Filed under: iPod Family
Super Tuesday iPod touch Easter Egg
Perhaps Apple engineers wish they could vote for Lincoln this time around.
Thanks to the amazing DRP Team and pumpkin, and Francis who gave us the heads up on this
A sample of the Easter Egg...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-Countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured...
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
imacmatt09 said 11:07AM on 2-05-2008
Very nice :D
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Eckofish said 11:18AM on 2-05-2008
El Stevo might have someone's head for this. Great little treat non the less.
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(01) said 11:30AM on 2-05-2008
I doubt SJ will be too angry...there are Easter Eggs similar to this in OS X...good times though; an pretty topical, even though it was loaded months ago.
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imatt said 12:09PM on 2-05-2008
I don't think so...I believe it was starting with OS X that Steve said 'no more easter eggs.' Maybe it was 10.3 or something though, as that's the first version I have used. (aside from like OS 7 in elementary school.
robogobo said 6:06PM on 2-05-2008
think that's just a rumor.
krye said 11:36AM on 2-05-2008
Who finds this stuff?
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Brian said 8:16AM on 2-06-2008
That's the best question of all, I think.
Johnny said 11:42AM on 2-05-2008
FREEDOM!
Jailbreak freedom, that is.
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shaun said 12:00PM on 2-05-2008
I don't really understand what this is, can someone shed some light on it?
I'm from the UK if that has something to do with my non-understandage
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Norman Ferguson said 12:03PM on 2-05-2008
This is a quotation from Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address (for those who are not familiar with the minutia of American history).
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Don Incognito said 12:04PM on 2-05-2008
I remember the days of System 7 when Apple and Mac software was full of easter eggs. "About the Finder", anyone? Or Breakout? Or how about clicking on the version number of some control panel and getting a little treat?
It's really a shame that Jobs nixed the easter eggs after he returned. They were fun!
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nosidam said 8:34PM on 2-05-2008
The US government will not buy software that has "undocumented features" which is why easter eggs have disappeared.
Mo said 12:07PM on 2-05-2008
Presumably, you'll also find it if you unzip ~/Library/iTunes/Mobile Applications/iPod touch App Pack 4A93.ipa
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Jeff Harrell said 12:17PM on 2-05-2008
I don't think this is an Easter egg. The text has been hex-encoded. I think it's a cryptographic string of some kind. Not a secret key or anything, obviously, since it's just sitting in a property list file. But maybe it's a seed used for a random-number generator or something?
What would you need a long hexadecimal number for on the iPod Touch?
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Mo said 12:21PM on 2-05-2008
It's only in hex because that's how binary data's encoded in property list files; you'll get the actual ASCII text (though encapsulated in a binary data object) if you read it as intended.
I'd hazard a guess that the data block gets crytographically signed by iTunes when you buy the upgrade pack, and the block and signature together tell the iPod to enable the additional features.
The “easter egg” would therefore be the fact they picked *that* text, rather than a random string.
FB said 4:40PM on 2-05-2008
It's not hex - it's base64.
;^)
Joey said 1:01PM on 2-05-2008
What's this? Emancipation Proclamation for the iPhone from the evil monopolist named Apple? Hurray.
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Luigi193 said 1:53PM on 2-05-2008
I love easter eggs...
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Bram de Beijer said 1:54PM on 2-05-2008
it is just proof of the Infinite monkey theorem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem
Nice going apple chimps ;-)
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Allen said 2:11PM on 2-05-2008
Whatever. Where's album shuffle?
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