Tuesday, April 1, 2008 4:09 AM
It has been speculated that Google has a history of leg-pulling around this time of year. In the spirit of silliness, we wanted to share a warm and fuzzy true story about how a bear named Thomas made Picasa his home.
As you may know, Picasa has many helpful keyboard shortcuts to save you time and clicks. But there's one shortcut you may not have heard about: the Thomas shortcut.
Back in 2004, the innovative photographer and photoblogger Noah Grey was working with the Photos team on developing Picasa. He contributed a great deal to the design and evolution of the software, but one of Noah's most unforgettable contributions can be seen by pressing Control-Shift-Y while in Picasa. Continue pressing it, and watch what appears all over your screen. Given to Noah as a gift by an old friend, this bear has had a special place in Noah's life for over 15 years; and Noah decided to return the favor.
That's Thomas. And that's his bear. And that's how he became part of the Picasa story.
