Easter egg?

[Doc Overkill]

Gang,
I just upgraded from Office X to 2004. Today I opened an Excel
spreadsheet that I've been using for a year, and in the print preview
there was a tiny picture of "dogs playing poker" in the top left
corner! (I didn't put it there...) It even printed with it.

I found that it was in the header, and was able to delete it. But it
still struck me as a potentially harmful "easter egg." For example, if
this was a critical report that I was going to email to the CEO of the
company to show at a board meeting, and I didn't first run print
preview (why would I since it's been printing fine for the past year),
it might look very unprofessional to have this junk inserted into it.

_dennis

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I just upgraded from Office X to 2004. Today I opened an Excel
spreadsheet that I've been using for a year, and in the print preview
there was a tiny picture of "dogs playing poker" in the top left
corner! (I didn't put it there...) It even printed with it.

The file has, at one time or another, been on a PC, right?

Since MacXL headers and footers couldn't display a graphic image in the
header until XL04, that image has probably been in the file for a while.
It just wasn't visible to you. IIRC, WinXL has been able to insert
graphics in headers since XL02.

I found that it was in the header, and was able to delete it. But it
still struck me as a potentially harmful "easter egg."

If it was in the file, it's not an Easter Egg. It's also inconceivable
to me that MacBU would insert graphics in the headers of files. That's
professional suicide.

For example, if this was a critical report that I was going to email
to the CEO of the company to show at a board meeting, and I didn't
first run print preview (why would I since it's been printing fine
for the past year), it might look very unprofessional to have this
junk inserted into it.

Yup, but don't blame MS - find your guilty co-worker and thrash him
about the head and shoulders.