h a l f b a k e r yThe leaning tower of Piezo
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'Easter Eggs' in software are well-known, ranging from simple splash screen animations when you press a special key combo to "Oh my god why didn't they spend all this time fixing bugs?" extravaganzas like the Excel flight simulator.
As I was sitting in a traffic jam this morning I was thinking how
nice it would be if there were little surprises like that built into my car - if I were to twist the gearstick, for example, while indicating right a previously unnoticed border of fairy lights around the windscreen might light up or a credits list of the car's design team would scroll across the stereo's LCD display.
(??) M3 Easter egg
http://www.eeggs.com/items/37996.html
[Trodden, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Play music with the engine
http://www.nasaraci...unstuff/index.shtml
Here's one that they might use [krelnik, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
(??) For [senatorjam]
http://home.wanadoo...ULATOR_Excel_97.htm
Excel flight simulator. [angel, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Popular Science article on the BMW M3 (ME?) 'hack'
http://www.popsci.c...004eecbccdrcrd.html
"There's a cheat code in the software running the BMW M3's sequential manual gearbox (SMG): Press the right buttons in the right order and the car will launch you from a stop after revving the engine to 5,000 rpm." [phoenix, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Baked
http://www.autosafe....php?did=22&scid=41
...and not something I want in *my* car, thank you very much. [dalek, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Easter Egg Heaven
http://www.eggheaven2000.com/
Even the U.S. Copyright office has one! [phoenix, Oct 05 2004]
[link]
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How about: when you jam the gas and brake at the same time twice, the ECM configures the engine for superformance mode. |
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I believe that the BMW M3 does indeed have an "easter egg" built in, although I have never driven one, I understand there is a hidden launch control function which is not listed in any manuals... |
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“Elvis is alive and well and working at...” I hope somebody gets that one. (+) |
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[Trodden] - I am intrigued but baffled by that link. Could you explain what's going on? |
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Driving along... change gear and indicate at the same time... "WHAT THE LARD IS THAT?!?" |
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Fishbone for danger, sorry! |
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There's a version of this in some consumer electronics. Some VCRs have (or 'had' when I was involved with them) a 'Service Mode' which is accessed by pressing some non-intuitive combination of buttons on the handset, and 'Hotel Mode' for TVs works similarly. Not sure I'd enjoy it in my car though, unless it only happened while stationary. |
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I too am intrigued but baffled by exactly what the car in [Trodden]'s link does. |
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Hey, everyone, would have commented on this sooner, but it's taken me a while to close all the effing pop-ups spawned by that page [Trodden] sent us to. |
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Anyway, this is verging on reality, given the number of things that happen in late-model cars if you turn the ignition key a number of times in sequence or even close and lock the doors in odd sequences. |
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In my **SUV** (:-) boo, hiss), the keyless entry system honks the horn when you press the button twice. I didn't discover until I had owned it over six weeks that the system honks the horn when you press the button twice *and* one of the doors or gates is open. Now that I write this, I've got to try it and see what happens if the doors are all closed but a window is rolled down... |
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There is also a "miles until bankruptcy" trip odometer that I'm just noticing, which contracts noticably based on the cost of fuel... |
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BTW, as a preemptive flame, I use mine as a delivery vehicle, I know how to drive it (as does my wife), and in any case the market and my wallet is going to tell me what to drive, not the government or Meryl Streep. |
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I had driven all the way to Spain and back in midsummer in a cheapo rental Opel Corsa - windows open all the way which was quite wearing on autoroutes. I was fiddling with the heater controls on my return to discover that pulling on the fan knob turned on the A/C. Couldn't bring myself to tell 'er indoors. |
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//but it's taken me a while to close all the effing pop-ups spawned by that page [Trodden] sent us to//
Hmmmm, [resurgere]: when I went there I got none, even after refreshing the page several times. I suspect you might have some spyware lurking in your system that is actually generating those popups. You might want to download Ad-Aware and scan. |
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Back on topic, see the link I added for a Formula 1 race car that can play "When the Saints Go Marching In" via the engine computer manipulating the throttle automatically. That might make a fun one, or then again it might blow up your Honda Civic. |
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quick...whats that about a flight simulator in excel? |
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More from above link:
"The SMG transmission is completely electronic, so you can't rev the engine and drop the clutch for tire-smoking acceleration—something the owner of a performance sedan just might want to do occasionally."
"In Europe, where the feature isn't so hush-hush, doing more than 15 launches voids the car's warranty. Federal laws prohibit such stipulations here, so BMW has turned down the wick. U.S.-spec cars are programmed to wind to only 2,500 rpm—and our test car topped off at 1,800. That's why you have to ask your dealer to install the European software. Most will happily oblige." |
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"Flaps twenty, throttle back, APU up, bugs at two-twenty, one-ninety, QFE one zero one three" |
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"Roger, flaps twenty, down to eighty percent, airspeed is three three zero, sink rate three hundred and got the localiser, APU is up, bugs set at two twenty, one -ninety, altimeter ten thirteen ... HEY ! Wow, will you look at that !" |
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"Thats.... isn't that Pamela Anderson ?" |
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"Yeah, it sure looks ... but how's she ... how's she ... how do they do that ?" |
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"There are two of them ! Hot damn ! Can you zoom that in any ?" |
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"Yes, yessssss .... right a bit ..... whahhey, how come we never found this before ?" |
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"Who knows, looks like one of those 'Easter Egg" thingumajigs.... I can't wait to show this to ...." |
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<Sound of impact>
<End of recording> |
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[resurgere] That's an Easter egg? I always thought it was standard, as a way of telling you to stop pressing that button. |
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Or am I just tired and not noticing the sarcasm? |
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I don't know about other Fords, but some of the late model Tauruses have a (sorta) hidden feature to disable the auto-locks. Turn the key on, hit "unlock" three times. Key off, three more times. Key on, one more time, wait five seconds, horn honks and you've enabled/disabled auto locks. |
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