Webtip #3: Demo Slam and Translation Music

Name: Google Demo Slam (and a bit of Google Translate)
Platform: Internet browser

URL: demoslam.com

Where/how I came across it: Google Facebook Page

What it does: Showcases amusing videos and stunts submitted by users and celebrities worldwide that each feature Google services. 

Today's tip is more like a link to more tips, specifically, on how to creatively use many of Google's services. The site has been up for quite a few months now; the videos were quite distracting during the year. I was reminded of the demo slams in a recent blog post on the Google Blog, which was cross-posted on their Facebook page. To give you a glimpse of the videos that are featured in the demo slams, below is one of my favourites:

As you can see, many creative uses of technologies are 'exploits' of their technology - not in the sense of abuse, but in the sense of using the service to create something completely unintended from its original purposes, such as skydiving with Google Maps, or verifying a model of a landmark using Google Goggles. 

One of Google's services that has probably been exploited the most, is Google Translate. We've all experienced some weird translations from time to time. The algorithm is obviously far from perfect, despite general impressiveness and long-term improvement. Translation Party is a website that translates a given phrase from English to Japanese and back to English repetitively, multiplying the effects of small translation errors to disastrous effects until an "equilibrium" is reached. Below's an example, using my brief description of Google Demo Slam. 

Yes, I am also showing some of the features of Chrome 13, coming soon to a browser near you, or here. 

About forty rungs later (they can all be seen here), I ended up with:

Google Translate has also been used as a base for music videos, especially after someone noted that its pronunciation feature could be used for beat-boxing:

There are plenty of related videos online, but I'll bring this webtip to a close from demoslams to translation music with a final video. Featured in a recent Google Blog post, Taiwanese pianist Wiwi Kuan produced a video using Google Translate in English and Mandarin that went semi-viral with half a million views and counting. You'll probably find it more amusing if you know a bit of both languages, but either way, enjoy!