April 27, 2012 by Todd Wasserman
Google is giving us another reason to goof off on a Friday with an Easter egg related to the popular game StarCraft.
If you type “Zerg Rush” into Google, the “O’s” in Google take over the page. If you double click, your cursor turns into a plus sign. Click on the O’s and you wipe them out. Google then tabulates your score and, in a social media twist, lets you post your score on Google+.
For the uninitiated, Zergs are an alien race of insectoids in Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft. In the game you “rush” them by amassing your battle units and blitz them.
Google’s motivation for this latest Easter egg is unclear, except perhaps as a way to migrate more users to Google+.
If you Google the term 'Zerg Rush' you will be in for a big surprise.
As soon as you do, the coloured letters 'O' turn into aliens that devour the page - and you can click on the little 'aliens' to kill them.
The hidden 'Easter Egg' is a reference to the space strategy game Starcraft, where using a 'Zerg Rush' with the game's 'Zergling' creatures is often a winning strategy.
Google has a long tradition of hidden 'Easter Eggs' - as well as its famous Google Doodles.
Even by Google's standards, though, this joke is particularly geeky.
The 'Zerg' are one of the races in a strategy game, Starcraft - and experienced players often rely on the 'Zerg rush' to win games.
The verb 'to Zerg' is now often used in other online games, meaning to overwhelm an enemy through sheer force of numbers.
The game Starcraft was released in 1998, but is still played today.
Maker Blizzard entertainment says, 'In the distant future, the newly formed Terran Dominion faces the arrival of two hostile alien races: the savage Zerg and the enigmatic Protoss. Gather resources and expand your forces to lead them to victory. The only allies are enemies. The only choice is war.'
You have to search from the Google home page to make the 'trick' work, and it may not work in mobile browsers or some desktop browsers.
Enter "Google Gravity" in the search bar. Hit "I'm feeling lucky" (if you have Google Instant enabled, it's on the right hand side of the suggested searches). Then watch your world fall down.
Simply search for the word "askew." We dare you not to tilt your head.
Search for the Walker Texas Ranger star, hit I'm Feeling Lucky, and Google will school you in Norrisology.
Searching for ASCII art -- the kind built out of characters -- is about the nerdiest thing you can do. Google salutes you with a special logo.
Here's one for word nerds and philosophy majors. Search for "recursion" and Google asks "did you mean recursion?"
This one started life as an April Fool's joke, but is still around at google.com/mentalplex. Baffle your less Internet-savvy family and friends!
The Google doodle that launched a thousand lost hours of productivity will live forever at google.com/pacman.
Here's where Google easter eggs start to get a little more complex. Go to Google Reader, then use your cursor keys thus: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. A ninja then pops onto your screen and into your search box. Thankfully, this still works in the new version of Google Reader.
Set your iGoogle homepage to the beach theme. Wait until 3:14am (or if you can't, just move your clock forward). What monster this way comes? Could we be on the shores of Loch Ness?
This one began life as an easter egg, and became so well-loved that Google incorporated it as a feature in Google Earth. Click on Tools > Enter Flight Simulator, and you're off and flying around the planet. Bon voyage!
Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, alija
Source: Mashable
Earn With ADfocus
