Happy Birthday Tetris! Love, Google

25 years ago - June 6th, 1984 to be exact - Alexey Pajitnov created a simple puzzle video game where you moved blocks around (called tetrominoes) to create horizontal lines of blocks to eliminate rows and gain points.

Know what game I’m talking about yet? I’m referring to Tetris, one of the world’s most popular and best-selling video games of all time.

This classic game has been a time-wasting staple for millions of people worldwide. And, as of June 6th, it will become 25 years old. We weren’t reminded of this momentous occasion by our video game knowledge, though. We were reminded…by Google (). It seems that they, too, are lovers of the funny-shaped blocks and are redesigning all of their logos in celebration. Take a look below to see what’s going on:

Google Japan with Tetris Logo

You may be wondering why you’re not seeing this awesome Tetris tribute in Europe, Africa, most of Asia, or the Americas yet. The answer is that it’s not quite June 6th yet for most of the world. If you’re in Europe or Asia, you’ll start seeing the new logos at about 6:00 PM ET. If you’re in North or South America, the logos will appear at midnight ET. And if you’re in Australia or Japan, well…lucky you, it’s Tetris time!

This is all pretty spiffy, but we do wish that the Google logos were animated. They are missing out on a golden opportunity for some really fun Tetris-related humor.

David Carradine RIP

'Kill Bill' star David Carradine found dead in Thai capital

BANGKOK - The body of American actor David Carradine, best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu," was found in a hotel room closet with a rope tied to his neck and genitals, and his death may have been caused by accidental suffocation, Thai police said Friday.

Much like the character that made him famous, David Carradine was always seeking, both spiritually and professionally, his life forever intertwined with the Shaolin priest he played in the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu."

Just as the character, Kwai Chang Caine, roamed the 19th Century American West, Carradine spent his latter years searching for the path to Hollywood stardom, accepting low-budget roles while pursuing interests in Asian herbs, exercise and philosophy, and making instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.

James Burke: Connections, Episode 1

Watch Entire Show: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...

Episode 1 of James Burke's most well-known series "Connections" which explores the surprising and unexpected ways that our modern technological world came into existence. Each episode investigates the background of usually one particular modern invention and how it came into being. These explorations are an attempt to locate the "connections" between various historical figures who seemingly had nothing to do with each other in their own times, however once connected, these same figures combined to produce some of the most profound impacts on our modern day world; in a "1+1=3" type of way.

It is this type of investigation that is the main idea behind the Knowledge Web project; whereby sophisticated software is used to attempt to discover these subtle connections automatically. See http://k-web.org.

Bong! Big Ben still rings out 150 years on

Building ‘the king of clocks’ was a triumph over adversity and it moves with the times

“There is no reason,” said Mike McCann, the man in charge of Big Ben, as he made his way down the 334 steps from the belfry at the top of the tower, “why it should not last forever.” As the world’s most famous timepiece celebrates its 150th anniversary, that is a forthright statement of faith in a masterpiece of Victorian engineering that was deemed so ambitious at the time of its inception that many clockmakers thought it could never be built.

That the Great Westminster Clock was completed was a triumph of perseverance and ingenuity over ill-fortune and acrimony. Not only was the building of Big Ben characterised by bitter rows between some of the key figures – the lawsuits stretched on for some time afterwards – but also when the great bell that actually bears the name Big Ben was tested it cracked, and had to be broken up and recast.

Within a few months of being installed, the new bell cracked as well. The second time the damage was not too bad, however, and, since being patched up and turned a quarter-turn, the bell behind the “bongs” – was ever a musical note so instantly recognisable? – has given all but uninterrupted service.

From today Big Ben – tourist landmark, London icon, symbol of parliamentary democracy – begins a year of anniversary celebrations starting with the launch of a website (www.parliament.uk/bigben). It is a very 21st-century way of marking the survival of an institution that is rooted in the technology of another era.

More here