ABSTRACT
Many Americans have fond memories of searching for hidden eggs during Easter season. The desires to hide and search for treasure are the motivators behind computer Easter eggs. Easter eggs are generally harmless messages or software included inside other computer programs. These fun and entertaining tidbits are commonly hidden by software creators in the products they develop. Literally thousands of these little surprises are hidden in various applications. An early and popular example is the flight simulator game hidden in Microsoft Excel 97. This game could be accessed by following a simple series of steps that involved opening a new worksheet, going to an assigned cell, formatting it as prescribed, and clicking Control/Shift. For a long time this game was a favorite of students who were apt to play it instead of pursuing more productive activities during class time.
