Why is the google logo a UPC barcode? October 7 2009

ByAsa Hawks

google barcodeIf you’ve searched google today you’ve noticed that the usual colorful lettering is gone and has been replaced with a black and white bar code. Did you freak out? I know I did?

So what’s the deal? The latest google doodle is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the barcode patent back on October 7, 1959! I looked it up on Wikipedia and they claim the date was actually October 7, 1952. Hmmm… I suppose google is a little more reliable than wikipedia!

Anyway, if you want to find out more about the fascinating story of the barcode, read all about it HERE!

My favorite part is that the initial inspiration came from Morse code, with the dots and dashes extended down in a line. Actually, the original barcode was round! Here are the illustrations from the original form for patent 2,612,994, just click to see larger photos:

Illustration from the original barcode patent number 2,612,994

Illustration from the original UPC barcode patent number 2,612,994

Illustration from the original barcode patent number 2,612,994

Subscribe to Starcasm by Email

Similar Posts

| |

PHOTOS Yes, Palestine has bodybuilders too

ByAsa Hawks

Just in case you thought dudes getting ridiculously pumped up, slathering themselves in oil, putting on a tiny pair of jockey shorts and flexing in front of other guys that look the same was uniquely American, I offer these eye-opening photos from a bodybuilding competition in Gaza City October 29, 2010.

Can you say Yasser Aralean?

| | |

VIDEO: Too soon? Golden Girls adult film parody

ByDarren O

It is now safe to add porno-parody to the new celebrity culture news cycle along with Twitter, Facebook, The Soup, YouTube and of course wonderfully insightful blogs. Following the recent passing of Rue McLanahan and the omni-presence of Betty White, the Golden Girls are getting the official “adult treatment”. Check out the SFW trailer and the hilarious parody of the theme song “Thank You For Being a Friend.”

|

Why are folks missing their calls? They’re playing “Ow My Balls!”

ByDarren O

As if YouTube wasn’t bad enough for “America’s Funniest Home Videos” along comes the next generation of baby-maker bustin’ hilarity “Ow My Balls!” If you noticed folks hunkered over their iPhone at Starbucks with tears rolling down their cheeks completely engrossed and ignorant of what is transpiring around them then you have probably witnessed the cultural effect of the iPhone app game “Ow My Balls”! Read on and be prepared to LROFL.

Inside the lucrative business of feet fetishes
|

Inside the lucrative business of feet fetishes

ByEmily

As a student at New York University, Olivia took a few sexuality classes and thought she had a good understanding on what fetishes involve. Then she answered a vague Craigslist ad seeking “Girls with Pretty Feet” and found herself swept into the strange world of “foot prostitution.” “I’m only young and living in New York…

| |

Kim Kardashian Hollywood app earns $43.4 million in 3rd quarter, gamers go on 214,174,992 dates

ByAsa Hawks

Glu Mobile recently revealed that their Kim Kardashian: Hollywood gaming app brought in $43.4 million in July, August, and September of 2014 after launching on June 25. In addition to the revenue figure, Glu Mobile also released some jaw-dropping statistics about gamers during that time, including how many dates they went on, the best-selling outfits for men and women, and the total amount of time human beings spent chasing their virtual dreams in the Kimcentric electronic Tinseltown universe.