Google’s Valentine’s Day Doodle Through the Years [PICS]

by Amy-Mae Elliott

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Happy Valentine’s Day to all you romantics out there! Google has set the mood on its infamously sparse homepage today with a brand new Google Doodle to mark this special day of lurve.
Google’s first Valentine’s-themed Doodle appeared way back in 2000, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to take a look back at the search giant’s efforts through the years.
Have a meander through the gallery below to see the evolution of Google’s V-Day Doodle over the past 11 years and let us know your favorite design in the comments.

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Image 1 of 11

2011

Pop artist Robert Indiana is the inspiration behind this year's Doodle, with the search engine's logo emulating Indiana's iconic "love" sculpture.

Pop artist Robert Indiana is the inspiration behind this year's Doodle, with the search engine's logo emulating Indiana's iconic "love" sculpture.

2011

1

Last year Google pulled double duty with its Feb 14 logo. Marking both the Winter Olympics and V-Day, Google picked pairs skating as the sport to highlight with a heart carved in the ice to the right of the logo.

2010

2

Most of the world saw love birds perched on a gold band in 2009...

2009

3

... While the U.S. got a decidedly more modern "X" and "O" to represent some hugs 'n' kisses.

2009 (U.S.)

4

A sweet old couple holding hands appealed to your sense of romance in 2008.

2008

5

Google goes naughty and nice in 2007 with a chocolate dipped strawberry.

2007

6

Hearts and flowers in 2005 make a pretty twist on the classic logo.

2005

7

A year later and the Google vowels are puckering up for a smooch.

2004

8

Google integrated hearts as the "Os" in the logo to celebrate V-Day in 2003.

2003

9

Google stayed cute in 2001 with a teddy-themed doodle.

2001

10

Google chose a cutesy Cupid to grace its first ever Valentine's Doodle in 2000

2000

11

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2011

Pop artist Robert Indiana is the inspiration behind this year's Doodle, with the search engine's logo emulating Indiana's iconic "love" sculpture.

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2010

Last year Google pulled double duty with its Feb 14 logo. Marking both the Winter Olympics and V-Day, Google picked pairs skating as the sport to highlight with a heart carved in the ice to the right of the logo.

---

2009

Most of the world saw love birds perched on a gold band in 2009...

---

2009 (U.S.)

... While the U.S. got a decidedly more modern "X" and "O" to represent some hugs 'n' kisses.

---

2008

A sweet old couple holding hands appealed to your sense of romance in 2008.

---

2007

Google goes naughty and nice in 2007 with a chocolate dipped strawberry.

---

2005

Hearts and flowers in 2005 make a pretty twist on the classic logo.

---

2004

A year later and the Google vowels are puckering up for a smooch.

---

2003

Google integrated hearts as the "Os" in the logo to celebrate V-Day in 2003.

---

2001

Google stayed cute in 2001 with a teddy-themed doodle.

---

2000

Google chose a cutesy Cupid to grace its first ever Valentine's Doodle in 2000

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4 Ways to Do Good This Valentine’s Day

by Zachary Sniderman

Valentine’s Day is everyone’s favorite holiday. Unless you’re in a relationship and you have to plan a whole big thing for your significant other. Or if you’re single and the day just reminds you of what you don’t have. Or maybe you just don’t like holidays in general? Okay, Valentine’s Day sucks.
Even if you can’t stand February 14, we can all agree that it’s good to give back. That’s why we’ve pulled together a short collection of ways you can do good this Valentine’s Day — from charitable donations to advocacy to cards for your loved one(s).
Of course, there are probably even more possibilities out there, so please share — in the comments below — other ways to give back and do good this Valentine’s Day.


Coming soon: Valentine's Day 2011 face-off in the charity: water office. from charity: water on Vimeo.

• Causes.com: This site will donate $10 of any purchase to one of five charities, including the Campaign for Cancer Prevention, Support the National Parks and TPRF: Food for People. You can buy Valentine’s staples like flowers, e-cards, or even chocolate-dipped strawberries from online vendors.
• Change.org: Rather than donating money to a cause, Change.org is asking for your advocacy this Valentine’s. This campaign asks your support in stopping the use of forced or child labor to mine for diamonds. It might not be as “romantic” as actually giving your sweetie a real diamond but that won’t matter when you’re trying to make someone else’s life better.
• Charity: Water: charity: water is becoming known for its Valentine’s day productions, as can be seen in its Western love-duel clip above. The charity has also made sure to include some options for consumers like a diamond waterdrop bracelet from Kwiat jewelers. All proceeds go directly to charity: water. You can also give the “gift of clean water in someone’s name, and notify that person via a Valentine’s card.
• Charity Cards: If you want something that’s simple but says it all, try Charity Gift Certificates. Once you send your e-card, the recipient can then choose a charity to benefit from your gift. It’s a win-win-win.

Social Networking Americans’ Valentine’s Day Plans [INFOGRAPHIC]

by Charlie White

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and lovers from coast to coast are getting ready. Here’s an infographic built using data from 400 Facebook and MySpace users that might give you insight into love in America, circa 2011.
It’s a good thing we posted this infographic today, because 36% of you plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this weekend, probably tonight. Have fun!
Buried in the data are some interesting anomalies, too. For instance, notice that 16% of the single people have their current relationship status on Facebook as “dating,” “engaged” or “married.” On the other hand, 0% of the married respondents called themselves “single.” Good move, fellow married people — you know what’s good for you.


Infographic created for Mashable by Lab 42

10 Free iPhone Apps for a More Romantic Valentine’s Day

February 14, love it or hate it, is just around the corner. Valentine’s Day is yet another holiday that has been over-marketed and over-commercialized, judging by the onslaught of pink hearts and red roses, but if you have someone in your life to profess your love to, you won’t mind a little visit from Cupid this year.
If you’re planning a special night, the following 10 free apps can help you take your romance game to the next level. And even if you aren’t presently in a relationship, Valentine’s Day is good excuse to tell someone that they’re special. C’mon, you can break out the warm fuzzies, at least for one day.

1. Valentine RADIO

As you get ready for your Valentine’s Day festivities, you can set the mood with some romantic music. Valentine RADIO is a compilation of 20+ radio stations from around the country and streams the music directly to your phone so you can get your Luther Vandross, Barry White and slow jam fix.

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2. Valentine Photo Free -- Picture With Love

If you want to demonstrate your love in more visual ways, you can send a custom-made Valentine’s Day photo that you personally designed. The Valentine Photo Free app lets you personalize photos with cutesy images like hearts, swirly designs and presents. You can e-mail your creation to the lucky recipient or post it on a social network to publicly declare your love.

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3. Be Mine Lite

Be Mine Lite is another Valentine’s Day card-making app, but rather than decorate photos, this one lets you choose from a number of templates to create you custom card. You can add a whole slew of visual effects –- like hearts, whimsical swirls, flowers –- and declare your love. There is also a paid version for $0.99 that offers a wider variety of backgrounds and effects.

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4. California Blooms

If you’re more of a traditionalist and prefer to go the rose route, California Blooms is a great app for ordering that beautiful bouquet on the go. The app features gorgeous photos of the variety of bouquets they sell, as well as information on the care and handling of roses, and California Blooms’ eco-friendly growing process. The company is so confident in the quality of its roses that it guarantees your satisfaction or your money back.

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5. Candy Valentines Hearts Free

No Valentine’s Day is complete without those little, all-too-familiar candy conversation hearts. With this app, you can add anyone’s name to the “I ♥” message and send the image to the lucky recipient. If you’d like to pay for the full version ($0.99), you can create your own entire message and have more options for background designs and colors.

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6. Cook's Illustrated

You know the expression “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Well another to consider is “The way to a woman’s heart is by cooking her dinner.” Yes, it’s that simple. The Cook’s Illustrated app tries to make it even easier. Featuring 50 of the magazine’s best recipes (and complementary videos for each), this app will provide you with the perfect meal for a romantic evening.

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7. Say I Love You

If you really want to impress your special someone, how about whipping out “I love you” in a different language? This app provides simple translations of these three special words in a large variety of languages. So if you want to learn to say it in Indonesian (Saya cinta padamu) or Ukrainian (Ya tebe kahayu), or a host of other languages, now you can.

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8. Love Horoscopes

Gather your daily horoscope and your forecast for love with this app. It shows you a three-day range (yesterday, today and tomorrow), provides lucky numbers and also offers a view of how likely you are to achieve success in attributes like wellness, creativity, money, work and more.

9. Love♥

As you’re professing your deepest feelings, you can mix in profound quotes with the help of the Love♥ app: A compilation of beautiful sayings about the magic of love. Quotes include: “Within you I lose myself. Without you I find myself wanting to become lost again.” What a way to sweep someone off his or her feet!

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Image 1 of 11

1. Valentine RADIO

As you get ready for your Valentine’s Day festivities, you can set the mood with some romantic music. Valentine RADIO is a compilation of 20+ radio stations from around the country and streams the music directly to your phone so you can get your Luther Vandross, Barry White and slow jam fix.

As you get ready for your Valentine’s Day festivities, you can set the mood with some romantic music. Valentine RADIO is a compilation of 20+ radio stations from around the country and streams the music directly to your phone so you can get your Luther Vandross, Barry White and slow jam fix.

1. Valentine RADIO

1

If you want to demonstrate your love in more visual ways, you can send a custom-made Valentine’s Day photo that you personally designed. The Valentine Photo Free app lets you personalize photos with cutesy images like hearts, swirly designs and presents. You can e-mail your creation to the lucky recipient or post it on a social network to publicly declare your love.

2. Valentine Photo Free -- Picture With Love

2

Be Mine Lite is another Valentine’s Day card-making app, but rather than decorate photos, this one lets you choose from a number of templates to create you custom card. You can add a whole slew of visual effects –- like hearts, whimsical swirls, flowers –- and declare your love. There is also a paid version for $0.99 that offers a wider variety of backgrounds and effects.

3. Be Mine Lite

3

If you’re more of a traditionalist and prefer to go the rose route, California Blooms is a great app for ordering that beautiful bouquet on the go. The app features gorgeous photos of the variety of bouquets they sell, as well as information on the care and handling of roses, and California Blooms’ eco-friendly growing process. The company is so confident in the quality of its roses that it guarantees your satisfaction or your money back.

4. California Blooms

4

No Valentine’s Day is complete without those little, all-too-familiar candy conversation hearts. With this app, you can add anyone’s name to the “I ♥” message and send the image to the lucky recipient. If you’d like to pay for the full version ($0.99), you can create your own entire message and have more options for background designs and colors.

5. Candy Valentines Hearts Free

5

You know the expression “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Well another to consider is “The way to a woman’s heart is by cooking her dinner.” Yes, it’s that simple. The Cook’s Illustrated app tries to make it even easier. Featuring 50 of the magazine’s best recipes (and complementary videos for each), this app will provide you with the perfect meal for a romantic evening.

6. Cook's Illustrated

6

If you really want to impress your special someone, how about whipping out “I love you” in a different language? This app provides simple translations of these three special words in a large variety of languages. So if you want to learn to say it in Indonesian (Saya cinta padamu) or Ukrainian (Ya tebe kahayu), or a host of other languages, now you can.

7. Say I Love You

7

Gather your daily horoscope and your forecast for love with this app. It shows you a three-day range (yesterday, today and tomorrow), provides lucky numbers and also offers a view of how likely you are to achieve success in attributes like wellness, creativity, money, work and more.

8. Love Horoscopes

8

As you’re professing your deepest feelings, you can mix in profound quotes with the help of the Love♥ app: A compilation of beautiful sayings about the magic of love. Quotes include: “Within you I lose myself. Without you I find myself wanting to become lost again.” What a way to sweep someone off his or her feet!

9. Love♥

9

Guys, you’ve wined and dined her, now, it’s time to step it up. If you’re ready for the big leagues, this is a great app to see a selection of engagement ring styles and see what’s au courant in the world of ultimate bling (just don’t look at the prices). Before you even have a chance to pop the question, she’ll be screaming "YES" as soon as she sees that little blue box.

10. Tiffany & Co. Engagement Ring Finder

10

If you hate Valentine’s Day and are just bitter all around, consider downloading the Anti-Valentine’s Day Sounds app. You can commiserate with other haters and listen to the no-frills app spew things like, “Roses are red, violets are blue, you suck,” or “Valentine’s this.” It’s $0.99. (You must really hate the holiday to buy this app.)

BONUS: Anti-Valentine's Day Sounds

11

Angry Birds Gets Facebook-Infused Valentine’s Day Edition

by Christina Warren
The special Valentine’s Day edition of Angry Birds is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android.
The Valentine-themed levels are part of Angry Birds Seasons, the spin-off version of Angry Birds that first made its debut last fall.

In addition to 15 standard levels of pig-busting fun, Angry Birds Valentine’s Day features some interesting new tie-ins with Facebook and Bing.
On the main app screen, users are invited to go to Facebook to send Angry Birds-themed Valentine’s Day cards. We were able to connect to our Facebook accounts on the iPhone and iPad versions of the game, but weren’t able to actually send the bird-themed greeting.
Fortunately, the page can be accessed from a regular web browser too.
Moving on, by clicking on a link on the second page in the app and clicking the Facebook “Like” button, three more levels are opened.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Angry Birds without hidden surprises. It looks like there are three different golden eggs in this latest Angry Birds update, and Rovio has partnered with Bing to offer an instant link to a pre-filled Bing web search.
In past Angry Birds updates, we’ve seen Rovio push more of its other content, including Angry Birds plush toys and other merchandise, but this is the first time extra content has been linked to fan pages or other partnerships.
During Sunday’s Super Bowl, the birds received a cameo in a spot for the upcoming film Rio (which will be getting its own edition of Angry Birds this March) that gave fans a clue to a hidden level.
The game is one of the most successful mobile phone games of all time — with tens of millions of fans across mobile platforms.