Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I can do it.

It's Google trying to rip Bing, but failing. Bing posts National Geographic-quality images from all over the world, and then embeds links to make it educational. This is just Google letting you change static, canned stock photos on the background. It's just iGoogle, simplified.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.