In this Christmas-edition XKCD, the Author adapts the classic Clement Clarke Moore Poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” to reflect upon the common sleep patterns of college students. Many a student coming home from college and used to an extremely late (or perhaps more accurately: early) sleep schedule. This sleep schedule is much lauded by people who learned everything they know about the the so-called “hacker culture” from Eric Raymond essays and the movie “Hackers”.
The strip culminates in a terse exchange between Santa Clause, who is admonishing the man for being up so late. A snappy comeback which firmly states the disconnect between a child’s sleep schedule and an adults serves as a punchline to this unusual long-frame format strip.
Your Curator understands that this strip in particular may be difficult to grasp, as it lacks a traditional comic structure. It is important to remember that for a certain segment of the XKCD target audience, recognition of a phenomena is itself a form of humor, as the sensation of having peers can be a rare and often short-lived sensation for many of those steeped in “hacker culture.” This sensation, coupled with the timing of the strip (released Dec. 24th) can fill the role of the traditional punchline.
