Unicornication
It was uncovered on Monday that ESPN’s website had been hacked.
Though the origin of the malicious code placed on the popular sports-news website still remains unknown, certain users of the ESPN homepage on Monday afternoon were treated to a startling discovery.
ESPN.com had been invaded by unicorns.
In an attack described by online news media outlets as “magical,” “cute,” or “sparkly,” the programming of ESPN.com was altered so that users who entered a specific key sequence on the website would activate an Easter egg that made images of unicorns appear on the page. Once active, the Easter egg would cause each click of a user’s mouse to result in an additional unicorn of varying sparkleositude or adorability to appearing on the screen, making normal navigation of the site difficult if not impossible. Additionally, story titles on the on ESPN.com’s front page were altered — the new headlines promising content such as the “lovely Rick Reilly” or “cute Bill Simms” in a neon-pink font.
While no persons have yet to take responsibility for the unicorn invasion, at least one website has suggested an entity known as “soon to be possibly unemployed web designer” may be involved in Monday’s event. However, clues to the possible identity of ESPN’s unicornicator have been found in the keystroke combination used to activate unicorn mode.
The code, achieved by typing in up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right on the keyboard’s arrow pad, followed by pressing b, then a, then the keyboard’s enter key exactly mirrors a combination known by video game enthusiasts as the “Konami Code.”
The “Konami Code” was used in a number of video games produced by the Konami Co. for the Nintendo Entertainment System such as the popular “Contra” franchise, which began in the late 1980s.
Though no direct link has yet to defined between Konami, ESPN.com, and the unicorn army, Internet posters have been swift in voicing their reaction to the ESPN.com’s unicornication. While the Internet majority position has yet to coalesce completely, with opinions ranging from that the attack was “awesome” to merely “pretty awesome,” it has been noted that incredibly short lifespan of the ESPN unicornication reflects an interesting aspect of Internet phenomenon in general.
While the exact duration of the unicorns’ stay on ESPN.com is currently unknown, the first reports regarding the attack emerged around 4:22 p.m. Central time. According to website PCWorld.com, by 4:44 p.m. ESPN.com had “killed its web ponies (and presumably fired one errant designer).” Nevertheless, within six hours of the event, news outlets as numerous and varied as NBC Dallas-Fort Worth and CNET and video-game blogs such as Kotaku and Joystiq.com had all mentioned the unicorn assault, spreading the sparkly spectacle of the one-horned wonders across the media sphere.
Though the final results of ESPN’s unicornication are not yet known (besides, of course, some Internet browsers finally having a reason to go to ESPN.com) the magical migration of the adorable creatures has left some unnerved by the Internet’s ability to spread data in such a quasi-viral fashion.
Many have speculated with consternation when and where the next Internet invasion by Lisa Frank notebook imagery could occur. With puppies, white tigers, neon penguins, Day-Glo cuddly wuddly bears, and poodles gnawing on giant strawberries all potential perpetrators behind the next Internet outage for any user who randomly inputs Nintendo cheat codes in to every site he or she visits, the stakes may be as high as they come.
Some have even wondered if this may be the beginning of a magical Internet conspiracy.
While no answers may come soon, watchfulness must be stressed lest sparkly vigilantism forever make the Internet resemble a tween’s trapper keeper, and though the anomalous code has been removed from EPSN.com (and no subsequent mention of unicorns has been made on the site), it may be too soon to say the damage has been repaired.
Like a puncture wound from a single, shiny horn, healing ESPN.com may take time, and given that by accessing a cached version of ESPN.com from Google can still take users to a unicorn-infested site, that time to heal may be long indeed.
Yet, despite the fact that on Monday, it was the horses (or unicorns) who took the users of the Internet for a ride, like a magical phoenix rising from the ashes, it’s likely that ESPN.com’s unicornication will eventually lead to changes that will make the Internet safer from all manner of creatures cute, cuddly, and wonderful.
And that is something that will no doubt sparkle with many.
comments powered by Disqus
