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Google’s seasonal Easter egg: ‘Let it snow’

By | December 18, 2011, 6:58am PST

Summary: Google’s latest ‘Easter egg’ shows off the search giant’s fluffy side, by letting it snow over a users’ search results.

Google, in keeping with adding hidden search result features to entertain the masses, has released a latest coded search result to celebrate the seasonal holiday.

While many in England will be wondering why Google is shimmering its search results with snow, considering the average temperature is comparable to a warm summer’s day in Scotland (still cold, but not cold enough), Google is marking the festive season as we lead up to the last shopping days before Christmas.

To see Google’s frosty, snowy surprise, type in: “let it snow” in the search engine.


(Source: ZDNet)

Not only will Google serve up the snowfall effect in HTML5, the page becomes even icier by frosting up the screen like a car windscreen on a cold, winter morning. Using your mouse, you can wipe the screen with your virtual sleeve to wipe away the frost and condensation revealing a selection of seasonal videos.

And if it all gets too much, the search button becomes a ‘Defrost’ button, giving users to whack on the heating and return to their search results.

Though it’s hardly as fun as the now famous “do a barrel roll” search result, which spun the search results’ page over and around, but it certainly adds to the wintery festivities.

This Easter egg adds to many pre-existing features of Google, often not publicly disclosed, but discovered through the hundreds of millions of people searching for weird and wonderful results.

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Topics

Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Disclosure

Zack Whittaker

I worked briefly with Microsoft UK in 2006 but no longer have any connection with the company. Regardless, I remain impartial and unbiased in my views.

I don't hold any stock or shares, investments or industrial secrets in any company, but have signed confidentiality agreements with a number of UK and U.S. organisations, whose names I am not at liberty to disclose.

I was involved with Kent Union, the University of Kent's student union, undertaking voluntary, non-salaried, elected positions between early 2009 and mid-2010.

No other company, body, government department, non-governmental organisation or third sector organisation employs me or pays me a salary in any capacity whatsoever.

As a freelance journalist, whenever expenses are given and taken by a company that is not CBS Interactive, these will be disclosed in each relevant post to ensure transparency.

I currently work with a UK law enforcement unit. Details of which are restricted, but this is an entirely separate position which bears no connection to other work.

(Updated: 23rd October 2011)

Biography

Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

After studying criminology at university, though still in his early-20's, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.

He first had academic work published at the age of 22, then still an undergraduate, and has been cited by a wide range of publications: from the Huffington Post, Business Insider, AllThingsDigital, The Atlantic Wire and CBS News.

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Not exactly that simple
klumper Updated - 19th Dec
@thandermax
Need HTML5 compatible browser (IE9/Chrome/FF)

Some browsers use some but not complete elements of HTML5, others only selective bits. For example, Firefox 3.5 + 3.6 are capable of running this, as is Safari 4. So is IE8, and IE7 when run as IE8 (not just IE9). You get the picture.
it doesn't work on my computer - Windows 7 and IE8
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Suggestion
klumper Updated - 18th Dec
@ackermari

Try enabling JavaScript [FF Options > Content] and/or Active Scripting [IE Options > Security] in your browser.
0 Votes
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@ackermari nt
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+ -
Not exactly that simple
klumper Updated - 19th Dec
@thandermax
Need HTML5 compatible browser (IE9/Chrome/FF)

Some browsers use some but not complete elements of HTML5, others only selective bits. For example, Firefox 3.5 + 3.6 are capable of running this, as is Safari 4. So is IE8, and IE7 when run as IE8 (not just IE9). You get the picture.

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