In the days of Google's youth
This is one of my favorite April Fool's Day special features from Google. The video is brief, so do listen, please?
Things were different then, even though the year was already 2012. The Google Tokyo employee in the video is a native Japanese language speaker. Notice how he has fun with us, pronouncing all his "L"s as "R"s in English?! There's the subject matter as well, evoking Nintendo, I believe? That living room is so elegant and beautiful.
Another subtle detail is the date. It is 31 March. Why? Well, because the date was already 1 April in Japan!
I enjoyed the dial-up modem sounds.
The Google NES 8-bit is a replacement for what I had in its place when I originally wrote this. At the time, I had segued to something cartographic using a GIF from Funny Blog. Unsurprisingly, Funny Blog and the source of the GIF are both long gone. You'll have to use your imagination. The GIF was a special feline hybrid: The Cat Erpillar!
 |
| Funny Blog has a funny cat for you! |
Where is the L0L0 cat?
The idea for this came to me from the lolcat internet meme, although this is more cartographic, than feline. I'll give one clue to solving the mystery of the L0L0 cat's location, and why it is special. The clue is:
"What is the name of the official Google map product blog on Blogger?"
Not the URL, but the name of the blog. I must intercede with another update. The official Google map product blog no longer exists under its prior name. (The format is worse too. Like every other website, each entry is arranged as a grid of square blocks, making it difficult to ever find anything.) In the past, it was called the Google Latitude Longitude Blog.
Have a look at the map, and observe the caption at the bottom center. The caption is truly L0L0 rather than LOL or LOLO.
The map may be enlarged here by clicking on it. It isn't necessary to open it on another page if you don't want to, although you can by clicking the underlined caption below. I didn't use Google Earth, only Google Maps, so no additional software is required to view. (Google Earth formerly required a download of software in order to support 3D rendering.)
Click here for a full-size view of the Land of L0L0
The triangular red map-marker--with an exclamation point--shows the physical location of the L0L0 cat but doesn't solve the puzzle.
I hope I haven't given the answer away.
I hope I haven't given the answer away.
