https://googledata.org Everything Google: News, Products, Services, Content, Culture Wed, 01 Apr 2015 04:04:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 https://googledata.org/google-talk/anything-but-the-dog/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/anything-but-the-dog/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2006 01:39:00 +0000 ugly dog picture (you know who you are),

We begged, and we pleaded, and we finally got a set of thirty great pictures to give away free with Google Talk. You could have been a frog, a rose, a shamrock, a sun, or one of many other snapshots from the Google Holiday Logos, but instead you've chosen some picture of an ugly, ugly dog. Want to be something else? Go for it. You can set it to any .gif, .bmp, .png, or .jpg file. You can even set it to be a picture of your baby (who is in all likelihood cuter than that dog).

Lest you should worry that your friends using other clients will not be able to see your picture, you'll be happy to know that we've adopted JEP 0153. This is the same protocol used by iChat and Gaim 2.0.0 beta, which means that friends using these clients will be able to see your picture, and you'll be able to see their pictures.

On the off chance that you've forgotten how to set your picture, or you used a different client to set your picture, let's go through the steps. At the top of your list, you'll see your current picture - yes, that's right, the mutant creature that is the dog. Just click on the picture and you can select one of twenty-five other pictures from the drop down list. My favorite is the rose, but if you don't fall in love with any of pictures we've provided, that's ok - just click "More pictures" to pick any other picture off your computer.

Now, I know that deep down - very deep down - you just love the rose that I've chosen to be my picture. Hey, you can have it! Just right-click on my name and select "Set as my picture."

More than one million users have already set their pictures, and we think it's great. Don't like pictures? Just change that setting in the "View" menu at the bottom of your list. But, please, oh please, change your picture to anything but the dog. Is that so much to ask?

Sincerely,
Gayle Laakmann
Software Engineer

]]> https://googledata.org/google-talk/anything-but-the-dog/feed/ 0 https://googledata.org/google-talk/lego-logos/ https://googledata.org/google-talk/lego-logos/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2006 18:16:00 +0000 silly putty you can play with before you start finding globs of red goo under your fingernails, in your keyboard and caked into the carpet. You realize, then, that's it's time to find new toys.

Of all toys, are there any more Googley than Legos? Not only does the color scheme for lego bricks match Google's own red, yellow, green and blue, but legos were also used in the initial Google computers. Even the Google booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in January sported a lego theme.

So, software engineers Bob Day, Sean Egan and I set off for the Lego Store in Bellevue, WA. Yes, that's right - an entire store dedicated to legos - and it's every bit as good as it sounds.

Naturally, we head straight for the moving parts: wheels, axles, hinges, and doors. We emerge one hour later, armed with a large pre-packaged set of assorted legos (for the basics), and two hand-picked cups (for the moving parts and specialty items).





Back in our office, Sean and I debate what to build and decide on a Google logo constructed entirely out of legos. The tricky part here is creating the curvature of uppercase and lowercase G's. I get to work on the two G's while Sean focuses on the two O's, the L and the E. A few clicks and snaps later, we're almost there:
One minor detail: for a proper Google logo, the lower case 'G' needs to hang below the rest of the characters. There's just one way to solve this: elevate the rest of the letters (and put a lego man beneath it, just for fun).What was next on our list? Google Talk! You see, a Googler's work is never done...
Gayle Laakmann
Software Engineer

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