Ugh.. it doesn't do tail call optimization? What is this, Python? Scheme has had this for years and is actually required to conform to the spec! Get with it Google!
Call me crazy, but I just can't help but keep clicking that damn link, hoping to find the real Easter egg when I "blow the stack"...
Only hit the first few magic numbers so far, but I'm kinda nervous about bombing Google with too many requests in a short period of time, I doubt they look kindly on that...ah well, better things to do with my time anyhow.
I don't think you can blow the stack. They do Tail Recursion Optimization, meaning they don't maintain a stack of previous web pages since the information isn't required anymore.
The results change a bit every once in a while, too, but that may just be some internal pseudo-randomness in the search results algorithm, I'm not sure.
Maybe the second poster just needed to be less complete...
One of my high school buddies would do this (only once per audience, granted).
I would tell a joke. People would laugh. Then he would start telling the same joke, trailing off when people started looking at him funny, ending with "Well, it was funny when HE told it!"
Whew 14 points in the hole on the snake link. Note to self, commenting is dangerous!, just submit, submit, submit...
Bah, I knew there was a reason I always hated recursion (except for parsing). The negative pointage just goes to prove it.
Pure coincidence. I often look for definitions as a way of remembering certain keywords in text (sort of like taking mental notes).
The submission on reddit now has over 1200 upvotes which is crazy: it isn't that funny. Not to flog a dead horse, but the quality of that site really has gone down over the last two years or so.
Each team just manages the easter eggs in their own product, it's not like there is the Easter Egg Department which has goals for the quarter of x new easter eggs reaching y million people.
So in this case it's the same team that handles all the "did you mean" stuff.
Why? It's clever and it symbolizes Google's bubbly, geeky corporate personality. If I had to decide between working at two otherwise equal companies, I'd happily choose the one that encourages this type of playfulfulness. Small things like this matter a lot.
Someone took the time to make this joke, but it doesn't make the search engine work any better for me. I like it when I find easter eggs in video games. I don't like it when I find easter eggs in tools I use for work.
edit: Since I'm yelling anyway, Google's highly-corporate, brand-spanning, massive April Fools jokes leave a bad taste in my mouth.
This is also the most annoying thing about Wolfram Alpha; except with Alpha it's easier to find easter eggs than the data you wanted.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 446 ms ] threadOnly hit the first few magic numbers so far, but I'm kinda nervous about bombing Google with too many requests in a short period of time, I doubt they look kindly on that...ah well, better things to do with my time anyhow.
I would tell a joke. People would laugh. Then he would start telling the same joke, trailing off when people started looking at him funny, ending with "Well, it was funny when HE told it!"
You got me. Nice one.
The submission on reddit now has over 1200 upvotes which is crazy: it isn't that funny. Not to flog a dead horse, but the quality of that site really has gone down over the last two years or so.
Thanks for the downlinks I'll be here all day.
So in this case it's the same team that handles all the "did you mean" stuff.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2049834_keep-idiot-busy.html
edit: Since I'm yelling anyway, Google's highly-corporate, brand-spanning, massive April Fools jokes leave a bad taste in my mouth.
This is also the most annoying thing about Wolfram Alpha; except with Alpha it's easier to find easter eggs than the data you wanted.