It’s the time for Easter, a time for a vacation. Many of you are eagerly waiting for Easter week which is always celebrated on first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon following the Vernal Equinox. It gives us the chance to welcome the spring after the prolonged dark winters. Although Norway is predominantly a secular country, the arrival of spring is always welcomed by people to spend time with their loved one. It’s a time for a family reunion and a needed break from work and schools.
Easter is special for me; I look forward to Easter candy and Sunday dinners. I will cook leg of lamb stuffed with garlic and served with root vegetables and potatoes.
Why Paint Easter Eggs?
Painting Easter eggs are easier than trying to wallpaper them! Well jokes apart, but eggshells were decorated since ancient time. Ostrich eggs were decorated and engraved in ancient Africa dated 60,000 years ago. Eggs especially ostrich eggs are associated with death and rebirth. During the pre-dynastic period of Egypt and early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, decorated ostrich eggs with gold and silver, were placed in graves of Sumerians and Egyptians.
Influence of ancient Egyptians and Sumerians is seen on modern Christian and Islamic religions. Also, ancient influence like cultural, political and mercantile is seen around Mediterranean areas.
“Easter egg” for me defines a “secret feature” than the painting of eggs. This term originates from the 1979 video game called “Adventure”. It was coined for the Atari 2600 game console which was programmed by an employee “Warren Robinett”. Fearing competitors would steal his employees; Atari didn’t acknowledge employees names in the game credits. Warren Robinett who didn’t agree with his senior over lack of credits secretly and unknown to others, he inserted the message “Created by Warren Robinett”.
It was designed in such a way that, during a particular part of the game if the avatar of a player is moved over a particular pixel, the secret and unofficial message “Created by Warren Robinett” would appear.
After Robinett’s exit from Atari, the specific Gray Dot and the message which were unofficial were exposed by players. This discovery was soon informed to Atari. Atari’s management wanted the message to be removed but this would cost them a high price. Steve Wright, then the Director of Software Development at the Atari Consumer Division, proposes to keep the message and encouraged the insertion of such kind of messages in upcoming games, and coined them as Easter eggs for the players to find them.
With this “secret Easter egg’s”, I am hoping for a sunny weekend. Happy Easter to all, tune in next week for a new and exciting post 🙂 .
Happy Easter Björn!!