Relief is at hand for anybody who simply has to know at short notice just how many seconds are left in the decade.

Navigate to the Google home page and, with the search window left blank, click on the I'm Feeling Lucky button and a countdown clock will pop onto the screen counting down the seconds until the turn of the New Year in big blue numbers.

The JavaScript clock is available in all localised versions of the Google home page, and is based on an individual computer's IP address, so even if you type in the Australian Google URL, for example, you'll still see the UK countdown if that's where you're based.

Google is well known for its 'easter eggs' as these hidden features are well-known. Other efforts contain the results for a search for "the answer to life, the universe, and everything" being topped by the calculator result "42" - a reference to the late Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Labels: Google, google features, google updates, New feature in google