[[1000 characters, numerous of which have appeared previously in other comics, are arranged to create the number "1000". Two more people stand in the foreground commenting on the formation]]
Person 1: WOOOO!
Person 2: Wow - Just 24 to go until a big round-number milestone!
{{Title text: Thank you for making me feel less alone.}}
1/6/2012
Thank you for making me feel less alone.
[[Person 1 clinging onto something while being dragged away by some unknown force]]
Person 1: AAAAAAAAAA
[[Person 2 similarly clinging on]]
Person 2: AAAAAAAAAA
[[Overhead shot of both spinning around a plain white circle in a room with other accoutrements]]
Both: AAAAAAAA
Earlier that day...
Person 1: Haha, check it out - This guy's mansion has an actual rotating bed.
Person 2: You know, I bet it wouldn't be too hard to build one of those...
{{Title text: 'ARE YOU TURNED ON YET?' 'I DON'T THINK SO--ARE YOU?' 'MAYBE A LITTLE!' 'OK, FIVE MORE MINUTES.'}}
1/9/2012
'ARE YOU TURNED ON YET?' 'I DON'T THINK SO--ARE YOU?' 'MAYBE A LITTLE!' 'OK, FIVE MORE MINUTES.'
Difficulty of Various Games for Computers
[[A diagram. The left column describes various levels of skill for the most capable computers in decreasing performance against humans. The right side lists games in each particular section, in increasing game difficulty. There are labels denoting the hard and easy ends of the diagram.]]
Easy
Solved - Computers can play perfectly
Solved for all possible positions
Tic-Tac-Toe
NIM
Ghost(1989)
Connect Four(1995)
Solved for starting positions
Gomoku
Checkers(2007)
Computers can beat top humans
Scrabble
CounterStrike
Beer Pong (UIUC robot)
Reversi
Chess (February 10, 1996 - First win by computer against top human; November 21, 2005 - Last win by human against top computer)
Jeopardy
Computers still lose to top humans (but focused R&D could change this)
Starcraft
Poker
Arimaa
Go
Computers may *never* outplay humans
Snakes and Ladders
Mao
Seven Minutes in Heaven
Calvinball
Hard
{{Title text: The top computer champion at Seven Minutes in Heaven is a Honda-built Realdoll, but to date it has been unable to outperform the human Seven Minutes in Heaven champion, Ken Jennings.}}
1/11/2012
The top computer champion at Seven Minutes in Heaven is a Honda-built Realdoll, but to date it has been unable to outperform the human Seven Minutes in Heaven champion, Ken Jennings.
Adam: It's Adam and Eve, not *Abel* and Eve!!
Adam was freaked out by what he'd just walked in on.
{{Title text: Abel and Steve would've been fine! I like Steve!}}
1/13/2012
Abel and Steve would've been fine! I like Steve!
((One panel, depicting three wavy circles. The one in the center is slightly larger, and the ones on either side are higher up. Their edges are touching.))
[[The left circle has Bruce Wayne in the foreground, with Alfred in the background.]]
Alfred: Know your limits, Master Wayne.
Bruce: A man dressed like a bat
has
no limits.
[[The center circle has a close-up on Batman in his cowl.]]
Someone off-screen:
What the hell are you?
Batman: I'm a man dressed like a bat.
[[In the right circle is The Joker.]]
Off-screen:
What do you propose?
Joker: It's simple - we kill a man dressed like a bat.
My Hobby: Whenever anyone says "Batman," I mentally replace it with "a man dressed like a bat."
{{Title text: I'm really worried Christopher Nolan will kill a man dressed like a bat in his next movie. (The man will be dressed like a bat, I mean. Christopher Nolan won't be, probably.)}}
1/16/2012
I'm really worried Christopher Nolan will kill a man dressed like a bat in his next movie. (The man will be dressed like a bat, I mean. Christopher Nolan won't be, probably.)
[don't censor the web]
[[Hidden in the background of the above text is Black Hat Guy, delivering the following:
A message from sysadmins everywhere:
Seriously, don't screw with DNS. If you break this internet, we are *not* making you a new one.]]
I make my living drawing xkcd, which wouldn't have been possible if people hadn't been able to freely share my comics with each other all over the internet. As a copyright holder and small business owner, I oppose SOPA and PIPA. See the links below to learn more.
[[Randall Munroe's signature, with a little drawing of himself on one of the tails]]
{{Title text: In protest of SOPA, I'm currently getting totally blacked out.}}
1/18/2012
In protest of SOPA, I'm currently getting totally blacked out.