The iconic arcade game celebrates its 30th anniversary on May 22, and Google has created a one-of-a-kind Pac-Man Google Doodle in its honor.

Google frequently switches up its primary-colored logo in order to celebrate the birthdays and anniversaries of luminaries and important innovations (Sesame Street and the barcode have been among the honorees), but the Pac-Man Google logo is unique in that it is the first playable Google Doodle.

According to Google, the Pac-Man logo will have a total of 256 levels. Users can click the “Insert Coin” button to get the game going. (See it in action in the video below.) Pac-Man will be up on Google for a total of 48 hours–from 8AM PT on Friday through Sunday morning.

The programmer behind the Pac-Man Doodle was the son of a game and pinball technician and used to accompany his father to arcade parlors and help him tinker with the games.

We’re still not entirely sure whether businesses around the world will object to staff performance rates since the Pac Man launch. Luckily 4pm on a Friday afternoon shouldn’t cause too much damage, ah what the heck…it’s all good fun!!
Go on try it out now at: http://www.google.co.uk (But we didn’t tell you to…shhhh!)

For more fun and games why not add Pac Man to your home page? Click here for the Pac Man v2.6 widget

Also check out the geekiest Google logos of all time.

The past few months have been fairly interesting as the organisation of the wedding is coming together and all our hard earned cash is starting to pay off for various things such as the cake, band, church, venue, flowers, suits, honeymoon and car etc It never seems to end. I thought I was good at organisation and planning, previously working for an events company I thought it’d be a breeze. Boy was I wrong!

Next weekend is the infamous stag do (Pictures will be available) and one of which I have been most looking forward to. Although the amount of effort that has gone into getting a group of lads together has been particularly challenging. Whether its not communicating back (at all in some cases) or at the last minute dropping out, not paying up or suddenly deciding they are busy has been some of the many curveballs that have thrown the operation out of sync! This isn’t a rant or to point fingers or to say to those that their friendships are weak. Not at all! In fact my woes are not even that bad compared to the unfortunate lack of social interest in the Hen do!

Are we bad people? I don’t think so…bad timing? perhaps…or simply just a lack of courtesy? More like it! It would appear that no matter how much you do to make things right, do things correctly, help others when needed, provide services off your own back for the good of others it nearly always doesn’t mean much when you ask for a favour in return.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some great people and friends that we have out there, but there are also a lot who probably won’t care either way. Something I’ve also learnt to observe is that in business if you do a favour for someone it is more likely to make a return than if you did it for a friend…why is that when business is supposed to be so competitive. I’ve been to networking functions where I’ve felt more welcome and more appreciated than my local church, and yet I have no real connection with them other than we are here to make money.

Anyway, I digress…the point I’m trying to make is that even through all the plans and careful considerations, the countless revisions and the stringent co-ordination just because we do good things, work well, achieve our goals there will be others, even your closest of friends that won’t give the consideration you perhaps think you deserve. A quote by Dennis Wholey “Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.”
Unfortunately that’s just the way the world ticks round! But hey, that’s just my view…slightly negative I know and I guess the most important word of advice and something I find useful to do is to simply pursue. There’s no point worrying what everyone else thinks and the good news is to know that the ones who stay by closest and give you the respect you deserve are what you can most likely call your ‘real friends’, of which I know we have a lot of. Quite often I have been the culprit of dwelling on what I can do to gain authority from those may not be willing to give it and in the very same instant missed out on possible opportunities, thankfully none to serious.

So as we draw ever close to the day where we flock our nests and begin our own lives I have one thing that I feel I would like to contribute after my latest recent epiphany: Quite often it is better to do something right now, rather than necessarily doing it right.

Basically just get on do whatever it is you want and don’t hold up because others have their opinion about how you should do it. Too many people have kicked themselves for waiting too long!

And without further a due I am logging off…finally!!!! lol

Even the legendary masterchief has to have a break sometimes, its just mind numbingly boring for him not killing grunts!!!

Piano staircase

Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator and feel better” is something we often hear or read in the Sunday papers. Few people actually follow that advice. Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do? See the results here.

The Worlds Deepest Bin

To throw rubbish in the bin instead of onto the floor shouldn’t really be so hard. Many people still fail to do so. Can we get more people to throw rubbish into the bin, rather than onto the ground, by making it fun to do? See the results here.

Visit the website here: www.thefuntheory.com

Chris and Sams Wedding Promo movie from Chris Newnham on Vimeo.

In addition Google has developed buzz to be compatible with smart phones and of course there own Android mobile operating system. This new product appears to be a collaboration of Face book, Twitter, Picasa and MSN all rolled into one package which also interacts with Google’s other products.

By hitching Buzz to Gmail Google are using their core clients as a staging ground for launching their new social networking platform. Gmail is the third most popular web-based email provider in the world with over 170 million unique visitor’s end of 2009, according to comScore.

Over the next few days we will be seeing buzz roll out to Gmail users who will be able to use it amongst other Gmail users. The great thing about Buzz, and again possibly a deal clincher for Google is that public status updates will automatically be indexed by Google and be made available within real-time search results. Users can however opt to keep messages private to share only with friends and colleagues. But you can see as a marketing tool how powerful this could potentially be.
Users can share images from Picasa and videos from YouTube, they can also view tweets from Twitter but can’t post from Buzz to Twitter (yet). Buzz is however unable to currently display face book updates.

Whilst this may appear to be major floor is Google’s strategy the live updating to Googles search results gives this new product a different kind of strength. Also by targeting the Gmail masses it is a fine testing ground and a good reason to attract new users. I know i for one will be creating a Gmail account very soon.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he was not deterred by other companies’ experiences in melding email and social networking.

“I wouldn’t discount something because it’s similar in the one sense … to something else in the past that may not be that successful,” Brin said on the sideline of the event following the main presentations.

However in a counter-strike Facebook has launched its new skin layout and is currently rolling it out to the 400 billion face book users. In addition a new partnership between Facebook and AOL will see the social networking site’s Chat feature integrated with the latest version of AOL’s AIM instant messaging platform.

The agreement will allow Facebook users to chat with friends when replying to AOL email contacts.

AOL said in a blog post that it will also add its Lifestream application to AIM, allowing users to receive updates from contacts on social networking sites, including Digg, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter.

We also know that the new office 2010 and outlook 2010 will be able to interact with your social accounts, viewing live status updates from your followers and being able to update your status from within the software. It seems there is a new era of social networking as more apps are developed daily, new software and updates, new products and services are all able to interact and automatically update each other.

This is an exciting time for the world of social networking from a business and consumer point of view. The world is getting smaller as the web is getting bigger and communications across networks are starting to demand huge power. Stay tuned for more updates.

This got me thinking a bit, are we really a society unable to get the best deal? Are we really so easily swayed over by a hardened line or by someone who appears to stand that little bit taller. I’m no psychologist nor am I an expert in cultural diversity in micro demographics but I can definitely relate a few incidents to where I perhaps could’ve got a better deal.

There’s an old saying that “the customer is always right” and yet with the way modern companies market their products, always offering a “better deal” we are hard pushed when it comes to having something quite go our way. It’d be interesting to say how many people reading this can relate to the following. Now I’ve been in plenty of situations, especially in restaurants or public areas where we have enjoyed an exceptional meal experience or the service was spot on but when that waiter returns after collecting your devoured remains that lay on what was once a full plate and asks “Would you like any deserts Sir”, whilst practically thrusting the desert menu in your lap, there is that awful awkward silence where you quickly scan the eyes of your guests and then calmly yet firmly reply “um…err…no…just the bill please?”. Phew! Got away with it and he doesn’t seem to disappointed. But, what lies ahead is quite possibly one of the most cringe worthy moments that can possibly happen. The said waiter returns with your bill, but something’s not quite right, the figures don’t add up, it’s at least £10 more than you were expecting and there’s some form of confusion in the price of your girlfriends salad. Now in this scenario, I will admit I have simply said, no bother, I enjoyed the meal and don’t want to make a scene, so I kindly pay the bill, leave, drive home quietly and then check my online account that sufficient funds are available for tonight’s episode!

But this is only one type of cringe, the other type can come in various scenarios, mainly public and is stimulated by the same gland. But this time lets rewind to that restaurant table and the waiter has handed you the bill. This time however, the dreaded father in law has taken possession of the dreaded l’addition (French for “the bill”). You know it’s going to end in tears for the poor waiter, little does he know that upon his return he is about to be taken on the ride of his life. I usually just try to hide behind my crumpled napkin, but to no avail the cringe gland kicks in and I’m desperate to get out. However, this story usually ends well. The father in law, gets his refund and if he’s really pushy will have got extra money off or a discount for another visit. So all well and good, we like discounts. In fact, I net half of us wouldn’t uttered a word if they hadn’t have charged for that bloody salad? hmm?

Needless to say, we all suffer from it, although it would appear our fathers have built some sort of resilience to said “cringe factor”, maybe it’s something that is earned over time and eventually the gland becomes a weathered veteran of the cringe war that occurs every single day of our lives? Either way there are just some people out there that have the ability to not be affected by this “cringe episode” that so many of us get!

Whether its buying a car or paying the rent we technically do all have an opportunity to haggle. In fact anywhere you see a price tag is not necessarily the actual price of that item. I mean we all know how much of a mark-up there is on clothing so why do we spend £60 on a pair of designer jeans when they cost 20p to make? Well that is another story! But the point I’m trying to make is to not take the price at face value, we all have a right to haggle, they can only say no! The key is to be confident, upstanding and firm, but not harsh!

I recently decided to experiment my theory as I get quite fed up with doing things like everyone else. Sometimes I just have the urge to “go do something about it”! Some of you reading this may know that I am in fact getting married soon, and part of the whole preparation for the big day has been dealing with suppliers and transactions of money from account to account, in some ways very similar to running your own business! Form being in the events industry before I do have a fair understanding of the trade, but I also appreciate the service industry and will happily pay someone what I think there services are worth. So far I think we’ve done alright, still under budget on most items leaving enough in the bank to setup shop post marriage, so to speak, possibly literally! Anyway! The point is the other day me and the future wife were shopping, in Bournemouth, for some colour coded ties for my brothers so they can match our hired cravats. However our supplier had recently changed their supplier thus meaning the shade of pink was different, of which I was somewhat un happy with but cringe gland kicked in and I ignored it! However, walking down the high street I spotted a suit shop with ‘the exact colour cravat’, we entered and they could supply us all the cravats and two ties in the right colour for a good price plus 15% off if we booked at the wedding show which was finishing in 30minutes at a large venue down the road.

Without much hesitation we ran to the show (where our existing suit supplier was also), we snuck in past security (whoops) and found our existing supplier. I presented the idea of hiring just the suits from them and the cravats from another supplier which I had already arranged (but technically not yet). I asked how much we could have back off the suits and they said £4. Immediately I felt the cringe gland kick in, “ok that’s fine thanks”, NO! that’s crap! Add another £1 and you get an extra £12 meaning more than 50% of the cost for the new cravats plus extra ties is covered. I swallowed, stood up tall and simply said “How about £5 per cravat?”. It’s a simple five word line that took no longer than a split second. At this very moment I immediately sensed that the gentleman I was conversing with suddenly had his own cringe gland kick in and he didn’t quite know how to reply, he quivered somewhat, we exchanged various eye motions which lead to a moment of silence followed by a “that will be fine, but I will confirm tomorrow for you”. Wahoo progress!! Anyway, to finish off I found the new supplier of cravats, got the discount, saved £55 and got a much better deal in the end, and to be honest it didn’t really take much!

I left the wedding show after half an hour feeling on top of the world over my victorious encounter, I am a new man destined for success and all because I overcame the ‘cringe factor’. So I will leave you with this little piece of advice, anytime you are confronted with a “I could say this and try to haggle, or I just sit back and take it?” take the first option, stand up, breathe normally, clear your throat and speak clearly, firmly and with purpose. I will most certainly be adopting this approach in the future, just think about how much you could save?

Thanks for reading, sorry it was a bit longer than expected!!!

Click here for more details: http://digg.com/dialogg/jim_lentz_1?OTC-em-fu12f

Post sourced from http://psd-tutorial.com/30-nice-valentines-day-wallpapers-other-resources/

But no one told me I could write.

Please hear me right, I didn’t have to fight an abusive father,
Endure a wide-hipped, loose-lipped mother.
My brother was a model of older responsibility.
My sisters endowed with loving husbands and beautiful families.
We didn’t live in a rotting neighborhood with twisted metal wires,
Homeless-lit, trashcan fires,
Crafty, drug-induced, thieving liars,
The buyers, the tryers of addictive smoke spires,
And the shaking, sick children they sired.
We dwelt in the pleasantly, bland space between two, urban city hubs.
Shared our family’s love,
Sang rub-a-dub-dub in the bathtub
Before bubbly, bedtime stories laid my head to rest on a pillow as my parents prayed for me.
I am thankful for every one of those memories,

But no one told me I could write.

I tried to construct math and science combination contraptions.
I am good with numbers and solutions, the ablution of difficult, technical problems.
It pays in coiny ways, garners praise from corporate slaves,
Raves from teachers, proud pastors, friendly neighbors, success cravers,
All 31 flavors to savor except the one I was made for.
I like my job, but it is somehow stifling, empty,
Leaving me unfulfilled and searching, for more, a chore
Open the locked drawer, pummeling war pounding the stronger, scrawny muse spirit,

Because no one told me I could write!

I will not stop tonight!
I will stay till the light in me dawns with the morning’s ray liquid,
My insipid, rigid skin shell left behind,
Facing precipice edges with weightless anticipation.
I will fly, not deny, prophecy to my nation
An oration of vulnerable wit and joking tragedies of gruesome grit.
Are you down with it?  It doesn’t matter a bit to me,
Cause I know who sees and is pleased with my personality.
He gets any accolades that may come my way.
It’s His boldness that has released me from every fear and regulation today.

No one told me I could write.

This is such a source of inspiration for me…written and sung by Paul Finley (Acoustic spoken groove)