Seems like the brains behind Google have a pretty good sense of humour

Seems like the brains behind Google have a pretty good sense of humour
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From functional to fun: The all-powerful search engine is packed with more cool Google tricks than you realised.

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1. It can do a barrel roll!

1. It can do a barrel roll!
Reader's Digest

Type “do a barrel roll” into Google, click search, and your browser window will do a 360-degree spin.

It’s a geeky reference to Nintendo’s Star Fox series, in which a wise old rabbit named Peppy (an intergalactic fighter pilot) advises your character to avoid enemy fire by pulling said maneuver.

You can get the same fun Google tricks effect by typing “z or r twice” in reference to the controller buttons you’d press in the game.

2. It's a word nerd!

2. It's a word nerd!
Reader's Digest

Google “anagram” and the search engine will suggest “nag a ram.”

Very cute.

3. ...a serious word nerd

3. ...a serious word nerd
Reader's Digest

“Kerning” is a term that refers to the space between characters in a font.

So, when you Google “kerning,” it displays the results with odd spacing between the letters.

4. ...a very serious word nerd!

4. ...a very serious word nerd!
Reader's Digest

Here’s what “recursion” means, according to Google: “the repeated application of a recursive procedure or definition.”

When you search “recursion,” Google asks “Did you mean recursion?” with a link to a search for “recursion,” which then asks “Did you mean recursion?” with a link to a search for “recursion,” which then asks…

5. It can read images!

5. It can read images!
Reader's Digest

Looking for something specific, but don’t have the right keywords to describe it?

This is one of the more useful fun Google tricks.

You can “reverse image search” at images.google.com by clicking the camera icon, uploading an image, and then getting results of pictures that look similar.

(Make sure you’re okay with your photos floating around the web first.)

6. It's overrun by the zerg!

6. It's overrun by the zerg!
Reader's Digest

In a manner of speaking, anyway. The “zerg” are a race of insectoid aliens in the popular Starcraft video game series.

If you Google “zerg rush,” the Os in “Google” behave like zerglings, the race’s foot soldiers, and start chomping away at search results.

Click to destroy them all!

7. It speaks secret languages!

7. It speaks secret languages!
Reader's Digest

On the top of your Google homepage, hit the nine squares at the top and go to My Account.

Scroll to the bottom to find Language & Input Tools under Account Preferences.

You can change your language to fun ways of speaking like Muppets (Bork, bork, bork!), Elmer Fudd (Ewmew Fudd), Klingon, and pirate. For instance, with that last one you’ll find “moorr” instead of “more.”

8. It defies gravity!

8. It defies gravity!
Reader's Digest

Fun: Google Gravity shatters the search engine into pieces that you can drag and bounce around your screen.

9. It's got an answer for everything!

9. It's got an answer for everything!
Reader's Digest

Even though Google’s “Street View” cars can’t quite make it to Antarctica, if you browse Google Maps there, you’ll see appropriate photos of local fauna.

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