# Google does a barrel roll **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796 "2011-11-03T23:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/41 "2011-11-05T01:57:47Z")
…and type “do a barrel roll” without the quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/42 "2011-11-05T01:59:15Z")
[Yes we know.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=630180) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/43 "2011-11-05T02:01:10Z")
Merging two topics about the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/44 "2011-11-05T07:26:41Z")
So when will Google literally do a “jump the shark”? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/45 "2011-11-05T08:43:27Z")
I also run “only” Firefox 3.6, partly in reaction to Dopers complaining about Firefox 4. Firefox 7, already? And I don’t know what I’m missing? (I had Chrome sitting on my Desktop, probably having downloaded it and forgotten; so I did get to see the Barrel Roll. Whippee!) (If my political leaning was similar to my reaction to latest tech features, I’d be one of these rednecks wondering when Blacks got counted more than 3/5, and would be debating the Compromise of 1790.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/46 "2011-11-06T13:01:42Z")
> [@Silophant](#): > > I believe it’s HTML5, which [IE 9.0 doesn’t support all that well.](http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/ie9-leads-pack-in-html5-support-not-exactly/) And Firefox 4 was the first Firefox that had more than just the bare minimum of support. HTML 5 was pretty much the main reason behind the huge change. BTW, the only real reason to stick with 3.6 is if you have an addon you can’t live without that doesn’t have a Firefox 4 or greater version. That said, Firefox 7 is the buggiest new release to date. They even screwed up the deployment, having to hurriedly fix up a new version. Granted, if you don’t use Live Bookmarks, it’s probably no big deal to you. But I’m sticking with Firefox 6 until they fix the issue, the paucity of responses to the bug report make me guess it will be after the current alpha, which means not until Firefox 12. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/47 "2011-11-06T16:49:55Z")
That maneuver is an aileron roll, not a barrel roll. ::: sheesh :::: Google blew this one… A barrel roll does not rotate around the roll axis and has positive “G” forces the while time. It is more of a corkscrew motion. The Google motion is an aileron roll centered just below the pilots perspective just where it should be in most aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/48 "2011-11-06T20:24:28Z")
They didn’t blow anything. Like Argent Towers said in post #39, it’s a quote from Starfox64, which has become an internet meme. In the game, when you pushed (I think) either Z or R twice in succession, your ship would spin around while remaining stationary, deflecting normal laser fire. The game called it a barrel roll, the quote was “Do a barrel roll!” and Google is just imitating that. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/49 "2011-11-06T20:42:43Z")
It was both Z and R, just not at the same time. One of them would spin your ship a different direction from the other. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/50 "2011-11-06T22:38:37Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > It is more of a corkscrew motion. [Nerd] You mean a helical path? [/N] ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/51 "2011-11-07T00:30:03Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > It was both Z and R, just not at the same time. One of them would spin your ship a different direction from the other. In fact, if you google “Z or R twice,” the same barrel roll animations happens too, basically confirmed it as a Star Fox reference, which is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/52 "2011-11-07T03:08:28Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > In fact, if you google “Z or R twice,” the same barrel roll animations happens too, basically confirmed it as a Star Fox reference, which is awesome. That _is_ awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/53 "2011-11-07T05:41:08Z")
Okay, it “worked” for me. Now will someone explain why it’s cool? My reaction was “so what?” ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/54 "2011-11-07T09:44:19Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Okay, it “worked” for me. > > Now will someone explain why it’s cool? My reaction was “so what?” Because it a tribute to a meme from a cherished game. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/55 "2011-11-07T15:11:48Z")
Hey, Google are adding more features by the day. I just typed in “give me a bunch of crappy search results” and it did just that. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/56 "2011-11-07T19:02:51Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Okay, it “worked” for me. > > Now will someone explain why it’s cool? My reaction was “so what?” There’s kids on your lawn! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796/57 "2011-11-07T19:07:47Z")
If I had a lawn, I yell at 'em to get off it. Unless they were doing barrel rolls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-does-a-barrel-roll/601796.md?page=2)