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Similar: the creation of an image that is it's own histogram.

Obligatory xkcd reference: http://xkcd.com/688/

The word you were looking for is perfunctory.

Can you explain? “Obligatory” sounds reasonable here.

He's didn't mean obligatory was the wrong word. He's saying we could have done without the xkcd.

Possibly derived from the Usenet habit of putting an "Ob" footer reference to a piece of pop culture, to demonstrate hipness.

Thanks, missed the snark.