16May/1292

Felidae

by Jeff

Image text: 'Smilodon fatalis' narrowly edged out 'Tyrannosaurus rex' to win this year's Most Badass Latin Names competition, after edging out 'Dracorex hogwartsia' and 'Stygimoloch spinifer' (meaning 'horned dragon from the river of death') in the semifinals.

This comic is three parted (or four if you count the Latin name portion).

First, the names are sorted up by genuses (a genus (plural: genera) is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms) from bottom to top of which animals would win in a fight.

Secondly, the names within the genus are then sorted by coolness of name from left to right.

Thirdly, in red you can see the direction that Apple has taken with naming their OS X Operating Systems.  They started at Cheetah and have moved through genuses from there in no order that this chart can make out.

And lastly, I'm pretty sure 'Dracorex hogwartsia' is a fake name because it has too much of the name "Hogwarts" in it, which is the magical school from the Harry Potter series of books and movies.

Filed under: Charts, Color 92 Comments
7Mar/1247

Compare and Contrast

by Jeff

Image text: Frankly, I see no difference between thee and a summer's day. Only Ron Paul offers a TRUE alternative!

This comic is a reference to the sonnet by William Shakespeare, which as far as I can tell, is called "Sonnet 18" in which the first line is: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?".  And that is what Randall is attempting to do here in his own way, comparing who I assume is his special lady friend to a "Summer's Day".  The first line is a reference to the sonnet itself, which reads:"Thou art more lovely and more temperate".  To each their own, I guess.  Shakespeare woos women with sonnets and Randall with charts.  This certainly seems to be a love letter (love comic?  love chart?) to one specific person (Megan?) because not too many people have been arrested for releasing snakes in the library.  (At least I hope so.)

The last line in a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side.

And of course, the image text is a reference to Ron Paul, Republican candidate for President who is currently in the Republican Primary against a few other challengers for the nomination.  Ron Paul is frequently represented on the internet using similar language to the image text.  Paul is seen as an alternative because he is a strict Libertarian and believes the government should be as small as possible and stay out of people's lives.  People who support Ron Paul believe him to be the only true alternative to the other Republican candidates currently in the race.

No politics in the comments please, let's stick to the comic, please!  Thank you.

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