Easter Eggs: Hidden Gems of the Internet
Easter Eggs are an intentional inside joke, hidden message, or feature in a work such as a computer program.
Google Easter Eggs
GG
Action:
Searching “Zerg Rush” in Google
Reaction: Begins a mini game in which a veritable horde of red and yellow O’s attack the search results, your goal is to hold them off for as long as possible. GLHF.
The Ultimate Question
Action:
Searching “Answer to life the universe and everything” in Google
Reaction: Google immediately turns up the answer of 42, which according to Douglas Adams (and his fans the world over) is the Answer to the Ultimate Question.
Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything:
Different Perspectives
Action:
Searching “Tilt” or “Askew” in Google
Reaction: The entire Google page will tilt slightly to the right
Never Give Up. Trust Your Instincts.
Action:
Searching “Do a Barrel Roll” in Google
Reaction: The entire Google page will follow Peppy Hare’s command by rotating 360 degrees.
A Cheeky Suggestion
Action:
Searching “Anagram” in Google
Reaction: Google offers the suggestion “Did you mean: nag a ram” which is an anagram of the word Anagram.
Breakout
Action:
Searching “Atari Breakout” in Google Images
Reaction: All of the images from the search will condense into colored rectangles as the search engine becomes a playable version of the Atari classic, Breakout.
Ones and Zeroes
Action:
Searching “Binary” in Google
Reaction: When Google returns a search, it also shows the amount of results found at the top of the screen, by searching “Binary” the amount of results are shown in binary code.
Where Shadows Lie
Action:
In Classic Google Maps, enter a staring location of “The Shire” and an end location of “Mordor”
Reaction: Google Maps will provide the route, but it comes with the warning “Use caution – One does not simply walk into Mordor.”
YouTube Easter Eggs
For Great Justice!
Action:
Clicking to the side of a video and typing “1980”
Reaction: Your video will drop down on the screen and a playable version of Missile Command will appear above it, as missiles strike the ground the video will get damaged and crack, eventually shattering and signaling game over.
The Force is Strong with this One
Action:
Searching “Use the Force Luke” in YouTube
Reaction: YouTube’s Midi-chlorian count gets a massive boost, and objects on the screen move about as if acted upon by some outside… Force.
Energize
Action:
Searching “Beam me up, Scotty” in YouTube
Reaction: Search results are given the classic effect of beaming onto the screen, a must see for any Star Trek fan.
Sequencing
Action:
Searching “Fibonacci” in YouTube
Reaction: YouTube arranges the results in a new, tiled format that follows the Fibonacci sequence.
Shake??????????????
Action:
Searching “Do the Harlem Shake” in YouTube
Reaction: The well-known tune starts to play, and then the entire YouTube page proceeds to do the Harlem Shake.
For the Geeks
Action:
Starting any search on YouTube with “/ Geek Week”
Reaction: The YouTube layout changes completely, looking very similar to a Unix Terminal.
For the Nerds
Action:
Right-clicking on a video
Reaction: In the drop down menu there is an option called “Stats for nerds”
Wow, So Color
Action:
Searching “Doge Meme” in YouTube
Reaction: Changes the fonts of the menu and search results to pastel Comic Sans.
Konami Code
UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT A B START
The Konami Code made its debut in the 1986 release of Gradius for the NES, it became popular with North American gamers when it was also found in Contra. The code has been used in countless video games over the years, and has become a skeleton key for Easter Eggs of the Internet.
The following are just a few of the many websites that have Easter Eggs that unlock via the Konami Code:
www.vogue.co.uk
Result: A particularly stylish Velociraptor shuffles along the bottom of the screen.
www.geekandhype.com
Result: An awesome All Your Base Are Belong To Us remix video appears.
www.shirtoid.com
Result: The site’s background changes to dancing aliens that shift colors
www.digg.com
Result: Images on the site become Rick Astley’s face, and “Never Gonna Give You Up” starts playing.
www.wired.co.uk
Result: Another bottom screen Vecolicraptor, this one comes with tech.
Misc: Easter Eggs of the Internet
Typing “About:Robots” in the URL bar in Firefox will bring up various laws or statements about Robots
The Wikipedia article for Easter Eggs (Media) has its own Easter Egg hidden within. There is an image of two rabbits and a hedgehog, mouse over the hedgehog until the tooltip appears, it will say “You’re not going to believe this, but I’m sitting on an enormous basket of eggs” clicking the hedgehog will then take you to an image of a basket of Easter Eggs.
The IMDB page for This Is Spinal Tap has a maximum possible rating of 11, rather than the usual 10.
Sources:
http://mashable.com/2013/08/30/konami-codes/
http://konamicodesites.com/
http://kotaku.com/10-internet-easter-eggs-you-might-not-know-about-1511707246
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg_(media)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_hoaxes_and_easter_eggs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami_Code
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