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Doodle friday: End your week with a penalty shootout
Relive the nail-biting insanity and inherent unfairness of soccer's penalty shootout over at Google right now, as you try to match our first-attempt score of 18 points and two gold stars. (We'll update this post as soon as an Engadget editor gets a result we can be proud of.) It's a ballistic way to end a run of Doodles that has already involved canoeing, hoops, hurdles and all-round Olympic work avoidance. Post your scores here at your own risk. Update: Did we say 18? We meant 81, but forgot to take a grab, so officially we'll have to make do with a top score of 34.
Hit the rapids with Google's latest Olympic doodle
It's time to pound the arrow keys again for Mountain View's latest Olympic doodle game, a whitewater slalom canoe challenge. The idea is to speed through the course with the left/right keys in the best time while using up/down to avoid rocks and the riverbank. Our intrepid web paddlers managed a time of 18 seconds so far, and you can post your own time in the comments below -- if you dare.
Google keeps the interactive Olympic doodles going, tests your spacebar with a game of hoops
If your keyboard survived yesterday's track & field test, the folks in Mountain View have posted another interactive doodle to satisfy your Olympic dreams. This time around, you can give arcarde-style basketball your best shot by tapping on your spacebar to get into a rhythm from the charity stripe. Once you hit that blue play button, you'll have 24 seconds to give the main search page your best Kevin Durant. A chance for Google+ bragging rights awaits your fingers via the source link below.
Google's Olympic doodles get interactive with button-mashing hurdles
Google has already churned out quite a few of its trademark doodles for the Olympics, but it's upped its game considerably today for its depiction of the hurdles. Pressing that red play button on the search engine's front page will let you test your Track & Field skills (and your keyboard's sturdiness) in an interactive event -- one where you can, naturally, also share your results on Google+ when you're finished. Hit the source link below to give it a go yourself.
Google's Turing doodle celebrates his genius, reminds us how dumb we are (video)
This week sees many corners of the globe celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing. A man whose contribution to the worlds of tech and gadgets is immeasurable -- a sentiment not lost on Google. Today, geeks and norms worldwide will be waking up to possibly the most complex doodle to date. Can you set the machine and spell out "Google"? If you can, you'll be sent off to lots more information about the man himself. This isn't the only thing Mountain View's done to keep his legacy alive, having previously helped Bletchley Park raise funds to purchase (and display) Turing's papers, and more recently helping curators at London's Science Museum with its Codebreaker - Alan Turing's Life and Legacy exhibition. If you haven't already, head to Google.com and pop your logic hat on, and if you get stuck, head past the break for a helpful video.
Google goes Moogle, celebrates Moog's birthday with interactive doodle
It's time to surrender another afternoon to an interactive Google doodle. The search engine has outdone itself in celebration of the late-Bob Moog's birthday. The electronic music pioneer was born on May 23rd, 1934. Seeing as how the anniversary isn't until tomorrow, the doodle hasn't actually hit our Google front page. Thanks to the magic of timezones, however, you can check it out on some of the company's many international sites, as our colleagues at Engadget Japanese pointed out. Google's really outdone itself here, you can play the synth doodle by tapping on the keys with your cursor, or by hitting the numbers on your keyboard. Naturally, there are plenty of knobs to fiddle with, and you can also record your musical experiments for posterity. Get switched-on with the music awesomeness in the source link below.
Google Doodle celebrates Gideon Sundback, unzips knowledge about your favorite wearables
We've covered no shortage of wearable gizmos over the years here at Engadget -- in fact, we've given 'em their own category -- but we most certainly haven't spent enough time praising one of the pioneers of the segment. Thanks to a highly pleasing Google Doodle, we're given the perfect chance to take a harder look at one Gideon Sundback, the electrical engineer responsible for developing the zipper. It's been called a "fly," prominently featured in an Outkast song and positively shunned on the Snuggie, and it's also a huge, huge part of worldwide culture. For those looking to learn more about the man, the myth and the mystery, head on down to the Wikipedia link below; if you just want to unzip your browser, well... click here.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum turns 30, gets immortalized as a Google Doodle
Today's Google UK doodle celebrates both St. Georges Day and the little home computer that became a British phenomenon, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. To be competitive with the rival Commodore 64, the 16KB of RAM-packing machine retailed for just £130 ($210 in today's money), punched well above its own weight and was often the first computer bought by techno-phobic families. Designed to be as programmer-friendly as possible, the founders of Shiny, Rare and Blitz Games studios all cut their teeth on the computer that introduced the world to Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy and Dizzy. It lasted a full decade in production, selling five million units before Amstrad purchased the money-losing unit and closed it down. Despite its demise, it's still got a loyal following from a generation of fans, something we doubt can be said about the Amstrad machines that replaced it.
Google doodle gets animated to honor zoopraxiscope creator
Long before there was Flash animation in the world, Eadweard Muybridge gave us the Zoopraxiscope, a simple stop-motion device considered by some to be the first-ever movie projector. Created in 1879, the player features spinning glass disks that give displayed images the illusion of movement. Muybridge, born this day in 1830, photographed a galloping horse to help settle the question of whether all four of the animal's hooves leave the ground at the same time while galloping (they do), later animating the image via his new invention. That movement can be set in motion with a click on today's Google doodle.
Google becomes the Clark Griswold of the internet with 'Jingle Bells' doodle
Having conquered so many aspects of the software world, it's time for Google to take the next logical step in its evolution: becoming that annoying neighbor who always goes a bit overboard each year with the Christmas display. This time out, Google's doodle lets you play five notes of "Jingle Bells" manually, bringing down the lights and finishing up the song with a full-on holiday light show. Check it out, but don't blame us if your computer blows a fuse.
Google launches revamped doodle website, store, self-celebration ensues
Google is inviting users to take a trip down Memory Lane, with a new web archive on one of its most celebrated traditions -- the Google doodle. Last week, the search giant unveiled a revamped doodle website, replete with an interactive gallery of over 1,000 homepage designs from around the world. On the new site, users can browse, watch or play with any of Google's myriad doodles, all of which are organized by date and location. Die-hard doodle-heads, meanwhile, can commemorate their love with a customized t-shirt, coffee mug, or any other completely embarrassing stocking stuffer, available at Google's new "Doodle on Demand" store. Check it out for yourself, at the links below.
Google doodle celebrates Robert Noyce; Intel co-founder and 'Mayor of Silicon Valley'
The honor of having your own Google Doodle is bestowed upon only a few very special individuals like Gregor Mendel, Alexander Calder and Lucille Ball. Today's entrant celebrates the 84th birthday of the late Robert "Bob" Noyce, co-inventor of the microchip. After co-founding Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, he mentored younger engineers to earn the nickname "the Mayor of Silicon Valley." Surf on over to the Google homepage and you'll see its logo imprinted over a microprocessor, which Bob helped to birth.
Babalu! Google celebrates Lucille Ball's 100th birthday doodle-style
Well, would you look at that? Two of our favorite entertainers, Lucile Ball and the World Wide Web, share a birthday. Of course, the former Mrs. Desi Arnaz would have about 80 years on the old web if she were alive today, but there's no reason the two can't get along, right? That's Google's stance anyway, as the internet giant's dedicated its latest doodle to the memory of the fiery ginger comedienne. If you love Lucy as much as we do, hit the source link, grab some popcorn and cozy up to that tiny TV to watch some of her very finest comedic performances. [Thanks, Bedan]
Google celebrates Alexander Calder and spinning things with HTML5 doodle
How to honor the life's work of an artist who has been dead for more than a quarter-century? Why, an HTML5 doodle on the Google homepage, of course. The search giant paid homage to Alexander Calder, the celebrated inventor of the mobile sculpture with its first doodle created entirely in HTML5 canvas. Those using a laptop with an accelerometer and an updated browser can move the coded sculpture around with their curser. Ironically, we had some difficulty playing around with the image on our mobile devices.
Google doodle marks birthday of the pea meister, Gregor Mendel
Once in a while we see a Google doodle we just have to cover. This one marks the 189th birthday of Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, whose vital discoveries about inheritance patterns in pea plants weren't fully acknowledged until after his death in 1884. Feeling overlooked in his final years, he famously promised himself that meine Zeit wird schon kommen ("my time will yet come"). And today, Gregor, it has.
Google doodle lets you play a recordable guitar ditty in honor of Les Paul
Have you been to Google's home page recently? Do it, you've got less than 24 hours to check out its guitar-inspired doodle celebrating the birthday of Les Paul. The "Google" script is highly interactive thanks to a combination of JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, and even Flash (providing the audio). Click the compose button at the base of the second "g" and begin recording your own 30 second tribute to one of music's most innovative pioneers using your keyboard to play specific notes or mouse for virtual strumming. Unfortunately, the recording and sharing aspect appears limited to US Googlers. Impressive stuff from a typically impressive company. Update: After holding the doodle over an extra day, it looks like Google has given the tribute a permanent home, like Pac-Man before it.
Google video doodle celebrates Charlie Chaplin's 122nd birthday
We had to check but the Charlie Chaplin tribute isn't the first video doodle to grace the Google home page. That honor was bestowed upon John Lennon to celebrate his 70th birthday. His video, however, was just an animation whereas Google's latest doodle dials up the frame rate to recreate the lovable tramp's antics in a very Google way. The video doodle's only available from the Google Australia home page but we expect that to change just as soon as the Earth completes its rotation. See it after the break -- just remember: a $2 muffin from 100 years ago would cost about $47 today without AdSense support.
Google scores a patent for its 'Doodles'
Google's Doodles have certainly come a long way from their humble beginnings, but the company has now pulled off what may be its most jaw-dropping feat yet -- it's just been awarded a patent for them. Described as "systems and methods for enticing users to access a web site," the patent credits Google co-founder Sergey Brin as the sole inventor, and it comes more than ten years after Google first filed the application. As you might expect, the patent seems to cover some fairly broad territory, although it's not clear how or if Google actually plans to enforce it -- either way, we can only assume that some other companies who enjoy having a bit fun with their logo from time to time might have something to say about it.
Google's 2010 holiday doodle: its 'most ambitious one yet'
Taken a look at Google's homepage recently? If not, we'd recommend you do so, STAT. The image you see here will only be an active doodle -- a name given to Google's "special" logos used to commemorate certain events and holidays -- for a few more hours. According to a lengthy report over at the Wall Street Journal, the Holiday 2010 Doodle is El Goog's "most ambitious one yet," taking five artists some 250 hours to create. Google estimates that it has crafted some 900 doodles since 1998, with a whopping 270 of 'em running in 2010. This particular one relies on 17 interactive portraits of holiday scenes from around the globe, and it took the team a number of months to finally whip up a finished product that everyone was stoked on. We'd encourage you to click around on it to discover what the tiles actually mean, and if you're hungry to learn about the shockingly interesting backstory that surrounds it, the source link has a URL with your name on it.
Google doodles go mobile at long last
One of the greatest treats a human can know is to visit Google's home page only to discover that the company has decided to celebrate some obscure birthday, anniversary, or special event by dressing up its logo in a creative way. Google takes these so-called doodles very, very seriously -- so seriously, in fact, that it has taken the time to let us know that those doodles will now be available on your phone. No longer will you need to see a Google logo fashioned from meat, vegetables, and pie on your desktop, only to suffer through the normal array of colored letters when you go mobile. You're welcome, America.
