"Easter Eggs" For the Holidays
Posted by Vaughn Mordecai on Thu, Dec 10, 2009 @ 03:30 PM
This article is probably not what you think. It is not about the Easter Bunny assisting Santa Clause in delivering toys and easter baskets to good children during the Holidays (I never have understood the Easter Bunny...shouldn't it be an Easter Chicken..?)
In media, software, and online, an "Easter Egg" is something emb
edded in the website, the DVD, the software code, etc. that isn't made public or included as an "advertised feature". To uncover an Easter Egg, you really have to know about it already, have someone tell you about it, be seriously lucky, or have quite a skill at discovering them. Revealing Easter Eggs usually requires some series of pointing, clicking, typing, etc. that would not "normally" happen. As my Holiday gift to you, here are ten Easter Eggs, I've tracked down online that I've enjoyed (out of a ton I've looked at). Give some (or all) of them a try...they may be a little silly, but they are still fun.
1. Pirate & Upside Down Language on Facebook - Many people know about this feature of Facebook already. To access it, log in to Facebook, go to the bottom of your home page where it says English (US) and click on it. It opens a "Select Your Language" option. From the language options, choose "English (Pirate)" or "English (Upside Down)"...then see what happens.
2. Flares on Facebook - This is a Facebook trick that you probably don't know. Log into your Facebook page, then press the following combination of arrow keys and letters on your computer (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, b, a, and then hit the "Enter" key). Click around and see what happens. The only way to stop the Egg is to log off.
(NOTE: The (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, b, a, Enter) code has significance and is a reference to old-school Nintendo games. A bunch of video games that take advantage of this code can be found here.)
3. Konami Code Site - An entire website has been dedicated to revealing other websites that include "Easter Eggs" associated with the Konami Code. It's really interesting...to enter the actual site, you have to enter the Konami code. Go to the site. To get in, type (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, b, a, Enter). There are more sites listed than you'd think.
(Google is well known for their "Easter Eggs". Here are a few of them)
4. Google Languages - The search engine language in Google can be changed by clicking on "Language Tools" in the text right next to the search box. Just about any language you can imagine is included. What you may not have known is that if you type the following items into the search box...and hit "I'm Feeling Lucky"...magic happens:
- xx-piglatin (Changes the search into Pig Latin)
- xx-pirate (Changes the search into Pirate Speak)
- xx-Klingon (Changes the search into the Klingon language from Star Trek)
- xx-hacker (Changes the search into the "H4x0r" Hacker language)
- xx-elmer (Changes the search into Elmer Fudd's dialect from Looney Tunes)
- xx-bork (Changes the search into the Swedish Chef from the Muppets)
- google bunny ("Easter Egg" theme with an Easter Bunny game)
5. Google Pages - Take a look at these two Google sub-pages, I wouldn't guess that many people know they exist. Funny information about Google products & technology.
- Google Gulp - How would you like to be this product manager, in charge of marketing, or the market research group responsible for researching this product?
- Pigeon Rank - Provides information on why Google works as well as it does, and why it is soooo fast. I've always been a Skinnerian at heart.
6. Google Earth - You've probably downloaded the free software Google Earth. If you haven't, take a look at it...it's free...and pretty cool. What you probably don't know is that this software includes an "Easter Egg". To uncover it, launch the latest version of Google Earth and hit Ctrl, Alt, A (Mac users hit Cmd, Opt, A) - all at the same time (not separately). It launches a flight simulator that lets you fly around within Google Earth.
(Note: Google has done such a great job with their search that a bunch of "knock-off" Googles have emerged.)
7. Take a look at these search engines called "Google Parodies". Simply type the term in a Google search box and hit "I'm Feeling Lucky"...act quickly on these...because they are often shut-down as fast as they emerge. Makes you go "hmmm"...I wonder why that happens.
8. Yahoo's Yodel - Go to the Yahoo homepage and click on the Yahoo logo's exclamation point (you can actually click on it)! Make sure your computer speakers are turned on.
9. Mini Cooper Website - On the Mini Cooper car website, type "reverse" (no quotes) into the search bar at the top of the main page. A small gear shift will show up at the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Press and hold down your computer's "Shift" key and click the gear shift to see what happens.
And last, but never least...
10. Find Chuck Norris - Type "Find Chuck Norris" into a Google search, hit "I'm Feeling Lucky" and see what happens. This one is a shout-out to my friends and associates in the SWMRA.
So what does all of this have to do with market research, market research surveys, general business trends, etc. Very little...maybe nothing...but...Here's to surprising and delighting our clients and customers in 2010. Happy Holidays!
- I didn't even begin to approach DVD "Easter Eggs". Do you look for "Easter Eggs" when you buy DVD's...Have you seen any great ones?
- Do you have other "Easter Eggs" to add to the list?
- What is your favorite "Easter Egg"?