Ramblings of a Princess

the geekery and the life of a princess who has too much to say

June 12, 2007 Uncategorized , , ,

iGoogle Teahouse Ghost Captured!

I visited Google Analytics the other day, and I decided to check what keywords my readers used to stumble upon my site. I made a pretty interesting discovery.

Ever since Google released the Personalized Google Homepage — now iGoogle — it had been a topic of interest, both for Google enthusiasts and casual visitors alike. And, really, what’s not to be interested about? The header changes every two hours, and you see the sun (or moon, or whatever else is in the header) change color or location. Details change, usually in an amusing way. My theme is the Teahouse Theme, and I see my kitsune (fox) sleeping, fishing, rowing a boat, feeding ducks, playing the guitar, picking oranges, having breakfast, lunch, and dinner, stargazing, and a few others in between.

But there’s one particular scene that evades most people’s eyes. Observe.

Exhibit A: Teahouse Theme at 3:32 am
iGoogle Teahouse 2am

Exhibit B: Teahouse Theme at 3:33 am
iGoogle Teahouse 4am

Upon closer inspection…
iGoogle Teahouse fox 2amiGoogle Teahouse fox 4am

Okay, so the incense burned out. But what happened to the dumplings? Read more…

Here’s what happened:
iGoogle Teahouse Ghost

Yuurei ate them! Haha! I found out that a number of users have been looking for this screenshot, the iGoogle Teahouse Ghost, and they surf on in to my google-luuuuuuuuuv post.


This screen was captured in March 22, and I never see the ghosts now, because catching it is so freakin’ hard. They don’t necessarily appear between 3:32 and 3:33, but they DO appear between 2am and 4am.Many people wish to see a screenie, so here it is, by popular demand! Heeheehee.

(Oh, and I’m sorry about the hideous watermark. Disclaimer: The graphic is Google’s, not mine. The screenshot is mine, though, and I claim credits for capturing the Teahouse Ghosts. Hehe.)

EDIT: (October 23, 2007) I caught the iGoogle Teahouse Ghosts again! YES!!! I practically jumped up in my chair and immediately looked at the source. Now I know what the URL of the ghost banner is! But just to make things more fun, I’m not going to say what it is. I WILL say, though, that the secret screen appears at 3:14 AM. (Yes, that’s in the URL, too.)

But if you REALLY want to know and have no patience to wait for it, then Google search it. There’s a website that lists all the 3:14 screens. Do me favor, though: please do NOT post the URL in my blog. I maintain that it’s more fun to catch the 3:14 screen yourself.

Have fun hunting!

23 to “iGoogle Teahouse Ghost Captured!”

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. [...] a Google-phile, I think most people know that by now, especially if you read my post on the iGoogle teahouse ghost. [...]

  2. [...] one, except the colors are slightly changed, and the snail’s replaced with another animal. The “wee hours” version has ghoul kitsunes in them. It’s hilarious! The evening version is nice, with fireflies and stuff around the kitsune. [...]

  3. [...] continue to be completely cuted out by my Teahouse Fox.  I swear I’ll stop posting pictures when I catch her doing new things.  Soon.  [...]

  1. andres says...

    wth?! i see dead foxes.. ahahahaha! *switches theme from classic to teahouse*

  2. Novice Blogger says...

    nice catch!

  3. andres says...

    Warning. Some spoilers below:
    2am
    4am
    6am
    8am
    10am
    2pm
    4pm
    6pm
    8pm
    10pm

    pero kelangan pa rin mahuli yung ghost.. di ko mahuli ahuhuhuhuhu

  4. andianka says...

    bat nga ba dko ginagawang personalize google ko.. shocks… hehehe…

  5. sarah says...

    @goma: Haha! We did the same thing. I swear, I tried every possible minute between 2 and 4 am (and all the words I can think of), but the ghost wasn’t there.

    you missed 12mn and 12nn in your roseter, though. ^^

  6. Aileen Apolo says...

    Cool ahhh! Good thing you found the screenshot you took :)

  7. little llight says...

    galing. so observant of you. never ko na-notice yan.

  8. Sarah says...

    wow astig.. haha

    google fan tlga.. :)

  9. rOckY says...

    the iGoogle specials are available on each of the official themes. The link really is that 3:14 = Pi, as in the mathematical concept. They’ve been around for ages – glad you finally got to see them too. =D

  10. Anonymous says...

    what did that snail turn into though?

  11. Anonymous says...

    the google fox twitters!
    https://twitter.com/tea_house_fox

  12. phooey says...

    I saaw the three ghosts playing GO today around 7am central time. I just got the tea house yesterday but I love the ghosts.

  13. daphne says...

    I'm at 4:48 AND THERE'S STILL COOKIES!

    Now, 4:51.

    They're getting sneaky.

    I'm always up at night – one would think that Google would accomodate an aging student with insomnia?

    Great blog and you're cute!

    daphne

  14. daphne says...

    My screen went to regular Google and then the tea cookies were gone.
    4:53 AM.

    I smell a conspiracy. The Googlators are upping the game?

    Please, tell me, do you have to not refresh and just wait for the page to refresh itself?

  15. Elizabeth Faye says...

    i saw the ghosts playing checkers last night JUST before 4 am!!! When I refreshed, they were GONE!!! i sooo should have screenshot them!!!!!

  16. Ramblings of a Princess » Sarah’s Top 5 Addictions says...

    [...] a Google-phile, I think most people know that by now, especially if you read my post on the iGoogle teahouse ghost. [...]

  17. Ramblings of a Princess » google-luuuuuuuuuv says...

    [...] one, except the colors are slightly changed, and the snail’s replaced with another animal. The “wee hours” version has ghoul kitsunes in them. It’s hilarious! The evening version is nice, with fireflies and stuff around the kitsune. [...]

  18. Teahouse Fox plays with birdie in birdbath! « sue’s news says...

    [...] continue to be completely cuted out by my Teahouse Fox.  I swear I’ll stop posting pictures when I catch her doing new things.  Soon.  [...]

  19. Soazig says...

    I can’t BELIEVE these ghosts! I absolutely adore this tea-house theme, I’ve had from the start i think, just can’t change it because it’s so peaceful and calming seeing the little kitsune doing whatever he has to do. I wish they did different versions for the different seasons… (but maybe he lives in a region where the wheather stays the same…)

    ah yes and there’s also more of him on gmail,
    :) glad to see i’m not the only one raving about that little fox!

  20. gonzoisgreater says...

    I was thinking that there are many programs that will change your wallpaper on the hour, it would be nice to have the tea house theme or similar on the desktop :)

    gonzoisgreater@yahoo.com

  21. Greg says...

    -I just caught the ghosts last night for the first time at around 3:15am- I was very surprised, especially since I can get up at all hours & had never seen them before. They must be on there pretty briefly.. I thought it was a little thing Google did for Obon (a Japanese festival welcoming visiting spirits of deceased ancestors that occurs in mid-August), but apparently not. I also took a couple of snaps of it. ;)

  22. curiouswebbie says...

    I always wondered how they kept moving i really wanna stay up till they come but im a bit creepied out if something happens plus my laptop cant take screenshots so im the only on hu will c it …….. plz update somemore pics on other igoogle themes that r like this

  23. Wildcatphil says...

    Great Entertainment
    Good Work!

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