Tag: internet culture

The 12 best Google Easter Eggs of all time

DO A BARREL ROLL!

We recently covered the best Google Doodle video games, which reminded me of something else that delights us all when using the tech company’s search engine: Easter Eggs.

Anytime one of the little hidden features from Google pop up, it gets shared like crazy on social media — “Type in this and see what happens … click on that icon and watch what goes down.” I was reminded of this one because typing in Pac-Man brings the classic game up immediately.

So here’s a collection of some fan favorites, and there’s no doubt we’re going to be adding to this list down the road:

1. Do a barrel roll

Type that in and enjoy the result.

2. The Friends characters

Type in the name of any of the six main characters, find the icon that’s posted on the side of the page and click on it.

3. Google in 1998

Type that in to see what the search engine looked like way back when.

4. Wizard of Oz

This one is fun. Type in the classic movie, click on the ruby slippers and watch:

5. Thanos

Write it in, click on the Infinity Gauntlet and … snap.

6. Askew

I couldn’t look at this one for more than 10 seconds. Type it in and the resulting page looks … askew.

7. The answer to life the universe and everything

Of course, it’s 42. For all you Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy die-hards.

8. Flip a coin, Roll a die

In case you don’t have either handy.

9. Festivus

The pole!

10. Tic Tac Toe

Forgot to throw this one into my games post, but you can play against the search engine, and “impossible” mode lives up to the billing.

11. Metronome

For musicians, this is helpful.

12. Is Google down?

Google answers that question with a resounding NO.

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John Krasinski explains he sold ‘Some Good News’ because ‘it wasn’t sustainable’

The actor explains why he sold his series.

Actor, director and soon-to-be-former Some Good News anchor John Krasinski may have heard all of those criticisms from those who labeled him a “sellout” for taking his YouTube show and selling it to ViacomCBS.

In a chat with his former The Office co-star Rainn Wilson, he didn’t specifically talk about the accusations, but he did explain why he sold it in the first place.

“I was only planning on doing eight of them during quarantine,” he said, “because I have these other things that I’m going to be having to do very soon, like Jack Ryan and all this other stuff. But more than that, it was something that — writing, directing, and producing, all those things, with a couple of my friends was so much.”

“I knew it wouldn’t be sustainable with my prior commitments,” Krasinski added. “So I knew the two options always were going to be that I leave it off at eight in my office, which I would love to keep doing the show from my office forever. It just wasn’t sustainable.”

His comments came around the 16:40 mark:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAqdYi1pdKo/?utm_source=ig_embed

This makes the most sense. If he was just a guy who found fame through Some Good News, perhaps selling it would feel weird. But he’s got a lot of other irons in the fire, and continuing to produce/write/direct/star in the series was just too much.

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Explaining the differences between HBO Max, HBO Now and HBO Go

Confused? We’re here to help.

HBO Max is here, which means you could be adding yet another streaming service to your slate of offerings like Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and more.

But it also might be a little confusing. There was already HBO Now and HBO Go, and now there’s HBO Max? What the what?

That’s okay! I’m here to explain the whole thing, and it also seems like HBO — the original paid network that offers movies, specials and original series — knew that you would all be confused, so they put together a handy video to help.

Let’s start with that video and work our way through it together.

Here we go:

HBO Max

This is the new premium option and you don’t need to be a subscriber to HBO to get it. BUT! You do need to subscribe to HBO Max at $14.99 a month. There’s original programming, movies, and some classic series like Friends to watch.

The app is ready to be downloaded after Wednesday. But do you, as a subscriber, get it at no extra cost?

Per HBO:

HBO NOW direct-billed customers and those who are billed through Apple, Google Play, Samsung, Optimum, Verizon Fios Internet, Consolidated Communications, and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico have access to HBO Max right now, at no extra cost! …

If you subscribe to HBO through one of the providers below, you get access to HBO Max (at no extra cost!).

Apple TV Channels
AT&T TV
Cox
DIRECTV
Hulu
Optimum
Spectrum
Verizon Fios

If your provider isn’t listed, HBO says to “stay tuned.”

HBO GO

If you’re a subscriber to HBO and have a cable provider, you use HBO GO to stream content that you’d get from the network.

HBO NOW

If you’re a cord-cutter, this is what you were using to stream HBO content. It’s that simple: HBO Go is for cable, HBO Now is not.

However: the HBO Now app turned into the HBO Max app on Wednesday morning, which confused some folks:

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The 13 best Google Doodle games, ranked

Have time to kill? Try these out!

The Google Doodle is a work of art, sometimes interactive, and many times, informative (you find out who the Doodle is dedicated to).

And on occasion, Doodles have given us some simple but always-entertaining video games that have taken up hours — yes, for some of us, hours — of time. For this story, I did the hard work of re-trying them and some may have taken up a lot more time than others.

Let’s look back at the best of the best. I guarantee you’re going to play a bunch of these again to pass some time and remember how good they are:

13. The Scoville Game

Your ice cream tries to defeat some super spicy peppers. I did learn about Wilbur Scoville while playing it, but it’s not the best of the lot.

12. Basketball

Frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s fun.

11. Soccer

You’re a goaltender trying to stop some kicks. Not bad!

9. Rubik’s Cube

If you never solved one, now’s your chance to do it virtually.

8. Coding Rabbit

Fun for kids who like to code and a challenge for adults, too.

7. Hip Hop

I remember people making some amazing beats with this one in 2017.

6. Quick, Draw!

Underrated! You have 20 seconds to draw something a neural network then guesses. And they usually get it right, which is pretty incredible.

5. Pac-Man

A classic.

4. Garden Gnome

Remember that old game where you had to make a penguin go super far in the snow? It’s the same idea where you launch a gnome and see how far it’ll go. I hadn’t played this one until researching this post and I then wasted an hour one night playing.

3. Halloween 2016 — Magic Cat Academy

Or the “cat with a magic wand” game where you swipe certain ways to defeat some ghosts. Intense.

2. Cricket

We spent a whole afternoon as a staff trying to best each other.

1. Baseball

I spent A LOT of time figuring out how the pitcher’s hat color told me what pitch was coming. The GOAT!

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Jason Derulo wins the Wipe it Down challenge by turning into Spider-Man

If this was a contest, Derulo wins.

That’s it! Shut it down! Game over!

The Wipe it Down challenge — in which people on TikTok are wiping down their mirrors and suddenly finding another image looking back at them — has gotten its best entry yet (sorry, Will Smith, yours was fun but not the best) from singer/dancer/songwriter Jason Derulo. And wow, it’s a mini movie that must have had a large budget.

In the video, he’s bitten by a radioactive spider — complete with a closeup of the bite — and suddenly, he’s Spider-Man, complete with web-shooting capabilities.

With this, I declare the Wipe it Down challenge over. Time to find another TikTok trend to attempt, everyone.

 

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John Krasinski sold ‘Some Good News,’ but should he be derided as a sellout? A debate

Is that true?

For eight weeks, we’ve been blessed to watch episodes of Some Good News with actor John Krasinski hosting from his home, sharing some amazing things happening during a horrifically awful time in the world.

There was the Hamilton cast reuniting to perform for a fan. Joe Buck got to call play-by-play in one episode. Krasinski held a prom, a potluck, a graduation with big name celebrities participating and a wedding with The Office cast.

After it appeared he signed off for a while in episode 8, there was, uh, some news about Some Good News: ViacomCBS acquired it, with Krasinski reportedly bowing out as host but staying on as executive producer, per Deadline.

That led to some accusations of selling out from social media, and we here at For The Win have some thoughts on that. Here’s a debate on the topic:

No, Krasinski isn’t “selling out”

I honestly don’t know all the behind-the-scenes stuff with how Some Good News was produced. But I can imagine it was a heavy lift for Krasinski and whoever he was working with to put together these huge episodes and magical moments. There was the technical work to get everyone on video chat, the collecting of viral videos, writing the script, etc.

So it wasn’t going to last forever, and frankly, I’d rather have more SGN than no SGN. And let’s all remember entertainment is a business. Something as magical as this was never going to sit in its own bubble forever. My hope is with the actor still attached, it’ll keep its mostly amateurish feel to it and the heart that made us go back every Monday to see what Krasinski and Co. pulled off. — Charles Curtis

Krasinski should have let it be

Not everything needs to be flipped for a profit.

The appeal of Krasinski’s SGN was that it had a homemade, low-budget feel that gave the product it’s authenticity. Krasinski nailed the formula from the start — a Weekend Update style broadcast that focused on good things, was intermittently funny and relied heavily on famous guest stars.

That people immediately wanted to take it off his hands and repackage it for a ton of money is not a surprise. Neither is the fact that he sold it, though I really wished that he had let it die. SGN was a delightful internet show, and turning it into some kind of network packaged special is sure to backfire. What made his clips go viral was their sincerity. That’s impossible to replicate at the hands of a behemoth like Viacom. The show also had a singular editorial vision and zero advertising.

Now, all SGN viral clips are going to be brought to you by Tide or Geico or some other major company desperately trying to squeeze even more money out of you. SGN was a great thing because it was just Krasinski goofing around in his house and getting his famous friends together to spread a few smiles for people stuck at home. He should have just let it be that, and remain a positive, happy memory for people. Now, it’s going to turn into corporate, unwatchable schmaltz. But hey, at least a rich man got a few bucks richer. — Hemal Jhaveri

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Will Smith gives the world a ‘Men in Black’ Wipe it Down Challenge

Good one, Agent J.

Actor and rapper Will Smith is really good at social media — remember when the Philadelphia native chronicled his reactions to the Eagles’ run to a Super Bowl?

So of course he’s submitted a solid TikTok, following so many others who are posting Wipe It Down challenge entries.

As a reminder: the challenge consists of filming yourself wiping down a mirror, and on certain swipes, you reveal a different image. Smith’s alternate was himself in Men in Black, with a punchline that showed his Agent J using that flashing light thing at the end of the video.

Good work right here.

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Krispy Kreme: People are waiting in long lines to get free donuts

Graduating seniors, you’re in luck!

The coronavirus pandemic has put a lot of daily activities on hold, some more crushing than others. For graduating  high school and college seniors, the pandemic has robbed them of the best parts of senior year, namely all the parties that go along with actually getting a diploma. It won’t make up for it, but Krispy Kreme is offering a free box of donuts to the class of 2020 at their locations today, May 19.

To get the free box, seniors need to prove that they are graduating this year. They’ll need to either show up wearing a cap or gown with a 2020 tassel, or some kind of class of 2020 swag or a high school ring.  For those that don’t have tassels or rings, seniors can also bring a student ID or a graduation announcement.

Of course, people are excited about this reason to celebrate, and lines for some Krispy Kreme locations stretched down the street.

Honestly, I don’t want to see anyone making fun of people for waiting in line for free donuts.  First of all, you never know what someone is going through, but also, free food is free food. Get those donuts but be nice and patient with the people serving you.  Also, congratulations to all the graduating seniors in 2020! It it truly sucks that your senior year had to end like this, but on the bright side, free donuts!

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Everything you need to know about the TikTok Wipe it Down challenge

Wipe, wipe, wipe it down, wipe.

With so many people stuck at home as quarantining and social distancing continues into May, TikTok has continued to be a place where folks can flex some serious creativity and take on some challenges — remember “Flip the Switch” that Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez pulled off?

The latest trend that’s burning up the digital airwaves? It’s the “Wipe it Down” Challenge, and like the “Flip the Switch,” it involves setting up your phone to face a mirror.

It starts with someone wiping down the mirror with glass cleaner, and when you swipe, the image in the mirror switches back and forth with every wipe. It’s the perfect thing for these crazy times when we’re washing and wiping everything in sight.

Influencer JoJo Siwa was trending Tuesday morning with her entry:

Here are some other good ones:

 

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Roger Federer had a playful Q&A with fans using only GIF responses

Ask Fed anything and he’ll answer… sort of.

Roger Federer loves his GIFs. The 20-time Grand Slam champ doesn’t always respond to fans on social media, but when he does, it’s often with a perfect GIF and few to no words.

And that’s what happened Sunday on Twitter in what appeared to be an impromptu Q&A with fans grilling Federer on a wide variety of topics, ranging from his food preferences to cartoons to the best Avenger to his favorite GIF. He covered a bit of ground with some delightful exchanges — calling them conversations seems like a bit of a stretch here — with fans into the later hours of the night for the Swiss player.

Surely like tennis fans everywhere, we love seeing this side of Federer for an extended period of time while everyone is social distancing as much as possible because of the coronavirus outbreak. So here’s a sample of his endearing Q&A with his supporters.

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