
Introduction
The Points, Photo Views and Star Photos leaderboards regularly posted here on Connect, each look at a specific but different aspect of our Maps contributions. Based on various metrics, including the number of points and the number of photo views, the participants on these leaderboards are listed without giving any consideration to their respective country location.
However, it goes without saying, Local Guides in smaller countries or ones where there are significantly less guiding opportunities, such as Barbados, Cameroon and Rwanda, would have less chance of gaining enough points or photo views than those in larger countries such as the United States, Canada, France or UK and therefore, Local Guides in these smaller countries have less chance of getting onto the leaderboards based strictly on points or photo views!
Local Heroes > Local Stories
The leaderboards in this post, are different because they specifically take into account the country location of the participating Local Guides and in this way, they give Local Guides from even the smallest countries (true local heroes) recognition and an opportunity to be seen as “stars” in their country, and you will see many are.
There are many great local stories on the Country leaderboards and this month they come from 82 different countries! If you’re a Local Hero and you’re not listed on the leaderboards or your country isn’t listed, then you and your country should be and you can make this happen by registering for participation. It’s simple to do, just hit this link. If you want to know more see this excellent How-to post by @AZ_2021.
The Cover GIF
Google was incorporated on September 4, 1998, although it’s birthday has long been celebrated on September 27 instead. Regardless if I have got the right date, it’s Google’s 25th birthday this month and so I chose the cover image for this accordingly.
Something interesting: Google started off as a university research project by its co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin under the name “Backrub,” can you imagine!!! Anyway that name changed to Google in 1997 when they registered the domain name “google.com.” Something else that’s interesting is that the name Google is derived from the mathematical term “googol,” which was coined by mathematician Edward Kasner in the early 20th century to represent the number 1 followed by 100 zeros! It symbolizes an incredibly large and almost unimaginable number. So, in essence I guess, the name “Google” reflects the founders’ vision of providing an effective and efficient way to search and navigate the immense wealth of data on the internet.
There can be little doubt, from humble beginnings, Google has become one of the world’s most influential technology companies. It has had a profound impact on how people access and interact with information on the internet and has become a household name worldwide.
Happy Birthday, Google!