@xkcdexplained The Big Caption

Toby, Dave & Ian Explain XKCD

There is a graph. On the X axis is sex, on the Y is computer.

October 18, 2010 at 2:54pm
26 notes
Something tragic has happened in the Author’s life, and we feel that pointing out his love-life’s shortcomings or his relentless obsession with childhood would not be appropriate at this time.

Something tragic has happened in the Author’s life, and we feel that pointing out his love-life’s shortcomings or his relentless obsession with childhood would not be appropriate at this time.

October 15, 2010 at 1:35pm
25 notes
The Author dreams of a world where he is accepted into an elite club of geeks that promises to make it easier for him to completely avoid speaking to non-geeks.

The Author dreams of a world where he is accepted into an elite club of geeks that promises to make it easier for him to completely avoid speaking to non-geeks.

October 13, 2010 at 11:50am
6 notes
Variations on the Guns N Roses song “Paradise City” are made here by using different rhyme combinations.

Variations on the Guns N Roses song “Paradise City” are made here by using different rhyme combinations.

October 11, 2010 at 4:01pm
14 notes
It is October, so three Halloween-themed jokes are made here. All three revolve around a wacky misinterpretation of the tradition of pumpkin carving.
1. He carved a pumpkin into a pumpkin, a meta joke.
2. Nitro glycerin is used both as an explosive, and a treatment for heart conditions such as angina.
3. The woman is projecting her own insecurities about adulthood onto the pumpkin. It is assumed that this character represents the Author.
4. A reference to the Banach–Tarski paradox - a paradox that states a 3d ball can be split into pieces and reconstructed into two identical copies of the first ball. It is built upon The Axiom of Choice is an often-debated axiom dealing with infinite sets and recursion. Except in this case the ball is a pumpkin.

It is October, so three Halloween-themed jokes are made here. All three revolve around a wacky misinterpretation of the tradition of pumpkin carving.

1. He carved a pumpkin into a pumpkin, a meta joke.

2. Nitro glycerin is used both as an explosive, and a treatment for heart conditions such as angina.

3. The woman is projecting her own insecurities about adulthood onto the pumpkin. It is assumed that this character represents the Author.

4. A reference to the Banach–Tarski paradox - a paradox that states a 3d ball can be split into pieces and reconstructed into two identical copies of the first ball. It is built upon The Axiom of Choice is an often-debated axiom dealing with infinite sets and recursion. Except in this case the ball is a pumpkin.

October 8, 2010 at 1:17pm
15 notes
The Author is rallying against educators that fail to embrace the student’s imagination and creativity, instead choosing to take the easy route and stick to a lesson plan. 

The theory being taught in this hypothetical classroom is only partially correct, and does not apply to all modes of flight - especially for planes that are capable of upside-down flight.

The Author is rallying against educators that fail to embrace the student’s imagination and creativity, instead choosing to take the easy route and stick to a lesson plan.

The theory being taught in this hypothetical classroom is only partially correct, and does not apply to all modes of flight - especially for planes that are capable of upside-down flight.

October 6, 2010 at 1:18am
29 notes
An updated version of the Map of Online Communities - a visualization of the size and relationships between various web communities. 
This otherwise useless data is visualized as a map for a good reason. It is meant to convince those that spend a majority of their lives online that the communities they belong to actually matter, like actual geographic locations. It is meant to give meaning to otherwise meaningless lives.

An updated version of the Map of Online Communities - a visualization of the size and relationships between various web communities.

This otherwise useless data is visualized as a map for a good reason. It is meant to convince those that spend a majority of their lives online that the communities they belong to actually matter, like actual geographic locations. It is meant to give meaning to otherwise meaningless lives.

October 5, 2010 at 12:13am
6 notes
This comic is playing off of the concept of a “golden hammer” - a phrase used to describe a single tool or utility that someone uses in every possible situation, even if it is not the best tool for the job. It is is often expanded to state, “when all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail”, meaning that you will inevitably use your “hammer” for something it is not suited for.
The sitting-down man remarks in amazement that a small hardware device he is “hacking” on apparently runs the Java Virtual Machine - a large and complex piece of computer software used to, among other things, interpret and execute Java code. This is surprising to the man as this would be a very difficult and time-consuming task, and ultimately (in his opinion) unnecessary. He unknowingly is attributing the golden hammer effect to the device’s manufacturer by noticing that they have gone terribly out of their way to allow the use of their chosen hammer - Java.
The hatted man then walks in and replaces “hammer” and “something it is not suited for” in the aforementioned phrase with other words that the Author deemed more wacky and humorous. Another example of this could be: “when all you have is a ball-point pen, everything starts to look like a stick figure.”

This comic is playing off of the concept of a “golden hammer” - a phrase used to describe a single tool or utility that someone uses in every possible situation, even if it is not the best tool for the job. It is is often expanded to state, “when all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail”, meaning that you will inevitably use your “hammer” for something it is not suited for.

The sitting-down man remarks in amazement that a small hardware device he is “hacking” on apparently runs the Java Virtual Machine - a large and complex piece of computer software used to, among other things, interpret and execute Java code. This is surprising to the man as this would be a very difficult and time-consuming task, and ultimately (in his opinion) unnecessary. He unknowingly is attributing the golden hammer effect to the device’s manufacturer by noticing that they have gone terribly out of their way to allow the use of their chosen hammer - Java.

The hatted man then walks in and replaces “hammer” and “something it is not suited for” in the aforementioned phrase with other words that the Author deemed more wacky and humorous. Another example of this could be: “when all you have is a ball-point pen, everything starts to look like a stick figure.”

October 1, 2010 at 2:53am
15 notes
In a hypothetical dream, a female imagines a world wherein all the followers of modern dating manuals pair up and remove themselves from the dating pool. 
Thankfully, the act of befriending the person you desire and slowly chipping away at their defenses through endless compassion and favors, hoping to one day make sex to them would still be allowed.

In a hypothetical dream, a female imagines a world wherein all the followers of modern dating manuals pair up and remove themselves from the dating pool.

Thankfully, the act of befriending the person you desire and slowly chipping away at their defenses through endless compassion and favors, hoping to one day make sex to them would still be allowed.

September 29, 2010 at 4:28pm
65 notes
Stephen Hawking, renowned physicist and author, suggests to some colleagues that they go as a group to see a movie. Due to his prolific insight and track record of groundbreaking discoveries, the colleagues mistake this suggestion for another piece of knowledge and quickly run off to alert the media.
For this reason, a violently crippled man sits alone. He sits, as he must, with no friends or loved ones with which he can share his most basic of emotions. 
The Author, much like Stephen Hawking, creates comics such as these as a cry for help. A cry that will, sadly, never be heard over the cackling laughter of his devoted fans.

Stephen Hawking, renowned physicist and author, suggests to some colleagues that they go as a group to see a movie. Due to his prolific insight and track record of groundbreaking discoveries, the colleagues mistake this suggestion for another piece of knowledge and quickly run off to alert the media.

For this reason, a violently crippled man sits alone. He sits, as he must, with no friends or loved ones with which he can share his most basic of emotions.

The Author, much like Stephen Hawking, creates comics such as these as a cry for help. A cry that will, sadly, never be heard over the cackling laughter of his devoted fans.

September 27, 2010 at 4:16pm
13 notes
When people use a word such as “piquant”, typically reserved for intellectual conversation, in combination with a vulgar curse word it creates a contrast that some may find humorous. This contrast is rarely seen, as the combination of these types of words is not common.
The Author has created a chart in order to make light of this humorous observation.

When people use a word such as “piquant”, typically reserved for intellectual conversation, in combination with a vulgar curse word it creates a contrast that some may find humorous. This contrast is rarely seen, as the combination of these types of words is not common.

The Author has created a chart in order to make light of this humorous observation.