It was my birthday at the beginning of July. A working day and hey, a normal day except that it was super nice too. We didn't go out and celebrate or do very much away from our normal routines; I didn't really feel the need and probably didn't have the inclination. It was a Tuesday though and we were doing an installation or delivery early on the Wednesday morning, which meant I had to schedule my WOYWW post. It was the first time I'd turned the PC on all day and I was surprised to see that Google's doodle was all cake and celebration.
My first thought was 'oh, I wonder what famous people have their birthday today too'. Well you would wouldn't you. Kings and Presidents get the Google doodle treatment.
Not so. I damn near had a heart attack.
Will you look at that! I know it's a stock image and I know that Google must do this for millions of people every day. But it's kinda creepy isn't it, having confirmation that all your personal data, given willingly or not, is being stored and used. I'm not naive, I know it's been this way for ages. I recognise that as an android tablet owner and blogger blog owner, Google is all over my life. I don't want to put the freak out music on; this isn't a major rant; if it wasn't Google it would be some other organisation, frankly. But my feigned ignorance was a sort of protection bubble. And so for my birthday, quite unwittingly, Google gave me the jitters!
It would have freaked me out too!
ReplyDeleteYou have no secrets from the world now Julia but it was rather nice of them to wish you happy birthday :-)....it certainly made me smile :-)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Annie x
ps do hope you will link up with my Friday smiles too :-)
they knew you were coming and they baked a cake lol. (it's a song popular in the US in the 50s or 60s..."if I knew you were coming I'd 've baked a cake, baked a cake, etc etc... now I've given myself an earworm lol).
ReplyDeleteBelated happy birthday : D
aww - I think it would me too. We really ought to know though - google is SO nosey!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a lovely Birthday despite blinkin Google!
XX
You want to try putting your name into Google. I've done it and it's shown my blog (fair enough), but also things on Amazon and eBay I've been watching.
ReplyDeleteI've had friends say it's happened to them as well.
Hope you have a nice weekend. Sue
We are all being watched one way or another. ...and it's probably gonna get worse! ! Yes! Tis scary!
ReplyDeleteoh wow, that is creepy... I'e not heard of that gimmic before (I use Chrome - I think quite an old version- and don't see the google doodles - I quite miss them actually, though a personalised one might be a bit much!) and now we have this "cookies" thing on our blogs... yes we know you're logging our every move, lol!
ReplyDeleteBig Google is watching you and the entire world is too! At least they didn't divulge your age!!!!
ReplyDeleteJo x
Thanks for the heads up...although I gotta wait a another half year to see if I get one. The Google Now on my phone amuses me. Whenever I leave the house of an evening (not often) it likes to alert me to the time of the last bus, where I can catch it and at what time I need to leave my location in order to catch it... which is particularly amusing when I've asked said Google for driving directions to the place I'm at and it can usually tell me where I have parked!
ReplyDeleteWow it's creepy isn't it. Anyway, Belated Birthday wishes Julia. Hope you enjoyed your special day. Barbxx
ReplyDeleteWow I must look at Google on my birthday in November. Happy birthday Julia
ReplyDeleteWOW eeeeek! That IS weird!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they'll do that for me? Guess I'll have to wait til next May by which time I might have forgotten about it :)
Happy Belated Birthday!
Weird Julia.... no you're famous :-)
ReplyDeleteHope your birthday was a good-un despite the Google fright.
ReplyDeleteToni xx
Ha! I thought it was awesome! I had the same experience on my bday. A coworker looked at my Google and said - 'your picture is different than mine.' I didn't even pay attention until later that evening. I thought it was Cindo de Mayo related, but then hovered over it with my mouse and it said MY NAME!!!!! Big brother or not - I thought it was GREAT! :-) Happy Birthday from me and Google. ;-)
ReplyDeleteApril
Ha! And it is getting worse. They've already made it so time consuming and annoying to comment on blogger blogs unless logged in, one day I expect to be unable to SEARCH unless I log in...
ReplyDeleteMissing WOYWW :(
MA
I've ranted about Google before, and refuse to use it other than the fact Blogger was purchased by Google sometime after I started blogging. And the new EU law that allows Google to collect my cookies scares me, too. I read a tale of horror once in a magazine where Google actually took over the world. Although a tale of fiction, it hit quite close to home and seems to be coming more and more reality every day.
ReplyDeleteI hope your birthday was great, even though I've never seen a Google doodle.
I got that too in November last year... Made me think as well along the same lines. Have you ever Googled yourself? quite an interesting thing to do! Try it some time.
ReplyDeletehmm, I will have to check that on my birthday!
ReplyDeleteI gave Google a fake birthday, because it was required. No reason for them to know it, I felt.
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ReplyDelete