I've talked to both the director of DARPA and Charles Bennett (cosmic background explorer of "science it works bitches" xkcd fame), and both love the XKCD's ref

I've talked to both the director of DARPA and Charles Bennett (cosmic background explorer of "science it works bitches" xkcd fame), and both love the XKCD's referencing their relevant work. I've also met Randall himself a few times and he's incredibly humble and would pass anyone's "normal guy" threshold.