Google Fools?

now i could, if i wanted, in the true spirit of April 1st-edness, write up a totally bogus post about some life-changing event. but we all know i'm not that original/creative (i'll find something true + life-changing to write about in the near future, promise). rather i shall continue my life's pursuit of commenting on other stuff i found on the interweb (it's a series of tubes) + pretending it is somewhat professional.

today, let's talk about Google + Virgin's Project Virgil: i could be a believer, especially if they are willing to send me

who is "they", well Sergey + Larry of course:


and let's not forget Sir Richard:

if you're too lazy to watch any of the above videos or follow any links (i know, ramancoke.com is pretty awesome), then read the following OFFICIAL press release from Google today (April 1):

Google and Virgin announce Mars expedition and colony

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and LONDON, England (April 1st, 2008) – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Virgin Group today announced the launch of Virgle Inc., a jointly owned and operated venture dedicated to the establishment of a human settlement on Mars.

"Some people are calling Virgle an 'interplanetary Noah's Ark,'" said Virgin Group President and Founder Sir Richard Branson, who conceived the new venture. "I'm one of them. It's a potentially remarkable business, but more than that, it's a glorious adventure. For me, Virgle evokes the spirit of explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo, who set sail looking for the New World. I do hope we'll be a bit more efficient about actually finding it, though."

The Virgle 100 Year Plan's milestones will include Virgle Pioneer selection (2008-2010), the first manned journey to Mars (2016), a Virgle Inc. initial public offering to capitalize on the first manned journey to Mars (2016), the founding of the first permanent Martian municipality, Virgle City (2050), and the achievement of a truly self-sustaining Martian civilization with a population exceeding 100,000 (2108).

“Virgle is the ultimate application of a principle we’ve always believed at Google: that you can do well by doing good,” said Google co-founder Larry Page, who plans to share leadership of the new Martian civilization with Branson and Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

"We feel that ensuring the survival of the human race by helping it colonize a new planet is both a moral good in and of itself and also the most likely method of ensuring the survival of our best – okay, fine, only -- base of web search volume and advertising inventory,” Page added. “So, you know, it's, like, win-win."

The original contingent of Virgle Pioneers will be selected by numerous criteria, including an online questionnaire, video submission, personal accomplishments, expertise in scientific, artistic, sociological and/or political fields of endeavor, and inadequate Google and Virgin personal performance reviews.

every year Google unleashes their famed April Fools joke. sometimes true (Gmail's initial Beta launch), most times false (Google TiSP). all times, featured unassumingly on Google's homepage (as usual w/ anything Google)

this morning, my first encounter with "Google Fool's" was actually when i signed into my Gmail, to see the following:

yes, ladies and gentleman, if you are so daring, you too can benefit from the wonders of Gmail Custom Time, which is much the e-quivalent (groan) of Dr.Doom's Time Machine (minus the kookie hijinks that Iron Man + his Mighty Avengers recently experienced):

and YES, i know this is an image from a CLASSIC Fantastic Four (rather then the current masterpiece of thought balloons that is Bendis + Bagley's Mighty Avengers), but it was all i could find around the office. at some point i will have to write an entry on time travel. i digress.

the point is. Google makes April Fool's awesome. another reason they, in effect, are also awesome.

UPDATE!
my friend Kay (who is a bit closer to this stuff than i ;), informed me of another great one (they're apparantly going crazy w/ today @ Google). see below, which is a screen grab of Google Books' new Scratch 'n Sniff functionality:

what's even better, when you click "Go" and see the link for "Help" if you can't make it work, you're taken to this page.

brilliant. reminiscent of SCTV's Smell-o-Vision. i have to go back to work now.