Talk:Xyzzy (computing)

Newer versions of Windows Minesweeper
I removed this text (bold): This feature is present in all versions, but under Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0 (and most recently Vista) the pixel is only visible if the standard Explorer desktop is not running (not true with XP - definately works on a plain black background). Perhaps anyone can check if this cheat in minesweeper works in the newer versions of Windows?

I'm 100% sure that this worked on my old Compaq 366 with Windows 98 while running the standard Explorer desktop. I wasn't allowed to change things like that on our machine back then, and I remember using this cheat quite frequently. Maybe there were some different versions that had different requirements (OEM vs. Retail, a vs. b, or Upgrade vs. Install)? x82hammer28x 22:27, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

Zzyzx
I think it would be appropriate to add this topic as a "see also" link. 85.227.226.235 (talk) 23:08, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Is there any actual connection to anything on the Zzyzx disambiguation page, or is this just a word with similar letters? --McGeddon (talk) 23:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * From looking at the links on the Zzyzx page, it doesn't appear to be related. I've never seen any use of zzyzx in connection with text adventures, either, so I doubt there's a connection. Alinnisawest (talk) 01:51, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
 * If you are referring to the all consonant word's meaning stretched back to dates in time before it was practical or even possible to have more than solely those within walking distance concurrence, when such words were not included on the list of publicly available standards, they are not only related, but one and the same noun, just not the noun now known in these dates of time, as often variant spellings of thoughts are given distinctions which they are not. As the distinctions have more to do with situational occurrences, but not the actual meaning in thoughtDirtclustit (talk) 12:41, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

prod tag removed
Prod tag had been added for invalid reasons ("nn") even though article is well-sourced. This is just the latest in a string of invalid deletion nominations from editor SuperSuperBoi. - Dravecky (talk) 04:27, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Cheat modes and Easter eggs
Unless a source has considered it notable enough to write about, WP:GAMEGUIDE discourages how-to instructions for video games. As I see it, this only leaves us with Zork and the "several OSes". We could maybe mention that it's occasionally used as a cheat code as well, but we shouldn't bother detailing examples. --McGeddon (talk) 17:42, 27 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Nuked the whole lot and tagged the article for notability. This is even less notable than foo, which is a pretty awful article as-is. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 18:06, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * You went far beyond deleting game cheats, and hit several items of interest in computer history. I undid your mass deletion, please try again, more carefully. BillMcGonigle (talk) 03:41, 29 October 2008 (UTC)


 * None of those appeared to be notable in any way beyond I-Spy trivialism either; they can be entirely summed up by the statement "xyzzy was occasionally used as a keyword in early games and operating systems which returned a statement such as 'nothing happens'". Even then, there's no secondary source which backs that up. They should be removed again. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 08:59, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Capitalization
I've only ever seen the word as "XYZZY" in the context of "Magic word XYZZY" and "MAGIC WORD XYZZY". Is there any reason the article is in lowercase? 69.29.71.112 (talk) 21:54, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

revert of Jc3s5h
Hi, did you reverted my removal of contetn because of that sentence? The low-traffic Usenet newsgroup alt.xyzzy is used for test messages, to which other readers (if there are any) customarily respond, "Nothing happens" as a note that the test message was successfully received. If not, then please explain me where the hell are the references! mabdul 23:11, 30 November 2011 (UTC)


 * "In the game, Zork, typing xyzzy and pressing enter produces the response: A hollow voice says 'fool'" contains within the sentence a citation to the game Zork.


 * "The indie game Minecraft includes a 'xyzzy' enchantment for tools and weapons, although it is currently unknown as to what effect it has" contains a citation to the game Minecraft. Since I'm not familiar with the game, I can't tell if finding this enchantment is easy enough that the citation is sufficiently specific. "The bike racing game Road Rash required the sequence 'xyzzy' in order to activate the cheat mode" contains a citation to the game Road Rash. Jc3s5h (talk) 23:25, 30 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Come on! How should I/the reader verify that? What happens in - say - 30 years? That games will likely not being work any more, nor support the (then) actual operating systems. That is similar to the trivia section: everybody can watch any tv series and say: hey watch it, it is in there! mabdul 20:15, 7 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Please see WP:PAYWALL and Offline sources. The problem of sources that eventually become inaccessible because all electronic copies being destroyed, or the hardware required to access them no longer exists is as apt to apply to a source that is on-line today as it is to the sources mentioned in the article. This is a real problem, but because it is so difficult, the scholarly community has seldom put in place any requirement that sources be available permanently.


 * The sources clearly satisfy current policy. If you disagree with current policy, try to change it. Jc3s5h (talk) 20:49, 7 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Perhaps a more important issue here is that we shouldn't be relying on WP:PRIMARY sources. If no secondary source has ever bothered writing about the fact that Minecraft and Road Rash use this particular word as a cheat code, then it's unlikely to be of encyclopaedic interest. --McGeddon (talk) 20:57, 7 December 2011 (UTC)
 * I had more %22In_popular_culture%22_content <-- that in mind. mabdul 23:35, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

added hp 9836a computer
The HP 9836A computer had HPL 2.0 installed from the start and in order to use anything you needed to load the program from the disk drive, tape drive, or whatever else you had connected to the machine. The computer also was a base for the HPIB and you could control many devices through the bus. The computer was intended to be only a driving point of the test equipment creating automated testing of circuits in the telecommunications sector in the times before completely automated testing. The manual didn't have the xyzzy command in it nor did it appear in any official documents but when I did a scan of all memory from 0000 to ffff i came back with the list of commands and one of them in the middle was "xyzzy". I rushed to try it out and got the no cave response. Oddly enough the same memory dump had "Help, I'm being held captive in a computer software factory." Robert Dell (talk) 15:00, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Minesweeper Cheat Mode Key Sequence
I'm almost certain the key sequence for the Minesweeper cheat mode was xyzzy followed by Enter then Shift, not the other way around as stated in the article. A web search doesn't confirm either way, as both sequences seem to be commonly cited, but I'm pretty sure Enter followed by Shift was what I always used, and it always worked. 86.131.182.201 (talk) 22:19, 25 April 2021 (UTC)

Colossal Cave
Shouldn't the part at the beginning read "from the Colossal Cave Adventure computer game, where it is "a magic word".[1]" instead of "the magic word?" There are more than one magic word.

Sun and U-Boot
I'm uncomfortable with the assertion that xyzzy provides access to U-Boot on (some) Sun computers, since it's not documented as supporting SPARC. Clarification would be appreciated. 20:32, 23 April 2022 (UTC)