Dutch score a hatrick, but spain win the World Cup!!!

  Google logo on the day of finals

Great finish by the European champions to win the world cup. A dream come true, a dream of so many people, a dream that had never been realised for decades. And today,  at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa it was only one team that looked like lifting the 18k gold FIFA world cup... Spain!! Spain beat Netherlands 1-0 in the finals, in what can be called an unattractive game with many fouls  from both sides. Netherlands had their chances though, Robben missed a one-on-one against the Spanish skipper. But it took extra time for the spanish to break the Dutch defence and get the ball in the back of their net, a right foot strike from Iniesta in the 116th minute puts them into the elite group of world cup winners. Spain shrug their chokers tag, while the dutch make it a hatrick to have lost thrice in the finals of a World Cup. Spainards are ecstatic, as they have lived their dream!!!

Congrats to Spain for lifting the FIFA 2010 World Cup!!!!

PS: Paul the psychic Octopus has 100% record, while i have 85%  :)

Google turns 10!!!

The Google doodle (as seen on Google.com homepage) on its 10th birthday (today) is explained by Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience, and Dennis Hwang, Webmaste, on the official google blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com) -

Today you'll see a special design that commemorates our 10th birthday. We've incorporated a little bit of history by using the original Google logo from 1998. And since everyone keeps asking what we'd like for our birthday (besides cake and party hats) -- the first thing we thought of was a nice new server rack.

(Interesting) Did you knows about Google -

1. When the "Google Guys" (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) met at Stanford, and started a search engine... it was initially called BackRub! It was so widely used in Stanford that many times the servers went down. A web archive from the stanford library saying that the search engine is down is below (click on the link) - Sorry, many services are unavailable due to a local network faliure beyond our control. We are working to fix the problem and hope to be back up soon. 12/4/97

2. The academic paper they submitted at Stanford explaining the PageRank algorithm is here. Click on this link - Academic paper.

3. Google's first headqurters.... was a garage!!! Click here to know more on the house that helped build Google.

4. Google's April fools jokes -

Google MentalPlex - (Year 2000) - FAQ and Illustrations for correct usage :))
Googlunaplex - (2004) - Google hiring for its new research centre on the moon!!
Google Romance - (2006) - Google Romance is a place where you can post all types of romantic information and search for your Soulmate! :)

Read on for more of Google history here - Google Timeline

Happy Birthday Google!!! :))

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

Echoing the greatest spectacle in the cricketing world, Google has this logo on its website today. Yes, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 officially opened with a colourful ceremony in West Indies today.

Chris Dehring, CEO of the event, said fans at the ICC CWC would see "The world's best cricketers competing against the backdrop of the most blessed place on earth." Over 2,000 singers, dancers and performers, including several of the Caribbean's top reggae and dancehall performers, participated in the opening at the new stadium close to Montego Bay on the northern coast of Jamaica.

Checkout some of the related links --

About ICC World Cup
International cricket Council website
Official Website ICC CWC, West Indies 2007
Schedules CWC 2007

Team India @ the opening ceremony -