Google Trends is a tool from Google Labs that shows what the world is searching for.As an experiment, I used a Google Trends Drupal search, and got a graph showing a steady upward trend in searching for  Drupal from 2004 till now.What is intriguing is the spike in mid 2005. Was that around the time that the servers choked and we had the fundraising for the new servers (July)?The other intriguing tidbit is why Budapest and Hungary are the top city/region? Why is Indonesia and Czech Republic the top two after that? Vancouver seems obvious due to the conference there in February.

The media is full of news about Google and Microsoft heading on a collision course. Although it started several months back,  things are heading for an technology arms race. Microsoft hates competition, and Google has been gaining ground and promoting rival products, such as Firefox and Opera. All this is normal in the business world.

2bits is sponsoring DrupalCamp Toronto, held on May 12, 2006.

Boris, Richard and Roland as well as James Walker (all from Bryght) will be attending the event.

I will be presenting a talk titled: Building Drupal Community Sites.

Regarding Druplicon, Drupal's mascot, I have the same feelings about his eyes. The official history details how its eyes are supposed to have the infinity sign in them.While walkah prays to the Druplicon, and Robert Douglass sings its praise, while others morphed into a more evil looking Druplicon, some do share my dislike. Someone proposed to politely replace it.

Reuters is reporting that a poll shows that BBC, Al Jazeera, and Fox News are the most trusted news sources in their respective regions. Here is the discussion on Digg. 

Well, the BBC does deserve this reputation, having been known for general neutral and well researched reporting, with the few odd expections.

Here is the text of the Monty Python sketch: Four Yorkshiremen.The Yorkshiremen seem to be well off, enjoying fine food and wine, and reminiscing about the hard times they had growing up. This quickly degrades into a one-upmanship match where each of them fabricates a more outlandish claim than what the others have said.Very funny. Go read it. 

The BBC Magazine has an article on several "what if ..." scenarios on extremely difficult ethical questions.This article was also discussed on Digg. The examples in the article seem to too extreme, but there are real life examples that pose the same questions. For example, the policeman or soldier who has to kill people in their normal line of work. On a larger scale is how politicians and heads of state justify war on other countries to themselves and to the public. Remember when Tony Blair said that that war is for the sake of peace?

Here is a satellite map of sea level rises by a hypothetical 7 meters, using Google Maps with overlays of elevation data from NASA.

Drupal 4.7 was released today after a full year in development.Read the full release announcement for Drupal 4.7 which has the new features. The "offline for maintenance" feature in that release is something I wrote sometime back.Additional coverage on Digg, CreativeBits and Free Software Magazine, Performancing.

In various fields, the Golden Ratio is considered a key to beauty and style. This goes for architecture, painting, sculpture, design, and more, as well as being found in nature as well. The Golden Ratio is also called the Divine Proportion among other names. Its value is 1:1.618. Recent research in the UK has shown that  for web sites, the golden ratio can be harmful, making them harder to navigate.