Good Code
by Jeff
Image text: You can either hang out in the Android Loop or the HURD loop.
This is a comic about computer programming, also known as "coding". Both directions in this endless loop go through "Throw it all out and start over" whether you attempt to code good or code fast. In the bottom right you see that there is no way to get to "Good Code".
In the image text, HURD refers to GNU Hurd a GNU projects' replacement for the Unix Kernel. Additionally, Android is another kernel which is based on the Linux kernel. Both are systems in which you would do "coding" and get stuck in the endless loop in the comic.
Tech Support
by Jeff
Image text: I recently had someone ask me to go get a computer and turn it on so I could restart it. He refused to move further in the script until I said I had done that.
In this comic, Cueball is having a dream about being on a tech support call with his internet provider.
Cueball, naturally is running Haiku, an open source operating system that is compatible with BeOS. Of course, don't try to go to the haiku website today because the xkcd effect took it down.
Cueball is getting nowhere with the tech support personnel, so he attempts to have the member of the help desk find someone that has the stereotypical look of a geek: Cargo Pants with a subway map on their wall (of their cubicle).
When he finds a person who knows how to fix his problem. She says that the keyword to find a person who knows two programming language is: shibboleet. Shibboleet seems to be a combination of Shibboleth and the word "leet" which is short for "elite" in gamer and online circles.
The word shibboleth originates from Hebrew, and refers to features of language, and particularly to a word whose pronunciation identifies its speaker as being a member or not a member of a particular group. So, if I'm getting this right, if the person pronounces the word correct, they identify themselves as a fellow member of the community.
No word on if this actually works, but I'm sure some xkcd fans will have it implemented in their phone systems within the day.
Academia vs Business
by Jeff
Image text: Some engineer out there has solved P=NP and it's locked up in an electric eggbeater calibration routine. For every 0x5f375a86 we learn about, there are thousands we never see.
This comic is a flow chart defining what would happen if this person solved an impossible problem given to him and what would happen if he were in academia or in business. The argument seems to be here that Academia is much better than business, at least for the ego.
p=NP problem is one of the great unsolved problems in computer science. The Clay Mathematics Institute has a $1 million prize to the first person or group who solves it.
EDIT: As mentioned by just about everybody in the comments, 0x5f375a86 is the algorithm to approximate the solution to the square root of an unsigned floating number, also known as fast inverse square root. The solution uses an ingenious first approximation and the difficult problem was solved without any fanfare (like in the cartoon) for the game, Quake III Arena. Thanks everyone!
Branding
by Jeff
Image meta text: Actually, 'RSS&M' is kinda catchy.
This comic is in reference to a Firefox extension called 'Adblock', which exactly as the name implies, blocks ads on websites. So, without Adblock, you will see all the ridiculous ads (except for our ads, they are great!) that attempt to get you to click on them with their catchy slogans.
The first two frames are not far off from reality, in fact I may have seen them before. Facebook and Twitter are widly known social networks. Google Reader is an RSS reader built on the google look and feel. The meta text references putting RSS and S&M together for RSS&M.
In the last frame, github is an online collaboration tool for developers to upload code to work with other developers on their projects. So, presumably, the comic is speculating that there will be a new GitHub, this one for only lesbians. This is the pop-up windows attempt to attract clicks and in the comics case, it might have worked.
This xkcd is one of the rare xkcd's to use color.
Listen to Yourself
by submission
Image Text: Man, I just wanted to know how babby was formed.
This explanation is by Harm. Harm is a reader of xkcd and explainxkcd. Harm writes explanations. Harm wrote that sentence mentioning that he writes explanations. Harm didn't write the previous sentence.
Here we see an interesting reversal as Black Hat observes Megan writing a virus to read back an author's post. Youtube is known for having commenters that say remarkably stupid things (for no apparent reason), and is previously mentioned in http://xkcd.com/301/. The twist here is that the commenter is shown to not realize how stupid their post is, and proceeds to sulk in shame...something that is unlikely to really happen.
The image text refers to a once-popular meme that originated from what is assumed to be a typo in a Yahoo! Answers post ("How is babby formed?"), which is later mentioned in http://xkcd.com/550/. A rephrasing of the question could be "How is a baby made?" The post was mocked rigorously, and the sentence was later used as a form of trolling. The image text implies that the original poster didn't intend for it to go memetic, and has their feelings hurt.
An interesting note is that Youtube has a feature for reading back posts to the writer, which may or may not have been because of this comic. (ed note: it was because of this comic.)