Easter Eggs for Google Maps UK Directions

Google Maps has a few funny Easter Eggs for UK directions:

* a dragon can get you from Snowdon to Brecon Beacons in only 21 minutes

* the Loch Ness Monster can get you from Fort Augustus to Urquhart Castle

* you can use the Royal Carriage between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle

* "If you've ever ventured to Oxford or Cambridge, you'll know that punting – steering a flat-bottomed boat on a narrow or shallow river – is a defining characteristic of both cities. If you want travel between Magdalene College and Mathematical Bridge (Cambridge) or Magdalen College and Wolfson College (Oxford) by water, Google Maps has got you covered," found The Next Web.

{ via The Next Web }

Konami Easter Egg in Google Voice Search

There's a cool Easter Egg in Google Voice Search: if you say "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right", Google will answer: "Cheat mode unlocked, unlimited free Google searches". This is the Konami cheat code originally used for Nintendo games.

You can try this Easter Egg in the Google Search app for Android and iOS and in the Google Search site if you use Chrome for desktop.

The Konami code was also used as an Easter Egg in Google Reader, Google Docs (create a new document and press "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right", then type ba and press Enter), Play Games and even for the Chromebook Pixel.

{ via Search Engine Land and Pierre Far }

Google's Blink Easter Egg

There's a new Google Easter Egg: search for [blink html] and the words "blink" and "html" will start to flash slowly. It also works for [blink tag] Google uses CSS3 animations to emulate the <blink> HTML element because it is no longer supported by modern browsers.

"The blink element is a non-standard presentational HTML element that indicates to a user agent (generally a web browser) that the page author intends the content of the element to blink (that is, alternate between being visible and invisible). Despite its initial popularity amongst home users in the 1990s, it has since fallen out of favor due to its overuse and the difficulty it presents in reading," explains Wikipedia.

{ via Search Engine Roundtable and Ilya Grigorik }

Google+ Easter Egg for Valentine's Day

Google+ has a special Easter Egg for Valentine's Day. Mr. Jingles, the Google+ mascot, transformed into a heart. You can find the animation in the Google+ notification box: in Google+ for desktop, Google+ mobile apps and most Google services.

Here's the animation that's displayed when you click the icon. This is the "retina" double-sized version:

"I <3 you, people of Google+! You've made me feel like your Valentine many times over," says Mr. Jingles.

You can also check the costumes for New Year's party, Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, Halloween, 15 years of Google and 2 years of Google+.

Happy New Year From Google!

Mr. Jingles, the Google+ mascot, has some special yellow glasses for the New Year's party. It's a joyful way to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

"I'll be up late tonight looking forward to 2014. Have fun and stay safe tonight," says Mr. Jingles.

Click the icon and you should see some fireworks. Here's the animation:

And here's the disco doodle from the Google homepage:

Happy New Year!

Google+ Easter Egg for Christmas

Mr. Jingles has a special Christmas costume. You can find it in the Google+ notification box: in Google+ and most Google services and in the Google+ app for iOS and Android.

Here's the animation that's displayed when you click the icon. This is the "retina" double-sized version:

There's also a reindeer version:

I like the alternative text for Jingles icons: "Jingles - Mascot of a bell with a smiley face".

{ Thanks, Mukil. }