What better way to finish a year than with a good’ol’fashioned Zeitgeist.
However the 2006 Google Zeitgeist has been calculated in a slightly different manner. Instead of simply ranking the most popular searches (you know, the way one would expect), they have taken into account last years zeitgeist and ranked on the change as well as the quantity.
The Zeitgeist is “the spirit of time.” This is why when we come up with the lists of top searches on Google.com for 2006, we do not simply retrieve the most frequently-searched terms for the period — the truth is, they don’t change that much from year to year. This list would be predominated by very generic searches, such as “ebay”, “dictionary”, “yellow pages,” “games,” “maps” — and of course, a number of X-rated keywords. These are constants, and although unquestionably popular, we don’t think they actually define the Zeitgeist.
[from Google Blog]
Still interesting stuff though, even if it is a little bit played-with.
Following on from yesterdays Which Superhero Are You? post, this is the Which Supervillian Are You? quiz.
Apparently I am 82% Dr. Doom.
Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.
Ha!
[via TechCrunch]
Upon joining the Cult of Mac, a technological evangelist must speculate about the new weird and wonderful products Apple will be releasing at the next MacWorld.
These are some of the best apple rumours (and the stories behind them) which have pervaded the internet since the company was founded.
Apple to Buy Nintendo - A long-running rumour that surfaces roughly every eight months. The motive behind this story is often nothing more sophisticated than the fact that both Apple and Nintendo have exceptionally faithful fan bases. The temptation to stir both camps into action, bickering over the same rumour, is apparently too much to resist.
The Secret OSX Build - After the launch of OSX, the rumour mill worked itself up over the possibility that Apple was secretly maintaining an Intel version of OSX in a basement room in Cupertino. Because OSX was based on the NeXT OS, and the NeXT OS ran on Intel hardware, it didn’t seem impossible that Apple would have evolved the Intel version alongside the public PowerPC version.
Widescreen Video iPod - Officially the most mocked-up device after the iPhone, the widescreen video iPod does seem like a viable product. Apple has reportedly filed patents on a touch-screen user interface that covers the entire surface of an iPod, leading many to suspect that a future model will feature an LCD across its front surface.
[via Slashdot]
At least I am according to this poll…
Which superhero are you?
[via TechCrunch]
Could this be what everyone is overtaking in the future? This is one variation on Luigi Colani’s ‘ergonomically superior’ concept truck design.
Check out the other variations. Nice, but I doubt they would buy any respect from the more traditional truckers.
[via Digg]
This is the Seahorse Anatomy by Elina Mer, one of the images from the 2006 Art of Science Gallery. Some remarkable imagery in this gallery from video of worm trails to levitating water.
[via Digg]
Some wonderful drawings by Scott Teplin, who creates a weekly picture to put on his site.
Scanning back through the history of sketches, his recent work has focussed on these fascinating, fantasy floor plans.
[via BoingBoing]
Microsoft Firefox 2007 provides security through a robust new architecture, security features that help defend against malicious software, and new ways to better protect against the theft of personal data from fraudulent websites, a practice known as Googling.
Every window, whether it’s a pop-up or standard window, will present an address bar to the user, helping to block malicious sites such as Yahoo.com
To help troubleshoot difficulties launching Microsoft Firefox or reaching specific Microsoft websites, you have the ability to start in “No Competition” mode, where only system critical Microsoft sites can be accessed.
Gaah! reminds me of the Microsoft iPod video.
The feature list is hilarious!
This is the iPad building due to be opened 2009 in Dubai, the first building to be modeled after a gadget. Even to the extent where it leans at six degrees (half a degree more than the tower of pisa), the same angle as an iPod in a dock.
Guaranteed to look really dated in twenty years or so…
[via Gizmodo]
North Carolina cops are searching for a guy who successfully passed a $200 bill bearing George W. Bush’s portrait and a drawing of the White House complete with lawn signs reading “We like ice cream” and “USA deserves a tax cut.”
The most hilarious part about this is not the fact that the guy tried to pay for groceries with this, but that the cashier actually accepted it…and gave him $50 change!
Some interesting photos of African Kings. The pictured king is Salomon Igbinoghodua, crowned the 38th Oba of Benin (Nigeria) in 1979.
[via Reddit]
A huge collection of images with spirals in them…simple as that.
[via StumbleUpon]
Some nice, although perhaps a little too doctored, images depicting the true spirit of an old slavic village in Ukraine.
[via English Russia]
