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up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-start (a.k.a. up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-select-start, the Konami code, 50 lives code, etc.)

Bob was looking at TiVo hacks today, and he found that there were some remote control button combinations that did cool things. I asked him if there was a 30 lives code for it. He said, "No, but you can put a bigger hard drive in it. That’s like a 5 lives code." I corrected him and said that it was a 30 lives code. Then, I asked Bob if he knew what up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-start was. His response was a disappointing, "No." I asked a student volunteer if he knew what it was. His response was also a disappointing, "No." All I could say was, "Oh my God! I am so old!" When I mentioned that the code was for Contra on Nintendo, the student volunteer said, "I play games like Halo 2; modern games"

Have you seen those shirts that have the code written on them with a NES controller on it? The shirt says, “Know your roots.” In this particular case, these poor souls did not know their roots. Luckily, we were able to find some images/video of Contra, and Bob finally realized that he had played the game, but he still did not know the code.

So, I plead my readers, know your roots. Get the code in your head and never let it go!