YouTube Easter Egg: Type '1337' for a Geek Surprise

YouTube is celebrating Geek Week, and that means the Google-owned video service is indulging its inner nerd to the max.

Case in point: a leetspeak Easter egg. Go to any YouTube page as of 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, and type the numbers 1337 — which, as any Internet veteran knows, is another way of saying "leet." Just type them on the page, not in the search bar; then, presto: All of the comments on that page are now in leetspeak.

Even if you don't understand the "language," it's a definite improvement on the average YouTube comment.

See also: Beyond Barrel Roll: 10 Hidden Google Tricks

Leetspeak, consisting mostly of number-based spellings and idioms, traces its origins back to online bulletin boards of the 1980s. If you've ever called someone a "n00b," crowed that your opponent has been "pwned" or complained that something is "teh sux0r," then you, too, have spoken leet (i.e. elite).

What do you make of this Easter egg: w00t or teh sux0r? Let us know — in leet or in English — in the comments.

Image: Flickr, Korosirego

1. 

   Gravity

   Enter "Google Gravity" in the search bar. Hit "I'm feeling lucky" (if you have Google Instant enabled, it's on the right hand side of the suggested searches). Then watch your world fall down.

2. 

   Askew

   Simply search for the word "askew." We dare you not to tilt your head.

3. 

   Chuck Norris

   Search for the Walker Texas Ranger star, hit I'm Feeling Lucky, and Google will school you in Norrisology.

4. 

   ASCII

   Searching for ASCII art -- the kind built out of characters -- is about the nerdiest thing you can do. Google salutes you with a special logo.

5. 

   Recursion

   Here's one for word nerds and philosophy majors. Search for "recursion" and Google asks "did you mean recursion?"

6. 

   Mentalplex

   This one started life as an April Fool's joke, but is still around at google.com/mentalplex. Baffle your less Internet-savvy family and friends!

7. 

   Pacman

   The Google doodle that launched a thousand lost hours of productivity will live forever at google.com/pacman.

8. 

   Ninja!

   Here's where Google easter eggs start to get a little more complex. Go to Google Reader, then use your cursor keys thus: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. A ninja then pops onto your screen and into your search box. Thankfully, this still works in the new version of Google Reader.

9. 

   Nessie

   Set your iGoogle homepage to the beach theme. Wait until 3:14am (or if you can't, just move your clock forward). What monster this way comes? Could we be on the shores of Loch Ness?

10. 

    Flight simulator

    This one began life as an easter egg, and became so well-loved that Google incorporated it as a feature in Google Earth. Click on Tools > Enter Flight Simulator, and you're off and flying around the planet. Bon voyage!