You may have heard about the Vietnamese blogger who has claimed to post a photo showing a brand of toilet paper with the Google name. In no time at all, the photo and blog has appeared all over the net, including some prominent sites. None of these sites have any data to validate the claim of the Vietnamese blogger. My own research into the toilet paper has resulted in no proof the toilet paper actually exists. In fact, my research points to this Google toilet paper to being nothing but a hoax.

First, the photo is not a complete photo of the toilet paper packaging and there is no manufacture information on the section of the photo the blogger posted. Under the Google brand logo are some Vietnamese words that translates, according to some of the sites repeating the blog, to “very long, soft, and smooth”. However, at the top of the packaging are the words "100% Virgin pulp", "Rolls", and "2 Ply Bathroom Paper" in English. I have to question why the use of English to state the package contents, but Vietnamese to describe the product's aspects. Perhaps my readers that have better knowledge of Vietnam can help explain this.

Typical Vietnamese Bathroom [1]

Another reason I doubt the validity of this Google toilet paper is the culture of Vietnam. A typical Vietnamese bathroom is unlike the typical bathroom found in Western culture. Tracy R Reed provides a description of a typical Vietnamese bathroom in his blog [2]; "The Vietnamese bathroom is somewhat different from a western bathroom. Only a few times did I ever see the traditional "squat" toilets. Most have the western style toilets now. But there is no bath tub or shower. Not once did I see one. Instead the bathroom is always tiled from floor to ceiling and there is a shower head on the wall. You just shower right there in the middle of the bathroom floor. Don't put anything in the bathroom that cannot stand to get wet. Also, there is what looks like a kitchen sink dish sprayer beside the toilet. That is to wash your ass. They generally don't use much toilet paper. They consider the western habit of using toilet paper to smear it around repulsive and unclean." So if toilet paper was used in a Vietnamese bathroom, it would have to be housed in a waterproof container so it would not become wet when taking a shower.

In my opinion, the Google toilet paper is a hoax. Anyone with a halfway decent graphics editor can fake the label of a product. What is more important is that based on a Vietnamese blogger posting of this Google toilet paper, websites all over the net picked it up and repeated the story without checking it out. Just because something is posted to the net does not automatically make it true. I may be wrong and this Google toilet paper may actually exist, but I seriously doubt it.

1. http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/3484548.html
2. http://ultraviolet.org/blog-old/my-time-in-vietnam

Google's Nexus One event has come and gone and in the end we are left with the same old BS as usual. The Nexus One is manufactured by HTC in Taiwan using what amounts to slave labour. Yet Google has priced the phone at $529.00; however, you can get the phone for only $179 with T-Mobile service plan (other provider's have yet to sign on). The whole mobile phone industry in the US has been scamming the public for years now. They claim some phone is priced at $500.00 yet if you buy it with a service plan you can have it for only $150.00. Does anyone believe that AT&T or T-Mobile is actually giving you $350.00? They are not even paying $150.00 for these phones and they are making money on these phones when they sell them to you with the service plan.

I was hoping to see Google break the scamming of mobile phone sales in the US by offering an unlocked phone at a real price based on what it really costs to manufacture these pieces of cheap plastic and silicon chips. However, given that Google still blocks full access to searches to the Chinese public, I am not really surprised. Hopefully, Microsoft's Bing will eventually take some of the wind out of Google's sails.

Kimberly, New Year Eve -2009

Kimberly, New Year Eve Party Tiara - 2009

My sister's party was fun last night. I danced and even sang along to some of the music. The party food was good, and as I tend to do, I ate a bit too much. However, it was a party and one is allow a bit of over indulgence at a party. As the hour approached, we opened the champagne and watched as the ball dropped in Times Square. At the hour of the New Year we toasted each other a happy and prosperous new year. Of course since it is a holiday there are a couple of new photographs including one with me wearing a New Year party tiara.

I celebrated New Year Day at Sister #1's New Year Day dinner. Sister #2 was there along with my brother-in-law's family. The food was very delicious and included the traditional good luck foods. We started out the new year enjoying each other's company and forgetting any troubles for now. The day was for enjoyment and hopefully the coming year will be filled with many joyful days; not only for me and my family, but for everyone.

The end of 2009 is near and the new year will soon be here. I will be ringing in the new year this evening at Sister #1's New Year Eve party. There will be music and dancing and singing and it is nice to be able to ring in the new year with family and friends. I won't have that someone special with me tonight, but maybe next year it will be different. Here is wishing everyone a wonderful New Year Eve, and that the coming new year will find all your wishes come true.

Since the leaked news that Google's staff were dogfooding a new mobile device running the Android 2.1 OS, rumours have been rampant that Google was going to sell a mobile phone direct to the public, unlocked and unsubsidised, fully open to any network. Google has repetitively stated they are not interested in entering the hardware market. The rumours may be validated, or squashed, soon; Google just announced they are holding an Android-related media event next Tuesday, January 5, at its Mountain View campus.

Images of the Nexus one Android 2.1 based phone along with a video demonstrating the interface have been leaked onto the net and I include them here.

Nexus One

While there are no official specifications on the new mobile, including the final name of the product, some information has been obtained. The Nexus One is 11.5mm thick with a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display touch screen. It is speculated that it could be running Qualcomm's 1GHz QSD 8250 “Snapdragon” processor, and has 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM with a 4 GB microSD card included, expandable to 32 GB. The built in camera has a 5-megapixel sensor, mechanical auto focus and LED flash. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, accelerometers and a compass are included. For an expanded list of specifications, visit the engadget website here.