Googland |
- [G] Simplifying the social web with XAuth
- [G] Google Files Privacy Comments
- [G] The art of search results
- [G] Spotlight: Google Sites templates
- [G] Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresher
- [G] Discount code available for ad:tech San Francisco
- [G] Soaring into the cloud
- [G] Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresher
- [G] Imagery for Qinghai, China earthquake
- [G] Google Summer of Code 2010 Info Session at Universidade Estadual de Campinas –UNICAMP
- [G] Site Search Themes for out-of-the-box customization
- [G] Imagery for Qinghai, China earthquake
- [G] YouTube to stream IPL semi finals and finals in the US
| [G] Simplifying the social web with XAuth Posted: 19 Apr 2010 04:41 PM PDT Social Web Blog: Simplifying the social web with XAuthHave you ever seen a webpage with a collection of buttons for sharing or logging in like the ones below? Not all of these buttons are equally relevant, but because there is currently no convenient way to share your preferred services publicly, this approach has become extremely popular, even though the complexity of this interface may actually inhibit sharing! On the desktop, this problem was solved long ago with what is called the "system registry". When you install a new application, you are asked whether you want the new application to handle certain kinds of files, like photos. So, for example, if you install a new app and set the new application to be the default "handler" for photos, when you double click a photo next time, it'll automatically open in your new application. Until today, that kind of registry didn't exist for the web, but thanks to a new collaboration between Meebo and several parties including Google, an initial launch of a service that acts as a registry for the web can be found at xauth.org. Let me explain how XAuth works in simple terms: when you sign in to your Google account, Google will notify xauth.org that a user has signed in to a Google account and is maintaining an active session. Throughout this process, Google never shares any of your personal information with xauth.org — only that you have signed into some Google account (Google doesn't even share which Google account you signed in to). This information is stored locally in your browser, and never on XAuth's servers; XAuth only acts as an intermediary that facilitates sharing this information with third parties that ask for it. This is similar to installing a new desktop application which registers itself in the system registry. Because the registry is the central place where this information exists, any application that needs this information to function can ask the registry for the list of applications that perform certain functions. Similarly, any site that you visit can ask for the list of your active sessions from xauth.org, and customize its interface according to your preferences. Now, there are two importance differences between xauth.org and the system registry:
We think that XAuth can simplify and improve the social web, while keeping your private information safe. This is just one of many steps that Google is taking, along with others in the industry, to make the social web easier and more personalized. Posted by Chris Messina, Social Web Team URL: http://googlesocialweb.blogspot.com/2010/04/simplifying-social-web-with-xauth.html      |
| [G] Google Files Privacy Comments Posted: 19 Apr 2010 04:41 PM PDT Google Public Policy Blog: Google Files Privacy CommentsPosted by Will DeVries, Policy Counsel In March, the Federal Trade Commission concluded its "Exploring Privacy" roundtable series. The series brought together leaders from government, advocacy, academia, and industry to discuss ways to best protect consumer privacy. Representatives from Google participated in all the different sessions and sat on two of the panels. Following the last roundtable, the FTC asked participants to submit public comments as part of the ongoing conversation. Last week, we did. And we thought you might be interested in seeing what we had to say. In our comments, we both explain Google's ongoing commitment to privacy and security and also offer some policy recommendations for the FTC moving forward. Specifically, our filing highlights Google's support for: * Strong industry commitments to ensure transparency, user control, and security in Internet services for consumers. Self-regulatory standards, such as the recent work done in online behavioral advertising, have encouraged companies to innovate in the area of privacy and have enhanced user choices in the environment as a whole. * Comprehensive privacy standards and strengthened protections from government intrusion. Google has long supported comprehensive federal privacy legislation to establish baseline privacy protections for consumers. In addition, Google recently announced its support for the reform of federal law governing government access to online records as part of the Digital Due Process coalition. * FTC leadership in the shaping of global privacy standards. The FTC, in conjunction with the Commerce Department and other stakeholders, has a unique opportunity to develop a workable set of global privacy standards that are comprehensive, flexible, and effective. The current patchwork of rules and enforcement across multiple jurisdictions does not provide adequate protection for consumers or sufficient certainty for companies offering services on the global Internet. In addition, the comments draw attention to the strong connection between privacy and free expression, which is a critical issue for us. Fair warning, it can be a bit of a dense document, particularly for the privacy layperson. But if you've ever wanted to know more about privacy at Google, then it's definitely worth a read.  URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-files-privacy-comments.html   |
| Posted: 19 Apr 2010 01:44 PM PDT Official Google Blog: The art of search resultsWe're always honored and often surprised by the many ways people can be inspired by Google. Take for example artist Ken Solomon, who has done a series of watercolors of Google Image Search results, like this one: Ken's "Google Portrait - Warhol 2" Just as societies preserve important documents and works of art, archivists and historians are now developing ways to preserve digital ephemera, from tweets to book drafts, as part our cultural and global history. On a small scale, Ken is doing just that, and we're intrigued by his creative method of preserving moments in time. We may not have majored in art history, but we like the "meta" quality of Ken's paintings of search results for pop artists. From Brillo pad boxes to Google in under 25 moves...? You can see more of Ken's work on his website. And if you live in New York, Ken is exhibiting these pieces in a one-man show at the Josée Bienvenu Gallery until May 15. Posted by Emily Wood, Google Blog & Twitter team  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/art-of-search-results.html   |
| [G] Spotlight: Google Sites templates Posted: 19 Apr 2010 01:44 PM PDT Official Google Docs Blog: Spotlight: Google Sites templatesIn November, we launched site templates, making it easier to get started when creating a Google site. We've enjoyed watching the gallery grow. We have been particularly impressed by some of the recent templates created by Over the Top Marketing, including the Mom's club, travel journal, wine club, PTA, daycare center, bible study, and home project site templates.  Sada Systems has also created some great templates to help businesses get started on common sites, including project tracking workspace, client engagement, crisis management, team site, training, extranet, and intranet site templates.   To get started with a new site click on the "use this template" button in the header of any template, or browse our gallery for more templates at sites.google.com. Posted by: Scott Johnston, Product Manager, Google Sites  URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/04/spotlight-google-sites-templates.html   |
| [G] Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresher Posted: 19 Apr 2010 12:51 PM PDT Google Public Policy Blog: Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresherPosted by Rachel Whetstone, Vice President, Global Communications and Public Affairs (cross-posted from the Official Google Blog) Two and a half years ago, we outlined our approach to removing content from Google products and services. Our process hasn't changed since then, but our recent decision to stop censoring search on Google.cn has raised new questions about when we remove content, and how we respond to censorship demands by governments. So we figured it was time for a refresher. Censorship of the web is a growing problem. According to the Open Net Initiative, the number of governments that censor has grown from about four in 2002 to over 40 today. In fact, some governments are now blocking content before it even reaches their citizens. Even benign intentions can result in the specter of real censorship. Repressive regimes are building firewalls and cracking down on dissent online -- dealing harshly with anyone who breaks the rules. Increased government censorship of the web is undoubtedly driven by the fact that record numbers of people now have access to the Internet, and that they are creating more content than ever before. For example, over 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute of every day. This creates big challenges for governments used to controlling traditional print and broadcast media. While everyone agrees that there are limits to what information should be available online -- for example child pornography -- many of the new government restrictions we are seeing today not only strike at the heart of an open Internet but also violate Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." We see these attempts at control in many ways. China is the most polarizing example, but it is not the only one. Google products -- from search and Blogger to YouTube and Google Docs -- have been blocked in 25 of the 100 countries where we offer our services. In addition, we regularly receive government requests to restrict or remove content from our properties. When we receive those requests, we examine them to closely to ensure they comply with the law, and if we think they're overly broad, we attempt to narrow them down. Where possible, we are also transparent with our users about what content we have been required to block or remove so they understand that they may not be getting the full picture. On our own services, we deal with controversial content in different ways, depending on the product. As a starting point, we distinguish between search (where we are simply linking to other web pages), the content we host, and ads. In a nutshell, here is our approach: Search is the least restrictive of all our services, because search results are a reflection of the content of the web. We do not remove content from search globally except in narrow circumstances, like child pornography, certain links to copyrighted material, spam, malware, and results that contain sensitive personal information like credit card numbers. Specifically, we don't want to engage in political censorship. This is especially true in countries like China and Vietnam that do not have democratic processes through which citizens can challenge censorship mandates. We carefully evaluate whether or not to establish a physical presence in countries where political censorship is likely to happen. Some democratically-elected governments in Europe and elsewhere do have national laws that prohibit certain types of content. Our policy is to comply with the laws of these democratic governments -- for example, those that make pro-Nazi material illegal in Germany and France -- and remove search results from only our local search engine (for example, www.google.de in Germany). We also comply with youth protection laws in countries like Germany by removing links to certain material that is deemed inappropriate for children or by enabling Safe Search by default, as we do in Korea. Whenever we do remove content, we display a message for our users that X number of results have been removed to comply with local law and we also report those removals to chillingeffects.org, a project run by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which tracks online restrictions on speech. Platforms that host content like Blogger, YouTube, and Picasa Web Albums have content policies that outline what is, and is not, permissible on those sites. A good example of content we do not allow is hate speech. Our enforcement of these policies results in the removal of more content from our hosted content platforms than we remove from Google Search. Blogger, as a pure platform for expression, is among the most open of our services, allowing for example legal pornography, as long as it complies with the Blogger Content Policy. YouTube, as a community intended to permit sharing, comments, and other user-to-user interactions, has its Community Guidelines that define its own rules of the road. For example, pornography is absolutely not allowed on YouTube. We try to make it as easy as possible for users to flag content that violates our policies. Here's a video explaining how flagging works on YouTube. We review flagged content across all our products 24 hours a day, seven days a week to remove offending content from our sites. And if there are local laws where we do business that prohibit content that would otherwise be allowed, we restrict access to that content only in the country that prohibits it. For example, in Turkey, videos that insult the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Ataturk, are illegal. Two years ago, we were notified of such content on YouTube and blocked those videos in Turkey that violated local law. A Turkish court subsequently demanded that we block them globally, which we refused to do, arguing that Turkish law cannot apply outside Turkey. As a result YouTube has been blocked there. Finally, our ads products have the most restrictive policies, because they are commercial products intended to generate revenue. These policies are always evolving. Decisions to allow, restrict or remove content from our services and products often require difficult judgment calls. We have spirited debates about the right course of action, whether it's about our own content policies or the extent to which we resist a government request. In the end, we rely on the principles that sit at the heart of everything we do. We've said them before, but in these particularly challenging times, they bear repeating: We have a bias in favor of people's right to free expression. We are driven by a belief that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual.  URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/04/controversial-content-and-free.html   |
| [G] Discount code available for ad:tech San Francisco Posted: 19 Apr 2010 12:51 PM PDT Inside AdWords: Discount code available for ad:tech San FranciscoCross posted from the Google Agency Ad Solutions Blog. ad:tech San Francisco is this week, from April 19th to April 22nd, and we'll be there. Our product experts will be on hand at the Google booth Tuesday and Wednesday to answer questions and provide updates on AdWords, Analytics, DoubleClick, YouTube, AdSense and the Google Content Network. In addition, we're holding the workshops "Insights Lickety Split in AdWords Search Funnels and Google Analytics" and "Google Ad Innovations @ ad:tech," as well as speaking at the session "Marketing Masters - The Bleeding Edge of Advertising Innovation." Still not sure whether to head to ad:tech San Francisco? It's not too late to register, and Google is pleased to offer a 20% discount on conference passes with the code GGLESPON. Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew  URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/discount-code-available-for-adtech-san.html   |
| Posted: 19 Apr 2010 10:43 AM PDT Official Google Blog: Soaring into the cloudNearly 400 IT executives joined us last week for a discussion on the future of enterprise IT at Atmosphere, our first cloud computing summit at the Googleplex. It was an exciting day of conversation and debate about the power of the cloud. If you're interested in seeing it for yourself, you can watch the public talks online:
The complete set of Atmosphere videos is now online, and you can learn more about our cloud computing solutions for businesses on the Google Apps website. We want to thank all those who participated in Atmosphere for their contributions to this unique experience! Posted by Dave Girouard, President of Google Enterprise  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/soaring-into-cloud.html   |
| [G] Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresher Posted: 19 Apr 2010 10:43 AM PDT Official Google Blog: Controversial content and free expression on the web: a refresherTwo and a half years ago, we outlined our approach to removing content from Google products and services. Our process hasn't changed since then, but our recent decision to stop censoring search on Google.cn has raised new questions about when we remove content, and how we respond to censorship demands by governments. So we figured it was time for a refresher.Censorship of the web is a growing problem. According to the Open Net Initiative, the number of governments that censor has grown from about four in 2002 to over 40 today. In fact, some governments are now blocking content before it even reaches their citizens. Even benign intentions can result in the specter of real censorship. Repressive regimes are building firewalls and cracking down on dissent online -- dealing harshly with anyone who breaks the rules. Increased government censorship of the web is undoubtedly driven by the fact that record numbers of people now have access to the Internet, and that they are creating more content than ever before. For example, over 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute of every day. This creates big challenges for governments used to controlling traditional print and broadcast media. While everyone agrees that there are limits to what information should be available online -- for example child pornography -- many of the new government restrictions we are seeing today not only strike at the heart of an open Internet but also violate Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." We see these attempts at control in many ways. China is the most polarizing example, but it is not the only one. Google products -- from search and Blogger to YouTube and Google Docs -- have been blocked in 25 of the 100 countries where we offer our services. In addition, we regularly receive government requests to restrict or remove content from our properties. When we receive those requests, we examine them to closely to ensure they comply with the law, and if we think they're overly broad, we attempt to narrow them down. Where possible, we are also transparent with our users about what content we have been required to block or remove so they understand that they may not be getting the full picture. On our own services, we deal with controversial content in different ways, depending on the product. As a starting point, we distinguish between search (where we are simply linking to other web pages), the content we host, and ads. In a nutshell, here is our approach: Search is the least restrictive of all our services, because search results are a reflection of the content of the web. We do not remove content from search globally except in narrow circumstances, like child pornography, certain links to copyrighted material, spam, malware, and results that contain sensitive personal information like credit card numbers. Specifically, we don't want to engage in political censorship. This is especially true in countries like China and Vietnam that do not have democratic processes through which citizens can challenge censorship mandates. We carefully evaluate whether or not to establish a physical presence in countries where political censorship is likely to happen. Some democratically-elected governments in Europe and elsewhere do have national laws that prohibit certain types of content. Our policy is to comply with the laws of these democratic governments -- for example, those that make pro-Nazi material illegal in Germany and France -- and remove search results from only our local search engine (for example, www.google.de in Germany). We also comply with youth protection laws in countries like Germany by removing links to certain material that is deemed inappropriate for children or by enabling Safe Search by default, as we do in Korea. Whenever we do remove content, we display a message for our users that X number of results have been removed to comply with local law and we also report those removals to chillingeffects.org, a project run by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which tracks online restrictions on speech. Platforms that host content like Blogger, YouTube, and Picasa Web Albums have content policies that outline what is, and is not, permissible on those sites. A good example of content we do not allow is hate speech. Our enforcement of these policies results in the removal of more content from our hosted content platforms than we remove from Google Search. Blogger, as a pure platform for expression, is among the most open of our services, allowing for example legal pornography, as long as it complies with the Blogger Content Policy. YouTube, as a community intended to permit sharing, comments, and other user-to-user interactions, has its Community Guidelines that define its own rules of the road. For example, pornography is absolutely not allowed on YouTube. We try to make it as easy as possible for users to flag content that violates our policies. Here's a video explaining how flagging works on YouTube. We review flagged content across all our products 24 hours a day, seven days a week to remove offending content from our sites. And if there are local laws where we do business that prohibit content that would otherwise be allowed, we restrict access to that content only in the country that prohibits it. For example, in Turkey, videos that insult the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Ataturk, are illegal. Two years ago, we were notified of such content on YouTube and blocked those videos in Turkey that violated local law. A Turkish court subsequently demanded that we block them globally, which we refused to do, arguing that Turkish law cannot apply outside Turkey. As a result YouTube has been blocked there. Finally, our ads products have the most restrictive policies, because they are commercial products intended to generate revenue. These policies are always evolving. Decisions to allow, restrict or remove content from our services and products often require difficult judgment calls. We have spirited debates about the right course of action, whether it's about our own content policies or the extent to which we resist a government request. In the end, we rely on the principles that sit at the heart of everything we do. We've said them before, but in these particularly challenging times, they bear repeating: We have a bias in favor of people's right to free expression. We are driven by a belief that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual. Posted by Rachel Whetstone, Vice President, Global Communications and Public Affairs  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/controversial-content-and-free.html   |
| [G] Imagery for Qinghai, China earthquake Posted: 19 Apr 2010 10:43 AM PDT Official Google Blog: Imagery for Qinghai, China earthquake(Cross-posted from the Google LatLong Blog)  (click image to view full-size; click here to view in Google Earth) In addition, an international team, including many of our Chinese Googlers, have worked to create a Crisis Response page for the earthquake with several additional resources:
Posted by Pete Giencke, GIS Data Engineer  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagery-for-qinghai-china-earthquake.html   |
| [G] Google Summer of Code 2010 Info Session at Universidade Estadual de Campinas –UNICAMP Posted: 19 Apr 2010 10:43 AM PDT Google Open Source Blog: Google Summer of Code 2010 Info Session at Universidade Estadual de Campinas –UNICAMP There were about 70 attendees and the session lasted an hour and a half. The first 20-30 minutes were spent on presenting the GPSL FOSS Seminars Series, since this was the first talk of the series for this semester, and going through the official Google Summer of Code™ program slides. The speakers spent the last hour in an open chat with the attendees about their personal experiences with the program. There were 8 speakers in total: Bruno Cardoso Lopes — LLVM student 2007/2008/2009; Eduardo Lima — BlueZ mentor 2008 and Maemo mentor 2009; Gustavo Padovan — BlueZ student 2009; Helder Ribeiro — Ruby Central student 2007 and ReviewBoard student 2009; João Batista Corrêa Gomes Moreira — OSSIM student 2008 and NMAP student 2009; João Paulo Rechi Vita — BlueZ student 2008/2009; Leonardo Piga — Xiph.Org student 2008; Luis Felipe Strano Moraes — BBC student 2006 and Maemo admin/mentor 2009.  By João Paulo Rechi Vita, UNICAMP  URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-summer-of-code-2010-info-session.html   |
| [G] Site Search Themes for out-of-the-box customization Posted: 19 Apr 2010 10:43 AM PDT Official Google Enterprise Blog: Site Search Themes for out-of-the-box customizationWhen our users add Google Site Search to their website, they expect the same relevance, intuitiveness, and response time that's delivered with Google.com search. As a website owner, you want to leverage the power of Google search while still staying within the unique look and feel of your site's design, and Google Site Search Themes allow you to modify the appearance of search results to more closely match the overall styling of your website.  Google Site Search users can easily set up their themes through the admin control panel, which also manages everything from refinement labels to On-Demand Indexing. By clicking on the "Look and Feel" tab, you can choose between three primary layouts and six styles for your Google Site Search. Each style has a unique color scheme, text format, and search box appearance to fit in with the rest of your site. If you love a style, but need to tweak it, you can customize it further by changing fonts, colors, backgrounds, promotion settings, as well as interactive features such as tabbing and mouse-overs. The preview function instantly shows you the effects of your changes, so you can keep iterating until your search results look just right. What's more, Google Site Search allows for further customization through a number of different features and capabilities such as the XML results feed, JSON, or our brand new custom data rendering features – tools that web developers with programming experience can use for more advanced results. With Themes, however, you can make major layout and formatting changes to your search experience right through your control panel, without having HTML, CSS, or JavaScript editing. Google Site Search is constantly adding new features. We recently added mobile support for Custom and Site Search as well as support for rich snippets and easier synonym management, among many other enhancements made in 2009. Needless to say, we have ongoing new features and enhancements planned for 2010. See how easy it is to put the power of Google search to work for your website. Posted by Clay Maffett, Google Site Search team  URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/04/site-search-themes-for-out-of-box.html   |
| [G] Imagery for Qinghai, China earthquake Posted: 19 Apr 2010 08:51 AM PDT Google LatLong: Imagery for Qinghai, China earthquakeOn Tuesday, April 13, a powerful 6.9 earthquake shook the province of Qinghai, China, resulting in widespread destruction and the loss of more than 1,700 lives. Working closely with GeoEye, we've been able to acquire some high resolution post-earthquake imagery, which vividly illustrates the magnitude of this tragic event. (click image to view full-size; click here to view in Google Earth) In addition, an international team, including many of our Chinese Googlers, have worked to create a Crisis Response page for the earthquake with several additional resources:
Posted by Pete Giencke, GIS Data Engineer  URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagery-for-qinghai-china-earthquake.html   |
| [G] YouTube to stream IPL semi finals and finals in the US Posted: 19 Apr 2010 01:31 AM PDT YouTube Blog: YouTube to stream IPL semi finals and finals in the USWe started streaming the Indian Premier League cricket season on YouTube with the hope that fans around the world would tune in to follow the action. With only five of 60 matches left in the tournament, we've been blown away by the response. We've seen views come in from countries around the globe, and the IPL channel on YouTube now has over 40 million views. We've been particularly surprised by the number of cricket fans tuning in from the U.S. Total views from the U.S. for the IPL channel are second only to India. And fans in the U.S. are active, too: they're second only to those in India in terms of subscribing to the IPL channel and rating, commenting and favoriting videos. With so much enthusiasm coming from U.S., we're excited to make the semi-final and final matches available on YouTube as they happen. Previously, matches were time-delayed and available 15 minutes after the game ended. Now fans in the U.S. can catch the action as it unfolds in real time as the four top ranking teams progress to the knockout stage of the semi finals.  Top countries by total views of videos on the IPL Channel on YouTube. US comes in second, behind India. The first semi-final match starts this Wednesday, April 21, at 8 p.m. IST in Mumbai followed by the second semi-final on April 22 and the third place match on April 24. The winner will be decided at the final match on April 25 in Mumbai. You can see the full schedule on the IPL's website. It's been a great season of IPL on YouTube, and we look forward to some of the best cricket yet as we head into the finals. Amit Agrawal, Strategic Partner Development Manager PS: If you have a passion for cricket and the IPL, live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are interested in meeting Google/YouTube engineers, we're holding a picnic on the Google campus this Sunday, April 25 where we'll be showing the finals on the big screen. The event starts at 12:00 p.m. PT. Please find details and register here if you're interested.    URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/_C7z4VebnDE/youtube-to-stream-ipl-semi-finals-and.html   |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Googland To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment