Thursday, May 13, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Hello Google Apps, hello real collaboration

Posted: 12 May 2010 03:53 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Hello Google Apps, hello real collaboration

This is the latest post in an ongoing series about Small Business and resources for entrepreneurs. Previous posts have covered how Google AdWords and Google Places can help business owners use technology to drive success. -Ed.

I've talked to a lot of small businesses that don't have the budget or the resources to invest in and maintain technology. That's why I love telling them about Google Apps — a suite of web-based office tools — and how it can help move their businesses forward.

I always find that it's easier for small businesses to understand the benefits of Google Apps when one of our customers tells the story for us. So I've asked Stephen Culp, Founder and Chairman of Chattanooga, TN-based Smart Furniture and CEO of Delegator, to share his experiences with Google Apps, and how he took a company that started out in a Stanford professor's garage and made it a success. (Sound familiar?) We'll continue the conversation with Stephen and other Google Apps customers at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce America's Small Business Summit next week in Washington, D.C.
As the founder of three companies, an attorney, Naval Reserve Officer and former Peace Corps volunteer, I'm a believer in an entrepreneurial approach to virtually everything. Smart Furniture, for example, started back in 1998 in a Stanford professor's garage, with a new business model called "Design on Demand®" that allows furniture and interiors for homes and offices to be customized for you, and more importantly, by you, all on the web.

Smart Furniture began as a small and growing company with phenomenal people, but limited budget (and time) for technology, especially the wrong kind. We tried for years to scale efficiently without pouring money into the "standard" infrastructure to run our business. We considered the idea of Microsoft® Exchange, and while the idea was great, in practice it got a lot more complicated — and expensive.

Then, in 2008, we discovered Google Apps. We liked the general virtues of SaaS applications that were inherent in Google Apps, and the fact that the applications improved over time without any effort from our team. Plus, the collaborative benefits were game-changing. Google Apps took that idea of efficient, company-wide collaboration and — unlike the alternatives — made it real.

In other words, for us, Google Apps does just what technology should. It frees up resources to focus on our actual business. It offers tools we didn't have — or hadn't integrated — before, including third-party apps from the Google Apps Marketplace. It replaces unnecessary layers of tech silliness with a simple, intuitive, integrated platform that actually serves us — our team and our goals.

Google Calendar alone increases our efficiency exponentially. Everyone can look at the same calendars, create new ones for events, projects or work groups, and share them, without having to master a byzantine instruction manual. Then there are the collaboration benefits. Before Google Apps, we'd constantly lose information as people changed roles or moved on to new projects. With Google Sites, we've eliminated the need for shared servers and their little air-conditioned server rooms, and replaced our entire intranet with one comfortably situated in the cloud. We use Google Sites to store company files and team members' bios, and support our project groups. Meanwhile, Google Docs allows everyone to contribute to projects and idea creation — a key part of our company culture. We create documents to solicit feedback, track ideas, keep common agendas, take notes, prepare for meetings, manage inventory and even organize our company's softball league. It's part of almost everything we do.

Yes, our IT guys freaked out at first. Some thought that eliminating the maintenance of our previous system, a.k.a. Frankenstein, would make them no longer necessary. What they didn't realize was how much better their jobs would get. Now they have the time to work on interesting projects — building, creating and innovating, rather than constantly rebuilding, patching and defragmenting. Our team is amazing, and we're glad to have them back out of that air-conditioned server room.

At Smart Furniture, Google Apps helps build and support our culture, an important part of the secret sauce that has helped us succeed. Our culture keeps all of us working together, enjoying our days, not peering out the window wondering when we can clock out. As any company grows, it's hard to maintain the sense of close collaboration that a small business has. Google Apps keeps us chatting (we all use chat in Gmail), collaborating, learning and growing together, as if we were still in the one-room office where we began — which was, incidentally, about the same size as the server room we were planning to build for Exchange.

In our experience, as a small business, the wrong technology can distract your team and drain resources, while the right technology can seamlessly support your goals. Both Smart Furniture and Delegator are on pace for greater than 100 percent growth in 2010. Customer satisfaction rates are at record levels, and we love where we work. For us, Google Apps is the right technology.

Stephen in the flagship Smart Furniture Studio
Posted by Tom Oliveri, Director, Google Apps and Enterprise
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/hello-google-apps-hello-real.html

[G] A word is worth 884 pictures

Posted: 12 May 2010 12:54 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: A word is worth 884 pictures

(A version of this post first appeared on the author's personal blog. -Ed.)

I've always enjoyed big, ambitious and sometimes slightly bizarre projects. For instance, you might remember a few years back when a bunch of Googlers and I ordered a quarter-ton of Silly Putty for the fun of it. More recently, I had the thought that it would be neat to create a "real" photomosaic — that is, not a poster where you have many tiny, postage-stamp-sized images playing the role of the "tiles" that make up a larger image, but a collection of real, high-resolution 4×6 photographs making up a bigger picture.

Part of the appeal of this project was that it was complicated. First, in order to have enough "tiles" to make the underlying image clear, I knew we'd need a really, really large wall. Second, for you to be able to appreciate both the underlying image and the individual tiles, you'd have to be able to see the mosaic from a large distance (so the tiles blend to create the larger image), and also be able to walk right up to it to look at individual photographs. So the wall would have to be at the end of a long hallway. Third, if you can inspect individual images, then those images would have to be nice, crisp, high-resolution photographs. So I'd have to amass a whole bunch of really high-resolution photos directly from good photographers, and I'd have to figure out exactly where to place all those photos within the image. And finally, I knew I'd need a lot of people to help glue all the photos!

Fortunately, working at Google puts me in a position where these things are possible: we had a giant open wall at the end of a hallway in our London offices; two dozen avid Google photographers uploaded 5,000 photos to use as the tiles (using Picasa, of course); and everyone I talked to about the project said, "That's neat! How can I help?" So last week, a group of friends, fellow Googlers and I completed our project: a giant Google logo (and yes, it's the new logo) made out of 884 individually printed 4×6 photographs of people, places and things around the U.K.

We were all really pleased with the result, and it's best viewed in person. Seeing it from 100 feet away, taking it in clearly as the Google logo, and then walking right up to it to inspect the details of individual images is very cool. But for anyone not in London, here's an attempt to recreate that experience:

The full mosaic

Zoomed in on the right of the yellow "o" and the left of the lowercase "g".

Zoomed in to an individual photo.

We also took a time-lapse video of the construction process, which started in the evening and went late into the night. (The later it got, the hazier we felt — not because of the hour, but because of all of the fumes from the rubber cement!) The camera took a shot every seven seconds, so about 5.5 hours of work are compressed to a bit over a minute here. The video is best seen in full screen HD so you can see the individual photos as they go up:


Posted by Clay Bavor, Group Product Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/word-is-worth-884-pictures.html

[G] What’s new with biking directions on Google Maps?

Posted: 12 May 2010 12:54 PM PDT

Google LatLong: What's new with biking directions on Google Maps?


Since 1956, May has been recognized as National Bike Month and in most cities, Bike to Work Day falls during the week of May 17-21 (but for those of us in San Francisco, Bike to Work Day is coming up tomorrow on May 13). To help celebrate all these festivities and help make it easier for folks around the country to participate, we've been busy improving biking directions on Google Maps. Here's what's new:

Biking directions for mobile
Check out yesterday's post for some great news: biking directions are now available on mobile! Back when we first launched in March, we promised we were working hard on it, and now the wait is over for Android users. Now you can plan out your route to work directly from your phone - and if end up having such a great time while you're on your way, pull out your phone and search for some new rides!

In addition to getting customized routes, you can also turn on the Bicycling layer to see dedicated bike-only trails (dark green), roads with bike lanes (light green), or roads that are good for biking but lack a dedicated lane (dashed green).


Biking Layer in the Google Maps API
There are two important parts of Google Maps biking directions: the bike specific routing and the customized look and feel of the bicycling layer. Our routing algorithm tries to put riders on trails and roads with bike lanes or recommended streets as much as possible, while the bicycling layer visually highlights the information that's most relevant to cyclists. We've drawn attention to the bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads with color-coded lines on the map. This custom layer is now available in the Maps API v3, so when you add biking directions to your website, users will get the same visually rich experience that they get on Google Maps. Globe Bikes is already taking advantage of this improvement by placing our simple biking directions gadget on their website. If you have the skills to copy and paste, you have the skills to add the gadget to your website.


Ongoing Data Quality improvements
In March we launched biking directions with more than 12,000 miles of trails and bike lane data for 150 cities across the country. We're continually working to improve this coverage by adding new trails and route information submitted by our users via the "Report a Problem" tool. So far we've received thousands of suggestions and tips from dedicated cyclists around the country and have made a number of additions and improvements. You'll now find 39 more cities with trail and bike lane data; for example, check out all the new data in Sacramento.

Hopefully this has managed to convince you to hop on your bike to get to work - and lots of other places - this month. Before you head out, you can check out the League of American Bicyclists' website for more information about special Bike Month festivities in your part of the country, as well as tips for a safe and fun ride.

Posted by Laura Melahn, Product Marketing Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/05/whats-new-with-biking-directions-on.html

[G] Guest Post: Blog2Print/Blogger

Posted: 12 May 2010 12:54 PM PDT

Blogger Buzz: Guest Post: Blog2Print/Blogger

Posted by Caroline Vanderlip, CEO SharedBook


Since we announced the Blog2Print/Blogger program last Fall, we at Blog2Print have been busy enhancing Blog2Print in response to user feedback and requests. Our goal is to maintain the integrity and ease of the blog–to-book creation process while providing you with more editing power and control over your blog books.

I'm pleased to tell you we now offer two different layout options for your blog books: Compact and Snapshot. Compact, the original page layout, arranges your blog posts, captions, and photos into a page that makes the best use of space and minimizes the number of total pages. The new layout, Snapshot, keeps the positioning of captions, photos, and text as it appeared in your posts online.

Meanwhile, we understand that some posts just aren't meant to be preserved, and you should be able to decide which posts you put in your book. Now you can, as individual posts can easily be deleted from your blog book. Especially when given as a gift – sometimes a little editing is needed here or there before a blog book is gift ready. And speaking of gifts, you can now buy a Gift Card for Blog2Print.

A few more changes: we've raised the maximum number of photos to 1500 in one book, added Safari support, and modified the User Agreement to clarify that bloggers continue to own all of their content and can resell their books if they choose – just make sure you own all relevant copyrights.

With your invaluable feedback, Blog2Print continues to evolve and improve. Please – keep asking! We'll keep delivering.
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/05/guest-post-blog2printblogger.html

[G] Save the Date: Google Geo Teachers Institute, July 21-22

Posted: 12 May 2010 12:54 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Save the Date: Google Geo Teachers Institute, July 21-22



For years, Google's Geo products have been identified as a powerful learning toolkit that can help students conceptualize, visualize, share, and communicate information about the world around them.

This July, Google is hosting the first Google Geo Teachers Institute. This event is a FREE professional development experience designed to help educators get the most from Google's Geo products and technologies. The Geo Teachers Institute is an intensive, two-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google's Geo products: Google Earth, Google Maps, and SketchUp, including a focus on features like Mars, Moon and Sky in Google Earth. Attendees will learn about innovative instructional strategies and receive resources to share with colleagues. The Google Geo Education team hopes this event will empower educators to bring the world's geographic information to students in a
compelling, fresh, and fun way.

To apply, send email to geoedu@google.com.

Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education team
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/05/save-date-google-geo-teachers-institute.html

[G] More Choice for Users: Unlisted Videos

Posted: 12 May 2010 12:54 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: More Choice for Users: Unlisted Videos

Melinda teaches high school in the Bay Area and recently reached out to us with a problem. Her students just finished a video history project that she wanted to share with their parents and classmates. But she was concerned about posting the videos publicly because she didn't want the whole world to find them (frankly, neither did her students). Melinda told us YouTube's private sharing options -- a 25-person cap that's limited to other YouTube users -- didn't work for her. She needed a better option to privately share her students' talent.



Today, we're offering a new choice that will help Melinda and other people like her: unlisted videos.



Now, you can mark your videos as "unlisted." This means only people who have the link to the video will be able to watch it. It won't appear in any of YouTube's public pages, in search results, on your personal channel or on the browse page. It's a private video, except you don't need a YouTube account to watch it and there is no limit to the number of people who can view it. You'll get a link when you upload the video and then it's up to you to decide who to share it with. Unlisted is the perfect option for that class project, video from last summer's family reunion or your secret Broadway audition tape.









Just remember, the video can be viewed by anyone with the link, so only give it to people you trust! For more information, check out our Help Center page.



Jen Chen, Software Engineer, recently watched "8-Bit Dr. Horrible (Act 1)"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/EP7k09UyGPM/more-choice-for-users-unlisted-videos.html

[G] Understanding the web to find short answers and “something different”

Posted: 12 May 2010 09:49 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Understanding the web to find short answers and "something different"

One year ago today we announced Google Squared in Labs, an early attempt to find and extract structured data from across the web, such as a detailed table of [dog breeds] or [broadway shows]. Since then, our team in New York has steadily worked to improve quality and add new features, such as the ability to sort your data and export it to a file. In the past week, we've introduced two features that bring parts of Squared's technology directly to regular search results. The first provides better answers to fact-finding queries like [independence day of india], and the second is "something different", a special kind of search refinement in our new left-hand panel.

Better answers, with sources
Often people search to find basic facts, such as [catherine zeta-jones date of birth]. Three months ago we began using Squared technology to highlight answers for these types of searches in snippets. Today we're expanding that effort so that when you're looking for this kind of simple fact in search, we give you more accurate answers right at the top of your results, sourced from across the web:


If you click on the new "show sources" link, a box will slide down with websites that corroborate your answer.


The sources list includes the relevant text from each page so you can quickly verify whether the webpages seem reputable and whether our algorithms correctly interpreted the context of the answer. If you see a mistake, please let us know by clicking on the "Feedback" link so we can make it better.

You'll find answers to millions of different fact-seeking searches because the feature relies on an algorithmic understanding of webpages, not a hand-crafted set of special sources. For example:
Often you're looking for these kinds of quick answers when you're out and about, so we've made sure the feature also works great on mobile browsers, where it can be slow and awkward to dig through multiple webpages to find an answer. Next time you're on a date to see The Nutcracker, discreetly pull out your phone and search for [nutcracker composer] and impress him or her with your deep knowledge of ballet (and Tchaikovsky).

"Something different"
Google Squared technology also helps power one of the new features of our latest enhancement to the search results page: "Something different." Sometimes when you search on Google, you'll see a new section at the bottom of the left-hand panel which contains related search terms. For example, search for [zebra] and you'll see other related searches such as [giraffes], [elephants] and [hippos]:


This can be a useful way to explore topics related to your original search. In the past, you may have seen similar search refinements at the bottom of Google search results pages under the heading "searches related to." These queries are a great way to drill down further into a specific topic, such as [zebra facts] and [zebra pictures]. But we've found that when people are searching for zebras, they often search for other zoo animals as well. So just as Google Squared can put together a table of zoo animals, with "Something different" we automatically find other entities in the same category, such as gazelles and rhinos. This helps for times when you want to browse a broad topic using Google, rather than dig for a specific bit of information. You can learn more about how this works in our Help Center.

In one year, we've come far enough with our experimental Google Squared technology to start using it to help you both formulate your search and find exactly the information you're looking for. While I'm happy with the progress we've made, there's much more to be accomplished in this area — from searches that have multiple answers, like [us supreme court justices], to searches too complex for us to understand today, like [what major did bill clinton's daughter study at stanford?]. We'll continue to look for new ways to apply our deepening understanding of the web to improve your search results. Both new features will be available globally in English (something different is available now, and the improved answers feature should finish rolling out by the end of the week).

Posted by John Provine, Technical Lead
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/understanding-web-to-find-short-answers.html

[G] Google Summer of Code 2010: Meet the Students!

Posted: 12 May 2010 09:49 AM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Google Summer of Code 2010: Meet the Students!

We've had a great showing from students around the world for Google Summer of Code™ this year. In all, we accepted 1,026 students from 69 countries worldwide. Our top ten countries by number of students accepted this year are: United States (197), India (125), Germany (57), Brazil (50), Poland (46), Canada (40), China (39), United Kingdom (36), France (35), Sri Lanka(34).


145 of the students this year also completed projects as part of Google Summer of Code in 2009.

Meanwhile, since acceptance, all the students have been getting to know their mentors and organizations. Our Community Bonding Period ends on May 24 and coding officially starts the same day. You can find more about the upcoming events in our timeline.

By Carol Smith, Open Source Team
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-summer-of-code-2010-meet.html
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