When you think of Google you probably think of the ever helpful search engine that has some nifty tools such as a built in calculator and others. You probably don’t think of quirky tricks such as tilted screens, falling snow, and Chuck Norris jokes however those bright minds coding away at the Google HQ are showing their sense of humor by creating brand new tricks.
If you haven’t ever heard of some of the April Fool’s tricks from Google or seen any of their unmistakable doodles, then you should probably check them out when you’re done here. Google has succeeded in charming their users not only by developing a complicated algorithm for better search results, but they’ve also implemented little tricks that just brighten up your day and make you smile when you discover them.
Here we will go over some tricks from Google that will leave you dying to try them yourself and see. These aren’t all of them so if you find more later then just let us know!
Pacman
Everyone loves Pacman – that little addicting game that is so difficult to stop playing and irresistible to start. Well should you ever want to waste a good hour of your time on that mindless game, you can stroll on over to Google’s Pacman machine, insert a coin, and start playing.
The game can be played here: http://www.google.com/pacman/ and it appears right above the search bar. Simply start the game by clicking “Insert Coin” and start steering Pacman away from the ghosts by using your directional arrow keys. When
Flight Simulator
This is another interactive trick from Google except this one is a bit more realistic and exciting. To start the Flight Simulator simply go over to Google Earth and, if you don’t have it downloaded yet, download it. Once Google Earth is downloaded you can then enter flight mode by going to tools then clicking on “Enter Flight Simulator”.
The flight simulator lets you fly all around the world exploring new places and you can even look at businesses and buildings on your trip!
Recursion
This next little trick is something that you can use to play a joke on your friends with. To activate this trick simply go to the Google search bar and type in recursion correctly. Go ahead try it!
If you didn’t notice Google continuously tries to tell you that you meant “recursion” however you’ll notice eventually that it gives the definition below it and that the actual definition of recursion is something repeating itself. Try this on your friends and see how long it takes them to figure it out!
Christmas/Hanukkah
I’ve combined these two tricks because they are very similar and not necessarily tricks, but just a neat little visual feature Google incorporates. Just go to the Google search bar and type in either one of these terms correctly. When you hit the search button you’ll see that Google has either Christmas lights or stars up at the top. Cute J
Google Gravity
Everything obeys the laws of gravity, even Google! Yes, Google has incorporated a neat new trick that will display exactly what happens when gravity takes hold of the search bar and everything else on the Google page. To find out what happens simply enter “Google Gravity” in the search bar and click on “I’m feeling lucky”
Askew or Tilt
Don’t turn your head to read the page when you type either one of these in the search bar! Try reading the results when you search these!
Chuck Norris
Yes, even Google obeys the laws of Norris. To find out what Google has to say about this fearsome Texas Ranger star simply type his name in the search bar then hit “Im feeling lucky”. You will then be told why Google won’t search for Chuck Norris and what you should do next.
Nessie
This one is pretty cute and will take a little more effort to view than the others will. If you don’t know who Nessie is then you first need to facepalm yourself then go search what the Loch Ness monster is. Now for everyone else who knows what the Loch Ness monster is you can spot this rare creature on a certain Google homepage theme – the beach theme. So how do you see Nessie? Well simply wait until 3:14 am then go check your computer and you will see the fabled monster swimming about the shores of your Google page. Instead of waiting till 3am you can always change your time settings 😉
Ninja
Remember on video games where you have to type in a specific cheat code to unlock something? Well the Google Reader has the same thing. When you’re on Google Reader you need to type in this secret code to unlock a ninja (also use your arrow keys for directions): up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A.
