# xkcd: Umwelt--web browsers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896 "2012-04-05T07:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/1 "2012-04-05T07:15:19Z")
I read the mouse-over text on this [comic](http://xkcd.com/1037/) using IE. It mentioned that, “everything about you shapes the world you inhabit” including your _ **web browser** _. So I thought to check the same page using Safari; no difference. But Google Chrome showed me a totally different comic! In IE and Safari there is just an image I take to be the Sun. In GC it is a joke about the ‘Lake Diver Killer’. A reporter saying to the camera, “Police divers searching the bay say they have recovered the body of another victim of the ‘Lake Diver Killer’. During the search three other divers were reported missing…” So that I don’t have to download any more browsers than I already have: What does your favorite browser give you? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/2 "2012-04-05T07:18:18Z")
It’s not just based on browsers. It also takes your location into account, and certain strips have very different middle panels depending on your browser window’s width. At least one strip is reused for different locations, with some minor rewrites - also, perhaps for others with a major rewrite to the punchline, based on comments others have made. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/3 "2012-04-05T07:30:29Z")
Wow! Like xkcd isn’t deep enough already. Why doesn’t he give _every_ visitor a different experience? Or is that next? ---
**Author:** ![drbhoneydew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@drbhoneydew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drbhoneydew)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/4 "2012-04-05T07:43:57Z")
And referers - visiting from wikipedia, twitter, facebook and others lead to yet more variants. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/5 "2012-04-05T07:45:01Z")
opened it in explorer and it was some chick with a snake, mouse over mentioned browser window size so I maximized and it added 2 pannels that werent there before ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/6 "2012-04-05T08:19:32Z")
I had the idea when I posted that I would (through the valiant efforts of my fellow SDMBers) get to see all the variants, but I’m starting to see just how naive that hope was. The writer’s Intartube-Fu is just too great for the likes of me. I shall retire from the field of battle and start life anew as a haberdasher. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/7 "2012-04-05T08:43:51Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > I had the idea when I posted that I would (through the valiant efforts of my fellow SDMBers) get to see all the variants, but I’m starting to see just how naive that hope was. Here you go: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2012/04/03/umwelt-follow-up/](http://www.explainxkcd.com/2012/04/03/umwelt-follow-up/) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/8 "2012-04-05T09:10:53Z")
OK, mine’s in Hebrew. And completely unrelated to the original comic. Eerie. That’s Chrome. IE9 gives the one with the turtle. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/9 "2012-04-05T10:27:43Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > opened it in explorer and it was some chick with a snake, mouse over mentioned browser window size so I maximized and it added 2 pannels that werent there before This happened in Chrome, too. You could get many different middle panels as you changed the window size. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/10 "2012-04-05T11:45:39Z")
Wow, this is freaky. I had no idea other people were viewing different comics. The one I see is a one-panel of a figure in a chair lift, tossing a ham and a couple of cans down to the ground, saying ‘Food!’ The text underneath reads: ‘June 1948: In response to the Soviet blockade of East Germany, the Western allies construct the Berlin Chairlift.’ I’m in Germany, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/11 "2012-04-05T12:05:49Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > Wow, this is freaky. I had no idea other people were viewing different comics. The one I see is a one-panel of a figure in a chair lift, tossing a ham and a couple of cans down to the ground, saying ‘Food!’ The text underneath reads: ‘June 1948: In response to the Soviet blockade of East Germany, the Western allies construct the Berlin Chairlift.’ > > I’m in Germany, by the way. I’m using Firefox with Ubuntu in Virginia. This is what I get. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/12 "2012-04-05T12:24:39Z")
Holy shit but Randall Monroe is the greatest web comic artist ever. I got something about the world on my desktop at home. Today I got one about earthquakes and hurricanes in South Carolina (where I live). That was on my ipad2 using whatever this browser is. On my desktop in the office it’s a sun. Nothing else. Windows box. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/13 "2012-04-05T12:25:52Z")
Oh, and is there a compilation anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/14 "2012-04-05T12:37:50Z")
In Texas from Firefox I the one about earthquakes and tornadoes. On Chrome I get the snake. I can increase the browser window size across two monitors to get the extra panels. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/15 "2012-04-05T12:51:37Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Oh, and is there a compilation anywhere? Post #7 has a link that has a compilation. They’re all linked on that page. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/16 "2012-04-05T13:18:21Z")
Well, from here in Canada, I get the snake on Firefox/IE, and ‘Northern Lights’ (referencing CBC and hockey!) from Chrome. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/17 "2012-04-05T13:25:46Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Today I got one about earthquakes and hurricanes in South Carolina (where I live). That was on my ipad2 using whatever this browser is. Illinois Firefox gave me a comic with the girl mocking the guy for over-reacting to a minor IL earthquake followed by her getting hysterical over a tornado. My Samsung Android phone running whatever its native browser is and my HP Touchpad running Android with Dolphin browser both gave me some guy using an umbrella to launch himself upwards on a Bellagio-style fountain. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/18 "2012-04-05T13:58:33Z")
From my PC the strip mentioned NJ which is where I am. From my phone, it made a joke about Verizon who is my provider on the phone. There was some talk about this in the April Fools thread in MPSIMS. It must have took him all year to make so many alternate strips. In one case he made a strip specifically for his Alma Mater. ETA: On My PC I got the NJ strip with Chrome. With IE on the same PC I got the one with the snake. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/19 "2012-04-05T14:00:31Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > My Samsung Android phone running whatever its native browser is and my HP Touchpad running Android with Dolphin browser both gave me some guy using an umbrella to launch himself upwards on a Bellagio-style fountain. I believe that’s a completely different comic - ‘Fountain’ is on the xkcd front page, it’s number 1038 and was published on Wednesday, April 4th. ‘Umwelt’ in all its variations is 1037, for Monday the 2nd. Try clicking on the prev button on Android and seeing what you get. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896/20 "2012-04-05T14:12:43Z")
Meh, my iPad has the standard ‘Texas’ earthquake/tornado strip. Now I’m disappointed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-umwelt-web-browsers/617896.md?page=2)