xkcd Screensaver
The xkcd screensaver shows the latest xkcd strips, gathered key-less by the background pipeline and shown with the number, title and the hover-text joke that normally hides in the image's title attribute. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
Live preview
Press ESC to leave fullscreen. Settings are saved in your browser only.
How the xkcd screensaver works
The background pipeline reads this from xkcd and saves a snapshot the saver loads.
The latest xkcd strips, gathered key-less by the background pipeline and shown with the number, title and the hover-text joke that normally hides in the image's title attribute..
It refreshes on a schedule, so what you see stays current.
Colours and the accent can be changed in settings; nothing is stored beyond your own browser.
About xkcd and its hover text
xkcd is a webcomic by Randall Munroe, who has a physics degree and previously worked on robots at NASA’s Langley Research Center. The site’s tagline calls it a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language. It is drawn in stick figures, with jokes about physics, programming, science and everyday life. Comics are numbered sequentially, and the number is part of how readers cite them.
The feature this display brings out is the hover text. In page markup, an image can carry a title attribute that browsers show as a tooltip, and xkcd uses it for a second joke, often an aside that reframes the comic. Each comic is also available as JSON at xkcd.com/NUMBER/info.0.json, with the current one at xkcd.com/info.0.json, so a display can show the caption text without needing a mouse.
Some strips depend on interactivity, animation or very large images that a still caption cannot reproduce. New comics are posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so the newest strip can stay on screen for a day or two between updates. The work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5, which allows noncommercial reuse with credit.
A worked example
The latest xkcd strips, gathered key-less by the background pipeline and shown with the number, title and the hover-text joke that normally hides in the image's title attribute.
Settings & tips
- Accent and Background recolour the display.
- Run
automation/run.py xkcdto refresh the feed. - Press ESC to leave fullscreen.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this real data?
- Yes — it comes from xkcd and is refreshed on a schedule.
- Is a key needed?
- No. This source is fully key-less.
- Does it need an internet connection?
- Yes — it reads a live source, so it needs a connection to update.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
- What is the hover text?
- A second joke or comment stored in the image’s title attribute, which browsers show as a tooltip.
- Why can the newest comic stay the same for days?
- New comics are posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so the latest entry stays current in between.
- Who draws xkcd?
- Randall Munroe, who writes and draws it. The comics are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5.