Easter Eggs
Living Document
—
Evan Ovadia
I often like to hide a little "easter egg" note in the side notes, and see if anyone finds them before I remove them.
Below is a list of past easter egg notes, enjoy!
Also, if you have any ideas for future easter egg notes, let me know! You can reach me via email, twitter, or discord. Cheers!
King Neptune
Was in Crossing the Impossible FFI Boundary, and My Gradual Descent Into Madness:
King Neptune is a pig that singlehandedly raised $19 million for the construction of the U.S. Navy's
Iowa-class battleship Illinois during World War 2.
Originally intended to be served as a pig roast, the Navy recruiter, had a better idea: auction the pig! But each time he tried to auction it off, the winner returned King Neptune alive and well.
After an extensive fundraising career, King Neptune retired to a farm in Anna, Illinois, and died a hero. He was buried with military honors.
If you read this note, mention "battleship" or "Neptune" anywhere on HN or reddit!
Nobody will believe you.
Cheers to u/sebamestre for catching this one:
This is so cursed. I love it. Your writeups are always great btw, they dig deep into dense technical and low level subjects but I can always sail right through them end to end (like a battleship) without breaking a sweat.
Thank you my friend!
Cher Ami
Was in Higher RAII, and the Seven Arcane Uses of Linear Types:
Cher Ami was a carrier pigeon during World War I that served with the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Despite being shot and wounded by enemy fire, Cher Ami showed remarkable bravery and grit, delivering a crucial message that saved the lives of a trapped American battalion.
Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre, a French military honor, for her bravery.
If you read this note, sneak the word "pigeon" into an
HN/
reddit comment and
try to sound sane, to be awarded the highest honor I can bestow.
Cheers to robert-wallis and Geroman Joe for catching this one!
How about COO - Close Object Obligation? And you could sound like a pigeon saying "coo" during talks explaining it.
Nice post. You could call them something like "life cycle objects", or "leased objects," since you have to finish them via a life cycle function, or terminate the lease so to speak. Sorry if sound like a drunk pigeon...
To thee I bestow the honor of being the High Linear Chancellors of the Noble Avian Expanse. Huzzah!
Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III
Was on Vale's First Prototype for Immutable Region Borrowing:
Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III, colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King's Guard, is a widely celebrated national hero. A statue was erected in his honor in 2005, and he was even awarded a knighthood by
King Harald V himself.
Oh also, Nils Olav is a
king penguin.
During his knighting ceremony, the King declared that Nils was, as a penguin, "in every way qualified to receive the honour and dignity of knighthood".
If you read this note, mention Nils Olav on
HN or
r/programming!
Nobody will believe you.
Congrats to cbsmith, kubanczyk, TheGoldenMinion, lovich, padraig_oh, and leksak for catching this one!
G. I. Joe
Was on Making C++ Memory-Safe Without Borrow Checking, RC, or GC:
A pigeon named
G. I. Joe was awarded the
Dickin Medal for gallantry for saving the British 56th infantry division and the inhabitants of Calvi Vecchia, Italy.
G. I. Joe successfully flew a last-resort message to the nearby allied artillery to cancel bombarding the city, which the infantry had just successfully taken over.
o7, you brave bird!
If you read this note, leave a comment (
HN /
r/cpp),
nobody will believe you.
Congrats to dwr90, nico mac, LLyaudet, chris_wot, and saagarjha for catching this one!