https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=GSLikesCats307explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-07-10T01:29:25ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156683267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:56:49Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|This is the first joke entry in this comic. While being prepared for the event of a tornado is a good idea, it hardly deserves an alert just for it - Particulary as you could make this warning anytime, as tornadoes could form at any point.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|This entry relies on no steady ground for an actual tornado forming, only relying on suspicions. However, this is also not steady ground for an alert.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|This one also relies on feelings and omens rather than firm ground. However, the weird clouds could create a tornado, but is hardly valid ground just on its own - they are likely just normal clouds.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|Similair to 'tornado inkling' this alert also just relies on hints and suspicions. The difference is that the hints and suspicions for a 'tornado premonition' are based on folkloric and symbolic associations rather than on a gut feeling.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|While this statement is true - tornadoes have occurred in the past, and numerous more will occur in the future - this is always true, so an alert for that would be useless. This alert could be an assumption that people seeing the alert don't know that tornadoes can form, so they need informing that they can form.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|This, like Tornado recollection, relies on the assumption that people seeing the alert don't know about tornadoes, and has to inform them that tornadoes are quite a threat.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|The title text is a nod to a harbinger of doom. It points out that as tornadoes are quite dangerous events, tornado alert warnings could be viewed as harbingers of doom. The narrator claims their phone makes an unearthly sound when issuing tornado alerts, which emphasizes the 'doom' of it.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156673267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:53:37Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|This is the first joke entry in this comic. While being prepared for the event of a tornado is a good idea, it hardly deserves an alert just for it - Particulary as you could make this warning anytime, as tornadoes could form at any point.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|This entry relies on no steady ground for an actual tornado forming, only relying on suspicions. However, this is also not steady ground for an alert.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|Similair to 'tornado inkling' this alert also just relies on hints and suspicions. The difference is that the hints and suspicions for a 'tornado premonition' are based on folkloric and symbolic associations rather than on a gut feeling.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|While this statement is true - tornadoes have occurred in the past, and numerous more will occur in the future - this is always true, so an alert for that would be useless. This alert could be an assumption that people seeing the alert don't know that tornadoes can form, so they need informing that they can form.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|This, like Tornado recollection, relies on the assumption that people seeing the alert don't know about tornadoes, and has to inform them that tornadoes are quite a threat.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|The title text is a nod to a harbinger of doom. It points out that as tornadoes are quite dangerous events, tornado alert warnings could be viewed as harbingers of doom. The narrator claims their phone makes an unearthly sound when issuing tornado alerts, which emphasizes the 'doom' of it.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156663267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:49:27Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|This is the first joke entry in this comic. While being prepared for the event of a tornado is a good idea, it hardly deserves an alert just for it - Particulary as you could make this warning anytime, as tornadoes could form at any point.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|This entry relies on no steady ground for an actual tornado forming, only relying on suspicions. However, this is also not steady ground for an alert.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|Similair to 'tornado inkling' this alert also just relies on hints and suspicions. The difference is that the hints and suspicions for a 'tornado premonition' are based on folkloric and symbolic associations rather than on a gut feeling.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|While this statement is true - tornadoes have occurred in the past, and numerous more will occur in the future - this is always true, so an alert for that would be useless. This alert could be an assumption that people seeing the alert don't know that tornadoes can form, so they need informing that they can form.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|This, like Tornado recollection, relies on the assumption that people seeing the alert don't know about tornadoes, and has to inform them that tornadoes are quite a threat.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|The title text is a nod to a {{w|harbinger of doom}}.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156643267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:22:17Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|This is the first joke entry in this comic. While being prepared for the event of a tornado is a good idea, it hardly deserves an alert just for it - Particulary as you could make this warning anytime, as tornadoes could form at any point.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|This entry relies on no steady ground for an actual tornado forming, only relying on suspicions. However, this is also not steady ground for an alert.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|Similair to 'tornado inkling' this alert also just relies on hints and suspicions.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|While this statement is true - tornadoes have occurred in the past, and numerous more will occur in the future - this is always true, so an alert for that would be useless. This alert could be an assumption that people seeing the alert don't know that tornadoes can form, so they need informing that they can form.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|This, like Tornado recollection, relies on the assumption that people seeing the alert don't know about tornadoes, and has to inform them that tornadoes are quite a threat.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156633267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:16:11Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|This is the first joke entry in this comic. While being prepared for the event of a tornado is a good idea, it hardly deserves an alert just for it - Particulary as you could make this warning anytime, as tornados could form at any point.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|This entry relies on no steady ground for an actual tornado forming, only relying on suspicions. However, this is also not steady ground for an alert.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|Similair to 'tornado inkling' this alert also just relies on hints and suspicions.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156623267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:12:55Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|This is the first joke entry in this comic. While being prepared for the event of a tornado is a good idea, it hardly deserves an alert just for it - Particulary as you could make this warning anytime, as tornados could form at any point.<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3267:_Types_of_Tornado_Alert&diff=4156613267: Types of Tornado Alert2026-07-05T16:09:23Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3267<br />
| date = July 3, 2026<br />
| title = Types of Tornado Alert<br />
| image = types_of_tornado_alert_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 505x426px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was found after a tornado recollection made an unearthly noise. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic describes the idea of a {{w|tornado warning|tornado alert}} and then humorously extends it to decreasingly dangerous situations, soon reaching increasimgly farfetched warnings, which don't help to prepare for a tornado at all.<br />
<br />
A table showing these warnings is below:<br />
<br />
===Types of tornado alerts===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Alert<br />
!Description<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado warning}}<br />
|A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
|This is a fairly normal warning. Obviously a tornado actively happening is a big threat, and a warning is fairly reasonable for tornadoes.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado watch}}<br />
|Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
|This is another obvious one. If a tornado could form, being careful for one is a good idea.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tornado preparedness|Tornado precaution}}<br />
|Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado inkling<br />
|No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado suspicion<br />
|Weird clouds have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado premonition<br />
|Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado recollection<br />
|Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado contemplation<br />
|Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Tornado harbinger (title text)<br />
|I hate the unearthly sound my phone makes when the weather service issues a tornado harbinger.<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:<!--stolen from 2843-->[There are multiple panels showing different scenes, prefixed by some label beginning with "Tornado" and followed by a description.]<br />
<br />
:Tornado warning<br />
:[Silhouette of a tornado spraying dust on the ground. To its right is a house and a dead tree.]<br />
:A tornado has been detected; take shelter<br />
<br />
:Tornado watch<br />
:[Hairbun stands in front of a board containing two graphs (one a skew-T log-P) and points to it with her right arm. Cueball is standing, facing her.]<br />
:Conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form<br />
<br />
:Tornado precaution<br />
:[Cueball stands with his arms out.]<br />
:Tornadoes happen sometimes, so be ready<br />
<br />
:Tornado inkling<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the right.]<br />
:No tornadoes yet, but we have a feeling<br />
<br />
:Tornado suspicion<br />
:[Cueball is standing outside looking at several clouds, including a cumulonimbus.]<br />
:Weird clouds have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado premonition<br />
:[Cueball stands to to the left of a pole with a crossbar that has been driven into the ground, and is leaning to the right. Upon the pole two black birds are sitting, and beside the pole is a skull. In the background, more birds form the shape of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornado portents and omens have been observed<br />
<br />
:Tornado recollection<br />
:[Cueball has his hand on his chin, looking to the left. He has a thought bubble, containing the silhouette of a tornado.]<br />
:Tornadoes have occurred in the past<br />
<br />
:Tornado contemplation<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a cube, with his arms in his lap, and facing left.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Wow.''<br />
:Tornadoes are very big and powerful<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Weather]]<br />
[[Category:Tornadoes]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3266:_Holes&diff=4156213266: Holes2026-07-02T19:07:58Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3266<br />
| date = July 1, 2026<br />
| title = Holes<br />
| image = holes_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x731px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = If you're thinking 'Wait, a giant crystal cave in Mexico? What's that?' then I'm SO excited for the image search you're about to do.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, using the power of New Mexican crystals, and found in a hole. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
This comic is a comparison of some of the largest holes in the world, both manmade and natural, showing how high/deep they are, relative to both sea level and the local surface. It is somewhat unusual to refer to many of these as 'holes', which is more normally used to describe small things — most people would hardly call a vast ocean trench a 'hole'.<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be related to [[1040: Lakes and Oceans]].<br />
<br />
A table expanding on (but not literally) the various holes is shown below:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
! Feature<br />
! Type<br />
! Approx. elevation relative to sea level<br />
! Approx. depth below local surface<br />
! Notes<br />
! More information<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bingham Canyon Mine}}<br />
| Open-pit copper mine<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| 1.2 km<br />
| Utah, USA<br />
| One of the world's largest human-made excavations, over 1 km deep and several kilometers across.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Veryovkina Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~0 km<br />
| 2.2 km<br />
| Georgia (Abkhazia)<br />
| The second deepest known cave on Earth, explored to more than 2.2 km below its entrance. The deepest is {{w|Krubera Cave}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mponeng Gold Mine}}<br />
| Gold mine<br />
| ~−2.5 km<br />
| 4 km<br />
| South Africa<br />
| Among the deepest operating mines ever built, reaching nearly 4 km below the surface.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sanford Underground Research Facility|Sanford Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.1 km<br />
| 1.5 km<br />
| South Dakota, USA<br />
| Former Homestake Gold Mine, now used for experiments in particle physics, neutrinos, and dark matter.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cave of the Crystals|Giant Crystal Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
| 0.3 km<br />
| Naica Mine, Mexico<br />
| Famous for enormous gypsum crystals, some over 10 m (33 ft) long, formed in hot mineral-rich groundwater.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City}}<br />
| Underground city<br />
| ~+1.3 km<br />
| 0.1 km<br />
| Turkey<br />
| Ancient underground city capable of sheltering tens of thousands of people and their livestock.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Waste Isolation Pilot Plant|WIPP}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| 0.7 km<br />
| New Mexico, USA<br />
| The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant stores long-lived radioactive waste in a stable underground salt formation.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Retsof,_New_York#Retsof_Salt_Mine|Restof [Retsof] Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.1 km<br />
| 0.3 km<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| Once the largest salt mine in the United States before major flooding in the 1990s (hence the "oops").<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|China Jinping Underground Laboratory|Jinping Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.6 km<br />
| 2.4 km<br />
| Sichuan, China<br />
| Built beneath Jinping Mountain and protected by over 2 km of rock, making it one of the world's deepest underground laboratories.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth|San Andreas Fault Observatory Borehole}}<br />
| Geological scientific borehole<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| 3.2 km<br />
| California, USA<br />
| Aimed at collecting geological data about the San Andreas Fault for the purpose of predicting and analyzing future earthquakes.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|CFB North Bay}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+0.3 km<br />
| 0.2 km<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Cold War command center carved into solid rock for North American air defense.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Woodingdean Water Well}}<br />
| Well<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| 0.4 km<br />
| England, United Kingdom<br />
| Hand-dug in the 19th century and still the deepest hand-excavated well ever completed.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Diefenbunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| +0.1 km<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Massive four-story underground bunker built to house the Canadian government after a nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deep Underground Command Center}}<br />
| Proposed military bunker<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
|<br />
| Nevada, USA<br />
| A proposed U.S. command facility that was never constructed after extensive planning.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Peigneur}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−0.2 km<br />
|<br />
| Louisiana, USA<br />
| Famous for a 1980 drilling accident ("oops") that transformed a shallow freshwater lake into a much deeper saltwater lake.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sydney Opera House|Sydney Opera House}} Parking<br />
| Parking garage<br />
| Slightly below sea level<br />
|<br />
| New South Wales, Australia<br />
| Deep underground parking beneath one of Australia's most recognizable landmarks.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| Satakunta, Finland<br />
| Designed for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel for over 100,000 years.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Raven Rock Mountain Complex|Raven Rock}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Pennsylvania, USA<br />
| Alternate U.S. military command center, sometimes called the "Underground Pentagon."<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Delaware Aqueduct}}<br />
| Water tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| The world's longest water tunnel, supplying drinking water to New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Wieliczka Salt Mine|Wieliczka}} and {{w|Bochnia Salt Mine|Bochnia}} Salt Mines<br />
| Salt mines<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland<br />
| Historic medieval mines famous for underground chapels, sculptures, and vast chambers carved from salt.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atchison Storage Facility}}<br />
| Underground storage<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Kansas, USA<br />
| A former limestone mine converted into climate-controlled storage for records, film, and valuables.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|SNOLAB}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−2 km<br />
|<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Located inside an active mine and used for dark matter, neutrino, and astroparticle physics experiments.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit salt mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.35 km<br />
|<br />
| Michigan, USA<br />
| Extensive salt mine directly beneath downtown Detroit and the Detroit River.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hongyancun station|Hongyancun Subway Station}}<br />
| Subway station<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Chongqing, China<br />
| One of the deepest metro stations in the world due to the city's steep mountainous terrain.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site|Nuclear Test Shafts}}<br />
| Test tunnels<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
|<br />
| North Korea<br />
| Underground tunnels used for nuclear weapons testing beneath Mount Mantap.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Super-Kamiokande}}<br />
| Neutrino detector<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
|<br />
| Gifu Prefecture, Japan<br />
| Giant underground tank containing 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water used to detect neutrinos.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso|Gran Sasso Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.7 km<br />
|<br />
| Italy<br />
| The world's largest underground research laboratory by volume.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Modane Underground Laboratory|Modane Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| France<br />
| Built beneath the Alps to shield sensitive physics experiments from cosmic rays.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gotthard Tunnel}}<br />
| Railway tunnel<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Switzerland<br />
| The world's longest railway tunnel, stretching 57 km through the Alps.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Cheyenne Mountain Bunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| Colorado, USA<br />
| Hardened military complex built inside a granite mountain to survive nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}}<br />
| Scientific borehole<br />
| ~-12 km<br />
|<br />
| Murmansk Oblast, Russia<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Baikal}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−1.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Russia<br />
| The world's deepest and oldest freshwater lake, containing roughly 20% of Earth's unfrozen surface freshwater.<br />
|-<br />
| Sediments under Lake Baikal<br />
| Sedimentary deposit column<br />
| ~-8km<br />
|<br />
| Russia<br />
| Lake Baikal sits atop a geological rift, and accumulated sedimentary layers beneath it extend some 7km into the rift.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Iceland Deep Drilling Project|IDDP}}-2 Borehole<br />
| Geothermal energy borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Iceland<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Dead Sea}}<br />
| Salt lake<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| Israel/Palestine/Jordan<br />
| Earth's lowest exposed land surface, famous for extremely salty water that allows people to float easily.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ryfylke Tunnel}}<br />
| Road tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Norway<br />
| One of the world's deepest subsea road tunnels.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Pantai Remis}} Mine<br />
| Tin mine<br />
| Near sea level<br />
|<br />
| Malaysia<br />
| A flooded open-pit tin mine that eventually became a lake after its {{w|Pantai_Remis_landslide|seawall collapsed}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Great Blue Hole}}<br />
| Marine sinkhole<br />
| ~−0.1 km<br />
|<br />
| Belize<br />
| A giant circular marine sinkhole popular with scuba divers and marine researchers.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|JOIDES Resolution}} Expedition 307<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~−6 km<br />
|<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} Borehole<br />
| Deep water oil well<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Gulf of Mexico<br />
| The Deepwater Horizon Ship had a terrible disaster in the Gulf.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Glomar Challenger}} hole 504B<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Project Mohole|Mohole}}<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| JOIDES Resolution Expedition 329<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mariana Trench}}<br />
| Oceanic trench<br />
| ~-10 km<br />
|<br />
| Pacific Ocean<br />
| The deepest oceanic trench on Earth. At the bottom, the pressure exerted by the kilometers of water above is about 15000 psi.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A large graph is shown, displaying various features of the world on a flat scale. Various holes on it are labelled.]<br />
:[Title of Graph:] Holes<br />
:Elevation is to scale relative to sea level and ground level<br />
:Land shapes and horizontal distances are not to scale<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3266:_Holes&diff=4155993266: Holes2026-07-02T16:01:02Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3266<br />
| date = July 1, 2026<br />
| title = Holes<br />
| image = holes_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x731px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = If you're thinking 'Wait, a giant crystal cave in Mexico? What's that?' then I'm SO excited for the image search you're about to do.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, using the power of New Mexican crystals, and found in a hole. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
This comic is a comparison of some of the largest holes in the world, both manmade and natural, showing how high/deep they are, relative to both sea level and the local surface. It is somewhat unusual to refer to many of these as 'holes', which is more normally used to describe small things — most people would hardly call a vast ocean trench a 'hole'.<br />
<br />
A table expanding on (but not literally) the various holes is shown below:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
! Feature<br />
! Type<br />
! Approx. elevation relative to sea level<br />
! Approx. depth below local surface<br />
! Notes<br />
! More information<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bingham Canyon Mine}}<br />
| Open-pit copper mine<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| 1.2 km<br />
| Utah, USA<br />
| One of the world's largest human-made excavations, over 1 km deep and several kilometers across.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Veryovkina Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~0 km<br />
| 2.2 km<br />
| Georgia (Abkhazia)<br />
| Currently the deepest known cave on Earth, explored to more than 2.2 km below its entrance.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mponeng Gold Mine}}<br />
| Gold mine<br />
| ~−2.5 km<br />
| 4 km<br />
| South Africa<br />
| Among the deepest operating mines ever built, reaching nearly 4 km below the surface.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sanford Underground Research Facility|Sanford Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.1 km<br />
| 1.5 km<br />
| South Dakota, USA<br />
| Former Homestake Gold Mine, now used for experiments in particle physics, neutrinos, and dark matter.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cave of the Crystals|Giant Crystal Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
| 0.3 km<br />
| Naica Mine, Mexico<br />
| Famous for enormous gypsum crystals, some over 10 m (33 ft) long, formed in hot mineral-rich groundwater.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City}}<br />
| Underground city<br />
| ~+1.3 km<br />
| 0.1 km<br />
| Turkey<br />
| Ancient underground city capable of sheltering tens of thousands of people and their livestock.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Waste Isolation Pilot Plant|WIPP}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| 0.7 km<br />
| New Mexico, USA<br />
| The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant stores long-lived radioactive waste in a stable underground salt formation.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Retsof,_New_York#Retsof_Salt_Mine|Restof [Retsof] Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| Once the largest salt mine in the United States before major flooding in the 1990s.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|China Jinping Underground Laboratory|Jinping Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Sichuan, China<br />
| Built beneath Jinping Mountain and protected by over 2 km of rock, making it one of the world's deepest underground laboratories.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth|San Andreas Fault Observatory Borehole}}<br />
| Geological scientific borehole<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| California, USA<br />
| Aimed at collecting geological data about the San Andreas Fault for the purpose of predicting and analyzing future earthquakes.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|CFB North Bay}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Cold War command center carved into solid rock for North American air defense.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Woodingdean Water Well}}<br />
| Well<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| England, United Kingdom<br />
| Hand-dug in the 19th century and still the deepest hand-excavated well ever completed.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Diefenbunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near sea level<br />
|<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Massive four-story underground bunker built to house the Canadian government after a nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deep Underground Command Center}}<br />
| Proposed military bunker<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
|<br />
| Nevada, USA<br />
| A proposed U.S. command facility that was never constructed after extensive planning.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Peigneur}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−0.2 km<br />
|<br />
| Louisiana, USA<br />
| Famous for a 1980 drilling accident that transformed a shallow freshwater lake into a much deeper saltwater lake.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sydney Opera House|Sydney Opera House}} Parking<br />
| Parking garage<br />
| Slightly below sea level<br />
|<br />
| New South Wales, Australia<br />
| Deep underground parking beneath one of Australia's most recognizable landmarks.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Onkalo Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| Satakunta, Finland<br />
| Designed for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel for over 100,000 years.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Raven Rock Mountain Complex|Raven Rock}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Pennsylvania, USA<br />
| Alternate U.S. military command center, sometimes called the "Underground Pentagon."<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Delaware Aqueduct}}<br />
| Water tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| The world's longest water tunnel, supplying drinking water to New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Wieliczka Salt Mine|Wieliczka}} and {{w|Bochnia Salt Mine|Bochnia}} Salt Mines<br />
| Salt mines<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland<br />
| Historic medieval mines famous for underground chapels, sculptures, and vast chambers carved from salt.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atchison Storage Facility}}<br />
| Underground storage<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Kansas, USA<br />
| A former limestone mine converted into climate-controlled storage for records, film, and valuables.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|SNOLAB}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−2 km<br />
|<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Located inside an active mine and used for dark matter, neutrino, and astroparticle physics experiments.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.35 km<br />
|<br />
| Michigan, USA<br />
| Extensive salt mine directly beneath downtown Detroit and the Detroit River.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hongyancun station|Hongyancun Subway Station}}<br />
| Subway station<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Chongqing, China<br />
| One of the deepest metro stations in the world due to the city's steep mountainous terrain.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site|Nuclear Test Shafts}}<br />
| Test tunnels<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
|<br />
| North Korea<br />
| Underground tunnels used for nuclear weapons testing beneath Mount Mantap.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Super-Kamiokande}}<br />
| Neutrino detector<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
|<br />
| Gifu Prefecture, Japan<br />
| Giant underground tank containing 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water used to detect neutrinos.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso|Gran Sasso Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.7 km<br />
|<br />
| Italy<br />
| The world's largest underground research laboratory by volume.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Modane Underground Laboratory|Modane Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| France<br />
| Built beneath the Alps to shield sensitive physics experiments from cosmic rays.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gotthard Tunnel}}<br />
| Railway tunnel<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Switzerland<br />
| The world's longest railway tunnel, stretching 57 km through the Alps.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Cheyenne Mountain Bunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| Colorado, USA<br />
| Hardened military complex built inside a granite mountain to survive nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}}<br />
| Scientific borehole<br />
| ~-12 km<br />
|<br />
| Murmansk Oblast, Russia<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Baikal}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−1.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Russia<br />
| The world's deepest and oldest freshwater lake, containing roughly 20% of Earth's unfrozen surface freshwater.<br />
|-<br />
| Sediments under Lake Baikal<br />
| Sedimentary deposit column<br />
| ~-8km<br />
|<br />
| Russia<br />
| Lake Baikal sits atop a geological rift, and accumulated sedimentary layers beneath it extend some 7km into the rift.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Iceland Deep Drilling Project|IDDP}}-2 Borehole<br />
| Geothermal energy borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Iceland<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Dead Sea}}<br />
| Salt lake<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| Israel/Palestine/Jordan<br />
| Earth's lowest exposed land surface, famous for extremely salty water that allows people to float easily.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ryfylke Tunnel}}<br />
| Road tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Norway<br />
| One of the world's deepest subsea road tunnels.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Pantai Remis}} Mine<br />
| Tin mine<br />
| Near sea level<br />
|<br />
| Malaysia<br />
| A flooded open-pit tin mine that eventually became a lake after its {{w|Pantai_Remis_landslide|seawall collapsed}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Great Blue Hole}}<br />
| Marine sinkhole<br />
| ~−0.1 km<br />
|<br />
| Belize<br />
| A giant circular marine sinkhole popular with scuba divers and marine researchers.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|JOIDES Resolution}} Expedition 307<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~−6 km<br />
|<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} Borehole<br />
| Deep water oil well<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Gulf of Mexico<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Glomar Challenger}} hole 504B<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Project Mohole|Mohole}}<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| JOIDES Resolution Expedition 329<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mariana Trench}}<br />
| Oceanic trench<br />
| ~-10 km<br />
|<br />
| Pacific Ocean<br />
| The deepest oceanic trench on Earth. At the bottom, the pressure exerted by the kilometers of water above is about 15000 psi.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A large graph is shown, displaying various features of the world on a flat scale. Various holes on it are labelled.]<br />
:[Title of Graph:] Holes<br />
:Elevation is to scale relative to sea level and ground level<br />
:Land shapes and horizontal distances are not to scale<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3266:_Holes&diff=4155933266: Holes2026-07-02T15:53:42Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3266<br />
| date = July 1, 2026<br />
| title = Holes<br />
| image = holes_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x731px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = If you're thinking 'Wait, a giant crystal cave in Mexico? What's that?' then I'm SO excited for the image search you're about to do.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, using the power of New Mexican crystals, and found in a hole. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
This comic is a comparison of some of the largest holes in the world, both manmade and natural, showing how high/deep they are, relative to both sea level and the local surface. It is somewhat unusual to refer to many of these as 'holes', which is more normally used to describe small things — most people would hardly call a vast ocean trench a 'hole'.<br />
<br />
A table expanding on (but not literally) the various holes is shown below:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
! Feature<br />
! Type<br />
! Approx. elevation relative to sea level<br />
! Approx. depth below local surface<br />
! Notes<br />
! More information<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bingham Canyon Mine}}<br />
| Open-pit copper mine<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| 1.2 km<br />
| Utah, USA<br />
| One of the world's largest human-made excavations, over 1 km deep and several kilometers across.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Veryovkina Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~0 km<br />
| 2.2 km<br />
| Georgia (Abkhazia)<br />
| Currently the deepest known cave on Earth, explored to more than 2.2 km below its entrance.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mponeng Gold Mine}}<br />
| Gold mine<br />
| ~−2.5 km<br />
| 4km<br />
| South Africa<br />
| Among the deepest operating mines ever built, reaching nearly 4 km below the surface.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sanford Underground Research Facility|Sanford Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.1 km<br />
| 1.5 km<br />
| South Dakota, USA<br />
| Former Homestake Gold Mine, now used for experiments in particle physics, neutrinos, and dark matter.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cave of the Crystals|Giant Crystal Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
|<br />
| Naica Mine, Mexico<br />
| Famous for enormous gypsum crystals, some over 10 m (33 ft) long, formed in hot mineral-rich groundwater.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City}}<br />
| Underground city<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| Turkey<br />
| Ancient underground city capable of sheltering tens of thousands of people and their livestock.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Waste Isolation Pilot Plant|WIPP}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| New Mexico, USA<br />
| The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant stores long-lived radioactive waste in a stable underground salt formation.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Retsof,_New_York#Retsof_Salt_Mine|Restof [Retsof] Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| Once the largest salt mine in the United States before major flooding in the 1990s.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|China Jinping Underground Laboratory|Jinping Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Sichuan, China<br />
| Built beneath Jinping Mountain and protected by over 2 km of rock, making it one of the world's deepest underground laboratories.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth|San Andreas Fault Observatory Borehole}}<br />
| Geological scientific borehole<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| California, USA<br />
| Aimed at collecting geological data about the San Andreas Fault for the purpose of predicting and analyzing future earthquakes.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|CFB North Bay}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Cold War command center carved into solid rock for North American air defense.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Woodingdean Water Well}}<br />
| Well<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| England, United Kingdom<br />
| Hand-dug in the 19th century and still the deepest hand-excavated well ever completed.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Diefenbunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near sea level<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Massive four-story underground bunker built to house the Canadian government after a nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deep Underground Command Center}}<br />
| Proposed military bunker<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
|<br />
| Nevada, USA<br />
| A proposed U.S. command facility that was never constructed after extensive planning.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Peigneur}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−0.2 km<br />
|<br />
| Louisiana, USA<br />
| Famous for a 1980 drilling accident that transformed a shallow freshwater lake into a much deeper saltwater lake.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sydney Opera House|Sydney Opera House}} Parking<br />
| Parking garage<br />
| Slightly below sea level<br />
|<br />
| New South Wales, Australia<br />
| Deep underground parking beneath one of Australia's most recognizable landmarks.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Onkalo Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| Satakunta, Finland<br />
| Designed for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel for over 100,000 years.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Raven Rock Mountain Complex|Raven Rock}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Pennsylvania, USA<br />
| Alternate U.S. military command center, sometimes called the "Underground Pentagon."<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Delaware Aqueduct}}<br />
| Water tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| The world's longest water tunnel, supplying drinking water to New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Wieliczka Salt Mine|Wieliczka}} and {{w|Bochnia Salt Mine|Bochnia}} Salt Mines<br />
| Salt mines<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland<br />
| Historic medieval mines famous for underground chapels, sculptures, and vast chambers carved from salt.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atchison Storage Facility}}<br />
| Underground storage<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Kansas, USA<br />
| A former limestone mine converted into climate-controlled storage for records, film, and valuables.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|SNOLAB}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−2 km<br />
|<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Located inside an active mine and used for dark matter, neutrino, and astroparticle physics experiments.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.35 km<br />
|<br />
| Michigan, USA<br />
| Extensive salt mine directly beneath downtown Detroit and the Detroit River.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hongyancun station|Hongyancun Subway Station}}<br />
| Subway station<br />
| Near surface<br />
|<br />
| Chongqing, China<br />
| One of the deepest metro stations in the world due to the city's steep mountainous terrain.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site|Nuclear Test Shafts}}<br />
| Test tunnels<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
|<br />
| North Korea<br />
| Underground tunnels used for nuclear weapons testing beneath Mount Mantap.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Super-Kamiokande}}<br />
| Neutrino detector<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
|<br />
| Gifu Prefecture, Japan<br />
| Giant underground tank containing 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water used to detect neutrinos.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso|Gran Sasso Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.7 km<br />
|<br />
| Italy<br />
| The world's largest underground research laboratory by volume.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Modane Underground Laboratory|Modane Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| France<br />
| Built beneath the Alps to shield sensitive physics experiments from cosmic rays.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gotthard Tunnel}}<br />
| Railway tunnel<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Switzerland<br />
| The world's longest railway tunnel, stretching 57 km through the Alps.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Cheyenne Mountain Bunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
|<br />
| Colorado, USA<br />
| Hardened military complex built inside a granite mountain to survive nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}}<br />
| Scientific borehole<br />
| ~-12 km<br />
|<br />
| Murmansk Oblast, Russia<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Baikal}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−1.6 km<br />
|<br />
| Russia<br />
| The world's deepest and oldest freshwater lake, containing roughly 20% of Earth's unfrozen surface freshwater.<br />
|-<br />
| Sediments under Lake Baikal<br />
| Sedimentary deposit column<br />
| ~-8km<br />
|<br />
| Russia<br />
| Lake Baikal sits atop a geological rift, and accumulated sedimentary layers beneath it extend some 7km into the rift.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Iceland Deep Drilling Project|IDDP}}-2 Borehole<br />
| Geothermal energy borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Iceland<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Dead Sea}}<br />
| Salt lake<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
|<br />
| Israel/Palestine/Jordan<br />
| Earth's lowest exposed land surface, famous for extremely salty water that allows people to float easily.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ryfylke Tunnel}}<br />
| Road tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
|<br />
| Norway<br />
| One of the world's deepest subsea road tunnels.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Pantai Remis}} Mine<br />
| Tin mine<br />
| Near sea level<br />
|<br />
| Malaysia<br />
| A flooded open-pit tin mine that eventually became a lake after its {{w|Pantai_Remis_landslide|seawall collapsed}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Great Blue Hole}}<br />
| Marine sinkhole<br />
| ~−0.1 km<br />
|<br />
| Belize<br />
| A giant circular marine sinkhole popular with scuba divers and marine researchers.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|JOIDES Resolution}} Expedition 307<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~−6 km<br />
|<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} Borehole<br />
| Deep water oil well<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Glomar Challenger}} hole 504B<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Project Mohole|Mohole}}<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| JOIDES Resolution Expedition 329<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
|<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mariana Trench}}<br />
| Oceanic trench<br />
| ~-10 km<br />
|<br />
| Pacific Ocean<br />
| The deepest oceanic trench on Earth. At the bottom, the pressure exerted by the kilometers of water above is about 15000 psi.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A large graph is shown, displaying various features of the world on a flat scale. Various holes on it are labelled.]<br />
:[Title of Graph:] Holes<br />
:Elevation is to scale relative to sea level and ground level<br />
:Land shapes and horizontal distances are not to scale<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3266:_Holes&diff=4155843266: Holes2026-07-02T15:35:52Z<p>GSLikesCats307: I've started off a Transcript for the comic</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3266<br />
| date = July 1, 2026<br />
| title = Holes<br />
| image = holes_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x731px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = If you're thinking 'Wait, a giant crystal cave in Mexico? What's that?' then I'm SO excited for the image search you're about to do.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, using the power of New Mexican crystals, and found in a hole. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
This comic shows some of the largest holes in the world, both manmade and natural. It is somewhat unusual to refer to many of these as 'holes', which is more normally used to describe small things — most people would hardly call a vast ocean trench a 'hole'.<br />
<br />
A table expanding on (but not literally) the various holes is shown below:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
! Feature<br />
! Type<br />
! Approx. elevation/depth<br />
! Notes<br />
! More information<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bingham Canyon Mine}}<br />
| Open-pit copper mine<br />
| ~+2 km<br />
| Utah, USA<br />
| One of the world's largest human-made excavations, over 1 km deep and several kilometers across.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Veryovkina Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~−2.2 km<br />
| Georgia (Abkhazia)<br />
| Currently the deepest known cave on Earth, explored to more than 2.2 km below its entrance.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mponeng Gold Mine}}<br />
| Gold mine<br />
| ~−4 km<br />
| South Africa<br />
| Among the deepest operating mines ever built, reaching nearly 4 km below the surface.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sanford Underground Research Facility|Sanford Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−1.5 km<br />
| South Dakota, USA<br />
| Former Homestake Gold Mine, now used for experiments in particle physics, neutrinos, and dark matter.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cave of the Crystals|Giant Crystal Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
| Naica Mine, Mexico<br />
| Famous for enormous gypsum crystals, some over 10 m (33 ft) long, formed in hot mineral-rich groundwater.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City}}<br />
| Underground city<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| Turkey<br />
| Ancient underground city capable of sheltering tens of thousands of people and their livestock.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Waste Isolation Pilot Plant|WIPP}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| New Mexico, USA<br />
| The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant stores long-lived radioactive waste in a stable underground salt formation.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Retsof,_New_York#Retsof_Salt_Mine|Restof [Retsof] Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.6 km<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| Once the largest salt mine in the United States before major flooding in the 1990s.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|China Jinping Underground Laboratory|Jinping Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.6 km<br />
| Sichuan, China<br />
| Built beneath Jinping Mountain and protected by over 2 km of rock, making it one of the world's deepest underground laboratories.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth|San Andreas Fault Observatory Borehole}}<br />
| Geological scientific borehole<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| California, USA<br />
| Aimed at collecting geological data about the San Andreas Fault for the purpose of predicting and analyzing future earthquakes.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|CFB North Bay}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+0.3 km<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Cold War command center carved into solid rock for North American air defense.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Woodingdean Water Well}}<br />
| Well<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
| England, United Kingdom<br />
| Hand-dug in the 19th century and still the deepest hand-excavated well ever completed.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Diefenbunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near sea level<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Massive four-story underground bunker built to house the Canadian government after a nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deep Underground Command Center}}<br />
| Proposed military bunker<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
| Nevada, USA<br />
| A proposed U.S. command facility that was never constructed after extensive planning.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Peigneur}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−0.2 km<br />
| Louisiana, USA<br />
| Famous for a 1980 drilling accident that transformed a shallow freshwater lake into a much deeper saltwater lake.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sydney Opera House|Sydney Opera House}} Parking<br />
| Parking garage<br />
| Slightly below sea level<br />
| New South Wales, Australia<br />
| Deep underground parking beneath one of Australia's most recognizable landmarks.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Onkalo Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
| Satakunta, Finland<br />
| Designed for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel for over 100,000 years.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Raven Rock Mountain Complex|Raven Rock}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Pennsylvania, USA<br />
| Alternate U.S. military command center, sometimes called the "Underground Pentagon."<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Delaware Aqueduct}}<br />
| Water tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| The world's longest water tunnel, supplying drinking water to New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Wieliczka Salt Mine|Wieliczka}} and {{w|Bochnia Salt Mine|Bochnia}} Salt Mines<br />
| Salt mines<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland<br />
| Historic medieval mines famous for underground chapels, sculptures, and vast chambers carved from salt.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atchison Storage Facility}}<br />
| Underground storage<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Kansas, USA<br />
| A former limestone mine converted into climate-controlled storage for records, film, and valuables.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|SNOLAB}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−2 km<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Located inside an active mine and used for dark matter, neutrino, and astroparticle physics experiments.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.35 km<br />
| Michigan, USA<br />
| Extensive salt mine directly beneath downtown Detroit and the Detroit River.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hongyancun station|Hongyancun Subway Station}}<br />
| Subway station<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Chongqing, China<br />
| One of the deepest metro stations in the world due to the city's steep mountainous terrain.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site|Nuclear Test Shafts}}<br />
| Test tunnels<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
| North Korea<br />
| Underground tunnels used for nuclear weapons testing beneath Mount Mantap.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Super-Kamiokande}}<br />
| Neutrino detector<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
| Gifu Prefecture, Japan<br />
| Giant underground tank containing 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water used to detect neutrinos.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso|Gran Sasso Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.7 km<br />
| Italy<br />
| The world's largest underground research laboratory by volume.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Modane Underground Laboratory|Modane Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| France<br />
| Built beneath the Alps to shield sensitive physics experiments from cosmic rays.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gotthard Tunnel}}<br />
| Railway tunnel<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| Switzerland<br />
| The world's longest railway tunnel, stretching 57 km through the Alps.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Cheyenne Mountain Bunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| Colorado, USA<br />
| Hardened military complex built inside a granite mountain to survive nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}}<br />
| Scientific borehole<br />
| ~-12 km<br />
| Murmansk Oblast, Russia<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Baikal}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−1.6 km<br />
| Russia<br />
| The world's deepest and oldest freshwater lake, containing roughly 20% of Earth's unfrozen surface freshwater.<br />
|-<br />
| Sediments under Lake Baikal<br />
| Sedimentary deposit column<br />
| ~-8km<br />
| Russia<br />
| Lake Baikal sits atop a geological rift, and accumulated sedimentary layers beneath it extend some 7km into the rift.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Iceland Deep Drilling Project|IDDP}}-2 Borehole<br />
| Geothermal energy borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| Iceland<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Dead Sea}}<br />
| Salt lake<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
| Israel/Palestine/Jordan<br />
| Earth's lowest exposed land surface, famous for extremely salty water that allows people to float easily.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ryfylke Tunnel}}<br />
| Road tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| Norway<br />
| One of the world's deepest subsea road tunnels.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Pantai Remis}} Mine<br />
| Tin mine<br />
| Near sea level<br />
| Malaysia<br />
| A flooded open-pit tin mine that eventually became a lake after its {{w|Pantai_Remis_landslide|seawall collapsed}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Great Blue Hole}}<br />
| Marine sinkhole<br />
| ~−0.1 km<br />
| Belize<br />
| A giant circular marine sinkhole popular with scuba divers and marine researchers.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|JOIDES Resolution}} Expedition 307<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~−6 km<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} Borehole<br />
| Deep water oil well<br />
| ~<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Glomar Challenger}} hole 504B<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Project Mohole|Mohole}}<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| JOIDES Resolution Expedition 329<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mariana Trench}}<br />
| Oceanic trench<br />
| ~-10 km<br />
| Pacific Ocean<br />
| The deepest oceanic trench on Earth. At the bottom, the pressure exerted by the kilometers of water above is about 15000 psi.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A large graph is shown, displaying various features of the world on a flat scale.]<br />
:[Title of Graph:] Holes<br />
:Elevation is to scale relative to sea level and ground level<br />
:Land shapes and horizontal distances are not to scale<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3266:_Holes&diff=4155793266: Holes2026-07-02T15:22:15Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3266<br />
| date = July 1, 2026<br />
| title = Holes<br />
| image = holes_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x731px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = If you're thinking 'Wait, a giant crystal cave in Mexico? What's that?' then I'm SO excited for the image search you're about to do.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, using the power of New Mexican crystals, and found in a hole. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
This comic shows all the large holes in the world, manmade or natural. The joke in this is that the word 'hole' is normally used to describe small things, and most people would hardly call the Mariana Trench a hole.<br />
<br />
A table showing the various holes and their location on the map is shown below:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
! Feature<br />
! Type<br />
! Approx. elevation/depth<br />
! Notes<br />
! More information<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Bingham Canyon Mine}}<br />
| Open-pit copper mine<br />
| ~+2 km<br />
| Utah, USA<br />
| One of the world's largest human-made excavations, over 1 km deep and several kilometers across.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Veryovkina Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~−2.2 km<br />
| Georgia (Abkhazia)<br />
| Currently the deepest known cave on Earth, explored to more than 2.2 km below its entrance.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mponeng Gold Mine}}<br />
| Gold mine<br />
| ~−4 km<br />
| South Africa<br />
| Among the deepest operating mines ever built, reaching nearly 4 km below the surface.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sanford Underground Research Facility|Sanford Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−1.5 km<br />
| South Dakota, USA<br />
| Former Homestake Gold Mine, now used for experiments in particle physics, neutrinos, and dark matter.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cave of the Crystals|Giant Crystal Cave}}<br />
| Cave<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
| Naica Mine, Mexico<br />
| Famous for enormous gypsum crystals, some over 10 m (33 ft) long, formed in hot mineral-rich groundwater.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City}}<br />
| Underground city<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| Turkey<br />
| Ancient underground city capable of sheltering tens of thousands of people and their livestock.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Waste Isolation Pilot Plant|WIPP}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| New Mexico, USA<br />
| The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant stores long-lived radioactive waste in a stable underground salt formation.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Retsof,_New_York#Retsof_Salt_Mine|Restof [Retsof] Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.6 km<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| Once the largest salt mine in the United States before major flooding in the 1990s.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|China Jinping Underground Laboratory|Jinping Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.6 km<br />
| Sichuan, China<br />
| Built beneath Jinping Mountain and protected by over 2 km of rock, making it one of the world's deepest underground laboratories.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth|San Andreas Fault Observatory Borehole}}<br />
| Geological scientific borehole<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| California, USA<br />
| Aimed at collecting geological data about the San Andreas Fault for the purpose of predicting and analyzing future earthquakes.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|CFB North Bay}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+0.3 km<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Cold War command center carved into solid rock for North American air defense.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Woodingdean Water Well}}<br />
| Well<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
| England, United Kingdom<br />
| Hand-dug in the 19th century and still the deepest hand-excavated well ever completed.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Diefenbunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near sea level<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Massive four-story underground bunker built to house the Canadian government after a nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deep Underground Command Center}}<br />
| Proposed military bunker<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
| Nevada, USA<br />
| A proposed U.S. command facility that was never constructed after extensive planning.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Peigneur}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−0.2 km<br />
| Louisiana, USA<br />
| Famous for a 1980 drilling accident that transformed a shallow freshwater lake into a much deeper saltwater lake.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sydney Opera House|Sydney Opera House}} Parking<br />
| Parking garage<br />
| Slightly below sea level<br />
| New South Wales, Australia<br />
| Deep underground parking beneath one of Australia's most recognizable landmarks.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Onkalo Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository}}<br />
| Nuclear waste repository<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
| Satakunta, Finland<br />
| Designed for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel for over 100,000 years.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Raven Rock Mountain Complex|Raven Rock}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Pennsylvania, USA<br />
| Alternate U.S. military command center, sometimes called the "Underground Pentagon."<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Delaware Aqueduct}}<br />
| Water tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| New York, USA<br />
| The world's longest water tunnel, supplying drinking water to New York City.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Wieliczka Salt Mine|Wieliczka}} and {{w|Bochnia Salt Mine|Bochnia}} Salt Mines<br />
| Salt mines<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland<br />
| Historic medieval mines famous for underground chapels, sculptures, and vast chambers carved from salt.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Atchison Storage Facility}}<br />
| Underground storage<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Kansas, USA<br />
| A former limestone mine converted into climate-controlled storage for records, film, and valuables.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|SNOLAB}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~−2 km<br />
| Ontario, Canada<br />
| Located inside an active mine and used for dark matter, neutrino, and astroparticle physics experiments.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Detroit Salt Mine}}<br />
| Salt mine<br />
| ~−0.35 km<br />
| Michigan, USA<br />
| Extensive salt mine directly beneath downtown Detroit and the Detroit River.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Hongyancun station|Hongyancun Subway Station}}<br />
| Subway station<br />
| Near surface<br />
| Chongqing, China<br />
| One of the deepest metro stations in the world due to the city's steep mountainous terrain.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site|Nuclear Test Shafts}}<br />
| Test tunnels<br />
| ~+1 km<br />
| North Korea<br />
| Underground tunnels used for nuclear weapons testing beneath Mount Mantap.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Super-Kamiokande}}<br />
| Neutrino detector<br />
| ~−1 km<br />
| Gifu Prefecture, Japan<br />
| Giant underground tank containing 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water used to detect neutrinos.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso|Gran Sasso Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+0.7 km<br />
| Italy<br />
| The world's largest underground research laboratory by volume.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Modane Underground Laboratory|Modane Laboratory}}<br />
| Underground laboratory<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| France<br />
| Built beneath the Alps to shield sensitive physics experiments from cosmic rays.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gotthard Tunnel}}<br />
| Railway tunnel<br />
| ~+0.6 km<br />
| Switzerland<br />
| The world's longest railway tunnel, stretching 57 km through the Alps.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Cheyenne Mountain Bunker}}<br />
| Military bunker<br />
| ~+1.5 km<br />
| Colorado, USA<br />
| Hardened military complex built inside a granite mountain to survive nuclear attack.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}}<br />
| Scientific borehole<br />
| ~-12 km<br />
| Murmansk Oblast, Russia<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Baikal}}<br />
| Lake<br />
| ~−1.6 km<br />
| Russia<br />
| The world's deepest and oldest freshwater lake, containing roughly 20% of Earth's unfrozen surface freshwater.<br />
|-<br />
| Sediments under Lake Baikal<br />
| Sedimentary deposit column<br />
| ~-8km<br />
| Russia<br />
| Lake Baikal sits atop a geological rift, and accumulated sedimentary layers beneath it extend some 7km into the rift.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Iceland Deep Drilling Project|IDDP}}-2 Borehole<br />
| Geothermal energy borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| Iceland<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Dead Sea}}<br />
| Salt lake<br />
| ~−0.4 km<br />
| Israel/Palestine/Jordan<br />
| Earth's lowest exposed land surface, famous for extremely salty water that allows people to float easily.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ryfylke Tunnel}}<br />
| Road tunnel<br />
| ~−0.3 km<br />
| Norway<br />
| One of the world's deepest subsea road tunnels.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Pantai Remis}} Mine<br />
| Tin mine<br />
| Near sea level<br />
| Malaysia<br />
| A flooded open-pit tin mine that eventually became a lake after its {{w|Pantai_Remis_landslide|seawall collapsed}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Great Blue Hole}}<br />
| Marine sinkhole<br />
| ~−0.1 km<br />
| Belize<br />
| A giant circular marine sinkhole popular with scuba divers and marine researchers.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|JOIDES Resolution}} Expedition 307<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~−6 km<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} Borehole<br />
| Deep water oil well<br />
| ~<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Glomar Challenger}} hole 504B<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Project Mohole|Mohole}}<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| JOIDES Resolution Expedition 329<br />
| Scientific ocean borehole<br />
| ~<br />
| Atlantic Ocean<br />
| Ocean drilling expedition that cored deep into the seafloor to study Earth's geology and climate history.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Mariana Trench}}<br />
| Oceanic trench<br />
| ~-10 km<br />
| Pacific Ocean<br />
| The deepest oceanic trench on Earth. At the bottom, the pressure exerted by the kilometers of water above is about 15000 psi.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&diff=4154013265: Asteroid Threat2026-06-29T19:52:19Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3265<br />
| date = June 29, 2026<br />
| title = Asteroid Threat<br />
| image = asteroid_threat_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 345x424px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, the comic takes the absurd notion that because it happened the 'opposite' way, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction, which is absurd.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
The general consensus is that the dinosaurs went extinct as a result of the environmental effects of the impact. The title text suggests that it actually launched the dinosaurs alive into space. They've been circling the Sun in a long orbit that will some day intersect with the Earth again and, absurdly, they will land still alive.{{citation needed}} If this is linked to the un-extinction of the dinosaurs in the main comic is unclear.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small one, centered on southern {{w|West Africa}}, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east coast of South America, with a dotted line through the Earth entering at the Yucatán Peninsula and exiting at the east-central Indian Ocean. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large Earth image centered on the Indian Ocean and containing a target symbol, comprising a circle and four spokes, aimed at a location in the east-central Indian Ocean.]<br />
<br />
[Caption below image:]<br><br />
Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly ''opposite'' the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing ''back'' the dinosaurs.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&diff=4153963265: Asteroid Threat2026-06-29T19:15:14Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3265<br />
| date = June 29, 2026<br />
| title = Asteroid Threat<br />
| image = asteroid_threat_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 345x424px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, the comic takes the absurd notion that because it happened the 'opposite' way, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction, which is absurd.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
The general consensus is that the dinosaurs went extinct as a result of the environmental effects of the impact. The title text suggests that it actually launched the dinosaurs alive into space. They've been circling the Sun in a long orbit that will some day intersect with the Earth again and, absurdly, they will land still alive.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small picture, centered on the west coast of Africa, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east cost of South America. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large picture centered on the Indian Ocean. There's a diagram with a circle and four spokes targeting a location northwest of Australia and southwest of Indonesia.]<br />
<br />
[Caption below image:]<br />
<br />
Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly opposite the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing back the dinosaurs.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3264:_720_Ollie&diff=4152923264: 720 Ollie2026-06-27T15:31:31Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3264<br />
| date = June 26, 2026<br />
| title = 720 Ollie<br />
| image = 720_ollie_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 257x325px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bunch of baryons. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Tony Hawk}} tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.<br />
<br />
The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle{{Citation needed}}, it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.<br />
<br />
A '''{{w|fermion}}''' is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the ''reduced Planck constant'', the behavior of these object's spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to '''bosons''', whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger {{w|Aerial (skateboarding)|mid-air rotations}} have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.<br />
<br />
The title text is a riff on the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of {{w|CP violation}}, (something that may have been on [[Randall]]'s mind, recently, due to the [[3263: Baryon Asymmetry|prior comic]]'s subject matter/anti-matter<!-- couldn't resist that pun, after accidentally stumbling into it, but delete it if it's too corny -->). The {{w|Footedness#Goofy stance vs. regular stance|regular/goofy styles of riding a skateboard}} could be considered as a physical quality of the "skateboarder particle", as values of charge and parity are of subatomic ones. The {{w|X Games}} are a prestigious 'street-sport' event that includes competitions in skateboarding as well as other related board- and bike-disciplines. The parallel is made between being able to win a gold medal for impressive skateboarding skills (and demonstrating new tricks, in the process, as Tony Hawk has been known to do) and earning the gold Nobel Prize medal for a scientific achievements in Physics or one of the other established prize categories. So far, nobody has done both of these. But, if this comic is entirely true, perhaps Tony Hawk could be the first to do so.<br />
<br />
Skateboarding is also the subject of [[296: Tony Hawk]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[Tony Hawk & Cueball are talking. Tiny Hawk is holding his skateboard. An illustration, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]<br />
<br />
:Tony Hawk [holding a skateboard]: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.<br />
<br />
:Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3264:_720_Ollie&diff=4152913264: 720 Ollie2026-06-27T15:31:19Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3264<br />
| date = June 26, 2026<br />
| title = 720 Ollie<br />
| image = 720_ollie_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 257x325px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bunch of baryons. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Tony Hawk}} tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.<br />
<br />
The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle{{Citation needed}}, it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.<br />
<br />
A '''{{w|fermion}}''' is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the ''reduced Planck constant'', the behavior of these object's spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to '''bosons''', whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger {{w|Aerial (skateboarding)|mid-air rotations}} have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.<br />
<br />
The title text is a riff on the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of {{w|CP violation}}, (something that may have been on [[Randall]]'s mind, recently, due to the [[3263: Baryon Asymmetry|prior comic]]'s subject matter/anti-matter<!-- couldn't resist that pun, after accidentally stumbling into it, but delete it if it's too corny -->). The {{w|Footedness#Goofy stance vs. regular stance|regular/goofy styles of riding a skateboard}} could be considered as a physical quality of the "skateboarder particle", as values of charge and parity are of subatomic ones. The {{w|X Games}} are a prestigious 'street-sport' event that includes competitions in skateboarding as well as other related board- and bike-disciplines. The parallel is made between being able to win a gold medal for impressive skateboarding skills (and demonstrating new tricks, in the process, as Tony Hawk has been known to do) and earning the gold Nobel Prize medal for a scientific achievements in Physics or one of the other established prize categories. So far, nobody has done both of these. But, if this comic is entirely true, perhaps Tony Hawk could be the first to do so.<br />
<br />
Skateboarding is also the subject of [[296:Tony Hawk]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[Tony Hawk & Cueball are talking. Tiny Hawk is holding his skateboard. An illustration, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]<br />
<br />
:Tony Hawk [holding a skateboard]: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.<br />
<br />
:Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3264:_720_Ollie&diff=4152903264: 720 Ollie2026-06-27T15:28:50Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3264<br />
| date = June 26, 2026<br />
| title = 720 Ollie<br />
| image = 720_ollie_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 257x325px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bunch of baryons. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Tony Hawk}} tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.<br />
<br />
The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle{{Citation needed}}, it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.<br />
<br />
A '''{{w|fermion}}''' is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the ''reduced Planck constant'', the behavior of these object's spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to '''bosons''', whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger {{w|Aerial (skateboarding)|mid-air rotations}} have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.<br />
<br />
The title text is a riff on the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of {{w|CP violation}}, (something that may have been on [[Randall]]'s mind, recently, due to the [[3263: Baryon Asymmetry|prior comic]]'s subject matter/anti-matter<!-- couldn't resist that pun, after accidentally stumbling into it, but delete it if it's too corny -->). The {{w|Footedness#Goofy stance vs. regular stance|regular/goofy styles of riding a skateboard}} could be considered as a physical quality of the "skateboarder particle", as values of charge and parity are of subatomic ones. The {{w|X Games}} are a prestigious 'street-sport' event that includes competitions in skateboarding as well as other related board- and bike-disciplines. The parallel is made between being able to win a gold medal for impressive skateboarding skills (and demonstrating new tricks, in the process, as Tony Hawk has been known to do) and earning the gold Nobel Prize medal for a scientific achievements in Physics or one of the other established prize categories. So far, nobody has done both of these. But, if this comic is entirely true, perhaps Tony Hawk could be the first to do so.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[Tony Hawk & Cueball are talking. Tiny Hawk is holding his skateboard. An illustration, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]<br />
<br />
:Tony Hawk [holding a skateboard]: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.<br />
<br />
:Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3264:_720_Ollie&diff=4152893264: 720 Ollie2026-06-27T15:26:59Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3264<br />
| date = June 26, 2026<br />
| title = 720 Ollie<br />
| image = 720_ollie_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 257x325px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bunch of baryons. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Tony Hawk}} tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.<br />
<br />
The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle{{Citation needed}}, it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.<br />
<br />
A '''{{w|fermion}}''' is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the ''reduced Planck constant'', the behavior of these object's spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to '''bosons''', whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger {{w|Aerial (skateboarding)|mid-air rotations}} have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.<br />
<br />
The title text is a riff on the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of {{w|CP violation}}, (something that may have been on [[Randall]]'s mind, recently, due to the [[3263: Baryon Asymmetry|prior comic]]'s subject matter/anti-matter<!-- couldn't resist that pun, after accidentally stumbling into it, but delete it if it's too corny -->). The {{w|Footedness#Goofy stance vs. regular stance|regular/goofy styles of riding a skateboard}} could be considered as a physical quality of the "skateboarder particle", as values of charge and parity are of subatomic ones. The {{w|X Games}} are a prestigious 'street-sport' event that includes competitions in skateboarding as well as other related board- and bike-disciplines. The parallel is made between being able to win a gold medal for impressive skateboarding skills (and demonstrating new tricks, in the process, as Tony Hawk has been known to do) and earning the gold Nobel Prize medal for a scientific achievements in Physics or one of the other established prize categories. So far, nobody has done both of these. But, if this comic is entirely true, perhaps Tony Hawk could be the first to do so.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:Tony Hawk [holding a skateboard]: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.<br />
<br />
:[An illustration, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]<br />
<br />
:Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3263:_Baryon_Asymmetry&diff=4151933263: Baryon Asymmetry2026-06-25T18:03:53Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3263<br />
| date = June 24, 2026<br />
| title = Baryon Asymmetry<br />
| image = baryon_asymmetry_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 682x270px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Wait, what do you mean, 'dark matter'? It's not dark, it interacts with high-energy gamma rays ... right? Oh jeez, did I forget to make it interact?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, but was recently annihilated by it's anti-matter counterpart, and needs recreating. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] talks with the creator of the universe (possibly the one previously seen in another [[3222: Star Formation|recent comic]]). Cueball wants to know why the universe has {{w|baryon asymmetry}}. The {{w|observable universe}} contains much more matter than antimatter. Current physical theories imply that matter and antimatter should have been created in roughly equal amounts. The fact that antimatter is rare is very fortunate for humans and other objects made of matter, given that matter/antimatter reactions destroy both substances with a violent release of energy.<br />
<br />
As it turns out though, the creator of the universe, far from being wise and all-knowing, simply forgot to add a roughly equal amount of antimatter. They then, realising their mistake, proceed to add the antimatter that they originally forgot, only to create a massive explosion as large quantities of the universe experience {{w|annihilation}}. <br />
<br />
The creator seems to have been careless to the workings of their own created universe, only now adding in the forgotten antimatter without considering the widespread impact it would have on the current state of the universe. This is strange, given they created the universe, and would surely not be oblivious to the fact that it either has not been working as intended (missing around half of its mass) or any realisation that the forgotten feature was actually a bad idea after all. Although as he is conversing with Cueball, who has exhibited [[:Category:Cueball's computer problems|similar degrees of personal ineptitude]], and that this might or might not be the same entity as seen getting things 'wrong' in [[3222: Star Formation]], this might just go to show that it is a shared trait to have so much ability but so little foresight and understanding.<br />
<br />
An alternate explanation could be that the sphere is an equivalent to (or disguise of) [[Black Hat]], that knows all about the impact and yet 'corrected' the situation anyway, simply not caring about destroying the universe they created. Even deliberately choosing to {{tvtropes|LiteralGenie|worsen the situation}} in a way driven by whatever issue the invited question would have raised. This would [[2741: Wish Interpretation|not be the first time]] that Black Hat has apparently been willing to badly subvert such wish fulfillments, if he is involved.<br />
<br />
The title text resolves another physics mystery in a similarly unexpected way. {{W|Dark matter}}, another substance that is hypothesised to exist but not even as well understood as antimatter, mysteriously interacts with gravitation but not electromagnetic energy. The creator seems to reveal that dark matter was ''supposed'' to interact with high-energy {{w|gamma rays}} (which, at least as far as the creator is concerned, would not make it 'dark'), but they forgot to add that property to the substance that we had consequently called "dark matter". Exactly how this follow-up issue was posed is unknown, following the sudden annihilation of much (if not all) matter in Cueball's vicinity, and likely also his own body. However, there is a chance [[Cueball]] is safe from this, as the void shown is unknown, and the last panel could display events happening elsewhere in the universe, while the void is safe from such things.<br />
<br />
It is uncertain if any more questions could be asked, after this other apparently intended situation was properly implemented, but they might include something about the nature of {{w|dark energy}}, yet ''another'' separate mystery regarding the nature of the universe, yet one in which various after-market 'fixes' could also be particularly problematic.<br />
<br />
The creator of the universe in this comic might be the same floating sphere featured in [[3085: About 20 Pounds]]. Talking to [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|a floating sphere/orb]] or some [[1450: AI-Box Experiment|similarly non-corporeal entity]] is a recurring subject in xkcd.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball is floating in a void. He is speaking with the creator of the universe, who appears as a black sun symbol.]<br><br />
Cueball: So you're the creator of the universe?<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: That's me! So, got any questions?<br />
<br />
[Cueball is putting his hand to his face as he floats upright.]<br><br />
Cueball: Oh man, so many. What's the reason for baryon asymmetry? Why is most of the universe matter and not antimatter?<br />
<br />
[Cueball's hand is back down he resumes his previous position.]<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: Crap. Did I forget the antimatter? One sec, let me just…<br />
<br />
[Many explosions fill the panel, including a large explosion in the centre.]<br><br />
BOOM<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3263:_Baryon_Asymmetry&diff=4151773263: Baryon Asymmetry2026-06-25T10:42:07Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3263<br />
| date = June 24, 2026<br />
| title = Baryon Asymmetry<br />
| image = baryon_asymmetry_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 682x270px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Wait, what do you mean, 'dark matter'? It's not dark, it interacts with high-energy gamma rays ... right? Oh jeez, did I forget to make it interact?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, but was recently annihilated by it's anti-matter counterpart, and needs recreating. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] talks with the creator of the universe (previously seen in another comic recently). [[Cueball]] wants to know why the universe has {{w|baryon asymmetry}}. The {{w|observable universe}} contains much more matter than antimatter. Current physical theories imply that matter and antimatter should have been created in roughly equal amounts. The fact that antimatter is rare is very fortunate for humans and other objects made of matter, given that matter/antimatter reactions destroy both substances with a violent release of energy.<br />
<br />
As it turns out though, the creator of the universe, far from being wise and all-knowing, simply forgot to add a roughly equal amount of antimatter. They then, realising their mistake, proceed to add the antimatter that they originally forgot, only to create a massive explosion as large quantities of the universe experience {{w|annihilation}}. <br />
<br />
The creator seems to be very oblivious to the workings of the universe, adding in the antimatter without considering the widespread impact it would have on the universe. This is strange, given they created the universe, and would surely know it's workings. An alternate explanation could be that the sphere is a hidden [[Black Hat]], and knew about the impact yet did it anyway, simply not caring about destroying the universe they created.<br />
<br />
The title text resolves another physics mystery in a similarly unexpected way. {{W|Dark matter}} mysteriously interacts with gravitation, but not electromagnetic energy. The creator explains that dark matter was supposed to interact with high-energy {{w|gamma rays}}, but they forgot to add that property to dark matter. The Wikipedia articles for antimatter and dark matter start with clarifications that antimatter and dark matter are not the same thing, and that dark matter is different from {{w|dark energy}}.<br />
<br />
The creator of the universe in this comic might be the same floating sphere featured in [[3085: About 20 Pounds]].<br />
Talking to a floating sphere is becoming [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|a returning subject in xkcd]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball is floating in a void. He is speaking with the creator of the universe, who appears as a black sun symbol.]<br><br />
Cueball: So you're the creator of the universe?<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: That's me! So, got any questions?<br />
<br />
[Cueball is putting his hand to his face as he floats upright.]<br><br />
Cueball: Oh man, so many. What's the reason for baryon asymmetry? Why is most of the universe matter and not antimatter?<br />
<br />
[Cueball's hand is back down he resumes his previous position.]<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: Crap. Did I forget the antimatter? One sec, let me just…<br />
<br />
[Many explosions fill the panel, including a large explosion in the centre.]<br><br />
BOOM<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3263:_Baryon_Asymmetry&diff=4151763263: Baryon Asymmetry2026-06-25T10:36:04Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3263<br />
| date = June 24, 2026<br />
| title = Baryon Asymmetry<br />
| image = baryon_asymmetry_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 682x270px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Wait, what do you mean, 'dark matter'? It's not dark, it interacts with high-energy gamma rays ... right? Oh jeez, did I forget to make it interact?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, but was recently annihilated by it's anti-matter counterpart, and needs recreating. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] talks with the creator of the universe (previously seen in another comic recently). [[Cueball]] wants to know why the universe has {{w|baryon asymmetry}}. The {{w|observable universe}} contains much more matter than antimatter. Current physical theories imply that matter and antimatter should have been created in roughly equal amounts. The fact that antimatter is rare is very fortunate for humans and other objects made of matter, given that matter/antimatter reactions destroy both substances with a violent release of energy.<br />
<br />
As it turns out though, the creator of the universe, far from being wise and all-knowing, simply forgot to add a roughly equal amount of antimatter. They then, realising their mistake, proceed to add the antimatter that they originally forgot, only to create a massive explosion as large quantities of the universe experience {{w|annihilation}}. <br />
<br />
The creator seems to be very oblivious to the workings of the universe, adding in the antimatter without considering the widespread impact it would have on the universe. This is strange, given they created the universe, and would surely know it's workings. An alternate explanation could be that the sphere is a hidden [[Black Hat]], and knew about the impact yet did it anyway, simply not caring about destroying the universe they created.<br />
<br />
The title text resolves another physics mystery in a similarly unexpected way. {{W|Dark matter}} mysteriously interacts with gravitation, but not electromagnetic energy. The creator explains that dark matter was supposed to interact with high-energy {{w|gamma rays}}, but they forgot to add that property to dark matter. The Wikipedia articles for antimatter and dark matter start with clarifications that antimatter and dark matter are not the same thing, and that dark matter is different from {{w|dark energy}}.<br />
<br />
The creator of the universe in this comic might be the same floating sphere featured in [[3085: About 20 Pounds]].<br />
Talking to a floating sphere is becoming [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|a returning subject in xkcd]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball is floating in a void. He is speaking with the creator of the universe, who appears as a black sun symbol.]<br><br />
Cueball: So you're the creator of the universe?<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: That's me! So, got any questions?<br />
<br />
[Cueball is putting his hand to his face.]<br><br />
Cueball: Oh man, so many. What's the reason for baryon asymmetry? Why is most of the universe matter and not antimatter?<br />
<br />
[Cueball's hand is back down.]<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: Crap. Did I forget the antimatter? One sec, let me just…<br />
<br />
[Many explosions fill the panel, including a large explosion in the centre.]<br><br />
BOOM<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3263:_Baryon_Asymmetry&diff=4151753263: Baryon Asymmetry2026-06-25T10:22:25Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3263<br />
| date = June 24, 2026<br />
| title = Baryon Asymmetry<br />
| image = baryon_asymmetry_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 682x270px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Wait, what do you mean, 'dark matter'? It's not dark, it interacts with high-energy gamma rays ... right? Oh jeez, did I forget to make it interact?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, but was recently annihilated by it's anti-matter counterpart, and needs recreating. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] talks with the creator of the universe (previously seen in another comic recently). [[Cueball]] wants to know why the universe has {{w|baryon asymmetry}}. The {{w|observable universe}} contains much more matter than antimatter. Current physical theories imply that matter and antimatter should have been created in roughly equal amounts. The fact that antimatter is rare is very fortunate for humans and other objects made of matter, given that matter/antimatter reactions destroy both substances with a violent release of energy.<br />
<br />
As it turns out though, the creator of the universe, far from being wise and all-knowing, simply forgot to add a roughly equal amount of antimatter. They then, realising their mistake, proceed to add the antimatter that they originally forgot, only to create a massive explosion as large quantities of the universe experience {{w|annihilation}}.<br />
<br />
The title text resolves another physics mystery in a similarly unexpected way. {{W|Dark matter}} mysteriously interacts with gravitation, but not electromagnetic energy. The creator explains that dark matter was supposed to interact with high-energy {{w|gamma rays}}, but they forgot to add that property to dark matter. The Wikipedia articles for antimatter and dark matter start with clarifications that antimatter and dark matter are not the same thing, and that dark matter is different from {{w|dark energy}}.<br />
<br />
The creator of the universe in this comic might be the same floating sphere featured in [[3085: About 20 Pounds]].<br />
Talking to a floating sphere is becoming [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|a returning subject in xkcd]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball is floating in a void. He is speaking with the creator of the universe, who appears as a black sun symbol.]<br><br />
Cueball: So you're the creator of the universe?<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: That's me! So, got any questions?<br />
<br />
[Cueball is putting his hand to his face.]<br><br />
Cueball: Oh man, so many. What's the reason for baryon asymmetry? Why is most of the universe matter and not antimatter?<br />
<br />
[Cueball's hand is back down.]<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: Crap. Did I forget the antimatter? One sec, let me just…<br />
<br />
[Many explosions fill the panel, including a large explosion in the centre.]<br><br />
BOOM<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3263:_Baryon_Asymmetry&diff=415174Talk:3263: Baryon Asymmetry2026-06-25T10:20:55Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div><!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --><br />
<br />
If I had a dollar for ever floating black sphere that talks in XKCD, I'd have 4 bucks. Which isn't alot, but it's weird that it's becoming a recurring subject. [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 06:21, 25 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
:Why would you only ask the all-powerful floating black sphere for a dollar? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:23, 25 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm the gate! I'm the key! I'm...in the wrong comic! [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:E16D:EF33:CC13:79C9|2A02:2455:1960:4000:E16D:EF33:CC13:79C9]] 07:19, 25 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is a great SMBC. [[Special:Contributions/2A0D:6FC7:622:BB15:9189:B3E6:8C3:779E|2A0D:6FC7:622:BB15:9189:B3E6:8C3:779E]] 09:38, 25 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There's another comic with the Creator of the universe I'm sure. It's the one where they made a bunch of nice clouds I think. Does anyone know what that is? [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 10:20, 25 June 2026 (UTC)</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3263:_Baryon_Asymmetry&diff=4151733263: Baryon Asymmetry2026-06-25T10:03:25Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3263<br />
| date = June 24, 2026<br />
| title = Baryon Asymmetry<br />
| image = baryon_asymmetry_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 682x270px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Wait, what do you mean, 'dark matter'? It's not dark, it interacts with high-energy gamma rays ... right? Oh jeez, did I forget to make it interact?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently, but was recently annihilated by it's anti-matter counterpart, and needs recreating. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] talks with the creator of the universe (previously seen in another comic recently). [[Cueball]] wants to know why the universe has {{w|baryon asymmetry}}. The {{w|observable universe}} contains much more matter than antimatter. Current physical theories imply that matter and antimatter should have been created in roughly equal amounts. The fact that antimatter is rare is very fortunate for humans and other objects made of matter, given that matter/antimatter reactions destroy both substances with a violent release of energy.<br />
<br />
The creator of the universe, far from being wise and all-knowing, simply forgot to add a roughly equal amount of antimatter. They add the antimatter that they originally forgot, only to create a massive explosion as large quantities of the universe experience {{w|annihilation}}.<br />
<br />
The title text resolves another physics mystery in a similarly unexpected way. {{W|Dark matter}} mysteriously interacts with gravitation, but not electromagnetic energy. The creator explains that dark matter was supposed to interact with high-energy {{w|gamma rays}}, but they forgot to add that property to dark matter. The Wikipedia articles for antimatter and dark matter start with clarifications that antimatter and dark matter are not the same thing, and that dark matter is different from {{w|dark energy}}.<br />
<br />
The creator of the universe in this comic might be the same floating sphere featured in [[3085: About 20 Pounds]].<br />
Talking to a floating sphere is becoming [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|a returning subject in xkcd]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Cueball is floating in a void. He is speaking with the creator of the universe, who appears as a black sun symbol.]<br><br />
Cueball: So you're the creator of the universe?<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: That's me! So, got any questions?<br />
<br />
[Cueball is putting his hand to his face.]<br><br />
Cueball: Oh man, so many. What's the reason for baryon asymmetry? Why is most of the universe matter and not antimatter?<br />
<br />
[Cueball's hand is back down.]<br><br />
Creator of the Universe: Crap. Did I forget the antimatter? One sec, let me just…<br />
<br />
[Many explosions fill the panel, including a large explosion in the centre.]<br><br />
BOOM<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude></div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415111unixkcd2026-06-24T10:42:01Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|This links up to the above command <code>'''find kitten'''<code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|This jokes on how <code>'''goto'''</code> is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic [[292: goto]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
The replies itself all have varied meanings, as follows:<br />
*the first hint takes quite a surreal approach to it, saying that the comic somehow has nice {{W|polos}}.<br />
*The second one is the only helpful hint of the four, saying how the comic will still remain at the link shown.<br />
*The third one references <code>'''use the source luke'''</code> (see below).<br />
*The last one says there are cheat codes to help use the interface. However, typing <code>'''cheat'''</code> just refers to the xkcd store, making this tip also useless.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|The joke here is that you would be unlikely to type this question in without having read the source code, and discovered this command. <br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415110unixkcd2026-06-24T10:41:12Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|This links up to the above command <code>'''find kitten'''<code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|This jokes on how <code>'''goto'''</code> is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic [[292: goto]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|The replies itself all have varied meanings, as follows:<br />
*the first hint takes quite a surreal approach to it, saying that the comic somehow has nice {{W|polos}}.<br />
*The second one is the only helpful hint of the four, saying how the comic will still remain at the link shown.<br />
*The third one references <code>'''use the source luke'''</code> (see below).<br />
*The last one says there are cheat codes to help use the interface. However, typing <code>'''cheat'''</code> just refers to the xkcd store, making this tip also useless.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|The joke here is that you would be unlikely to type this question in without having read the source code, and discovered this command. <br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415109unixkcd2026-06-24T10:40:34Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|This links up to the above command <code>'''find kitten'''<code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|This jokes on how <code>'''goto'''</code> is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic [[292: goto]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|<br />
|The replies itself all have varied meanings, as follows:<br />
*the first hint takes quite a surreal approach to it, saying that the comic somehow has nice {{W|polos}}.<br />
*The second one is the only helpful hint of the four, saying how the comic will still remain at the link shown.<br />
*The third one references <code>'''use the source luke'''</code> (see below).<br />
*The last one says there are cheat codes to help use the interface. However, typing <code>'''cheat'''</code> just refers to the xkcd store, making this tip also useless.<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|The joke here is that you would be unlikely to type this question in without having read the source code, and discovered this command. <br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415108unixkcd2026-06-24T10:38:32Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|This links up to the above command <code>'''find kitten'''<code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|This jokes on how <code>'''goto'''</code> is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic [[292: goto]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|-<br />
|The replies itself all have varied meanings, as follows:<br />
*the first hint takes quite a surreal approach to it, saying that the comic somehow has nice {{W|polos}}.<br />
*The second one is the only helpful hint of the four, saying how the comic will still remain at the link shown.<br />
*The third one references <code>'''use the source luke'''</code> (see below).<br />
*The last one says there are cheat codes to help use the interface. However, typing <code>'''cheat'''</code> just refers to the xkcd store, making this tip also useless.<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|The joke here is that you would be unlikely to type this question in without having read the source code, and discovered this command. <br />
|<code>'''hint'''</code> can be used to give help if one finds a puzzle in a game difficult. However, many of these hints shown are random jargon, which will not help at all! See also <code>'''help'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415107unixkcd2026-06-24T10:35:27Z<p>GSLikesCats307: /* Undocumented commands */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|This links up to the above command <code>'''find kitten'''<code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|This jokes on how <code>'''goto'''</code> is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic [[292: goto]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|<code>'''hint'''</code> can be used to give help if one finds a puzzle in a game difficult. However, many of these hints shown are random jargon, which will not help at all! See also <code>'''help'''</code><br />
The replies itself all have varied meanings, as follows:<br />
*The first one is the only helpful hint of the four, saying how the comic will still remain at the link shown.<br />
*The second one references <code>'''use the source luke'''</code> (see below).<br />
*The third one says there are cheat codes to help use the interface. However, typing <code>'''cheat'''</code> just refers to the xkcd store, making this tip also useless.<br />
*The last one says an actual tip - that by reading the source code you can find the unmentioned commands within the interface. Meaning this is the only actually helpful hint for understanding unikxcd better.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415103unixkcd2026-06-24T10:24:51Z<p>GSLikesCats307: /* Undocumented commands */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|This links up to the above command <code>'''find kitten'''<code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|This jokes on how <code>'''goto'''</code> is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic [[292: goto]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415102unixkcd2026-06-24T10:20:41Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation}}<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=unixkcd&diff=415101unixkcd2026-06-24T10:20:17Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| title = unixkcd<br />
| image = unixkcd.png<br />
| titletext = <br />
| lappend = <br />
| ldomain = uni<br />
| imagesize = 900px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| extra = yes<br />
}}<br />
{{series<br />
| series = April<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = April 1, 2010<br />
| days_late = <br />
| day_category = Thursday<br />
| prev_title = 404: Not Found<br />
| prev_date = April 1, 2008<br />
| next_title = 880: Headache<br />
| next_date = April 1, 2011<br />
| extra_text = In fact, [[April Fools' Day comics|2009 and 2017 are the only years]] in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|<br />
*Explain the jokes and references in the [[#Undocumented commands]] section and the sections below it.<br />
*Describe the website interface a bit, such as the links at the bottom.<br />
*The cheat command actually says <code><nowiki>**free shipping enabled***</nowiki></code> and it needs an explanation<br />
On April 1, 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}}. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1, 2010, but was unrelated to the Unix interface. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.<br />
<br />
===Documented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''next'''</code><br />
|(''shows the next comic'')<br />
|If the latest comic number is given, shows the error <code>Time travel mode not enabled</code>. See <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|enable time travel]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''prev'''</code><br />
|(''shows the previous comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''first'''</code><br />
|(''shows the first comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''last'''</code><br />
|(''shows the last comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the comic with the specified number'')<br />
|Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found]] will result in an endless loading attempt.<br />
Trying to display comic [[1350: Lorenz]] instead displays [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where Cueball thinks about burning his computer.<br />
Trying to display comic [[2198: Throw]] will display an image from the comic showing George Washington throwing a microwave oven, with text saying to click to show the full comic up. Clicking the text does nothing.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''random'''</code><br />
|(''shows a random comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ls'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shows the content of the current directory'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''dir'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the file'')<br />
|See also <code>'''[[#Undocumented commands|cat]]'''</code> below.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cd [directory]'''</code><br />
|(''changes to the specified directory'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Undocumented commands===<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''<nowiki>:(){:|:&};:</nowiki>'''</code><br />
|<code>[...]</code> (''repeats indefinitely'')<br />
|This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[...]</code> loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.<br />
|-<br />
|rowspan="9" |<code>'''a/s/l'''</code> ''or'' <code>'''asl'''</code><br />
|<br />
|{{w|Age/sex/location|A/S/L}} is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:<br />
|-<br />
|<code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code><br />
|Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as {{w|AMD}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>328/M/Transylvania</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Dracula}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>6/M/Battle School</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>48/M/The White House</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7/F/Rapture</code><br />
|Answered by a {{w|Little Sister (BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code><br />
|Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code><br />
|Answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of {{w|Middle Earth}} where a particular group of elves live, and Galadriel is by far the most significant ''female'' elf from this (or possibly any) part of the popular stories.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code><br />
|Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get'''</code><br />
|<code>This APT has Super Cow Powers.'''</code><br />
|The <code>'''apt-get'''</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<br />
(__)<br />
(oo)<br />
/------\/ <br />
/ | || <br />
* /\---/\ <br />
~~ ~~ <br />
<br />
...."Have you mooed today?"...<br />
|Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''bash'''</code><br />
|<code>You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.</code><br />
|{{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems. This also references early text-based adventure games where you need to type the action needed to proceed, which could result in unintended consequences. For example, if you typed in something like "ax in chest", the game may stab the axe into your character's torso instead of opening a crate. The line 'it's not very effective' may be a reference to Pokemon, where an attack can deal differing amounts of damage depending on effectiveness.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat [number]/alt.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the title text of the specified comic'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat license.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the license of unixkcd'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat welcome.txt'''</code><br />
|(''displays the welcome message'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cat'''</code><br />
<br />
(''without a filename or with an invalid filename'')<br />
|<code>You're a kitty!</code><br />
|A reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''cheat'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" | <code>'''<nowiki>***</nowiki>free shipping enabled<nowiki>***</nowiki>'''</code> <br />
''(Links to [[Store|xkcd Store]])''<br />
| rowspan="2" | <!-- NEED EXPLANATION --><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''buy stuff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''clear'''</code><br />
|(''clears the screen'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''curl'''</code><br />
|(''creates an iframe to the URL specified'')<br />
|[https://curl.se/ curl] is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''date'''</code><br />
|<code>March 32nd</code><br />
|Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''display title text'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory.</span></code><br />
|Displayed in red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''echo'''</code><br />
|<code>Echo ... echo ... echo ...</code><br />
|<code>'''{{w|Echo (command)|echo}}'''</code> is a command used to print text to the terminal.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ed'''</code><br />
|<code>You are not a diety</code><br />
|{{w|Ed (software)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''emacs'''</code><br />
|<code>You should use Vim.</code><br />
|A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''enable time travel'''</code><br />
|<code>TARDIS error: Time Lord missing</code><br />
|A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>'''next'''</code> command.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''exit'''</code><br />
| rowspan="3" |(''ends the terminal session'')<br />
| rowspan="3" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''quit'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''logout'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find kitten'''</code><br />
|(''showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game'')<br />
|The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''find'''</code><br />
|<code>What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''finger'''</code><br />
|<code>Mmmmmm...</code><br />
|<code>'''finger USER'''</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, with 'finger' referring to an action where one sticks their finger in another's anus, usually for sexual pleasure.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''fuck'''</code><br />
|<code>I have a headache.</code><br />
|Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical ({{tvtropes|MediaNotes/TheHaysCode|film-friendly}}) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''goto [any]'''</code><br />
|(''shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>'''display'''</code> instead.'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go back'''</code><br />
|<code>You cannot go back.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go down'''</code><br />
|<code>On our first date?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Hello Joshua'''</code><br />
|<code>How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hello'''</code><br />
|<code>Hello.</code><br />
|A second reply <code>Why hello there!</code> is coded, but it is never used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''help'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>That would be cheating!</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''halp'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''hi'''</code><br />
|<code>Hi.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="4" |<code>'''hint'''</code><br />
|<code>We offer some nice polos.</code><br />
| rowspan="4" |Randomly replies with one of four options.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>This terminal will remain available at '''<span class="plainlinks">[https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/ xkcd.com/unixkcd/]'''</span></code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>Use the source, Luke!</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>There are cheat codes.</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''i read the source code'''</code><br />
|<code><3</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''irc [nick]'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''write [nick]'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''kill'''</code><br />
|<code>Terminator deployed to 1984.</code><br />
|A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>'''kill'''</code> is used to end a process.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''latest'''</code><br />
|(''displays the latest comic'')<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light torch'''</code><br />
|<code>'''Light what?'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''locate [filename]'''</code><br />
|<br />
|is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>'''ninja'''</code>, <code>'''keys'''</code>, <code>'''joke'''</code>, <code>'''problem'''</code> and <code>'''raptor'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''lpr'''</code><br />
|<code>PC LOAD LETTER</code><br />
|{{w|Line Printer Daemon protocol|<code>'''lpr'''</code>}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make love'''</code><br />
|<code>I put on my robe and wizard hat.</code><br />
|A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transcript] (NSFW), which was also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>'''make love'''</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is <code>make: don't know how to make love</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>What? Make it yourself.</code><br />
|A reference to [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''man [command]'''</code><br />
|(''shows unhelpful information about the command'')<br />
|Only <code>'''last'''</code>, <code>'''help'''</code>, <code>'''next'''</code>, <code>'''cat'''</code> have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''moo'''</code><br />
|<code>moo</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''more'''</code><br />
|<code>Oh, yes! More! More!</code><br />
|The {{w|More (command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''nano'''</code><br />
|<code>Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?</code><br />
|{{w|GNU nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>'''vi'''</code> and <code>'''emacs'''</code>).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ping'''</code><br />
|<code>There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.</code><br />
|The {{w|Ping (networking utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name of the command comes from sonar technology. A submarine using sonar may 'ping' to illuminate nearby submarines on radar.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''pwd'''</code><br />
|<code>You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.</code><br />
|The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>'''look'''</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''reddit [number]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic'')<br />
|If no number is specified, shows xkcd.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm [filename]'''</code><br />
|(''removes a file'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''rm -r'''</code><br />
|(''removes a directory'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''serenity'''</code><br />
|<code>You can't take the sky from me.</code><br />
|This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''shutdown'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>Must be root.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |See also <code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code>.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''poweroff'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''ssh'''</code><br />
|<code>ssh, this is a library.</code><br />
|{{w|Secure Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''su'''</code><br />
|<code>God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.</code><br />
|{{w|Su (Unix)|<code>'''su'''</code>}} is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility|with great power comes great responsibility}}" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>'''sudo'''</code> is used.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo [command]'''</code><br />
|(''executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'''</code><br />
|<code>You are already running [OS].</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get moo'''</code><br />
|<code>Have you mooed today?</code><br />
|(apt-get Easter egg).<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get update'''</code><br />
|<code>Reading package lists... Done</code><br />
|Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo apt-get upgrade'''</code><br />
|(''shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says ''<code>This looks pretty good to me.</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo make me a sandwich'''</code><br />
|<code>Okay</code><br />
|Behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo !!'''</code><br />
|(''will sudo the last command'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo poweroff'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''shuts down the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo shutdown'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo reboot'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |(''restarts the system'')<br />
| rowspan="2" |<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo restart'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo rm -rf /'''</code><br />
|(''breaks all commands until the page is reloaded'')<br />
|If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sudo sudo'''</code><br />
|<code><span style=" colour: red;">An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded</span></code><br />
|In red text.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''time travel'''</code><br />
|(''shows [[630: Time Travel]]'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''top'''</code><br />
|<code>It's up there --^</code><br />
|The {{w|Top_(software)|<code>'''top'''</code>}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code><br />
|<code>Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator</code><br />
|<code>'''uname'''</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''unixkcd'''</code><br />
|(''opens a new terminal window'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the force luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I believe you mean source.</code><br />
|A reference to {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|the Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''use the source luke'''</code><br />
|<code>I'm not luke, you're luke!</code><br />
|An old programmers' joke.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vi'''</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |<code>You should use emacs.</code><br />
| rowspan="2" |A reference to [[378: Real Programmers]].<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''vim'''</code><br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''wget [URL]'''</code><br />
|(''shows the content of the specified URL'')<br />
|<code>'''{{w|wget}}'''</code> is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''who'''</code><br />
|<code>Doctor Who?</code><br />
|Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>'''who'''</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''Whoami'''</code><br />
|<code>You are Richard Stallman.</code><br />
|The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. [[Richard Stallman]] is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
|<code>'''xkcd'''</code><br />
|<code>Yes?</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''xyzzy'''</code><br />
|<code>Nothing happens.</code><br />
|{{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}. It was only effective at specific points in the game; otherwise the response was "Nothing happens." This response was actually a helpful clue to the observant adventurer, and became a famous meme in its own right.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''your gay'''</code><br />
|<code>Keep your hands off it!</code><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''!!'''</code><br />
|(''reruns the previous command after stating the command'')<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Game commands====<br />
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text-based adventure game}}.<br />
{| class="sortable wikitable"<br />
! Command<br />
! Response<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''look'''</code><br />
|(''describes your current surroundings'')<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''go [direction]'''</code><br />
|(''moves you in the specified direction'')<br />
|Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''light lamp'''</code><br />
|(''lights your lamp'')<br />
|You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south.<br />
|-<br />
|<code>'''sleep [seconds]'''</code><br />
|(''sleeps for the specified time'')<br />
|Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
====Konami code====<br />
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:<br />
# Transform all characters to uppercase<br />
# Add a grey text shadow<br />
# Add an orange text-shadow<br />
# Shake the screen<br />
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].<br />
<br />
After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.<br />
<br />
Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page [https://xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] still exists, but [https://uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png] gives a 404.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The screen is black.]<br />
:[A white bar is at the top.]<br />
:[Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]<br />
:unixkcd<br />
:[Below is another similar white bar with black text:]<br />
:A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.<br />
:[The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]<br />
:[The terminal starts with the prompt:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$<br />
:[The terminal automatically runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ display<br />
:[The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]<br />
:[The terminal runs the command:]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt<br />
:[The first line is bolded]<br />
:Welcome to the unixkcd console.<br />
:To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".<br />
:Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.<br />
:[A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]<br />
:guest@xkcd:/$ <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April Fools' Day comics|0800]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:No title text]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3262:_Sports_Commentary&diff=415042Talk:3262: Sports Commentary2026-06-23T11:53:32Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div><!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --><br />
<br />
F1rst p0st! I'll do this explanation. [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.22|185.36.194.22]] 04:32, 23 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Did this example actually happen? [[Special:Contributions/47.151.65.120|47.151.65.120]] 04:33, 23 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This comic reminds me of [[1122: Electoral Precedent]] and [[2383: Electoral Precedent 2020]]. Generalizing coincidences.<br />
<br />
I am not a native English speaker. What does " they've gone 0 for 2" mean? Obviously it cannot be the score, since they are already leading 2-1? Or does this refer to a previous match?<br />
And on a more general note, I am really surprised to discover the second football themed comic strip in a few days. OK it's the World Cup, but I always thought that Randall doesn't really care about sports? --[[Special:Contributions/92.209.171.90|92.209.171.90]] 08:37, 23 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
:I ''am'' a native English speaker, but it was also a bit impenetrable to me. In part, perhaps, because it was ''intended'' to sound impenetrable (as part of the joke). But, even if not, it may be because it's using Americanized sports-talk phrasing that just isn't (yet!) used so much in my more native Anglicised commentaries that I'm used to.<br />
::I'm also English, and it's totally alien to me too. [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 11:53, 23 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
:However, I ''think'' they're saying that "in the two specific occasions in which all those other conditions occur, they won in neither of them".<br />
:A simpler version being perhaps to state that a given team/player has gone nought-for-two in previous matches with their current opponent(s). The results of those contests might have been anything (the winner having gone to 3-2 after penalties, 6-love/6-love/6-love, a par-4 advantage or getting them all out for 178 — depending upon the sport), it's just the win/lose (or win/not-win) count thats "0 for 2".<br />
:But this is a case of Overly Narrow Superlative (overlapping with P-Hacking), making it a dubious analysis. Starting with ignoring all the games there are in which a given svoreline was not achieved in a particular ''minute'' of play. I think part of this set-up is the difference between Gridiron 'football'/"hand-egg" having tons of points scored, whereas this football (Soccer) often turns on comparatively low scores that (one-nil can be a worthy and entertaining win/loss, and even a no-score-draw might have been fun to watch if your side isn't in desperate need for a win). These commentators, or at least the US audience they're commentating to, are used to spieling things about "the last time they were down on the forty-yard line in the fifth quarter, with two home runs and a shot from the free-throw line in hand..." (look, I {{tvtropes|GretzkyHasTheBall|know I don't know}} what they'd really say, to any accuracy, there was no point even trying!), at least to fill in the copious down-time/time-out pauses. (Which isn't actually as easy with low-scoring but more ever-moving 'soccer', where there's often much to be said about current player and ball movements almost all the time; although a five-day international cricket test match(!) commentary on the radio ''does'' rather famously lapse into 'filler' like discussing the nice cake that was sent to them by a listener, in the gaps between balls being bowled...)<br />
:Sorry, that was a long and convoluted paragraph. (But then, so was the Explanation, before I decided to say this down here. I hope it's been tweaked since then. I'm only really guessing about the Leftpondian commentator-speak being parodied here, and ball-sports aren't really my main interest in the sprorting sphere itself. (But, regarding balls that aren't themselves spheres, I'd happily discuss Rugby League or Rugby Union, and why they're 'better'... though I would totally acknowledge Aussie Rules as a class of its own as far as such contact-sports go.)<br />
:HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.84|82.132.236.84]] 10:08, 23 June 2026 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Closest match I can find is Germany - Curacao but there Germany took the lead in the 38th minute (not the 37th). I leave the deep dive on Germany's record against teams alphabetically before them when they have taken the lead 2-1 in the 37th/38th minute to someone else...</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&diff=4150413262: Sports Commentary2026-06-23T11:39:58Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3262<br />
| date = June 22, 2026<br />
| title = Sports Commentary<br />
| image = sports_commentary_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 251x374px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created at a statistically insignificant time. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|P-hacking}} is the academically problematic practice of attempting to come up with a question for which the data offers a significant ''p''-value (probability value). This is in contrast to correct scientific analysis, in which a question is formulated clearly and then answered with data. A common way of doing ''p''-hacking is analyzing subgroups to attempt to find significance when the full dataset does not yield statistically significant results; for instance, restricting the analysis of medical data to male subjects to derive a significant ''p''-value when including female subjects would make the ''p''-value insignificant, when the scientific question is largely gender-independent. Sports commentators do a form of ''p''-hacking in which they cite a fact that's made to sound more significant by restricting the situations it applies to. Randall satirizes this with an example in which the restriction uses very specific criteria largely irrelevant to gameplay patterns in order to narrow down the subgroup sample size to a measly two games. Obviously the 0-2 record reflects random noise much more than any significant insight. As well as being irrelavent to gameplay, their P-Hacking also makes the game sound like confusing jargon, which would be quite difficult to understand-Ironic given a sports commentator's job is to explain matches and suchlike-Rather than making them harder and more vague!<br />
<br />
This comic was published 11 days into the {{w|2026 FIFA World Cup}}. The World Cup was also the subject of another comic published the Wednesday before: [[3260: Messi]]. Sports commentary was also the subject of [[904: Sports]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table, looking at the wall behind them. On the wall is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]<br />
:Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.<br />
:[Caption below comic:]<br />
:I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered p-hacking.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]<br />
[[Category:Statistics]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&diff=4150403262: Sports Commentary2026-06-23T11:38:44Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3262<br />
| date = June 22, 2026<br />
| title = Sports Commentary<br />
| image = sports_commentary_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 251x374px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created at a statistically insignificant time. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|P-hacking}} is the academically problematic practice of attempting to come up with a question for which the data offers a significant ''p''-value (probability value). This is in contrast to correct scientific analysis, in which a question is formulated clearly and then answered with data. A common way of doing ''p''-hacking is analyzing subgroups to attempt to find significance when the full dataset does not yield statistically significant results; for instance, restricting the analysis of medical data to male subjects to derive a significant ''p''-value when including female subjects would make the ''p''-value insignificant, when the scientific question is largely gender-independent. Sports commentators do a form of ''p''-hacking in which they cite a fact that's made to sound more significant by restricting the situations it applies to. Randall satirizes this with an example in which the restriction uses very specific criteria largely irrelevant to gameplay patterns in order to narrow down the subgroup sample size to a measly two games. Obviously the 0-2 record reflects random noise much more than any significant insight. As well as being irrelavent to gameplay, their P-Hacking also makes the game sound like confusing jargon, which would be quite difficult to understand-Ironic given a sports commentator's job is to explain matches and suchlike-Rather than making them harder and more vague!<br />
<br />
This comic was published 11 days into the {{w|2026 FIFA World Cup}}. The World Cup was also the subject of another comic published the Wednesday before: [[3260: Messi]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table, looking at the wall behind them. On the wall is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]<br />
:Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.<br />
:[Caption below comic:]<br />
:I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered p-hacking.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]<br />
[[Category:Statistics]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&diff=4150393262: Sports Commentary2026-06-23T11:33:15Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3262<br />
| date = June 22, 2026<br />
| title = Sports Commentary<br />
| image = sports_commentary_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 251x374px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created at a statistically insignificant time. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|P-hacking}} is the academically problematic practice of attempting to come up with a question for which the data offers a significant ''p''-value (probability value). This is in contrast to correct scientific analysis, in which a question is formulated clearly and then answered with data. A common way of doing ''p''-hacking is analyzing subgroups to attempt to find significance when the full dataset does not yield statistically significant results; for instance, restricting the analysis of medical data to male subjects to derive a significant ''p''-value when including female subjects would make the ''p''-value insignificant, when the scientific question is largely gender-independent. Sports commentators do a form of ''p''-hacking in which they cite a fact that's made to sound more significant by restricting the situations it applies to. Randall satirizes this with an example in which the restriction uses very specific criteria largely irrelevant to gameplay patterns in order to narrow down the subgroup sample size to a measly two games. Obviously the 0-2 record reflects random noise much more than any significant insight. As well as being irrelavent to gameplay, their P-Hacking also makes the game sound like confusing jargon, which would be quite difficult to understand-Ironic given a sports commentator's job is to explain matches and suchlike-Rather than making them harder and more vague!<br />
<br />
This comic was published 11 days into the {{w|2026 FIFA World Cup}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table. On the wall behind them is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]<br />
:Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.<br />
:[Caption below comic:]<br />
:I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered p-hacking.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]<br />
[[Category:Statistics]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&diff=4149863261: Side Effect2026-06-22T14:36:34Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3261<br />
| date = June 19, 2026<br />
| title = Side Effect<br />
| image = side_effect_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 658x247px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic takes the concept of medication side-effects ''ad absurdum''. The side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure described by [[Beret Guy]] is [https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/sun-sensitizing-drugs entirely precedented], however, sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}} is far less normal.{{Citation needed}} Due to the entirely normal first side effect, [[Ponytail]] initially misses the gravitational wave side effect. She is about to find out what that is about.<br />
<br />
Gravitational waves, to oversimplify, are waves of distortion in spacetime caused by fast-moving massive gravitational objects such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other. The waves travel at the speed of light and can be measured by precise instruments (e.g. {{w|interferometer}}s) which detect the ever-so-slight stretching and squishing caused by gravitational waves. As a side-effect of his medication, Beret Guy exhibits the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave much stronger than normal, to the degree that it is visible to the naked eye. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. Alternatively, it may be part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.<br />
<br />
This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. By way of comparison, the most sensitive current ground-based laser interferometer, {{w|LIGO}}, has light storage arms which are 4&#8239;km in length, and with strong gravitational waves, it experiences changes in the distance between the ends of the arms by at most roughly 10<sup>−18</sup>&#8239;meters, or 1&#8239;attometer. The relative change is thus about 2.5&#8239;×&#8239;10<sup>-22</sup>. If Beret Guy is experiencing distortions of about a quarter of his height, the relative change is 0.25, larger than LIGO's by a factor of about 10<sup>21</sup>. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.<br />
<br />
"{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}" described in the title text refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of the collision of two black holes or neutron stars, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly. When the gravitational wave is represented through [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound], it does indeed make a chirping sound. The chirp would also cause Beret Guy's body to change form repeatedly and rapidly. In the final stages of the merger, the black holes have a rotation period on the order of a couple of ''milliseconds'', so if Beret Guy's sensitivity to the waves remained constant, a human observer would see only a blur. However, in normal Beret Guy fashion, he somewhat smooths over that strange and concerning affect, only saying it as 'a little wierd' in his warning to Ponytail.<br />
<br />
Beret Guy's reaction to the gravitational wave seem similar to a surfer: he says "Here comes one now!" and after it passes him ''WHEEE!''. Obviously, since gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light, you can't receive any information from them before they actually arrive, so you can't know that one is coming. <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]<br />
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.<br />
<br />
:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]<br />
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?<br />
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is stretched out in height.]<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now shorter and wider than he was originally.]<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now stretched out in height again as he was in the third panel.]<br />
:Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Medicine]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&diff=4149673261: Side Effect2026-06-21T11:50:42Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3261<br />
| date = June 19, 2026<br />
| title = Side Effect<br />
| image = side_effect_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 658x247px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic takes the concept of medication side-effects ''ad absurdum''. The side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure described by [[Beret Guy]] is [https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/sun-sensitizing-drugs entirely precedented], however, sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}} is far less normal.{{Citation needed}} Due to the entirely normal first side effect, [[Ponytail]] initially misses the gravitational wave side effect. She is about to find out what that is about.<br />
<br />
Gravitational waves, to oversimplify, are waves of distortion in spacetime caused by fast-moving gravitational objects such as black holes orbiting each other. They travel at the speed of light and can be measured by precise instruments ({{w|interferometer}}s) which detect the ever-so-slight stretching and squishing caused by gravitational waves. As a side-effect of his medication, Beret Guy exhibits the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave much stronger than normal, to the degree that it is visible to the naked eye. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. Alternatively, it may be part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.<br />
<br />
This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. By way of comparison, the most sensitive current ground-based laser interferometer, {{w|LIGO}}, has light storage arms which are 4&#8239;km in length, and with strong gravitational waves, it experiences changes in the distance between the ends of the arms by at most roughly 10<sup>−18</sup>&#8239;meters, or 1&#8239;attometer. The relative change is thus about 2.5&#8239;×&#8239;10<sup>-22</sup>. If Beret Guy is experiencing distortions of about a quarter of his height, the relative change is 0.25, larger than LIGO's by a factor of about 10<sup>21</sup>. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.<br />
<br />
"{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}" described in the title text refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly. When the gravitational wave is represented through [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound], it does indeed make a chirping sound. The chirp would also cause Beret Guy's body to change form repeatedly and rapidly.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]<br />
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.<br />
<br />
:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]<br />
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?<br />
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is stretched out in height.]<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now shorter and wider than he was originally.]<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now stretched out in height again as he was in the third panel.]<br />
:Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Medicine]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&diff=4149313261: Side Effect2026-06-20T07:53:38Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3261<br />
| date = June 19, 2026<br />
| title = Side Effect<br />
| image = side_effect_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 658x247px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[Beret Guy]] tells [[Ponytail]] about the new medication he’s using, with the normal side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure and the far less normal sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}}. At first she replies that those side effects are normal, then does a double take and is confused about the second effect. Then, when she realizes, Beret Guy starts to exhibit the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave, but by obviously visible amounts. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. (Or perhaps it's part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.)<br />
<br />
This is probably the most extreme example to date of [[Beret Guy]] being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.<br />
<br />
"{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}" refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly. This would cause Beret Guy's body to also change form repeatedly and rapidly.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]<br />
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.<br />
:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]<br />
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?<br />
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!<br />
:[Over three panels, Beret Guy is stretched out in height, then he gets shorter and wider, then stretched out again.]<br />
:[Last Panel:]Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4148193260: Messi2026-06-17T20:31:15Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created in Lionel Messi's 398th goal. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which existing data points are used to estimate new data points beyond the range of the existing ones. In this case, Randall appears to have fit several data points regarding soccer superstar {{w|Lionel Messi}}'s average goals per {{w|FIFA_World_Cup|World Cup}} game to a curve using what appears to be polynomial or exponential {{w|extrapolation}}. It illustrates the danger of a small {{w|sample size}}, as the data point for "2026 (so far)" is based on only ''one'' game (the day before this comic, in his inaugural game of the 2026 World Cup, Messi scored three goals), and that data point is used to support extrapolation of a rapidly rising number of goals-per-game into the future. The data points for previous World Cups, which bounce around among various values but are all less than or equal to 1.0, are each based on many more games, and as such are likely to be much better estimates of how many goals-per-game Messi will score in the future.<br />
<br />
As well as that, if this graph would be true, this would imply that in future games Messi would be scoring multiple goals per second, which would be impossible in real life{{citation needed}}. <br />
<br />
The title text says that this World Cup is the last one in which Messi will face serious competition. This is likely true, but humorously so, as this is almost certainly Messi's last World Cup period. However, the commentators may well have been consulting the chart, and instead be refering to how if this chart was to be true, in future games Messi would thereotically score hundreds of goals, which, assuming no-one else has the exponential rate of goals, would easily beat other players.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006 (.33), 2010 (0), 2014 (.57), 2018 (.25), 2022 (1), and 2026 (3), the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in exponentially.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4148113260: Messi2026-06-17T18:20:32Z<p>GSLikesCats307: Adjusted the transcript with the curve bit</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created in Lionel Messi's 398th goal. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which existing data points are used to estimate new data points beyond the range of the existing ones. In this case, Randall appears to have fit several data points regarding soccer superstar {{w|Lionel Messi}}'s average goals per {{w|FIFA_World_Cup|World Cup}} game to a curve using what appears to be polynomial or exponential {{w|extrapolation}}. It illustrates the danger of a small {{w|sample size}}, as the data point for "2026 (so far)" is based on only ''one'' game (the day before this comic, in his inaugural game of the 2026 World Cup, Messi scored three goals), and that data point is used to support extrapolation of a rapidly rising number of goals-per-game into the future. The data points for previous World Cups, which bounce around among various values but are all less than or equal to 1.0, are each based on many more games, and as such are likely to be much better estimates of how many goals-per-game Messi will score in the future.<br />
<br />
The title text says that this World Cup is the last one in which Messi will face serious competition. This is likely true, but humorously so, as this is almost certainly Messi's last World Cup period. However, the commentators may well have been consulting the chart, and instead be refering to how if this chart was to be true, in future games Messi would thereotically score hundreds of goals, which, assuming no-one else has the exponential rate of goals, would easily beat other players.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in exponentially.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4148103260: Messi2026-06-17T18:11:18Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created in Lionel Messi's 398th goal. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which existing data points are used to estimate new data points beyond the range of the existing ones. In this case, Randall appears to have fit several data points regarding soccer superstar {{w|Lionel Messi}}'s average goals per {{w|FIFA_World_Cup|World Cup}} game to a curve using what appears to be polynomial or exponential {{w|extrapolation}}. It illustrates the danger of a small {{w|sample size}}, as the data point for "2026 (so far)" is based on only ''one'' game (the day before this comic, in his inaugural game of the 2026 World Cup, Messi scored three goals), and that data point is used to support extrapolation of a rapidly rising number of goals-per-game into the future. The data points for previous World Cups, which bounce around among various values but are all less than or equal to 1.0, are each based on many more games, and as such are likely to be much better estimates of how many goals-per-game Messi will score in the future.<br />
<br />
The title text says that this World Cup is the last one in which Messi will face serious competition. This is likely true, but humorously so, as this is almost certainly Messi's last World Cup period. However, the commentators may well have been consulting the chart, and instead be refering to how if this chart was to be true, in future games Messi would thereotically score hundreds of goals, which, assuming no-one else has the exponential rate of goals, would easily beat other players.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Soccer]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147983260: Messi2026-06-17T17:02:40Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created in Lionel Messi's 398th goal. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't. All of the World Cup matches exept 2026 have varying amounts of goals scored, going down significantly on 2010 & 1018. Thus this extrapolation is entirely based on the 2026 stats, ignoring the other quite low goals per game. <br />
<br />
In the title text it shows sports commentators (previously discussed in [[904: Sports]]) using this 'data'. They point out what would be the case if it were true, that soon afterwards if only Messi follows this extrapolation he would be unbeatable - which would be true, if the chart was actual fact, which it isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147973260: Messi2026-06-17T16:59:56Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't. All of the World Cup matches exept 2026 have varying amounts of goals scored, going down significantly on 2010 & 1018. Thus this extrapolation is entirely based on the 2026 stats, ignoring the other quite low goals per game. <br />
<br />
In the title text it shows sports commentators (previously discussed in [[904: Sports]]) using this 'data'. They point out what would be the case if it were true, that soon afterwards if only Messi follows this extrapolation he would be unbeatable - which would be true, if the chart was actual fact, which it isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147923260: Messi2026-06-17T16:56:27Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't. All of the World Cup matches exept 2026 have varying amounts of goals scored, going down significantly on 2010 & 1018. Thus this extrapolation is entirely based on the 2026 stats, ignoring the other quite low goals per game.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147913260: Messi2026-06-17T16:54:37Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147903260: Messi2026-06-17T16:54:24Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]<br />
[[Category:Maths]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147893260: Messi2026-06-17T16:54:04Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.<br />
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147873260: Messi2026-06-17T16:51:48Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in a curved fashion.]<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]</div>GSLikesCats307https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3260:_Messi&diff=4147863260: Messi2026-06-17T16:51:03Z<p>GSLikesCats307: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3260<br />
| date = June 17, 2026<br />
| title = Messi<br />
| image = messi_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 393x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends, in this case what appears to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrapolation#Polynomial polynomial extrapolation]. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which new data points are estimated from existing ones using some method. In this case, Randall appears to have smoothed discrete data points regarding [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi's] average goals per [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup World Cup] game into a grey curve.<br />
<br />
This method only works if there is a relationship to model - however, in this case, there isn't.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, the latter having '(so far)' under it.]<br />
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]</div>GSLikesCats307