A short Google Chrome flick put together by the Japanese Google team, pong-style

From the Google Blog

Today, we're announcing our second annual Doodle 4 Google contest in the U.S. Google doodles are the special "dressed-up" logos we run on our homepage for holidays and other events, and Doodle 4 Google is an opportunity for one child to have his/her artwork displayed on our homepage as a doodle for hundreds of millions of people to see. This year's theme is "What I Wish for the World," as we really want to tap into not only children's creativity but also what they want their future to look like.

We're very excited this year to be partnering with the Smithsonian's, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Since Cooper-Hewitt is focused on design and education and fostering the brightest design minds of tomorrow, they were a natural partner for Doodle 4 Google. Their partnership also means that this year's prizes not only include having your artwork on the Google homepage for a day, a college scholarship, and a technology grant for your school, but also having your work (and that of all 40 finalists) exhibited at a Smithsonian museum!

Most of this year's contest remains the same as last year's. (For inspiration, you can see Grace Moon's beautiful winning doodle "Up In the Clouds" in our Doodle Gallery). However, there are a few changes. First, we've increased the college scholarship prize for the national winner to $15,000. We've also added a $10,000 prize for the school district that submits the most high-quality entries. Finally, in partnership with Cooper-Hewitt, we'll be celebrating the 40 finalists and announcing the national winner in New York City, to coincide with the opening of the exhibit. Please visit the official competition website for a full listing of all contest rules and requirements.

Only students from registered schools can enter, so teachers, if you want to participate please register your school by March 17, 2009. All doodles must be submitted by March 31, 2009.

So, what do yall think? Is it worth a shot?

Official Google Blog: An update from the Project 10^100 team

If you've ever had an idea for Google, it's likely that others have as well. In September Google sent out a call world-wide for ideas that could help as many people around the globe as possible. They received 150,000 submissions.

Google Mail, Google Video, Google Images, and now... Google Magazines. In a stunningly creative move for the power of the written word, Google officially announced today that Google Books will now include magazine searches.

Obviously, obscure magazines won't be included from the start, but the goal is to include all periodicals from all time. One example of this is "Popular Science". All issues of "Popular Science" are available in some format starting from May 1872 to February 2008 (March - December of this year are presumed to become available in the near future).

One can only imagine the power of archival search this will provide for students, artist, historian, and even the general public.