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Google Honors Veterans Day, Finally
theodp writes "It took nearly a decade, but Google has done a turnabout and is honoring Veterans Day with a special holiday design for its famous logo. Users who log onto Google's home page are greeted with three World War I-era helmets capping the letters 'o' and 'e' in Google's name. The decoration is a marked departure for the company, which has come under fire from veterans' groups for ignoring American holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day since Google's inception in 1999."
There needs to be a moderation system for editors.
) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
Uh, November the 11th sort of is an internationally observed day - in most parts of the world it's called Armistice day or Rememberance day, though. Much as I hate to break up the nationalism party, the end of World War I did sort of affect more than just Americans.
BREAKING NEWS! Google updates logo for public holiday. HOLY SHIT!
Cos I was just thinking, we didn't have enough google (non)-stories on Slashdot...
I write bullshit
couldn't we have picked a better source for the info? Yes, Google acknowledges Remembrance Day in Canada (as pointed out in this blog/whatever), but that doesn't mean they have to acknowledge Veterans/Memorial Day. Am I glad they did it? Sure. Do I believe they have to? No. Does World Net Daily have to go off on how Google is supposedly left leaning? Umm...no. I got to this part, and threw up a little in my mouth and called it a day.
"In addition, the company came under fire for an editorial decision giving preferential placement to large, elite media outlets such as CNN and the BBC over independent news sources, such as WND, even if they are more recent, pertinent and exhaustive in their coverage."
Who bloody cares? And "elite" media outlets? WTF does that mean? Independent news sources? How is the BBC not an independent news source? And what does this have to do with acknowledging Veterans Day? I would have preferred they simply said "Those commie pinkos in Silicon Valley aren't red blooded Americans for supporting Veterans." What a bunch of crap.
Here's the text from a google search and finding another blog carrying the text:
By Joe Kovacs
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Google's commemoration of Veterans Day 2007, the first time it has honored the U.S. holiday
It took nearly a decade, but Internet giant Google is finally honoring Veterans Day with a special holiday design for its famous logo.
Users who log onto Google's home page today will see three World War I-era helmets capping the letters "o" and "e" in Google's name.
The decoration is a marked departure for the company, which has come under fire from veterans' groups for ignoring American holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day since Google's inception in 1999.
The firm, known for its widely used search engine, regularly modifies its logo to commemorate holidays, historical events and figures.
"Maybe all the pressure is paying off," said WND reader Donna Hunter of Philadelphia. "God bless all our soldiers!"
When the Los Angeles Times asked the California-based firm about the issue earlier this year, spokeswoman Sunny Gettinger responded, "Google's special logos tend to be lighthearted and often scientific in nature. We do not believe we can convey the appropriate somber tone through this medium to mark holidays like Memorial Day."
The Ledger newspaper of Lakeland, Fla., called that excuse "laughable."
As WND reported last year, Google had no problem honoring the war dead of other countries, creating a special logo with poppies for Remembrance Day in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52914
And for the ninth year in a row this past spring, Google declined to mark Memorial Day - something the company has done for the Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Halloween and other observances. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55900
Just last month Google acknowledged an accomplishment of the communist Soviet Union, which launched the Sputnik space satellite 50 years ago.
With the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the Soviet Union leaped ahead in the race for space between the U.S. and the communist empire. Sputnik's success followed the failure of the first two Project Vanguard launch attempts by the U.S. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57982
Google also has given special honors for astronomer Percival Lowell, artist Edvard Munch and Louis Braille, inventor of the writing system for the blind.
Other days commemorated included National Teachers Day, Women's Day, Ray Charles' birthday, World Water Day and St. George's Day.
Besides overlooking Memorial Day and Veterans Day until today, it also has ignored Christmas.
Google has been criticized for its one-sided political contributions and content policies:
Rejecting an ad for a book critical of Bill and Hillary Clinton while continuing to accept anti-Bush themes
Rejecting ads critical of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., while continuing to run attack ads against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
Allowing the communist Chinese government to have the search engine block "objectionable" search terms such as "democracy."
In addition, the company came under fire for an editorial decision giving preferential placement to large, elite media outlets such as CNN and the BBC over independent news sources, such as WND, even if they are more recent, pertinent and exhaustive in their coverage.
As WND reported, 98 percent of all political donations by Google employees went to support Democrats, and as a matter of fact, Al Gore is now a senior adviser to Google.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave the maximum legal limit of donations to Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry and to primary candidate Howard Dean.
Schmidt also contributed the maximum amount to Sen. Clinton.
) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
While it's amazing that this story is newsworthy... it's worth taking a look at the bigger picture: people take notice at Google's logo changes because they've kept an uncluttered appearance. On most websites, you probably wouldn't even notice a small logo change!
In general, the so-called Web2.0 revolution has brought about much more single-purpose tools, compared to the multi-tools of the past. This leads to deeper functional design and performance, instead of deep integration (which is only slowly coming along thanks to mashup-enabling technologies).
The message is clear: web designers, get to the point! Don't distract your users. Make every word and every image count.
--
NerdKits: Educational microcontroller kits for the digital generation.
Do these same veterans groups attack Yahoo, MSN, and Altavista for not decorating their logos with militaria on Veteran's Day? This is a non-news post about a bunch of whiners if you ask me. Google's decoration can be purely voluntary and random for all I care. --As a USMC veteran to all the whiners, shut up.
should read:
World Nut Daily are a bunch of kooks, with a knife to grind. Getting listed in google news was a wet dream for them. Getting delisted ('cause they aint a news site), really pissed them off. They've had an anti-google axe to grind ever since.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
- Fantastic! Google has had its head up its search engine for more than 7 years!
- I'm glad to see the change of heart, and I'll use Google more often
- I still have major gripes with Google, but at least this is a small step in the right direction
- Looks like someone reminded people at Google they live in the U.S. and enjoy freedoms soldiers have shed blood fighting for
- 1 lonely logo for veterans since 1999? Whoopidy-freakin-doo!
- Google's logos are irrelevant
- Google only did it to get WND off its back
- Must have been the new guy who did the design. He's not hip to the anti-American company rules yet
- Google is still evil, and must be shunned at all costs
- Other
And I RTFA'd too. No, these people don't have any sort of bias against the Googles. . . Put this WorldNetDaily.com on your list of propaganda websites that are too stupid to even try to appear objective.At any rate, I think it's safe to say that next year WND will be bitching about Memorial Day and Columbus Day. And if they got logos for those it would be Reagan's Birthday and the day they pardoned Oliver North. You can't win with these whiners. It's a freaking logo, this is the stupidest controversy in history.
Then they should title the image "Armistice Day" instead of "Veterans Day," just for that added pinch of spite (and for the sake of historical accuracy).
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell.
I'm not going to defend Google from the position of a fan, but only to say how I would feel if I were in that same position.
If I had to design logos for my company based on holiday themes, what do you think I would do when I came across Veteran's Day? I can't think of any appropriate way to symbolize veterans without displaying something explicitly national or military. The holiday doesn't really have any symbols other than American flags and stuff, and that's not too great for public relations as I'm showcasing a particular country's role in a major war. War means killing people. Lots of people. Lots of people whose dead relatives and ancestors (on the other side of the conflict) are now customers of mine.
Personally, I'd want to sweep this one under the rug. Google couldn't do that because of all the bad press it was getting, so they finally drew some army helmets. Sure, it's military equipment, but at least helmets save lives and rarely (if ever) end them. Also, the green little helmet doesn't have to identify any single nation, even though it's an American holiday.
I am a recent United States Navy Disabled Veteran, I was very happy to see this little design.
Most people think veterans day is just "another day", but to the people serving in the military, and fighting for your rights, it means a lot. Each and every time I see anything that honors veterans, it really makes my day.
Shit, I cry during the National Anthem and the Pledge because, as a former military member, those words really do mean a lot more to me.
Most world war 1 vetrans would slap the crap out of these people for whining.. They died to defend our right to freedom.
And then they would slap the crap out of the rest of us for letting our country turn into the clusterfuck it is today.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I am ashamed you are a countryman of mine. Iraq back then was part of the Ottoman empire, so didn't even exist back then. Japan was on the "allied" site. Vietnam was a french colony, so on the same side as the US (when the americans finally got involved).
The 11th of november is remembered in the western nations that took part in WW1, this includes the US, canada, great britian, france and belgium at least. It is NOT a US day. It is also not a celebrations, it is a remembrance of those who died. Not a glorification of killing but a rememberance of the loss.
It is similar to our 4th of may, we remember those who died, ALL who died, in conflict. This includes those on the other side. No we do not lay reefs at site of nazi war criminals, but the graves of german soldiers are tended too and they too are remembered.
Frankly most soldiers from these past wars have learned to forgive but never forget, they can talk with their former enemies, why can't you get over it.
As for google displaying a bit of pride in the US, it is a US site. Let the afghans and iraqies and anyone else with a beef against the US go on their own internet and use their own search engines.
As a dutch person surely you must have noticed how everything turns orange around queens day? How should people from Suriname feel about that? Enslaved by dutch forces, to pay for the dutch empire, about this day?
Start looking a little closer at home before you start blaming other countries.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
This holiday is actually the anniversary of the end of WWI. It is celebrated in several countries as armistice day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day. The Google logo was quite appropriate for this. If the USA want to celebrate their veterans that day, fine, but that's no reason to forget the origin of the holiday. To us in Belgium it's a holiday about peace, not about war (or those who wage it).
Looks to me like people are remembering the wrong thing. On November 11, one should commemorate fallen soldiers. But one should also remember the political and social issues that caused millions to die in WWI and WWII in the first place, the international cooperation it took to win in those conflicts, and the dangers of right wing populism, nationalism, and militarism.
It seems to me those lessons are getting lost, in particular among the right wing nuts that complain about Google not having a special logo for Veterans Day.
1) There's separate Google sites for non-American users, so recognizing Memorial Day doesn't have to offend anyone outside of the US.
2) 11/11 isn't just an American Holiday. There were several nations involved in WWI. Most (on the winning side) recognize Armistice Day (last I checked), in some form or another. Hence the WWI style flak helmets on the logo, which are rather appropriate. In the US and most Commonwealth countries they have since extended the Holiday to honoring all Veterans, though...
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
Let's just make sure that everyone gets that before this goes too far. It's also the work of one man, so let's not go pretending that it's an authority on anything.
I could not care less about Vetereans day - and I'm an American USMC veteran (six years active duty, combat, got all the fruit salad to wear, thanks...). A Federal Day off (in the US) is worth nothing to me. I would be happy if the civilian leadership (that's you, voters) would bother to learn from history and maybe learn about the world outside the US borders, so there might be fewer Vets in need of remembrance or memorial and more walking around pulling air and enjoying the good life we seem to take for granted and by right.
/Rant
Why should Google placing a helmet or other cartoon on their home page mean anything, and why should I care?
Sorry, it is *that* day.
Socialism and National Socialism are completely opposite ideologies. Calling yourself a "socialist" in Hitler's Germany got you a one way ticket to prison - if you were lucky. National Socialism is an ideology based upon racial superiority. Socialism is an ideology based upon working cooperatively rather than in competition.
Here are some other helpful things to know:
The last of these is particularly important, especially if you're the kind of person who believes that socialism and national socialism resemble one another in some way. You will not "save money" by using your own poo to wash your hair.
I hope this helps,
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
National Socialism "considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the interests of the state."
How does this differ from Liberalism/Socialism? Or Hillary Clinton's famous "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
As far as I can tell, the one difference between Nazi's and Communists were their stances on private property - Nazi's believed in Private Property insofar as it did what the state directed it to do. VW didn't come up with the Volkswagon themselves.
'Racial Superiority' was part of the Nazi's idealogical arsenal, however it was not and is not the chief defining characteristic any more than anti-Zionism is Communism's.
And Socialism has precious little to do with 'working cooperatively' and everything to do with wealth redistribution. I guess it depends on which side of the equation you're on, eh?
The opposite of progress is congress
Socialism and National Socialism are completely opposite ideologies.
... ahem ... acquired.
That is entirely black-and-white thinking to say that socialism and the Nazi idology are "completely opposite" ideologies. Only a Nazi or a Communist would say such a thing, since both of then were fighting each other for who would be the totalitarian slave-lord of Europe. Do you think "slavery" is too harsh a term to describe the Communists? Read the Gulag Archipeligo and get informed as to who performed the work in the GULAG (what was a "zek"?) and how they were
In truth, both the Nazi ideology and the Communist ideology are anti-individual and thus evil ideologies which deserve to be utterly destroyed. I demand nothing less than complete and unconditional surrender from both of them.
If you hate individualism, then you'll probably see my last comment as somewhat extreme. In that case, you would be a prime candidate for Nazi/Communist proselytizing.
I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.
I agree. Also, I think it's downright idiodic that people are berating google over a stupid logo on veteran's day, but as we speak there are 1000's of veterans suffering from injuries due to iraq, and not being taken care of like they are supposed to. There are veterans that have been put on the street because they were forced to deal with the costs of their medical care that they can't afford. Yet these people actually care about a friggin' google logo.
Way to direct your energies to a worthy cause, idiots.
I got nothin'
Excessive guilt-by-association with a bonus condoning of "evil"?
First, I'm not slamming him for being associated with "progressives". I'm saying that "progressivism" itself is evil.
Second, you mis-used the world "condone". It means "to overlook". And I am certainly NOT doing that.
honestly, you're just as bad as that which you purport to 'cast out'.
First, I notice that you are castigating me for criticizing the "progressive" instead of objecting to what the parent wrote. Shall I assume that you approve of all of the "progressive" things which were written?
Second, how do you judge me "just as bad" as that which I cast out? Namely, where did I espouse the things for which I judged him evil?
if lumping everyone you disagree with under some stupid insulting banner is bad in the parent post, it's just as bad when you do it too.
I am not "lumping everyone I disagree with" under a stupid insulting banner. I am objecting to:
1. The overuse of profanity
2. The abuse of the word "fascist"
3. Expressing violence and wishing for murder
4. Excessive guilt-by-associating
5. Condoning of rape -- I take it back. He wasn't merely "condoning". He was actively wishing that someone be violently raped.
All of those were expressed in the parent post, and I see all of those and much more in most "progressive" writing today. I think that "progressivism" stands for all five of those things, and thus "progressivism" is evil. If you disagree, then please explain where I've gone wrong, you who saw no reason to object to what the parent poster wrote.
I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.