple panels, the entire comic is a single drawing, with an apparent passage of time as we travel down the page. The frame, which represents the world of the characters, gradually disintegrates and leaves them falling helplessly. At the top, we see some people standing alone, apparently happy enough, and a couple. As we descend the page, we see examples of a couple split by a narrow chasm, someone huddled isolated and alone on their own world fragment, a couple desperately trying to hang on to each other, and a single figure falling chaotically and without control.

The comic seems to be expressing what it feels like to someone when a relationship breaks up — their world falls apart, and one of the implications is that the process cannot easily be reversed. In short, it is catastrophic.

The identity of '#pugglewumper Tashari,' the supplier of the pens, is not known. Judging by the use of the hash sign, it is someone with whom Randall communicates in {{w|IRC}}. In fact, 'pugglewump' appears to be an IRC channel. Although hashtags later came to be strongly associated with {{w|Twitter}}, this was not true at the time the comic was drawn.

==Transcript==
:[Various people struggle as the comic disintegrates. Toward the top, people are standing calmly, some holding hands. As the parts of the comic break apart, people try to reach for each other, hold parts together, or curl up into a ball. By the bottom, a Cueball is falling, surrounded by pieces of the comic.]

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

97: A Simple Plan

2022-05-04T01:57:39Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234078 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 97
| date = May 3, 2006
| title = A Simple Plan
| image = a_simple_plan.jpg
| titletext = This is true. The lyrics are ridiculous.
}}

==Explanation==
The song on the radio is "{{w|Welcome to My Life}}" by {{w|Simple Plan}} (not A Simple Plan), which was released in 2004 as a first single from the band's second album "{{w|Still Not Getting Any...}}" The lyrics of the song mainly deal with the frustration of adolescence and the stress of newfound independence. Many, if not all, adolescents go through a phase where the ongoing realization of becoming fully responsible for their body, mind, and personality frightens them.

Simple Plan's lyrics seem particularly inappropriate and ridiculous, given that the members of the band are all in their 30s. The absurdity of middle-aged men expressing teen angst could be interpreted as a spoof or parody, which Cueball mistakenly believes to be the truth. In the comic, Cueball slowly comes to the horrifying realization that the members of the band are actually ''seriously'' whining about the typical life of a spoiled teenager, rather than parodying them.

In the title text, Randall states that this was his own reaction to the song, and that he now considers it ridiculous.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, standing in front of stool with a radio on it.]
:Radio: You don't know what it's like to be me!
:[Caption below the panel:]
:At first, I loved ''A Simple Plan''. Then I realized, with creeping horror, that they were serious.

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

96: Mail

2022-05-04T01:57:23Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233772 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 96
| date = May 1, 2006
| title = Mail
| image = mail.png
| titletext = I'm on the USPS no fly list
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]]'s interlocutor is working their way through a list of increasingly impractical or impossible suggestions for things to send through postal mail. The pay-off is that they have already somehow sent a package of time through the mail, and this is taking a while to arrive, presumably because the amount of time it will take to reach the recipient is equal to the amount of time being sent. By the time it reaches Cueball, the time will have passed, and therefore not be of much use.

The reference to a 'package of time' could refer to {{w|Chronon|quantizing time}} ("discrete packets of time") - a theory that time is not continuous as particles in the {{w|quantum mechanics}}. It could be one of the big mistakes in modern science, but feels as if there's more to it, in the world of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

A no-fly list is a list of people who are not allowed to use commercial airlines for travel. In the United States, it is maintained by the {{w|Terrorist Screening Center}}. According to the title text, the person sending strange objects through mail is on a no-fly list for the {{w|United States Postal Service}} (USPS). While the USPS has a list of items banned from being shipped in the mail, which includes most consumer electronics with lithium batteries, it does not have such a list for people. This could suggest that this person has attempted to send so many strange items that USPS will no longer accept mail from him, or it could imply that they attempted, at one point, to send themselves via air mail, and have been banned from doing so again.

This comic might be related to {{w|W. Reginald Bray}}, an Englishman from the turn of the 20th century, who was famous for [https://books.google.com/books?id=a0lxQwAACAAJ&dq=%22The+Englishman+Who+Posted+Himself+And+Other+Curious+Objects%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT7aCB5eTMAhUlzoMKHQJPBkYQ6AEIHTAA mailing unusual objects] (including himself) to experiment with the postal system.

A list of the things:

*''A running chainsaw'': While a chainsaw may be mailed with appropriate precautions, a running chainsaw would be very dangerous to mail, assuming there was a constant power source.{{Citation needed}}

*''A baby's first word'': This is a sound, and thus cannot be mailed. It could be recorded, and the recording mailed.

*''A blank stare'': This is abstract, and the closest to mailing it would be a picture.

*''A dizzying height'': Like the above, this is abstract. However, someone could conceivably package and mail a telescoping ladder, such that it would allow the recipient to reach a dizzying height.

*''Pi'': This is a mathematical term close to 3.141592653589793238462643383..., but it is infinitely precise and thus cannot be mailed to the full extent of its precision. However, with a compass and ruler, someone could draw a graph that would represent a line of length pi.

*''Time'': This is completely abstract and cannot be mailed.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to someone through a phone.]
:Phone: Do you think I could mail a running chainsaw to someone?
:Cueball: I doubt it
:Phone: What about a baby's first word?
:Cueball: Look, your obsession with sending strange things through the mail is getting out of hand.

:Phone: Can you mail a blank stare?
:Phone: A dizzying height?
:Phone: Pi?
:Cueball: ...

:Phone: Well, did you at least get that package of time I sent you?
:Cueball: I... you... no, I didn't.
:Phone: Well, there was a lot of it, so it will probably take a while

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

95: The Sierpinski Penis Game

2022-05-04T01:57:07Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 235632 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 95
| date = April 28, 2006
| title = The Sierpinski Penis Game
| image = the_sierpinski_penis_game.jpg
| titletext = Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Chaos game|The Chaos Game}} is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen {{w|Transformation_(function)|transformation functions}} to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.

One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}}, which is the fractal pictured in this comic. See details in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKtFN71Lfs this video].

The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.

The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by {{w|negative feedback}} (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves {{w|positive feedback}} (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.

The title text mentions two inappropriate places to play the Penis Game. A baby shower is supposed to be a celebration of childbirth or pregnancy, so it would be an inappropriate place for such crude humor. A terrorist attack is typically a time in which lives are lost, so it would be very immature to play such a crude game. The title text may also be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.

==Transcript==
:[A large triangle, point down, is shown, with many smaller triangles inside all pointing up. There is one large triangle in the middle, with 3 medium triangles on either side and three triangles on either of their sides as well, for a total of 9. This trend then continues three more times, with 27 around the nine and 81 around those. Finally, there were supposed to be 243 (3x81) very small filling out all the space outside the larger triangles, but staying inside the original triangle. But there seem to be missing three of these near the top. Two of those are on either side of the first (top left) of the nine triangles of size 3, as well as one to the left of the top of the top right second largest triangle. But there is also one extra triangle just below the P in the bottom triangle with a sentence. That would have been the first of the next level of 3*243=729 triangles in level 7. But it is the only one. So 240 small triangles plus 1 even tinier for a total of 362 inside the largest framing triangle.]

:[There is a word inside the largest of the triangles and a sentence in the largest triangle below that triangle.]
:Penis!
:Haha, penis.

==Trivia==
*Inside the large outer triangle with tip pointing down, there are 362 triangles all with tip pointing up.
**One triangle is larger than the other, the Level 1 triangle.
***Around this there are 3 Level 2 triangles, one on either side of Level 1.
****Around these 3 there are 3 for a total of 9 Level 3 triangles
*****Around those there are 3 for a total of 27 Level 4 triangles
******Around those there are 3 for a total of 81 Level 5 triangles
*******And around those there were supposed to be 3 around each for a total of 243 Level 6 triangles.
*******However, three of these smallest triangles are missing, leaving only 240. See details in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
********A single Level 7 triangle has also been added out of the possible 729. See details in the transcript.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Penis]]

93: Jeremy Irons

2022-05-04T01:56:48Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233845 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 93
| date = April 24, 2006
| title = Jeremy Irons
| image = jeremy_irons.jpg
| titletext = Movies that I know word-for-word, part one
}}

==Explanation==
Similar to the "[[My Hobby]]" series, this comic depicts one of [[Randall Munroe|Randall]]'s goals in life: He wants to hire Academy-Award-winning actor {{w|Jeremy Irons}} to deliver all of Randall's dialogue in life (while Randall, perhaps, lip syncs it). He is apparently basing this desire on the fact that Irons, a classically trained English actor, portrayed Scar, the main antagonist in the 1994 Disney animated feature ''{{w|The Lion King}}''.

The line spoken in the comic is from the song "{{w|Be Prepared (song)|Be Prepared}}", which Scar sings in the film. Thus, it's not entirely clear whether Randall enjoys Irons's deep, rumbling British-accented voice, or whether it's Scar's dialogue in the film that Randall truly would like to be speaking.

The title text suggests that Randall knows the dialogue of The Lion King from memory; it also suggests that there are others he knows as well. He is around the appropriate age to have been in the target market for the film (he would have been around 10 at the time) and probably saw it many times.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball points at Megan with his mouth open. Jeremy Irons stands behind him.]
:Jeremy Irons: But as THICK as you are, pay attention
:Jeremy Irons: My words are a matter of PRIDE!

:My goal: To make enough money to hire Jeremy Irons, the voice of Scar from ''The Lion King'', to follow me around and do my dialogue.

==Trivia==

*Jeremy Irons' dialog in this comic is a direct quote of the song "Be Prepared" from The Lion King.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

92: Sunrise

2022-05-04T01:56:22Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233031 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 92
| date = April 21, 2006
| title = Sunrise
| image = sunrise.jpg
| titletext = Sometimes, I sit on top of parking decks and watch the sun rise. I feel like I should have a guitar or something.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the desire for an intimate connection with another, and the compromises we make to not be alone.

[[Hairy]] finds a certain beauty in the way the world looks without billions of humans crawling around on it. He thinks of this as a secret place that thrills him. He is excited about the remote chance of finding someone like him who appreciates its beauty. But he realizes that it's the very thing that makes this time beautiful to him that makes his imagined chance encounter exceedingly unlikely. Reconciled to the fact that he will not find a kindred spirit outside this morning, he heads back home.

At the house, he gets ready and drives to a club to meet people. The club is drawn using an inverted color scheme (white people, black background) to emphasize that it is the opposite of the 4am outside world. The club is dark and full of people, who are the lightest things present, where outside, the natural beauty shines without interruption by human forms. Hairy is seen alone in the middle of the crowd.

The title text is a reference to a common music video scene (sometimes country music videos) where people play the guitar on parking garages as the sun rises.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy is on the street. Behind him is a house with a lawn.]
:Hairy (thinking): I love the time just before sunrise. It's quiet; no one is ever just walking about.
:Hairy (thinking): It's like a secret
:Hairy (thinking): I always hope that I'll find someone else quietly hiding from sleep, and we'll see each other and sit and talk.
:Hairy (thinking): I guess this is a bad place to meet people.
:Hairy (thinking): I wish it weren't.

:[Hairy goes into the house, brushes his teeth, shaves his head (?), and leaves the house again.]

:[Hairy is at a club, disco balls in the ceiling and a giant woofer. Many people are dancing around him.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

88: Escher Bracelet

2022-05-04T01:56:03Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233940 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 88
| date = April 12, 2006
| title = Escher Bracelet
| image = escher_wristband.jpg
| titletext = The only downside is that it would be a little uncomfortable.
}}

==Explanation==
This image parodies "WWJD" bracelets, which is an acronym for "What Would Jesus Do?". Christians (primarily) wear such bracelets (or other "WWJD" paraphernalia) as a reminder to act in a way that Jesus would act, which presumably is the "Christian" way to act. It is not entirely clear, but this particular bracelet appears to be the rubber type most famously popularized by the yellow ones of cyclist Lance Armstrong's {{w|Livestrong}} charity, which later became a popular fad for all sorts of charitable and non-charitable causes.

In this comic, the "J" has been replaced by an "E" for {{w|M. C. Escher}}, a Dutch graphic artist (1898–1972) best known for art containing imagery that would be impossible in the real world (often referred to as impossible constructions or optical illusions). Among his most famous works are "{{w|Drawing Hands}}" – two hands drawing each other on paper; "{{w|Relativity (M. C. Escher)|Relativity}}", in which a series of staircases and arches come from the floor, ceiling, and the walls in all directions, each with people standing on them as if each direction is "down"; and "{{w|Ascending and Descending}}" – a building with a staircase on its roof that is a closed square that appears to ascend or descend infinitely, depending on the direction that is walked.

In keeping with Escher's art, the WWED bracelet has a single half-twist in it, creating what is known as a {{w|Mobius strip}}. Although this is not an impossible construction, it is still an apparently confusing structure that Escher used in his art. Most notably, his work "Mobius Strip II" depicts ants crawling around a Mobius strip. One can create this shape simply by taking a strip of paper (or any bendable material), making a half twist, and attaching the ends together. If you draw a single continuous line starting down the centre of the bracelet from the middle of the "W" going left, you will end up drawing from the "WWED", going around again on the "inside" of the bracelet, before coming back around to the front again and ending up at the "D". In other words, the surface of the bracelet has only one side (the front and the back are the same side). The phrase "the only downside" in the image-text may be a pun referencing this one-sidedness. As the title text suggests, the twist in the bracelet might make it uncomfortable to wear.

==Transcript==
:[A Livestrong-type bracelet is featured, but with an Escher twist in it. The band is a Mobius strip. The band has the letters "WWED" printed on it.]
:What Would Escher Do?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

87: Velociraptors

2022-05-04T01:55:45Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 236151 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 87
| date = April 10, 2006
| title = Velociraptors
| image = velociraptors.jpg
| titletext = You're probably thinking, 'has it been a decade?' It's been over thirteen years, buddy.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the film ''{{w|Jurassic Park}}'', a 1993 movie based on the 1990 novel by {{w|Michael Crichton}}. The film depicts a billionaire who buys an island and opens a zoo/theme park for dinosaurs cloned from DNA recovered from blood found in fossilized mosquitoes. Naturally, everything goes haywire, and several of the creatures, among which are the {{w|velociraptor}}s subject of this comic, try to devour every human in the theme park.

Velociraptors (often shortened as "{{w|Dromaeosauridae|raptors}}") are a species of relatively small, carnivorous {{w|dinosaur}} that play a central role in the original film and its sequels. In the film, packs of Velociraptors attack the main characters at various points, even entering buildings; they play a large role in the climax of the film. According to Wikipedia, the velociraptors in the film were erroneously based on {{w|Deinonychus}}. The movie depicts the velociraptors as having scaly reptilian skin, though dinosaurs of this type are now theorized to have been feathered.

As we see in this comic, and will see in future comics, even though it had been approximately thirteen years since he presumably first saw the film, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] apparently has lived in perpetual fear of a real raptor attack. Specifically, in this comic, he worries how a building would stand up against the creatures. The main risk posed by the house depicted comes by the large window in the living room, through which a Velociraptor could break-and-enter (believing that the bathroom window is too high for them to reach, and the door too secure to break through).

The image text points out what he presumes is the reader's disbelief that ''Jurassic Park'' had (as of 2006) been released so long ago (thirteen years prior). This is another classic xkcd premise that will later be the subject of [[891: Movie Ages]] five years later, which includes ''Jurassic Park'' again. This is the first in a long line of comments and comics Randall has made about how realizing the release dates of things in popular culture can make us feel old.

==Transcript==
:[Picture of a suburban house, with lines pointing to various aspects.]

:High bathroom window: probably secure.

:Outer door: secure.

:Picture window: VELOCIRAPTOR ENTRY POINT!

:It's been over a decade since Jurassic Park opened, and I still size up buildings for their potential as shelter against Velociraptor attacks.

==Trivia==
This comic marks the first reference in [[xkcd]] to ''{{w|Jurassic Park}}'', and specifically to [[Randall]]'s fear of [[:Category:Velociraptors|velociraptors]]. The fear will continue to be a subject of future comics and running jokes.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

86: Digital Rights Management

2022-05-04T01:55:31Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 236310 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 86
| date = April 7, 2006
| title = Digital Rights Management
| image = sony_microsoft_mpaa_riaa_apple.jpg
| titletext = If you're interested in the subject, Lawrence Lessig's 'Free Culture' is pretty good
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Digital rights management}} (DRM) is a class of methods for controlling digital files, such as by preventing media from playing on any device besides the device from which the purchase is made. It is used by several major companies, as it makes it more difficult to pirate media, which they claim cuts into their profits. Those companies typically also lobby for laws forbidding circumvention of DRM techniques, like the {{w|Digital Millennium Copyright Act}} (DMCA).

However, DRM is usually disliked by consumers, as it makes it difficult to use their purchased media. For example, if they buy a new computer, there's no guarantee that their DRM-covered media will be usable on the new computer. Thus, [[Black Hat]] is suggesting to the pro-DRM organizations {{w|Sony}}, {{w|Microsoft}}, the {{w|Motion Picture Association of America}} (MPAA), the {{w|Recording Industry Association of America}} (RIAA), and {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple}} that they stop their DRM-fiddling and lobbying, and he'll stop his inexorable ice-wall.

The title text refers readers to law professor {{w|Lawrence Lessig}}'s book ''{{w|Free Culture (book)|Free Culture}}''.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is standing on an advancing glacier]
:Black Hat: Dear Sony, Microsoft, the MPAA, the RIAA, and Apple: Let's make a deal. You stop trying to tell me where, when, and how I play my movies and music, and I won't crush your homes under my inexorably advancing wall of ice.

==Trivia==
There appears to be a larger version of Black Hat, drawn in pencil and erased, behind him. The smaller figure makes the inexorably advancing wall of ice appear correspondingly larger.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

85: Paths

2022-05-04T01:55:10Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233757 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 85
| date = April 5, 2006
| title = Paths
| image = paths.jpg
| titletext = It's true, I think about this all the time.
}}

== Explanation ==
This comic centers around the consideration of what is the shortest path available to a person traveling by foot. [[Cueball]] has to travel across a rectangular distance, which has an established path around the periphery. When Cueball follows these paths, he has to walk for 60 seconds. He realizes that by ignoring the paths and taking the {{w|Desire path|desire lines}} from corner to corner, his route will be shorter, and he calculates that he could cut up to 26% of his time. As a result, every time he has to travel this rectangle, he worries about the extra time taken as a result of following the path. There are downfalls to this plan, however. This is convenient for Cueball but probably not for the building owner, as many rectangular lawns have delicate decorations such as flowers on them.

==Transcript==
:[Blueprint of a campus. Two buildings in the upper and lower left corners, respectively, and a rectangular lawn. A road encloses the lawn, another road traverses horizontally through the center of the lawn. The character is in the lower left and the upper right corner, where it says "my apartment".]
:[Dashed line 1, from the lower-left along the road to the top-left corner, then to the top-right corner.] 60 seconds
:[Dashed line 2, from the lower-left along the road up to the center crossroads, then diagonally over the lawn to the top-right corner.] 48 seconds (80%)
:[Dashed line 3, diagonally from the lower-left to the top-right corner.] 44.7 seconds (74%)
:My apartment
:#1=t
:#2=(t*(1+√2))/3
:#3=(t*√5)/3
:When I'm walking, I worry a lot about the efficiency of my path.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Time management]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

83: Katamari

2022-05-04T01:54:52Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234414 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 83
| date = March 31, 2006
| title = Katamari
| image = katamari.jpg
| titletext = As the King of All Cosmos remarked, 'Is it that it's fun, or that it lets you forget yourself?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Katamari Damacy}} is a Japanese game in which the player must roll around an infinitely sticky katamari ball, cottoning up objects and terrain to increase the ball's size. In this comic, [[Cueball]] uses the katamari as an analogy for his love for [[Megan]], pushing it to such embarrassing extremes that Megan feels the need to remark whether he could "possibly get any gayer." At this point, Cueball wins the level he is playing and is transported by a "Royal Rainbow," an in-game occurrence at the completion of each level. The rainbow is a symbol of gay pride, in addition to being just a generally happy (i.e. gay) idea.

Cueball also only takes up such a stand after Megan requests that he help her. This is possibly a criticism of male selfishness (perhaps Randall's self-criticism), in that males do not discuss romantic ideas, except as a way out.

The ''King of All Cosmos'', mentioned in the title text, is an instructive character in all of the Katamari games. The title text points out that perhaps we either like or love video games not because they are fun, but because they let us forget our problems and retreat into someone else or an intricate fantasy.

==Transcript==
:[Megan stands on the left. Cueball is sitting on the floor with a game controller in his hand. He is looking at a TV on the floor connected to a game console, also on the floor.]
:Megan: Can you pause for a moment and help me with something?
:Cueball: You know, our love is like a katamari. We travel along, rolling up more and more of the world into our shared experience, taking it and making it our own.

:Megan: I, you... wow. Geekiness aside, that was actually incredibly sweet.
:Cueball: The clutter of everyday life, with a simple core to tie it together, eventually becomes something grand as the world itself.

:[A rainbow extends outward from the TV, with "ROYAL RAINBOW!" above it. Cueball raises his hands in victory.]
:Megan: Okay, also sweet, but now I'm wondering if you could possibly get any gayer.

==Trivia==

Katamari Damacy is also a subject of [[161: Accident]] and [[851: Na]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Katamari Damacy]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

81: Attention, shopper

2022-05-04T01:54:15Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233343 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 81
| date = March 27, 2006
| title = Attention, shopper
| image = attention_shopper.jpg
| titletext = There's a red convertible outside my building with the license plate 'DADS MNY'.
}}

==Explanation==
A common trope (often referenced in TV and film) is a loudspeaker announcement in which a store employee (or anyone else in charge somewhere where people gather, like church or a school) announces that a certain colour and model of car has its lights on, or is blocking another car, or is about to be towed, or similar. A licence plate is sometimes included to allow the owner to identify that it is specifically their car that is involved.

In this case, [[Black Hat]] is up to his old ways as, in addition to announcing that an SRT-10 has its lights on, he also announces that it has had its windshield smashed with a golf club. Black Hat is, of course, holding a golf club, frustrated at the owner’s revolting arrogance. The lights are probably on because the attack triggered the car's alarm system.

The {{w|Dodge Viper}} SRT-10 was a version of the Dodge Viper available on the third and fourth generations of Viper from 2003-2010. It was a very expensive sports car.

The two license plates in the comic are personalized license plates. The one in the comic-proper is clearly "My Toy"; the plate in the title text is most likely "Dad's Money," which [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] suggests is a real plate on a car outside his building, suggesting that the driver's father paid for the car, bragging about how rich their family is. This car will likely also soon earn Black Hat’s wrath.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is holding a golf club and speaking into a P.A. system.]
:Black Hat: Attention,
:Black Hat: To the owner of a Dodge Viper SRT-10 with license plate "MYTOY," your lights are on and your windshield was just smashed with a golf club.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

78: Garfield

2022-05-04T01:53:46Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233813 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 78
| date = March 20, 2006
| title = Garfield
| image = garfield.jpg
| titletext = The use of the 'Garfield' character for the purposes of this parody qualifies as fair use under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. sec. 107. See Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music (92-1292), 510 U.S. 569
}}

==Explanation==
The newspaper comic strip {{w|Garfield}}, which features an orange cat as the main character, has increasingly been known for repetitive, quality-lacking strips. In the past, this was because the creator, {{w|Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis}}, prefers to explore the same subjects he is comfortable with but in different ways — or from a less charitable view, because the strip is intended for a wide audience and thus becomes homogenized and inoffensive by nature. This attitude has only become more pronounced in the 21st century, as the aging Davis becomes less and less interested in the franchise. Regardless of the reason, these strips are now {{w|Ghostwriter|ghost written}} with little input from Davis and rarely explore the unconventional. The comic is challenging Davis to do something unexpected and surprise us all. The comic also accuses Davis of being a "sell out", sticking to bourgeois/commercial logic, something that dadaist artists challenged.

{{w|Dadaism}} was an artistic movement in the early 20th century marked primarily by chaos, irrationality, and surrealism. Some of the artists believed that the bourgeois logic made human beings unhappy and therefore led to war.

Randall leads by example by featuring a strip that parodies the style of Garfield, with multiple colors (xkcd usually contains only black and white, with some few containing an additional color like red or yellow) and a character that is not a stick figure breaking the normal xkcd pattern. Another dadaist aspect is the fact that while Garfield is smiling, he is communicating something that could be considered terrifying.

The title text explains that xkcd is exercising legal use of Davis's intellectual property, namely the title character of his comic. The Supreme Court case mentioned, ''{{w|Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music}}'', confirmed that parody is legal even when there is commercial gain as a result, and also referenced the {{w|Copyright Act of 1976}}, 17 U.S.C. § 107, for the same reason.

While this is normally understood by most anyone who questions such matters, [[Randall]] includes it as a reference to the lessening of strict copyright law, which many comics also mention, usually in the context of {{w|open-source software}} and those who promote it, like at the comics featuring [[:Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman|Richard Stallman]].

==Transcript==
:I want to see something unexpected in comics. Just one strip could make up for it all.
:[Garfield is standing on hind legs facing and looking directly at the camera. But is off-center in the frame, about 1/3 from the left, rotated very slightly clockwise.]
:[Zoom in on Garfield, still to the left, now rotated slightly counterclockwise.]
:[Zoom in again on Garfield, now the frame clips off the left side of his face.]
:Garfield thought bubble: The world is burning.
:[Final zoom in, the frame is ripped like a page, offset, and Garfield's eyes are half closed on the right half.]
:Garfield thought bubble: Run.
:Jim Davis, throw off your commercial shackles. Challenge us. Go out in a blaze of Dadaist glory. There is still time.

==Trivia==
*The comic number, #78, corresponds to the year Garfield debuted, 1978.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

77: Bored with the Internet

2022-05-04T01:53:25Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 236348 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 77
| date = March 17, 2006
| title = Bored with the Internet
| image = bored_with_the_internet.jpg
| titletext = I used to do this all the time.
}}
==Explanation==
A character who has hair (not to be confused with [[Hairy]]) suggests to [[Black Hat]] that he is wasting his life on the Internet, and they should go explore the world. They appear to walk a great distance, through what appears to be a swamp or perhaps a forest in winter, across a plain, and down to a river valley. Despite traveling so far and through such varied landscapes, in the last panel, Not-Hairy admits that all he can think about is what a great Livejournal post their trip would make. It appears that the plan to get the Internet off their mind has failed.

{{w|Livejournal}} is a website on which users can make accounts and, effectively, blog, although the site is designed around the premise that the blogs ought to be used as personal journals, with the ability to privatize the journal or only let certain friends see certain entries. Livejournal was an early social network and an early blog platform, and was a good way for people to let others know what was going on in their lives. As of 2020, Livejournal still exists, although sites like Facebook and Twitter have become far more powerful and popular sites for sharing one's daily life.

Unlike most of his appearances (especially later ones), Black Hat does not exhibit any of his signature [[Classhole]] tendencies.

The title text suggests that [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] has overcome a tendency to think about how he will document what he has been doing, rather than concentrate on the thing itself.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Not-Hairy are talking in a room with a computer on.]
:Not-Hairy: I feel like I'm wasting my life on the internet. Let's walk around the world.
:Black Hat: Sounds good.
:[The two men are shown walking through trees.]
:[The two men are shown walking on flat stretch, with mountains in the distance.]
:[The two men are shown in a magnificent canyon. They stand, silently looking at the scene.]
:Not-Hairy: And yet all I can think is, "This will make for a great LiveJournal entry."

==Trivia==
*Livejournal was the site where Randall presented his comics before starting xkcd.

*The Image behind the banner on the xkcd site is from the first panel of this comic, showing only the characters and the desk.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Footer comics]] 
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

75: Curse Levels

2022-05-04T01:52:41Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234084 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 75
| date = March 13, 2006
| title = Curse Levels
| image = curse levels.jpg
| titletext = I find so much fun in language.
}}

==Explanation==
In this fourth "[[My Hobby]]" strip, the hobby is mixing curse levels. Curse words (aka: swear words/profanities) are disrespectful words that are typically impolite to use in public. As noted in the strip, there are "levels" of curse words ranging from those "mild" words that are more acceptable to use, to those "severe" words that are considered very impolite (the milder curse words can be used on network television in the US, for example, while severe ones can not). Although they cannot be exactly defined, they roughly fit into "safe"(heck, gosh, dang, etc.),"mild"(d*mn, s**t, h*ll and so forth) and "severe"(those that refer to more suggestive things than the others, as well as racial slurs and such). One usually uses milder cursing ("safe") because either they personally don't feel comfortable using the more severe words, or because it would not be appropriate in the context (such as on network television, in the presence of children, etc.) Thus, mixing mild and severe curses in one usage does not usually occur, as the effect achieved by keeping the one curse word mild is negated by using another that is severe.

In a mild curse, "gosh-darned" is typically used as a {{w|minced oath}} of "God-damned" when the latter would be inappropriate. This is mixed with "{{w|cunt}}" — a vulgar term for the female genitalia, considered the most offensive swear word in many English-speaking countries.

==Transcript==
:My hobby: mixing curse levels
:Cueball: What a gosh-darned cunt.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cursed Items]]

74: Su Doku

2022-05-04T01:52:16Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 235355 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 74
| date = March 10, 2006
| title = Su Doku
| image = su doku.jpg
| titletext = This one is from the Red Belt collection, of 'medium' difficulty
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Sudoku|Su Doku}} (Japanese for "single number," and now usually written as "sudoku") is a type of number puzzle, in which the player must place digits in a matrix field in the correct arrangement, such that they do not repeat within given domains. The most common arrangement is a 9×9 grid subdivided into nine 3×3 grids, into which the nine non-zero digits of the normal decimal counting system must be inserted, with no digit being allowed to appear twice in a horizontal or vertical row or in each individual 3×3 grid. The number and combination of pre-filled squares determines the difficulty of the puzzle.

However, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] presents a 2x2 {{w|binary}} sudoku puzzle which isn't subdivided. The joke is that the binary system has only two digits (0 and 1), and as a result binary sudoku puzzles would be trivially easy and thus pointless. The puzzle in the comic would be completed by filling 0 in the top-left and 1 in the bottom-left empty box. The only other possible grid would have the 0s and 1s swapped. This fulfills the criterion of having no repeated digits in any row, column or cell.

The title text appears to reference a series of published sudoku puzzle books called "Martial Arts Sudoku". The difficulty of each book is denoted by a martial arts belt color, with each color representing a certain skill level. A red belt is a rather high level, second only to the black belt. When applied to binary sudokus, a sudoku with one number given would be the most difficult one (though still trivial) and thus be a black belt. This sudoku has two numbers given, hence the medium red belt level.

==Transcript==
:[A square divided into 2×2 squares, the top-right one has an 1 in it, the bottom-right one has a 0, the two left ones are empty.]
:Binary Su Doku

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Math]]

72: Classhole

2022-05-04T01:51:45Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234831 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 72
| date = March 6, 2006
| title = Classhole
| image = classhole.jpg
| titletext = A term coined by my friend Beth
}}

==Explanation==
The subject of this comic is [[Black Hat]] himself. He admits to being an asshole, a profanity that describes someone who does things that antagonize, irritate, or anger others (either intentionally or incidentally). While a common example might be someone who weaves in and out of traffic, or someone who parks across two parking spaces, Black Hat is "more creative." This also suggests that, while most people described as assholes are either ignorant or selfish, Black Hat seems to intentionally behave this way strictly to be an asshole and not for any self-benefit. He claims to be a "classy asshole," or as he coins the {{w|portmanteau}}, a "class-hole." He seems to equate creativity with class, although that seems like a leap. In any event, this is another early Black Hat strip that, for the first time, explicitly sets out that he goes out of his way to wreak havoc.

Among his "pranks," he suggests poking holes in grocery noodle cups. These are pre-packaged cups filled with dried noodles and dried soup mix (either in a separate pouch, or loose in the cup) to which one adds boiling water, which both boils the pasta and dissolves the soup mix to become the soup/broth. By poking holes in the cup, Black Hat ensures that someone pouring boiling water in the cup would have it leak all over them, causing them great surprise and pain.

He also suggests poking holes in {{w|condoms}}, which could cause even more serious consequences. This form of {{w|Reproductive coercion#Birth control sabotage|contraceptive sabotage}} is a way to cause unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease infection. Sabotage may be by someone acting maliciously at random (such as poking holes at the store pre-purchase) or by one of the participants to attempt to cause a pregnancy when the other partner does not want it, often occurring as part of reproductive abuse.<ref name=ACOG>Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. February 2013
[https://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Health-Care-for-Underserved-Women/Reproductive-and-Sexual-Coercion Committee Opinion No. 554: Reproductive and Sexual Coercion] Obstet Gynecol 2013;121:411–5. PMID 23344307</ref> The 2013 movie {{w|The Priest's Children}} describes a similar campaign.

The title text explains that the word was first introduced to [[Randall]] (and probably to the world) by a friend of his named Beth.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: How did you spend your morning?
:Black Hat: Feeding rocks to children in the park.

:Cueball: Your sociopathic abuse of random strangers staggers me.
:Black Hat: I aspire to have more creativity than the common asshole.

:Black Hat: I'm more of a <u>classy</u> asshole -- A class-hole, if you will. For example, I like poking tiny holes in styrofoam noodle cups at the grocery store --

:Black Hat: Thanks to me, someone gets surprise boiling water in the lap.
:Cueball: I am in awe.
:Black Hat: It's even more fun to do to condoms.

==References==

<references />

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sabotage]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

71: In the Trees

2022-05-04T01:51:21Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233905 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 71
| date = March 3, 2006
| title = In the Trees
| image = in_the_trees.jpg
| titletext = It was tricky.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic focuses on dark humor. In the first panel, the viewer is led to believe that it is a comic lamenting on the loss of love, as it states, "We made it so far together, but then I lost you in the trees." However, when we read the second panel ("Finally"), it becomes clear that the joke is that the loss of this "love" is what he had been hoping for all along. The supposed pain that came from such losing a long relationship came not from lamenting the loss of something he put so much effort into, but instead into the fact that it took so long to get there. The title text just furthers this idea.

There is a similar twist in comics [[334: Wasteland]] and [[1042: Never]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in a forest.]
:Cueball: We made it so far together but then I lost you in the trees.

:[A closer view of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Finally.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

70: Guitar Hero

2022-05-04T01:50:59Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233992 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 70
| date = March 1, 2006
| title = Guitar Hero
| image = guitar hero.jpg
| titletext = And then do it again in a moment now that they're out of Star Power.
}}

==Explanation==

''{{w|Guitar Hero}}'' is a series of video games (originally a single game) distributed by {{w|Activision}}. In the game, players simulate playing the guitar on famous guitar songs using a plastic guitar-shaped controller with five color-coded buttons on the neck representing guitar frets and a rocker bar on the body simulating a strumming motion. The game now includes other instruments such as drums and vocals, although not at the time this comic was published.

While the player plays the game, an animated band is shown on the upper half of the screen, and an extended guitar neck is shown vertically on the bottom half of the screen with horizontal frets, often called the "note highway." As the song progresses, coloured markers or "gems" indicating notes travel down the screen in time with the music; the note colours and positions match the five fret keys on the guitar controller. Once the notes reach the bottom, the player must play the indicated notes by holding down the correct fret buttons and hitting the strumming bar in order to score points. The image in the comic is similar to what is shown when playing ''Guitar Hero''.

In this comic, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] suggests that, were he in a real rock band, he would perform a mellow song, but intentionally put a complicated guitar solo in, not for musical value, but solely to antagonize ''Guitar Hero'' players with an impossible solo. As the comic suggests, a random flailing would likely make for a very difficult passage to play in ''Guitar Hero''. This is highlighted by the previous statement that the song would otherwise be mellow, lulling the player into a false sense that the song was easy to play and relaxing. Even worse for Guitar Hero players, if there was anyone who is good enough to play the solo, they would still have no fun playing the song if it is otherwise very mellow.

Probably, the "impossible solo" proposed here would turn useless, as there are some songs where the artist actually flails the guitar, and the developers translated that in gameplay as a bonus where the players can freely spam their controller/guitar for extra points.

The title text refers to a mechanic in Guitar Hero called "Star Power." Normally, when a player misses too many notes in a short time, their character is booed off the stage, and they have to restart. Using Star Power temporarily boosts the score from each note, so the player can clear a difficult section of the song even if they haven't hit most of the notes. So, when faced with Randall's impossible guitar solo, most players will immediately use Star Power to survive it. However, it takes time to build up Star Power, and it all gets expended at once, so if the song has a second stretch of wild flailing, the player won't be able to escape and will fail. (Also note that in ''{{w|Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock}}'' and many other titles of the series, a full meter of Star Power lasts for eight measures, so as long as the song is mildly fast (80BPM would more than suffice for a 4/4 or 12/8 time signature), 30 seconds would be enough already.)

==Transcript==
:[On a stage, Megan is in the background as a singer holding a microphone. In the center is Hairy with an electric guitar. The catwalk has bumps to resemble the tracks of Guitar Hero.]
:[Caption above the stage]:
:When I'm in a rock band, I'm gonna do a cool, mellow song. Then in the middle I'll stop, announce "this part is just to be an asshole to people playing Guitar Hero," and then flail wildly on the strings for 30 seconds.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Rhythm Games]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Guitar Hero]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

69: Pillow Talk

2022-05-04T01:50:45Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233873 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 69
| date = February 27, 2006
| title = Pillow Talk
| image = pillow_talk.jpg
| titletext = Maybe I should've tried Wexler?
}}

==Explanation==

The {{w|Bellman Ford|Bellman-Ford algorithm}} is an algorithm that calculates the shortest path(s) through a weighted digraph or collection of connected nodes or vertices. The "Wexler" in the title text refers to Wexler's algorithm, which is used to deal with the inverse problem of {{w|electrical impedance tomography}}, or simply stated: the electrical conductivity of an (inhomogenous) object.

Both of these would make terrible {{w|pillow talk}}. Pillow talk is the conversation made by lovers after they have had sex, and is usually relaxed and intimate instead of technical.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Staring at the ceiling, she asked me what I was thinking about.
:Cueball: I should have made something up.
:Cueball: The Bellman-Ford algorithm makes terrible pillow talk.

==Trivia==

*The number of this comic is 69. This number is a term for mutual oral sex, sex being the subject of the comic.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

68: Five Thirty

2022-05-04T01:50:25Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 236094 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 68
| date = February 24, 2006
| title = Five Thirty
| image = five_thirty.jpg
| titletext = The 8th panel is my favorite
}}

==Explanation==
At 5:30 AM, one's sleep-deprived or prematurely-roused mind sometimes comes up with things that seem like nonsense later.

None of the twelve panels in this comic seem to have any correlation with one another, each one being its own "story," and none of them really make any sense. It is unknown whether Randall really wrote this comic while awake at 5:30 in the morning, or if he wrote it while completely alert and is trying to pass off his rejected ideas by saying what one's mind may experience when trying to process information at an hour when the person is not used to being awake.

===Explanations of the individual panels (numbered left to right, top to bottom)===
# "'80s night" is a special theme many nightclubs hold, inviting their guests to wear fashions that were popular in the 1980s while playing dance music from the same period.
# {{w|Jack the Ripper}} was an infamous serial killer in {{w|Victorian era|Victorian Britain}}. {{w|Jack Black}} is a rock star and actor. "There is no Tuesday" is likely a reference to the line "There is no spoon" in ''{{w|The Matrix}}''.
# There doesn't seem to be too much to this panel that isn't self-explanatory, but it's possible that there's a reference to the ''{{w|Civilization (video game)|Civilization}}'' series of video games, in which it's possible (albeit unlikely) for medieval soldiers to attack and destroy 20th-century military helicopters.
# Stick figures standing upright are indeed drawn without any thought as to which section of their legs are the shins.
# Two Cueballs seem very upset as indicated by them shouting ''shit'' ten times without break, and as indicated at the end, they will continue to do so, as only "sh" of the 11th shit is written. What they should have been alarmed about is the third arm that seems to have grown out of the left Cueball's torso. But as it turns out, they are worried about daylight savings ''[sic]'', which comes out in the second line of their shouting. {{w|Daylight saving time}} (DST) was {{w|History_of_time_in_the_United_States#Start_and_end_dates_of_United_States_Daylight_Time|not due}} until April 2nd in the USA in 2006, more than a month after the release of this comic. This seems to be the first to use DST as part of a joke, but it is far from the last time that Randall has made it clear that he is [[:Category:Daylight saving time|not a fan of DST]], which he sometimes directly mocks. It's hard to tell what the two stick figures are actually doing and what the black blobs at the ends of their arms should represent, given that Randall normally doesn't draw hands on his stick figures. One guess is that they're both wearing watches, one on each of their combined five arms. In that case, they are upset because they forgot to adjust all their clocks for DST. Alternatively, the two Cueballs represent two clocks, the right one with only hour-hand and minute-hand, but the left one also with a seconds-hand, and it is these hands that are drawn. In that case, the left Cueball is one hour ahead of the right Cueball, as his shortest arm points down left at around 8 o'clock (with the seconds-hand above, and the minutes-hand at 20 minutes past), and the right Cueball has his hour hand at 7 o'clock and the minute hand also at 20 past. This would explain both the three arms, the "hands" at the end of the arms, and the different length of especially the left Cueball's arm, and finally why they are so upset about one of them forgetting DST.
# "Ointment" may be a reference to the infamous lotion scene in ''{{w|Silence of the Lambs}}'', as the panel appears to be invoking horror movie visuals.
# The farthest left angle is labeled theta. The joke is that finding the cosine, the length of the adjacent leg divided by the length of the hypotenuse, would be difficult as the adjacent leg is poorly drawn and does not resemble a straight line to be measured. <p>Alternatively, the line <q>fuck the cosine</q> resembles the slogan {{w|fuck the police}}.</p>
# Lots of jokes have been made out of the template "does liking X make you gay?", where the speaker is afraid that he may be a homosexual. Here, the speaker has apparently transformed into a {{w|mermaid}} at some point. His friend seems to be eager to both turn into a mermaid himself and confirm himself for a homosexual. <p>Another explanation may be that the friend thinks that a man who was a mermaid for five minutes should be homosexual afterwards, because he simply can't imagine something else about it. In this explanation, the friend has no interest in others being gay or not; he just thinks that this may be a realistic progress.</p>
# Waving a gun around and declaring that things you hate are "for pussies" is stereotypical "{{w|macho}}" behavior. Possibly, the man with the gun is going to cut the other man's hair with bullets because it's more "macho" than going to the barber.
# This doesn't seem to mean anything whatsoever. However, both of the characters say something irrational: "My hair is bleeding" is irrational because strands of hair can't bleed, and "√3" is an {{w|irrational number}}. <p>The first statement may also have something to do with the prior panel (as cutting one's hair with bullets does not tend to end well).</p>
# A bachelor party is a traditionally raucous party that is thrown for a groom on the night before his wedding. Because these parties can be wild (involving drinking and such), this may explain why the figure is upside down.
# Likely a reference to the "{{w|ant on a rubber rope}}" thought experiment. The experiment does not end well for the ant according to Randall, likely because the paradox often ends up with incredibly long amounts of time until the ant finally gets to the other side of the rope. So the ant does not die from getting stretched, but rather from the rope stretching and leading to the ant having to walk for inconceivably long periods of time.

----

The title text could actually refer to two different panels. If a person chooses to read the comic left-to-right, top-to-bottom (which is more likely given that this is the order in the official transcript), the eighth panel could be the one with where Cueball asks "Does being a mermaid for five minutes make you gay?" However, if a person chooses to read the comic top-to-bottom, left-to-right, the eighth panel will instead be the one with Cueball hanging upside down shouting "Bachelor party!"

==Transcript==
:Comics from 5:30 AM
:[A succession of unrelated and completely random panels.]

:Cueball: It's 80's night at the club. Wanna go?

:Friend: There is no Tuesday.
:Cueball: Jack the Ripper or Jack Black?

:[Cueball in this panel is holding a glinting sword.]
:Friend: You crashed my helicopter!
:Cueball: Verily!

:[A small figure is talking with a larger figure.]
:Figure 1: Basically, neither of us have shins.
:Figure 2: Over and out.

:[Two men are shown: one with three arms, and another with just two. All arms have round appendages at their ends.]
:Men: shitshitshitshitshitshitdaylightsavingsshitshitshitshitsh

:[Two figures with pumpkins (carved with faces) for heads.]
:Figure 1: You're out of ointment and out of time!

:[A diagram of a right-angled triangle, with a theta at the smallest angle.]
:FUCK THE COSINE

:Friend: Does being a mermaid for five minutes make you gay?
:Cueball: I hope so!

:[The friend is holding a gun to Cueball's head.]
:Friend: Barbershops are for pussies.

:Friend: My hair is bleeding.
:Cueball: √3

:[Cueball seems to be walking on the ceiling.]
:Cueball: Bachelor party!

:[Warning sign with picture of an ant.]
:WARNING: STRETCHY DEATH

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

65: Banter

2022-05-04T01:49:58Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233597 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 65
| date = February 17, 2006
| title = Banter
| image = banter.jpg
| titletext = This was an actual mock conversation between me and a friend at TGIF. The waitress walked up around panel 5 and was somewhat put off.
}}
==Explanation==
Two guys are trash-talking each other with {{w|homophobic}} comments and {{w|Maternal insult|your mom jokes}}. It goes somewhat astray and becomes awkward when the first guy makes a pass at the second guy and is rejected.

Part of the element of the humor in this comic stems from a common assertion that the most-homophobic of men are the most likely to be a {{w|closeted homosexual}}. Another element is the incredible awkwardness of the end conversation.

{{w|Faggot (slang)|Fag}}, {{w|ass pirate}}, {{w|fudge packer}}, and {{w|List of LGBT slang terms|cock jockey}} are all insults for a {{w|homosexual}} man. Cum dumpster can apply to both men and women (usually conveying {{w|sluttiness}}).

[[Randall|Randall's]] title text, that he mock-held this conversation with a friend in a {{w|T.G.I. Friday's|TGIF}} restaurant, indicates how awkward this would be in real life. Even the waitress, a bystander, is put off by it.

==Transcript==
:[Two Cueball like characters have a discussion. They are drawn the same in all eight panels.]
:Guy: Man, she's hot
:Friend: Whatever, you are so gay.

:Guy: C'mon, everyone knows you're the gay one.
:Friend: Hey, your mom's pretty masculine, but sleeping with her doesn't make me gay.

:Guy: Fag.
:Friend: Ass pirate.
:Guy: Fudge packer
:Friend: Cock jockey
:Guy: Cum dumpster.

:[Beat panel.]

:Guy: Okay, seriously, are you gay? Because if you've been holding out on me, we're missing out.

:Friend: No, it's cool.
:Guy: OK, me neither.

:[Beat panel.]

:[Beat panel.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

60: Super Bowl

2022-05-04T01:49:29Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233155 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 60
| date = February 6, 2006
| title = Super Bowl
| image = super bowl.jpg
| titletext = The Super Bowl is actually an elaborate ruse, concocted by a shadowy group in the mid sixties for this purpose. The "watch it for the ads" addition was a master stroke.
}}

==Explanation==
The third in the "[[My Hobby]]" series. The {{w|Super Bowl}} is the championship {{w|American football}} game of the {{w|National Football League}}, which is usually played each February, and the final game of the 2006 season, {{w|Super Bowl XL}}, was played on the evening of 2006-02-05, the day before this comic was released.

As the game is one of the most watched television broadcasts in North America, {{w|Super Bowl commercials|advertising during the game}} has become increasingly expensive (among the most expensive advertising rates of any broadcast) to the point where corporations produce their best, most expensive advertisements to air during the game, to ensure that they would get value out of the expensive spots. The Super Bowl has thus become notorious for the "best" commercials, with some viewers purportedly tuning in solely to see the commercials, rather than the actual football game. News reports the next day often highlight the best and worst Super Bowl commercials, as do websites devoted to Super Bowl commercials.

Realizing that the Super Bowl is viewed by a large percentage of the population, [[Randall]], somewhat tongue-in-cheek, states that those people would be quite distracted during that time, and therefore it would be possible to steal cars without fear of being caught. The title text takes this even further, suggesting that the entire Super Bowl was invented entirely for the purpose of being a distraction for car thieves. Naturally, the addition of the ads would make this even more effective, as it would attract even more viewers and ensure that they stayed in front of the TV during commercial breaks as well as the game.

The phrase "I steal cars" also provides a contrast to the fact that many viewers are only watching for the advertisements, making their smug sense of superiority seem petty compared to the fact that they but not Randall are not stealing cars and that they therefore are morally superior to Randall in this respect. This calls into question whether or not they really are significantly superior by comparing this marginal superiority to not being criminals. Alternatively, Randall may resent these people for feeling superior even though they aren't actually superior (at least in the eyes of Randall) and therefore steal their cars as punishment. Or Randall might be implying that they have no reason to being smug as they are being duped into having their cars stolen, and the thief is the one in the best position to be smug.

Randall may have chosen to use a car as a reference to the large number of car commercials that play during the Super Bowl, in addition to the ease of stealing a car at that time.

==Transcript==
:[A green car with text above and next to it.]
:My hobby:
:While everyone is watching the Super Bowl, feeling smugly superior because they're "Only watching for the ads," I steal cars.

==Trivia==

In a distant future (2015), Randall (or [[Cueball]]) spends his time differently during the Super Bowl - see [[1480: Super Bowl]]. (This was the second time that two xkcd comics have shared the [[:Category:Comics sharing name|exact same name]].) In between this comic and the one nine years later, no other comics came out related to the Super Bowl. The year after (2016), there was a comic ([[1640]]) about the Super Bowl, and in 2018 a comic ([[1951]]) appeared about a Super Bowl watch party.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:American football]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Super Bowl]]
[[Category:Super Bowl]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

59: Graduation

2022-05-04T01:49:06Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234342 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 59
| date = February 3, 2006
| title = Graduation
| image = graduation.jpg
| titletext = Opening dialogue by Scott
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and a young [[Blondie]] (in her first appearance) discuss their plans for life after college.

Megan has taken the increasingly unusual choice of pursuing a career as a {{w|Lighthouse keeper|lighthouse operator}}, a path that has become increasingly less traveled, as lighthouses have become ever more automated and supplanted by other solutions. Before GPS technology, {{w|Lighthouse|lighthouses}} were invaluable markers of where dangers to marine navigation, such as shallow reefs or coastal headlands, were located. Megan likes the idea of subverting the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlInTheTower trope of the helpless maid in the tower] who needs saving, by helping to save seafarers by operating a lighthouse that helps them to find their way safely back home.

When it comes to her turn to answer her own question, Blondie answers that she plans to pursue {{w|Postgraduate education|postgraduate education}}, but admits that she has no purpose for doing so. After obtaining an {{w|undergraduate education|undergraduate}}/{{w|Bachelor's degree|bachelor's}} degree, {{w|Graduate school|graduate school}} is the next level of education, where students pursue a {{w|Master's degree|master's}} or {{w|Doctorate|doctoral}} {{w|Academic degree|degree}}. Augmenting one's education with post-graduate studies is a conventional career path, and would imply that the student has a definite plan for their career, yet some people may attend grad school only ''because'' it is conventional, without having any definite plan for their career. This appears to be the case for Blondie, contrasted with Megan's choice of a seemingly {{w|Blue-collar worker|blue collar}}/{{w|Skilled worker|unskilled}} career — one might expect such a career to indicate someone who has no specific career plan, yet Megan seems to know her exact purpose, unlike Blondie. The fact that Blondie then accepts an invitation to spend her breaks at Megan's lighthouse suggests that she finds this a more attractive prospect than her more conventional path.

Other comics with a similar theme about finding or taking unexplored paths, instead of fitting into the mold, include [[137: Dreams]] and [[267: Choices: Part 4]].

[[Scott]] appears to be a friend of [[Randall Munroe]]. Comics 57 through 59 all have the title text ''[[:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott|Opening dialogue by Scott]]'', forming a sort of informal mini-series inspired by him. They are:
*[[57: Wait For Me]]
*[[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]
*[[59: Graduation]]
As there already was a comic released on Monday that week, the first of these three was released on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Friday. This may be related to the fact that this was the first week where the comics were not also released on [[LiveJournal]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Blondie are talking.]
:Blondie: What do you want to do when you graduate?

:[Same scene as before.]
:Megan: I want to become a lighthouse operator.
:Blondie: Oh?
:Megan: Yeah.

:[Cut to scene of lighthouse with text overlaid.]
:Megan: Lighthouses are built on interesting pieces of coast, so I'll have an interesting place to walk and swim, and great views of all kinds of weather. I'd feel good about myself and my work every single day.

:[Cut back to Megan and Blondie. Megan has her arms up.]
:Megan: I'd get to be the girl in the tower, only <u>I'd</u> be the one rescuing people.

:[Megan now has her arms down.]
:Megan: Why, what do you want to do?
:Blondie: I'm going to grad school. I don't really know why.

:[Same scene as before.]
:Megan: Wanna come hang in my lighthouse over breaks?
:Blondie: ...yeah.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Scott]]
[[Category:Opening dialogue by Scott]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

58: Why Do You Love Me?

2022-05-04T01:48:29Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233541 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 58
| date = February 1, 2006
| title = Why Do You Love Me?
| image = why_do_you_love_me.jpg
| titletext = Opening dialogue by Scott
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] asks "Why do you love me?" to [[Megan]], a fairly common question that couples ask each other. She responds by saying, "My heart never gave me a choice," a seemingly very sentimental, romantic answer. However, after a {{w|Beat_(filmmaking)|beat panel}}, she effectively kills the romance of the moment by adding, "I wish it had," indicating that she would rather not have loved Cueball.

[[Scott]] appears to be a friend of [[Randall Munroe]]. Comics 57 through 59 all have the title text ''[[:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott|Opening dialogue by Scott]]'', forming a sort of informal mini-series inspired by him. They are:
*[[57: Wait For Me]]
*[[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]
*[[59: Graduation]]
As there already was a comic released on Monday that week, the first of these three was released on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Friday. This may be related to the fact that this was the first week were the comics were not also released on [[LiveJournal]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are having a conversation. The same scene is shown for all panels.]
:Cueball: Why do you love me?
:Megan: I don't know; my heart never gave me a choice.

:Cueball: Aww.

:[Beat panel.]

:Megan: I wish it had.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Opening dialogue by Scott]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Scott]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

57: Wait For Me

2022-05-04T01:48:13Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 236271 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 57
| date = January 31, 2006
| title = Wait For Me
| image = wait_for_me.jpg
| titletext = Opening dialogue by Scott
}}

==Explanation==
This comic juxtaposes a familiar exchange with a surreal outcome.

[[Megan]] is returning after a short absence. [[Cueball]] reacts as if she had been gone for years, and admits to having an affair while waiting.

In this comic, a familiar exchange occurs where one person asks the other why they did not wait. The humor lies in the improbability of him falling in love and having an affair within 90 seconds, the impossibility of him having a son in that time, and the ridiculous notion that the son would now be about Megan's current age. This is of course impossible, as it would imply that Cueball experienced twenty-ish years of life in what felt like 1.5 minutes for Megan. (He might conceivably have managed to have sex in that time span, which would fit with the experience of Cueball in [[1068: Swiftkey]]).

[[Scott]] appears to be a friend of [[Randall]]. Comics 57 through 59 all have the title text ''[[:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott|Opening dialogue by Scott]]'', forming a sort of informal mini-series inspired by him. They are:
*[[57: Wait For Me]]
*[[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]
*[[59: Graduation]]
As there already was a comic released on Monday that week, the first of these three was released on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Friday. This may be related to the fact that this was the first week where the comics were not also released on [[LiveJournal]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another.]
:Megan: Why didn't you wait for me?
:Cueball: I thought you were gone forever!

:[Megan throws out her arms, and Cueball is looking down.]
:Megan: I said I'd be back in a minute!
:Cueball: The... the seconds went fast at first, but then they started to drag on.
:Cueball: She was there for me.

:[Same scene as before, except Megan has her arms out less.]
:Megan: You had an affair in the 90 seconds I was gone?!
:Cueball: ...yes.

:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another in a smaller panel.]
:Cueball: And we had a son.

:[Same scene as before.]
:Cueball: He'd be about your age now.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Opening dialogue by Scott]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Scott]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

56: The Cure

2022-05-04T01:47:53Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233016 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 56
| date = January 30, 2006
| title = The Cure
| image = the_cure.jpg
| titletext = My first try at drawing a real face in years.
}}

==Explanation==
The "real face" is that of {{w|Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith}}, best known as the singer of the musical group {{w|The Cure}}, hence the title.

The joke in this comic is very simple: When Robert would sing the above lines of {{w|Coldplay|Coldplay}}'s song "{{w|Clocks_(song)|Clocks}}", fans of his music would know the answer: he's part of The Cure.

In the title text, Randall notes that he has not tried to draw a real face in years, as he mainly does stick drawings. In that way this comic also sticks out.

==Transcript==
:[A charcoal drawing of Robert Smith's head and face.]
:[Caption below:]
:Robert Smith should do a cover of Coldplay's ''Clocks,'' so when he sings "Am I part of the cure or am I part of the disease?" we can say, "Ooh, we know this one!"

==Trivia==
*This was the first comic released only on xkcd, and not on [[LiveJournal]].
**The 11 previous comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]].
*The comic before this one, [[55: Useless]], was the 52nd and last comic originally posted also to LiveJournal.
**Two other comics were inserted among the first 52 at some point after xkcd was launched, thus making it a total of 54 comics before this one.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

52: Secret Worlds

2022-05-04T01:47:08Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234317 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 52
| date = January 21, 2006 
| title = Secret Worlds
| image = secret_worlds.jpg
| titletext = No two adjacent circles are the same color.
}}

==Explanation==
The quote written in the large white bubbles comes from {{w|The Sandman (Vertigo)|The Sandman}}, a comic book series about dreams. {{w|Neil Gaiman}} is a science fiction and fantasy author who came to fame for writing The Sandman.

The interconnected bubbles represent the secret worlds of different people and how they are connected. They may have the second meaning of the neurons in our brain.

The title text indicates that Randall used the {{w|Four color theorem}}, which states that a {{w|graph theory|graph}} drawn on a flat plane (like this one) requires at most four colors so that each region differs from all of its neighbors. The comic uses four colors (red, yellow, green, blue). This clearly does not include the white bubbles with text.

Here is the quote, to those wondering how to read the comic:

:“Everybody has a secret world inside of them... All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds... Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”

:[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/413047-everybody-has-a-secret-world-inside-of-them-i-mean- Neil Gaiman, A Game of You]

==Transcript==
:[A multitude of circles connected with several lines. Most of them are rather small and colored red, yellow, green and blue. Nine of them are white, six of these are larger than all the other circles, but one is the same size as the largest colored (green) circle, and the two smallest are smaller than a few of the colored circles. Pieces of text are written in all the white circles. Although it can be confusing at first, the reading order is still the normal one: left to right and top to bottom. Reading the circles in that order gives the following text:]
:"Everybody has a secret world inside of them.
:All of the people in the whole world
:I mean everybody
:No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside
:Inside they've all got unimaginable
:magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing, worlds
:Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe."
:--Neil Gaiman
:Sandman

==Trivia==
*This was the 50th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[51: Malaria]].
**The next was [[53: Hobby]].
*This comic kept its original title: "Secret Worlds"
**It is part of the last six comics on LiveJournal, which all had a title without the word "Drawing" in it.
**Five of these had exactly the same title on both sites.
**Only 11 comics have the same title on both sites.
**Apart from the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal, there were only three other comics without the word "Drawing" in the title before these last six.
*There was no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.
*This comic was one of the last 11 comics posted on LiveJournal.
**These 11 comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]] after the [[xkcd]] site opened on the 1st of January 2006.
**The first six comics were posted on both sites on the same day. But not this one.
*For some reason, [[54: Science]] was posted before this one on LiveJournal on the 18th of January 2006, but first a week later on xkcd on the 25th of January 2006.
**[[52: Secret Worlds]] was then released on xkcd the same day as [[51: Malaria]] came out on LiveJournal on Saturday the 21st of January 2006.
**It then came out on LiveJournal two days later on Monday the 23rd of January 2006.
**The release date here on explain xkcd uses the first release date, so that is the one on xkcd.
*After the mishap with [[54: Science]], the next three comics came out on LiveJournal a release day later.
**First with the last comic released on LiveJournal, [[55: Useless]], did the two sites release the same comic on the same day again.
*During the start-up of xkcd, several of the comics were released on days that deviated from the normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday scheme.
**This one was thus released on a '''Saturday'''.
**Since it was first posted on xkcd, there is no time given for the post. But [[51: Malaria]] was posted so early on Saturday, 1:43 am, that it could almost have been a Friday comic.
**And it is likely that these two were posted close to each other.
**The previous "Friday" comic [[49: Want]] was also released on a Saturday.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 50]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

51: Malaria

2022-05-04T01:46:43Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 235879 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 51
| date = January 18, 2006 
| title = Malaria
| image = malaria.jpg
| titletext = The malaria party was David's idea.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic humorously considers {{w|pox parties}} as a means of preventing malaria. In these "parties," adults bring their children to deliberately expose them to a communicable disease to promote {{w|Immunity (medical)|immunity}}. This is commonly done for a childhood disease like {{w|chickenpox}} and {{w|measles}} instead of vaccination.

In this comic, we see four [[Cueball]]-like children in party hats with a balloon lying on the ground, suggesting a missing "celebrant."

Some illnesses are more serious for adults than children. For example, chickenpox is far less severe contracted as a child than as an adult, the latter sometimes ending in sterility, brain damage, or worse. (Note that {{w|shingles}} is not adult-onset chickenpox, but a condition occasionally developed by older people who previously had chickenpox.) Having caught chickenpox once, a person's {{w|immune system}} has developed {{w|antibodies}}, reducing vulnerability to the virus. The antibodies create immunity for a significant period of time, possibly life. However, immunity through antibody creation is not usually an effective strategy against malaria. Contrarily, once one has suffered from malaria, it can recur on its own, even after apparent healing from symptoms. Thus, having a malaria party would not be a useful exercise, as many could suffer significant illness and die.

The title text blames "David" for the party, referencing the idea of children blaming each other for an idea that turns out poorly. A malaria party is likely to have more severe consequences than, for instance, a group of 10 year olds building a ski ramp in the backyard.
Also it could be a reference to the Bible: when King David has to choose between three Threads, he chooses a disease for the whole people, lasting 3 days.
===Malaria===
{{w|Malaria}} is a {{w|Mosquito-borne disease}} of humans and other animals caused by {{w|protists}} (a type of microorganism) of the genus ''{{w|Plasmodium}}''. It begins with a bite from an infected female {{w|mosquito}}, which introduces the protists via its saliva into the circulatory system, and ultimately to the liver where they mature and reproduce. The disease causes symptoms that typically include fever and headache, which in severe cases can progress to coma or death.

===Vaccination===
At the end of the 1990s, a study reported what would turn out to be made-up health threats from MMR-{{rw|vaccines}}, which created an {{w|MMR vaccine controversy}} and lower vaccination rates, even after they were exposed as false. This made {{w|pox parties}} more popular as the "natural alternative." However, even usually-"harmless" diseases like {{w|measles}} can (rarely) have complications and side-effects, up to and including death, which are by far more common and/or more severe than the actual health risks involved in vaccination. In the past 20 years, 2 Americans died from measles, both people with compromised immune systems. Also none, or late immunization, may create an immunization gap through which nearly extinct diseases can reenter a population (see e.g. {{w|Epidemiology of measles}}). If this gap can be closed (or made small enough), it is possible to make a disease extinct. This was actually successfully done with {{w|smallpox}}, and is now attempted with the {{w|poliovirus}} (Causing {{w|poliomyelitis}}, also known as infantile paralysis).

==Transcript==
:[Four Cueball-like children wearing party hats, a discarded balloon is lying to the right. There is text above:]
:We had a malaria party
:[And there is text below:]
:but it turned out not to be very much fun.

==Trivia==
*This was the 49th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[54: Science]].
**The next was [[52: Secret Worlds]].
*This comic kept its original title: "Malaria"
*It is part of the last six comics on LiveJournal which all had a title without the word "Drawing" in it.
**Five of these had exactly the same title on both sites.
**Only 11 comics have the same title on both sites.
**Apart from the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal, there were only three other comics without the word "Drawing" in the title before these last six.
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "'''Current Mood:''' ''Credit to David for this one''"
**In this version, he gave David credit. The title text seems more like he blames him for the idea.
*This comic was one of the last 11 comics posted on LiveJournal.
**These 11 comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]] after the [[xkcd]] site opened on the 1st of January 2006.
**The first six comics were posted on both sites on the same day. But not this one.
*For some reason, [[54: Science]] was posted before this one on LiveJournal on the 18th of January 2006, but a week later on xkcd, on the 25th of January 2006.
**So [[51: Malaria]] was released on xkcd the same day as [[54: Science]] came out on LiveJournal on Wednesday the 18th of January 2006.
**It then came out on LiveJournal three days later on Saturday the 21th of January 2006.
**The release date here on explain xkcd uses the first release date, the one on xkcd.
*After the mishap with [[54: Science]], the next three comics came out on LiveJournal a day later.
**First with the last comic released on LiveJournal, [[55: Useless]], did the two sites release the same comic on the same day again.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 49]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]
[[Category:David]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]

46: Secrets

2022-05-04T01:46:21Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 235306 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 46
| date = January 6, 2006
| title = Secrets
| image = secrets.jpg
| titletext = I'm a big fan of Kurt Halsey
}}

==Explanation==
This comic addresses the issue of {{tvtropes|CommitmentIssues|commitment-phobic partners}} who get into relationships but get cold feet when it starts to get serious. The girl wants someone who can see every part of who she is and still love her.

In the title text, [[Randall]] mentions that he is a big fan of [http://www.kurthalsey.com Kurt Halsey], a comic artist from Oregon. His style is similar to that in this comic. Many of his comics and paintings depict a couple and convey various emotions they go through, as does this comic.

In the original Randall quote (see [[#Trivia|trivia]]), he gives the above link to the official home page of Kurt Halsey. Then he mentions that if you had not realized he was a big fan already, you should reconsider clicking on the link ''because it's depressing how much better at this he is than me''.

== Transcript ==
:[Drawing of a lonely girl staring down with almost closed eyes. The first line of text stands next to her to the left. The last part bottom, right.]
:I just want you to share in my secrets
::::and not run away

==Trivia==
*This was the 43rd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[45: Schrodinger]].
**The next was [[47: Counter-Red Spiders]].
*This comic kept its original title: "Secrets"
**It was the first comic to do so since [[31: Barrel - Part 5]], ten comics back.
**The next four comics, like the previous comic, included the word "Drawing" before the xkcd title.
**But then the last 6 comics on LiveJournal only had a title; five of these had exactly the same title on both sites, like this one.
**Only 11 comics have the same title on both sites.
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I'm a fan of [http://www.kurthalsey.com/ Kurt Halsey], if you hadn't noticed. Don't click that right now, because it's depressing how much better at this he is than me. "
**The link is to the official page of Kurt Halsey.
*This comic was one of the last 11 comics posted on LiveJournal.
**These 11 comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]] after the [[xkcd]] site opened on the 1st of January 2006.
**This comic was posted on the same day on both sites.
**They were not all posted on the same day though.

Kurt Halsey was also referenced in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 43]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

45: Schrodinger

2022-05-04T01:46:04Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 233321 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 45
| date = January 4, 2006
| title = Schrodinger
| image = schrodinger.jpg
| titletext = There was no alt-text until you moused over
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a joke creating a humorously false synthesis, combining the principles of quantum superposition and the effects of reading a comic one panel at a time.

{{w|Schrödinger's cat}} is a thought experiment that illuminates the notion that a particle only resolves itself to its state upon observation, and until such observation is made, it is in all of its possible states simultaneously. In the thought experiment, a cat is both dead and alive until observation; likewise, in this comic, [[Black Hat]] and [[Cueball]] are likening the last panel to the box with the cat: until you read it, it is in a mixed state (a superposition) of both funny and unfunny.

Finally, in the last panel, both of them say "Shit." The joke is that after reading the last panel, the comic is both funny (as it is unexpected) and not funny (as the last line was a non sequitur and therefore there is no climax) at the same time, thus proving Black Hat and Cueball wrong, hence them expressing discontent with the word "shit."

The [[title text]], which Randall here calls the alt-text, suggests that the alt text did not exist until the mouse over action occurred. This is another reference to Schrödinger's cat. You do not know if there is a title text until you mouse over, so before you mouse over, the title text could be missing or existent.

===Schrödinger's cat===
Schrödinger's cat is a famous thought experiment proposed by {{w|Erwin Schrödinger}} to question the {{w|Copenhagen interpretation}} of quantum mechanics.

Under the {{w|Copenhagen interpretation}}, any particle is described by a {{w|wave function}} that allows one to calculate the probability that it is any given state. A radioactive nucleus with a half-life of one hour, for instance, would have a wave-function that would split, showing two distinct states (decayed, undecayed) that change over time until some "observation" forced the wave-function into one state or another (called "collapsing the wave-function"). Before the wave-function is collapsed, it is incorrect to say that the atom has decayed or has not decayed; it is in a "superposition" of states, effectively both decayed and undecayed.

Schrödinger thought that the Copenhagen interpretation was absurd, and devised the below thought experiment to show this. The experiment goes as follows: Put a cat in a box, he said, with a device triggered by the decay of an atom with a half-life of one hour that would release a poisonous gas if triggered. Then, after waiting an hour, the Copenhagen interpretation would say that the atom is in a superposition of decayed and undecayed states, and thus, by extension, the cat would be in a superposition of alive and dead states. Only when the box is opened would the wave-function for the cat collapse into either alive or dead states. This thought experiment is not meant to be taken literally, as every interaction of a particle with another constitutes an observation, and many particles must interact for a cat to die, but still his argument was that since it is absurd for a cat to be both alive and dead, it is absurd for an atom to be both decayed and undecayed.

If this experiment were to be performed, the cat would not be both dead and alive.

== Transcript ==
:[Black Hat and Cueball are standing next to each other. Above them the text is written in a box with shades around it.]
:Schrödinger's Comic

:[Black Hat and Cueball are still standing next to each other, but Cueball has lifted his arms above his head. The text is again written in a box with shades around it.]
:The last panel of this comic is both funny and not funny at the same time.

:[Black Hat and Cueball are still standing next to each other, Cueball arms are down again. The text is again written in a box with shades around it.]
:Until you read it, there's no way to tell which it will end up being.

:[Black Hat and Cueball are still standing next to each other. Cueball has become smaller and smaller through the three frames after the first. Quite clearly here in the last panel. The text is again written in a box with shades around it.]
:Shit.

==Trivia==
*This was the 42nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[39: Bowl]].
**The next was [[46: Secrets]].
*There had been a break of almost a month between this and the previous comic.
**This time was probably used to prepare the launch of the new [[xkcd]] site.
*Original title: "Drawing: Schrodinger"
**For the first time in eight comics and only the second time since after the first day on LiveJournal, the weekday was not part of the title on LiveJournal.
**But the extra word "Drawing" was still added to the title for this and the four comics after the next, in spite of the simultaneous release on xkcd.
*There were no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.
*This was the first comic to be posted simultaneous (i.e. on the same day) on both LiveJournal and the new xkcd site.
*Thus this comic was one of the last 11 comics posted on LiveJournal.
**These 11 comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]] after the xkcd site opened on the 1st of January 2006.
**They were not all posted on the same day though.
*Black Hat's hat is beginning to shorten from its top-hat look, although its height varies between panels. (As does Cueballs height compared to Black Hat.)

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 42]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

44: Love

2022-05-04T01:45:04Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234023 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 44
| date = October 19, 2005
| title = Love
| image = love.jpg
| titletext = This one makes me wince every time I think about it
}}

==Explanation==

This comic expresses the view of a love that is unbalanced and unequal. And how one form of love can be painful when closely examined.

It is customary for people in a romantic relationship, when one makes a declaration of love or affection, for the other to make a matching declaration. However, instead of continuing [[Cueball]]'s escalation by saying the expected response "I love ''you'' more!", [[Megan]] stops and agrees with him: he does love her more than she loves him. This leads to an uncomfortable dynamic in the relationship. The final frame shows the couple standing in silence.

In the title text, [[Randall]] expresses how this comic is shockingly stark in its portrayal of love.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another.]
:Cueball: I love you!
:Megan: I love you!

:[Same scene as before.]
:Cueball: I love you more!
:Megan: Yeah.

:[Beat panel.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 21st comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[21: Kepler]].
**The next was [[40: Light]].
*Original title: "Wednesday's Drawing"
*There were no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
**Of those comics drawn on such paper, this is the one with the highest number released on xkcd.
**But it was an early comic that got a different number after the transfer to xkcd.
**The last comic on such paper was, by release-date, [[39: Bowl]], although it is likely that [[36: Scientists]] was released in 2006, which would make it the last.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 21]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Footer comics]] 
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

43: Red Spiders 2

2022-05-04T01:44:47Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 234650 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 43
| date = December 2, 2005
| title = Red Spiders 2
| image = red_spiders_2.jpg
| titletext = This was actually drawn years before Red Spiders
}}

==Explanation==

This is the second published comic in the [[:Category:Red Spiders|red spiders]] story arc, published just over 2 months after the [[8: Red spiders|first one]]. Like its predecessor, it is more of a sketch than a comic. The titular spiders appear to be ascending —or possibly building— a structure, probably to get into the window at the top of the picture. Two spiders at the top appear to be passing a block between them, implying that they are, at least, trying to change the structure.

According to the title text, it was drawn years before [[:8: Red spiders|the previous Red Spiders]].

The full series of [[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]] comics:
*[[8: Red Spiders]], the first one.
*[[43: Red Spiders 2]], this one.
*[[47: Counter-Red Spiders]], in which the humans begin a counter-offensive.
*[[126: Red Spiders Cometh]], in which the spiders attack a city.
*[[427: Bad Timing]], in which, in a style more typical to xkcd, the spiders attack a couple in the middle of a serious relationship discussion in a hot-air balloon.
*[[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]], in which it appears briefly in the 14th panel crawling over a cube.

==Transcript==
:[Nine red spiders, with round appendages at the end of each of their six legs, are seen navigating an environment of blocks and other geometric constructions. The second-from-the-top spider appears to be holding a block down for the spider just below to climb on to help it up, or they might be lifting the block together. One is almost outside the frame at the top.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 40th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[38: Apple Jacks]].
**The next was [[39: Bowl]].
*Original title: "Friday's Drawing - Red Spiders 2"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "And lo, they still have six legs. "
**In the comments on LiveJournal, he made the following remark. "This is the original that inspired the other one. It's my favorite of the two."
**This latter comment is reflected in the title text the comic received when posted on xkcd.
**It shows that the original comment did not really make sense, since it was really the spiders in the first, [[8: Red spiders]], which still had six legs.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{Comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 40]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Red Spiders02]]

2: Petit Trees (sketch)

2022-05-04T01:39:42Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 237011 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap</div><noinclude>:''"2", this comic's number, redirects here. For the comic named "2", see [[2614: 2]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 2
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Petit Trees (sketch)
| image = tree_cropped_(1).jpg
| titletext = "Petit" being a reference to Le Petit Prince, which I only thought about halfway through the sketch
}}

==Explanation==
This comic does not present a particular point; it is just a picture drawn by [[Randall]].

''{{w|The Little Prince}}'' (in French ''Le Petit Prince)'' is a novella written by {{w|Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}} in 1943, about the titular Little Prince, who lives on an asteroid and visits other inhabited asteroids and eventually the Earth. The book is filled with drawings of the asteroid, the prince, and the travels they make. It is noted how, on occasion, {{w|Adansonia|baobab trees}} can begin to grow on these asteroids, and should they not be immediately uprooted, the growth of their roots would tear the asteroid apart. In this drawing, the roots are encircling the sphere, rather than piercing it, as Le Petit Prince describes.

''The Little Prince'' has later been referenced both in [[618: Asteroid]] and in [[1350: Lorenz]] at [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png the end] of the space trip branch. It was also referenced to in the What If article [https://what-if.xkcd.com/26/ Leap Seconds].

==Transcript==
:[Two trees are growing on opposite sides of a sphere.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 4th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[3: Island (sketch)]].
**The next was [[1: Barrel - Part 1]].
*Original title: "Le Petit"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "Another fairly old drawing that I scanned."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 04]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 04]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]

3: Island (sketch)

2022-05-04T01:39:12Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 237320 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap</div> <div style="display: none">crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 3
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Island (sketch)
| image = island_color.jpg
| titletext = Hello, island
}}

==Explanation==
This comic does not present a particular point; it is just a picture drawn by [[Randall]].

The title text may be a play on the classical {{w|"Hello, World!" program|"Hello, world!"}} program, traditionally a first program when learning a new programming language.

==Transcript==
:[A color sketch of an island.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 3rd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]].
**The next was [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]].
**This is the only comic that has the same number both on xkcd and on LiveJournal.
*Original title: "Island"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I draw these a lot."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 03]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 03]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]

4: Landscape (sketch)

2022-05-04T01:38:49Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 237018 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap</div> <div style="display: none">crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 4
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Landscape (sketch)
| image = landscape_cropped_(1).jpg
| titletext = There's a river flowing through the ocean
}}

==Explanation==
This comic does not present a particular point; it is just a picture drawn by Randall.

There is a joke in the title text that a river, made of water, is flowing through the ocean, which is also made of water.

It is also worth noting that the sketch, when flipped vertically, maintains the appearance of having the sea on the bottom and sky on top, although the setting sun is on the wrong part of the horizon.

Similar to {{w|Relativity (M. C. Escher) | works of M. C. Escher}}, this picture takes visual components of a typical scene and combines then in ways that appear to work well on a small scale, but would never combine that way in real life and do not make sense in the larger context of the image. The clouds are casting shadows on the sky.

[[File:Flipped sketch.jpg|thumb|Flipped sketch]]

==Transcript==
:[A sketch of a landscape with sun on the horizon.]
:[There is text from the checkered paper at the top:]
:From Page No.__

==Trivia==
*This was the 2nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)]].
**The next was [[3: Island (sketch)]].
*Original title: "Landscape"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "Don't ask me why there's a river running through the ocean. Please."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 02]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 02]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)

2022-05-04T01:38:09Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 237270 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap</div> <div style="display: none">crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 7
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)
| image = girl_sleeping_noline_(1).jpg
| titletext = I don't remember her name at all, but she fell asleep on the floor in front of me.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic does not present a particular point; it is just a picture drawn by Randall. It is just what the title says - a sketch of a girl sleeping drawn during a Spanish class.

According to the title text, she is also on the floor.

==Transcript==
:[Girl sleeping on her side, facing away from view.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 1st comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The next was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]].
*Original title: "Girl sleeping"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I drew this in 11th-grade Spanish class. We were watching a movie and she was asleep on the floor in front of me."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
*The drawing returns in [[1506: xkcloud]] as one of the [[1506: xkcloud/Pictures of other pages#Help! We lost the text|Help! We lost the text]] given images.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 01]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 01]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]

8: Red spiders

2022-05-04T01:37:48Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 237347 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap</div> <div style="display: none">crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 8
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Red Spiders
| image = red_spiders_small.jpg
| titletext = They are six-legged spiders
}}

==Explanation==
The early comics often feature a style different to what would become the signature xkcd stick-figure style. This comic is the first in an arc of comics, spaced out over 3 years (so far), in which Red Spiders are seen attacking humans. Its objective is not to be funny, philosophical, or scientifically interesting; it just tells a story, in a {{w|Questionable Content}}-esque way.
Interestingly, the red spiders actually more closely resemble opiliones, the order of arachnids that includes the Daddy Longlegs, and which are actually more closely related to mites than to spiders. Of course, the number of legs is incorrect.

The full series of [[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]] comics:
*[[8: Red Spiders]], this one
*[[43: Red Spiders 2]], in which the spiders begin building.
*[[47: Counter-Red Spiders]], in which the humans begin a counter-offensive.
*[[126: Red Spiders Cometh]], in which the spiders attack a city.
*[[427: Bad Timing]], in which, in a style more typical to xkcd, the spiders attack a couple in the middle of a serious relationship discussion in a hot-air balloon.
*[[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]], in which it appears briefly in the 14th panel crawling over a cube

==Transcript==
:[Many six-legged red spiders standing on and hanging from cuboids. The cuboids hang in the air with no visible means of support. Some of the spiders have made a bridge out of themselves.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 8th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
** The previous was [[13: Canyon]].
**The next was [[6: Irony]].
*Original title: "Spiders"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "They're not spiders; they have six legs!"
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 08]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 08]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Red Spiders01]]

9: Serenity is coming out tomorrow

2022-05-04T01:37:31Z

Fredrick: Undo revision 237466 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<div style="display: none">crap</div> <div style="display: none">crap </div>
{{comic
| number = 9
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Serenity is coming out tomorrow
| image = firefly.jpg
| titletext = Mal, Simon, Wash, Zoe, River, Kaylee, Jayne, Inara, Book.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the release of the movie ''{{w|Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity}}'', which was the followup to {{w|Joss Whedon}}'s TV show, ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'', which was cancelled by {{w|Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox}} after only one season. Plus, three episodes were not shown on Fox but debuted on {{w|Sci Fi Channel}} in the UK. The show was followed by a devoted number of fans who were outraged by the cancellation of the show. High DVD sales and strong fan support allowed the follow up film Serenity to be created, which tied up many of the loose ends that Firefly left open, such as the cause of {{w|List of Firefly characters#River Tam|River}}'s abilities and the origins of the {{w|Reaver (Firefly)|Reavers}}.

The image shows the main characters of Firefly. From left to right:
*{{w|Malcolm Reynolds|Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds}} - the ship's captain.
*{{w|Simon Tam}} - a doctor trying to rescue his sister.
*{{w|Hoban Washburne|Hoban "Wash" Washburne}} - the ship's pilot.
*{{w|Zoe Washburne}} - the ship's second-in-command.
*{{w|River Tam}} - Simon's sister, who displays superhuman capabilities, but is crippled by alliance research.
*{{w|Kaylee Frye}} - the ship's happy-go-lucky mechanic.
*{{w|Jayne Cobb}} - the hired muscle.
*{{w|Inara Serra}} - a companion, the equivalent of a courtesan, but with a greater deal of respect.
*{{w|Derrial Book}} - a shepherd, which is similar to a priest, with a very unknown backstory.

This is the first [[xkcd]] with adorned stick figures (e.g. hair, coats, etc.) to represent distinct characters, which later becomes a standard motif of the comic.

{{w|Nathan Fillion}}, {{w|Summer Glau}}, and {{w|Jewel Staite}}, the actors who play Mal, River, and Kaylee respectively, show up later in Randall's series [[:Category:The Race|The Race]].

==Transcript==
:[Several stick figures stand side by side in a lineup. A forlorn male in a coat, a male with combed hair, a male with spiky hair and arms outstretched enthusiastically, a female with long hair and cornrows, a shorter female with stringy hair falling over her face, an enthusiastic female with arms raised in celebration with shorter hair, a male with short hair and a goatee and hands on hips, a female with curly hair wearing a dress, and a stern-looking man with flyaway hair.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 10th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[6: Irony]].
**The next was [[10: Pi Equals]].
*Original title: "Firefly"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "Drawn in honor of the upcoming Serenity! If you work very hard you can figure out who is who."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 10]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 10]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Firefly]]