explain xkcd:Explanation Improvement Project/Unsuccessful nominations

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Past unsuccessful nominations

2026

August 2026

1506: xkcloud
xkcloud
    < Previous                 April Fools' Day comics                 Next >      
    This is the 8th xkcd April Fools' Day comic, released by Randall on April 1, 2015. It was published on a Wednesday, following the standard release schedule. You can view all April Fools' Day comics or learn more about them!

    To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the original comic.

    Explanation

    This explanation was identified as incomplete after being nominated for This Week's Explanation for Improvement. While the nomination was unsuccessful, the explanation did not satisfy our standards for quality. Before removing this notice, read the August 2026 nomination and ensure the issues raised by the Explanation Improvement Project have been satisfactorily addressed:

      Need to remove bullet points throughout the #Explanation and #Trivia sections.
      Also, clean up section #Don't contact us (don't use references or striked text, make a cohesive and clear explanation of what happened to the chatroom).
      Also need to move the explanation of the reasons OUTSIDE of the full transcript and inside the, you know, #Explanation...

    You can help by editing the explanation! If you are new to wiki editing, see our editing FAQ for guidance.

    In this interactive April Fools' Day comic Cueball, presumably representing Randall, admits to the readers he built a flimsy cloud services company using spare computers and parts. Included in the cloud hardware are (from left to right) a Macintosh, several old laptops, an Alienware tower, a Nintendo Virtual Boy, an old desktop with the cover off, and an Atari Pong Console. He named the company after xkcd, xkcloud being a portmanteau of "xkcd" and "cloud", here pronounced XK-cloud. The portmanteau incidentally still contains all four xkcd letters in the correct order: xkcLOUd. This was later reused for the xkcd keyboard in 2150: XKeyboarCD, where the word Keyboard, has an X before the word and a C before the D with the xkcd letters capitalized.

    After providing his services to various (very big) companies (Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr), that are very concerned with securing the users data, his setup failed (some portions may even have caught fire? He is not sure). This has caused him to lose the data he was required to preserve as part of his service. He thus requests the readers help to make up and re-imagine the lost data by pressing the large red button at the bottom of the comic. Preferably before Facebook & Co notice we lost it.

    If you take him up on his request and push the button, you will be taken to a "survey" where you will get the chance to help by either trying to combine a posted picture with its lost text or, vice versa, by trying to combine a posted text with its lost picture. In either case you get a selection of texts/pictures to choose from but can also choose to write your own text or even draw the picture. After doing this you get to see this combination in the news feed together with several other posts (which other people have helped combine from other lost data). And then you can continue helping as long as you like.

    The content of the "surveys" appear to come from reader submissions, and are different upon every click. This is thus both an interactive and a dynamic comic with only the first picture shown on top of this page. By inviting the xkcd readers to add content that will be displayed in the comic later, the result of all the interactions leads to the generation of crowd-sourced content.

    It was not immediately clear if the reader-created drawings or captions are, in fact, being cycled into the surveys and feeds, or if the displayed items were all created by Randall and the reader-created content is simply discarded. With the huge amount of different comments and drawings that already appeared on the first day, and since especially the drawings look like they are created in the simple Paint app (i.e. not by Randall), there can be no doubt that most of the content is created by the users. However he must have made some pictures to get it all started, and at least one of these can be seen here.

    This comic resembles last years April Fools' Day comic 1350: Lorenz where user input also generated a very complex crowd-sourced comic. In both comics it was possible to create a permalink to save a given version of the comic to share with others. An earlier comic was also related to problems with cloud computing: 908: The Cloud.

    Due to the very complex nature of this comic, there are lots of details that may need an explanation. This can be found in the sections below. Note that there have been some changes and bugs regarding this comic after it was first released. Some of the pictures that are referenced below were saved before these changes took place. So consult these changes if the pictures do not match the expectations.

    Extra xkcloud pages

    Since this comic is so big and complicated, extra pages have been created to include much more information than is wished for on this main page (which is already of considerable size). These pages are listed here for convenience, but they are also listed in the relevant sections below:

    Functionality

    • Pressing the red button at the front page (shown here above) links to one of two interactive survey pages (see the pictures of all types of pages.).
      • All these pages have a news feed below the top post. This will be described here below.
    • The Lost picture page (see several pictures here) asks the reader to indicate which of eight line-drawings (see several examples here) best matches a given caption, or the reader can create their own drawing.
      • This can be done on the Draw one your self sub-page (see several pictures here) in a simple web-based "paint"-style app.
        • Note that someone found a way to copy a picture into the comic. See at least one example of this here.
    • The Lost text page (see several pictures here) asks the reader to indicate which of eight captions best matches the given drawing, or the reader can create their own caption and submit this instead.
      • These captions are user generated. See transcribed examples of these post from users here.
    • In either case, at the top of the pages, we are given the Reason for the data loss. And there are many different reasons (all by account of Randall).
    • After completing the "survey" you go to a new page appears:
    • The Help us recover more data page (see several pictures here) has yet another red button like the front page, but on this page it is at the top of the page, saying exactly Help us recover more data.
      • By pushing this button you go to one of the two "Lost" pages mentioned above.
    • It is possible to go back to the front page at any time by clicking the picture of Cueball sitting behind his desk in the same way as he does in the first picture on the front page.
      • Cueball is always present to the left on all pages after the front page.
      • But if you go back to the front page like this, then if you again click on the "original" red button to return to help with the recovery, you will always go back to the same page you came from (with the same posts in the news feed and if it is one of the lost data pages also with the same post to fix.)
      • You can thus only get to a new survey page by finishing the current task (or pressing a permalink as discussed below).

    News feed

    • Below the "survey" or the post you just recovered (to begin with), you will be presented with a listing similar to a Facebook news feed, listing six posts of the line-drawings apparently tagged with the captions as paired up by other users survey results.
      • The posts are made by apparently fictional randomly-named readers (see transcribed examples of names here).
      • But there are only 20 user pictures. See these (and why it is known that there are only 20) as well as a description of these pictures here.
      • The posts are accompanied by a button similar to Facebook's "Like button" but here the button is labeled with different words which are all synonyms for want (see transcribed list of words here). So not "to like" but "to want" is the new thing in this version of Facebook.
    • After the first time you recovered a post, there will thus be seven posts on the Help us recover more data page, six new posts below the one you just helped complete.
      • The only difference when you click this pages red button (rather than when you start for the first time at the front page) is that there will now be seven posts below the one you need to fix.
      • These seven posts are the same as those you had on the previous page, including your own at the top.

    Permalink

    • Next to each post there is a text Link above the "Want" button above the picture. (This goes for all three types of pages mentioned above.)
    • The "Link" is an actual link of the type that is called a "permalink", a portmanteau of "permanent-link".
    • If you wish to "save" any given post for future reference (for instance one with your own drawing) you can do so by copying down this link.
      • Last year's April Fools' Day comic, 1350: Lorenz, was the first time the concept of a permalink was used on xkcd.
      • The permalink option did not appear in the comic until very late in the afternoon on April 1. The "Link" was thus not present on the pictures refereed above. (See these pictures instead).
    • Pressing the "Link" next to any given post takes you to the page of the permalink:
      • This page will show a version of the Help us recover more data page with the chosen post as the top post.
      • When you click the permalink it takes you to this "new" page and this page will not show all the posts from the page where you chose it.
      • Only the post you saved via the "Link" next to it.
        • All the other post will again just be chosen at random, and these will change again every time you reload this page via the saved permalink.
        • Even the text on the "want" buttons also continues to change.
        • The user name and user picture stay the same though.
    • As an example of a permalink this is a post saying: We told Iran that atomic energy is unsafe for a picture of a black devil and two Cueballs next to a road.
      • Originally the user name was Mark Zuckerberg but this has since changed to Destiny1983 next to a user picture of a stick figure with black hair on a skateboard.
      • See Changes in the comic below for a possible reason.
      • Also please make a note here, if the user name and picture is no longer the same.
    • A huge collection of permalinks with link to the pictures have been amassed here:
      • Table with permalinks contains all known images and captions at least once. (2179 feed entries, featuring 1481 different pictures and 1935 different captions, as of 2015-04-24)
      • List of Permalinks contains all known permalinks (25585 links, as of 2015-04-24)

    Details on the permalink

    • Since the post from the page where you choose the first permalink is reloaded... Can you then only save one post at a time?
    • The answer is "no" - you can save all posts on any given page.
      • For each "Link" text on a given page, there has already been generated a unique permalink URL.
      • Thus you can copy any permalink via the "Link", without actually pressing the "Link" to obtain the permalink for a given post.
      • Furthermore, since this may be the only comic where you can copy the text, you can simple mark the entire page and copy paste it into a document that contains formatting. If you do this then you will have all the text, pictures and most importantly the permalinks for all the posts.
    • If you click the Link and go to the permalink page there will be seven posts, six new and the one you just saved.
      • The behavior of the posts is very strange from here if you press more permalinks on this first permalink page
      • Also it will not be the same again after this first time as compared to if you continue to help recover more data and use the permalink later.
      • On this first permalink page, where your chosen post is at the top, if you click on another post's permalink the following will happen:
        • The post you originally choose disappears from the page, as the new chosen post is moved to the top.
        • The other five post remains in the same order, so there are not only 6 posts.
        • If you continue to choose the other posts one at a time, they will simply exchange place with the one at the top, with all six posts remaining.
        • Once you have been through all of them, then the order of the post has been determined.
          • So if you click on a "Link" that you have already once activated, then this page will just reload, and the post will have the same order as last time.
          • This is only until you choose to reload, or when you load such a permalink later. Then again it will just be the chosen post, and then always six other new posts.
      • If you then at some point move on via the red button you kind of stay in the permalink page, now just with new options to choose from.
        • If you then create a new post, six new posts will be loaded below.
        • When you click on a permalink at this point, there will not be any reloading of the post (because it is not the first time).
        • Any post you click will move to the top, but all the other (six this time) will stay, the top post just moving down to another position.
          • It is not always a direct exchange. Sometimes the top post moves to another position and then pushes the others down until they reach the now calculated position of the post now at the top.

    Our policy regarding your personal data

    On every of the pages after the front page Cueball sits at his desk labeled XKCD.COM
    Below him are xkcloud's policy:
    Our policy regarding your personal data:
    • Please stop sending us your personal data
    • We are running out of places to put it
    • Is this even yours?
    • Does anyone recognize whose data this is?
    • Oh jeez never mind here comes more data
    • Why are you doing this
    • Please stop
    • Help
    As can be seen he is getting desperate because people keep sending them more data.
    He has no place to store it.
    And he do not even know who the data belongs to.
    So now he hopes someone else recognize the data (what you are doing if you choose to help).
    In the end he simply pleads for people to stop and then shouts Help.
    If you click on the desk you are sent back to the front page of the comic.
    But below Help is their real contact detail Don't contact us:

    Don't contact us

    • At the same time the permalink appeared, there was also suddenly a new link on all other pages than the front page, written in a very light grey font. It can be hard to see on some screens and has possibly changed colour to become harder to see since it first appeared.
      • It is located right beneath help at the bottom of the list of problems written under our policy regarding your data right beneath Cueball at his desk to the left (see picture here).
      • In some cases, tilting the screen will help to make it visible- if you still can't see it, you can still find it with the cursor, or you can also highlight the text below Cueball down to make it easier to see.
    • The link text reads Don't contact us and links to a now-defunct chatroom formerly hosted at euphoria.io.
    • Click the link to open an xkcd chatroom on Euphoria. (See a picture here).
      • Several xkcd users began posting on the original chatroom at around 18:00 Eastern time (Randall's timezone).
      • After picking a username, you can chat in real time with the other users. You can change your username by clicking on it near the bottom of the screen and entering a new one.
      • On November 23rd 2023, euphoria shut down. The xkcd room lives on in the form of a new instance on euphleet.

    We are open for anyone to chat here. Hey you! Come right over and say hello to us! ~euphoria.io/room/xkcd https://euphoria.leet.nu/room/xkcd/ (PS. Please say thank you to @Xyzzy on it; He did make the new chat, after all. (From @KurzgesagtDuck11. (Now @Geometrist.))

    Undocumented Feature

    • This chat room is reminiscent of the one in a comic 1305: Undocumented Feature.
    • As mentioned above, this chat room is hard to access - to access it, click on the hidden link saying "Don't contact us" under "Our Policy Regarding Your Personal Data"xkcd 1506.
    • When it came out, many users began using the chatroom.
    • Maybe Randall timed these extra features for when people came back from work all over the US.

    Changes and bugs

    During the first day there occurred several changes to the comic, and also some bugs very present.

    Changes in the comic

    • All the changes mentioned here occurred during April 1 on the release day:
    • Since being originally posted the words "Click here" were relatively quickly added in large text to the top of the red button followed by the word "to" being added to the beginning of the existing text.
      • The text changed from
        • Help us recover user data before Facebook & Co notice we lost it. to
        • Click here to help us recover user data before Facebook & Co notice we lost it.
      • The reason for this is most likely that too few users understood that they could enter a second part of the comic by clicking on the red button.
    • Late in the afternoon on April 1 (around 18:00 ET) several changes occurred to the pages that can be reached from the front page:
      • The permalink option appeared
      • The link that says Don't contact us appeared under the text beneath Cueball's desk with a link to an xkcd chat room.
        • Though only for the text font to fade out to being almost invisible again later on April 1.
      • The alignment of the text right beneath Cueball's desk changed. (Compare this before picture with this picture after 18:00 ET).
      • The number of posts increased from 3 or 4 to 6 or 7. (See the pictures above — scroll down to see the relevant after picture).
      • Also the number of pictures and text to choose from increased from five to eight (as can also be seen by comparing the pictures found here for before — for text and for picture — with the pictures after (scroll down as mentioned before)).
        • The reason he increased the number of posts (both to see and to choose from) could simply be because there where now is so many possible posts that the risk of seeing the same is smaller even with 6 posts.
    • Sometime on April 2, Randall made an update to the names list.
      • That this happened could be seen since the names shown in permalinks did change. And since then they have stayed constant.
      • For instance, this permalink, to an atomic bomb explosion with the caption that's one nasty burn!, had the name "Lauren Ibsen Dolores Amit" (a play on "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet"), but then displayed the name "Virginia2006" next to a picture of a man with black hair. Currently, it displays the name "Michelleii" next to the same image.
        • (If this changes please make a note - then the names list have either been changed again, or the assumption that the names stay constant is wrong.)

    Bugs

    From time to time, instead of the interactive page there is a page with three dots only. Also, at around 18:00, when all the changes occurred, the xkcd page did not work properly. The chat room was also overloaded at this time.

    Transcript

    [This transcript only transcribes what can be seen in the first picture shown at the top of the explanation here. The standard text for the next possible pages can be seen on the full transcript.]
    [One large frame with a five part comic and a large red button at the bottom.]
    [Cueball sitting behind a desk.]
    Cueball: We've made a huge mistake.
    Desk: XKCD.COM
    [Cueball stands and indicates a motley collection of computers and related equipment strewn around the desk.]
    Cueball: I figured starting a cloud services company would be easy.
    Cueball: After all, I've got tons of computers!
    [A zoomed view on Cueballs head.]
    Cueball: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr— they all struggle to protect privacy and user data...
    Cueball: And we offered a solution.
    Cueball: I forget what it was, though.
    [Cueball is standing with his arms up.]
    Cueball: Anyway, long story short, we screwed up immediately and lost tons of their data.
    Cueball: Also a bunch of stuff is literally on fire?
    [Cueball standing behind a desk.]
    Cueball: We can fix this.
    Cueball: But we need your help.
    Desk: XKCD.COM
    [Below the above is a large red rectangular clickable button, that will take the reader on to the interactive part of the comic. On the button it says in large white letters:]
    CLICK HERE
    To help us recover user data before Facebook & Co notice we lost it.
    [The standard text for the next possible pages can be seen on the full transcript. Also here will be a list with possible text for the lost data.]

    Trivia

    • It's the first comic:
      • Without a title text. (If you don't count the unnumbered A Smarter Planet comics and 404: Not Found.)
      • Where you can copy and paste most of the text from the comic. I.e it is not drawn but printed.
        • This goes only for the follow up pages after the front page.
        • It does not only go for the user input.
      • These two facts could go together since the way this comic had to be created (i.e. it is not a single picture), there may not have been any possibilities for making a title text
    • Source code of elements in the drawing interactive contain the attribute "data-reactid", indicating it is written using the React JavaScript library, developed to use with Facebook & Instagram.
    • One of the pieces of text you can get explains the very reason you need to put in the image for it.


    April Fool's Comics are always a big task to handle and require a lot of work to fully explain (some of these are from a decade ago and aren't completely explained yet). tori :3talk to me! 21:56, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

     Nomination unsuccessful but marked as incomplete (fails criteria #2 and #3) per my comment at the unixkcd nomination below. FaviFake (talk) 21:41, 29 August 2026 (UTC)

    1975: Right Click
    Right Click
    Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!
    Title text: Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!
      Warning: Default sort key "1975" overrides earlier default sort key "1506".
      < Previous                 April Fools' Day comics                 Next >      
      This is the 10th xkcd April Fools' Day comic, released by Randall on April 1, 2018. It was published on a Sunday, deviating from the standard release schedule to honor April Fools' Day. In fact, 2009 and 2017 are the only years in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic. You can view all April Fools' Day comics or learn more about them!
      To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the original comic.

      Explanation

      This explanation was identified as incomplete after being nominated for This Week's Explanation for Improvement. While the nomination was unsuccessful, the explanation did not satisfy our standards for quality. Before removing this notice, read the August 2026 nomination and ensure the issues raised by the Explanation Improvement Project have been satisfactorily addressed:

        The Spells section has a lot of busy work that doesn't seem too hard to explain, finish explaining the second half of the table.

      You can help by editing the explanation! If you are new to wiki editing, see our editing FAQ for guidance.

      The image downloaded when the save button is selected.

      At first, the comic seems like the most simplistic xkcd comic possible - Cueball standing and doing nothing. The "editor's note" tells you to save a copy of the image to "view the full comic".

      To save an image from a browser most people would right-click on it (or long-click in mobile devices) which normally leads to a "context menu" allowing several actions related to the image, including saving/downloading. This is what you are encouraged to do by the editorial note as well as by the comic name and title text. However, the context menu opened is not the default context menu of the browser but an elaborate context menu containing many nonsensical options.

      At first it also seems impossible to save the image using that menu. However, after exploring the context menu you can find an "easter egg" in one of two different places (see below) which unlocks the save option. This save option gives you a different image than the one you see, which can be thought of as "the full comic" although the meat of the comic is actually in the interactive context menu itself. Note that "cheating" by disabling JavaScript and other methods that allow you to directly save the image won't get you that "full comic" image.

      This comic pokes fun at how hard it can be to save an image or to just navigate context menus in some computer programs. The "easter egg hunt" might be related to the fact the comic was released during Easter (which fell on April fool's in 2018). It might also be related to the movie "Ready Player One" which was recently released when the comic was released. In the movie, based on the book by Cline, finding an "easter egg" in a VR world was a central plot point.

      The title is reminiscent of one of the first interactive comics 1110: Click and Drag, where the title explains what the user should do to experience it. However, that was not a fools' day comic.

      The comic uses JavaScript and HTML5 to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behavior may be different depending on the browser environment. Browsers with JavaScript disabled, either totally or by using NoScript, won't access the functionality of the comic, but of course can easily save the image (not "the full version" but the image that is seen initially).

      Context menu

      # Menu item Explanation Sub-menu items
      1 Save Only appears after getting one of the two easter eggs that can be found in the menu - in the games ADVENT.EXE and Mornington Crescent (see their explanations below). Save image> Views the image the first time you click, then downloads this image on every visit after that. [1]. The image includes a spheroid object near the top right-hand corner which appears to exhibit red shift and green shift, suggesting that it is rotating rapidly.
      2 File Normal submenu Close: Closes menu, does nothing.

      Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more below)

      Find: Where, When, How, (grayed out) What, (grayed out) Why, Who.

      'Where' leads to four options. The first, 'computer', has two options ('folder' and 'menus'), which link back to the 'find' and right-click menus, respectively. "Narnia" leads to a link to the comic 665: Prudence as well as to a grey comment about how it's weird that "they" have to die to go back to Narnia. "Canada" and "America" lead to the same set of bizarre menus (America leads into Canada's menu), which then give the options 'Upper' and 'Lower', ultimately leading to a drive-through and hockey, respectively.

      'When' leads to a description of Siri entering someone's home, and the menu can be followed to reveal several further events from 'earlier' in the day. The last one ('a bottle of jack and a toothbrush') is likely a reference to the song 'Tik Tok' by Kesha.

      'How' simply leads to an exclamation of 'How!?'.

      'What' is grayed out.

      'Why' links to [2], technically answering the question of "Why?"

      'Who' leads to a menu version of the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First?" routine, which eventually links to a youtube video of the routine. As of April 4th, a second submenu has been added, which contains Slappy and Skippy's "Who's on Stage?" parody of the previous routine, which also eventually leads to its youtube video.

      Backup: Causes the area around the comic to flash red 9 times, with high-pitch sounds reminiscent of a truck backing up. Reminiscent of the Sinclair Spectrum SAVE to tape command, which would flash the border and modulate the speaker.

      Save: Only available after the save menu is unlocked after one of the two Easter Eggs is found, allows a download of a bonus comic, same as clicking the save option from the main menu.

      3 Edit Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. You can draw multiple scribbles, however, they will automatically connect together. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked. None
      4 System Normal submenu Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, the system returns to normal.

      / (See below)

      5 View Normal submenu Cascade>Links to [3]

      Tile> Links to 245: Floor Tiles

      Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.

      Full Screen> Enters full screen.

      6 Utilities Normal submenu Park drives> Nothing.

      Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth

      Spell check> English (links to 1069: Alphabet) and Colors (links to [4])

      Train AI> links to 1838: Machine Learning

      Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of 851: Na.

      Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:

      • apt-get install /dev/null: apt-get is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; /dev/null is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install /dev/null (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from /dev/null (if apt-get is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.
      • brew install apt-get: brew is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned apt-get, which is both impossible (apt-get doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called apt, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.
      • /usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe: wine is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in /usr/local hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).
      • source .bash_history: the source shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; .bash_history (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the commands that have been typed in the shell.
      • rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*: rm -rf deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; $DIRECTROY is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says $DIRECTROY, not $DIRECTORY), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes rm -rf /*, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many rm versions, which refuse to do a plain rm -rf /, as /* gets expanded by the shell, so rm never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.
      • :(){:|:&};:: this is a classic shell fork bomb, i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.
      • echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc: .bashrc is a file that gets executed whenever the bash shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string source .bashrc to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.
      • alias gcc=php: the alias shell builtin create an alias for another command; gcc is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; php is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing gcc, php is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).
      7 Games Normal submenu Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing. There are links to Bing image searches for 'okapi', 'pronghorn', 'eland', 'baribusa', 'musk deer' and 'ibex'. The game also contains some extremely large cans of creamed corn (a reference to 1807: Listening).

      Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move. If you go long enough, the Defect option is added, a reference to the Prisoner's Dilemma.

      D&D> An interface that allows you to "cast" over 300 spells from D&D 5e. Several menus are used to filter the spells based on their traits: class which can learn the spell, the school of the spell, the spell level, and components required to perform it (somatic, vocal, material). The traits can be chosen in any order. After all six traits are chosen a submenu opens with all of the spells that match those exact traits (which might be no spells at all).

      Most spells link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. 1331: Frequency), what-ifs (e.g. Saliva Pool) and other external sites (e.g. The Sun | NASA). Some spells create effects that change the comic page temporarily or permanently, and some open submenus from different parts of the context menu.

      See below for all links and effects.

      ADVENT.EXE> A text-based adventure game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [5].

      The first scene allows you a choice between exploring a dark cave or a castle. If you explore the cave first you get the following description: "It's pitch black. You're likely to be eaten by a grue". This is a reference to a text adventure game called Zork, where Grues are monsters who dwell in the dark and eat human explorers, making it impossible to explore dark areas. The same description often appears when you enter a dark area without a light source in Zork and other related games. This has previously been mentionned in 91: Pwned.

      If you ignore the warning and go deeper, you are given one more warning ("You're deep in a cave. Something, possibly this very sentence, tells you it would be dangerous to go any further"). If you ignore that too and keep going, you fall into a pit. Several options are given to try and rescue yourself (or alternatively "resign to your fate" or deny you are in a pit [You also may try to cause a distraction by saying "Look behind you! A three-headed monkey!" This may be a reference to the Curse of Monkey Island, where Guybrush Threepwood distracts characters by saying the same line.]) but all lead to "you've been eaten by a grue". Being eaten by a grue seems to be an irreversible condition - if you exit the context menu and enter ADVENT.EXE again, you are given no options and are told again that "you've been eaten by a grue". Apparently only refreshing the page cancels that.

      Exploring the castle is a much safer option to begin with. The main castle scene has a door, a well, and stairs that go up to the tower. The door is locked, and trying to break it is futile.

      The well is a wishing well. Examining it allows for several options:

      • Examine the sign - it reads "Dark! Narrow! Scary! Well of Three Features". This is a reference to the well of three features from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
      • Wish for... - this one has a lot of options, some of which are links to comics or What If pages and some lead to further submenus:
        • World peace - leads to the answer "I'm just a well, can you scale it down a bit?" and then back to the well menu; this option is from now changed to "Inner peace", which gives "A feeling of calm washes over you." and "Ommmmmm...", which also goes back to the well menu
        • More wishes - leads back to the "Wish for..." menu. The idea of using a wish to wish for more wishes is common when discussing things with wish-granting powers and was previously mentioned in 1086: Eyelash Wish Log.
        • Fewer wishes - Tell you "Really? Okay.." (as this is not something most people would ask for[citation needed]). If you continue you return to the "Examine well" menu. If you want to make a wish again (even after exiting the menu and coming back again) you can only wish for "more wishes" and then you can continue wishing normally.
        • Happiness - links to 572: Together, a comic about getting "happiness" as a scavenger hunt item.
        • Luck - links to 1053: Ten Thousand which refers to hearing about commonly known things for the first time as being one of "today's lucky 10,000".
        • Wisdom - You hear a voice whisper 'N, E, N, N, N, W, S, W'. This is a clue for later.
        • Wealth - Links to the what if article All the Money, which might explain what will happen if the wishing well "overgrants" your wish.
        • A human-sized hamster ball - links to 152: Hamster Ball where Cueball wishes for the same thing.
        • A map of everything - links to 1196: Subways, a map of the subways of North America, which are apparently "everything" for Americans.
        • True love - links to Soul Mates.
        • A kitty! - links to 231: Cat Proximity, a comic detailing the effect of cats on humans.
      • Jump in - Allows you to swim (and later "just keep swimming..." indefinitely) or climb out and return to the "Examine well" menu.
      • Pull up the bucket - "You reel in the bucket. There's something shiny in the bottom". If you examine the bucket you get a key!

      After you have the key, if you go back to the castle you can now use the key on the locked door and enter a dungeon. In the dungeon, there is a clamp on a table that you can take.

      Finally, in the tower, you can find a "strange machine" dubbed a "C-Remover". You can try to use the C-Remover on any item you got. It doesn't affect the key, but it does turn the clamp into a lamp! The C-remover is a reference to either the T-remover from Leather Goddess of Phobos or the multi-letter remover from Counterfeit Monkey, a text adventure by Emily Short inspired by it.

      After you have the lamp, entering the cave becomes safer. It now becomes "a maze of twisty passages, all alike" where each room allows going N, E, S, or W, normally leading to an identical room. Only by using the clue from the wish for "wisdom" in the well and going N, E, N, N, N, W, S, W you can navigate the maze successfully. When following that path, after the first "W" the options become N, S, and Dennis instead of the usual N, E, S, W; this is a reference to the text-based game Thy Dungeonman found in a Strong Bad email from homestarrunner.com.

      If you follow the full path you find the center of the maze where there is a nest with a "large multicolored egg" (an easter egg!). If you take the egg you are told "You feel a sense of potential, as if you may have more options now". This is because the "save" options are now unlocked in the main context menu and the file menu!

      Hoverboard> Links to 1608: Hoverboard browser game.

      Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game Mornington Crescent, which bears a surprising resemblance to London's Underground railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavoring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins (sadly out of print). This variation only includes the sections of the London Underground in fare zone 1. There is a "station" only connected to Vauxhall called "Easter basket". The Easter basket leads you to "Take egg", also allowing you to save. The shortest path to the Easter basket is Euston > Warren Street > Oxford Circus > Green Park > Victoria > Pimlico > Vauxhall > Easter basket, simply following the Victoria Line the entire way. All playable stations are immediately adjacent on the London Underground network to the station last played. Despite the fact that this version of the game starts at Euston, which is adjacent to Mornington Crescent, as Mornington Crescent is in fare zone 2, the branch of the Northern line on which the eponymous station is situated does not appear in the game and Mornington Crescent is not an objective.

      8 Help Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu: Tutorial

      Support

      Manual

      Troubleshooting

      FAQ

      Guide

      Q&A

      User forums

      Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic: @chromakode Amber @fadinginterest Kat Kevin Stereo'

      9 Do Crimes Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.

      This is a joke about how the dark web is perceived in popular culture - a place that exists solely to do crimes, mainly bitcoin and hacking related.

      		Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.

      Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to 771: Period Speech.

      Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: 1019: First Post. Planet: 1337: Hack.)

      Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one being a Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being a crossed swords emoji (⚔)


      Filesystems Menu

      Drive Menu Item Explanation Sub-Menu Items
      A:\ Insert Only appears before inserting a floppy disk. Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\

      Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'

      C:\ Documents/ Nothing. None.
      C:\ Music/ Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of 851: Na). 'Hey now / Hey now / Don't dream it's over' links to 240: Dream Girl. 'This / is / a / story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside down' links to 464: RBA. 'This / is / the / story of a girl / who cried a river and drowned the whole world' links to a Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FVAEYRM5I
      C:\ Bookmarks/ Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which all comics prior to this comic except 1974: Conversational Dynamics are titled and linked. For instance, he thus here recognizes his first April Fools' Day comic 404: Not Found, which cannot be found, as a real comic by linking to it. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.
      C:\ Games/ Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.
      C:\ Sequences/ The options are the lines from a Tim and Eric sketch Celery Man; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch. After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY
      / home/ Nothing. guest> links to http://uni.xkcd.com/ - a command-line Unix-style interface for viewing xkcd comics (and other commands to discover) that was used as the April Fool's joke in 2010. See also the comic unixkcd.

      user> Same files as C:\

      root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.' a refrence to 838: Incident and also what the sudo command will print if unauthorized users try to use it.

      / opt/ Does nothing. None.
      / sbin/ Does nothing. None.
      / usr/ Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that the /usr hierarchy does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical to those of the root directory. /usr/local, too is a duplicate of /usr for files not originating with the distro, and of late /var and /opt have also started expanding.
      / dev/ Nothing. random/> links to a random xkcd comic. In unix systems reading from the /dev/random file generates pseudorandom bytes, so it fits here that /dev/random gives a random comic.

      urandom/> links to 221: Random Number. In unix systems, /dev/urandom is the same as /dev/random, except in /dev/random you don't get anything if you don't have sufficient "randomness" in the system, and in /dev/urandom you get whatever you have. The linked comic describes a botched attempt to create a function that would return a truly random number but actually, it returns a fixed number (and thus isn't useful at all). This alludes to /dev/urandom providing bad results sometimes.

      D&D spells

      Here all the spells from the D&D game are detailed, including the traits you need to enter to get to them and the link they lead to/effect they create.

      To get to a specific spell using this table you need to go to games->d&d->cast and then enter the traits - level, class, school, and components - in any order. Note that many spells list more than one class in the table (in d&d it means multiple classes can cast that spell), which means you need to choose one of those classes in the menu. Components are listed in the table as V for Verbal Components, S for Somatic Components and M for Material Components - choose "yes" or "no" for these based on whether the matching letter is there or not.

      Link Spells

      The vast majority of spells (285 of them apparently) are actually links to xkcd comics, what ifs, or external pages that somehow demonstrate or relate to the spell.

      Name Level Classes School Components Link Explanation
      Acid Arrow 2 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/790/ The comic is about giving LSD (commonly known as "acid") to test subjects
      Aid 2 Cleric, Paladin Abjuration V, S, M http://donorschoose.org A site dedicated to donations - aiding various subjects
      Alarm 1 Ranger, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1359/ Comic about phone alarm
      Alter Self 2 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S https://xkcd.com/1099/ In this comic beret guy is "altered" in a weird way
      Animal Friendship 1 Bard, Druid, Ranger Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1746/ Comic about making friends in a way that might attract some animals better than humans
      Animal Messenger 2 Bard, Druid, Ranger Enchantment V, S, M https://twitter.com/dog_rates A humorous Twitter page about "rating dogs" - in a way "messaging about" animals
      Animal Shapes 8 Druid Transmutation V, S https://xkcd.com/1278/ Comic about using genetic engineering to change an animal (in this case a giraffe) shape
      Animate Dead 3 Cleric, Wizard Necromancy V, S, M http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=62 They were once dead.
      Arcane Eye 4 Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/993/ The comic is related to creating a brand by having products that "stand out" and are therefore "more visible"
      Astral Projection 9 Cleric, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com/977/ Comic about map projections
      Augury 2 Cleric Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1334/ The comic is about checking the second page of google results for answers, which might be parallelized to reading omens in the spell.
      Awaken 5 Bard, Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1518/ Comic about awakening... badly to an alarm sound
      Bane 1 Bard, Cleric Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/972/ The comic details a simple exploit by blackhat, the bane of everyone's existence
      Barkskin 2 Druid, Ranger Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/qFI4BQlBbig A video by "My Brother, My Brother and Me" where a person creates a "shitty iron man armor", parallel to the armor created by barkskin
      Beacon of Hope 3 Cleric Abjuration V, S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault Link to the wikipedia page about the global seed vault, which is meant to function as "a beacon of hope" in case of global disaster.
      Bestow Curse 3 Bard, Cleric, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/214/ The comic talks about "the problem of wikipedia" which can be time-waster to curious people. This can also be rephrased as "the curse of wikipedia"
      Black Tentacles 4 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1926/ The comic is about an "ugly mess of code" which can be compared to a tentacle mess
      Blade Barrier 6 Cleric Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1406/ The comic is about a "universal converted" which can be thought of as a kind of barrier
      Bless 1 Cleric, Paladin Enchantment V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/55/ A what if article about saying "bless you" to random people on the phone, hoping they just sneezed
      Blight 4 Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/1807/ Another exploit by black hat
      Blindness/Deafness 2 Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard Necromancy V https://xkcd.com/467/ Comic related to "two girls one cup", a well-known shock video which might make people wish they were blind after seeing it
      Branding Smite 2 Paladin Evocation V https://xkcd.com/384/ (Can thunder make intelligent?)
      Burning Hands 1 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1296/ Git messages become increasingly similar to a person on fire typing them and also relate to haaaannds
      Call Lightning 3 Druid Conjuration V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ A what if with several lightning-related questions
      Calm Emotions 2 Bard, Cleric Enchantment V, S https://twitter.com/CuteEmergency Twitter page about cute dogs that might indeed calm your emotions
      Chain Lightning 6 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/898/ Comic about the chain of command
      Charm Person 1 Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/1777/ Comic about the Nigerian Scan, which can be thought of as a way to "charm" people into doing what you want (like other scams)
      Chill Touch 0 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/1108/ Comic about a cautionary ghost, similar to the ghostly hand the spell creates
      Circle of Death 6 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1674/ Comic about doing "adult stuff" including writing a will
      Clairvoyance 3 Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1421/ Comic about discovering a creepily clairvoyant comment from your "past self" in your code
      Clone 8 Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1597/ Comic about git - "clone" is a common git command.
      Cloudkill 5 Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/8/ Human crowd
      Color Spray 1 Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1882/ Comic about color
      Command 1 Cleric, Paladin Enchantment V https://xkcd.com/857/ Comic about a man making a famous phrase by Archimedes into a command with an ultimatum
      Commune 5 Cleric Divination V, S, M https://youtu.be/7yxaKeRRypo?t=44s Tried to snipe but turned into laughs
      Commune with Nature 5 Druid, Ranger Divination V, S https://youtu.be/BOxRFMiSDZU?t=9m47s Suddenly, Dino-Lansbury.
      Comprehend Languages 1 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1816/ Comic about language weirdness and puns
      Compulsion 4 Bard Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/609/ Comic about TVTropes, which might create a compulsion to follow links and stay there for a long time
      Cone of Cold 5 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1714/ Comic about volcanoes, which are actually cones of heat usually (the "waffle cone" volcano in the comic is probably cold)
      Confusion 4 Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1969/ Comic presents a way to confuse people by setting to "not found" page of your site to a "not available in your country" page
      Conjure Woodland Beings 4 Druid, Ranger Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1903/ Comic about "buns" (rabbits) which are woodland beings
      Contact Other Plane 5 Warlock, Wizard Divination V https://xkcd.com/1889/ Comic from the "xkcd Phone" series. With all their features, surely xkcd phones can contact other planes...
      Contagion 5 Cleric, Druid Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/1161/ Comic about hand sanitizer, which is meant to prevent contagion, but maybe not as effectively as Cueball would like.
      Contingency 6 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/140/ Comic about how one gets cheese when they have chips and chips when they have cheese, a situation in which one condition triggers a contingency and vice versa.
      Continual Flame 2 Cleric, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_Eternal_Flame Wikipedia about eternal (continual) flame
      Control Water 4 Cleric, Druid, Wizard Transmutation V,S,M https://what-if.xkcd.com/103/ What if article about water disappearing
      Control Weather 8 Cleric, Druid, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1126/ Comic about the weirdness of the weather in 2005
      Create Food and Water 3 Cleric, Paladin Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/1774/ Comic about food in supermarkets
      Create or Destroy Water 1 Cleric, Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/103/ What if article about water disappearing (Same as in "control water" - actually more fitting here)
      Create Undead 6 Cleric, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/69/ What if about the dead users in Facebook who are compared to "undead" in a comic image at the start of the article
      Creation 5 Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://youtu.be/_hH7vZF15SY "Monster Factory" episode which is a gameplay video of the game spore which is about the creation of a species and a civilization. "Creating" is also in the video title.
      Cure Wounds 1 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1618/ Comic about trying to cure a pretty bad cold
      Dancing Lights 0 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1331/ Comic that shows frequencies of different events in the form of blinking ("dancing") gifs ("lights")
      Daylight 3 Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/673/ Comic about "daylight saving time"
      Death Ward 4 Cleric, Paladin Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/865/ In the comic IPv6 functions as a sort of "death ward" against nanobots, buying us some time before the total annihilation of life on earth.
      Demiplane 8 Warlock, Wizard Conjuration S https://xkcd.com/1703/
      Detect Evil and Good 1 Cleric, Paladin Divination V, S https://xkcd.com/256/ A map of internet communities, with the good and bad parts.
      Detect Magic 1 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard Divination V, S https://xkcd.com/808/ An economic argument that "detects" what crazy "magic" phenomenon actually works and what doesn't.
      Detect Poison and Disease 1 Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/802/ Updated version of "map of online communities" which was linked to from "detect good and evil", again suggesting that online communities are full of "poison and disease".
      Detect Thoughts 2 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1448/ A note asking someone about their thoughts (or feelings)
      Disguise Self 1 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V, S https://xkcd.com/451/ Comic about being an impostor and "disguising" yourself as an expert in a field.
      Disintegrate 6 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ The very first what if, where a baseball is pitched at 90% of the speed of light and begins to disintegrate... In a nuclear explosion
      Dispel Evil and Good 5 Cleric, Paladin Abjuration V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/ What-if about a contemporary robot apocalypse ("evil") and how to "dispel" it.
      Dispel Magic 3 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/109/ Comic about spoilers who "dispel the magic" of watching some movies.
      Divination 4 Cleric Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1525/ xkcd's version of the magic 8 ball, a toy/tool for divination
      Divine Favor 1 Paladin Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1575/ Comic parodying the Christian poem "footprints" which is about divine favor
      Divine Word 7 Cleric Evocation V https://xkcd.com/741/ Comic about content producing, some of which may be divine words
      Dominate Beast 4 Druid, Sorcerer Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/1934/ Comic about excessive phone security settings that "dominate" the thief in a way
      Dominate Monster 8 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, S https://youtu.be/JgChfrBsEaI "Monster factory" episode about "creating the Shrek franchise" - which is about a monster - in spore.
      Dominate Person 5 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/1116/ Comic about confusing traffic light which can "dominate" a person.
      Dream 5 Bard, Warlock, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/557/ Comic about the common "not ready for school" dream
      Druidcraft 0 Druid Transmutation V, S https://xkcd.com/867/ Comic about branches of zoology - zoology can be thought of as "druidcraft"
      Earthquake 8 Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer Evocation V, S, M https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/08/24/earthquakes/ Blog post about earthquakes
      Eldritch Blast 0 Warlock Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/356/ Comic about "nerd sniping", an unconventional sort of "blast" for "hitting" nerds
      Enhance Ability 2 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/YLg_aIlhe6I?t=23m33s "Monster factory" episode about the stars recreating themselves in a WWE videogame, in a way "enhancing their abilities"
      Entangle 1 Druid Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/257/ Comic about code encryption, which adds complexity similar to an entanglement
      Enthrall 2 Bard, Warlock Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/1286/ Comic about improperly encrypted passwords, similar to the "distracting string of words" in the spell description
      Etherealness 7 Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S https://xkcd.com/644/
      Expeditious Retreat 1 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/61/ What-if about speed bumps
      Eyebite 6 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/1015/ Comic about bad kerning, which is a "bite" to the eyes
      Fabricate 4 Wizard Transmutation V, S Another Monster Factory video, fabricating a character in Mass Effect
      Faerie Fire 1 Bard, Druid Evocation V https://what-if.xkcd.com/151/ What-If about fireflies
      Faithful Hound 4 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1193/ Comic that ends with a very large dog
      False Life 1 Sorcerer, Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://youtu.be/8-3jDVTLdaQ Monster Factory video involving the game Second Life.
      Fear 3 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1242/ A chart comparing how scary things are
      Feather Fall 1 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, M https://youtu.be/bWvyJ05TdC8?t=13m34s In this clip, the floor is removed, causing a lot of people to fall.
      Feeblemind 8 Bard, Druid, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/574/ A comic about misinformed people, who could be described as acting feeble-minded.
      Find Familiar 1 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/413/ Comic talking about a new pet (that is actually a computer). A familiar is an animal, similar to a pet, that serves a master, usually the magic user that summoned it.
      Find Steed 2 Paladin Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/1651/ After the events of the comic, you would have to sort through the pile of cars to find your own; Your car here being the "steed" of the spell.
      Find the Path 6 Bard, Cleric, Druid Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/887/
      Find Traps 2 Cleric, Druid, Ranger Divination V, S https://xkcd.com/1195/ This comic itself is a trap!
      Finger of Death 7 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/117/ A What-If about death.
      Fire Bolt 0 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/639/
      Fire Shield 4 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=1090
      Fire Storm 7 Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer Evocation V, S https://youtu.be/ujADg0nWqCw?t=15m51s A discusion of Curiosity's landing gear, including its heat shield.
      Flame Blade 2 Druid Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/961/ Strangely, not used for Continual Flame, despite the title.
      Flame Strike 5 Cleric Evocation V, S, M https://youtu.be/J9hMe1R8eYw
      Flaming Sphere 2 Druid, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/673/ This is a comic about the sun, which can be described as a flaming sphere.
      Flesh to Stone 6 Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V,S,M https://xkcd.com/1409/ Might be a penis joke on the "hours since watching porn" query.
      Floating Disk 1 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/50/ What-If on boating. A boat can - generously - be described as a floating disk.
      Fly 3 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/353/ A comic where a Python user gains the power of flight.
      Fog Cloud 1 Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S http://twitter.com/karlthefog The twitter account for a fog cloud.
      Forbiddance 6 Cleric Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/782/ A comic about breaking forbidden taboos and paying the consequences.
      Forcecage 7 Bard, Warlock, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1142/ A Faraday cage could be described as a force-cage.
      Foresight 9 Bard, Druid, Warlock, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1876/ A comic about using one's foresight to extrapolate trends.
      Freedom of Movement 4 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Ranger Abjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/sCOwRahm0so?t=1m8s Jet boots and forging your own path both enable freedom of movement
      Freezing Sphere 6 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/121/ A What-If about freezing a lot of things at once.
      Gaseous Form 3 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/146/ This What-If is about Jupiter, a gas giant.
      Geas 5 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Wizard Enchantment V https://xkcd.com/1559/ Geas gives the target a magical command that they must follow, a somewhat-common use of which is instructing someone to walk across a continent to get them out of the way.
      Gentle Repose 2 Cleric, Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://youtu.be/1Wl_yf86n78?t=20m
      Giant Insect 4 Druid Transmutation V, S https://youtu.be/_1jGnFt78H8?t=25m32s Roachie is a radroach, a giant insect much like the kind that this spell creates.
      Glibness 8 Bard, Warlock Transmutation V https://xkcd.com/707/ Glibness is both a spell that makes you more charismatic and the quality of being funny and insincere.
      Globe of Invulnerability 6 Sorcerer, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/
      Glyph of Warding 3 Bard, Cleric, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1247/ The warning message in this comic functions as a way of warding off viruses, warning the user of possibile attacks.
      Goodberry 1 Druid, Ranger Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1035/ Goodberry summons a magical berry with as much nutritional value as a full day's food, much in the way that a soda has as much sugar as two or three Cadbury eggs.
      Grease 1 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/
      Greater Invisibility 4 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/72/ The loneliest human had no connection to anyone else at the time, making them functionally invisible to the world.
      Greater Restoration 5 Bard, Cleric, Druid Abjuration V, S, M http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/my-brother-my-brother-and-me
      Guardian of Faith 4 Cleric Conjuration V https://xkcd.com/1934/ The same comic as Dominate Beass. The security settings guard against thieves.
      Guards and Wards 6 Bard, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1890/ A guide to self-defense in specific situations.
      Guidance 0 Cleric, Druid Divination V, S https://xkcd.com/1028/ A comic on communication and guiding others.
      Guiding Bolt 1 Cleric Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1160/ Both a poster guiding people to join the trebuchet club, and the actual mechanism of aiming the trebuchet.
      Gust of Wind 2 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1378/ In this comic, a wind turbine is asked to create a Gust of Wind, but is unable to.
      Hallow 5 Cleric Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1677/ PF2e tips: "Hallow-led" Background has Dubious knowledge skill feat, fail pulls a correct information and a misinformation.
      Hallucinatory Terrain 4 Bard, Druid, Warlock, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1472/
      Harm 6 Cleric Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/218/ A comic where harm is caused to the patient by suggesting the heart is taken out and the ventricles are blown in
      Haste 3 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1701/
      Heal 6 Cleric, Druid Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/218/
      Healing Word 1 Bard, Cleric, Druid Evocation V https://youtu.be/NYnldxUpYQQ
      Heat Metal 2 Bard, Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/35/
      Hellish Rebuke 1 Warlock Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/327/
      Heroes' Feast 6 Cleric, Druid Conjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/_v1v0t8Q5xg?t=7m48s
      Heroism 1 Bard, Paladin Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/326/ Used facetiously. Tricking "amateur Grammar Nazis" is a heroic victory for Cueball.
      Hideous Laughter 1 Bard, Wizard Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1974/
      Hold Monster 5 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1604/ Megan is holding a snake, which is a common monster archetype in DnD.
      Hold Person 2 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/540/ In a romantic/sexual way.
      Holy Aura 8 Cleric Abjuration V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/145/
      Hunter's Mark 1 Ranger Divination V https://what-if.xkcd.com/11/
      Hypnotic Pattern 3 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Illusion S, M https://xkcd.com/722/ Literally refers to a "pattern" of lights; hypnotic in the sense that Cueball spent most of his life looking at his computer screen.
      Ice Storm 4 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/104/
      Identify 1 Bard, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/9/
      Illusory Script 1 Bard, Warlock, Wizard Illusion S, M https://xkcd.com/1288/ A set of scriptural substitutions that give the original text the illusion of being about something completely different.
      Imprisonment 9 Warlock, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/U4rwlvMEoj0
      Incendiary Cloud 8 Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/139/
      Inflict Wounds 1 Cleric Necromancy V, S https://youtu.be/Kcd44VfN-Ro?t=3m24s
      Insect Plague 5 Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1127/ A joke comparing politicians to insects.
      Instant Summons 6 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/123/ What if about fairy demographics which are "summoned" to the first laugh of a child
      Invisibility 2 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1080/ A comic about the visible field, including "blind spots" where vision is obscured, making things seem "invisible".
      Irresistible Dance 6 Bard, Wizard Enchantment V https://xkcd.com/878/
      Jump 1 Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/kT2Y6ftxilM?t=17m37s
      Knock 2 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V https://xkcd.com/530/ The comic's idiot plot could have been avoided if Cueball simply... knocked.
      Legend Lore 5 Bard, Cleric, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1350/
      Lesser Restoration 2 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/567/
      Levitate 2 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/520/
      Light 0 Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
      Lightning Bolt 3 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/109/
      Locate Animals or Plants 2 Bard, Druid, Ranger Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1826/
      Locate Creature 4 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1747/
      Locate Object 2 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard Divination V, S, M http://bfy.tw/Dh
      Longstrider 1 Bard, Druid, Ranger, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1065/
      Mage Armor 1 Sorcerer, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1636/
      Mage Hand 0 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/1812/
      Magic Circle 3 Cleric, Paladin, Warlock, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/112/
      Magic Jar 6 Wizard Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1021/
      Magic Missile 1 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1356/
      Magic Mouth 2 Bard, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/37/
      Magic Weapon 2 Paladin, Wizard Transmutation V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/
      Magnificent Mansion 7 Bard, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/TamwFUUd9Yk?t=10m29s
      Major Image 3 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/980/
      Mass Cure Wounds 5 Bard, Cleric, Druid Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1793/
      Mass Heal 9 Cleric Evocation V, S https://youtu.be/1Cj8d6EcFp0
      Mass Healing Word 3 Cleric Evocation V https://xkcd.com/1520/
      Mass Suggestion 6 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, M https://xkcd.com/1264/
      Maze 8 Wizard Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/246/
      Meld into Stone 3 Cleric, Druid Transmutation V, S https://youtu.be/V5PlKZRQVgQ
      Mending 0 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1780
      Message 0 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1782/
      Meteor Swarm 9 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/1249/
      Mind Blank 8 Bard, Wizard Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/1145/
      Minor Illusion 0 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Illusion S, M https://xkcd.com/1492/
      Mirage Arcane 7 Bard, Druid, Wizard Illusion V, S https://xkcd.com/806/
      Mislead 5 Bard, Wizard Illusion S https://xkcd.com/1488/
      Misty Step 2 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Conjuration V https://what-if.xkcd.com/126/
      Modify Memory 5 Bard, Wizard Enchantment V, S https://xkcd.com/1156/
      Moonbeam 2 Druid Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1738/
      Move Earth 6 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/723/
      Nondetection 3 Bard, Ranger, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/937/
      Pass Without Trace 2 Druid, Ranger Abjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/LHBzVTCO3nM?t=4m32s
      Passwall 5 Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1608/
      Phantasmal Killer 4 Wizard Illusion V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/12/
      Phantom Steed 3 Wizard Illusion V, S https://youtu.be/U3JnZEzoL6M
      Planar Ally 6 Cleric Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/112/
      Planar Binding 5 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1956/
      Plane Shift 7 Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/803/
      Plant Growth 3 Bard, Druid, Ranger Transmutation V, S https://youtu.be/yV9wy9ucXgc
      Poison Spray 0 Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Conjuration V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/144/
      Polymorph 4 Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1094/
      Power Word Kill 9 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V https://youtu.be/VHR0EfYACAI?t=13m51s
      Power Word Stun 8 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V https://what-if.xkcd.com/
      Prayer of Healing 2 Cleric Evocation V https://xkcd.com/418/
      Prestidigitation 0 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S https://xkcd.com/942/
      Prismatic Spray 7 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/657/
      Prismatic Wall 9 Wizard Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/1271/
      Private Sanctum 4 Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1663/#74b2196a-34fa-11e8-8001-42010a8e0006
      Produce Flame 0 Druid Conjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/386/
      Programmed Illusion 6 Bard, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/303/
      Project Image 7 Bard, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://youtu.be/bR0Ubck0IRA
      Protection from Energy 3 Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/556/
      Protection from Evil and Good 1 Cleric, Paladin, Warlock, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1303/
      Protection from Poison 2 Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/1305/
      Purify Food and Drink 1 Cleric, Druid, Paladin Transmutation V, S https://youtu.be/ONSWw4aBBLg
      Raise Dead 5 Bard, Cleric, Paladin Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com/599/
      Ray of Enfeeblement 2 Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://xkcd.com/526/
      Ray of Frost 0 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/312/
      Regenerate 7 Bard, Cleric, Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1024/
      Reincarnate 5 Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/WbKrlJgwI4A?t=17m33s
      Remove Curse 3 Cleric, Paladin, Warlock, Wizard Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/391/
      Resilient Sphere 4 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1248/
      Resistance 0 Cleric, Druid Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/730/
      Resurrection 7 Bard, Cleric Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com
      Reverse Gravity 7 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1115/
      Revivify 3 Cleric, Paladin Necromancy V, S, M https://xkcd.com/346/
      Rope Trick 2 Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
      Sacred Flame 0 Cleric Evocation V, S https://www.nasa.gov/sun
      Sanctuary 1 Cleric Abjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/qQVlGrwG9yo?t=11m49s
      Scorching Ray 2 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/729
      Scrying 5 Bard, Cleric, Druid, Warlock, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://archive.org/donate/
      Secret Chest 4 Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1762/
      See invisibility 2 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/401/
      Seeming 5 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V, S https://xkcd.com/451/
      Sending 3 Bard, Cleric, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/352/
      Sequester 7 Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/646/
      Shapechange 9 Druid, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/-aWH3-46slI?t=6m4s
      Shatter 2 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/137/
      Shield 1 Sorcerer, Wizard Abjuration V, S https://xkcd.com/916/
      Shield of Faith 1 Cleric, Paladin Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/129/
      Shillelagh 0 Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/LXxdC9X3hxg?t=8m6s
      Shocking Grasp 0 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://xkcd.com/242/
      Silence 2 Bard, Cleric, Ranger Illusion V, S https://xkcd.com/525/
      Silent Image 1 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1416/
      Simulacrum 7 Wizard Illusion V, S, M https://youtu.be/1Qo1Aj_leEo
      Sleep 1 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Enchantment V, S, M https://xkcd.com/320/
      Sleet Storm 3 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/511/
      Slow 3 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/162/
      Speak with Animals 1 Bard, Druid, Ranger Divination V, S https://xkcd.com/1879/
      Speak with Plants 3 Bard, Druid, Ranger Transmutation V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/70/
      Spider Climb 2 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/136/
      Spike Growth 2 Druid, Ranger Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/67/
      Spirit Guardians 3 Cleric Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/695/
      Spiritual Weapon 2 Cleric Evocation V, S https://youtu.be/A1gTbnB-Gps?t=17m2s
      Stinking Cloud 3 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1066/
      Stone Shape 4 Cleric, Druid, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/135/
      Stoneskin 4 Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M https://youtu.be/LlKnEgPEGmA
      Storm of Vengeance 9 Druid Conjuration V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/93/
      Suggestion 2 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Enchantment V, M https://xkcd.com/672
      Sunbeam 6 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/
      Sunburst 8 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/115/
      Telekinesis 5 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/3/
      Telepathic Bond 5 Wizard Divination V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1504/
      Thaumaturgy 0 Cleric Transmutation V https://xkcd.com/1131/
      Thunderwave 1 Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/140/
      Tiny Hut 3 Bard, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/905/
      Tongues 3 Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Divination V, M https://xkcd.com/1137
      Tree Stride 5 Druid, Ranger Conjuration V, S https://youtu.be/IDBcGgjtFRs?t=1m3s
      True Polymorph 9 Bard, Warlock, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M (no link?)
      True Resurrection 9 Cleric, Druid Necromancy V, S, M https://youtu.be/7-n8TZqm9Ic?t=12m36
      True Seeing 6 Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Divination V, S, M http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/
      True Strike 0 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Divination S https://youtu.be/wWOVS0XQmPM?t=12m11s
      Unseen Servant 1 Bard, Warlock, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/958/
      Vampiric Touch 3 Warlock, Wizard Necromancy V, S https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/
      Vicious Mockery 0 Bard Enchantment V https://xkcd.com/732/
      Wall of Fire 4 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/usa/index.html
      Wall of Force 5 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/
      Wall of Ice 6 Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/104/
      Wall of Stone 5 Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-001/htmldocs/images/chart.pdf
      Wall of Thorns 6 Druid Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1970/
      Warding Bond 2 Cleric Abjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1188/
      Water Breathing 3 Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/969/
      Water Walk 3 Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer Transmutation V, S, M https://xkcd.com/1599/
      Web 2 Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S, M https://xkcd.com/195/
      Weird 9 Wizard Illusion V, S https://xkcd.com/1501/
      Wind Walk 6 Druid Transmutation V, S, M https://youtu.be/zpahjcaRt6w?t=12m27s
      Wind Wall 3 Druid, Ranger Evocation V, S, M https://what-if.xkcd.com/66/
      Wish 9 Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V https://xkcd.com/1086/ A comic showing the history of one's eyelash wishes.
      Zone of Truth 2 Bard, Cleric, Paladin Enchantment V, S http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/adventure-zone A reference to the Adventure Zone podcast by the McElroy family, specifically the character Merle Highchurch, who is well known for using this spell in possibly unhelpful situations.

      Submenu Spells

      These 9 spells all appear with an arrow and open submenus when hovered on. The submenus are all actually from different parts of the context menu. Several of the spells are "teleportation/transportation" related which might explain why they lead you to a different place in the menu.

      Name Level Classes School Components Submenu Explanation
      Antimagic Field 8 Cleric, Wizard Abjuration V, S M Utilities menu
      Banishment 4 Cleric, Paladin, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M Do Crimes menu (even without unlocking it via Enable Dark Web)
      Blink 3 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S Utilities menu
      Counterspell 3 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Abjuration S Utilities menu
      Delayed Blast Fireball 7 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M Help menu
      Dimension Door 4 Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Conjuration V File - Open - C:\ - Bookmarks submenu
      Teleportation Circle 5 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, M Games menu
      Transport via Plants 6 Druid Conjuration V, S Games menu
      Word of Recall 6 Cleric Conjuration V Utilities menu

      Effect Spells

      These 10 spells activate different JavaScript functions that affect the page in various ways, permanent or temporary, that are suggestive of the spell that was cast.

      Name Level Classes School Components Effect Explanation
      Acid Splash 0 Sorcerer, Wizard Conjuration V, S Causes the background to change color between red, yellow, chartreuse, blue, fuchsia, and blue-violet randomly every 300ms. Using LSD ('acid') often causes vibrant colors to 'splash' and swivel around one's visual field.
      Animate Objects 5 Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V, S Causes most parts of the page to begin shifting in place randomly every 100ms. The parts, or "objects" on the page are being "animated".
      Blur 2 Sorcerer, Wizard Illusion V Causes the comic and most text to blur. Largely self-explanatory. In D&D, the Blur spell blurs one's body to make it harder to hit. This one blurs the elements on the page.
      Conjure Animals 3 Druid, Ranger Conjuration V, S Adds a rabbit image of a random size next to the comic. Conjures an image of an animal.
      Darkness 2 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Evocation V, M Causes the comic to disappear and the background to turn black. In D&D, the Darkness spell conjures darkness. This does largely the same thing.
      Darkvision 2 Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid, Ranger Transmutation V, S, M Causes the background to turn gray and the comic to fade. However, it does not appear to work.
      Fireball 3 Sorcerer, Wizard Evocation V, S, M Causes the page background to turn red then slowly turn white. Fireballs caused by nuclear weapons generally appear reddish-white.
      Mirror Image 2 Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Illusion V, S Causes the entire page to be mirrored on the vertical axis. Here, Mirror Image "mirrors" the image, instead of conjuring "mirror images" of yourself.
      Symbol 7 Bard, Cleric, Wizard Abjuration V, S, M Changes all text on the page to use Wingdings, Webdings, Symbol, or Zapf Dingbats. These are all dingbat fonts which replace text with symbols.
      Time Stop 9 Sorcerer, Wizard Transmutation V Pauses any currently ongoing effects. (But does not cancel them) Time Stop is a spell that stops time. This would make sense to stop ongoing effects.

      Transcript

      [Empty frame with Cueball standing slightly right of center.]
      [Caption below the frame:]
      Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!


      Trivia

      • On Monday, April 1st, 2019 2131: Emojidome, an April Fools' Day comic was released, making it look like the missing April Fools' Day comic in 2017 was an outlier.
      • Here is an example of how the game looks when entered:

      • This is broken on iPadOS.
      • The source code for the comic was released on GitHub.


      The Spells section has a lot of busy work that doesn't seem too hard to explain. A week of concentrated collaborative effort should do the trick. tori :3talk to me! 21:56, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

       Nomination unsuccessful but marked as incomplete (fails criteria #2 and #3) per my comment at the unixkcd nomination below. FaviFake (talk) 21:41, 29 August 2026 (UTC)

      2288: Collector's Edition
      Collector's Edition
      I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
      Title text: I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
        Warning: Default sort key "2288" overrides earlier default sort key "1975".
        < Previous                 April Fools' Day comics                 Next >      
        This is the 12th xkcd April Fools' Day comic, released by Randall on April 3, 2020. It was published 2 days late on a Friday, following the standard release schedule. Learn why this comic was released late. You can view all April Fools' Day comics or learn more about them!

        To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the original comic!

        Explanation

        This explanation was identified as incomplete after being nominated for This Week's Explanation for Improvement. While the nomination was unsuccessful, the explanation did not satisfy our standards for quality. Before removing this notice, read the August 2026 nomination and ensure the issues raised by the Explanation Improvement Project have been satisfactorily addressed:

          Need to finish uploading the few files of loot missing (UPDATE: Only a few are missing!!!) and loot descriptions.
          This explanation is sparse and many things are missing. Some images some are still missing and require some digging to explain (such as by drawing connections and recognizing where the Loot come from).

        You can help by editing the explanation! If you are new to wiki editing, see our editing FAQ for guidance.

        This comic is a large draggable image that acted as a shared virtual sandbox for users to interact. Chests are "Items" (small and often humorous images) which could be collected from other comics, and then placed in this image by viewers, but today they are no longer dropped. The collection then updated for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to backpacks in video games containing items collected by the player. As hinted by the title text, items could be found by visiting different xkcd comics/pages. Randomly, some pages would have a treasure chest which contained the sticker related to the page. The hint would refer to the page which currently had a chest.

        The image at the origin is a reference to 1450: AI-Box Experiment.

        The comic contains 32993 separate images. The sticker images can be seen at xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png, where XXX is a number from 001 to 253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png, where X is the sentence. The source code for the comic was released on GitHub.

        Placement is limited to 10,000 horizontal units and 5,000 vertical units from the origin. Users received no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary, with a silent fail and the object not being placed. The coordinates are relative to the bottom left corner of the canvas. As the default coordinates are (-370,-277) and the origin is in the center, the displayed portion of the canvas can be found to be twice this in magnitude, 740 x 544 units. The most common image is loot-30.png, which appears 2576 times.

        The full image

        Hints

        For a more minimal list of the stickers found in the comic, see 2288: Collector's Edition/Stickers.

        Sticker Hint Comic Item unlocked Notes
        Doctors in a row 239: Blagofaire Cory Doctorow These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest
        Get out the (US) vote Chapter 5 of What If? (New York Style Time Machine) Statue of liberty
        Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these 1375: Astronaut Vandalism Signpost
        or File:Miniloot-words-dispenser.png (maybe incomplete) Plug in or find another power source 1373: Screenshot
        Sweet dreams, kitty 729: Laser Pointer (maybe incomplete) Cat licking laser point
        What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know. 1052: Every Major's Terrible 2 + lightbulb = boat
        Somebody set up us the bomb 286: All Your Base Exploding rock/planet crypton
        Cowabunga 1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (maybe incomplete) Women Science Fiction Authors 197: Ninja Turtles also works
        I want to believe 2156: Ufo Ufo
        Bleeped 290, 398, 430, 447, 533, 549, 677, 724 or 1671 *$@#! Comics whose titles involve profanities or similar insults.
        why waste time say few word when lot word do trick 7, 111, 139, 143, 179, 217, 445, 470, 822, 823, 1022, 1247, 1491, 1921, 1991, 2182 or 2231 First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart Comics with titles that are six or more words (with the exception of 111, which has five and a spaced dash).
        Cooler than electric scooters 139, 409, 577, 578, 579, 580 or 581 An electric skateboard
        Take it from the top 1: Barrel - Part 1 (maybe incomplete) I am a turtle from 889: Turtles
        I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success! 1713: 50 ccs (maybe incomplete) Man carrying parentheses from 297: Lisp Cycles
        Catch up on the news 1699: Local News (maybe incomplete)
        Participation trophy 2288: Collector's Edition (maybe incomplete) Server rack
        Find an opportunity for a sojourn 665, 681, 695, 1091, 1504, 1613, 1663 or 2111 Opportunity Mars rover from 2111: Opportunity Rover
        Tastier than tau day 179: e to the pi times i (maybe incomplete) First annual award for excellence in being very smart Need to find out the difference between this, and the entry below!
        Tastier than tau day 235, 396, 872, 1029, 1342, 1655 or 1967 Pie sign Published on Pi day
        418 I'm a teapot 1866: Russell's Teapot (maybe incomplete) S.S. NASA: Space is Hard
        26th September, 1983 2052: Stanislav Petrov Day White dove Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?
        There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020 1071: Exoplanets (maybe incomplete) Little girl from 2264: Satellite
        asableiK 645: RPS A reverse Polish hotdog "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
        Critical mass elements 235: Kite or 239: Blagofaire
        Some Februarys are more equal than others 390: Nightmares? (maybe incomplete) Cueball wheelie from 272: Linux User at Best Buy Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
        Five spice 1511: Spice Girl or 1554: Spice Girls Rock guitarist
        Call the plumber 423: Finish Line Luigi in a green Kart
        Was it a rat I saw? 968: Everything Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon or 1503: Squirrel Plan for Cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
        Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate 346: Diet Coke+Mentos Bottle of soda
        Keep coming back
        A new model released each year Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics in order Phone screaming "Noooo"
        Tea Time From the what if? article Lake Tea. All our tea Not technically from a comic
        Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet? 1045: Constraints Two Tetris blocks
        Where's Hilbert? 195: Map of the Internet (maybe incomplete) Hilbert Curve
        Science fiction fetish 1585: Similarities
        / The first one was funnier 11: Barrel - Part 2 (maybe incomplete) Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well"
        It's up to over 260 million cycles! 1941: Dying Gift Megan on a tire swing
        Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though 2233: Aurora Meaning (maybe incomplete) Sleeping Cat
        On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid 1530: Keyboard Mash (maybe incomplete) Cobwebbed frame from 1135: Arachnoneurology
        Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too? 1598: Salvage (maybe incomplete) Rice bowl
        Never going to give you up 351, 389, 396, 524, 573, 609, 802, 1212, 1757 or 1981 Cueball in car listening to music
        If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms 1604: Snakes, 227: Color Codes? (maybe incomplete) Yoda with an mp3 player from What If
        An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity 1021, 1032, 1117, 1293, 1493, 1533, 1772, 1812, 1871, 1903, 1997, 2140, 2209 or 2277 Beret guy with a goat on leash
        Multiple: loot_106.png, miniloot-words-hair.png, miniloot-words-ominous.png, miniloot-words-eruption.png, miniloot-words-flying.png or miniloot-words-ghost.png (maybe incomplete) Read the fine manual 293, 434, 456, 912, 1343 or 1692
        That thing's undecimodal! 1347: t Distribution (maybe incomplete) Floating tentacled alien
        Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now 491: Twitter (maybe incomplete) Expensive bottle
        You don't have to find all 99 121: Balloon (maybe incomplete) Balloon copter Or 51: Malaria ?
        Going in circles 378: Real Programmers (maybe incomplete) Cueball spinning in desk chair
        Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting? 37, 53, 60, 75, 79, 148, 168, 174, 236, 259, 287, 296, 326, 331, 389, 437, 451, 559, 590, 605, 687, 719, 733, 790, 845, 966, 1004, 1119, 1145, 1169, 1208, 1278, 1304, 1329, 1340, 1355, 1405, 1480, 1546, 1598, 1677, 1697, 1705, 1788, 1795, 1960, 1995, 2032, 2123, 2208 or 2252 Phishing License sign Mostly comics that include "My hobby:"
        It's the ciiiiircle of HONK 537: Ducklings or 1729: Migrating Geese DUCKLOOP'D?
        Fool me twice Maybe 292: goto? Need confirmation. Raptor Attack The second April Fools' Day comic
        oOOOoooo Maybe 316: Loud Sex? Need confirmation. Sleeping cat
        Maybe we can ask for new wishes 879: Lamp Genie and his bottle If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely) - Needs verification, this may also just be a bug!
        HACK THE PLANET 1337: Hack (maybe incomplete) Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of Hackers
        Monetization haute couteur 20, 23, 55, 123, 149, 150, 162, 208, 231, 242, 256, 273, 285, 303, 327, 377, 386, 420, 435, 442, 482, 505, 552, 556, 585, 614, 627, 657, 681, 688, 705, 710, 802, 821, 980, 1033, 1040, 1079, 1127, 1133, 1196, 1298 or 1428 (maybe false positives) Two bags of money
        (maybe incomplete) Maybe writing a script would help 1319: Automation
        Go big to go small 1365: Inflation
        Are you projecting 850, 977, 1500, 1784, 1799, 2242 or 2256 Squirrel on a gun
        Do spiders really have six legs 8, 43, 126, 427, 442 or 1110
        Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island? 1688: Map Age Guide Cephalopod
        Another rulebook? 393: Ultimate Game Merlin in a chair from 270: Merlin
        Moooooon 482, 681, 1276, 1291, 1300, 1389, 1458, 1515, 1633, 1738, 1878 or 2258 MOOOOOON
        Take a flight from LOL to FFS 1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations
        Everyone deserves a second chnace All comics searched, no matches The misspelling is intentional. 745: Dyslexics would have been a good fit
        Community contribution 822, 823, 824, 825, 826 [Citation Needed] protester from 285: Wikipedian Protester
        On the other side of the wardrobe 665: Prudence, 969: Delta-P or 2218: Wardrobe (maybe incomplete) Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from 1776: Reindeer
        Today's your lucky day 1053: Ten Thousand (maybe incomplete) Ms. Frizzle
        [This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim] 1005: SOPA The tape
        loot_times.png or loot_div.png (maybe incomplete) Try a different approach 55: Useless (maybe incomplete) Equals sign
        The cake is a lie! 606: Cutting Edge Cake
        Joanna, fire. 322: Pix Plz Joanna with EMP cannon
        Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks 965: Elements Symposium
        90KG x 300M 382: Trebuchet Trebuchet
        Copyright Enforcement Brigade 344: 1337: Part 4
        Where Cape Town meets Chukotka 1500: Upside-Down Map Crater
        Take a ride in a barrel View all five barrel comics in reverse order (31, 25, 22, 11, 1) Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from 150: Grownups
        Compiling... 303: Compiling Two Cueballs fighting with swords while on chairs
        2288: Collector's Edition Sheeple eye from 1013: Wake Up Sheeple
        2288: Collector's Edition Time machine from 1747: Spider Paleontology

        Transcript

        [Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
        [The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

        Trivia

        • This comic is the 2020 April Fools' Day comic and was supposed to be released on Wednesday, April 1st. However, it did not go live until Friday, April 3. Meanwhile, Friday's comic, 2289: Scenario 4, was published a day later for a very rare Saturday release. The message below was displayed on the header text of the site from Wednesday until the comic finally went live:

        Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!

        This is one of the few comics released four days after the previous one. The last time this occurred was 2224: Software Updates.


        THE BANE OF MY WIKI EDITING EXPERIENCE. I've always been frustrated by how sparse this article is and how many things were missing when I found it. I've uploaded quite a bit, but some are still missing and require some digging to find/explain (because I really suck at drawing connections and recognizing where the Loot come from...) tori :3talk to me! 21:56, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

         Nomination unsuccessful but marked as incomplete (fails criteria #2 and #3) per my comment at the unixkcd nomination below. FaviFake (talk) 21:41, 29 August 2026 (UTC)

        3074: Push Notifications
        Push Notifications
        NOTIFICATION: Now dismissing a head of the Notification Hydra… NOTIFICATION: Success! You have dismissed a head of the Notification Hydra! Different title text: :3
        Title text: NOTIFICATION: Now dismissing a head of the Notification Hydra… NOTIFICATION: Success! You have dismissed a head of the Notification Hydra!

        Different title text: :3
          Warning: Default sort key "3074" overrides earlier default sort key "2288".
          < Previous                 April Fools' Day comics                 Next >      
          This is the 17th xkcd April Fools' Day comic, released by Randall on April 9, 2025. It was published 8 days late on a Wednesday, following the standard release schedule. Learn why this comic was released late. You can view all April Fools' Day comics or learn more about them!

          To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the original comic!

          Explanation

          This explanation was identified as incomplete after being nominated for This Week's Explanation for Improvement. While the nomination was unsuccessful, the explanation did not satisfy our standards for quality. Before removing this notice, read the August 2026 nomination and ensure the issues raised by the Explanation Improvement Project have been satisfactorily addressed:

            Sort out the explanation structuring, explain further the delay of the comic, upload all pictures from https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1, add a transcript for each image in the image gallery, and explain the table of all notifications.
            The current explanation is too messy (unrelated paragraphs and too many bullet points). If needed, reorganise it, use tables, or divide it into subsections. It might be easier to navigate to have the notifications divided into subsections, one for each type of notification, so we can have smaller, separate tables that are easier to browse. In that same section, we can move the explanation of when they appear and move the image they are related to.
            The #Trivia section doesn't fully explain the apparent delayed launch of the comic. Give examples of other delayed comics and add more information about this one, sucha as the text of the first notification and what it means.
            The gallery is missing many image links! Links to all images are on the index.js at https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1. You can easily identify them, they look like this: static/xyz.png       That same link contains all the comic pictures, including each notification, so download each notification image from here (use Ctrl+F to search for "static/" links, and then paste into the URL in the address bar), and create a new section for them! This way, we can showcase the initial notification flow in order. (Make sure to download the bigger version, labelled "4x" instead of "2x"!).
            Most of the transcripts for the additional #Comic images are not descriptive enough.
            Need to finish explaining the table with all the notifications and copy the images that go along with them. Notifications that are confirmed to be related to image changes should have the image in its explanation. (You can take the image from the section #Comic images.)

          You can help by editing the explanation! If you are new to wiki editing, see our editing FAQ for guidance.

          The comic uses push notifications to change the comic image over time and make other statements. Upon viewing the comic for the first time, a sequence of notifications will be rendered over the comic itself. The notifications have a fade-in animation and appear one after another. The sequence is divided into several "groups" of notifications, each containing up to 4 regular notifications and an interactable button, which has a circled arrow icon to the right as well as a different text color. Clicking the arrow removes all notifications on screen and proceeds the sequence to the next group.

          At the end of the sequence, a red-background option to sign up for xkcd notifications is presented. This part differs depending on if the user is "playing" from a mobile or desktop browser.

          • On desktop, clicking this will result in the browser prompting the user to allow or block xkcd.com's request to send push notifications. By allowing, the game begins. If blocked, the comic shows a message "An actual error occurred :(", and the laptop bursts into flames (see the image in the table below). It also blows up in response to any other browser error, such as a 500 Internal Server Error, which is reported to happen if you click the pause button too quickly.[actual citation needed]
          • On mobile, a new on-screen notification will show up, telling the user to add zk to their home screen in order for it to send push notifications on mobile. Upon doing so and opening the webpage from the home screen, the system will prompt the user to allow or block push notifications from this webpage. The outcomes of allowing and denying are the same as on desktop.

          Once the game begins, you are provided with two buttons: one labeled "Emergency Stop", and one labeled "Silence notifications at a cost". Clicking the "Emergency Stop" button allows you to either restart the full game or to subscribe just to thrice-weekly notifications for new xkcd comics, while the second button will temporarily silence notifications, supposedly at the cost of notifying two random people.

          The title text references the Lernaean Hydra, a multi-headed serpent-like monster from Greek mythology; the Greek hero Heracles was tasked with slaying the Hydra as the second of his twelve labours. When he cut off one of its heads, however, two heads would grow in its place, resulting in more heads than before; Heracles soon realized he could not kill the Hydra in this fashion. It describes a similar situation with the "Notification Hydra": a push notification "head" of the Notification Hydra was dismissed, which subsequently spawned two more push notification heads providing updates about the status of the dismissal. If one of these new notifications were to be dismissed, it would again spawn another set of the same two push notification heads; thus, the Notification Hydra is unkillable in a manner similar to the original.

          Up to 7 clickable cats periodically spawn at predetermined positions around the page, including one on the edge of the Emergency Stop button. The subdirectory where the images and scripts for this comic are stored is titled 'marconi,' which is likely a reference to the Italian engineer and inventor of the same name, Guglielmo Marconi, who is credited with inventing the radio, and did much work in the field of early communication systems.

          Notifications

          When graphing the coordinates from the zoom notifications, a turtle and a squirrel appear.

          A general list of notification types include:

          • The "Zoom notifications" only include numeric coordinates, sometimes prefixed with "oh look!". Plotting the normal coordinates creates an image of a turtle, a reference to 1416: Pixels, while the coordinates prefixed with "oh look!" create a squirrel behind the turtle. See the image above.
          • A few starter notifications about this comic, the successful sending of a notification of this comic, and the lack of another comic.
          • An announcement that an old comic was posted, specifying a (seemingly) random comic and its publication date. The publication date seems to be shown in a random calendar date format.
          • A word game where a first notification asks you to type a word, with further notifications apparently to be sent whenever someone chooses the same word as you.
            • The word can be chosen by clicking on the first notification, which lands you in the comic page. The comic pane will be changed to a comic-style input dialogue with a space for the word and a submit button. Upon providing a word, a notification informs you that you will then receive notifications (of the form "Someone else has selected the word <Your Word>!"), and that your choice is permanent and cannot be changed. You can also submit a blank text field, thus receiving "Someone else has selected the word !" notifications.
          • A "streak" notification counting the number of times you've clicked it. To start with, the message changes every 10 clicks; then every 50 clicks (after 100) and then at increasing intervals. After every 50 clicks there is an offer to make future clicks count twice, making this a simple version of Cookie Clicker. If you choose to accept the offer by clicking on it, it will reset your clicks back to zero but makes all future clicks count double of the current click rate; you can also reject the offer by continuing to click on the click counter message. There are occasionally notifications encouraging you to keep clicking and "extend your streak," tempting you with "a free click to keep you going". After 400 clicks it will reset your clicks back to zero but makes all future clicks count four times.
            • Early notifications encourage further clicking.
            • Approaching a hundred, the messages grow more concerned and later start warning that the server will crash or has crashed.
            • Above 750: "Are you just doing this to annoy me?"
            • 1000-2000: "You're just doing this to annoy you?"
            • Above 2000: "I guess it worked"
            • Above 1000000: "Wow, you're really into this"
          • "Constant reminders" with references to mathematical, physical, or some other constants. The constant values are stated to be "at the tone", likely in reference to time-of-day phone services, which are live or recorded human voice services that tell you the exact time "at the third stroke" over the phone. (In at least some portions of the USA, the wording did use "tone" rather than "strike." For example, "At the tone, the time will be 2:32pm, and 10 seconds ... (beep)")
          • A "have you seen my cat?" notification which causes all the cats to spawn when clicked.
          • Cat fact notifications that appear when a cat is clicked, in reference to this exchange.
          • Various "Erroneous Alerts" with a warning triangle emoji (⚠ U+26A0), some with just flavor text, some corresponding to changes in the comic image.
          • A notification that offers to provide weather alerts for your location, which leads into a series of notifications asking whether you live in a named city. If none of the cities that it knows are selected, your location is set to the summit of Mount Washington.
          • When the time is near a full hour or half-hour, that the current time is five o'clock.
          • An invitation to subscribe to the "What if?" YouTube channel
          • A notification with the heading "System Log" that reads (INFO): A user has paused notifications
            • This notification presumably appears when a random user has pressed the "Silence notifications at a cost" button.
          • A "Carriage Return Line Feed", referencing the Windows standard of storing line returns as a carriage return character followed by a line feed (newline) character. However, the xkcd Carriage Return Line Feed is instead a news feed concerning the next stop on a supposed "Carriage Return Line" of a train system. The announcements are all related to stations on the London Underground, including the use of the phrase "Mind the gap".
          • A reminder to comment and subscribe. When clicked, they redirect the user to one of the following Wikipedia Talk pages:
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          Comic images

          Image Transcript and explanation
          Cueball sitting at his desk, with his laptop.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, with a very large laptop.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, with a small potted plant.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, with a squirrel in the pot.


          Cueball sitting at his desk, with a much larger plant that has clearly outgrown the pot, at least vertically.
          Cueball sitting at his desk with the larger plant, with a cat on one of the branches.
          A second image of Cueball sitting at his desk with the larger plant with a cat on one of the branches, but in a different spot.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, with a cat in the foreground near the point of view.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, his chair replaced with a large cat.
          Cueball sitting farther back from his desk, with the laptop on the desk on fire. This image also appears if xkcd.com is denied the permission to send notifications (see the explanation above).
          Cueball, the desk, and the laptop floating in the air.
          Cueball spinning in his chair.
          Cueball sitting on the desk, facing the laptop on the chair.
          The desk vacant with "Game Over" displayed if you use the emergency stop.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, with a laptop on the desk, and a sword leaning against the desk on the other side.
          Cueball and Ponytail swordfighting while the computer has an hourglass icon, referencing 303: Compiling.
          The room flooded 2/3 of the way up the desk. Cueball is still sitting with his laptop.
          The same flooding, with a miniature sailboat behind Cueball.
          The same flooding, with a cat face behind Cueball.
          The same flooding, with a shark fin on the far side of the desk, facing toward Cueball.
          Cueball sitting at the desk, which has been extended behind his laptop like a long meeting table.
          No Cueball, only the chair, desk, and laptop.
          Cueball using the laptop on his lap, with no desk.
          Cueball with a squirrel on his head.
          A squirrel sitting at the desk, seemingly using the laptop.
          Cueball standing on top of the laptop keyboard.
          Cueball sitting at the desk, wearing a wizard hat.
          Cueball sitting on the floor behind the desk.
          Cueball sitting in his chair, shielding his face from a tentacle coming from the computer screen.
          Cueball sitting at his desk, typing on his laptop, while in an office chair raised to an excessive height – likely a reference to 2144: Adjusting a Chair.
          The cat that appears after returning to the comic window after leaving it idle for long period of time. It has a unique title text of ":3".

          Transcript

          This is one of 39 incomplete transcripts:
          Need to finish the transcript in the table ABOVE, it's not detailed enough. You can help by, editing the transcript!

          [Cueball sits at a desk in an office chair. He is typing on a computer.]
          [Gray message boxes with a small circled “x” at the top right corner are shown:]
          Happy April 1st (observed)!
          To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: push notifications for new comics!
          Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
          Until further notice, we are asking people NOT to sign up for new comic notifications.
          Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
          Click this notification to learn more! (a circled arrow is shown)
          “Push notifications for new comics” sounds like a simple feature, right?
          There’s a nice API for browser notifications. xkcd updates three times a week.
          So you just send a notification for each update, right?
          That’s what we thought, too.
          Click to continue! (a circled arrow is shown)
          [To the side of the comic frame is a big, horizontal hexagonal stop sign]
          Sign: Emergency STOP
          Below the sign: Halt ALL notifications and forget everything
          The good news is that we did build a button to stop xkcd new comic notifications.
          You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
          The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
          This part definitely works.
          The rest of the system does NOT work. (a circled arrow is shown)
          We’re sorry.
          We don’t know how things went so wrong.
          The system is sending more than three notifications a week. A LOT more.
          We cannot recommend signing up for xkcd new comic notifications at this time.
          Click here to ignore the warnings. (a circled arrow is shown)
          No, really.
          Our notification system may send a large number of very real system notifications.
          These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
          ⚠️DO NOT ENABLE XKCD NEW COMIC NOTIFICATIONS⚠️
          Yeah, I get it, but I definitely want to enable xkcd new comic notifications. (a circled arrow is shown)
          Are you sure?
          Yes! (a circled arrow is shown)
          Absolutely sure?
          YES!! (a circled arrow is shown)
          To enable push notifications on mobile you need to add xkcd.com to your home screen.
          Click here to subscribe to xkcd notifications
          [Initial static image shows Cueball sat on an office chair at a desk using a laptop computer. A notification 'window' is speech-bubbled above the computer]
          [Grey notification box, header:] April 1st (Observed)
          [Notification box, further text:] Open xkcd.com to view.
          Laptop: [Warning sign.]
          [When viewed live, various xkcd-style popover notifications appear, each can be dismissed or (usually the last on every page) invited to press an 'onwards'-style button.]
          [First page of messages]
          Happy April 1st! To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: Push Notifications for new comics!
          Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
          Until further notice, we are asking people NOT to sign up for new comic notifications.
          Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
          [Notification with 'onwards button':] Click on this notification to learn more
          [Upon choosing to continue, further messages appear, replacing any prior ones left open]
          "Push Notifications for new comics" sounds like a simple feature, right?
          There's a nice API for browser notifications, xkcd updates three times a week.
          So you just send a notification for each upafte, right?
          That's what we thought, too.
          [Notification with 'onwards button':] Click on this notification to continue
          [Next set of popover messages]
          The good news is that we did build a button to STOP xkcd new comic notifications.
          You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
          The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
          This part definitely works.
          [Notification with 'onwards':] The rest of the system does not work.
          [To the right of the comic frame, a red, octagonal button has white text upon it:]Emergency Stop
          [Below the button is red text:] Halt all notifications and forget everything
          [Next set of popovers, "stop" button remains permanently so long as you continue]
          We're sorry.
          We didn't know how things went so wrong.
          The system is sending more than three notifications at this time.
          ['Onwards' notification:] Click here to ignore the warnings
          [Next set.]
          No, really.
          Our notification system may send a large amount of very real system notifications.
          These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
          [Text bookended by warning triangles:] Do not enable xkcd new comic notifications
          ['Onwards':] Yeah, I get it, but I definitely want to enable xkcd new comic notifications
          [Just two popovers, initially]
          Are you sure?
          ['Onwards':] Yes
          [On clicking onwards, two more appear below]
          Absolutely sure?
          ['Onwards':] Yes!!
          [On clicking, a further popover]
          [Red-tinted 'onwards'-style popover with warnings:] Click here to subscribe to xkcd notifications.
          [...something appeared then dissappeared...]
          [Genuine(?) browser dialogue activated:] xkcd.com wants to send you notifications. Block / Allow
          [If allowed, one more popover in the original style]
          Success!!
          [Below the Emergency Stop button, an oval gray button appears labeled in white:] Silence notifications at a cost
          [Below that, in grey text:]Temporarily pause your notifications at the cost of notifying two random people.
          [Further changes include the contents of the comic. The transcript for these changes is available on the Comic images section.]

          Trivia

          • This comic was posted 8 days late, as noted by the first notification the user is presented with.


          Sort out the explanation structuring, explain further the delay of the comic, upload all pictures from [6], add a transcript for each image in the image gallery, explain the table of all notifications. tori :3talk to me! 21:56, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

           Nomination unsuccessful but marked as incomplete (fails criteria #2 and #3) per my comment at the unixkcd nomination below. FaviFake (talk) 21:41, 29 August 2026 (UTC)

          unixkcd
          unixkcd
                                             
          • Comic (April 1, 2010)
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            This is the 3rd xkcd April Fools' Day comic, released by Randall on April 1, 2010. It was published on a Thursday, deviating from the standard release schedule to honor April Fools' Day. In fact, 2009 and 2017 are the only years in which Randall hasn't marked this day with a comic. You can view all April Fools' Day comics or learn more about them!

            Explanation

            This explanation was identified as incomplete after being nominated for This Week's Explanation for Improvement. While the nomination was unsuccessful, the explanation did not satisfy our standards for quality. Before removing this notice, read the August 2026 nomination and ensure the issues raised by the Explanation Improvement Project have been satisfactorily addressed:

              We need help from someone who knows unix or linux or code or bash or anything like that. Explain the jokes and references in the #Undocumented commands section and the sections below it.
              Describe the website interface, such as the links at the bottom, and what it is supposed to resemble.
              The cheat command actually says **free shipping enabled*** and it needs an explanation

            You can help by editing the explanation! If you are new to wiki editing, see our editing FAQ for guidance.

            On April 1, 2010, Randall altered the xkcd website to mimic a Unix shell. This interface is still available on uni.xkcd.com and the source code is available on GitHub. This fool itself does not warrant its own comic, however.

            unixkcd is a portmanteau of Unix and, of course, xkcd. Additionally, the subdomain of where the interface now lives is a domain hack that incorporates this portmanteau. It can be humorously said that unixkcd is a public shell that is able to access comics from the xkcd web server.

            Unix is a family of operating systems that share multitasking, multi-user, and modular features. These operating systems are said to be Unix-like or comply with the Single UNIX Specification. The first, early set of versions of Unix, also known as "Research Unix", were developed in Bell Labs as a result of its predecessor and former OS, Multics, due to it becoming increasingly complex. Unix still lives on today. Examples of Unix-like operating systems are macOS, iOS, Linux (more specifically its array of operating systems or "distributions" shipped with the Linux kernel), Android, and BSD with its derivatives.

            All interactions in an operating system are done via system calls by computer programs, which are fulfilled by the kernel or another program with absolute control over the system. One special type of programs for these interactions are called shells, and they are used for executing any command or task that the operating system can perform, often using other computer programs. Hence the name, the shell metaphorically wraps around the system.

            Unix shells, in particular, are shells that interact with a Unix-like operating system. The first influential shells developed in Research Unix were the Thompson shell, the C shell, and the Bourne shell (which was the most popular one at the time). Currently, Bash is the most popular Unix shell, inspired by the Bourne shell (hence the Bash acronym, as it stands for the Bourne-again shell), that is provided by many Linux distributions. Bash is likely the shell being mimicked by unixkcd. Most Unix shells use a command-line interface that provide a command prompt, which must be run in a text terminal emulator in order to enter such commands. Since these emulate real computer terminals, such text terminal emulators are normally shown as a black screen behind white or green text.

            The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.

            Documented commands

            Command Response Explanation
            next (shows the next comic) If the latest comic number is given, shows the error Time travel mode not enabled. See enable time travel below.
            prev (shows the previous comic)
            first (shows the first comic)
            last (shows the last comic)
            display [number] (shows the comic with the specified number) Trying to display comic 404: Not Found will result in an endless loading attempt.

            Trying to display comic 1350: Lorenz instead displays 1349: Shouldn't Be Hard, where Cueball thinks about burning his computer. 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.

            random (shows a random comic)
            ls (shows the content of the current directory)
            dir
            cat [filename] (shows the content of the file) See also cat below.
            cd [directory] (changes to the specified directory)

            Undocumented commands

            Command Response Explanation
            :(){:|:&};: [...] (repeats indefinitely) This command, otherwise known as a shell fork bomb will make the terminal display the [...] loading dots indefinitely, as though it crashed.
            a/s/l or asl A/S/L is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location in this case. The following replies are possible:
            2/AMD64/Server Rack Answered as if the server replied. sex refered as AMD
            328/M/Transylvania Answered by Dracula.
            6/M/Battle School Answered by Ender Wiggin or another boy from battle school.
            48/M/The White House Answered by Barack Obama or another male of the same age in the White House.
            7/F/Rapture Answered by a Little Sister from BioShock.
            Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away. Requests for A/S/L are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.
            7,831/F/Lothlórien Answered by Galadriel or another elf. Lothlorien is the region of 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.
            42/M/FBI Field Office Answered by an FBI agent, referencing the old trope that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them.
            apt-get This APT has Super Cow Powers. The apt-get command is part of the Debian package manager APT. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.
            apt-get moo 
                    (__)
        (oo)
  /------\/ 
 / |    ||  
*  /\---/\  
   ~~   ~~  

...."Have you mooed today?"...
            		Displays an ASCII drawing of a cow.
            bash You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective. 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.
            cat [number]/alt.txt (displays the title text of the specified comic)
            cat license.txt (displays the license of unixkcd)
            cat welcome.txt (displays the welcome message)
            cat

            (without a filename or with an invalid filename)

            		You're a kitty! A reference to 231: Cat Proximity.
            cheat ***free shipping enabled***

            (Links to xkcd Store)

            buy stuff
            clear (clears the screen)
            curl (creates an iframe to the URL specified) curl is "command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs."
            date March 32nd Instead of April 1st, which is not a real date.[citation needed]
            display title text display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory. Displayed in red text.
            echo Echo ... echo ... echo ... echo is a command used to print text to the terminal.
            ed You are not a diety ed is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly. See also vi and emacs.
            emacs You should use Vim. A reference to 378: Real Programmers.
            enable time travel TARDIS error: Time Lord missing A Doctor Who reference. See also the next command.
            exit (ends the terminal session)
            quit
            logout
            find kitten (showed the robotfindskitten game) The link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available here.
            find What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice. This links up to the above command find kitten.
            finger Mmmmmm... finger USER is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER. Here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name, referring to the act of fingering (NSFW) for sexual pleasure instead.
            fuck I have a headache. Though the command may have been intended as a profanity, it is interpreted as if a request for sexual intercourse. A stereotypical (film-friendly) response to an expected but unwanted 'bedtime request' from an overamorous bed-partner is to claim to have a headache.
            goto [any] (shows comic 292: goto and asks if you meant display instead.) This jokes on how goto is viewed as a somewhat clumsy command to use - which is the subject of linked comic 292: goto.
            go back You cannot go back.
            go down On our first date? To go down on someone can be interpreted as a request for oral sex. The response appears to be surprised by the request on a "first date".
            Hello Joshua How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War? A reference to the WarGames movie.
            hello Hello. A second reply Why hello there! is coded, but it is never used.
            help That would be cheating!
            halp
            hi Hi.
            hint We offer some nice polos. Randomly replies with one of four options.

            The replies itself all have varied meanings, as follows:

            • the first hint takes quite a surreal approach to it, saying that the comic somehow has nice polos.
            • The second one is the only helpful hint of the four, saying how the comic will still remain at the link shown.
            • The third one references use the source luke (see below).
            • The last one says there are cheat codes to help use the interface. However, typing cheat just refers to the xkcd store, making this tip also useless.
            This terminal will remain available at xkcd.com/unixkcd/
            Use the source, Luke!
            There are cheat codes.
            i read the source code <3 The joke here is that you would be unlikely to type this question in without having read the source code, and discovered this command.
            irc [nick] (starts an IRC session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net)
            write [nick]
            kill Terminator deployed to 1984. A reference to the Terminator movie. In Bash, kill is used to end a process.
            latest (displays the latest comic)
            light torch Light what?
            locate [filename] is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for ninja, keys, joke, problem and raptor.
            lpr PC LOAD LETTER lpr is a command to print documents. PC_LOAD_LETTER is a printer error.
            make love I put on my robe and wizard hat. A reference to this roleplay chat transcript (NSFW), which was also mentioned in 442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel. make love is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is make: don't know how to make love.
            make me a sandwich What? Make it yourself. A reference to 149: Sandwich.
            man [command] (shows unhelpful information about the command) Only last, help, next, cat have unique responses, all others show a generic "Oh, I\'m sure you can figure it out."
            moo moo
            more Oh, yes! More! More! The more command is used to paginate output.
            nano Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint? Nano is another text editor for Unix systems (see vi and emacs).
            ping There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down. The 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 objects on radar.
            pwd You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike. The pwd command prints the current working directory (see look). The output is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure.
            reddit [number] (shows the Reddit voting bar for the specified comic) If no number is specified, shows xkcd.
            rm [filename] (removes a file)
            rm -r (removes a directory)
            serenity You can't take the sky from me. This is a line from the Ballad of Serenity from the Firefly TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): SerenityOS.
            shutdown Must be root. See also sudo poweroff.
            poweroff
            ssh ssh, this is a library. ssh is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "Shh" sound.
            su God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun. su is a command for logging as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "with great power comes great responsibility" is also part of a message that is printed the first time sudo is used.
            sudo [command] (executes the command with root privileges) The sudo command does this on Unix-like operating systems.
            sudo apt-get dist-upgrade You are already running [OS]. Running the command on Debian Linux would upgrade the operating system.
            sudo apt-get moo Have you mooed today? apt-get Debian Linux command Easter egg.
            sudo apt-get update Reading package lists... Done Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.
            sudo apt-get upgrade (shows a link to A Better Browser on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it says This looks pretty good to me.
            sudo make me a sandwich Okay Behaves like 149: Sandwich.
            sudo !! (will sudo the last command)
            sudo poweroff (shuts down the system)
            sudo shutdown
            sudo reboot (restarts the system)
            sudo restart
            sudo rm -rf / (breaks all commands until the page is reloaded) If this command is run in Linux, then it will simply delete everything in the distro it is run on.
            sudo sudo An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded In red text. Refers to a Stack overflow error due to the apparent recursion.
            time travel (shows 630: Time Travel)
            top It's up there --^ The top command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.
            uname Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator uname on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the Looney Tunes series.
            unixkcd (opens a new terminal window)
            use the force luke I believe you mean source. A reference to the Force in the Star Wars franchise.
            use the source luke I'm not luke, you're luke! An old programmers' joke.
            vi You should use emacs. A reference to 378: Real Programmers.
            vim
            wget [URL] (shows the content of the specified URL) wget is a command on Unix to download the content and not show it.
            who Doctor Who? Another Doctor Who reference. The who command on Unix lists the logged-in users.
            whoami You are Richard Stallman. The whoami command lists the name of the current user. Richard Stallman is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.
            xkcd Yes?
            xyzzy Nothing happens. xyzzy is a magic word, originally used in the game 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.
            your gay Keep your hands off it!
            !! (reruns the previous command after stating the command)

            Game commands

            There are also some other commands borrowed from a Zork like text-based adventure game.

            Command Response Explanation
            look (describes your current surroundings)
            go [direction] (moves you in the specified direction) Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song Go West.
            light lamp (lights your lamp) You will be killed by a grue if you don't light your lamp when going south.
            sleep [seconds] (sleeps for the specified time) Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.

            Konami code

            The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.
            The terminal also responds to the Konami code Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:
            1. Transform all characters to uppercase
            2. Add a grey text shadow
            3. Add an orange text-shadow
            4. Shake the screen
            5. Add a background image of Richard Stallman from 345: 1337: Part 5.

            After entering the code at least once, commands such as "shutdown" and "apt-get update" will function as if you were using sudo.

            Note that the last step is broken in 2026. The page xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png still exists, but uni.xkcd.com/unixkcd/over9000.png gives a 404.

            Transcript

            [The screen is black.]
            [A white bar is at the top.]
            [Inside the white bar in black text is the title:]
            unixkcd
            [Below is another similar white bar with black text:]
            A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.
            [The text is white, monospaced, and in the top left, similar to that of a computer terminal.]
            [The terminal starts with the prompt:]
            guest@xkcd:/$
            [The terminal automatically runs the command:]
            guest@xkcd:/$ display
            [The most recent XKCD comic appears below the current line.]
            [The terminal runs the command:]
            guest@xkcd:/$ cat welcome.txt
            [The first line is bolded]
            Welcome to the unixkcd console.
            To navigate the comics, enter "next", "prev", "first", "last", "display", or "random".
            Use "ls", "cat", and "cd" to navigate the filesystem.
            [A blinking text cursor appears on the next line after the prompt, and you can type in commands to make the terminal do stuff.]
            guest@xkcd:/$


            I don't know how unix or linux or code or bash or anything like that at all. Please...I need help explaining this comic :C tori :3talk to me! 21:56, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

            Thanks for commenting! Unfortunately I think all of the five April Fools' explanations that you nominated don't meet the criteria #2 and #3, specifically the part about being "ideal for new editors" and interesting to explain. I think this sentences particularly applies: "The one-week edit-a-thon format of the project is well-suited for comics that cover everyday, normal topics. On the other hand, comics about obscure and deeply technical topics usually belong in the Incomplete explanations backlog instead." Essentially, this project is very focused on one specific goal precisely to avoid becoming a bloated mess like the Incomplete explanations backlog.
            For example, the tasks you cited, such as explaining why a comic was released late or downloading and uploading images from the xkcd.com website, are not really interesting, which is why they've sat in the backlog for a decade. Most editors come here because they want to explain Randall's clever jokes. The Incomplete explanations backlog isn't monitored very often, but it is linked from every new explanation and the main page. If even all that "foot traffic" didn't result in meaningful improvements over so many years, I think it's unlikely that featuring those explanation from the sitenotice (which will mostly attract new and inexperienced editors) will do more harm than good. In the best case, there will be no significant improvements except from a few power users like us. In the worst case, it damages the reputation of this project as a means to update neglected explanations.
            The Incomplete explanations backlog was a result of the failed Explanation Completion Project, aka Explanation of the Day. In my opinion, the project's goal was too broad and this led to it becoming less and less relevant over time, as the explanations became more and more similar to technical manuals of how a comic works. The last few explanations featured in the sitenotice were precisely this kind of pages and it didn't work. FaviFake (talk) 23:03, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
            Oh, I see how this works now. Shame on me for not reading through everything thoroughly...thanks for the feedback tori :3talk to me! 00:53, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
            No worries! Putting my goal into words helped me understand them better as well. I've marked the explanations you mentioned as incomplete per this nominations and moved your suggestions there. FaviFake (talk) 21:41, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
             Nomination unsuccessful but marked as incomplete (fails criteria #2 and #3) per my comment above FaviFake (talk) 21:41, 29 August 2026 (UTC)

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