Rex Hammock loves Google Earth. In his post about how cool the newest version of what he calls the "Best Program Ever" he writes this:
Not quite so significant, but really cool, the new version has a hidden feature, not publicized by Google: An F16 flight simulator, as described by a student in South Africa. It was discovered by someone who — and hats off to you people who do such things — held down the keys, Ctrl+Alt+A (or, if you’re running OS X it’s Command+Option+A). I’m sure, if you’ve grown up playing videogames or coding software, or whatever, you may think to click Ctrl+Alt+A when you’re trying out software, but I’m always impressed when I hear about the games developers play and the users who ask themselves, “I wonder what will happen if I do this…?”
I think anyone who has a kid that plays video games has experienced a similar phenomenon. On the rare occassion that I sit in with my kids to play X-Box they'll invariably point their avatar towards some inanimate object, say a big rock, then press the A, B and Z buttons simultaneously which causes their avatar to do a flip while busting a massive fart that causes the rock to melt and reveal a hidden passage. I ask them how they figured this out and they always say something like, "Well there's no other way off this level so I figured there must be some way to get to the other level. On my other game, ButtBlaster 5.0, if you hit A, B and Z you get a nuclear fart that kills the Super High Priest of Poop and those same guys made this game so I figured I could try the same thing on the rock." This is said in about two nano-seconds as they can't afford to be distracted from their conquest by actually engaging in thoughtful conversation (I'm convinced that commas aren't used in communication by anyone under the age of 25) and after my brain has caught up with what they've said I decide that:
- My kids are destined to be much more successful than me.
- I need to leave the room immediately, grab a beer and do what any self-respecting American male over the age of 40 would do: watch football on that totally retro TV.
