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Google Chrome's about:internets Easter Egg
Posted by Gina Trapani at 9:09 AM on September 4, 2008
Google Chrome users, type about:internets into the address bar to get a fun little animation. Don't clog the tubes, yo. (Check out some more of our favourite software Easter eggs here.)
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
WindPowa
Posted 9:36 AM 4/9/08
Same as nettleman. Someone minds recording the animation and put it on YouTube or something?
WindPowa
Sam_Zebian
Posted 9:32 AM 4/9/08
@nettleman: same here
Sam_Zebian
Gina Trapani
Posted 9:32 AM 4/9/08
You can also enter about:memory to see memory usage stats.
Gina Trapani
nettleman
Posted 9:29 AM 4/9/08
I get no animation. However, I do get a blank page with the title, "The Tubes are Clogged!"
nettleman
orbface9
Posted 9:29 AM 4/9/08
my, how "Windows 95" of them...
orbface9
dangerp
Posted 9:27 AM 4/9/08
Interesting. If you just put in "about:" you get a copyright page. One of the first copyright holders listed is Mozilla. I know that chrome is using open source stuff, but I don't recall any Mozilla-ness in the mess. Anyone care to shed some light on this?
dangerp
tommertron
Posted 9:56 AM 4/9/08
You know what, I'd love it if there were an about:config tab like in Mozilla. It's great to expose that to the geeks without confusing the noobs.
tommertron
nettleman
Posted 9:54 AM 4/9/08
I sent it to tips, but all of my tips have been ignored in the past.
nettleman
dotyoureyes
Posted 9:50 AM 4/9/08
@nettleman: Wow! Lifehacker eds -- that deserves its own post!
dotyoureyes
The How-To Geek
Posted 9:50 AM 4/9/08
Here's a screenshot of it:
[howtogeek.com]
(direct link to PNG file)
The How-To Geek
dotyoureyes
Posted 9:49 AM 4/9/08
It's a pretty basic OpenGL "pipes" screensaver -- the kind that's existed since Windows NT 3.5. Cute.
But it's not a real bookmark management system.
dotyoureyes
nettleman
Posted 9:48 AM 4/9/08
I was poking around and found some more about:* pages. A few, actually. Enjoy.
about:memory
about:stats
about:network
about:internets
about:histograms
about:dns
about:cache
about:plugins
about:version
I found references to two more, but they don't appear to do anything. Maybe they are for a special internal debug build only? Anyway, they are:
about:objects
about:chrome-nativeui
nettleman
Sam_Zebian
Posted 9:47 AM 4/9/08
@Mrrix32: oh well I'm running vista on all of my machines, soo... oh yeah I've got a virtual pc of xp! gotta install chrome on that now..
Sam_Zebian
sw2
Posted 9:45 AM 4/9/08
@WindPowa: The animation is almost exactly like the "3D Pipes" screen saver in Windows XP. Seriously.
sw2
Mrrix32
Posted 9:40 AM 4/9/08
I think this is XP only and dosn't work on Vista :(
Mrrix32
mawin
Posted 10:29 AM 4/9/08
They have two more also, which is cool to see per site
view-cache:[URL]
view-source:[URL]
mawin
Gina Trapani
Posted 10:20 AM 4/9/08
@nettleman: Awesome, thanks. Full post coming right up! (With credit, of course.)
Gina Trapani
Nuclear Moose
Posted 10:19 AM 4/9/08
Hmm...a tab with "The Tubes Are Clogged" but no animation. Easter egg? More like a rotten ol' chicken egg to me. :p
Nuclear Moose
dnats
Posted 12:23 PM 4/9/08
@nettleman:
you've achieved The Nerddom Award from Lifehacker! We congratulate you to the highest degree.
dnats
TheMadMidget
Posted 1:36 PM 4/9/08
@dangerp: That's the user-agent string, not copyrights.
TheMadMidget
grante
Posted 2:16 PM 4/9/08
Here's another easter egg.
Evil link
grante
ravana
Posted 2:24 PM 4/9/08
@grante: bad lifehacker!
ravana
urukhaifive
Posted 3:35 PM 4/9/08
@grante: Something about Fx's response to that made me laugh:
Firefox doesn't know how to open this address, because the protocol (evil) isn't associated with any program.
urukhaifive
trss
Posted 4:54 PM 4/9/08
@urukhaifive: it isn't with "evil:" alone. try anything:% like about:% and chrome will crash! and it isn't even necessary to press enter! it will crash even as you type it into the url!!
trss
somerandombystander
Posted 6:09 PM 4/9/08
@everybody
Chrome grabs the sspipes.scr file in /Windows/system32 to display this easter egg. Delete the file or not have the file, and the animation won't work.
somerandombystander
stuffandco
Posted 7:54 PM 4/9/08
@somerandombystander: delete the file and the "tubes are clogged". Have the file and don't "clog the tubes!" Double easter egg?
stuffandco
trss
Posted 8:13 PM 4/9/08
@nettleman: found this one too..
about:crash
trss
Drakkim
Posted 11:05 PM 4/9/08
You could warn people that moving the mouse _over_ the 'evil link' up there crashes Chrome... don't even have to click it...
On the other hand... that truly is evil ;-)
Drakkim
xmr
Posted 9:27 AM 4/9/08
It does not display animation for me, just a title.
xmr
GeorginaPhyleus
Posted 10:50 AM 4/9/08
Try typing "hahahah:%" into the URL bar. The whole browser crashes and not just the tab!
GeorginaPhyleus
guybrushthreepwood
Posted 4:43 AM 5/9/08
@ dargerp
that mozilla is not corresponding to mozilla firefox. Before so look for internet explorer.. it is also mozilla written.
guybrushthreepwood
Undead-Fox
Posted 10:02 AM 4/9/08
@dangerp: It states in one of Lifehacker's earlier posts about Chrome, is that they used a lot of open source stuff including a lot of stuff from Mozilla Firefox.
Undead-Fox
trss
Posted 7:51 PM 6/9/08
@Drakkim: i c. din't know since i still use firefox. but i came up with an idea to crash Chrome endlessly. quite simple.. make that Evil link your home page :D
trss
djmorgan
Posted 9:42 PM 6/9/08
I'm very surprised no one has mentioned it, but I'm willing to bet my paycheck this is Google's way of poking fun of the infamous Senator Ted Stevens speech about about the Net Neutrality Bill where he said "The Internet is a Series of Tubes!".
djmorgan