When you think of Easter festivities you may imagine children frolicking through the backyard, eagerly looking for chocolate eggs. But kids shouldn’t have all the fun.
The Internet is just like a backyard Easter egg hunt – if you swap the greenery for a ridiculous amount of cat videos – but instead of chocolate, you are hunting for quirky little jokes buried within web developers’ code. Think of it as a diet-friendly alternative to the kids version.
READ MORE: You can play ‘Pac-man’ in Google Maps right now
“Easter Eggs” – of the non-edible variety – are inside jokes, hidden messages or special features that can be hidden within computer programs, video games and even movies. Computer programmers often hide Easter eggs that simply display messages – like this one on the “Easter egg” Wikipedia page.
Over the years developers have had a lot of fun hiding detailed and entertaining eggs all over the web – so why not ditch the chocolate and have a geeky Easter egg hunt this year?
Google’s barrel roll
Users who type in a search for “Do a barrel roll” into Google search will literally see their page do a 360 degree turn. Or, type in “askew” to Google search to reveal an off-kilter page view.
Zerg Rush
Try typing “Zerg Rush” into the Google search bar – yellow and red Os posing as zerglings will start attacking the search page, just like in the strategy game Starcraft.
The (Kevin) Bacon count
Do you love Kevin Bacon as much as Google does? Type a celebrity’s name and “bacon number” into Google’s search bar to see how many degrees away from Kevin Bacon they are.
Switch up Google’s native tongue
Try going to this URL instead of the same old Google.ca “www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-pirate” – because web searches are more fun in pirate slang.
This year, Google has brought many of its popular Easter eggs to its mobile apps – including the fan favourite barrel roll. To access some of these Easter Eggs on your iPhone or Android device, download the Google app or Google Chrome browser for your device and do a voice search for favourites.
Bonus: If you come across a situation where you need to settle the score with a family member over Easter brunch, just do a voice search for “flip a coin” and Google will do it for you.
Konami Code
Most videogame aficionados are familiar with this infamous gaming sequence (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A) – but it has earned its place as one of the Internet’s most beloved Easter eggs.
Developers have hidden the command in many popular websites.
If you type the command on Buzzfeed’s page, for example, this is what you’ll get:
We think “Wilkie” might work for Buzzfeed.
Bring out the sass in Siri
If you have an iPhone and are still looking for ways to entertain yourself this Easter, why not ask Siri some of these questions to bring out her true personality:
- “What is the meaning of life?”
- “What is 0 divded by 0?”
- “Do you have a boyfriend?”
- “What does the fox say?”
- “How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
Or, simply ask her to tell you a story – with some coaxing she will be up for it.
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