Xkcd Explained

xkcd
Italic Title:	no
Author:	Randall Munroe
Status:	Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
First:	^[1]
Genre:	Comedy, geek humor

xkcd, sometimes styled XKCD,^[2] is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe.^[1] The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language".^{[3] [4]} Munroe states on the comic's website that the name of the comic is not an initialism but "just a word with no phonetic pronunciation".

The subject matter of the comic varies from statements on life and love to mathematical, programming, and scientific in-jokes. Some strips feature simple humor or pop-culture references. It has a cast of stick figures,^{[5] [6]} and the comic occasionally features landscapes, graphs, charts, and intricate mathematical patterns such as fractals.^[7] New cartoons are added three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.^[8]

Munroe has released five spinoff books from the comic. The first book, published in 2010 and entitled xkcd: volume 0, was a series of select comics from his website. His 2014 book What If? is based on his blog of the same name that answers unusual science questions from readers in a light-hearted way that is scientifically grounded.^{[9] [10] [11]} The What If column on the site is updated with new articles from time to time. His 2015 book Thing Explainer explains scientific concepts using only the one thousand most commonly used words in English.^{[12] [13]} A fourth book, How To, which is described as "a profoundly unhelpful self-help book", was released on September 3, 2019.^[14] A fifth book, What If? 2, was released on September 13, 2022.^[15] Additionally, a sixth book What If? 10th Anniversary Edition, will be released on November 26, 2024. ^[16]

On August 31, 2023, a spinoff YouTube channel named xkcd's What If? was created, dedicated to adapting the "What If?" books into video format, produced by Neptune Studios LLC.^[17] It started posting videos on November 29, 2023.

History

As a student, Munroe often drew charts, maps, and "stick figure battles" in the margins of his school notebooks, besides solving mathematical problems unrelated to his classes. By the time he graduated from college, Munroe's "piles of notebooks" became too large and he started scanning the images.^[18]

xkcd began in September 2005, when Munroe decided to scan his doodles and put them on his personal website. According to Munroe, the comic's name has no particular significance and is simply a four-letter word without a phonetic pronunciation, something he describes as "a treasured and carefully guarded point in the space of four-character strings". In January 2006, the comic was split off into its own website, created in collaboration with Derek Radtke.^[19]

In May 2007, the comic garnered widespread attention by depicting online communities in geographic form. Various websites were drawn as continents, each sized according to their relative popularity and located according to their general subject matter.^{[20] [21]} This put xkcd at number two on the Syracuse Post-Standard's "The new hotness" list.^[22] By 2008, xkcd was able to financially support Munroe and Radtke "reasonably well" through the sale of thousands of T-shirts per month.

On September 19, 2012, "Click and Drag" was published, which featured a panel which can be explored via clicking and dragging its insides.^[23] It immediately triggered positive response on social websites and forums.^[24] The large image nested in the panel measures 165,888 pixels wide by 79,872 pixels high.^[25] Munroe later described it as "probably the most popular one I ever put on the Internet" and considered it one of his own favorites.

"Time" began publication at midnight EDT on March 25, 2013, with the comic's image updating every 30 minutes until March 30, when they began to change every hour, lasting for over four months. The images constitute time lapse frames of a story, with the tooltip originally reading "Wait for it.", later changed to "RUN." and changed again to "The end." on July 26. The story began with a male and female character building a sandcastle complex on a beach who then embark on an adventure to learn the secrets of the sea. On July 26, the comic superimposed a frame (3094) with the phrase "The End". Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club wrote of the comic: "[...] the kind of nifty experiment that keeps people coming back to XKCD, which at its best isn't a strip comic so much as an idea factory and a shared experience".^[26] Cory Doctorow mentioned "Time" in a brief article on Boing Boing on April 7, saying the comic was "coming along nicely". The 3,099-panel "Time" comic ended on July 26, 2013, and was followed by a blog post summarizing the journey.^{[27] [28]} In 2014, it won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.

Around 2007, Munroe drew all the comics on paper, then scanned and processed them on a tablet computer (a Fujitsu Lifebook).^[29] In 2014, he was using a Cintiq graphics tablet for drawing (like many other cartoonists), alongside a laptop for coding tasks.^[30]

Influences

Munroe has been a fan of newspaper comic strips since childhood, describing xkcd as an "heir" to Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts. Despite this influence, xkcds quirky and technical humor would have been difficult to syndicate. In webcomics, Munroe has said that "one can draw something that appeals to 1 percent of the audience—1 percent of United States, that is three million people, that is more readers than small cartoons can have". Munroe cited the lack of a need for editorial control due to the low bar of access to the Internet as "a salvation".^[19]

Recurring themes

While there is no specific storyline to the webcomic, there are some recurring themes and characters.^[31] Recurring themes of xkcd include "technology, science, mathematics and relationships". xkcd frequently features jokes related to popular culture, such as Guitar Hero, Facebook, Vanilla Ice, Linux, and Wikipedia.

There are many strips opening with the words "My Hobby:", usually depicting the nondescript narrator character describing some type of humorous or quirky behavior. However, not all strips are intended to be humorous. Romance and relationships are frequent themes, and other xkcd strips consist of complex depictions of landscapes. Many xkcd strips refer to Munroe's "obsession" with potential Velociraptor attacks.^[32]

References to Wikipedia articles or to Wikipedia as a whole have occurred several times in xkcd.^{[33] [34] [35]} A facsimile of a made-up Wikipedia entry for "malamanteau" (a stunt word created by Munroe to poke fun at Wikipedia's writing style) provoked a controversy within Wikipedia that was picked up by various media.^{[36] [37]} Another strip depicted an example of a topic that Wikipedia could not cover neutrally—a fictional donation to either anti-abortion or abortion-rights activists, determined by the word count in a Wikipedia article on the event where the donation was announced being either odd or even.^[38] Wikipedia is also depicted as an extension of one's mind, allowing them to access far more information than normally.^[39]

Nearly all xkcd strips have a tooltip, the text of which usually contains a secondary punchline or annotation related to that day's comic.^[40]

One of the few recurring characters is a man wearing a flat black hat, apparently based on Aram, from Men in Hats.^[41] He has dedicated his life to causing confusion and harm to others just for his own entertainment. He has no name, though he is commonly referred to as "Black Hat" or "Black Hat Guy" in the community. He gained a girlfriend, commonly named "Danish" by the community, during the course of a small series called "Journal", who is just as cruel as he is.^[42]

Another recurring character is a man with a beret, sometimes simply referred to as "Beret Guy". He seems to be naïve, obsessed with bakeries, optimistic, and completely out of touch with reality. He also has magical abilities,^[43] which often manifest in the creation of situations or objects that support his overly optimistic worldview, even when in direct violation of societal norms or the laws of physics; an example is his startup making incredible amounts of money despite his not even knowing what they do.^[44] In one instance, he hired Lin-Manuel Miranda as an engineer and,^[45] in another instance, sprouted literal "endless wings".^[46]

Geographical maps, their various different formats and creation methods are a frequently recurring theme in the comic.^[47] On occasion these maps have been mentioned by analysts due to their imaginative or original presentation of figures or statistics. In the comic "2016 Election Map", colored stick figures are used to display how people voted according to their region giving a clearer picture of how people voted in the 2016 election, which was praised as being a strong visualization tool for the election outcome.^[48]

Inspired activities

On several occasions, fans have been motivated by Munroe's comics to carry out the subject of a particular drawing or sketch offline. Some notable examples include:

• Richard Stallman was confronted by students dressed as ninjas before speaking at the Yale Political Union^{[49] [50]} – inspired by "Open Source".
• On September 23, 2007, hundreds of people gathered at Reverend Thomas J. Williams Park,, in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose coordinates were mentioned in "Dream Girl".^[51] Munroe appeared, commenting, "Maybe wanting something does make it real", reversing the conclusion he drew in the last frame of the same strip.^[52]

• When animated xkcd strip "Time" won a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in August 2014, it was accepted by Cory Doctorow on behalf of Munroe, dressing as Munroe had drawn him in an earlier strip, "1337: Part 5".^{[53] [54]}
• xkcd readers began sneaking chess boards onto roller coasters after "Chess Photo" was published.^{[55] [56]} – inspired by "Chess Photo".^[57]
• The game of "geohashing"^[58] has gained more than 1,000 players,^[59] who travel to random coordinates calculated by the algorithm described in "Geohashing".^[60]
• In October 2007, a group of researchers at University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute conducted a census of the Internet and presented their data using a Hilbert curve, which they claimed was inspired by an xkcd comic that used a similar technique.^{[61] [62] [63]} Inspired by the same comic, the Carna botnet used a Hilbert curve to present data in their 2012 Internet Census.^[64]
• Based on "Packages",^[65] programmers have set up programs to automatically find an item for sale on the Internet for $1.00 every day.^{[66] [67]}
• In response to "Password Strength",^[68] Dropbox shows two messages reading "lol" and "Whoa there, don't take advice from a webcomic too literally ;)" when attempting to register with the password "correcthorsebatterystaple".^[69] ArenaNet recommended that Guild Wars 2 users create secure passwords following the guidelines of the same comic.^[70]
• The Python Standard Library module "antigravity", when run, opens the xkcd comic "Python".^{[71] [72]} On the 4th of June 2009, a function was added into the "antigravity" module that implements the geohashing algorithm (which is inspired by the 426th xkcd comic, also titled "Geohashing"), according to the commit history of CPython's git repository.^[73]
• Inspired by the xkcd comic "Online Communities 2",^[74] Slovak artist Martin Vargic created the "Map of the Internet 1.0."^[75]
• In 2008, Munroe posted a parody of the Discovery Channel's I Love the World advertising campaign on xkcd,^[76] which was later reenacted by Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Cory Doctorow, Hank Green, and others.^[77] This reenactment is currently available on the video sharing platform YouTube, and is titled "We Love xkcd".
• Munroe's 2012 comic "Up-Goer Five" on the Saturn V rocket inspired the "Up-Goer Five Challenge" for scientists. The original comic described the rocket only using the one thousand most frequent words in contemporary fiction; in the same way, the challenge is for scientists to describe their journal articles and scientific papers with extremely basic language. More generally, even when not adhering to the original strict list, the comic has been cited as an example of the merits in avoiding too much jargon that can make scientific papers impenetrable and unread.^{[78] [79] [80]}

Academic research

In addition, a number of researchers have acknowledged particular xkcd comics as the source of inspiration for their scientific articles.^[81] These academic contributions include:

• In 2007, two researchers published an article entitled "High Level Internet Scale Traffic Visualization Using Hilbert Curve Mapping". It was inspired by the comic "Map of the Internet".^[82]
• Three Microsoft Research employees published the paper "Failure is a Four-Letter Word: a Parody in Empirical Research" in 2011.^[83] They were inspired by "Significant".^[84]
• The "Password Strength" comic^[85] has inspired the creation of two scientific articles. The first one is the 2012 article "Correct horse battery staple: exploring the usability of system-assigned passphrases".^[86] The second paper was published in 2015, and bears the title "How to Memorize a Random 60-Bit String".^[87]
• The 2019 paper "Stippling of 2D Scalar Fields"^[88] was inspired by "2016 Election Map".^[89]
• "Dependency"^[90] inspired an author to write the article "The Nebraska problem in open source software development".^[91]
• Two scientific publications were inspired by "Movie Narrative Charts".^[92] These articles are named "StoryFlow: Tracking the Evolution of Stories"^[93] and "HyperStorylines: Interactively untangling dynamic hypergraphs,"^[94] with the latter article citing the former.

Awards and recognition

xkcd has been recognized at various award ceremonies. In the 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards, the webcomic was nominated for "Outstanding Use of the Medium", "Outstanding Short Form Comic", and "Outstanding Comedic Comic", and it won "Outstanding Single Panel Comic".^[95] xkcd was voted "Best Comic Strip" by readers in the 2007 and 2008 Weblog Awards.^{[96] [97]} The webcomic was nominated for a 2009 NewNowNext Award in the category "OMFG Internet Award".^{[98] [99]}

Randall Munroe was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist in both 2011 and 2012,^{[100] [101]} and he won a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2014, for "Time".^[102]

Books

In September 2009, Munroe released a book, entitled xkcd: volume 0, containing selected xkcd comics.^[103] The book was published by breadpig, under a Creative Commons license, CC BY-NC 3.0,^[104] with all of the publisher's profits donated to Room to Read to promote literacy and education in the developing world. Six months after release, the book had sold over 25,000 copies.^[105] The book tour in New York City and Silicon Valley was a fundraiser for Room to Read that raised $32,000 to build a school in Salavan Province, Laos.^{[106] [107]}

Munroe contributed a story titled "?" to the anthology book Machine of Death, released on October 6, 2010.^[108]

In October 2012, xkcd: volume 0 was included in the Humble Bundle eBook Bundle. It was available for download only to those who donated higher than the average donated for the other eBooks. The book was released DRM-free, in two different-quality PDF files.^[109]

On March 12, 2014, Munroe announced the book . The book was released on September 2, 2014. The book expands on the What If? blog on the xkcd website.^{[10] [11]} On May 13, 2015, Munroe announced a new book entitled Thing Explainer. Eventually released on November 24, 2015, Thing Explainer is based on the xkcd strip "Up Goer Five" and only uses the thousand most commonly used words to explain different scientific devices.^[12]

On February 5, 2019, Munroe announced a fourth book, titled How To, which uses math and science to find the worst possible solutions to everyday problems. It was released on September 3, 2019.^[14]

On January 31, 2022, Munroe announced the book What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, a follow-up title that continued in the same vein as the first volume in attempting to provide scientific answers to hypothetical situations submitted by readers.^[110] The book was released on September 13, 2022.^[111]

See also

• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC) – A web comic in a somewhat similar vein

Further reading

• Web site: Munroe . Randall . What xkcd Means . xkcd . January 8, 2007 .
• Web site: Once a Physicist: Randall Munroe. Munroe, Randall. Randall Munroe. February 2007. Physics World. 43. October 13, 2017. March 22, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190322155137/http://www.iop.org/careers/working-life/profiles/page_57846.html. dead.
• Web site: Talking xkcd with Randall Munroe . Comixtalk.com . Erg . March 26, 2007 . May 12, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080421184953/http://comixtalk.com/talking_xkcd_with_randall_munroe . April 21, 2008 .
• Web site: What I learned from the xkcd effect . https://web.archive.org/web/20131225154123/http://www.commacommacrash.net/2009/12/what-i-learned-from-xkcd-effect.html . December 25, 2013. An article on the impact of xkcd topics on Google searches.

External links

• • xkcd What-If
• Explain xkcd, a wiki dedicated to explaining the references found in each comic

Notes and References

1. Web site: The 10 best webcomics, from Achewood to XKCD. The Telegraph. Chivers. Tom. November 6, 2009. December 7, 2015. November 19, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151119111627/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6509550/The-10-best-webcomics-from-Achewood-to-XKCD.html. live.
2. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. About xkcd. September 11, 2010. December 4, 2014. May 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190523065844/https://xkcd.com/about/. live.
3. Web site: xkcd . Randall . Munroe . October 7, 2014 . October 6, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006214555/http://www.xkcd.com/ . live .
4. Web site: Arthur . Charles . Schofield . Jack . Keegan . Victor . 100 top sites for the year ahead . The Guardian . December 4, 2014 . December 17, 2008 . etal . June 22, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130622044645/http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/internet-websites . live .
5. Web site: What's Online. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Mónica. Guzmán. D7. May 11, 2007. May 30, 2008. October 21, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121021034816/http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/article/What-s-Online-1237022.php. live.
6. News: Ad Lib, Section: Ticket . Kalamazoo Gazette . Booth Newspapers. August 17, 2006.
7. Web site: xkcd.com search: "parody week" . Ohnorobot . December 21, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223512/http://www.ohnorobot.com/index.pl?s=%22parody+week%22&Search=Search&comic=56&e=0&n=0&b=0&m=0&d=0&t=0 . March 3, 2016 . dead . mdy-all .
8. Web site: xkcd: A comic strip for the computer geek . Red Hat Magazine . Fernandez . Rebecca . November 25, 2006 . March 6, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070306204348/http://www.redhat.com/magazine/025nov06/features/xkcd/ . March 6, 2007 .
9. Web site: What If? – The Book. Randall. Munroe. whatif.xkcd.com. December 7, 2015. December 7, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151207220934/http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/. live.
10. Web site: What if I wrote a book?. Munroe. Randall. blog.xkcd.com. March 12, 2014. October 7, 2014. April 6, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406133759/http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/. live.
11. Web site: XKCD 'What if?' book announced by Randall Munroe. geek.com. Russell. Holly. March 12, 2014. October 7, 2014. October 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141011020706/http://www.geek.com/news/xkcd-what-if-book-announced-by-randall-munroe-1587613/. live.
12. Web site: New book: Thing Explainer . Munroe . Randall . blog.xkcd.com . May 13, 2015 . December 7, 2015 . December 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151207083125/http://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ . live .
13. Web site: XKCD cartoonist's new book: 'Thing Explainer' . . . May 13, 2015 . September 28, 2015 . Shankland, Stephen . October 1, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151001193328/http://www.cnet.com/news/xkcd-cartoonists-new-book-thing-explainer/ . live .
14. Web site: How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems . Munroe . Randall . blog.xkcd.com . February 5, 2019 . February 26, 2019 . February 27, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190227060216/https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/02/05/how-to-absurd-scientific-advice-for-common-real-world-problems/ . live .
15. Web site: XKCD's Randall Munroe announces What If? 2, with more scientific answers to life's most absurd hypothetical questions. Chaim. Gartenberg. January 31, 2022. The Verge.
16. Web site: What If? Tenth Anniversary Edition: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (Hardcover) Shakespeare & Co. . 2024-05-28 . shop.shakeandco.com.
17. Web site: xkcd's What If? . . 6 December 2023 . English.
18. Web site: Interview: XKCD's creator tells us "I'm lucky to have readers at all". DigitalArts. Ryberg. Jonas. November 13, 2013. March 29, 2016. March 24, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160324225009/http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/illustration/interview-xkcds-creator-tells-us-im-lucky-have-readers-at-all/?pn=3. live.
19. News: Cohen . Noam . This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix . . September 25, 2008 . May 26, 2008 . March 25, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190325130736/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss . live .
20. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Online Communities. May 2, 2007. January 4, 2017. January 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170105181821/http://www.xkcd.com/256/. live.
21. News: We're looking at each other, and it's not a pretty sight . Globe and Mail . Canada . May 18, 2007 . April 21, 2011 . Tossell, Ivor . 2 . November 14, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111114011848/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/were-looking-at-each-other-and-its-not-a-pretty-sight/article759732/page2/ . live .
22. Web site: PostScript: Upstate Blogroll, New Hotness, and more . Cubbison . Brian . May 5, 2007 . August 7, 2011 . June 16, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120616064139/http://blog.syracuse.com/newstracker/2007/05/postscript_upstateblogroll.html . live .
23. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Click and Drag. September 19, 2012. May 18, 2013. July 10, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170710072717/https://xkcd.com/1110/. live.
24. News: 'Click And Drag,' XKCD Webcomic, Rewards Explorers (IMAGES). September 22, 2012. Huffington Post. September 9, 2012. September 22, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120922120532/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/click-and-drag-xkcd-web-comic_n_1897617.html. live.
25. Web site: Everything You Need to Know About xkcd Comic "Click and Drag" . Geekosystem . September 19, 2012 . December 15, 2012 . September 3, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140903065919/http://www.themarysue.com/xkcd-click-and-drag-comic/ . live .
26. News: Dyess . Phil . Check out XKCD's epic multi-day animation comic . . March 26, 2013 . November 20, 2013 . December 27, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131227030444/http://www.avclub.com/article/check-outem-xkcdems-epic-multi-day-animation-comic-95486 . live .
27. Web site: 1190: Time. Munroe. Randall. blog.xkcd.com. July 29, 2013. February 18, 2014. February 15, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140215070002/http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/07/29/1190-time/. live.
28. Hudson . Laura . Creator of xkcd Reveals Secret Backstory of His Epic 3,099-Panel Comic . August 2, 2013 . . August 2, 2013 . March 31, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140331001050/http://www.wired.com/2013/08/xkcd-time-comic/ . live .
29. Web site: In which I lose the originals of the last three months of comics and the laptop I create them with.. Munroe. Randall. blog.xkcd.com. March 16, 2007. April 13, 2017. April 14, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170414080625/https://blog.xkcd.com/2007/03/15/in-which-i-lose-the-originals-of-the-last-three-months-of-comics-and-the-laptop-i-create-them-with/. live.
30. 'XKCD' Cartoonist Randall Munroe Drops Mad Science. Edwards. Gavin. September 2, 2014. Rolling Stone. April 13, 2017. May 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170516221001/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/xkcd-cartoonist-randall-munroe-what-if-20140902. live.
31. News: Former NASA staffer creates comics for geeks. The Gazette. University of Western Ontario. Andrew. Moses. November 21, 2007. November 22, 2007. September 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140903112657/http://www.usc.uwo.ca/gazette/archives/story.php?sect=arts&id=1837. live.
32. Web site: Geek humor: Nothing to be ashamed of. https://web.archive.org/web/20080203000441/http://media.www.thewhitonline.com/media/storage/paper291/news/2007/04/05/Features/Geek-Humor.Nothing.To.Be.Ashamed.Of-2823945.shtml. February 3, 2008. O'Kane. Erin. The Whit Online. April 5, 2007. April 23, 2007.
33. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Wikipedian Protester. July 4, 2007. December 21, 2011. December 25, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111225215024/https://www.xkcd.com/285/. live.
34. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Malamanteau. May 12, 2010. December 21, 2011. December 25, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111225170915/https://www.xkcd.com/739/. live.
35. Other comics related to Wikipedia include:
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. The Problem with Wikipedia. January 24, 2007. December 21, 2011. December 17, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111217132809/http://xkcd.com/214/. live.
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. 3. xkcd. Citogenesis. November 16, 2011. December 21, 2011. June 28, 2017. https://archive.today/20170628004816/https://xkcd.com/978/. live.
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. 3. xkcd. In Popular Culture. July 7, 2008. December 21, 2011. December 25, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111225170547/https://www.xkcd.com/446/. live.
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. 3. xkcd. Star Trek into Darkness. January 30, 2013. January 30, 2013. March 12, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210312071750/https://xkcd.com/1167/. live.
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. 3. xkcd. Externalities. April 1, 2013. April 1, 2013. April 1, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130401105907/https://www.xkcd.com/1193/. live.
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. 3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. xkcd. August 25, 2014. August 25, 2014. August 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140826113613/http://xkcd.com/1412/. live.
    • Web site: Munroe. Randall. 3. Meta Collecting. xkcd. March 13, 2019. March 20, 2019. March 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190316201609/https://xkcd.com/2123/. live.
36. News: 13 May 2010 . Malamanteau Wikipedia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110707215338/https://www.bbcnewsamerica.com/malamanteau-wikipedia.html . 7 July 2011 . BBC News America.
37. News: McKean, Erin . May 30, 2010 . One-day wonder: How fast can a word become legit? . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140903104042/https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/30/one_day_wonder/ . September 3, 2014 . May 10, 2014 . The Boston Globe.
38. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Neutrality Schmeutrality. February 18, 2009. January 23, 2018. December 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223021907/https://xkcd.com/545/. live.
39. Web site: Munroe . Randall . May 25, 2011 . Extended Mind . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111165619/https://xkcd.com/903/ . November 11, 2020 . 2020-11-09 . xkcd.
40. Web site: A Comic You Can't Pronounce. September 16, 2007. Peter. Trinh. September 14, 2007. Imprint Online. October 13, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071013210446/http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1654&Itemid=56&issuedate=2007-09-14. live.
41. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . xkcd.com . It's no secret that the hat guy is closely based on Aram, from Men in Hats..
42. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Journal 5. June 6, 2008. September 22, 2017. September 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170905042053/https://xkcd.com/433/. live.
43. Web site: Subduction License. Munroe. Randall. xkcd. 2019-09-23. September 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190923004806/https://xkcd.com/1388/. live.
44. Web site: Startup Opportunity. Munroe. Randall. xkcd. 2024-03-03. September 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190923004806/https://xkcd.com/1772/. live.
45. Web site: Onboarding. Munroe. Randall. xkcd. 2024-03-03. September 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190923004806/https://xkcd.com/1812/. live.
46. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Tuesdays. August 24, 2012. October 2, 2017. October 3, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171003124455/https://xkcd.com/1099/. live.
47. • Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. Map Projections. November 14, 2011. January 10, 2018. December 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223151529/https://xkcd.com/977/. live.
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48. Web site: This might be the best map of the 2016 election you ever see. Vox. Dylan. Scott. January 8, 2018. January 10, 2018. January 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180109174341/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/8/16865532/2016-presidential-election-map-xkcd. live.
49. News: Stallman trumpets free software. The Yale Daily News. Victor. Zapana. October 18, 2007. October 19, 2007. September 5, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140905020230/http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2007/10/18/stallman-trumpets-free-software/. live.
50. Web site: Richard Stallman Debate . Blog of the YPU . October 18, 2007 . October 21, 2007 . October 22, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071022093205/http://yale.edu/ypu/blog.html . dead .
51. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Dream Girl . May 13, 2010 . March 26, 2007 . March 26, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100326114004/http://www.xkcd.com/240/ . live .
52. Web site: Cohen . Georgiana . The wisdom of crowds . The Phoenix . September 26, 2007 . September 27, 2007 . September 19, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080919000829/http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/48208-wisdom-of-crowds/ . live .
53. Web site: All The Most Exciting Moments From The 2014 Hugo Awards! . . Charlie Jane . Anders . August 17, 2014 . August 17, 2014 . August 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090232/http://io9.com/all-the-most-exciting-moments-from-the-2014-hugo-awards-1623035065 . live .
54. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. 1337: Part 5. November 16, 2007. November 17, 2007. November 16, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071116213728/http://xkcd.com/345/. live.
55. News: Yu . Chun . November 12, 2007 . The man hiding behind the raptor . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071213140046/http://www.thetartan.org/2007/11/12/pillbox/xkcd . December 13, 2007 . November 12, 2007 . The Tartan.
56. Web site: People Playing Chess on Roller Coasters . xkcd . August 20, 2007 . August 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070820200247/http://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/ . live .
57. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Chess Photo . April 16, 2007 . December 21, 2011 . December 21, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111221003354/http://xkcd.com/249/ . live .
58. Web site: Geohashing wiki . wiki.xkcd.com . April 17, 2012 . March 13, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120313073512/http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing . live .
59. Web site: maps and statistics. geohashing wiki. April 17, 2021. April 8, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120408153702/http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Maps_and_statistics. live.
60. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Geohashing . May 26, 2005 . April 17, 2012 . April 15, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120415164627/http://www.xkcd.com/426/ . live .
61. Web site: McNamara . Paul . October 9, 2007 . Researchers ping through first full 'Internet census' in 25 years . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071012154415/http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20390?t51hb . October 12, 2007 . October 10, 2007 . Buzzblog . Networkworld.com.
62. Web site: October 9, 2007 . 62 Days + Almost 3 Billion Pings + New Visualization Scheme = the First Internet Census Since 1982 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210312071750/https://www.isi.edu/news/story/178 . March 12, 2021 . October 10, 2007 . Information Science Institute.
63. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Map of the Internet . December 11, 2006 . October 10, 2007 . October 9, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071009192810/http://xkcd.com/195/ . live .
64. Web site: Internet Census 2012: Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded devices . May 8, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151013010243/http://internetcensus2012.bitbucket.org/paper.html . October 13, 2015 . mdy-all .
65. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Packages . May 1, 2009 . December 21, 2011 . December 25, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111225163124/https://www.xkcd.com/576/ . live .
66. Web site: csKw:projects:cheepcheep . Shaunwagner.com . December 21, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131022191106/http://shaunwagner.com/projects_cc.html . October 22, 2013 .
67. Web site: xkcd #576 . bieh.net . November 8, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110723024714/http://bieh.net/2010/11/08/xkcd-576/ . July 23, 2011 . December 15, 2012 .
68. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Password Strength . August 10, 2011 . August 21, 2013 . August 21, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130821074348/http://xkcd.com/936/ . live .
69. Web site: Correcthorsebatterystaple – the guys at Dropbox are funny . Naked Security . Sophos . Graham . Cluley . August 13, 2012 . March 12, 2013 . February 1, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130201170039/http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/08/13/correcthorsebatterystaple-dropbox-wit/ . live .
70. Web site: Mandatory Password Change is Coming . GuildWars2.com . Martin . Kerstein . January 31, 2013 . March 12, 2013 . March 1, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130301233718/https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/mandatory-password-change-is-coming/ . live .
71. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Python . December 5, 2007 . June 20, 2019 . June 23, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190623131139/https://xkcd.com/353/ . live .
72. Web site: van Rossum . Guido . Guido van Rossum . import antigravity . The History of Python . June 21, 2010 . June 20, 2019 . June 20, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190620082114/http://python-history.blogspot.com/2010/06/import-antigravity.html . live .
73. Web site: Another hidden treasure. · python/cpython@b1614a7. 2021-12-06. GitHub. en.
74. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Online Communities 2 . October 6, 2010 . December 23, 2015 . December 18, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151218124808/http://xkcd.com/802/ . live .
75. Web site: This Beautiful Map of the Internet Is Insanely Detailed . February 21, 2014 . Condliffe . Jamie . January 30, 2014 . . February 25, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140225140018/http://gizmodo.com/this-beautiful-map-of-the-internet-is-insanely-detailed-1512236854 . live .
76. Web site: Munroe. Randall. xkcd. xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel. June 27, 2008. June 27, 2008. June 28, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080628000401/http://xkcd.com/442/. live.
77. News: Geek Heroes Sing 'We Love Xkcd' . . February 8, 2010 . June 5, 2020 . Wallace . Lewis . mdy-all . June 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200605095509/https://www.wired.com/2010/02/we-love-xkcd/ . live .
78. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Up Goer Five . November 12, 2012 . December 30, 2022 .
79. News: Are You Confused by Scientific Jargon? So Are Scientists. Katherine. Kornei. The New York Times . April 9, 2021. NYTimes.com.
80. Web site: Can You Explain Science Using Only 1,000 Common Words?. B.. Bedford. January 3, 2019. Eos.
81. Web site: What research articles were inspired by web comics? . Max . Muller . David . Bailey. 2023-09-30 . History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange . en.
82. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Map of the Internet . December 11, 2006 . October 10, 2007 . October 9, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071009192810/http://xkcd.com/195/ . live .
83. Book: Zeller . Andreas . Zimmermann . Thomas . Bird . Christian . Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Predictive Models in Software Engineering . Failure is a four-letter word: A parody in empirical research . 2011-09-20 . https://doi.org/10.1145/2020390.2020395 . Promise '11 . New York, NY, US . Association for Computing Machinery . 1–7 . 10.1145/2020390.2020395 . 978-1-4503-0709-3. 263735450 .
84. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Significant . April 6, 2011 . September 23, 2023 .
85. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Password Strength . August 10, 2011 . August 21, 2013 . August 21, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130821074348/http://xkcd.com/936/ . live .
86. Book: Shay . Richard . Kelley . Patrick Gage . Komanduri . Saranga . Mazurek . Michelle L. . Ur . Blase . Vidas . Timothy . Bauer . Lujo . Christin . Nicolas . Cranor . Lorrie Faith . Proceedings of the Eighth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security . Correct horse battery staple: Exploring the usability of system-assigned passphrases . 2012-07-11 . https://doi.org/10.1145/2335356.2335366 . SOUPS '12 . New York, NY, US . Association for Computing Machinery . 1–20 . 10.1145/2335356.2335366 . 978-1-4503-1532-6. 2431597 .
87. Ghazvininejad . Marjan . Knight . Kevin . May 31 – June 5, 2015 . How to Memorize a Random 60-Bit String . The 2015 Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the ACL . 1569–1575 . ACL Anthology.
88. Stippling of 2D Scalar Fields . 2023-09-30 . IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics . 2019 . 10.1109/TVCG.2019.2903945 . 30892212 . en-US . Gortler . J. . Spicker . M. . Schulz . C. . Weiskopf . D. . Deussen . O. . 25 . 6 . 2193–2204 . 84183579 .
89. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . 2016 Election Map . January 8, 2018 . September 23, 2023 .
90. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Dependency . August 8, 2020 . September 23, 2023 .
91. Hatta . Masayuki . 2022 . The Nebraska problem in open source software development . Annals of Business Administrative Science . 21 . 5 . 91–102 . 10.7880/abas.0220914a. free .
92. Web site: Munroe . Randall . xkcd . Movie Narrative Charts . November 2, 2009 . September 23, 2023 .
93. Liu . Shixia . Shixia Liu. Wu . Yingcai . Wei . Enxun . Liu . Mengchen . Liu . Yang . 16 October 2013 . StoryFlow: Tracking the Evolution of Stories . IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics . 19 . 12 . 2436–2445. 10.1109/TVCG.2013.196 . 24051810 . 17377497 .
94. Peña-Araya . Vanessa . Xue . Tong . Pietriga . Emmanuel . Amsaleg . Laurent . Bezerianos . Anastasia . 2021-09-18 . HyperStorylines: Interactively untangling dynamic hypergraphs . Information Visualization . en . 21 . 1 . 38–62 . 10.1177/14738716211045007 . 1473-8716 . 240541254.
95. Web site: 2008 List of Winners and Finalists . January 6, 2009 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090310200607/http://www.ccawards.com/2008finalists.html . March 10, 2009 .
96. Web site: The 2007 Weblog Award Winners. January 6, 2009. November 11, 2008. Kevin. Aylward. January 22, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090122175848/http://2007.weblogawards.org/news/the-2007-weblog-award-winners.php. usurped.
97. Web site: The 2008 Weblog Awards Winners. July 9, 2009. January 15, 2009. Kevin. Aylward. https://web.archive.org/web/20090715233543/http://2008.weblogawards.org/news/the-2008-weblog-award-winners/. July 15, 2009. usurped.
98. Web site: 2009 NewNowNext Awards . June 14, 2009 . Viacom International Inc. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090520172958/http://www.logoonline.com/shows/newnownext_awards/vote.jhtml?qn=nnn_poll_13 . May 20, 2009 .
99. News: Sarah . Warn . May 21, 2009 . Photos: 2009 NewNowNext Awards . . June 14, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090712104952/http://www.afterellen.com/people/2009/5/nnn-awards-red-carpet-photos. July 12, 2009 .
100. Web site: Hugo Awards Page . April 25, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110429050214/http://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php . April 29, 2011 .
101. Web site: Hugo Awards Page . April 20, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120408045604/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2012-hugo-awards/ . April 8, 2012 . mdy-all .
102. Web site: 2014 Hugo Award Winners . August 17, 2014 . August 19, 2014 . August 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140819083711/http://www.thehugoawards.org/2014/08/2014-hugo-award-winners/ . live .
103. Web site: Book! . Munroe . Randall . blog.xkcd.com . September 10, 2009 . May 13, 2010 . May 17, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100517034725/http://blog.xkcd.com/2009/09/10/book/ . live .
104. Web site: Sidekick for Hire — xkcd: volume 0 . Breadpig . November 20, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131220214722/http://breadpig.com/collections/everything/products/xkcd-volume-0 . December 20, 2013 . mdy-all .
105. Web site: Cartoonist Randall Munroe Will Be Your Answer Man . Harvkey . Mike . August 2, 2019 . 2021-05-10 .
106. Web site: The xkcd school in Laos is complete! Rejoice! . Breadpig . Alexis . Ohanian . Alexis Ohanian. March 15, 2010 . May 13, 2010 . https://archive.today/20100322214135/http://breadpig.com/blog/2010/03/15/the-xkcd-school-in-laos-is-complete-rejoice . March 22, 2010.
107. Web site: School . Munroe . Randall . blog.xkcd.com . October 11, 2009 . February 10, 2013 . January 23, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130123123400/http://blog.xkcd.com/2009/10/11/school/ . live .
108. Book: North . Ryan . Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories about People who Know how They Will Die . Bennardo . Matthew . Malki . David . 2010 . Machines of Death LLC . 978-0-9821671-2-0 . en.
109. Web site: Humble eBook Bundle is Now Five Times More Hilarious! . . October 16, 2012 . November 5, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121101015947/http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/33714074132/humble-ebook-bundle-is-now-five-times-more-hilarious . November 1, 2012 . mdy-all .
110. Web site: Gartenberg . Chaim . January 31, 2022 . XKCD’s Randall Munroe announces What If? 2, with more scientific answers to life’s most absurd hypothetical questions . theverge.com . Vox Media . June 28, 2024.
111. Web site: What If 2. Munroe. Randall. blog.xkcd.com. January 31, 2022. August 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220531134149/https://blog.xkcd.com/2022/01/31/what-if-2/ . May 31, 2022 . live.