Technophilic and technophobia are the two extremes of the relationship between technology and society. The latter regards technology as destructive because it leads to a process of dehumanization and believes social reliance on technology is harmful. The former is a positive relationship, adopting technology enthusiastically, seeing it as a means to improve personal life and combat social PROBLEM.

Technophilia refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema. The term is used in sociology when examining the interaction of individuals with their society, especially contrasted with technophobia.

*** The technophile sees most or all technology as positive, adopting technology enthusiastically, and seeing it as a means to potentially improve life and combat social problems.

The technophobe fears or dislikes technology, often regarding some or all technology with fear. This may be as a consequences of fear of change, a prior catastrophic experience with technology or because it may lead to a process of dehumanization.

*-* The most important thing in all this human action, is to understand that technology is a tool to serve people.*-*

Some programs and media come packed with secret “goodies” called Easter eggs. These are fun little additions, added by programmers, that can be found by accident, by completing some tasks, or by hearing about them from other people. In this article we will find some of those Easter eggs.

What is an Easter Egg?

Easter eggs, in software, are deliberately added and not not just “glitches” (see more about that below.) Often these Easter eggs are added by programmers for a joke, to get some attention, or to add some flair to the software you’re using.

A classic example of an Easter egg is a hidden menu on DVD or an animation in a piece of software that can only be seen by pressing certain keys.

 

What an Easter Egg is Not

There are some common misconceptions with the term “Easter Egg.” An Easter egg is not:

• A bug in a program.
• An imposed restriction.
• A hack in a program made by the end user.

For example, it has been claimed that not being able to create a folder, in Windows, with one of the following names is an Easter egg:

PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9

This is not an example of an Easter egg. This is a restriction, that dates back to DOS, to protect certain file names being used that are reserved by the operating system:

Although the first error message (seemingly, still, not updated with Windows 7) makes you think you’ve found an Easter egg (or glitch) in Windows, the second error message states otherwise.

Another commonly confused Easter egg is the ability to generate random text in Microsoft Word. Try this:

1. Open Microsoft Word

2. Type =rand(20,9)

This will create twenty paragraphs with nine sentences each (taken from the Microsoft Help files):

Still, not an Easter egg.

Enough of that though, you’re here to learn about some real Easter eggs…

 

Easter Egg Examples

Here are some examples of the best Easter eggs I’ve found/heard about in software over the years. Please share others, you know about, in the comments.

Picasa: Teddy Bears

In Google Picasa, press CTRL+SHIFT+Y. Watch the teddy bears rain down on your screen.

Firefox: The Book of Mozilla

If you’re a Firefox user, open any version and type about:mozilla in the address bar. You’ll get a quote from “The Book of Mozilla”:

Firefox: about:robots

Open Firefox and type about:robots in the address bar:

vim: :Ni! and :help!

In vim, if you type
:Ni!
in normal mode, vim shows the error message
Do you demand a shrubbery?
If you type
:help!
vim, reassuringly, says
Don’t Panic!

Source

Excel 97: Flight Simulator

Want to see the credits of Excel 97 in a flight sim-like fashion? Didn’t think so, but you’re welcome to try anyway. If you’re using Office 97 or have access:

1. Open Excel 97 (this doesn’t work in later versions.)
2. On a blank worksheet, press F5.
3. Type X97:L97 and press Enter.
4. Press the Tab key once.
5. Hold down Ctrl + Shift and left-click the Chart Wizard toolbar icon.

Click here for a screenshot if you don’t have Excel 97. Otherwise, try it for yourself as a fun surprise.

uTorrent: Tetris

In uTorrent, click Help > About uTorrent. When the About dialog appears, press T on the keyboard to play Tetris.

 

 

Are These Easter Eggs?

Here are a few I’ve found, over the years, that I’m on the fence about. What do you think?

Extra Files in C:\Windows on Windows XP

If you’re using Windows XP or have access to a copy of it, go to C:\Windows and look for a file named clock.avi. I’ve not seen any use for this file. I’m not entirely sure it’s an Easter egg, but I bet you didn’t know it was there!
Similarly, there is a file named “quotes”. Open My Computer and go to: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\etc, open the file named quotes in notepad then look at the quotes put there by the Microsoft developers.

Win Solitaire Every time

Open Solitaire Press Alt + Shift + 2 while playing and see the cards drop.

Did you know that you can be smart in 7 ways?

No way! Either you’re smart or your dumb, right? Not anymore. According to a number of “experts” (smart people!), the old concept of intelligence, as defined by IQ test scores, is passe.

For many people that offers a breath of fresh air. How many times have you been frustrated because you know that you are “smart,” but you just can’t seem to convince other people (i.e. your teachers, bosses, etc..)? Why? Because you didn’t score well on achievement tests, or get good grades in school. Or because when you try to write something or give an oral presentation, you either go blank or fumble around.

You aren’t alone. Thomas Armstrong has written a refreshing book, “7 Kinds of Smart” affirming that – yes – there are many (7 to be exact) ways to be smart and that each is unique and valuable. Interestingly enough, the different forms of intelligence have been located in different areas of the brain (i.e. left brain is verbal; right brain is spatial, musical and mathematical), through studying people with brain damage due to accidents, strokes, or other medical conditions.

Our society has focused mainly on linguistic and mathematical/logical types of intelligence. Schools act as if these are the only ways to be smart – and that proficiency in these areas is the only measure of success and worth as a human being. As important as these forms of smarts are, the other five forms of intelligence are important and make humanity the rich mosaic of talent that it is!

What are the different kinds of “smarts”?

• Word Smart  Linguistic (ability to express oneself in words on paper and aloud and to conceptualize ideas and thoughts verbally). Major form of intelligence used in school, on IQ test; essence of what people normally think of as smart.
• Picture Smart  Spatial (art, architecture, engineering, graphic design, photography, etc.)
• Music Smart  Musical (composing, playing musical instruments, singing, retaining melodies, pitch, etc.)
• Body Smart  Kinesthetic (athletic ability, physical strength, endurance, coordination)
• Logic Smart  Logic/Mathematics (reasoning, math, science, computers, technology)
• People Smart  Interpersonal (people skills; dealing with others/relationships; working in teams, etc.)
• Self Smart  Intrapersonal (self-knowledge – search for enlightenment, inner peace, meditation, spirituality, personal growth, etc.)