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Google Renames Itself "Topeka"
techmuse was one of several readers to note Google's official response to recent news that a town in Kansas would rename itself Google. The search engine company has announced a name change of its own, although I'm not sure saying "Let me Topeka that" has quite the same ring to it.
No Google, plz don't do this!!111!1eleventeh ;__;
which is totally what she said
Because of the way they interact with the community that surrounds them.
You can't find me ONE other Fortune 500 company that does the same. Go ahead, try.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
My new name is "Trout Fishing in America"
Anyone else feel that the "chat" feature on slashroulette should have incorporated Eliza?
APRIL FOOLS loel.
I Googled it on Yahoo. Apparently they don't want you to Topeka on Alta Vista.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
only Google could come up with such a great idea
some people won't do for free money.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Comment removed based on user account deletion
... just not all the ads on every website.
From Google's 'Topeka' page:
* (good) Before our blind date I did a Topeka search on him.
* (acceptable) Before our blind date I Topeka'd him.
* (improper) Before our blind date I topeka'ed him.
* (just plain wrong) Before our blind date I topeka'ed him with Alta Vista.
In other news, after hearing that the name "Google" is now unused, Steve Ballmer announced that Microsoft would be changing his name to Google.
"We think this is a really good way to grow our brand," Ballmer said. "People just weren't latching on to the Bing name, but now that it's Google Bing, people will be sure to show up."
They should have changed Gmail to Tmail and changed all other Google references on the page 4 mad lulz.
Is Gmail going to be Tmail? if so will my email address change to @Tmail.com?
This should tell you something about Google's innovation. As one of the most successful companies in the world they still have a sense of humor and are not afraid to show it ie put down the corporate guard. If I were anyone competing with Google, I would watch your back! They have no fear!
Also would be better if Topeka'ing "Topeka" and pressing the "I Feel Lucky" button brought you to the main Topeka page.
topeka.com does not work though... they should get that fixed if they are a billion dollar company.
Its April Fools day dumb ass. /. is just doing what it usually does every year. im just glad that didn't turn the page pink... again
Its not my fault, someone put a wall in my way.
I love all the IT/Geek April fools joke. Go Google. I mean Topeka. Does that mean the stock ticker is now tpk?
Shameless plug alert: Game server control panel
e.g. M$ opens source code of Windows 7
I keep forgetting to ignore Slashdot today.
I knew Google would do something for April fools :D
I thought the point of April Fools Day was to try to 'fool' the other person...
Hey I'm working on Vista right now you insensitive clod.
But... if Vista is not real... am I real? Are my thoughts real? And what in the hell would a sensitive clod look like?
Today is the day Slashdot is unreadable. The reason most news media only post one false item is because it is hard work to make a good fake AND funny story. These are the level of a drunk bar discussion where one person asks the other 'Wouldn't it be funny if ...'. The next day when you are sober the answer is clearly no.
If something is untrue it is not funny, it is called a lie. That is what idle is for.
Why not make up a good story, spread it over several blogs and if possible even put a fake interview a person related to the story online and see if the media pick up on it. But that would require work, so it won't happen. Oh well, I can at least do some work today instead of read /.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
No sensitivity here.
http://static.vi.be/pictures/style/4617/csstheme_mast_CowPie-JeffVanuga.JPG
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
topeka topeka. The internet will break.
Peri Fleisher made them do it after six grueling years of legal battles. They are saving face and saying "We wanted to change our name"
Come on, /., be at least a little bit more subtle. A good joke actually has people fall for it.
Yet Another Tech Blog
(but so much more, including game and movie reviews)
http://yanteb.peasantoid.org
At the very least, if topeka.com is a registered domain, we've brought it to a screeching halt. My money says they didn't see this coming . . . sort of like LL Cool J dissing Sarah Palin . . . .
If this is Slander, why is there a big Topeka logo on google.com where the Google logo used to be? :)
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
Bing's April Fools page is... oh, that's their normal search page?
Never mind.
Free Martian Whores!
August 27 1998 - Nintendo launches the Pokemon franchise Stateside with a 10-day nationwide tour; they even get Topeka, Kansas, USA, to rename itself to Topikachu for a day. Pokemon dolls are even dropped from a helicoptor to lucky fans below. Before its debut, Pocket Monsters was renamed Pokemon outside of Japan because another company had trademarked the name "Monster In My Pocket," making it impossible to use "Pocket Monsters". Since many Japanese players had already shortened the name to "Pokemon", Nintendo chose the name "Pokemon".
Needless to say, the fact that a city is reknown to do this kind of thing, it'll most likely happen again.
What'll be the next name? I predict: "CowboyNeilopia" !
I think we're a bit out of the loop here in Kirkland, WA. A few people were pissed off about this when I got to work. We're slowly learning that it's a joke.
Ahhh Topeka! How I love thee, especially when your CEO adds in a caveat stating that just b/c Google has changed their name for the day, it doesn't mean that city formally known as Topeka will have a leg up on the competition to take part in the Fiber for Communities project. Great CMA move.
Heh. IPv6 is immune to the fools?
Fellowship 9/11
It was on the local news this morning.
Free Martian Whores!
The time units displayed when searching for something on Google. Planck times, nanocenturies, warp 9.62 etc. :)
The name change from Google to Topeka makes perfect sense, as Google is simply a contraction of "Go Ogle" and "Topeka" is a contraction and slight rearranging of "To Peak".
This naming theme must have something to do with the most common [mis]use of the Internet.
Are my thoughts real?
No, but you probably think they are.
unless you don't mind having a "heart attack" or "farming accident".
While our state capital isn't the baddest of the bunch, it certainly is more than 'a town in kansas'. Article summary makes it sound like some random tiny 200 person town with one gas station and more banjos than computers, a dur.
Alas, for those of us living in the Great White North, google.com automatically url-redirects to google.ca, who apparently are not in on the joke. (Assuming that google.com main page actually says Topeka).
Dammit, why aren't we included in the joke? We Canadians have good senses of humour too! C'mon, we sent you guys Jim Carrey and everything! And... oh. OH. That's what this is really about, isn't it... you guys are still sore about Celine Dion. Yeah, OK, we're sorry about that... ;-)
We stopped calling Topeka "Google" yesterday.
No, we never actually changed the name of the city. The mayor just signed a proclamation that we would "call" ourselves "Google" for the month of March.
Yep, I currently live in Topeka, KS, the capital city that seems to be the most famous for silly and embarrassing things. I am not one of those who believe all our problems will be solved by a Google branded fiber optic internet service, but I do still applaud what I believe Google is trying to do. In fact, I wrote a paper about it for English class. In it I explain the impact of the "Digital Divide" on poverty and argue that the major potential effect of Google's service would be to spur competition, which would then make broadband affordable to more poor people, thereby helping them rise out of poverty.
April 1 I always look forward to /. and other sites that post funny stories for the day. Even funnier are the idiots that take it seriously.
Thanks for making my day!
This is the first April Fool's joke to make me laugh so hard in years. Bravo, Google, bravo!