FIND THE EASTER EGGS

By Ginger Wentrcek

Since April is the month in which Easter falls, we're going to have some fun with Easter eggs - not the hard boiled type, but computer Easter eggs. Unless your pretty geeky, you may not have realized that Easter eggs are hidden all over the internet and in various games and movies.

What is an Easter egg? An Easter egg is a little surprise that a programer has hidden in the program code and one stumbles on it by accident. The program does not need the information in the code to operate. And when you find it, you get a little surprise.

One Easter egg that is very easy to locate can be found on the Yahoo homepage. Open the Yahoo homepage here and take a look at the word Yahoo. At the end of the word, there is an exclamation mark. Turn on your sound and left click on the exclamation point. Surprise! Was that useless? Yes. Was it fun and unexpected? You betcha'. That's what Easter eggs are . . . useless but fun and unexpected.

Another Easter egg can be found on Notepad. (If you have Notepad, it can be accessed by going to All programs; then Accessories; then Notepad) Open Notepad, type in .LOG and then save it with any name. Close Notepad and then open it again. Go to the file you just saved and open it. It should display the time.

If you want to find other Easter eggs on the internet, type "computer Easter eggs" in the search box on your browser and you will get a list of page after page of Easter eggs with directions for locating them. Some are very complicated while others are extremely easy to locate. Some of my favorite ones are on Google Earth. Open Google Earth and copy and paste in the following coordinates: 37°38'46.50"N 115°45'2.98"W. You will automatically zoom in on Mr. KFC himself - right out in the middle of a field. Want to find more? Open your browser and type "Google Earth Easter egg coordinates" and you will be amazed what the programers at Google Earth hid on their maps.

Here are a few easy Google Easter eggs to try.

• Hey-wo, I wuv wabbits! Open the Google homepage here , type in "ewmew fudd." Click "I'm Feeling Lucky"
  
  
• You are not having eye problems when this one opens. Open the Google homepage here , type in "google loco." Click "I'm Feeling Lucky"
  
  
• May the force be with you when you open this page. Open the Google homepage here , type in "xx-klingon" Click "I'm Feeling Lucky."
  
  
• I'llway avehay otway iecespay ofway aconbay, easeplay. Open the Google homepage here , type in "google piglatin." Click "I'm Feeling Lucky"
  
  

Grab your basket and let's have some fun. I have a little Easter egg hunt on this page for you. To make it easy, I'll give you some hints, and when you find the eggs, they are clearly marked.

• The first Easter egg is very similar to Yahoo's Easter egg.
  
  
• A second Easter egg is hidden on this page, and your hint is ---you are searching for an EASTER egg.
  
  
• In this egg, you will discover a tidbit of information about the styles of the 20's and what women wore during the time of the fabulous Tin Lizzy. This one is not marked but it is hidden in plain sight.

Happy hunting.

Just in case you need help, here is where the eggs are hidden.

Egg Locations 1. Click on the purple exclamation mark in the title. 2. Click on the word "Easter" on the giant Easter egg. 3. Click on the left chick at the bottom of the page.

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