Flour Power

"Jørgen was wrong. And I am the happiest man alive". That's what Ola Helland, a 25-year-old guy from Norway, wrote on his blog a few hours ago. He's the one responsible for the One Million Giraffes project:

On the 6th of June last year I made a bet with my good friend, Jørgen. He didn't believe it was possible for me to collect one million giraffes. 440 days later I proved him wrong with help of people from all around the world. 102 countries helped out showing Jørgen how amazing the internet is.

So yeah, he did it. One million frigging giraffes! Unbelievable!

It's definitely worth checking the website to get to know this crazy and funny project a bit better. There's a "guess the age" game, a map showing the contributors, and some cool mosaics.

Now I feel a bit bad that I didn't contribute.

Update: This was the millionth giraffe.

Just brilliant...

(via RealityAmuck's Twitpic)

(via College Humor)

A warning: today is April Fools'. I recommend that you pay special attention to whatever "news" are released to day. This is not only a day when your friends, family members and co-workers pull some practical jokes on you. Some big companies have a tradition of perpetrating quite big hoaxes (see Google's April Fools' hoaxes from previous years). While some are very obvious, others are so elaborate that a lot of people get fooled. It's a bit annoying that you need to over-analyse everything to make sure it's true. But usually a great hoax comes along that makes it all worth it.

Here's a list of April Fools' 2010 pranks I've found so far around the web.

• Google Changes Name To Topeka
• Google Translate For Animals
• Upload and store anything in the cloud with Google Docs
• Coldplay launch their own fragrance - Angst
• Youtube Launches TEXTp to save on bandwidth costs
• TechCrunch: Introducing The Do-It-Yourself CrunchPad Kit
• TechCrunch: Google To Go Nuclear
• ThinkGeek - iCade - iPad Arcade Cabinet
• ThinkGeek: Canned Unicorn Meet
• ProBlogger Acquired by Google
• Introducing ShoeMoney Modeling Agency
• Grooveshark’s New Ad System
• New World of Warcraft Race - The Two-Headed Ogre
• Improv Everywhere - No Underwear Subway Ride
• Starbucks announces new cup sizes: the Plenta and the Micra
• Sexy romances distract hackers from data theft, Sophos research proves
• Hewlett Packard + Microsoft = Hewlosoft
• Google Street View in 3D
• Get "LifeSize" Pictures in Picasa
• Dreamhost replaces all Ethernet cables in their datacenters with 802.11n wireless

Keep your eyes on this post as I'll be updating it as soon as I spot other good pranks. Feel free to use the comments to share other pranks you find and I'll add them to the list.

I've been going on about this for some time, and finally here's a very organised way of showing the idea.

(from Doghouse Diaries)

The image above is part of the satellite imagery that Google recently released of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) - commonly known as The Boneyard. It's a collection of over 4,000 retired aircraft including nearly every plane the US armed forces have flown since World War II.

Get more info at BBC News, or just explore the whole thing in Google Maps.

(via Gizmodo)

Thanks to @grealish.

I thought I could take it for a few more days, but no. I have to say it: I'm sick of Christmas!

There's only so much one can take, and the amount of Xmas-related stuff we get bombarded with every single year is just too much.

The constant talk about Christmas subjects is excruciating. Christmas presents, Christmas tree, Christmas decorations, Christmas presents, Christmas dinner, Christmas lunch, Christmas tea, Christmas breakfast, Christmas presents... Isn't it supposed to be a religious holiday? A celebration of the birth of this guy Jesus Christ that lived some 2000 years ago?

Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.

Oh... I guess not... But at least it helps the economy...

And the songs! Oh, the songs! I believe there's no such thing as a good Christmas song. Some are more tolerable than others, but that's as good as they get. And here in Galway's pubs they think it's a good idea that the last 4 or 5 songs are Xmas songs... Argh!

Now, not everything is bad. Here's some of the things I actually enjoy about this season:

• I welcome the Christmas decorations at work. A Christmas tree here and there, socks hanging in every other cubicle, an inflatable reindeer (?!). They give a bit of "color" to the otherwise gray-ish cubicles;
• The lights on the streets look good, and sometimes quite impressive. Again, they're a welcome change to those streets that look the same every day;
• I love the fact that Christmas is an excuse to organise dinners and parties with every group of friends. It's a great opportunity to get back in touch with people you haven't seen in a while;
• One thing I would like to see becoming a tradition is girls dressing up in Xmas-themed clother. Nothing like a tiny green "Santa dress" with knee-high (also green) tights and high heels... Ho! Ho! Ho!

Rant over.

The geek in me just gave a few good laughs at these screen shots of what Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Chewie, C-3PO and other Star Wars characters would write on their Facebook walls.

And if you haven't seen it before, here's another Facebook parody - The Facebook of Genesis.

Oh... wait...

Nevermind...