2436: Circles

2022-05-26T20:26:41Z

I686:

{{comic
| number = 2436
| date = March 12, 2021
| title = Circles
| image = circles.png
| titletext = ( MSTE ( AR ) CD )
}}

==Explanation==
The comic depicts five overlapping circles, themselves encircled by circles of various sizes which enclose two, four, or all five of the smaller overlapping circles, as in an {{w|Euler diagram}}. Several well-known logos consist of overlapping circles, and the larger circles reference these logos. These are: {{w|Mastercard}}, which consists of two side-by-side overlapping circles (technically, disks, since they're filled in); {{w|Audi}}, which is four side-by-side overlapping circles, and the {{w|Olympic rings}}, which are five topologically linked rings in a "W" shaped pattern.

<gallery>
Mastercard 2019 logo.svg|Mastercard logo
Audi-Logo 2016.svg|Audi logo
Olympic rings without rims.svg|Olympic rings
</gallery>

To indicate that the Mastercard logo comprises two overlapping circles, the diagram draws a larger circle around the first two circles, inscribed with a label. Other than its size and the label, this new circle is identical to the five smaller circles.

Similarly, to indicate that the Audi logo comprises four overlapping circles, the diagram again provides a larger circle, this time encompassing the first four smaller circles, inscribed with a label. The "Audi" circle completely encloses the "Mastercard" circle, indicating that the four circles of the "Audi" logo include the two circles of the "Mastercard" logo.

Finally, an even larger circle, enclosing all of the other circles, indicates that the Olympic Rings use all five original circles.

The comic was released only about four months before the postponed {{w|2020 Summer Olympics}} was scheduled to start on 23 July 2021. It was {{w|2020_Summer_Olympics#Postponement_to_2021|postponed}} because of the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}, which has spawned a [[:Category:COVID-19|series]] of comics on xkcd.

The title text is a textual representation of the Mastercard name as a Venn diagram containing the letters in the words "master" and "card" — A and R are shared by both, while MSTE and CD are unique to their respective elements.

==Transcript==
:[Five small circles, looped together in the style of the Olympics logo is drawn in the center. On the left, a larger circle surrounds two of the prior ones, incidentally overlapping a third circle. A larger circle surrounds four of the small circles, thus also the previous mentioned circle, cutting over the last of the five circles. Finally a very large circle fully contains all the other circles. The three larger circles have labels, with the small ones label above, and with a small clarifying line from the label towards the top of this circle. The middle sized circle has the label standing on a break in the circle at it's bottom, and the largest circle has the label just beneath it. From smallest to largest of the circles the labels are:]
:Mastercard
:Audi
:Olympics

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Euler diagrams]]
[[Category:Sport]]

1361: Google Announcement

2022-05-26T19:52:55Z

I686: Undo revision 282101 by Donald Trump (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1361
| date = April 28, 2014
| title = Google Announcement
| image = google_announcement.png
| titletext = The less popular 8.8.4.4 is slated for discontinuation.
}}

==Explanation==
At the time of this comic's release, {{w|Vic Gundotra}} had recently left {{w|Google}}. Because he was the head of {{w|Google+}}, this had caused many people, including [http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/google-is-walking-dead/ TechCrunch], to theorize that Google+ was going to be shut down, despite the continuing comments from Google that it would remain active and updated. It lasted five more years, finally being closed on April 2nd, 2019.

Google has a history of {{w|List of Google products#Discontinued products and services|closing popular services}}.

The comic extrapolates this to an announcement that Google would be closing '''all''' its popular services, up to and including its e-mail service, Gmail, and even the core business of the company, its Internet search engine, to wholly concentrate on a relatively obscure part of its product lineup. According to Google, its Public {{w|Name server|DNS servers}} (Domain Name System servers), better known by their IPv4 addresses {{w|8.8.8.8|8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4}}, are supposed to be a faster alternative to using one's ISP's DNS servers (because of caching effects due to a large user base), as well as less susceptible to censorship. When Turkey started blocking access to Twitter and YouTube in March 2014, Turkish ISPs first did this on the DNS level by manipulating the results from their own name servers. The most popular workaround was using Google's DNS server instead, so much so that its address was written as [http://gawker.com/turkish-graffiti-spreads-the-ip-addresses-of-googles-d-1548946312 graffiti on the side of a building].

The joke may also be related to the fact that 8.8.8.8 is an IP address heavily used by network administrators to perform connectivity tests (''ping'') because it is easy to remember and fast to type. Google would want to concentrate on this feature to build a business model using that fact.

The reason behind this decision may be that Google considers a DNS server, a fairly low-level component of the Internet's service stack, to be the optimal place to collect information on its users, an accusation leveled at Google ever since it introduced the service.

The title text refers to the impression held by some that Google will shut down services that prove less popular than desired at short notice, even though they may in fact have a significant user base. A recent example of that is the closure of the RSS aggregation service, Google Reader, in July 2013. While the same DNS service is provided under both addresses, the more memorable 8.8.8.8 is likely to receive far more requests than 8.8.4.4.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing at a lectern marked Google.]
:Cueball: The rumors are true. Google will be shutting down Plus—
:Cueball: Along with Hangouts, Photos, Voice, Docs, Drive, Maps, Gmail, Chrome, Android, and Search—
:Cueball: To focus on our core project:
:Cueball: The 8.8.8.8 DNS Server.

==Trivia==
*Google quickly responded with an acknowledgment to a query for "xkcd". The TXT record for the DNS name of the IP address 8.8.8.8 was set to "http://xkcd.com/1361/", an entry just meant to be informal.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2436: Circles

1361: Google Announcement