Tip #2361 - More About Easter Eggs
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Q:
What are Easter eggs?
A:
With Easter
coming up this weekend, this is the perfect time to answer this question!
Just so we're straight, this has nothing to do with hunting for those
little plastic eggs filled with candy or the ones you paint up all pretty.
This is actually part of the computer terminology world.
Easter
eggs are any hidden feature that programmers decide to include on any
of their software, including DVDs and games. It's just anything the creator
wants to add to the software, but they keep it hidden for their own personal
reasons. Easter eggs could be anything like a hidden list of the contributors
to the software, hidden commands, jokes, bloopers, animations, hidden
dialogue and so on. It could be anything they thought was cool to add
in the software for reasons only they can understand.
A
real Easter egg must fall under five criteria.
1.)
The information has to be undocumented, hidden and not obvious to the
viewers. They can't be something that goes along with whatever software
you're using. The Easter eggs only stand out because they are different
and don't fit into the regular context. The programmers usually have some
connection with the "eggs," so they include it in the program
for extra entertainment, mostly for themselves.
2.)
All Easter eggs have to be reproducible. With a set of instructions, anyone
has to be able to reproduce the egg.
3.)
They have to be placed on the program by the creators for their own personal
reasons like a signature, an inside joke, a tribute, etc. The eggs must
have been placed on there on purpose and through the general knowledge
of all the creators.
4.)
Easter eggs cannot be malicious for any reason. They are only meant for
fun, not damage.
5.)
This the most important one. They have to be entertaining. If it's not,
it's not a legitimate Easter egg.
You can search online
for different Easter eggs. It's cool to find ones that are on programs
that you have used or movies that you have seen. Check out this Web
site to look for Easter eggs. It has an archive of the newest ones
found and lots more. It's worth a shot to see what you can find, don't
you think?!
By the way, Happy
Easter!
~ Erin
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