Yep, Google's up to its old tricks and has unleashed a trio of Easter eggs that are sure to thrill fans of numeral systems.
Here's how to find it: Go to Google and search for either "binary," "hexadecimal," or "octal." On the search results page, Google uses the numeral system from your query to show the number of matches, the Google Operating System blog reports.
A search for "binary," for instance, results in this:
The Easter egg doesn't appear to work with every numerical system known to humankind, however. But you should investigate for yourself.
Can't read binary, hexadecimal, or octal? Well, to convert Google's gag results to world-standard Hindu-Arabic numerals, use Google Search to convert the cryptic number. Example: "0b1010111101111001111000000000 in arabic."
Oh, and one more thing: Be sure to click the "Hide personal results" button in the top-right portion of the screen, or sign out of your Google account. If you don't, the Easter egg won't work.
Google's numeral gag is the latest in a long line of the company's loony Google Easter eggs, which PCWorld has carefully chronicled over the years.
Check out our April 2011, January 2011, and March 2008 compilations of Google's best put-ons and pranks.
Contact Jeff Bertolucci at Today@PCWorld, Twitter (@jbertolucci) or jbertolucci.blogspot.com.
