Smithsonian.com

Play here: Google

You might have noticed that the Olympics are happening. Google noticed too, and it’s been releasing Google Doodles that allow you to compete in the games in your own small way. For most of us, that means about five minutes of  trying to hurdle or canoe or play basketball before we start getting our real work done. For programmers that means trying to beat the Doodle with code.

And, of course, they succeeded. Here’s a video of a programmer using 22 lines of Python to shatter the Google Doodle Olympic world record.

Geek.com has a good summary of how he did it.

At first, he just got the hurdler running in Python and did the jumps manually with the spacebar, recording a time of 10.4 seconds. Then he disregarded the hurdles and managed to complete the course in just 0.4 seconds. Impressive, but that’s not playing properly and only achieved 2 of the 3 possible stars.

The final fully-automated solution is the most impressive and can’t be beaten with a manual run. Automating both the running and jumping saw a time of 1.5 seconds achieved.

And, here’s the basketball one. This one took 48 lines of Python.

No canoeing solution yet — perhaps they got distracted by the real Olympics.

More at Smithsonian.com:

“Doodle 4 Google” Theme Announced

Cooper-Hewitt: Doodle 4 Google Contest

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates Amelia Earhart’s birthday. Photo: Google

The internet was all aflutter celebrating Amelia Earhart’s 115th birthday today, and Smithsonian was no exception. Here are a few of the highlights:

If you’re in the DC area, the Smithsonian’s “One Life” exhibition at the National Portraits Gallery documents Earhart’s accomplishments in photos and memorabilia. If you’re not around the capital, however, the website offers a detailed look at some of the featured photographs. From the exhibit, for those who need a refresher on Earhart’s life:

Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) loved to fly. How she felt about other things in her life is harder to say. After becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, she was rarely out of public view. In the many images of her after 1928, she appears as the epitome of grace and poise. During the years that America was in the grip of the Great Depression, she provided the nation with a sense of hope and optimism about its future. When she disappeared over the Pacific in 1937—seventy-five years ago—Americans were dumbstruck with grief.

She also became a fashion symbol of the time, as another Smithsonian article details:

 Earhart had always been interested in clothes. Her first flight instructor, Neta Snook, recalled her showing up for lessons in “a beautifully tailored [riding] outfit.” Indeed, says Cochrane, the Smithsonian’s flight jacket seems to evoke equestrian fashions from the ’30s. (In time, Earhart would help to design and publicize a line of clothes marketed for “the woman who lives actively.”)

Earhart began designing sportswear and luggage for women in the early 1930s. (Unidentified photographer; National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)

Earhart influenced and inspired generations, though Smithsonian is also quick to remind that dozens of brave women preceded her in flight, and thousands followed.

And Amelia’s final takeoff is a fitting but bittersweet close to the day.

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