Google is helping searchers get into the Christmas spirit by offering a sprinkling of snow on their computer monitor.
When typing the words “let it snow” into the popular search engine, a flurry of snowflakes trickle down the screen, followed by frost. You can wipe away the frost by clicking the left button on your mouse as an ice scraper or pressing the “Defrost” button, which appears in place of the blue “Search” button.
Just don’t try to use it on older browsers, such as the popular Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8 — or old versions of Safari of Firefox, for that matter.
“Let it snow” works only in browsers that support “Canvas,” part of the relatively new HTML 5 code that many developers use to create new webpages, a spokeswoman said (including the newest version of Microsoft’s browser, IE 9).
When asked for clarification, Google responded with a poem:
Through the fog, you have to peer
Because it’s the most wonderful time of the year
Your page turned into a winter wonderland
When you typed in that search command
You can always defrost the window
Or just let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
The snow effect comes a month after Google unveiled another “Easter Egg” dubbed “do a barrel roll”: When entered, the words cause the search screen to flip over like a fighter pilot executing an in-flight barrel roll.
For more Google Easter Egg fun, type in these words and see what happens:
Askew
The search engine appears slightly off kilter when you type in “askew” into Google.
The loneliest number
It’s official. Google told me so. Type in “what is the loneliest number?” into Google and it will deliver the answer “the loneliest number = 1”.
The Internet wouldn’t be cool without a Chuck Norris Easter egg. Searching for Chuck Norris used to prove futile on Google, returning a slightly funny, slightly annoying message: “Google won’t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don’t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.”
This Easter egg unfortunately appears to have been disabled.
Gravity
Bring Google down to Earth by entering “Google gravity” and clicking “I’m Feeling Lucky” — you may have to disable “Instant predictions” in the search settings dialog first. Then watch as the Google logo and all the icons plummet to the bottom of the screen.
Recursion
Remember when you entered the giant hall of mirrors at the circus as a kid and saw a reflection of yourself repeated an infinite number of times? That’s recursion. Type it into Google and it will ask you “did you mean recursion?”
If you click on Google’s suggestion the same suggestion will appear. If you click on that suggestion, Google suggestions will ask you “did you mean recursion?” Keep clicking and you’ll forever be stuck in a loop of Google suggestions. Because that’s what recursion is — a procedure that repeats itself indefinitely.
Well played, Google. Well played.
Read more tech fun at News.com.au.
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