609: Tab Explosion
|
| Tab Explosion |
 Title text: Cracked.com is another inexplicable browser narcotic. They could write a list of '17 worst haircuts in the Ottoman Empire' and I'd still read through to the end, then click on all the links at the end. |
Explanation
TV Tropes is a popular site which allows conversation on tropes. A common joke with the site is how you will read a page, find a certain trope, which will open another tab on your web page. Then, as you read another article, you'll open even more pages. Pretty soon, this will cause an extremely long cycle of opening new pages and closing old ones.
In the comic, this is exactly what happens to our unfortunate victim. He starts on a single page, then opens more and more tabs on different pages. Pretty soon, he finds himself stuck in a loop of opening pages.
The last frame refers to Rickrolling, which is the practice of being linked to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" on YouTube.
The title text refers to the comedy site Cracked.com. This site is also known for its addictive articles. Most articles are formatted in the same way the title text notes. Eventually, Cracked itself wrote a column that paid tribute to this cartoon. (See the very last line With that in mind, we present to you the 17 Worst Haircuts in The Ottoman Empire.)
The original comic links to TVtropes' page of Universal tropes. TVtropes has taken notice and has a welcome letter for you at the end of the main article: "Oh, and hello to all you xkcd readers. (And thank you for the information!)" Here the "thank you" link actually links to this page, the "hello" links to the comic on xkcd and the other two links are to two articles on TVTropes, the first about xkcd and the last one being an in-joke about how "TVTropes will ruin your life".
Transcript
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Cueball: Huh.
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball stares at the computer.]
- Cueball: I never noticed that!
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Cueball: Haha, yeah.
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Cueball: So true.
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball stares at the computer.]
- [Cueball stares at the computer.]
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball stares at the computer.]
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Click
- [Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
- Megan (off-screen): Are you in there?
- Cueball: Help!
- [Megan walks in behind Cueball who is still sitting at the computer. The bottom of the image is covered in Megan's last line]
- Megan: Okay, who linked you to TVTropes? What's with that site?
- Cueball: Can't ... stop...
- Megan: It's like Rickrolling, but you're trapped all day.
Discussion
It also has a link, not only to the comic, but also to the explained comic here! Talk about a loop. Anonymous07:20, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
you can't access title-text on mobile devices 173.245.62.75 14:29, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
could someone please poste a link to the cracked.com column that pay tribute to this comic? 141.101.81.222 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
This could be the one that makes some reference: http://www.cracked.com/blog/clippy-finally-messes-with-the-wrong-word-doc/ (the text appears inside) Mercastan (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
To access the title text on mobile devices, hold down the thing you need to see the title text of. Nate 108.162.221.20 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
You can also go to m.xkcd.com, and tapping on the image or the alt-text link makes the title text appear below the title (for those chrome users who can't see the entire title text by tap-holding). 162.158.74.143 13:20, 24 March 2020 (UTC)