The Miracle Fruit plant Synsepalum dulcificum produces berries that when eaten first causes sour foods like lemons, oranges and limes to taste sweet. The berry, also known as Miracle Berry, Magic Berry, Miraculous Berry or Flavour Berry. It was first documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa.
It contains a molecule called miraculin that binds to the tongue’s taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. It is now being told to be a hope to fight against obesity, I hope so.
Today, we're announcing our second annual Doodle 4 Google contest in the U.S. Google doodles are the special "dressed-up" logos we run on our homepage for holidays and other events, and Doodle 4 Google is an opportunity for one child to have his/her artwork displayed on our homepage as a doodle for hundreds of millions of people to see. This year's theme is "What I Wish for the World," as we really want to tap into not only children's creativity but also what they want their future to look like.We're very excited this year to be partnering with the Smithsonian's, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Since Cooper-Hewitt is focused on design and education and fostering the brightest design minds of tomorrow, they were a natural partner for Doodle 4 Google. Their partnership also means that this year's prizes not only include having your artwork on the Google homepage for a day, a college scholarship, and a technology grant for your school, but also having your work (and that of all 40 finalists) exhibited at a Smithsonian museum!
Most of this year's contest remains the same as last year's. (For inspiration, you can see Grace Moon's beautiful winning doodle "Up In the Clouds" in our Doodle Gallery). However, there are a few changes. First, we've increased the college scholarship prize for the national winner to $15,000. We've also added a $10,000 prize for the school district that submits the most high-quality entries. Finally, in partnership with Cooper-Hewitt, we'll be celebrating the 40 finalists and announcing the national winner in New York City, to coincide with the opening of the exhibit. Please visit the official competition website for a full listing of all contest rules and requirements.
Only students from registered schools can enter, so teachers, if you want to participate please register your school by March 17, 2009. All doodles must be submitted by March 31, 2009.
Google has launched a new feature in Google Maps called Latitude that allows users to share their location with friends and family. The service won't pinpoint the exact location but it offers a good idea of where your friends are, says Google.
Location aware services are becoming increasingly popular among smartphone users. For instance iPhone users can download Loopt, a map sharing application for cellphones that pretty much works along the same lines as Google Latitude.
Google users have to opt in to use the Latitude feature and invite friends to join. If accepted, users can spot friends in the same neighborhood through the maps and text, IM or email them.
Naturally, all this raises questions about privacy. Google says it has plenty of settings in its latest feature to take care of privacy concerns. Once you've shared your location, you can hide it from individual friends or all of your friends at once, says Google. Users can also turn off Google Latitude completely at any time.
Google Latitude is available for Android phones, the iPhone and iPod Touch, most color BlackBerry phones, Windows Mobile and Symbian users.
Monday February 2nd is Groundhog day, and here are some facts about Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day you should know.
WHO IS PHIL?:Punxsutawney Phil has been making weather prognostications every Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, Pa., since 1886.
THE ORIGINS: Groundhog Day grew out of what had essentially been a German superstition. German settlers brought with them the idea that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
WHERE IT HAPPENS: Punxsutawney is a town of about 6,100 people located about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
MORE INFORMATION: http://www.groundhog.org/
WATCH PHIL LIVE?
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is offering a web cast from Gobbler’s Knob so you can see if Phil feels lucky live from your computer. Users will be able to control three cameras so they can zoom and pan over the action.
Go to the tourism office’s website for live pictures as well as the history of Groundhog Day and how it evolved from its European roots.
Live footage of Phil’s appearance will be show beginning at 7 a.m.
Yahoo! team integrated IM and SMS to Yahoo! Mail Classic worldwide. Already a popular feature in the new Yahoo! Mail, Classic Mail users can now instant message or SMS a friend right from the Mail interface.
When you sign into Mail Classic, your IM contact list will appear on the left hand sidebar below your main folder list. Once you click a contact and start a conversation, a window pops up in the lower right corner of your Mail Classic page. The conversation window includes a tabbed interface so you can have multiple conversations at once without cluttering up your Mail page.
Within your contact list window you’ll see two groups: online contacts and mobile contacts. Online contacts are available friends that are in your Mail address book or your existing Yahoo! Messenger list (including Windows Live Messenger contacts). Mobile contacts are friends in your address book for whom you have a mobile phone number. You'll be able to send a free SMS text message to your mobile contacts.
Screenshot of Chat on Classic Mail :
Yahoo! team integrated IM and SMS to Yahoo! Mail Classic worldwide. Already a popular feature in the new Yahoo! Mail, Classic Mail users can now instant message or SMS a friend right from the Mail interface.
When you sign into Mail Classic, your IM contact list will appear on the left hand sidebar below your main folder list. Once you click a contact and start a conversation, a window pops up in the lower right corner of your Mail Classic page. The conversation window includes a tabbed interface so you can have multiple conversations at once without cluttering up your Mail page.
Within your contact list window you’ll see two groups: online contacts and mobile contacts. Online contacts are available friends that are in your Mail address book or your existing Yahoo! Messenger list (including Windows Live Messenger contacts). Mobile contacts are friends in your address book for whom you have a mobile phone number. You'll be able to send a free SMS text message to your mobile contacts.
Screenshot of Chat on Classic Mail :
Sometime late Friday/ early Saturday morning, Google flagged the ENTIRE internet as malware. Had you been awake and Googled anything during this time FROM ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET, every result would have included a link that said "This site may harm your computer".
Everything appears to be back to normal now, so feel free to go back to Google image searching all of the tentatcle porn you can eat again, just make sure your Mom doesn't walk in on you again. That last time was AWKWARD.
