Technology Style & Design 2009: Grading Google

Besides Microsoft, no other company has changed the way we use technology more than Google. The company started by two Stanford grad students has revolutionized the way we search for and interact with information. But we don’t have you tell you that, besides the fact that the word Google is officially now a verb in the Merriam-Webster dictionary you probably just came from the actual Google site or one of their many web properties like YouTube or Picasa.

We know they’re the illest in the game, but how good are they really? In our 2009 Style and Design issue, we looked at six our favorite Google innovations and graded them. Here we added four more to make it an even ten. Read on to see how your favorite Google offerings got marked.

Style Daily Style & Design News: May 22, 2009

Goods (Seattle) takes collaborating to the next step. Ice cream, T-shirts, and skate decks. All in. [Goods]

Google knows if you’re going to quit or not. Which means we’re all fffd. [Wall Street Journal]

Palm Pre’s are going to be coming in at 4 strong per Best Buy. Wow. It’s a good thing no one has Sprint. [Crunch Gear]

Good things come to those who wait. ALIFE Rivington Club’s new website is live. Spend money! [Rivington Club]

Help Futura 2000 get up. Some more. Logo backpack. Or is this a font advert? [Mash Kulture]

For real, the new F.C.R.B. stuff is sick. [Hypebeast]

Louis Vuitton’s Hong Kong exhibit recap. Dope. [Vagant]

Technology Triple Threat: 3 New Search Engines

Despite what you may think, Google and Yahoo! aren’t the only search engines in the game. We know a lot of our favorites (Lycos, RIP) fell by the wayside when Google came through and crushed the buildings, but now it seems a couple inventive companies are trying to lure surfers away from the ‘08 Mircosoft. We checked out three new ones, kgb_, Cuil and Viewzi to see what they were bringing to the game and why should think about leaving Google for them. Check out our findings below…

Technology Google x T-Mobile Launch Android On The G1

We Global!

Today, T-Mobile, HTC, and Google invited us to come check out the new Sidekick 7 G1, which will be launched as the first phone powered by the Google Android operating system on October 22. The G1 has elements that mimic the iPhone-touch screen, ap store, and widgets, but as a bonus, it adds a full slide out QWERTY keyboard. Hello, awesome! Check what we really think, as well as some closeups of the phone and Google founders Sergey and Larry below…

Technology Yes, Google Does That Too

Just like Microsoft in the '80s, '90s and early '00s, Google is on a quest to take over the world. And they’re doing pretty damn good. They got the search game on lock, they’re email, despite still being in Beta, is used by everyone we know in the know. Their ad game runs the ‘Net. They have a mobile phone operating system on the horizon and they own YouTube. Granted, all of Google’s products are ways for them to power their advertising, but hey'they’re free.

Now, in attempts to further keep you locked into their world and services, they’ve released their long rumored browser, Chrome. The Firefox crew said they weren’t worried, and we’re sure Microsoft isn’t too bothered…yet. But those aren’t the only people Google is looking to take out the game. Check out a couple lesser-known services the big G offers to compete with their Silicon Valley rivals.

Art Google Gets Artsy With Jeff Koons, Nigo & Marc Ecko

Manga master Osamu Tezuka’s iGoogle skins

Considering how much time we waste on Google, it would be nice to have something to look at other than a blank white screen. Recently, the company unveiled their new artist themes, which apply a variety of different looks to your personalized iGoogle homepage. Artists who contributed original skins for the project include Jeff Koons, Marc Ecko, The Beastie Boys, Os Gêmeos and A Bathing Ape’s Nigo, plus over 60 others. Starting today, art from the series will also be on display on the streets of NYC’s Meatpacking District through the weekend. After the jump, watch Google’s video “trailer” hyping up the artist series.

Video Games Explore GTA IV’s Liberty City With Google Maps

Google Maps is basically the greatest thing to happen to navigation since the compass. Too bad we won’t have much use for it'since Grand Theft Auto IV dropped yesterday, we won’t be venturing outside the house for a few months.

In the meantime, IGN has created an amazing, fully-interactive Google Maps version of GTA’s new Liberty City. It works exactly like Google Maps, with a zoom function and dragable movement. Registered IGN users are continually updating points of interest throughout Liberty City as they discover them in the game, meaning you can select a box to view anything you want: mission locations, strip clubs, secret easter eggs, vehicles, etc. Once you display the general category, you can then click on the specific location to view the user-entered details. Now all they need to do is get a “Street View” function popping to catch those drug deals in action. Visit IGN to see the map, and check out the most recent GTA trailer after the jump.

Technology Google Plans Trip To Mars In April Fools Bonanza

Ever since Google released a mind-reading search engine in 2000, April Fool’s jokes have been an annual part of the company’s public persona. In what is surely their most ambitious hoax yet, they have teamed with Virgin to create “Project Virgle,” the first permanent human colony on Mars.

This elaborate joke has an entire page filled with information about the Mars expedition, including an application to become a Mars pioneer, a Mission Control community, a FAQ section about the trip and a full 100-Year Plan.

Only in a very small link within the FAQ section does it lead to an error page that displays the following message:

oh, all right. Fine. April Fool’s. Ha, ha, ha. It isn’t real. There. Are you happy? Does it please you to drag us out of our lovely little fantasy world, to crush all our hopes and dreams? Is that really what you need to hear? Fine, you’ve heard it. Virgle isn’t real.

Yet.

After the jump, watch videos of Google and Virgin founders explaining Virgle and read about Google’s other April Fool’s Day hoaxes.

Events Oakland’s Murder Map

Blue represents homicides committed in 2007, Red represents those committed in 2008.

On Tuesday, Oakland recorded its 34th murder (by contrast, New York'a city with nearly 20 times Oakland's population'has had only 99 killings this year). To map the out-of-control murder rate, the San Francisco Chronicle used Google Maps to show the distribution of every homicide from 2007 and 2008. Not surprisingly (least of all for the residents of East and West Oakland), the murders share some geographic characteristics. It seems like as long as you stay above the MacArthur Freeway, you’re going to live a long life.

Watch a video after the jump of Oakland residents reflecting on the historic murder rate and those they’ve lost…

Technology Google Maps Catches Drug Deal In Action?

Photo: google maps.

Is Google Maps getting a little too close for comfort? After they released their “Street View” feature last year, which allows users to literally see people’s faces on almost any street, some said they had crossed the line into spying.

Well now, the above image has made its way around the internet, showing a man in Chicago exchanging a large wad of cash through a car window, in what appears to be some sort of shady transaction.

Apparently, Google has a van that drives around with a large camera mounted on the roof, taking pictures of the city streets to upload into their Maps website. Moral of the story: if you’re doing dirt, go inside and draw the shades. That is, until Google X-Ray comes out.

[Google Sightseeing]