Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Monday 27 May 2002, 5:26 PM
Rupert Goodwins' Diary
Monday 20/05/2002
Ah, Google. Already a verb and a way of life, the company's lightness of approach is a big part of its appeal. Not sure about this Dilbertian business, though: all week, we'll have Dilbert and pals fiddling about with the famous multicoloured logo.
I may be the only nerd in existence who doesn't find Dilbert that funny any more -- although nowhere near as painfully flabby as Garfield or as lame as Mallard Fillmore (an American attempt at a right-wing Doonesbury that just comes across as bad-tempered and reactionary. They forgot the funny). But is this the beginning of an attempt to be light-hearted in a corporate way, where it is decreed that something amusing must happen and it must get through committee first? It seems a bit pointless.
And you may remember that I asked Google why St George's Day didn't merit a special banner when St Patrick's did -- it turns out that it did, but only on www.google.co.uk where I didn't notice it. We could ask whether they also do specials for the other countries in the Union, or why St Paddy's went to .com and not .ie -- but at this point I rather lose the will to type. And I won't ask why there's a .co.uk anyway, because that way lies madness.
Ah, Google. Already a verb and a way of life, the company's lightness of approach is a big part of its appeal. Not sure about this Dilbertian business, though: all week, we'll have Dilbert and pals fiddling about with the famous multicoloured logo.
I may be the only nerd in existence who doesn't find Dilbert that funny any more -- although nowhere near as painfully flabby as Garfield or as lame as Mallard Fillmore (an American attempt at a right-wing Doonesbury that just comes across as bad-tempered and reactionary. They forgot the funny). But is this the beginning of an attempt to be light-hearted in a corporate way, where it is decreed that something amusing must happen and it must get through committee first? It seems a bit pointless.
And you may remember that I asked Google why St George's Day didn't merit a special banner when St Patrick's did -- it turns out that it did, but only on www.google.co.uk where I didn't notice it. We could ask whether they also do specials for the other countries in the Union, or why St Paddy's went to .com and not .ie -- but at this point I rather lose the will to type. And I won't ask why there's a .co.uk anyway, because that way lies madness.
Previous
