Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tesla's Newest Holiday Update Includes an Easter Egg: 'Santa Mode' (engadget.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the run-run-Rudolph dept.

An anonymous reader quotes Engadget: Dive into the Easter egg section on your EV and you'll discover a reindeer button that invokes a Santa Mode. To say it brings a Christmas vibe to your car would be an understatement. It turns your car into Santa's sleigh on the dash display (and other cars into reindeer), but that's really just the start of the flourishes. The new mode plays the late, great Chuck Berry's version of "Run Rudolph Run" when it first kicks in, for one thing. You'll also hear sleigh bells when you invoke a turn signal. And if you're fortunate enough to have a car with Autopilot, the road ahead will suddenly turn icy.
The article includes a video showing that the voice command to enable Santa mode is -- of course -- "Ho ho ho."

Engadget calls it "one of the perks of owning a Tesla in the first place. The combination of all-digital displays and frequent software updates lets Tesla add little delights that you couldn't get if you had to stare at an old-school instrument cluster."

40 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Did they get the owners' permission by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ah yes, Abraham and his reindeer.

  2. Re:Best of all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    blow-job mode.

    My old girlfriend, during those rare times in blow job mode, would go into autopilot. I didn't realize she was ahead of the times.

  3. .. I'm sold.. by geekymachoman · · Score: 2

    Well that's it then... I'm getting one!

  4. Re:Overmodernized cars by polar+red · · Score: 1

    no problem with that, but only if you use that car in a closed environment. because humans are bad drivers. Bring on those self driving cars !

    --
    Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
  5. Oh dear ... by Alain+Williams · · Score: 3, Insightful

    much as I like Christmas & don't want to be a party pooper & all that .... is this really a good idea, is it safe ?

    Easter egg code tends to be more buggy than the rest:, it tends to be written more quickly (not much budget for a frivolous project) and it won't be as well tested. Is this really wanted in something on which your life depends ? Also: since it is new it will be more of a distraction to the driver -- when s/he should be keeping his eyes on the road (especially at a time of year when more than usual will have more to drink than is wise).

    What next ? A fun little game hidden inside the Air Traffic Control software ? There are times when us programmers should think of the consequences.

    1. Re:Oh dear ... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I just wish they wouldn't waste time on this crap and instead add basic features that the car is missing. Auto wipers and speed sensitive volume control would have been much better Xmas presents.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Oh dear ... by flux · · Score: 2

      As all easter eggs in Tesla software, you need to explicitly enable them. They are not going to jump up unexpected.

    3. Re:Oh dear ... by Kokuyo · · Score: 2

      There's easter eggs that a developer threw in on his own, which management usually doesn't want on company time, and then there's somewhat nutty, somewhat nerdy CEOs who tells you to do something awesome.

      The latter is official code that gets, hopefully, the same scrutiny as the rest of the project.

      I don't think changing the imagery on the dashboard and the soundeffects of certain actions is in any way dangerous.

      In fact, I think Tesla should think about making the cars moddable.

    4. Re:Oh dear ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Almost certain those are patented. So don't expect it any time soon.

    5. Re:Oh dear ... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      You think any BLOW YOUR MIND blogger would write about auto wipers and volume controls?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Oh dear ... by Kjella · · Score: 2

      As long as there's no bugs... just last week I had a coworker who intended to change the code from

      WHERE a AND b
      to
      WHERE a AND (b OR c)
      but actually wrote
      WHERE a AND b OR c
      and at least in SQL Server that resolves as
      WHERE (a AND b) OR c

      Something like
      WHERE sound_is_active = 1 AND play_startup_jingle = 1 OR xmas_mode = 1
      and suddenly you have an xmas sound when it's supposed to be in silent. Yes, poor data model and poor code but shit happens.

      In any case, it doesn't address the main issue. Whether you manually enable it or not, the whole point is to make you pay attention to the easter egg when you should have been paying attention to the road. On a scale of "being as dull as possible" to "now with Pokemon Go car edition" it's weak sauce but IMHO it's principally wrong to steal focus away like that.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    7. Re:Oh dear ... by Viol8 · · Score: 1

      Most of these bloggers probably don't even have a license and think a car is just a tablet with some wheels and a seat attached.

    8. Re:Oh dear ... by hawk · · Score: 1

      From the description, it sounds like this is *purely* a final rendering/output issue.

      Now, if the car were to *do* something (brake; wiggle; spin wheels; honk) when it saw a reindeer or sleigh on the road, I'd be far more concerned . . .

      hawk

    9. Re:Oh dear ... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You think any BLOW YOUR MIND blogger would write about auto wipers and volume controls?

      Given that they are luxury-car features, yes. Besides, Elon can drop a deuce at eight AM and there will be blog posts about how great it is by nine.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    10. Re:Oh dear ... by Vairon · · Score: 1

      Yes, by Nissan Motor Company it seems.

      https://www.google.com/patents...

  6. shows Tesla just isn't ready for mainstream yet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This shows incredible immaturity from Tesla, this sort of crap used to be common from many of the major software vendors but it was stomped out as such immature garbage is simply another opportunity to introduce security, stability or other undesired bugs.

  7. Re:Overmodernized cars by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

    Couldn't agree more. But it's easier to click mod>-1 than to argue.

  8. Re:How Political Incorrect !! by DavidMZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For the entire 8 years of Obama's administration "Merry Christmas" was in the banned list.

    That's strange... Obama has said Merry Christmas in many occasions. I guess that the only thing that's in the "banned list" of Trump supporters is critical thinking.

  9. God no.. by Edis+Krad · · Score: 1

    Just what I want in a vehicle that's in charge of my safety: Bloatware.

    1. Re:God no.. by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      A bit more sensitivity, the ware is just big boned and it's a glandular problem.

      Or what's the politically correct term for land whale now?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  10. Stop this! by kaur · · Score: 2

    A large robot with hidden, undocumented, surprise features is a danger.
    A potential killer.
    The particular one might seem funny, but it sets the precedent.
    If it trains the OEM-s to take this as a normal practice, then we will be doomed.

    Sooner or later, some device will have such last-minute cute hack open for exploits.

    The behavioural specs of the cars - or any public-use robots - must be fully transparent, compliant to whatever standards there will be, and open for public attestation or scrutiny.

  11. Re:Overmodernized cars by nospam007 · · Score: 2

    "How about fscking no?
    I want my ride to be completely offline and electrically dumb as possible so the least exploits or any kind of remote control.
    I want knobs and switches, that I don't need to look away from the road, when I want to change the volume."

    We know.
    That's why we didn't give you a Tesla for Christmas.

  12. Re:How Political Incorrect !! by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Funny

    Let's start worshiping Martha Steward so we'll get seasoning gratings instead.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. Re:Easter Egg Santa Mode? That's sick. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Hey! Stop pooping the Christmas Bunny, Harvey here is really pissed already!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  14. Mode? by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    What is this codemirror, we can write our own compilers to do pretty much what we want. mode = "x-scss-terror"; :P

    --
    [($)]
  15. Please avoid easter eggs in cars by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

    Lives are at stake.

    --
    Avantgarde Hebrew science fiction
  16. Who said that? by AndyKron · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Frequent software updates are a perk? Really? Who said that?

    1. Re:Who said that? by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Frequent software updates are a perk? Really? Who said that?

      Frequent software updates aren't the perk, timely software updates are the perk. Everyone would prefer that software arrive in their hands bug-free, but the next best thing is that you get fixes rapidly. I've never had any meaningful bug-free software in my hands. QED.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  17. Re:How Political Incorrect !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Let's ban sliced cheese and make America grate again.

  18. Nothing says Xmas like a 12-car pileup! by Chelloveck · · Score: 2

    And if you're fortunate enough to have a car with Autopilot, the road ahead will suddenly turn icy.

    As someone who spent four hours yesterday driving at half-speed on legitimately icy roads, I feel obliged to say, fsck you and the reindeer you rode in on, Tesla.

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
  19. Re:This is why I would never buy Tesla by stabiesoft · · Score: 1

    Wow, I read the one about the A-pillar and find it hard to believe. How did that get thru the dealer prep? I've heard of some pretty crazy stuff getting delivered but never something you could see with a casual glance. And then for the delivery guy to say I don't know if I can get you a loaner! My caddy dealer offers loaners if the oil change is going to take more than 30 minutes.

  20. Neat idea by prefec2 · · Score: 1

    For people who have nothing to decide otherwise can now switch the design and layout of their car controls. Most likely this is a safety hazard and also -- what the heck, this is a car not a smartphone screen. Fortunately, you do not need to activate it, but how about "ho ho ho" audio tracks send to you via radio or on other entertainment crap. BTW: Easter egg for Christmas? Really?

  21. Re:shows Tesla just isn't ready for mainstream yet by sjames · · Score: 1

    I see you've had your steaming cup of Bah Humbug this morning. Were you hoping for a cookie to go with it?

  22. Re:Easter Egg Santa Mode? That's sick. by prefec2 · · Score: 1

    Chris Kringle and the Easter Bunny are the same person. Or have you EVER seen them together. They both hide packages of questionable origin in your house and garden. And they NEVER appear together.

  23. Re: shows Tesla just isn't ready for mainstream ye by prefec2 · · Score: 1

    A car is not a toy. It is a tool to get me from A to B with comfort and without surprises. I do not need a Santa feature. I had one on my Linux desktop back in the days. It was nice but did not help with anything. it was an unnecessary distraction. You do not want that in a car.

  24. Re: This is why I would never buy Tesla by Monster_user · · Score: 1

    A touch screen requires focus. It may be intuitive, but it is very difficult to operate "blind folded", that is, it is difficult to operate without taking your eyes off the road.

  25. I would be disturbed by this by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one that would be disturbed by random software updates to a vehicle I'm driving?
    Tesla owners: Is there a way to completely turn off the vehicles' update function? Disable the transceiver, perhaps?

  26. Re: shows Tesla just isn't ready for mainstream ye by ELCouz · · Score: 1

    Then don't activate it...

  27. Re: shows Tesla just isn't ready for mainstream ye by prefec2 · · Score: 1

    This is totally beside the point and you know it.

  28. Be Still My Beating Heart by Toad-san · · Score: 1

    "Engadget calls it "one of the perks of owning a Tesla in the first place. The combination of all-digital displays and frequent software updates lets Tesla add little delights that you couldn't get if you had to stare at an old-school instrument cluster.""

    Perk. Delight. Riii-ight.