History of Google’s logo and goodbye to Polaroid
Wired has a neat little article/slideshow depicting the process of designing the Google logo. It’s interesting to see the first design compared to the last (current) design, and how similar they are.
Along with this article, take a look at Google’s archive of past logos for holidays and other events. It might be worth a look into the different holidays and events that are portrayed by Google’s logo.
Also, on a sad note, a bit of technology fades into history. The Polaroid instant photos have been discontinued (over the course of the past two years). The thrill of an instant photo was one of my child hood memories. Something my children won’t have. Now we we’d have to truck along a printer to get the same instantaneousness.
New face, new forum
For the one or two besides me who actually visit the site, you’ll notice a change in looks. I stumbled upon this theme a few days ago, and thought to give it a try. Historically speaking, well actually it’s very forward thinking, this theme employs a cool idea. The theme is funded by a couple of sites, and all they require is to have their links un-obtrusively available in the footer at all times. So, you can use the theme free if you become a billboard for the funders. They are not inappropriate sites, so I don’t mind using the theme.
You might also notice a new page tab towards the top called DigitalMaps. This links to a forum I set up for my Hist 798 class at GMU this semester. We’re going to make an atlas. Check out the forum for our class ideas and progress. We’re going to present our work at THATCamp (mentioned in the previous post). Should be lots of fun.
THAT podcast
Check out THAT podcast (THAT = The Humanities And Technology). It’s a new video pod cast put on by a couple of co-workers at CHNM. They interview someone in the technical field about software that helps those of us in the humanities.
The first episode includes an interview with Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress (the software running this site!) and shows you how to install and configure ScholarPress (a plug-in to WordPress written by Jeremy Boggs).
It’s great stuff, check it out!
The greatest minds went river boarding.
When I was in high school, my friends and I would go down to the Salt River, tie one end of a ski rope to a tree, and the other end to our home made river boards. These were generally three foot diameter circular pieces of plywood, carefully and lovingly designed, painted and created by me and my friends. We’d throw the board into the middle of the river (this used in the broadest sense of the term, since Arizona isn’t too well known for flowing bodies of water), jump on and ride the current. We’d jump the board and do tricks like head stands, hand stands, back flips, etc. It was the source of very fond memories.
Well, imagine my surprise, when looking up some information about Wernher von Braun for a school paper today, and here he is, “water-boarding” in the middle of the Tennessee River! Wernher von Braun, enigmatic rocket man! Creator of the U.S. missile and space program! Rocket genius! and River Boarder! Awesome!
Stuhlinger, Ernst. Wernher Von Braun, Crusader for Space: An Illustrated Memoir. Malabar, Fla: Krieger Pub. Co, 1994, page 39.
History of Slashdot, parts 2 and 3
Slashdot posted part three of the their history today. I missed part 2, so here is the link to both.
History of Slashdot.org Part 2
History of Slashdot.org Part 3