lttle_secrets - Impress your friends and co-workers! Easter Eggs!
I found this posted in a UseNet article, a while ago. I think these things are fascinating. If you have any and would like to add them to this list, email me with the information to: carmen@yak.net.< If there is anything that is incorrect, let me know, I haven't tried all of these.
(stupid disclaimer: Neither the owner of this machine, nor operators nor
users are responsible for the contents of this file or instructions herein.
Use at your own risk.
Check the documentation. Be responsible for your own actions. Don't blame
me, I wasn't there, I didn't do it. It's not my fault.)
Source: Tom Tanida (tanida@esosun.css.gov)
(Note: my tests indicate that if you try this a third time you'll get nothing; try it a fourth time and you're back at the waving flag. jcm)
The display terminates immediately when the OK button is pressed (step 4).
Some followup to the Windows 3.1 egg, from contributions by:
Mark Scase (coa44@seq1.keele.ac.uk)
Jill Patterson (bytor@milton.u.washington.edu)
JT Anderson (jta@locus.com)
Andrew Turner (act@softserver.canberra.edu.au)
You don't have to be in Program Manager to do this. It seems to work in any "About" box of an application provided with Windows 3.1 (eg file manager, write, paintbrush, clock etc).
The character appearing in the graphic with the name scroll changes each time you see it; there are four distinct figures:
a bald man (Steve Ballmer)
a man with a beard and dark hair (Brad Silverberg),
a man with glasses and fair hair (Bill Gates), and
a Teddy bear...apparently the logo of bugs@microsoft
The Bear is a Microsoft euphemism for someone who comes along and bonks programmers for introducing bugs into test code(as in Smokey the Bear, who crushes your butts). The concept of the Bear is so much a part of debugging at Microsoft that certain, undcoumented functions used for testing Windows components such as USER.EXE are named things like Bear351."
Source: Aaron Wallace (aaron@jessica.Stanford.EDU) who credits Computer Currents for the info
Formula Goto the *last* cell: IV16384
Scroll until this is the only cell visible, in the upper left corner of the
screen.
Set its row height and column width to 0
Double click on the little button in the upper left corner.
Source: Phil Wherry (psw@maestro.mitre.org)
Go to the tool bar and right click.
Choose customize
Now choose custom in the dialog
Drag the solitaire icon off to the excel desktop somewhere
close the dialog box
Now, with the control and shift down click the solitaire icon
Keep the keys down to see names...
Source: Arthur Evans (ae@sei.cmu.edu)
Under Excel 3.0: Open a new worksheet and select a cell. Using STYLE in the FORMAT menu, give it style EXCEL. Open the About... menu from the Apple menu click in the Excel symbol. Keep waiting -- there are two screens.
Source: Todd Lutz (tlutz@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com)
Here is a hidden feature of Word for Windows:
You should get some fireworks with the authors names scrolling on the screen.
Source: nancyb@ryko.enet.dec.com (nancy b.)
To see some cute animation, a not-so-subtle jab at WordPerfect, and a list of those responsible for "wizardry", "quality", etc... on the Word for Windows 2.0 project:
If you have high resolution drivers, you might not see that awful green WordPerfect monster or the little people jumping up and down in glee after they make it go away. If all you see is the fireworks with the credits rolling in the foreground, then this is the case. Change to a lower resolution (800x600 or 640x480) driver to see the first part also.
Source: Peter Reece (REECE@camins.Camosun.BC.CA)
There is an egg in Pagemaker 4 as follows:
There is also an Egg in Aldus's Table Editor as follows:
Source: Joe Robison (joero@microsoft.com)
From: pfeil@enuxha.eas.asu.edu (Hank Pfeil-Alumnus)
>
>Here's a neat trick you can play on your computer: Start "Solitaire"
>... Now, if the card game only had a cheat mode....
There is. If you're playing "Draw Three" you can hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift and click on the deck to draw single cards (just don't hit the Del key!)
Source: Rich Santalesa and David Harvey's column in 6/92 _Computer_Shopper_
With NDW 2.0 in the foreground, hold down the N, D, and W keys, then click HELP -> ABOUT, then double-click on the Symantec icon in the upper left corner. The response is a group of photos of the NDW development team, plus a scrolling title bar with quotes from Shakespeare.
In a followup, Brian Downing (bdowning@fordmulc.bitnet) says:
Just choose HELP|ABOUT and then double click on the icon to make symantec disappear, then press the N,D,&W keys.
In another followup, Mark Scase (mos11@cus.cam.ac.uk) adds:
Whilst in the desktop, click on help about. Press N, D and W at the same time and double click on the icon in the about box.
A window pops up containing 15 black and white pictures of people with the status bar entitles NDW Development Team. This title scrolls to the left and is replaced with the following (it takes a time for it all to scroll past):
VIPER TEAM: Yet another great truth I record in my verse, that some
vipers are venomous, some the reverse (Hilaire Belloc)
ENRIQUE & PETER: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
(Emerson)
MARK: An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose
time has come (Victor Hugo)
MICHAEL: You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one (John Lennon)
DOUG: As you already knew, this is the wave of the future! (NDW)
MANSHAN: Very ingenious/important product enhancement realized! (Anonymous)
SUE: I want you all to stonewall it (Richard Nixon)
RENEE: What you achieve depends on what you settle for (Anonymous)
BILL: Fame, fame, fatal fame, it can play hideous tricks on the brain, but
still I'd rather be famous than righteous or holy any day, any day, any
day (Morrissey)
Congratulations Bruce & Vickie!!!! (The Gang)
Source: Joseph Malloy (jmalloy@ITSMAIL1.HAMILTON.EDU)
Source: AVINOAM SHMUELI (s8276758@phobos.ucc.umass.edu), quoting from 8/92 issue of _PC_ Magazine
Go to the About box under the Help menu and hold down the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys, Press F7, then type the letters S,P,A,M followed by the last number in the Available Memory display and the third from the last number in that display. [in my case, 9202k, it was "2" and "2".] Then release the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys.
Tiny photo images of the Ami Pro developers appear.
Source: Jay Rosenbaum (jdr@pub2.bu.edu)
Just start Minesweeper normally. When it has loaded, type "xyzzy <ENTER> <SHIFT-ENTER>". The upper left hand pixel on your screen will light up whenever your mouse is over a safe square.
Source: jdmathew (faculty@mtu.edu)
Hold down CTRL-SHIFT and select "help" and then "about", while still holding down CTRL-SHIFT, double click on the balloon on the left side of the help box. The box expands, and the text dissapears, and the balloon moves to the bottom of the box. Hold down the right mouse button to light the burner on the balloon. If you hold the mouse button down, you'll see the balloon move up, pulling a text banner listing authors and beta testers.
[My tests show that the *left* button lights the burner. Also, if you release the burner button (whichever one it is) the balloon will slow its ascent and begin to sink...just like a real balloon. jcm]
Source: Janos Haide (jhaide.novell@sjfsmtp.novell.com), also Panagiotis Skagos (skagos@hercules.cs.uregina.ca)
Make the desktop active (i.e., click on the desktop).
Press alt-shift-ctrl-o simultaneously. You get a beach scene with a pink flamingo (and other nifty things) plus a list of the program authors.
Press any other key returns you to your regularly scheduled Workplace Shell.
A followup posting from Mike Levis (mlevis@ringer.cs.utsa.edu) says:
According to the FAQL, you also need to have the optional bitmaps installed as well. I think selecting the optional bitmaps unpacks two files called "AAAAA.EXE" and "AAAAA.MET" to the \OS2\BITMAP dir.
Source: Cjin Lee (cjin@snake3.cs.wisc.edu, cjin%bc@cs.wisc.edu)
Click on the desktop with right mouse button. Select Setting->Lockup. Go to Page 2/3 for Lockup settings. Select (none) for the bmp to display for lockup. Now get out of the settings mode and try lockup.
When "none" means something......
Source: Louis Koziarz (lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu)
Product: Mac SE
Get into the debugger
Set PC to 41D789A (i.e., >G 41D89A at the prompt)
Source: Luke Mewburn (s902113@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au)
Product: Macintosh II models (exact types uncertain); Mac SE/30 (hardware)
Set the system clock to the American release of the machine [what are
the valid values? jcm]
Reboot, holding down command-option-model name characters (e.g., on
an FX you hold down cmnd-opt-f-x)
Source: Louis Koziarz (lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu) (and many, many others)
Product: Mac SE, Mac II ci
On a Macintosh SE, hit the programmer's switch, then type G 41D89A
On a Macintosh IIci, first set the date to 09/20/89, then restart the machine and hold down Command+Opt+c+i during the reboot.
And if you're lucky enough to have an original copy of MultiFinder, the About box has a simple tremendous list of credits. But all is not lost in the newer versions. Leave the `About MultiFinder' box open for about an hour. It will turn into the message [rot13]
V jnag zl, V jnag zl, V jnag zl ybbx naq srry.
Source: Arthur Evans (ae@sei.cmu.edu)
Product: System 7
Under System 7 with the Finder running, select "About Finder" on the Apple menu with the OPTION key to see a list of all developers. Be patient, it takes a while. Using OPTION-COMMAND does that and also turns the cursor into a smiley.
Source: Louis Koziarz (lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu)
Call up the "About Word..." dialog box
Press and hold the command key
Click on the flying W logo
Source: Jan Schiefer (jan@nasobem.stgt.sub.org)
On the Commodore PET 2001, a "POKE 6502,n" where 0 <= n <= 255 resulted in the machine printing the string MICROSOFT! on the screen n times.
Source: Norman St. John Polevaulter (MBS110@psuvm.psu.edu)
And of course, going WAY back, there is the credits and anti-war message you could coax out of a Commodore 128 by typing:
SYS 32800,123,45,6
in BASIC.
Source: Eric Pass (epass@nyx.cs.du.edu)
error = $ff3f
org $3000
lda #$79
jmp error
which gives you an author's credit. Substitute #$7a for #$79 to get a dedication to one of the authors' wives.
The two messages are listed in the 1581 dos reference guide as:
$79: Software by David Siracusa. Hardware by Greg Berlin $7a: Dedicated to my wife Lisa
Here is a BASIC program written by Russell Prater to illustrate the messages.
10 open15,9,15:n$="m-w":m$=n$
20 fori=1to8:reada:n$=n$+chr$(a):next
30 fori=1to8:reada:m$=m$+chr$(a):next
40 print#15,n$:print#15,"m-e"chr$(0)chr$(3)
50 fori=0to1:get#15,a$:i=st:printa$;:next
60 print#15,m$:print#15,"m-e"chr$(0)chr$(3)
70 fori=0to1:get#15,a$:i=st:printa$;:next
80 data 0,3,5,169,121,76,63,255
90 data 0,3,5,169,122,76,63,255
Information derived from messages on the C_B_M Echo by Russell Prater and David Schmoll
Source: Raymond Chen (raymond@math.berkeley.edu)
On the Amiga (NB), perss and hold the following keys: LeftShift, LeftAlt, RightShift, RightAlt Now press one of the 10 function keys. (Keep those four keys down!) Each function key produces a different message.
To get the rude message, insert a disk into the internal drive. (Still holding down all those keys?) Now eject it.
The rude message has been deleted from newer versions of KickStart. Get 1.2/33.166 or earlier.
Source: Joe Smith (jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM)
With an Amiga running AmigaDOS-1.2, hold down the left-shift + left-alt + right-shift + right-alt and then press and release F1, then F2, etc. This will display in the title bar the nicknames of the designers. Here's a description from 2 years ago:
:Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
:Subject: Re: silly messages
:Message-ID: <5153@cs.Buffalo.EDU>
:Date: 10 Apr 89 18:07:32 GMT
:
:In article <1720@wpi.wpi.edu> pawn@wpi.wpi.edu (Kevin Goroway) writes:
:>Were those silly little messages in workbench taken out in v1.3 OS?
:>The ones I am refering to can be seen when one hits LS-LA-RS-RA-Fx
:>while looking at the wkbnch screen...
:>
:>just wondering...
:
:Coincidentally, I forgot to metion in my last posting on this subject that
:it is not just on the workbench screen -- workbench must be loaded, i.e.,
:somewhere the line loadwb had to have been executed before any of this
:happens. Sadly, the messages are not still there, or if they are, they are
:brought up in some other way in V1.3.
:
:I retraced my steps so to speak, and have come up with the last 2 messages
:mentioned in that last post. Both shifts, both Alt's, F10, pop out df0:
:disk for one message. Then, WHILE STILL HOLDING ALL OF THAT (important!!),
:position the pointer in the screen drag bar (at the top), hold down the
:left mouse button (or simulate it by also catching the left A key next
:to left Alt) and reinsert the disk.
Source: Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago (katefans@chinet.chi.il.us)
Version 1.0 of the Amiga OS Workbench had credits for the hardware and software team hidden tucked into some unused bytes. They were accessed by holding down 6 keys and pressing a 7th. By holding down the same six keys _and_ ejecting the internal floppy disk you could get:
"We built the Amiga..."
and when you pushed the floppy back in:
"...and Commodore f**ked it up!"
[Following a query from Ye Editor of this FAQ list, the posting continues:]
Well, it's been a long time since I did this and I probably have it wrong, and I no longer have a copy of that version, etc., etc.
But...I think that one held down both shift keys, both alt keys and both "Amiga" keys, and pressed the function keys in order, to get the ten credits. The delete key was held down and the disk was ejected to get the first part of the last message, and pushed back in to get the second part.
This is fairly well known in the Amiga community, and the fun stopped when the biggest Amiga magazine published this little gem. Unfortunetly I had to get rid of all my old copies of "Amiga World" so I cannot check.
P.S. Yes, I typed this on an old Amiga 1000, but don't worry; I'm not dangerous.
Source: Peter da Silva (peter@taronga.com)
katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago) writes: > Version 1.0 of the Amiga OS Workbench had credits for the hardware > and software team hidden tucked into some unused bytes.
Source: Raymond Chen (raymond@math.berkeley.edu) (Forwarding from phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick) )
You have to be running KickStart 1.2 (33.166 I think, I can't remember if they were all there in the 33.180 release).
Now, press the following all at the same time,
Left-Shift Left-Alt Right-Alt Right-Shift
and then press one of the 10 functions keys (while still holding down the above four) and you get one of 10 different messages in the menu bar.
Now for the fun bit.
Do the above, and then while holding down all 5 keys, insert a disk in the internal drive, and you get *another* message, and for the classic conclusion after all this (still holding down all 5 keys?) eject the disk, and the message:
We made Amiga, they fucked it up
appears in the menu bar.
Now another Amiga hidden message (also in KS1.2).
Go into preferences, on the first screen, there are pictures of two mice, one to set the double-click speed and one to set the mouse speed. Click on each of the buttons on the mice 5 time in the following order.
1234 1234 1234 1234 1234
/------\ /------\
| 1 2 | | 3 4 |
| | | |
| | | |
+------+ +------+
Now select printer setup, scroll all the way up the list of possible printers, and then all the way down.
Then the title bar of the preferences window changes to something like (it been a *long* time since I tried this):
Congratulations =RJ=
Appearantly just as the guys finished the preferences tool, RJ Michel, one of the Amiga designers became a father (everybody say aaahh!).
Source: Jim Shaffer (jms@vanth.UUCP)
Dale Luck, formerly of the Amiga development team, tells a story about hacking the system software when the custom chips were still on breadboards. To prevent blowing out the hardware, he put an anti-static mat on the floor and convinced everyone to go barefoot.
They would also dance during late-night compiler runs to prevent falling asleep. One of the hidden messages in version 1.2 credits "Moral Support: Joe Pillow and the Dancing Fools."
Source: Jim Shaffer (jms@vanth.UUCP)
Incidentally, I just re-checked my version of KickStart 1.2. The "We made the Amiga, they..." sequence is replaced by "The Amiga - Born a Champion, Still a Champion." I couldn't find anything at all in KickStart 1.3.
Source: Peter da Silva (peter@taronga.com)
katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago) writes: > But...I think that one held down both shift keys, both alt keys and > both "Amiga" keys, and pressed the function keys in order, to get the > ten credits. The delete key was held down and the disk was ejected to ^^^^^--- mouse button. > get the first part of the last message, and pushed back in to get the > second part.
It also only works with rev 1.2 of the OS. There was also another egg hidden in the printer preferences. It was a lot less obvious. :->
Source: rivero@vxd.mdcbbs.com
In article <1992Jan2.122451.18215@news.stolaf.edu>, seebs@asgaard.acc
.stolaf.edu (The Laughing Prophet) writes:
> A quick search through KS2.04 reveals only two things that I noticed:
>
> 1] something like "what secret message?". (don't remember - I checked this
> a few months back.)
> 2] in hex, FE ED C0 ED BA BE :)
>
The hidden Amiga messages were on the Amiga 1000, and then only on earlier units. One of the messages, accessed by holding down both "Amiga" keys and two other keys WHILE inserting a disk into the floppy drive, was rather explicit in its opinion of Commodore after they acquired the Amiga company. Once word of that message got out, a purge was ordered of all hidden messages.
BTW, the inside top cover of the Amiga is autographed by the machine developers (and somebody's dog).
Source: Peter da Silva (peter@taronga.com)
An undocumented feature of the Amiga 1.2 O/S. If you brought up the mouse preferences and clicked all four mouse buttons in the picture, then clicked an invisible gadget next to the date, the window title changed to a cute message about the programmer's SO.
Source: Norman St. John Polevaulter (MBS110@psuvm.psu.edu)
While we're at it, the new OS2.04 has its own set of secret messages. When workbench is running, hold down control, alt, and shift, and start selecting items from the leftmost Workbench menu. It may take a few tries to get them, but they're in there.
Source: Jyri J. Virkki (j_virkki@upr2.clu.net)
Source: Richard Hempsey (rich%knoware@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca)
Hitting CTRL-A, the "repeat previous command line" key at the command line _immediately_ after boot displays
by K.Kaplan, L.Crane, R.Doggett
This also works for OS9 Level II for the Color Computer 3, at boot or after the creation of any new immortal shell.
>From: Andrew Brooks (arb@computing.lancaster.ac.uk), who credits them to Julian Wright, wright_j@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz)
On RISC-OS 2.00: SYS 68,59243844
On RISC-OS 3.00: SYS 68,60816742
Additional info from Andrew Brooks <arb@computing.lancaster.ac.uk>
The above two SYS calls print a list of the names of the developers.
Source: Simon Burrows (smb@cs.nott.ac.uk), forwarded by Andrew Brooks (arb@computing.lancaster.ac.edu)
Following much investigation, disassembly etc, here is a summary of the
RISC OS 3 Credits which work on my machines:
RISC OS 3.00
When the RISC OS 3.00 title screen is displayed, quickly type the letters 'r-m-t-m-d', and if you get the timing right, photographs of the RISC OS 3 Development team will be displayed on screen.
Go to the RISC OS 3.00 Info Window (from the switcher icon). Click on the
letters 'r-m-t-m-d' from the words 'Acorn Computers Ltd' using the MENU
button, and a long list of credits will be flashed up.
RISC OS 3.10
The photograph facility appears to have been removed.
To access the info window credits, click on the letters 't-e-a-m' from 'Acorn Computers Ltd' using the MENU button, and a (different) long list of credits will be displayed. (If you click in the wrong places, the machine *may* crash).
Source: Nicko van Someren (nbvs@cl.cam.ac.uk) (also forwarded by Andrew Brooks)
Subject: RISC OS 3.10 Secret message
The other day I was looking through the template files stored in ResourceFS in the RISC OS 3.10 ROM. In the template file for the switcher there is a dialogue box called power. It appears to contain a secret message left by the RISC OS team. Take a look :-)
Source: schuetz@ectds.com, also Timothy Buck (timbuck@borg.lib.vt.edu)
In Improv (version 1.0) for NeXTstep from Lotus, go to the Info Panel, and in the space to the left of the Improv title, hold down shift, alternate, and command, and click the mouse. A "little man" with big bug-eyes shows up....
To clear it, you quit Improv.
Source: "Peter the Bugman" (maxis@aol.com)
Various Maxis simulation games:
For SimCity: On any platform, hold down the shift key and type in "fund". This gives you an instant 10,000$, but if you do it too often, you will get earthquakes, regardless of how the disaster settings are set.
For SimEarth: On any platfiorm, hold down the shift key and type in joke, then open the Gaia window.
For SimAnt: type in any of the following:
oops
rand
erad
FUND
joke
HOLE
hole
jeff
will
These all do various things that are easily recognizable.
For A-Train: hold down the control and alt keys, then type in "bellybutton".
Once the game is ended, watch very carefully. The ending screen shot is not the same. (Our programmers have a bizzarre sense of humour.) That is a picture of their, well, er ...uh.... bellybuttons.
Source: Steven R. Staton (sstaton@micrografx.com)
MVP rasterizer cards from Matrix Instruments/AFGA/Miles:
On the {Matrix Instruments|AGFA Matrix|Miles Division Matrix} MVP and MVP*Star rasterizer boards for the IBM-pc (used to drive the QCR, PCR, Forte, and other film recorders) there is a cookie in the foreground mode of the MVP software. Enter foreground mode and press ALT-<2><5><5> (send the ASCII character 255 via the keypad). The cookie (which is different in MVP 3.5, 4.0, 4.1[grrr...] and 4.2) appears in the STATUS box where normally there is hexadecimal numbers.
I don't remember the exact wording, but under MVP 3.5 it says something like "despite rancid source code, inept management, and poor tools, we proudly present MVP 3.5 with EGA and 24-bit overlays-- D Miller S Staton."
[The text is different in later releases of the program.]
Source: Dean Inada (dmi@peregrine.com)
Mattel Intellevision games:
Transcribed verbatim off an old photocopy,
we called them "Copyright Kludges" back then.
The date style marks this compilation as the work of
Chris Hawley
[Notation: hold down indicated keys during powerup.]
Kluge file for Games- Updated 8107.13
ROULETTE: left = 13 right = 123
SKIING: left = 57 right = 57
WORD FUN: press 43210 during word rockets mode
ARMOR BATTLE: left = 3 right = 9
HORSE RACING: left = 69 right = 69
BOXING: left = lower two action keys and wheel direction 7
SPACE ARMADA: left = 46 OR clear-enter
right = lower two action keys
AUTO RACE: pres 169 on any keypad to get real steering
STAR STRIKE: left = 19 OR 37
FRENCH CASSETTE: left = 19 right = 80
during introduction (menu #0); then exit to
monitor (menu #6)
DEMO CASSETTE: type "dei" (lower case) during space battle
Source: John Hawkinson (jhawk@panix.com)
On a RSTS/E system, type:
$ HELP SPIKE
$ HELP ADVANCED SPIKE
Of course, these don't show up in the HELP topics listing...
They give info on Spike, the RSTS/E mascot (a bulldog, if I'm not mistaken).
Source: Zebee Johnstone (zebee@ucs.adelaide.edu.au)
The Data General AOS/VS 16 bit OS responds to XYZZY with "nothing happens".
The new 32 bit AOS/VS II responds with "twice as much happens"
Source: Tim Shoppa (shoppa@erin.caltech.edu)
Typing "SHOW USERS" at the RT11 prompt (a single-user system) gives a response of "NOBODY BUT YOU!".
Source: Denis Fortin (fortin@zap.uucp)
Also in RT-11:
Typing HELP FOO
produced NO HELP IS AVAILABLE FOR FOO
But typing HELP ME
produced NO HELP IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU
Source: Joe Newcomer and many others:
under TECO, originally under TOPS-10 and subsequently ported to other platforms (including this Easter egg):
Type the command:
MAKE LOVE
which is supposed to create a new file named LOVE using TECO. The command executes as intended, but only after responding with a message:
Not war?
Source: Barry Ferris (ferris@netcom.COM)
of course, this wasn't the only TECO egg...type in:
$ make war
to get
not love?
Source: Earle Ake (ake@dayton.saic.com)
VMS Easter Eggs:
$ anal/system
VAX/VMS System analyzer
SDA> show cluster/scs
VAXcluster data structures
--- SCS Listening Process Directory ---
Entry Address Connection ID Process Name Information ------------- ------------- ------------ ----------- 80308800 071D0000 SCS$DIRECTORY What city, plez? 803087A0 071D0001 MSCP$TAPE NOT PRESENT HERE 80308740 071D0002 MSCP$DISK NOT PRESENT HERE
Source: cac%sierra.com@mwunix.mitre.org
The following exists on every VMS I have ever seen:
% mcr sysgen
SYSGEN> SHOW TIMEPROMPTWAIT
Parameter Name Current Default Min. Max. Unit Dyna -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ---- ---- TIMEPROMPTWAIT 65535 -1 0 -1 uFortnight
Also, I no longer have access to a VMS DBMS, but I recall that typing HELP WOMBAT inside the DBMS would give about three pages of interesting facts about Wombats, and that PLOT WOMBAT would draw a wombat on your terminal.
Source: Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago (katefans@chinet.chi.il.us)
In a prior article Norman Soley writes:
>In a prior article Steve VanDevender writes...
>>The weirdest thing I found in my HP 150 is that the phrase "My >>mind is going..." is burned in one of the ROMs. I have no idea >>why it's there or if it would ever appear on the screen. My pet >>theory is that it's a diagnostic that appears if some of the ROMs >>are missing (a la the HAL dismantling scene in 2001).
>More likely someone noticed there were a few unused bytes at the end of the >ROM and slid that in as a joke. There is the well know story of the "resist >the draft" message that's stored in some user inaccesable (usually) part of >someone's LOGO and one or more of the VAX chips has "VAX, for those who care >enough to steal the best" in Russian on an unused part of the mask....
>In all cases the companies involved claimed no knowledge of these when >discovered.
Source: Mik Butler (mik@hpopd.pwd.hp.com)
>If I remember correctly there was an easter egg in the 150 that would
>cause it to respond to XYZZY in the right circumstances.
>The 'My mind is going' may well have been the response.
>
>Rodney Brown, Co-Cam Computer Group, ACSNet: rdb@mel.cocam.oz.au
To get an HP150 (or HP2625/HP2628 terminal) to produce the "my mind is going..." message, send or type the sequence <esc>&a?
Source: Steve VanDevender (stevev@grayback.uoregon.edu)
In article <44880008@hpopd.pwd.hp.com> mik@hpopd.pwd.hp.com (Mik
Butler) writes:
>
> To get an HP150 (or HP2625/HP2628 terminal) to produce the "my mind
> is going..." message, send or type the sequence <esc>&a?
Thank you thank you thank you. I discovered the "My mind is going..." message when I was in larval stage not long after I got my 150 and wrote a memory scanner. Only now, almost eight years later, do I know how to get the message. It indeed works on my HP 150 with Rev B roms.
The following is a massive summary of Macintosh Easter Eggs compiled by Bryan Kendig of Princeton, and forwarded to me by Kees Huyser. Please send any comments or updates to this FAQ list directly to Bryan at bskendig@phpenix.Princeton.edu.
The Macintosh Secret Trick List
compiled by Brian Kendig (bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU)
Fifth revision.
Please report corrections to me, no matter how insignificant! You may (of course!) distribute information about these tricks freely, but please keep my name on this list if you pass it around whole. New info about tricks will be attributed and very much appreciated.
The information below includes what to do to make a trick happen, then what the trick really is. If you don't want the trick spoiled (you don't want to know what it does until you try it yourself), you can display only the instructions for making it happen (the lines that begin with an equals-sign) with the Unix command
where "tricks" is the name of this file.
Here's a not-a-trick that every Tom, Dick, and Harriet out there has been reporting to me: Press Command-Option-Escape to kill the process currently in the foreground. This is useful if your machine is taking way too long to finish something and is ignoring you, or if your machine has crashed -- sometimes you can use this trick to regain control of your machine long enough to save your work and restart your Mac. (After you use this trick, you should generally restart as soon as possible.)
A lot of people have been telling me about this, but it's not a trick! It's a documented feature of System 7. However, since lots of people never saw it in the manuals, I might as well have it here too.