Difference between revisions of "522: Google Trends"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Explanation: Actual citation actually needed on the joke's premise; marked incomplete. Also cleaned up language around politics)
(Explanation: I'm bad at tags.)
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I cannot for the life of me find these "bloggers" that Randall's talking about. The only proof I can find of the supposedly real geographic trend for "men kissing" is this comic. Could someone do a deeper dig and see if they can find Randall's source.
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{{incomplete|I cannot for the life of me find these "bloggers" that Randall's talking about. The only proof I can find of the supposedly real geographic trend for "men kissing" is this comic. Could someone do a deeper dig and see if they can find Randall's source? Also this thing where the title text is about a car always rubbed me the wrong way, even if it might be true.}}
 
{{w|Google Search|Google}} keeps track of which searches are most popular in which regions as part of more general data mining to improve their service. For the enjoyment/education of others, they release select, non-personal parts of this data under the banner "[http://www.google.com/trends/ Google Trends]."
 
{{w|Google Search|Google}} keeps track of which searches are most popular in which regions as part of more general data mining to improve their service. For the enjoyment/education of others, they release select, non-personal parts of this data under the banner "[http://www.google.com/trends/ Google Trends]."
  

Revision as of 23:54, 1 January 2019

Google Trends
Obama has been writing Lincoln/Obama erotic fan fiction on his secret livejournal. Excerpt: Lincoln lay back on the bed, nude save for his trademark stovepipe hat. 'Tell me,' he purred seductively, as he and Obama formed a more perfect union. 'When you come, is it 10% ethanol?'
Title text: Obama has been writing Lincoln/Obama erotic fan fiction on his secret livejournal. Excerpt: Lincoln lay back on the bed, nude save for his trademark stovepipe hat. 'Tell me,' he purred seductively, as he and Obama formed a more perfect union. 'When you come, is it 10% ethanol?'

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: I cannot for the life of me find these "bloggers" that Randall's talking about. The only proof I can find of the supposedly real geographic trend for "men kissing" is this comic. Could someone do a deeper dig and see if they can find Randall's source? Also this thing where the title text is about a car always rubbed me the wrong way, even if it might be true.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.
Google keeps track of which searches are most popular in which regions as part of more general data mining to improve their service. For the enjoyment/education of others, they release select, non-personal parts of this data under the banner "Google Trends."

The first statistic – that "Men kissing" was popular in Utah, a state known for possessing a large population with very conservative social values, including opposition to homosexuality – is real. The others are made up for the sake of the joke. In order:

With regards to the excerpt Randall provides in the title text:

  • Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on homosexual behavior.
  • Lincoln/Obama (pronounced Lincoln slash Obama) fan fiction normally should be between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama.
  • However we later see that Lincoln is a car.
  • The "more perfect union" line comes from the preamble to the US Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..."
  • Ethanol is the more scientific name for drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol.
  • "10% ethanol" refers to automotive gasoline that includes 10% ethanol (usually made from corn or other vegetables), with the hopes of reducing the dependence on oil for fuel.
  • With regards to the title-text, the verb "come" means "to have an orgasm" or "to ejaculate". In this mock slash fiction the Lincoln is supposed to ejaculate gasoline, and expects Obama to do the same.

Transcript

Bloggers were recently amused to discover that,
according to Google Trends, the search term:
"men kissing" is most popular in conservative Utah.
A few other embarrassing correlations:
[A two column table]
Search Term
Top City

Installing Ubuntu
Redmond, WA
Running for President in 2010
Wasilla, AK
Lincoln Fan Fiction
Chicago, IL
Raptors on Hoverboards
Somerville, MA
How is babby formed?
Wasilla, AK
I hate this website
Mountain View, CA


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Discussion

This comic made me laugh and laugh and laugh, some of it even out loud. Randall for President in 2014! 108.162.219.223 19:24, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

The next election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Maybe Randall does create a xkcd party and he will run for that job; but I'm pretty sure he won't. --Dgbrt (talk) 20:50, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
That makes me feel sad, he would make a far better candidate than either of the current ones. No matter who gets elected now, America has lost. We can only hope they don't destroy too much. 162.158.2.60 11:47, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I disagree with the explanation of the the title text; it makes no sense. Why would a car "lie back, nude, with his trademark stovepipe hat"? I think it's a reference to Obama pushing for more ethanol in fuels; the blend now averages at about 10%. Apparently Obama recently backed of increasing the number, but at the time, ethanol was a big political issue. I don't know why "ethanol" in particular, but it being a car is more than nonsensical: it doesn't fit the words. 162.158.60.23 02:24, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

I'm gonna be real I'm pretty sure the "bloggers" he talks about aren't real Rubbish (talk) 17:41, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

Can someone check that "ironic" claim about the daughter of Sarah Palin? I am not deep into that topic, and the wikipedia page is a bit confusing, but if I see it correctly, she became a abstinence advocat AFTER her teen pregnancy. --Lupo (talk) 07:17, 23 July 2019 (UTC)