Perseids for Google Logo

I was browsing through the web earlier when I came across Google's new design for its logo. It looks very interesting and upon clicking on the picture, I was brought to a search page containing everything on the Perseid meteor shower.

Google Search Home Page (click on the image to enlarge)

Live image of the Perseid meteor shower (Credit: NASA)

According to NASA's page, this is an annual occurance that can be seen in the North America. The Perseid meteor shower is so-called because it appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus. This meteor shower seems to appear mostly in the Northern hemisphere. Well, I suppose I won't be able to see this kind of phenomenon in my part of the world. Singapore is situated directly in the centre of the Earth and that means we miss seeing lots of interesting stuffs that goes on in the atmosphere. I really hate that.

So the only way to enjoy these phenomenons is to go to websites like NASA, where pictures were taken using the latest technological equipments to capture that precious moment in the sky. The universe is such a wonderful entity that continues to thrill us non-stop with its display of works such as meteor showers.

I have never seen a meteor shower before and I heard it's really amazing to see it with your own eyes. Aww... I really wish that I could be in North America right now to see the Perseid meteor shower.

Oh man, my life sucks. Big time. =P

Treasure found via Google Earth?

Once again, Google Earth is in the news.

This time round, a man was reported to have used the software to find a treasure off Aransas Pass in Texas. Apparently, a shoeprint-shaped had made him believe that what he had found was the wreckage of a Spanish barquentine.

Now the case has ended up in court as the location in which the wreckage was located appeared to be in someone's private property.

If this man can prove that the land beneath which the ship is submerged is navigable waterway, he will get the treasure first, according to U.S. law.

However the lawyers of the property's owner is claiming otherwise. If that's the case, then the owner will get the treasure rather than the man who googled it. Interesting, eh?

In addition, the state of Texas' lawyers are sure that there's no commercial waterway there. Therefore, as far as they are concerned, if it's in water, it's in Texas's water. That adds an interesting mix to the claim equation.

How will all these pan out? Let's wait and see.

Now it's time to start using Google Earth since it has brought us many interesting nuggets in the technology world.

Ahoy! I bet Captain Jack Sparrow is teething with jealousy right now. Haha!

Google Earth catches people in toilet?!

This is quite an old piece of news but it's still interesting to share nonetheless.

The Inquirer had reported that Google Earth had managed to capture an image of a man sitting in the toilet. Man, that is sure a high piece of advance technology.




This image was reportedly taken off an inner-city Melbourne backyard in Australia. It's amazing how Google Earth managed to capture such an image. Poor guy probably still didn't know that he had made headlines in the news.

But then again, it's his own fault for not closing the door when using the toilet. Hmmm...

What say you?

Wow, Google Earth looks so cool now

According to CNET, the latest version of Google Earth is now able to let users go right into the deep oceans for an unusual exploration.

There's even a picture of an underwater mountain that is found off the coast of Hawaii, taken by CNET. See below:



It's so cool being able to peep right into the ocean without getting out of the house. But of course, nothing still beat the real thing of going down personally into those oceans, eh?

It's really interesting to work for Google, seeing that all these sorts of fascinating softwares are coming from them. Such innovativeness is certainly useful in keeping them ahead of the competition.

Way to go, Google!

Anime Watch: Princess Princess

Today I have just started watching an older anime series titled Princess Princess. The moment I started watching, it got me hooked as the plot is very interesting and the characters are very funny.

The story revolves around a beautiful boy, Toru Kouno, who has just transferred to an all-boys school. He thought it would be a good school for himself but there's an interesting side to the school's culture.

There's a tradition whereby extremely pretty boys are selected to become a Princess in their first year. The reason being that this would make the dull school life much more livelier and since the first year boys have yet to mature, they would be able to wear those frilly girly costumes. Only first year boys will be considered for the Princess role.

When Toru entered the school, there were already two Princesses around. The blonde guy, a.k.a. the Western Princess, is Yuujiro Shihoudani. The bright pink haired guy, a.k.a. the Eastern Princess, is Mikoto Yutaka. They are so named due to their respective dorm rooms' locations.

Toru becomes Yuujiro's roommate and is soon selected to become a Princess after he joined the school. Being a Princess has many benefits which include getting 30 meal coupons every month, free schoolbooks, free school clothes, free school shoes, etc. You name it and it is most likely to be free.

However being a Princess also means another different thing. They will have to work in order to get their benefits. Work can range from cheering for all the school's clubs whenever they have competitions, dressing up for functions or even participate in a photograhpy session which charges students for each photo they buy. Some of these money also become the Princess' pocket money.

Out of the three, only Mikoto is strongly against being a Princess. However once you have been selected, you can't turn it down. Otherwise you will lose credit points for your studies.

Being a Princess means taking up quite a lot of time so whenever they are engaged in Princess activities, they are always excused and their absence won't show up in their attendance records.

So far I am watching up to episode 4 so there might be more twists in the plot later on. I am certainly looking forward to the rest of the episodes as it's such a hilarious anime and the boys are really beautifully drawn as well. Plus when they are dressed up as girls, they really look like girls. ^o^

Below are some pictures which I found from using Google and they are not my copyrights either. Click on the pictures to get a better resolution.

From left to right: Mikoto, Toru and Yuujiro

From left: Yuujiro, Toru and Mikoto, dressing up as girls

For now, it is revealed that Mikoto has a secret girlfriend and he doesn't want his girlfriend to know of his Princess job. When the summer vacation arrived, he was the only Princess to go home, presumably to meet his girlfriend.

There are many funny scenes in the anime and if I have the time, I might try to post them up for sharing too. =D

I'm glad to have come across this anime. See ya!

How to use Google Analytics?

By the way, I have been wondering how to use Google's Analytics on my blog. The steps explained in the FAQ has confounded me completely and so I have not been able to use it at all even though I have an account.

Hmmm I wonder if it's really that useful too. Anyway I will figure this out some day. Just, not today though. Hee. My brain is not really working that fantastic tonight. Ah hahaha!

Gotta go to sleep soon! Tada!

Twilight Phenomenon Unique to USA

I was browsing through Google for some various pictures of Twilight the movie when I came across this gorgeous picture.



This is an example of a Twilight Phenomenon. An excerpt taken from wikipedia is posted below:

--
A Twilight phenomenon is produced when unburned particles of missile or rocket propellant and water left in the vapor trail of a launch vehicle condenses, freezes and then expands in the less dense upper atmosphere. The exhaust plume, which is suspended against a dark sky is then illuminated by reflective high altitude sunlight, which produces a spectacular, colorful effect when seen at ground level. The phenomenon typically occurs with launches that take place either 30 to 60 minutes before sunrise or after sunset when a booster rocket or missile rises out of the darkness and into a sunlit area, relative to an observer's perspective on the ground.

This phenomenon usually produces a cloud of green, blue, white and rose colored hues which takes on a corkscrew appearance as it is whipped around by wind currents. It is seen within two to three minutes after a launch has occurred. Depending on weather conditions, it could remain in the sky for up to half an hour before dispersing.
--

The above picture was taken at Tranquillon Peak in northern Santa Barbara county. The twilight phenomenon lights up the night sky over Vandenberg AFB following the launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile on Sept. 19, 2002.

Only a small percentage of the malfunctioning missiles would create this twilight phenomenon as most of them would have been destroyed by a Range Safety Officer.

Nonetheless, it's truly a sight to behold if I could be there to witness it first-hand. That would be so spectacular. We could never have this kind of sight in Singapore as our army do not fire missiles so openly. Even if they do, pictures such as these would probably have been destroyed before they could be circulated.

For now, I can only envy the beauty on my laptop screen but that's enough.

=)

Gmails get a proper PDF viewer feature

According to this CNET report, Gmail users get to open up their PDF documents inside Google Docs instead of getting their own native Acrobat Reader to start up on their own computers.

I think this is a cool feature as it helps to cut the loading times of the PDF file as compared to using the Acrobat Reader. So far I have yet to try out this new feature as I don't have any pdf files that are stored in my emails.

Nonetheless, it is good to know that my gmail account is now able to do much more things compared to its earlier days.

=D

Official Gmail Blog: Tip: Read your mail without touching your mouse

This is a very interesting article on how to maximize Gmail usage with keyboard shortcuts as addressed in this writeup.

The only thing is, I could barely remember all the letters for shortcuts and I doubt I would ever learn since I am still using my trackpad to scroll the webpages.

Hmmm... but it's worth a try though. =)

Here Comes Google's Android Phone

The mobile phone market is abuzz with news on an upcoming model which will feature Google's most anticipated Android mobile platform. Pictures of the phone, T-Mobile G1, can be found on CNET Asia's website and I have posted some of them here for easy reference.




















The phone is produced by HTC, the same phone maker for the HTC Touch HD as well. Looks like this company reaching out for the skies and I am eagerly waiting for both phones to arrive to our Singapore shores. However, the T-Mobile G1 seems a bit too bulky and hopefully the commercial set will be slightly smaller.

If the Android turns out to be a huge success, it could be a serious contender for the Apple's iPhone as well. That would truly be an eye-opener and only good can come out of this competition.

Now we only have 1 thing to do.

That is, Wait.