11-year-old wins 7th annual Doodle 4 Google competition

11-year-old Audrey Zhang of Long Island won the 2014 Doodle 4 Google competition with her drawing of a futuristic water purifier.

The folks at Google helped Audrey turn her doodle into a moving animation. She was rewarded with a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 grant for her school.

Read more here.

Google unveils its self-driving car

From the official Google blog:

We're planning to build about a hundred prototype vehicles, and later this summer, our safety drivers will start testing early versions of these vehicles that have manual controls. If all goes well, we'd like to run a small pilot program here in California in the next couple of years. We’re going to learn a lot from this experience, and if the technology develops as we hope, we'll work with partners to bring this technology into the world safely.

If you'd like to follow updates about the project and share your thoughts, please join us on our new Google+ page. We're looking forward to learning more about what passengers want in a vehicle where their number one job is to kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

While I think this is a brilliant concept, coupled with amazing technology, I don't believe I'll be relinquising control of the steering wheel anytime soon.

Just how big is Google? Bigger than you think.

An updated, more accurate Google logo

(from Watchdog.org)

Amazing hyper-lapse video made with Google Street View

Everyone is familiar with time-lapse video, in which a stationary camera shoots frames at a slower speed and then strings those images together to create a scene that seems to fly by. A hyper-lapse video is very similar, but it takes the process one step further by adding camera movements, usually focusing on a particular point of interest.

A hyper-lapse video system utilizing Google Street View has been developed byTeehan+Lax, and it is definitely one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Check it out!


(via Kottke)

Google's hilarious April Fools' Day prank: Announcing shutdown of YouTube

Turns out YouTube was nothing more than a contest to find the best video.

Thanks for all your great entries. YouTube finally has enough videos to begin selecting a winner. What do you think is the #bestvideo on YouTube?

We've been thrilled with all of the diverse, creative entries we've seen so far, and we can't wait to begin the process of selecting the best video. We'll be announcing the winner in 10 years.

I think Google is getting smart with me

Actually, it's just Google's way of having a little fun.

Tour New Zealand with Google Sheep View

I'm surprised this sort of thing isn't seen more often on Google Street View in New Zealand.

View in Google Maps here.

(Google Sightseeing)

Tour the Grand Canyon with Google Maps

Visit Google Sightseeing and take the tour.

Winter arrives in Norway without any warning

Ah! There's nothing like strolling along the fjord on a warm, summer afternoon.

Hmmmm. Is it suddenly getting a little nippy out here, or is it just me?

(from Google Sightseeing)

Happy little birthday to Bob Ross

Google is celebrating the 70th birthday of painter Bob Ross with a happy little doodle.

Amazing photos offer a rare glimpse inside Google

The internet isn't, as Senator Ted Stevens suggested, a "series of tubes," but you will certainly notice a lot of tubes in this amazing photo gallery of Google's data centers.

These colorful pipes are responsible for carrying water in and out of our Oregon data center. The blue pipes supply cold water and the red pipes return the warm water back to be cooled.

Our Council Bluffs data center provides over 115,000 square feet of space. We make the best out of every inch, so you can use services like Search and YouTube in the most efficient way possible.

A rare look behind the server aisle. Here hundreds of fans funnel hot air from the server racks into a cooling unit to be recirculated. The green lights are the server status LEDs reflecting from the front of our servers.

(via Colossal)

New Google Doodle in honor of Star Trek's 46th anniversary

The latest Doodle to be featured on Google's home page is a cute, interactive homage to the original Star Trek series, which celebrates its 46th anniversary today.

For more info on how to play, click here.

15-year-old develops new and improved cancer test...using Google

Jack Andraka of Maryland won $75,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May for developing a screening test for pancreatic cancer that's faster, more sensitive, and cheaper than the current standard. What's even more amazing is that he's only 15 and did most of his research online.


Andraka is now continuing his research at Johns Hopkins University.

(via InfoWars.com)

Google Streetview in South Africa

This is a pretty typical scene at the Addo Elephant National Park.

(from Google Sightseeing)

Google Chrome's imperfect "incognito" function

The Google Chrome browser has an incognito function (Ctrl+Shift+N) that allows users to surf the net without tracking web pages or cookies. This feature, however, does have its limitations:

The South Pole on Google Street View

If you're ever find yourself down at the South Pole, you can now use Google Street View to help you get around. Of course, all the streets look the same.

Google doodle in honor of synthesizer inventor Robert Moog

Today, May 23, is the birthday of Robert Moog, a pioneer in electronic music who invented the first playable keyboard synthesizer. In honor of Moog, Google is featuring an interactive doodle in the form of a virtual synthesizer. (Check it out here.)

You can play by clicking on the piano keys, or by using your computer's keyboard. For a more in-depth user guide, click here.

Experiment with different synthesizer sounds, compose your own tunes, and then record and share them with friends. Someone has already used the doodle to record Gary Numan's "Cars" and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love."

Have fun!

Google Amazon View

Google has expanded its Street View feature to include the Amazon River, or at least part of it. Check it out:




View Larger Map
(via Google Sightseeing)

Interactive Google doodle in honor of Jim Henson's 75th birthday

Muppet creator Jim Henson would have been 75 today. In honor of his legacy, Google has collaborated with The Jim Henson Company to create an interactive doodle featuring six original Muppet characters.

You can access the doodle via your Google home page. Using your mouse and keyboard you can make the characters look around and open and close their mouths. There are other hidden animations to be discovered as well.