Have Laptop Will Travel

China’s Xunlei Downloading Service Powered By Google

Originally posted on January 5, 2007 @ 3:13 pm

GoogleGoogle has signed a deal to provide the search engine for Xunlei, a Chinese download service for videos, games and other content.

Google said in a statement today it plans to finish deploying its search technology within the peer-to-peer service early this year.

In addition, the companies agreed to cooperate on marketing and product development. Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to various reports around the net, Google has bought a stake in Xunlei through a partnership with Ceyuan Ventures, a Shanghai-based venture capital firm, the state-owned China Daily reported.

Apparently Xunlei is a real popular service in China and this new partnership provides Google with an “excellent platform” for its search products and services, Kai-Fu Lee, corporate vice president and president of Google in China, said.

We believe through this cooperation our innovative technologies will bring the best user experience to more Chinese users.

Google’s push to become a bigger search player through partnerships follows its failure so far to dominate the market in China like it does in the United States.

Homegrown Baidu leads the Chinese market by a wide margin, with Yahoo coming in second and Google third, according to consulting firm Analysys International.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2007

Originally posted on January 15, 2007 @ 12:27 am

Each year on the third Monday of January schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As with most holidays, Google gives tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. with a special logo:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

It’s a time for the nation to remember the injustices that Dr. King fought. A time to remember his fight for the freedom, equality and dignity of all races and peoples. A time to remember the message of change through nonviolence.

Dr. King sought to forge the common ground on which people from all walks of life could join together to address important community issues.

Working alongside individuals of all ages, races and backgrounds, Dr. King encouraged Americans to come together to strengthen communities, alleviate poverty, and acknowledge dignity and respect for all human beings. Service, he realized, was the great equalizer.

Today we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country will remember and memorialize Dr. King by participating in service projects in their communities.

Google Tribute To Edvard Munch

Originally posted on December 12, 2006 @ 12:16 pm

Google does it again with a great tribute logo to Edvard Munch’s birthday (December 12, 1863 – January 23, 1944) and his best-known painting “The Scream”:

Google Edvard Munch The Scream

Munch’s painting The Scream (1893; originally called Despair) is one of the pieces in a series titled The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of life, love, fear, death and melancholy.

As with many of his works, he painted several versions of it. One version was stolen in 1994 and another in 2004. Both versions have since been recovered.

To view more of Edvard Munch’s work, check out the The Munch Museum website.

Google New Year 2007

Originally posted on December 31, 2006 @ 8:54 pm

Google does it again with a great tribute logo to the year 2007 which is just a few hours away:

Google 2007

2007 (MMVII) is the current year in some parts of the world and the upcoming year in other parts, due to the fact that there are still a few hours left for the Western Hemisphere.

It is the 2007th year of the Gregorian calendar. It is also the 7th year in the 21st Century.

Most of 2007 overlaps with the Year of the Pig in the Chinese calendar.

Dates from the first of January 2006 until the 17th of February 2007 are in the Year of the Dog in the Chinese calendar.

The next year of the pig will start in 2019.

This year will also be the year of the sign Pisces in Western Astrology. The next year of Pisces will take place in 2019.

2007 also celebrates the Centenary of Scouting.

If you know any other interesting bits of trivia about the year 2007, be sure to leave a comment.

Be sure to check back as I have some new and exciting things planned for my Have Laptop Will Travel blog.

Have a Happy New Year. See you next year! :)

Googlewhack

Originally posted on December 21, 2006 @ 12:30 am

Looking at my post title, you’re probably asking yourself “what is a Googlewhack?” right?

Well according to Wikipedia:

A Googlewhack is a Google search query consisting of two words–both of which must be in Google’s dictionary, and without quotation marks–that returns a single result.

A successful Googlewhack returns ‘Results 1-1 of 1’. Googlewhacking is the pastime of seeking such a result. A person attempting to find a Googlewhack is known as a Googlewhacker.

Sounds like a fun online game don’t you think? Trying to find a pair of words which, when typed into Google, return exactly one web page.

I thought so too and have spent close to an hour trying to find a GoogleWhack without any luck. Boo.

Thanks to Gary Stock, the relentless searcher who coined the term ‘Googlewhack’ back in January 2001, we now have something fun for those times when we don’t want to work but still need to be on the internet looking productive. Yay!

Check out Gary’s site GoogleWhack.com for the rules on how to play and to submit your GoogleWhack.

Have fun and be sure to let me know what you come up with… and if I finally find one, I’ll let you know as well.