Google Honors Veterans Day, Finally 693
theodp writes "It took nearly a decade, but Google has done a turnabout and is honoring Veterans Day with a special holiday design for its famous logo. Users who log onto Google's home page are greeted with three World War I-era helmets capping the letters 'o' and 'e' in Google's name. The decoration is a marked departure for the company, which has come under fire from veterans' groups for ignoring American holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day since Google's inception in 1999."
KDawson (Score:5, Insightful)
Under Fire? (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Completely obscure and unheard of
or
2. A MAJOR (American) holiday
I don't understand why anyone would actively attack them over not including this particular one..
p.s. first?
Re:Under Fire? (Score:3, Insightful)
Good for Google, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
"In addition, the company came under fire for an editorial decision giving preferential placement to large, elite media outlets such as CNN and the BBC over independent news sources, such as WND, even if they are more recent, pertinent and exhaustive in their coverage."
Who bloody cares? And "elite" media outlets? WTF does that mean? Independent news sources? How is the BBC not an independent news source? And what does this have to do with acknowledging Veterans Day? I would have preferred they simply said "Those commie pinkos in Silicon Valley aren't red blooded Americans for supporting Veterans." What a bunch of crap.
Subtlety in Web Design (Score:5, Insightful)
In general, the so-called Web2.0 revolution has brought about much more single-purpose tools, compared to the multi-tools of the past. This leads to deeper functional design and performance, instead of deep integration (which is only slowly coming along thanks to mashup-enabling technologies).
The message is clear: web designers, get to the point! Don't distract your users. Make every word and every image count.
--
NerdKits: Educational microcontroller kits for the digital generation. [nerdkits.com]
Who cares... (Score:5, Insightful)
Reasonable (Score:2, Insightful)
World Nut Daily (Score:4, Insightful)
should read:
World Nut Daily are a bunch of kooks, with a knife to grind. Getting listed in google news was a wet dream for them. Getting delisted ('cause they aint a news site), really pissed them off. They've had an anti-google axe to grind ever since.
This story stinks (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Reasonable (Score:5, Insightful)
In Defense of Google (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not going to defend Google from the position of a fan, but only to say how I would feel if I were in that same position.
If I had to design logos for my company based on holiday themes, what do you think I would do when I came across Veteran's Day? I can't think of any appropriate way to symbolize veterans without displaying something explicitly national or military. The holiday doesn't really have any symbols other than American flags and stuff, and that's not too great for public relations as I'm showcasing a particular country's role in a major war. War means killing people. Lots of people. Lots of people whose dead relatives and ancestors (on the other side of the conflict) are now customers of mine.
Personally, I'd want to sweep this one under the rug. Google couldn't do that because of all the bad press it was getting, so they finally drew some army helmets. Sure, it's military equipment, but at least helmets save lives and rarely (if ever) end them. Also, the green little helmet doesn't have to identify any single nation, even though it's an American holiday.
As a Veteran... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people think veterans day is just "another day", but to the people serving in the military, and fighting for your rights, it means a lot. Each and every time I see anything that honors veterans, it really makes my day.
Shit, I cry during the National Anthem and the Pledge because, as a former military member, those words really do mean a lot more to me.
Re:Okay that does it- I want Queens day to be hono (Score:3, Insightful)
What if I would DEMAND that Google also include the Dutch "Queen's day" for the rest of the world to see? That wouldn't make sense at all. But at least it's not as insensitive as rubbing salt into the wounds of Iraqi or Afghan or Vietnamese or Japanese people who visit Google (and the list will keep growing for a while). I'm sure those people will be thrilled to know that the killers of their lost family are being honored on this special day.
Try doing some research before making stupid demands to the search engine gods.
Reality.... (Score:4, Insightful)
And then they would slap the crap out of the rest of us for letting our country turn into the clusterfuck it is today.
Check WW1 history you dolt (Score:5, Insightful)
I am ashamed you are a countryman of mine. Iraq back then was part of the Ottoman empire, so didn't even exist back then. Japan was on the "allied" site. Vietnam was a french colony, so on the same side as the US (when the americans finally got involved).
The 11th of november is remembered in the western nations that took part in WW1, this includes the US, canada, great britian, france and belgium at least. It is NOT a US day. It is also not a celebrations, it is a remembrance of those who died. Not a glorification of killing but a rememberance of the loss.
It is similar to our 4th of may, we remember those who died, ALL who died, in conflict. This includes those on the other side. No we do not lay reefs at site of nazi war criminals, but the graves of german soldiers are tended too and they too are remembered.
Frankly most soldiers from these past wars have learned to forgive but never forget, they can talk with their former enemies, why can't you get over it.
As for google displaying a bit of pride in the US, it is a US site. Let the afghans and iraqies and anyone else with a beef against the US go on their own internet and use their own search engines.
As a dutch person surely you must have noticed how everything turns orange around queens day? How should people from Suriname feel about that? Enslaved by dutch forces, to pay for the dutch empire, about this day?
Start looking a little closer at home before you start blaming other countries.
Armistice day (Score:5, Insightful)
yeah, but remember what? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems to me those lessons are getting lost, in particular among the right wing nuts that complain about Google not having a special logo for Veterans Day.
Re:Patriots are Idiots. (Score:3, Insightful)
What's utterly BS is being proud to be from a certain country. What's there to be proud of? That you were born there? Yeah, great feat. You're my hero. Question for 500: What did you do to make that country great?
Nobody who's proud to be from $country managed to claim those 500 so far.
Re:Reality.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Hunh? WWII was about defending freedom. WWI wasn't about much of anything.
Re:Rememberance Day? (Score:2, Insightful)
Quite true. In Germany, at least in the more southern parts, November 11 is (and was as long as I can think back) more famous as the 'Karneval' (carnival) season starts at exactly 11:11 (a.m.). BTW, a google-logo in honour of this 'important' date would fit to the 'no evil' image much better.
CC.
Re:In Defense of Google (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Give me one good reason (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:In Defense of Google (Score:3, Insightful)
The poppy isn't well known for Veterans Day in the US. In fact until I found it on wikipedia a few months ago, I had no idea that about the significance of the poppy and November 11. From Google's perspective it wouldn't make much sense to make a logo that would make no sense to one of their largest markets. Military helmets are more universal in this case
World Net Daily is a right wing site (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In Defense of Google (Score:5, Insightful)
As a Canadian, I'd say yes.
But here in the US, I have yet to see a poppy in anyone's lapel, and haven't met anyone familiar with the In Flanders Fields poem [wikipedia.org] or who otherwise knows much about Rememberance Day [wikipedia.org] in general. The differences, at least to me, are rather disappointing. When I was a kid, everyone in school and out wore their poppies proudly, and listened with reverence whenever and wherever the poem was recited.
Then, there's the issue of how other countries commemorate the events of either war. I highly doubt Russia (an ally which, IIRC, lost something like 20 million in the last war) commemorates anything with a poem written by a Frenchman about a flower growing in Belgium.
Maybe folks from other countries can offer some insight.
Re:Reality.... (Score:1, Insightful)
Hunh? WWII was about defending freedom. WWI wasn't about much of anything.
Re:In Flanders Fields (Score:3, Insightful)
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Re:As a Veteran... (Score:3, Insightful)
Conscription==Slavery. I cannot see why people have a problem understanding this.
Time and again arguments like "national pride", "respect"(WTF?), "useful skills" and of course "manhood"(LOL), are brought forward to justify forcing people to labor for the state against their will. I mean sure, if you want to serve in the military, then go right ahead. And if you feel it's done you and your country a lot of good, all the better. But your positive experience is not guaranteed to be universal.
Bottom line, you are forcing people, often under pain of death, to do work they will not be fairly paid to do, if they are paid at all. If that is not slavery, I don't know what is.
Even in wartime, it's not excusable. Why can't people accept the fact that if your army is too weak because not enough people joined, then it's basically a sign that not enough people in your country thought it was worth fighting for. I mean, aren't people entitled to say; "I don't consider this country to be worth fighting for". Isn't that a legitimate viewpoint?
Geermany is one of the worst examples of modern conscription. A perennially peacetime nation that nonetheless forces, under duress, millions of people to do its bidding in one way or the other, under the banner defending the nation. What a joke. Maybe they should consider paying their volunteers more, instead of going for the cheaper option.
If my country ever implements conscription, I'll leave it. I'll leave it because I'll know that I'll no longer be free there. I'll just be a feudal vassal or serf, who can be forced into work at any time. When that happens, my country won't be worth fighting for anymore.
You think people remember the oppressed and chain ganged conscripts on veterans day? No. They're something people would like to forget. It's mostly the volunteer corps who are paraded and celebrated. The conscripts who survived were given a pittance and what was left of their stolen lives and were told to be on their way.
Re:Fuck Veterans Day (Score:3, Insightful)
Ummm...I'm fairly sure one of the things Veteran's Day would mark is the winning of the Cold War.
Seriously guys...this sort of extreme Marxist ranting and foaming at the mouth is really getting old. Are any of you truly naive and idiotic enough to believe that we'd be any better off in a Marxist scenario?
Re:As a Veteran... (Score:4, Insightful)
The other thing of course about the manhood argument in Bush's context is its' degree of inconsistency.
I heard about a soldier giving a speech at a high school in the US where he told some student to, "be a man." The immediate response that came to mind was, "what, you mean the way Bush and Cheney were when they dodged?"
Nobody should IMHO be using WW2 as justification for feeling warm and fuzzy over anyone who is idiotic enough to go to Iraq. WW2 was a very different conflict, in a very different time. Sure, back then people were fighting for the continuation of the free world...but back then, such was actually *worth* potentially getting yourself killed for. Also, back then the human race itself was something worth preserving...these days, that's nowhere near as certain as it once was.
Soldiers or vets are perfectly free in my own mind to deride me as a snot-nosed civilian who will die without ever having put my own head on the block; fine, guilty as charged. My point though is that there's *another* snot-nosed civilian currently sitting in the White House, who also has never put himself in the firing line, who even with that, orders you to go and get yourselves killed in a war that has zero relevance or benefit for you personally, and which exists in its' entirety to make said civilian and others like him a whole lot more wealthy...and you listen to him, go and do it, and then expect people to applaud this incredible gullibility if you happen to survive the experience.
Something else I read once, and which I try and apply if there's ever a scenario where it's relevant, (even if the only real place where it happens is World of Warcraft) is that the only type of commander who's worth anything at all is one who never, ever orders anyone under him to do anything that he isn't willing to do himself.
Next time you go to think of Bush as your Commander in Chief, stop and ask yourselves...Do you really think, given the opportunity, he'd willingly be there dodging bullets with you in Fallujah or Kirkuk?
Re:And since it's been slashdotted... (Score:5, Insightful)
2) Someone who advocates raping and murdering others because they don't like their pollitical opinions has no business calling someone else "insane" or "fascist". Hint: that would be you, Chuckles.
As the son of a world war II veteran (Score:3, Insightful)
the war in iraq, I do not read WND but Veterans day is important.
The reason it was changed from armistice day to veterans day in the US was to honor the
veterans of world war II and Korea.
Maybe we could put aside the crass partisan catcalling for a day and remember that.
From a Veteran (Score:5, Insightful)
Why should Google placing a helmet or other cartoon on their home page mean anything, and why should I care?
Sorry, it is *that* day.
Re:Rememberance Day? (Score:5, Insightful)
We learnt a lot more lessons from WWII (about what happens when a major power is backed into a corner), and from the Cold War (the fact that there was never a direct war between the two major powers involved shows we *are* learning, albeit slowly). Days like Nov 11th are there to help us remember these lessons, so we don't make the same mistake twice. In a lot of countries, these lessons are "rolled up" into one day, e.g in New Zealand, Anzac Day (25th April) is used to recognise all major wars NZ has been involved in, even though it was originally a WWI rememberance day.
The fact that it's almost 100 years ago since these lessons were first learnt is even *more* reason for us to try to work hard to remember them.
Re:And since it's been slashdotted... (Score:5, Insightful)
Too many people have picked their sides in this growing civil war and could care less about the truth because it might be reported on a conservative or liberal source. What's laughable is many then claim to be "moderate." "Oh I'm not a Democrat or Republican. I just want the truth!" Yeah right. This is getting out of hand. If I'm for lower taxes I have to choose Republican. If I'm for gay rights I have to be Democrat. Oh and if I'm gay and a Republican I risk being outed by gay Democrats. What is it that we want? Split the country? Looks like we could be headed that way.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:About the tags for this article (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Nazi == National Socialist German Workers Party (Score:2, Insightful)
That is what National Socialism means today, because it is associated with the racist views that the Nazi party came to be known for.
While white supremacy may have been a key social issue for some "voters," the party also had ideas about how to run the other aspects of society. The other views of the party were that the government should control the economy so so that everyone (well everyone who was white non-Jewish) gets their fair share. This is socialism.
Severe lack of nuance (Score:5, Insightful)
That is entirely black-and-white thinking to say that socialism and the Nazi idology are "completely opposite" ideologies. Only a Nazi or a Communist would say such a thing, since both of then were fighting each other for who would be the totalitarian slave-lord of Europe. Do you think "slavery" is too harsh a term to describe the Communists? Read the Gulag Archipeligo and get informed as to who performed the work in the GULAG (what was a "zek"?) and how they were
In truth, both the Nazi ideology and the Communist ideology are anti-individual and thus evil ideologies which deserve to be utterly destroyed. I demand nothing less than complete and unconditional surrender from both of them.
If you hate individualism, then you'll probably see my last comment as somewhat extreme. In that case, you would be a prime candidate for Nazi/Communist proselytizing.
Re:KDawson (Score:1, Insightful)
It's great that they do commemorate certain events/holidays, but giving them a hard time b/c they don't do it for 1 or the other is childish.
Re:Remembrance Day? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The face of "progressivism" (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Under Fire? (Score:5, Insightful)
Way to direct your energies to a worthy cause, idiots.
It's *still* the face of "progressivism" (Score:5, Insightful)
First, I'm not slamming him for being associated with "progressives". I'm saying that "progressivism" itself is evil.
Second, you mis-used the world "condone". It means "to overlook". And I am certainly NOT doing that.
honestly, you're just as bad as that which you purport to 'cast out'.
First, I notice that you are castigating me for criticizing the "progressive" instead of objecting to what the parent wrote. Shall I assume that you approve of all of the "progressive" things which were written?
Second, how do you judge me "just as bad" as that which I cast out? Namely, where did I espouse the things for which I judged him evil?
if lumping everyone you disagree with under some stupid insulting banner is bad in the parent post, it's just as bad when you do it too.
I am not "lumping everyone I disagree with" under a stupid insulting banner. I am objecting to:
1. The overuse of profanity
2. The abuse of the word "fascist"
3. Expressing violence and wishing for murder
4. Excessive guilt-by-associating
5. Condoning of rape -- I take it back. He wasn't merely "condoning". He was actively wishing that someone be violently raped.
All of those were expressed in the parent post, and I see all of those and much more in most "progressive" writing today. I think that "progressivism" stands for all five of those things, and thus "progressivism" is evil. If you disagree, then please explain where I've gone wrong, you who saw no reason to object to what the parent poster wrote.
Re:Progressive Elitism (Score:4, Insightful)
So, when these two geniuses disagree, the argument is "I'm pretty sure I'm much, MUCH smarter than you are", followed by "I'm pretty sure you're not".
That is pathetic.
That is also a great demonstration that someone who is extraordinarily "smart" isn't necessarily wise or admirable.
Re:How typical (Score:1, Insightful)
A message from a US Army Soldier to you: Shut the fuck up, cunt.
Assholes like you got me sent to Iraq, a place that had nothing to do with anything. I wanted to be in Afghanistan, where the actual terrorists were, but no.
Assholes like you don't care how fucked up our lives are, so long as you claim to support us and buy some yellow magnets.
Assholes like you don't really care if I live or die, so long as your political goals are reached. You don't care that you are abusing the trust I placed in the government when I signed my commitment.
If you want to be an awful, paranoid right-wing shit, go ahead and do so, but sign the fuck up first. Sign up as Infantry. If you're a fat fuck, don't worry, the Pork Chop Platoon will have you battle-ready in a few months.
War-mongering idiot. Sign the fuck up. We'll see how much of your shit you believe once you've been over here for a while.
You can filter any editors from the front page (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's *still* the face of "progressivism" (Score:3, Insightful)
Well by that token Fred Phelps and his "God Hates Fags" protesters are the face of the conservative movement. Casting the most radical of any faction as the norm is an easy way to dismiss any political movement.
Re:And since it's been slashdotted... (Score:3, Insightful)
It's consistently full of lies, distortions and propaganda.
By that standard so is Slashdot.
Re:Severe lack of nuance (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words: show me a country with zero public services and I'll show you a place you don't want to live.
Cheers.
Re:It's *still* the face of "progressivism" (Score:3, Insightful)
I ignore assholes on the Internet. Someone goes off about rape and razor wire and such? They go onto my mental blacklist. To condemn them would be to acknowledge them -- and that's more than they're worth. Social ostracism works better than open condemnation sometimes, because the latter allows those who flaunt social conditioning to decide the topic of discussion; further, this policy means that these most offensive of trolls are denied the response they crave.
So -- you have "progressives" tagged with any number of negative correlations. That doesn't tell me, in your mind, what defensible or positive positions you also have associated -- so I can't debate them. It's obvious that rape and murder are unacceptable -- so obvious that there's no point in jumping into the conversation to say as much; individuals who would argue to the contrary are inherently unreasonable, and there's no point in talking to unreasonable people. If you want to talk about socialized healthcare, or intellectual property law, or states rights, or taxation... well, those are all good topics, and I'm happy to discuss them. But to discuss "progressivism" with someone whose view of what that represents is so tainted with baggage unassociated with the philosophy and agenda would be simply a waste of time.
I enjoy talking religion with an individual who knows the subject and the arguments -- who is willing to discuss the anthropic principal and offer considered rebuttals. I enjoy talking politics or intellectual property law or computers with someone who has something interesting to say and is willing to challenge my beliefs in the saying of it. Those who mark themselves "nutter", on the other hand, are not worth my time and attention. Do I thus overlook their behavior? I consider my behavior to be snubbing it -- and them.
Re:As a Veteran... (Score:3, Insightful)
If recruiting requires one to sacrifice your moral decision making to a 3rd party, the amount of respect you deserve really depends upon the morality of your commander, in a sense. Do I have to respect a soldier who kills someone, while I oppose that killing and everything their objective stands for? Do I only have to respect him for being from my country, or because I should give him the benefit of the doubt that he means well? What about "serving a country" makes that anything more automatically deserving of respect?
Respecting soldiers' sacrifice automatically amounts to support for what they did, even though there are instances where soldiers have been the iron fist behind atrocities and evil. Respecting the soldiers of your own nation while not having respect (or having less respect) for those of your nation's enemies basically amounts to the perpetuation of nationalism. Respect those who do good, regardless of their location or background. Respect for soldiers must be conditional based on what they have done, just like it is for any other person.