Editing 155: Search History

{{comic
| number    = 155
| date      = September 11, 2006
| title     = Search History
| image     = search_history.png
| titletext = SomethingAwful has a wonderful compilation of crazy AOL searches in their Weekend Web archives, 2006-08-13.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic references the {{w|AOL search data leak}}, where users had potentially identifying and embarrassing search histories published. [[Randall Munroe|Randall]], drawn as [[Cueball]], thus publishes his own potentially embarrassing searches in solidarity with the AOL users. All of his searches relate to his fear of dinosaurs, mainly {{w|velociraptors}}, as a consequence of the {{w|Jurassic Park (movie)|Jurassic Park}} movie he saw when younger. The search "{{w|Utahraptor}}" may be a reference to Dinosaur Comics, which xkcd has parodied in [[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]]. Alternatively, "Utahraptor" may be referenced because the raptors portrayed in Jurassic Park were much more like utahraptors than velociraptors in terms of size. 

The title text refers to a document posted on a humor site:  [http://web.archive.org/web/20130721005347/https://www.somethingawful.com/weekend-web/aol-search-log/ part 1], [http://web.archive.org/web/20130814103859/https://www.somethingawful.com/weekend-web/aol-search-log-2/ part 2], [http://web.archive.org/web/20070220112746/https://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/aol-search-log-3.php part 3] (NSFW). Here is each search in order with an explanation given:

====Table====
{| class="wikitable"
!Search query
!Explanation
|-
|velociraptors
|He is searching for velociraptors now, so he should have all the information he needs to hold off small fast dinosaurs.
|-
|site:imdb.com "jurassic park"
|The [https://imdb.com 'IMDb'] "Internet Movie Database" is a website devoted to documenting all aspects of films: cast & crew, quotes, plots, goofs, reviews, etc. Randall is now looking at the film Jurassic Park, and perhaps its sequels and other references; possibly reviewing it, but probably trying to extract all known 'facts' about the depiction of velociraptors and similar dinosaurs within it.
|-
|raptors
|Randall is continuing to research raptors, as he really wants to be safe against them.
|-
|dromaeosaurids
|This isn't a type of raptor, but it now seems that Randall is now paranoid about smaller, fast dinosaurs in general. {{w|Dromaeosauridae}} is the taxonomic family that encloses all types of raptor.
|-
|utahraptor
|He now wants to get information about different raptors, so in this case {{w|Utahraptors}}. 
|-
|"home depot" deadbolts
|Randall is so paranoid about raptors existing and being able to pick locks (or perhaps break them, in the case of Utahraptor) that he is installing deadbolts. He is choosing to buy the deadbolts from {{w|The Home Depot|Home Depot}}, a common American home improvement store.
|-
|security home improvements
|He is now reinforcing his home against possible entry points, such as the windows.
|-
|surviving a raptor attack
|Randall has entered survival mode and just wants to survive the perceived raptors.
|-
|Robert bakker paleontologist
|Randall is now looking for more general information on {{w|Robert T. Bakker|Robert Bakker}}. He has presumably included "paleontologist" to filter out results about {{w|Robert Bakker (rower)|Robert Bakker}}, the Dutch rower.
|-
|Robert bakker "possible raptor sympathizer"
|Robert Bakker is an American paleontologist who has written the book ''Raptor Red'' about the life of a female Utahraptor (see below). This has apparently caused Randall to suspect he is a "raptor sympathizer".
|-
|site:en.wikipedia.org surviving a raptor attack
| <code>site:</code> is a [https://searchengineland.com/what-you-can-learn-from-googles-site-operator-14052 Google operator]. He has inevitably gone on Wikipedia on how to survive a raptor attack, as Randall heavily relies on Wikipedia for anything he wants to know.
|-
|learning from mistakes in Jurassic park
|If you google this search term, the results are largely about where Jurassic Park depicted its dinosaurs wrongly. But, given the themes of the rest of the searches, he probably wanted to know where those characters in Jurassic Park made mistakes in keeping the dinosaurs in captivity, or in dealing with the new dangers once they got loose, or both.
|-
|big-game rifles
|Having thought about getting close to raptors to hit them, he realized that it's not a very clever idea, so he is now planning to shoot them from a distance.
|-
|tire irons
|Since velociraptors do not fear fire, he wants {{w|tire irons}} to hit them with. Tire irons are heavy, so they should hurt raptors.
|-
|treating raptor wounds
|In the unlikely event that he gets wounded by a raptor and actually survives, he wants to know how to treat the wounds.
|-
|do raptors fear fire
|Having seen how to make {{w|molotov cocktails}}, he is having doubts on whether they will work.
|-
|how to make a molotov cocktail
|As a precaution, he wants to know how to make molotov cocktails to fight off raptors if needed.
|-
|do raptors fear death
|To see if the scare tactic will work, he sees whether raptors fear death. Unfortunately, they don't, which is also shown in the next search.
|-
|can raptors pick locks
|Randall wants to know if raptors can enter his house if he locks it
|-
|How to tell if my neighbors are raptors
|Randall is starting to become paranoid about raptors and this is his first search term on the matter. He wants to know if his neighbours are raptors, presumably to move house if they are, even though they died out 71 million years ago.
|}

==Transcript==
:[In a slim panel at the top of the comic Randall (drawn as Cueball) stands to the left and his speech is written in the rest of the panel to his right.]
:Randall: In solidarity with the many AOL users whose often embarrassing web searches were released to the public, I offer a sample of my own search history:

:[The long panel beneath the first panel shows a screenshot of Google's front page. The Google logo is partly cut through the top third of the logo. It is in the typical Google color code. Beneath the logo are six links for where to search, one of them is black, because it is chosen, the others blue. One has a red super script indicating there are news there. Below is the search bar. To the right of this, there are three lines with links, for what type of search preferences etc.]
:<big><font color="blue">G</font><font color="red">o</font><font color="orange">o</font><font color="blue">g</font><font color="green">l</font><font color="red">e</font></big>
:'''Web'''&nbsp; &nbsp;<font color="blue"><u>Images</u>&nbsp; &nbsp;<u>Video</u></font><sup><font color="red">New!</font></sup>&nbsp; &nbsp;<font color="blue"><u>News</u>&nbsp; &nbsp;<u>Maps</u>&nbsp; &nbsp;<u>more>></u></font>
<font color="blue"><u>
::Advanced search
::Preferences
::Language Tools</u></font>

:[Below the search bar is a box with a thin line around, which comes up when Randall presses the bar, it has the following 20 entries that Google suggests for autocompletion:]
:velociraptors
:site:imdb.com "jurassic park"
:raptors
:dromaeosaurids
:utahraptor
:"home depot" deadbolts
:security home improvement
:surviving a raptor attack
:robert bakker paleontologist
:robert bakker "possible raptor sympathizer"
:site:en.wikipedia.org surviving a raptor attack
:learning from mistakes in jurassic park
:big-game rifles
:tire irons
:treating raptor wounds
:do raptors fear fire
:how to make a molotov cocktail
:do raptors fear death
:can raptors pick locks
:how to tell if my neighbors are raptors

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]
[[Category:Google Search]]