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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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This comic is a reference to the satirical novel ''{{w|Flatland|Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions}}'', in which a society of flat shapes live in a {{w|Two-dimensional space|2D}} world -- a recurring reference in XKCD comics. Half the book is a direct satire of {{w|Victorian era|Victorian}} society, and the other half explores the experience of discovering a new dimension, where a sphere introduces a square (named A. Square) to {{w|Three-dimensional space|3D}}. [[Cueball]] appears to have taken the place of this sphere, and the comic takes place after the square knows the third dimension exists.
 
  
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Humans will never fully be able to fully grasp the concept of a fourth spatial dimension (at least not in the foreseeable future), but there are ways of squashing or slicing four dimensions to create partial visualizations of 4D space. ''{{w|Miegakure}}'' is a yet-to-be-released 4D game that uses cross-sections of 4D space. Cueball attempted to play a pre-release version of it, but after having his "mind blown", he gained more sympathy for A. Square, who'd had similar trouble understanding 3D. A. Square accepts his apology.
+
This comic is a reference to the satirical novel {{w|Flatland|''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions''}}, in which a society of flat shapes live in a {{w|Two-dimensional space|2D}} world. Half the book is a direct satire of {{w|Victorian era|Victorian}} society, and the other half explores the experience of discovering a new dimension, where a sphere introduces a square (named A. Square) to {{w|Three-dimensional space|3D}}. [[Cueball]] appears to have taken the place of this sphere, and the comic takes place after the square knows the third dimension exists.
 +
 
 +
Humans will never fully be able to grasp the concept of a four spatial dimensions (at least not in the foreseeable future), but there are ways of squashing or slicing four dimensions to create partial visualizations of 4D space. {{w|Miegakure}} is a 4D game that uses cross-sections of 4D space. Cueball attempted to play it, but after having his mind blown, he gained more sympathy for A. Square, who'd had similar trouble understanding 3D. A. Square accepts his apology.
  
 
The joke here is that Cueball was being silly and drew lines on A. Square to make him look like {{w|SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob}}, which did not make the square happy. Cueball apologizes again.
 
The joke here is that Cueball was being silly and drew lines on A. Square to make him look like {{w|SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob}}, which did not make the square happy. Cueball apologizes again.
  
−
The title text is a third apology for when Cueball crawled down into the second dimension. Being a stick figure, he is composed of a circle and straight lines.{{Citation needed}} In Flatland, circles are priests (Flatland's highest social level. Actually, the highest aren't circles; in fact they are actually many-sided polygons that look identical to a true circle in Flatland.), and all women are lines; thus, to a watcher in Flatland, Cueball would look very much like a priest above many connected women, which may look like a lesbian orgy.
+
The title text is a third apology for when Cueball crawled down into the second dimension. Being a stick figure, he is comprised of a circle and straight lines. In Flatland, circles are priests (Flatland's highest social level), and all women are lines; thus, to a watcher in Flatland, Cueball would look very much like a priest above many connected women, which may look like a lesbian orgy.
  
−
Also worth mentioning is the pun in the greetings: A. Square - being on ground level - asks Cueball above him how he's doing by asking what's up.
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==UniXKCD==
 +
This comic was released on March 31, 2010 and was still up on April 1st, 2010. On {{w|April_Fools%27_Day|April Fools' Day}} [[Randall]] altered the website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} command line interface. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is available on [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools GitHub].
 +
The terminal lists a few available commands:
 +
* <code>next</code> shows the next comic. Shows the error "Time travel mode not enabled" on the last comic (see <code>enable time travel</code>).
 +
* <code>prev</code> shows the previous comic.
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* <code>first</code> shows the first comic.
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* <code>last</code> shows the last comic.
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* <code>display [number]</code> shows the comic with the specified number.
 +
* <code>random</code> shows a random comic.
 +
* <code>ls</code> shows the content of the current directory.
 +
* <code>cat [filename]</code> shows the content of the file.
 +
* <code>cd [directory]</code> changes to the specified directory.
 +
But there are several undocumented commands as well:
 +
* <code>a/s/l</code> [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%2Fs%2Fl A/S/L] is not a unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location. The following replies are possible:
 +
: <code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code> answered as if the server replied.
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: <code>328/M/Transylvania</code> answered by {{w|Dracula}}.
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: <code>6/M/Battle School</code> answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.
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: <code>48/M/The White House</code> answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.
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: <code>7/F/Rapture</code> answered by a {{w|Little_Sister_(BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.
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: <code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code> Requests for a/s/l are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.
 +
: <code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code> answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf.
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: <code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code> answered by an FBI agent (referencing the old [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them).
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* <code>apt-get</code> replies "This APT has Super Cow Powers.". The <code>apt-get</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the build in Easter eggs.
 +
* <code>asl</code> same as <code>a/s/l</code>.
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* <code>bash</code> replies "You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.". {{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems.
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* <code>buy stuff</code> same as <code>cd store</code>.
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* <code>cat [number]/alt.txt</code> displays the alt-text of the specified comic.
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* <code>cat</code> (without a filename) will show "You're a kitty!" referencing [[231: Cat Proximity]].
 +
* <code>cheat</code> promotes the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
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* <code>clear</code> clears the screen.
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* <code>date</code> replies "March 32nd".
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* <code>dir</code> same as <code>ls</code>.
 +
* <code>echo</code> replies "Echo ... echo ... echo ...". The {{w|Echo_(command)|echo}} command is used to print text to the terminal.
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* <code>ed</code> replies "You are not a diety.". {{w|Ed_(text_editor)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user friendly (see also <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
 +
* <code>emacs</code> replies "You should really use vim.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
 +
* <code>enable time travel</code> replies "TARDIS error: Time Lord missing.". A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>next</code> command.
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* <code>exit</code> will end the terminal session.
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* <code>find kitten</code> showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game (the link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here]).
 +
* <code>find</code> replies "What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.".
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* <code>finger</code> replies "Mmmmmm...".
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* <code>fuck</code> replies "I have a headache.".
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* <code>goto [any]</code> shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>display</code> instead.
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* <code>halp</code> same as <code>help</code>.
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* <code>hello joshua</code> replies "How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?". A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.
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* <code>hello</code> replies "Hello.". There is a second reply "Why hello there!" coded, but it is never used.
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* <code>help</code> says "That would be cheating!".
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* <code>hi</code> replies "Hi.".
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* <code>hint</code> randomly replies "We offer some really nice polos.", "This terminal will remain available at xkcd.com/unixkcd/", "Use the source, Luke!" or "There are cheat codes.".
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* <code>i read the source code</code> replies "<3".
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* <code>irc [nick]</code> starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net.
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* <code>kill</code> replies "Terminator deployed to 1984.". A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie.
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* <code>locate [filename]</code> is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>ninja</code>, <code>keys</code>, <code>joke</code>, <code>problem</code> and <code>raptor</code>.
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* <code>logout</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
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* <code>lpr</code> replies "PC LOAD LETTER". {{w|Line_Printer_Daemon_protocol|lpr}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.
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* <code>make love</code> replies "I put on my robe and wizard hat.". A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transscript] (NSFW), also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>make love</code> is a standard unix joke, because the reply is "make: don't know how to make love.".
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* <code>make me a sandwich</code> behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].
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* <code>man [command]</code> show unhelpful information about the command (only <code>last</code>, <code>help</code>, <code>next</code>, <code>cat</code> or no command are support).
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* <code>moo</code> replies "moo".
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* <code>more</code> replies "Oh, yes! More! More!". The {{w|More_(command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.
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* <code>nano</code> replies "Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?". {{w|GNU_nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
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* <code>ping</code> replies "There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.". The {{w|Ping_(networking_utility)|ping}} command used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name does indeed originate from {{w|sonar}} technology.
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* <code>pwd</code> replies "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.". The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>look</code>).
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* <code>quit</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
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* <code>reddit [number]</code> shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic (or xkcd when no number is specified).
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* <code>rm [filename]</code> will make it seem like you deleted the file.
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* <code>serenity</code> replies "You can't take the sky from me.". This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series.
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* <code>ssh</code> replies "ssh, this is a library.". {{w|Secure_Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.
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* <code>su</code> replies "God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.". The {{w|Su_(Unix)|su}} command is used to log in as super user, which gives you full and potentionally dangerous access to the system.
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* <code>sudo [command]</code> executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}}  privileges.
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* <code>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</code> Returns "You are already running [OS].".
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* <code>sudo apt-get moo</code> replies "Have you mooed today?" (apt-get Easter egg).
 +
* <code>sudo apt-get update</code> Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.
 +
* <code>sudo apt-get upgrade</code> shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers it doesn't complain.
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* <code>sudo make me a sandwich</code> behave like [[149: Sandwich]].
 +
* <code>sudo poweroff</code> will shutdown the system.
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* <code>sudo reboot</code> will restart the system.
 +
* <code>sudo restart</code> same as <code>sudo reboot</code>.
 +
* <code>sudo shutdown</code> same as <code>sudo poweroff</code>.
 +
* <code>time travel</code> displays [[630: Time Travel]].
 +
* <code>top</code> replies "It's up there --^". The {{w|Top_(software)|top}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.
 +
* <code>uname</code> replies "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator". The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.
 +
* <code>unixkcd</code> opens a new terminal window.
 +
* <code>use the force luke</code> replies "I believe you mean source.". A reference to the {{w|The_Force_(Star_Wars)|Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.
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* <code>use the source luke</code> replies "I'm not luke, you're luke!". An old programmes joke.
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* <code>vi</code> reply "You should really use emacs.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
 +
* <code>vim</code> same as <code>vi</code>.
 +
* <code>wget [url]</code> shows the content of the specified url. The {{w|wget}} command on unix will download the content and not show it.
 +
* <code>who</code> replies "Doctor Who?". Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference.
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* <code>whoami</code> replies "You are Richard Stallman.". The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user.
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* <code>write [nick]</code> same as <code>irc</code>.
 +
* <code>xkcd</code> replies "Yes?".
 +
* <code>xyzzy</code> replies "Nothing happens.". {{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.
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* <code>your gay</code> replies "Keep your hands off it!".
 +
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based_game|text based adventure game}}.
 +
* <code>look</code> describes your current surroundings.
 +
* <code>go [direction]</code> moves you in the specified direction (<code>down</code> is also supported; however, it replies a different message).
 +
* <code>light lamp</code> lights your lamp.
 +
* <code>sleep [seconds]</code> sleeps for the specified time. Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.
 +
You will be killed by a {{w|Grue_(monster)|grue}} if you didn't light your lamp when going south.
 +
Going west repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go_West_(song)|Go west}}.
 +
 
 +
The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will transform all characters to upper case, add a gray text shadow, add an orange text shadow, shake the screen and add a background image of Richard Stallman from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].
 +
 
 +
==Trivia==
 +
There is actually a SpongeBob episode featuring a flat creature that resembles a crude drawing of SpongeBob.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[Cueball talks to a square on the ground.]
+
:[Cueball encounters a square on the ground.]
 
:Cueball: Hey, A. Square. How's Flatland?
 
:Cueball: Hey, A. Square. How's Flatland?
−
:A. Square: Still flat. What's up?
+
:Square: Still flat. What's up?
 
:Cueball: I just spent an hour playing a demo of this 4D game called Miegakure.
 
:Cueball: I just spent an hour playing a demo of this 4D game called Miegakure.
  
−
:[In a frameless panel, a character in Miegakure jumps around the 4D landscape.]
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:[A character in Miegakure jumps around the 4D landscape.]
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:Caption above the panel: Trying to jump from block to block in four dimensions hurt my brain.
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:Trying to jump from block to block in four dimensions hurt my brain.
  
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:[Cueball continues talking to A. Square on the ground.]
 
 
:Cueball: So I apologize for giving you a hard time when you were slow to understand 3D space. I sympathize now.
 
:Cueball: So I apologize for giving you a hard time when you were slow to understand 3D space. I sympathize now.
−
:A. Square: It's okay.
+
:Square: It's okay.
  
−
:[Zoom in on Cueball's head]
 
 
:Cueball: Also, I apologize for drawing arms, legs, and eyes on you to make you look like SpongeBob. That was out of line.
 
:Cueball: Also, I apologize for drawing arms, legs, and eyes on you to make you look like SpongeBob. That was out of line.
−
:A. Square: Yes, it was.
+
:Square: Yes, it was.
−
 
 
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==Trivia==
 
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*There is actually a SpongeBob episode featuring a flat creature that resembles a crude drawing of SpongeBob.
 
−
 
 
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===UniXKCD===
 
−
*This comic was released on March 31, 2010 and was still up on April 1st, 2010.
 
−
**On {{w|April_Fools%27_Day|April Fools' Day}} in 2010 [[Randall]] altered the website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} command line interface.
 
−
**This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is available on [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools GitHub].
 
−
**See more on the [[UniXKCD]] April Fools' Day joke.
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Math]]
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[[Category:Geometry]]
 
 
[[Category:Video games]]
 
[[Category:Video games]]
 
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
 
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
 
[[Category:Sex]]
 
[[Category:Sex]]
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[[Category:Flatland]]
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[[Category:April fools' comics]]

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