Amazing Diagram of How Google Works

Click through for widescreen. Used by permission. 


Infographic by PPC Blog

Google Pacman Game Has Permanent Home

Google celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Pac Man computer game by posting a version of their logo turned into a live, free Pac Man application. It was so popular that they've given it a permanent home . . . . . . . . . . here.

Image via Wikipedia

Horseman of the Compocalypse

The real reason why Steve Jobs hates Flash

Steve Jobs: Flash No Longer Necessary

Read the full article here.

"First, there’s 'Open'.
"…HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.

"...Apple began with a small open source project and created WebKit, a complete open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari web browser used in all our products. WebKit has been widely adopted. Google uses it for Android’s browser, Palm uses it, Nokia uses it, and RIM (Blackberry) has announced they will use it too….

"Second, there’s the “full web”.

"...video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web’s video, shines in an app bundled on all Apple mobile devices, with the iPad offering perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever. Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others. iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video.

"...There are more games and entertainment titles available for iPhone, iPod and iPad than for any other platform in the world."

"Third, there’s reliability, security and performance.

"Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash…

"In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices....

"Fourth, there’s battery life.
"...Many of the chips used in modern mobile devices contain a decoder called H.264 – an industry standard that is used in every Blu-ray DVD player and has been adopted by Apple, Google (YouTube), Vimeo, Netflix and many other companies.

"Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software. The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.

"When websites re-encode their videos using H.264, they can offer them without using Flash at all. They play perfectly in browsers like Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome without any plugins whatsoever, and look great on iPhones, iPods and iPads.

"Fifth, there’s Touch.
"…Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?

"Sixth, the most important reason.

"…We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers...."

Google acquires Israeli gadget provider LabPixies

"LabPixies is one of the first developers of personalised Web gadgets for Google's iGoogle and Android software applications and for iPhone..." Reuters reports.

Twitter Archive to be in Library of Congress

It is great to know that the last tweets of (possibly slain?) Iranian democracy supporter, Persian Kiwi, will be archived for posterity in the Library of Congress.  The millions of others?  We will see... "ALL public tweets, ever, since March 2006!" will be archived in the Library of Congress, according to: 
http://twitter.com/librarycongress. 


BCC reports that, "Alongside the Library of Congress announcement, Google revealed how it is going to make the Twitter archive searchable for users. The search giant unveiled a replay feature that lets users search tweets posted at any given point in time right down to the minute."