The Greatest Traceroute Ever (or: What CCIEs Do When They’re Bored)

This could be the best traceroute ever. Open up a terminal window and type the following:

traceroute 216.81.59.173

(If you're on Windows, use tracert instead of traceroute.)

After the first few hops, you should see the introduction to a grand space opera:

11  episode.iv                        (206.214.251.1)  77.898 ms  83.567 ms  80.729 ms
12  a.new.hope                        (206.214.251.6)  78.125 ms  79.867 ms  76.998 ms
13  it.is.a.period.of.civil.war       (206.214.251.9)  84.702 ms  81.991 ms  77.786 ms
14  rebel.spaceships                  (206.214.251.14)  81.739 ms  94.703 ms  78.449 ms
15  striking.from.a.hidden.base       (206.214.251.17)  77.288 ms  84.864 ms  78.935 ms
16  have.won.their.first.victory      (206.214.251.22)  89.925 ms  79.885 ms *
17  against.the.evil.galactic.empire  (206.214.251.25)  91.228 ms  81.122 ms  83.124 ms
18  during.the.battle                 (206.214.251.30)  79.435 ms  82.330 ms  76.135 ms
19  rebel.spies.managed               (206.214.251.33)  78.177 ms  79.974 ms  81.228 ms
20  to.steal.secret.plans             (206.214.251.38)  85.614 ms  82.502 ms  90.142 ms
21  to.the.empires.ultimate.weapon    (206.214.251.41)  80.341 ms  79.733 ms  81.725 ms
22  the.death.star                    (206.214.251.46)  79.428 ms  80.002 ms  81.904 ms
23  an.armored.space.station          (206.214.251.49)  80.747 ms  85.361 ms  82.703 ms
24  with.enough.power.to              (206.214.251.54)  82.147 ms  80.090 ms  80.863 ms
25  destroy.an.entire.planet          (206.214.251.57)  87.073 ms  79.466 ms  88.023 ms
26  pursued.by.the.empires            (206.214.251.62)  78.770 ms  94.894 ms  79.687 ms
27  sinister.agents                   (206.214.251.65)  78.413 ms  80.727 ms  76.812 ms
28  princess.leia.races.home          (206.214.251.70)  77.705 ms  79.948 ms  79.108 ms
29  aboard.her.starship               (206.214.251.73)  86.378 ms  78.789 ms  80.382 ms
30  custodian.of.the.stolen.plans     (206.214.251.78)  88.709 ms  77.027 ms  83.119 ms
31  that.can.save.her                 (206.214.251.81)  77.918 ms  79.163 ms  85.892 ms
32  people.and.restore                (206.214.251.86)  81.502 ms  82.661 ms  81.129 ms
33  freedom.to.the.galaxy             (206.214.251.89)  79.759 ms  81.916 ms  87.590 ms
34  0-------------------0             (206.214.251.94)  84.763 ms  82.466 ms  83.961 ms
35  0------------------0              (206.214.251.97)  89.143 ms  77.974 ms  78.518 ms
36  0-----------------0               (206.214.251.102)  80.817 ms  79.579 ms  81.443 ms
37  0----------------0                (206.214.251.105)  84.709 ms  80.502 ms  82.793 ms
38  0---------------0                 (206.214.251.110)  90.891 ms  83.410 ms  83.009 ms
39  0--------------0                  (206.214.251.113)  169.193 ms  80.361 ms  78.529 ms
40  0-------------0                   (206.214.251.118)  82.773 ms  80.476 ms  82.109 ms
41  0------------0                    (206.214.251.121)  81.907 ms  82.454 ms  85.116 ms
42  0-----------0                     (206.214.251.126)  85.721 ms  82.598 ms  81.911 ms
43  0----------0                      (206.214.251.129)  83.042 ms  82.609 ms  80.083 ms
44  0---------0                       (206.214.251.134)  83.906 ms  83.379 ms  93.897 ms
45  0--------0                        (206.214.251.137)  88.520 ms  85.748 ms  93.967 ms
46  0-------0                         (206.214.251.142)  85.520 ms  77.582 ms
47  0------0                          (206.214.251.145)  87.702 ms  83.947 ms  88.497 ms
48  0-----0                           (206.214.251.150)  87.136 ms  80.356 ms  85.498 ms
49  0----0                            (206.214.251.153)  83.413 ms  85.810 ms  83.094 ms
50  0---0                             (206.214.251.158)  83.446 ms  85.608 ms  81.386 ms
51  0--0                              (206.214.251.161)  82.131 ms  83.794 ms  83.073 ms
52  0-0                               (206.214.251.166)  90.717 ms  86.770 ms  86.475 ms
53  00                                (206.214.251.169)  89.096 ms  90.207 ms  83.345 ms
54  i                                 (206.214.251.174)  80.697 ms  88.438 ms  85.522 ms
55  by.ryan.werber                    (206.214.251.177)  81.985 ms  87.495 ms  82.695 ms
56  when.ccies.get.bored              (206.214.251.182)  84.011 ms  82.933 ms  83.208 ms
57  ccie.38168                        (206.214.251.185)  87.235 ms  84.001 ms  83.992 ms
58  fin                               (206.214.251.190)  78.290 ms * *

Apparently, this is what CCIEs — Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts — do when they’re bored.