The robots have begun to invade the world, starting with Firefox 3! That’s right, the next-generation browser may not be what we were expecting all along. They are trying to pose as friendly inhabitants of the browser, but don’t get sucked into their evil spell. It’s too late for me, but save yourselves by switching to Internet Explorer!
Okay, maybe that’s a bit over-the-top, but the robots have definitely found a home in the latest Firefox 3 Beta 5. As James pointed out via a comment all you have to do is type about:robots into your address bar and press Enter. You should see this message:
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!
Welcome Humans!
We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill!
- Robots may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- Robots have seen things you people wouldn’t believe.
- Robots are Your Plastic Pal Who’s Fun To Be With.
- Robots have shiny metal posteriors which should not be bitten.
And they have a plan.
Here’s a screenshot of the message you’re presented with.
(Click to Enlarge)
You’ll notice that the title of the page is “Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!” What does it mean? It’s from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still released in 1951, where that particular message was meant to stop the robot Gort from destroying Earth [via Wikipedia].
What’s even better is that clicking the “Try Again” button will just replace it with another button that says “Please do not press this button again.” Naturally you’ll want to click it again, and then it will just disappear.
Note: This Easter Egg is only available in Firefox 3 Beta 5 and beyond.
Guess you did not read this yet….About:mozilla…here its for u if you have not tried yet
Mammon slept. And the beast reborn spread over the earth and its numbers
grew legion. And they proclaimed the times and sacrificed crops unto the
fire, with the cunning of foxes. And they built a new world in their own
image as promised by the
sacred words, and spoke
of the beast with their children. Mammon awoke, and lo! it was
naught but a follower.
from The Book of Mozilla, 11:9
(10th Edition)
Freaking awesome!
I hoped they would have included about:icecream instead of the robots, although you can add it as an extension:
[addons.mozilla.org]
(You’ll have to read the backstory for it to make sense)
We actually did know about that. We wrote about it about a year and a half ago:
[cybernetnews.com]
I actually hadn’t heard of that before, but the backstory is great. Thanks for pointing that out, although I don’t see myself installing the extension.
I believe this calls for a video
[robotmarketplace.com]
Took you a few days to see that comment… Heh.
Actually you could do this in the 1.9 Trunk nightlies before 3.0b5 but I waited until after 3.0b5 was released as you had to use this chrome://browser/content/aboutRobots.xhtml chrome url to see this before 3.0b5 release.
Bug#417302
be gentle… I’m giving it my best shot!
Gort! … damn, I have no idea
Klaatu barada nikto! …. the day the earth stood still!
Welcome Humans!
We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill!…?
* Robots may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. …. Asimov (I, Robot)
* Robots have seen things you people wouldn’t believe… Bladerunner?
* Robots are Your Plastic Pal Who’s Fun To Be With. … Sirius cybernetics corporation, Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy..
* Robots have shiny metal posteriors which should not be bitten…. Bender! (Futurama)
And they have a plan….. Terminator series(?)
“And they have a plan….. Terminator series(?)”
The new Battlestar Galactica
Wow Kaj… I didn’t realize that some of those different sentences came from different robot films. And Gort was actually the name of the robot in the Day the Earth Stood Still.
I believe you left the comment on Friday after we had already “closed up shop” for the weekend. On the weekends we like to take a break from the site otherwise we’ll get burned out.
A funny coincidence… I had just finished watching the movie “I, Robot” before I saw the chrome url for this.
Another funny coincidence… I had just read about gort before I got here.
Good call on BSG… I totally blanked out on that, only remembered that I saw it on TV
i just had a mini orgasm when i tried this! love it.
Klaatu barada nikto are the words to the book of the dead from Army of Darkness