At the end of the decade

Google's Zeitgeist for 2009.

(The picture shows acai berries. Highly searched, it seems.)

How we spent it

Amazon's Christmas stats from America.

New for 2010?

Is Apple's tablet PC finally coming? iSlate rumours from the Guardian.

All that we are

OK, it's been a while, but do you have any idea how long it takes to get a proper view of the entire universe?

(Thanks to the excellent QI twitter feed.)

The food of kings

From the author of a book about marmite, comes a blog.

And whilst we're here, the official site of Marmite, and their Regent Street store.

Overpaying

It must have been a bad day when someone realised this mistake.

Any way the wind blows

Brilliant, through to the very last second. The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody.

Minimalists

Just some lovely photos, on this photoblog.

Punch it

Now, I'm not sure if this is real or not, but according to this page, Muji and Lego have a joint venture under way. You use a hole punch to clip out Lego-sized holes in paper, and attach them to the original plastic blocks.

The original source is apparently from Muji's website. In Japanese. Naturally enough.

All the news that's fit to print

Courtesy of Steve Martin's Twitter feed, here's the Petersfield Newswire. Love it.

Boots made for walking

According to the never-disappointing Gadget Show, officially the best walking boots you can get are these. (Watch the video - how much do we love Brian Blessed? - or see the comments on the review as people try to track down just where they can be bought.)

All in one place

Quite liking this simple page from the Guardian. Headlines from every story they've published today.

Cooldown status

The Large Hadron Collider has its own website.

Nope, no idea.

From the House of Lords

Just what does the Digital Economy Bill say about radio?

I've chased all the links down, so you don't have to.

The Bill itself tells you which words will be changed in the current legislation. What it all means is here (with previous and later pages covering other parts of the Bill).

Making a mess

This lady is painting with fireworks.

Letters from Stan

The Stan Laurel Correspondence Project - www.lettersfromstan.com

After the Wall

Brilliant use of pictures and Flash from the New York Times - see how Berlin has changed in the years since the wall came down. Click and drag across each photo to reveal more or less of the historic picture compared to the current scene.

(Via Jack Schofield's Twitter page.)

Based on Tokyo's finest

Is it wrong that I can't wait to use this? Even though I can't imagine the need to go diagonally?

I might have to take the wrong tube exit for John Lewis just to try it.

Or spend all evening in All Bar One some time.

Global flu trends

Now this is clever. Google say there's a match between the number of flu-related search enquiries on its site, and the actual number of people with flu. Here, they show you the matching pattern between the two data sources over the years.

So, on that basis, they can work out how bad the flu epidemic is around the world right now, before the official data becomes available. Thus armed, here's the global picture.

OK, so it doesn't actually include the UK. But it's still clever.

The new DJ Hero

It's out tomorrow, for the teenager in your life.

In a neon rainbow

You've seen the break-bumpers but have you actually tried the game? It takes a bit of patience, but here it is... Brightdance.

Closer to nature

Brilliant wildlife photos, here.

Cake in a cup

John's blog has been having a rest, but it's back, and so are cup cakes. The best exponents are here. (I quite like the idea of Muffin the Mail.)

A hoot

Just the best Twitter feed. He's my favourite. Henry Blofeld.

Wolves are smarter than dogs and babies

That headline says it all. Details here.

(OK, the picture accompaniment takes "Wolves" in a slightly different sense. If you want a picture of real wolves, go here. But they're pretty full-on, as wolves go.)

Skull story

Something quite macabre about this, but fascinating too. The skull which the Russian's thought was Hitler's was in fact that of a woman, says new DNA testing.

We English

Photos which capture the spirit of England (or so says a new book) - here, at the Independent's website, with more available if you click accordingly. The book is reviewed here.

See the world

I've never really experienced the full joys of Panoramio until now. It's the Google-powered community website which allows you to upload photos to Google Maps and Google Earth. And it's amazing. See the world from right where you're sitting.

How we age

From the Office for National Statistics, ageing trends for the UK by area.

Finding wildlife

Sir David Attenborough's pick of wildlife films from the last 30 years.

Your flying hedgehog

Hedgehog Launch 2. Highly addictive, as all these Flash games are.

Things to do in Prague

Everyone I know who's been to Prague has loved it. This writer too.

The Orange iPhone is coming

The iPhone is coming to Orange - here's the press release, and if you just can't wait to tell them you want one, sign up here.

Friends in London. THAT Friends.

Guess where?

Just off Carnaby Street. For two weeks only.

Wallpaper for everyone within

Your desktop, your way, at Desktop Nexus. You could be browsing forever.

And this happened why...?

Steve Martin's "Unhelpful error message of the day".

119 seconds for a pint

Guinness is 250. May it live forever.

Recording audio on the move

I saw, played with and listened to the audio from one of these today. It's just the most amazing thing, and for anyone involved in recording audio, it's well worth a look.

Omega Centauri in higher-def

Hubble's had a re-fit, and the new photos are stunning. (Before, on the left, and after, on the right.)

How to slim down your Facebook

Stuff has a quick and easy way to cut your Facebook down to size.

Shutter chance

Some captivating pictures at Paul Snow's photo blog.

Nope

John Rentoul's Questions To Which The Answer Is No.

The best time wasters

Five great time-wasting websites, courtesy of last week's Gadget Show:

JacksonPollock.org - Splodges on screen. Just drag to create your splodge, click to change colour, and that's art.

Google Fight - Enter two words (ideally contrasting words) and let them fight it out on Google. The one with the most hits wins. Chocolate beats crisps by miles, then.

FutureMe - email yourself in the future

The Falling Sand Game. I have entirely not cracked this one yet.

Press The Space Bar. Just see how many times you can, well, press the spacebar, in the given time. The high scores are, surely, impossible.

Blitzing pictures

Transfer Jet. It's probably magic.

Journalism through the crystal ball

One vision of the future for journalists.

False and juicy reports

We know all about the Onion, right? It's a satirical "news" site in America.

That's "news", meaning "things which aren't true".

Oops.

The Beatles - back tomorrow

All the hype from tomorrow's Beatles re-issues, on Amazon's dedicated micro-site.

Melting cow popsicle

The ten coolest statues in the world (via Jack Schofield).

No island paradise

A range of linguistic traps outlined (as usual) in Saturday's Independent.

(The handy map is from canada.com's travel guides.)

Chase the day away

I haven't tried creating one of my own yet, but I love the idea. Prezi.com - an alternative to Powerpoint. It zooms, it shows the big picture and smaller relationships, and it doesn't get in the way of what you're saying.

(Recommended via Webscape from BBC Click.)

(The headline? It's a song.)

Hot in the city

Users of London's Tube may notice that the colours below aren't normal. It's a heat map. Is your line one of the Underground's hottest?

Sound and vision

Auditorium. This is just an amazing game. Move the round things to bounce light into the buckets and fill them with sound.

(I apologise making a travesty of beautiful design in that description. But at least you stand a chance of knowing what's going on.)

Tweeting near you

Track down tweets in your vicinity - there's an Adobe Air application which takes advantage of the optional "location" function which some people transmit with their tweets. TwitterLocal.

Slimming down

The thinner PS3 is coming - and to the UK too.