New Google Easter Eggs for the Holidays

Google gets into the holiday spirit with two new Easter eggs

BY JEFFREY BAUSCH

Just in time for the holiday season, Google has introduced two new Easter eggs for users to enjoy. For one, simply type “Let it snow” (without the quotes) into the search bar and you’ll be treated to a light flurry and quick frosting of your computer screen.

The screen frosts over in about 10 seconds or so. When this happens, you can use your mouse cursor to trace images onto the screen itself. (There’s also a “defrost” button in case you want to quickly clean the page off.)

In their report on the story, CNET mentioned that this neat little holiday treat is powered by HTML5 technology.(1) A worthwhile sidenote for all the design engineers out there.

The other egg is displayed when you type the word “Hanukkah” into the Google search bar. Doing this brings up a string of lights on the search results page:

In case you’re not familiar with the Google Easter egg series, the company has introduced several fun surprises of this ilk throughout the years. They’re not released publicly; rather, they’re found via the hundreds of millions of people who use the search engine machine daily.

Some of the more popular eggs include:

The barrel roll

If you’re not like me, and don’t get motion sickness just by spinning around once in your desk chair, type “do a barrel roll” into the Google search bar and enjoy the ride:

Google Easter egg for the phrase “do a barrel roll.”

Askew

Things are set off just a bit when you Google search the word “askew” . . .

Google Easter egg for the word “askew.”

Gravity

This one’s pretty fun. Enter “Google gravity” into the Google search bar and click “I’m feeling lucky.” The entire search pane, buttons, and logo will all fall down to the bottom of the page. They’re still usable, and you can also move them around by clicking, dragging, and releasing them with your cursor:

Google Easter egg for the word “Google gravity.”

Chuck Norris

Google hopped on the Chuck Norris joke bandwagon with this amusing little egg. Type in the question, “Where is Chuck Norris,” and click “I’m feeling lucky.” You’ll be taken to NoChuckNorris.com, which displays the image below:

Google Easter egg for the question “Where is Chuck Norris.”

Did you notice the extra option that lets you search “Pages from Chuck’s Beard”? ■

Reference:

(1) http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57344686-1/googles-holiday-easter-egg-frosts-your-screen/?tag=posts