Many people are creating projects based on free Google tools, APIs, and Google brand as inspiration at large. Goollery is an online gallery dedicated to collect, archive and showcase some of the most creative, fun and innovative Google-related* projects from people around the world.
Goollery is an independent project by Ji Lee, Jeanelle Mak, Francisco Hui, Karishma Sheth and Andrew Bonventre.
Anna the Red makes brilliant character bento, often with a nod toward anime and video games. Her Kyaraben transforms the traditional Japanese lunch box into a work of art. Recently, someone from Google took notice of Anna’s bento prowess and invited her to help promote Google Chrome by making the logo out of food. She began with a sketch, and ended up with the Google Chrome logo realized in boiled broccoli, fried red peppers and scrambled eggs. If you’ve ever wanted to see the dilligent work that goes into this niche art form, check out the fast-paced video. Delicious.
If you haven’t logged into your iGoogle page yet, you’re missing out on a rad new customizing feature: artist themes to personalize your search toolbar. I’ve got mine set on Nigo’s camo apes, but that’s after I changed it from Sao Paulo’s 10 Pãezinhos urban landscape drawings, which in turn had just replaced Shepard Fairey’s stenciled iconography (pictured). I’m actually wasting tons of writing time going through all 68 themes to find the perfect one for my Friday, but you’ll be surprised how they help set the tone of your day.
As promised my presentation last week at Google Zeitgeist is now online for your viewing pleasure– the fine group at Google did an extraordinary job editing and posting the video to YouTube. It was truly an honor to speak alongside such an incredible lineup of presenters, and a lot of fun talking about the work side of my life which I really keep out of this blog most of the time. Also be sure to check out the interview with Michael and Xochi Birch as I’m on the panel during that discussion as well. And of course, if you enjoy it feel free to leave a comment here and give me 5 stars on YouTube! I look forward to reactions!
My apologies for the radio silence since I arrived here in London! I’ve had an incredible past few days, filled with meetings and engagements. The most notable experience was definitely my talk at Google Zeitgeist yesterday followed by a panel with an amazing group of people (moderated by new friend Jonathan Zittrain) discussing the Digital Youth and the future of marketing and implications to the younger generations in the digital world. I spoke about five trends I believe are affecting the next generation of marketing, and what I am doing at my new agency to tackle those issues. The trends I spoke about covered Mobile as my center of gravity, I’m always on (so find me anywhere), Dating as Gaming, Virtual Gifting and Mass Individuality.
I’m told a video of my presentation and highlights from the panel will be on YouTube shortly, I’ll be sure to update everyone when they’re up there.
Legendary graffiti artist Vulcan was recently commissioned to paint a line of servers for Google in conjunction with his solo show that recently opened on the company’s Mountain View Campus. You can browse the work from the show on Vulcan’s site and purchase some of his work via Google Checkout, naturally. Awesome to see such a huge company like Google staying grounded by supporting the arts. More shots of the super-sexy limited edition servers after the jump.
GeoGreeting is a nifty little Google Maps mash-up that lets you write words and messages with corresponding buildings to shape each letter. The J in Josh is a building in Ponomona, CA while the S in Spear is from Minneapolis, MN– funny because I’m from neither. The site also has a cute little share with a friend feature to send your GeoGreeting to anyone you wish.
Google just quietly launched Google Mars– I kid you not. This online application allows you to browse the martian landscape the same way Google Maps allows you to scan and research our planet earth. Browse the mountains, canyons, dunes, plains, ridges, and craters of mars. You can view in three different modes: elevation, visible, and infared. It seems to only show a small portion of the planet but none-the-less it’s incredibly beautiful!
One thing I miss about living in New York City is the sheer amount of goodies you can find on the street during your daily commute. I used to see great furniture, records, books, and even the occasional electronics strewn about sidewalks and piled in towering dumpsters. The latest and greatest Google Map mash-up, GarbageScout, makes it easy to find great goodies ‘on a sidewalk near you.’ You can also post your own finds online, or by taking a picture with your camera phone and sending the message to street@garbagescout.com with a short description. This is online collaboration at its finest.
I’m always a little bit hesistant to mention another Google maps trick, but Wired has a really solid roundup article about all the hacks that have been developed, including the housing maps, that combines craigslist and Google Maps, as well as a new Google/Flickr Hack. Hacking Google Maps and connecting it with already valuable resources on the internet quickly became an identifiable and popular trend–and most of the results are now useful tools.
I’ve been avoiding buying myself a TIVO for some time, but every-time I play with one– I want one. I just think I’d find myself watching TV way too often. Every now and then I see a TIVO hack that makes me want one even more, and the Google Maps/TIVO interface application is one of them. I know, I know, I cover google hacks way too often, but this one was too good to pass up. You can use the arrow keys to scroll around, channel buttons to zoom, number keys for zip codes, and of course switch between map and satellite modes. You can download it (and the source) here.
I’m not so sure how I feel about Googles new “Search History” service. It’s smart, obvious, and was only a matter of time for such a thing to be introduced–but I see a lot of privacy issues coming up for users who choose to use this function on a public machine. You have to have a Google account, which is easy to setup. Google History is almost trying to replace everyday browser bookmarks, and it also shows a search density calendar. You have to login for the feature to work–so it will be an easy feature to ignore, but maybe useful to some. Also, Wired has a good article discussing the privacy issues involed.
Buzztracker is a neat internet based software that “visualizes frequencies and relationships between locations in the Google word news directory. It does a pretty good job at showing how interconnected the world is–right now top 10 locations include Baghdad, Beijing, and washington–but it changes often. These google customizations are really bringing out some great utilities, and fun hacks!
This is Yagoohoogle, Google and Yahoo morphed together so you can view results of both at once. Interesting to see how your name or company does on each.
I’m not going to prank you all–i’m not that witty today–but Google sure is. Their prank, Google Gulp, is a riot. “Think fruity. Think refreshing. Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drinkâ„¢ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. Plus, it’s low in carbs! And with flavors ranging from Beta Carroty to Glutamate Grape, you’ll never run out of ways to quench your thirst for knowledge.”
My apologies for the radio silence since I arrived here in London! I’ve had an incredible past few days, filled with meetings and engagements. The most notable experience was definitely my talk at 
