Google doodles with Dilbert

Zany office worker Dilbert is jumping from his cubicle to the home page of Google. Search engine Google said Monday that it is temporarily redesigning its logo for this week by featuring "doodles" of Dilbert, his pinecone-haired boss and his wacky co-workers on the Google home page. Dilbert fans can also purchase Dilbert coffee mugs for five days by clicking on the Google logo or by visiting the Comics.com Web site, according to Google. A Google spokeswoman said Google's doodles have no inherent goal behind them and that they reflect the company's "fun and spirited corporate culture." Part of the fun in business is making money, of course: Google plans to sell T-shirts with the Dilbert logo, as well as the coffee mugs. Since Google's start in 1998, the company has been redesigning its logo on a temporary basis to celebrate holidays, events and international celebrations through its doodles. The first Google doodle celebrated the Burning Man festival, and since then the site has commemorated other special days and events, including the Olympics, Bastille Day, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day and Claude Monet's birthday. For Dilbert's creator, Scott Adams, the partnership allowed him to lengthen Dilbert's reach beyond the traditional comic newspaper strip. --Gwendolyn Mariano, Special to ZDNet News