Fun Friday: Hidden Games

[davidn#]

Easter Egg

Emacs, a highly customizable and extensible text editor that has been around since the 1970s. It is known for its powerful features and flexibility, making it a favorite among programmers, writers, and other users who spend a significant amount of time working with text. Did you know it also contains a hidden Easter Egg? With Emacs installed, drop to a Terminal session and enter:


emacs -batch -l dunnet



Dunnet is a text adventure written by Ron Schnell in 1982, and hidden in Emacs since 1994.

Firefox Dino

Mozilla Firefox, the popular web browser, has a hidden game called "Firefox Dino." It's similar to the well-known offline game "Chrome Dinosaur" that you find in Google Chrome when your internet connection is offline.  Here's how you can access the hidden Firefox Dino game:

1. Turn Off Your Internet Connection: You'll need to disconnect from the internet to trigger the game. You can either unplug your network cable or turn off your Wi-Fi.
2. Open a New Tab: After disconnecting from the internet, open a new tab in Firefox.
3. Attempt to Load a Web Page: In the address bar, type in a website URL and press Enter, even though you're disconnected from the internet. Firefox will try to load the page but will display a message saying you're offline.
4. Press the Spacebar: Once you see the offline message, press the spacebar on your keyboard. This action will start the game.
5. Play the Game: In the game, you control a cute little dinosaur that runs across a desert landscape. Press the spacebar to make the dinosaur jump over cacti obstacles. Your goal is to survive as long as possible and achieve a high score.

It's a simple but addictive game that provides a fun way to pass the time while waiting for your internet connection to be restored. Enjoy playing Firefox Dino!

T-Rex Runner

Follow similar steps above in Google Chrome will start the T-Rex Runner game. Have fun playing!

[davidn#]

Sorry friend. I only played the games a few times during the network outage at home so I don't have any tips to give you.

[davidn#]

There's more:

• Mozilla Firefox's "about:robots": In Mozilla Firefox, you can enter "about:robots" in the address bar to see a fun message and illustrations about robots.
• Microsoft Word's Pinball Game:  In older versions of Microsoft Word (e.g., Word 97), you could access a pinball game by opening a new document, typing "Blue" without quotes, and then changing the font color to blue. This would create a small pinball game in the document.
• Microsoft Excel 97 Flight Simulator: In Microsoft Excel 97, there is a hidden flight simulator game. To access it, you need to open a new worksheet, press F5, type "X97:L97" and then press Enter. The game allows you to control a small aircraft and fly around a landscape.

Remember that the availability of hidden games may vary depending on the software version and platform. Some of these Easter eggs have been removed or altered in newer versions of the software, so they might not work in the latest releases. Developers sometimes add these hidden games as a playful surprise for users, so it can be fun to explore and see what you can find in your favorite software applications.