The official Google Blog has announced that the innovative search giant is eight years old this week.

Webmaster Dennis Hwang writes : “This week we celebrate Google’s 8th birthday, and I hope you like the commemorative logo that appears on today’s homepage:

There’s also a link to other commemorative logos designed for specific occasions. I particularly like this one of Sherlock Holmes :

Check them all out. As usual from Google they’re very inventive.

That cornerstone of the Google Empire, Matt Cutts, “without whom nothing happens on the index”, has been writing on his blog about The Google Lifestyle.

He writes : “Earlier today I had to cancel a dentist appointment. I looked in the file where I normally keep my contact info, but didn’t see the dentist’s phone number. So I searched for [mydentistsname cupertino] and up popped a Onebox with his business address, phone number, and a little Google map.”

Now, normally I wouldn’t describe that as a “lifestyle”, but, in this case, it’s so impressive, I’ll make an exception.

Check it out, it’s good advice. Look for the mathematical tip that follows the map.

The Register is reporting that, “Google is reportedly in talks with Apple about the possibility of supplying video clips for Apple’s forthcoming iTV device.

“The iTV device, due to be released early next year at a price of around $299, allows users to watch video files stored on their PC on their televisions. The kit consists of a video streaming player within a “set-top box” that uses wireless technology to play streaming video on a TV.”

The deal would allow iTV users access to thousands of videos submitted to Google video. At present though neither prices nor dowload speeds point to an immediate successful conclusion.

Mendel Chuang, Product Marketing Manager, has announced the winners of the Google Desktop Gadgets competition on the Official Google Blog :

“With all the great entries we received for the Google Desktop Gadget Contest, we’ve learned that there are some very talented developers out there. Amongst all the gadgets submitted, these three really stood out:

* diGGGadget by Marius and Yannick Stucki – Stay on top of the latest stories from digg.com. Click on a few buttons and you’ll know why we think it’s so great. It also takes advantage of our advanced APIs to enable sharing news with friends plus personalization based on your interests.

* Multiplayer Reversi Game by Turhan Aydin – Immerse yourself in the fun game Reversi with this visually rich gadget. Not only can you play against the computer, but this gadget takes advantage of our Google Talk API so that you can also play with your friends.

* Day/Night World Clock by Beatrix Gottanka – We couldn’t have designed a better world clock. Not only does this clock show you the local time, but there’s also a map that indicates whether it’s night or day at any given hour. And if you want options, this gadget has them.”

There’s more on the winners and other entries on the Google Desktop Blog.