VHS mode in Youtube

Posted on 15 April, 2013 by Mayitzin

Not sure if a late Easter egg, a passing joke or a permanent feature (would be fun), but Google gives us again the opportunity to play around with the common things on the internet.

This time comes all through Youtube. A new feature was added to the player of Youtube: the “Tape Mode”. You click it and your image will seem like an old VHS-cassette-like video. Quite nostalgic, I would say. I just discovered it watching some Ellen videos (I admit it, goddamit, that woman’s jokes are funny for me), and discovered this one with Steve Carell (better if you watch it in Youtube‘s website):

The legend says that they do it because of the 57th Anniversary of the commercial realease of the first VHS cassette. Well, quite a random number for me, but anyways. Not all videos have this feature. Apparently you just have to randomly find them too. Buuuu!!

Oh yeah, click “Pause” and it will keep the old effect of the cassette. These hipsters are everywhere with the electronic vintage effects. First their instagram, now this. I don’t think is gonna last, but I’d activate it for fun only.

Find a nice video and give it a try!

Treasure Hunt in Google Maps

Posted on 31 March, 2013 by Mayitzin

And the guys in Google seem to have lots of free time. Following the concept they created last year with an 8-bit Google Maps, this year they come with a new idea for April’s fool: an old style Treasure Hunt. I don’t know for how long it’s gonna be available but this trick looks very odd (tho funny).

When you open Google Maps for the first time you can see on the upper right options of visualization, an option that states ” Treasure”. Click it. That’s it, you can see now your map as an old middle aged map. They say you can find some hidden treasure chests, but I think it’d be very hard and time-consuming.

But what happens when you wanna have a closer look? Well, unfortunately it zooms in until a definite distance, as they didn’t rendered all buildings and streets, just the main ones. However, if you choose the “Street view”, you will have a surprise having an old telescope-like look.

Aaaaand, that’s this year’s Easter Egg from Google Maps. Maybe not so special but, quite creative and entertaining. Have a look at your city. How much stuff is in it? Did you see the most interesting things?

Google Maps 8 bits

Posted on 1 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

It’s April’s fools and all companies are giving some Easter eggs away. Our god Google can not be an exception and, from the many pranks developed by the company, this has been my favorite.

I don’t consider myself a true gamer (I prefer to go out than stay in front of a computer or a console) but I really enjoyed my 8-bit life with the Nintendo. I even had Atari, Family and Super (among other consoles), but this kind of practical joke really surprised me.

For the lovers of Machine Learning, like me, you can easily notice how they developed such 8-bit Nintendo-like platform so quick and fun. Yes, you know how.

But stop chatting and go to Google Maps and you’ll see the normal interface, except for a small area in the top right corner of the map. Click on “Quest” (“Mission” in the German version) and your map will turn 8-bit. Done, you are ready to play with Goggle Maps as in the Nintendo. If you don’t believe me try it yourself and I’ll put here the video and a picture of my town and surroundings in Google Maps Nintendo.

Be nostalgic, Google gives you the tools.