Happy birthday, Google

Well-wishers could whack a virtual pinata at a virtual party to wish happy birthday to U.S. tech giant Google, which celebrated its 15th birthday Friday. To mark the event, Google produced an interactive doodle that turns the letters in its logo into party-goers. Click the "play" button on the logo and the birthday cake becomes a pinata and the blindfolded lower-case "g" is holding a colorful stick, ready to try to strike at the star-shaped pinata. Using the space bar animates the swing at the pinata. A successful whack yields virtual candy treats. A player gets 10 tries at the pinata. Last year, Google celebrated its 14th year with an animated birthday cake doodle on its homepage, USA Today reported. While Google.com was registered on Sept. 15, 1997, Google didn't actually incorporate as a company until September 1998. Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., began as a garage operation. The search giant honored its roots Thursday when it took reporters to the garage in Menlo Park, Calif., USA Today said.