Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Surfacing treasures of the deep with the University of California

Posted: 18 May 2010 06:31 PM PDT

Inside Google Books: Surfacing treasures of the deep with the University of California

Posted by Ramsey Allington, Google Books Manager

One of the early pioneers in the library project, the University of California became a Google Books partner in 2006. Since then, over two million books have been made available online from the UC's vast collection, which is comprised of 100 research libraries housed across the ten UC campuses. Because of the hard work of UC staffers, interested scholars no longer need to travel to San Diego, Santa Cruz, or Los Angeles to work with unique or hard-to-find texts held at these campuses. An Internet connection is sufficient to access portions of what is collectively the largest research/academic library in the world.

One example of such a special collection is UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), the world's largest oceanography library, where digitization was recently completed. Peter Brueggeman, the director of The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library, has this to say about Google's work with UCSC to digitize these materials:

"The Scripps Oceanography Library has been in existence for more than 100 years, so digitizing and providing access to this extensive book and journal collection helps to create a larger and more complete digital library of materials on the marine environment for searching and use, including older works dating back to the 18th century in full-text. While these books and other materials have long been available on our library shelves for individual use, Google Books' in-depth cross-collection searching feature is definitely a game-changer for scholarly research. Google's digitization of our journal backruns makes these older scholarly resources searchable for scholars and other researchers."

Here are just a few examples of the notable books that we've digitized from the SIO collection:

  • The Fishes of the Swedish South Polar Expedition, by Einar Lonnberg, 1905
    This report documents the fishes collected on a famous Antarctic expedition, the Swedish South-Polar Expedition of 1901-1903 led by Otto Nordenskjold. Although the expedition was a great scientific success and resulted in the collection of many species new to science, the explorers' ship was crushed by ice. The crew were forced to build and live in a stone hut on an Antarctic island, subsisting on birds eggs and penguins until they were rescued by a ship from Argentina.

  • The Land and Sea Mammals of Middle America and the West Indies, by Daniel Giraud Elliot. 1904
    This book has a comprehensive collection of illustrations along with a long list of common names for each species. Did you know that in 1904 there were over 65 different common names for types of squirrels?

  • The Stalk-eyed Crustacea, by Walter Faxon, 1895
    This book includes a report on crustaceans compiled during a United States expedition to Central and South America and the Galapagos aboard the famous ship the Albatross. The Albatross, a ship built by the U.S. government specifically for marine research, was a precursor to today's U.S. oceanographic fleet of ships.


The SIO collection, like the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas adds to the overall richness of the corpus of material available on Google Books. We hope that you enjoy exploring these great volumes as much as we have.
URL: http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2010/05/surfacing-treasures-of-deep-with.html

[G] You may now see new imagery

Posted: 18 May 2010 03:32 PM PDT

Google LatLong: You may now see new imagery


Have you been anxiously awaiting our next imagery update? Well, the time has come once again. Check out some of our favorite examples and a full list up updates below.

New Orleans, LA

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

High-resolution aerial updates:
USA: Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans, Galveston, Norfolk, Tulsa, Waco
England: North Yorkshire, Eastern Durham, Eastern Derbyshire, Telford
The Netherlands: Amersfoot, Rhenen, Ouder-Amstel, Oegstgeest, Nootdorp

Countries receiving high-resolution satellite updates:
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hondurous, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malawi, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Medium Resolution Updates:
Kansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Pensylvania, Indonesia

For a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth. The updated imagery should be available in Google Maps within a few days.

Posted by Matt Manolides, Senior Geo Data Strategist
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/05/you-may-now-see-new-imagery.html

[G] Celebrating Bike to Work Day(s)

Posted: 18 May 2010 03:32 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Celebrating Bike to Work Day(s)

Most days, I bike to work. No spandex, no special shoes; just me and my cruiser (and a basket on the back for my laptop). It's about 4.5 miles door to door. Now, I give mad props to the folks who bike from San Francisco to Google every week. But biking to work is for regular folks, too. It feels great: the exercise, the fresh air and doing something "green", all while giving my brain time to warm up for — or decompress after — a hectic work day.

So how can we get more people who live right around Google offices to get off their good intentions and on to their bikes? Well, we did recently release biking directions on Google Maps (including on mobile phones!) but in case that wasn't enough motivation, there's no better time to try than on Bike to Work Day!

We celebrated Bay Area Bike to Work Day this past Thursday at Google's HQ (as usual, Northern California's date was ahead of U.S. National Bike to Work Day). The rest of our offices will take up the bike-commuting cause at the end of this week and into next week, from Bangalore to Zurich. Last year, 42 Google offices participated in Bike to Work Day — and we hope to top that this time around.

To prepare for Bay Area Bike to Work day, our employees hosted a How to Bike to Work tech talk and volunteered time at a free bike repair clinic. Those Googlers repaired over 40 bikes in 2.5 hours — not bad for an all-volunteer outfit. And we had a whole pile of volunteer group ride leaders plan to lead 20 different rides in from all over the Bay, to help folks get to work safely and in style.

Last year, we aimed for 1,000 riders globally, and beat that handily (1,322 riders total). So we decided to raise the stakes and shoot for 1,000 in Northern California alone. And we did it: 1,019 riders to our Mountain View, San Bruno, and San Francisco offices. That's a new record for Google and almost five percent of our total employee population!

The longest ride was 71 miles...from Palo Alto. (Via Pescadero. That's what we call taking the loooong route.) The Santa Cruz crew came straight in and went 55 miles one way...and some of them were talking about biking home, too! 172 Googlers came in from San Francisco — but thanks to Google's extensive shuttle system, most of them can get a lift back home.

The largest turnout came from Mountain View, of course — 272 folks came from right around the 'plex. Considering more riders came from SF than Mountain View last year, our super-locals had some pride to win back!

For me, the highlights included free massages, furry friends, tiny companions, a skeleton, a unicycle and the Warp Speed Conference Bike team who rode a 400+lb contraption all the way in from Redwood City. (Witness also the classiest bike jersey ever.) Oh, and seeing our smiling CFO check in, who biked in even though it was Shareholder Day on campus! Not to mention a certain founder with his solar-panel backpack.

But the real joy was hearing all the people who said, "You know, I never thought I could do it. But it wasn't so hard after all! I will definitely do it again." That's what Bike to Work Day is all about.

Overall, we had tons of fun spreading the bike-commute love here in Mountain View, and we can't wait to see what our fellow Googlers get up to all around the world. Maybe we'll even hit our stretch goal: 2010 riders in 2010! In the meantime, check out our photos from Thursday's party-on-wheels to get psyched for your own ride to work.



Posted by Deb Henigson, Workplace Services Program Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/celebrating-bike-to-work-days.html

[G] Putting email in context with Gmail contextual gadgets

Posted: 18 May 2010 12:37 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Putting email in context with Gmail contextual gadgets

Since launching the Google Apps Marketplace in March, Google Apps administrators have deployed integrated third party apps to more than one million users, and today we're excited to build on this momentum with the launch of a new Gmail API that lets Marketplace apps present relevant information to users right in Gmail, when they're reading a message.

Contextual gadgets in Gmail – like YouTube, Google Docs and Picasa previews – intelligently display relevant information from other systems as you read your email, so you can be more efficient without leaving your inbox.

Starting today, third party developers can build Gmail contextual gadgets and distribute them in the Google Apps Marketplace. These gadgets can display information from social networks, business services, web applications and other systems, and users can interact with that data right within Gmail. Contextual gadgets are yet another example how the power of the web can outpace traditional business technology.



Several new contextual gadget integrations for Gmail are available to Google Apps customers in the Apps Marketplace today:
  • AwayFind lets you mark certain contacts or message topics as 'Urgent' and then alerts you via phone, SMS or IM when relevant messages arrive.
  • Kwaga displays social network profiles and lists recent email exchanges with people you correspond with.
  • Gist brings together information from across the web about people you're corresponding with, providing rich person and company profiles, news and updates.
  • Pixetell detects email links to video messages created with Pixetell's video software and lets you preview, comment on, and share those videos without leaving your inbox.
  • Smartsheet lets you access and update entries in Smartsheet's sales pipeline and project management tool.
  • Xobni, Rapportive, Manymoon, Newmind Group, SocialWok and BillFLO have also launched their own contextual gadget integrations.
Like any other applications in the Google Apps Marketplace, a Google Apps domain administrator can install a contextual gadget from the Marketplace with just a few clicks. Both before and during the install process, administrators can review the portions of an email the gadget will have access to, and can revoke that permission at any time from their control panel. For more information on the Google Apps marketplace, watch the overview video.

To learn more about the new contextual gadget applications available in Gmail, head to the Google Apps Marketplace and browse for apps that have 'Mail Integration'.

Posted by Posted by Chandrashekar Raghavan, Product Manager, Google Apps extensions
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/05/putting-email-in-context-with-gmail.html

[G] Automating business processes with Google Apps Script

Posted: 18 May 2010 11:28 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Automating business processes with Google Apps Script

Google Apps Script is a powerful way to automate business processes ranging from expense approvals to time-sheet tracking to ticket management and order fulfillment. Scripts are an efficient way for customers to add custom functionality beyond Google's expanding suite of web-based applications. Today we're launching improvements to Google Apps Script which make it even more versatile than before:
  • Data interoperability through JDBC (Java Database Connectivity): Now Google Apps Script can connect to any MySQL database, including business databases running on servers behind firewalls.
  • Custom user interfaces for scripts: Google Apps Premier Edition users can now script graphical interface elements and menus. For example, a company could power an internal application for purchasing office supplies. Users could shop via a customized menu interface, and the script could email the employee's selections to their manager for purchasing approval before routing the order to fulfillment team.
  • Standalone invocation of scripts: It's now possible to call a script from any website, so you're able to build web pages where users can submit entries that will be collected in a Google spreadsheet.
  • More integrations with other Google properties: New integrations with Google Docs and Google Maps add the ability to create and modify files in the Google Documents List and retrieve directions from Google Maps.
Businesses large and small are already simplifying their IT environments with the power of Google Apps Script. Stephanie Anthony, IT Tools Architect at Motorola Mobile Devices, says the company is, "saving $1,000,000 per year by using Google Apps Script to replace our IT portfolio and resource management solution."

To help you get started with scripts, we put together a new set of script templates with pre-built functionality. One of our favorites is the Map Mail Merge script. Let's say you need to send conference invitations to 100 email recipients in your team's database. Generating and sending custom invitations can be tedious, but Google Apps Script automates the process, including individualized door-to-door driving directions.

Stay tuned for more updates to Google Apps Script. Until then, start scripting and let us know what you come up with!

Posted by Evin Levey, Product Manager, Google Apps Team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/05/automating-business-processes-with.html

[G] Simplify common tasks with the new Google Apps Script

Posted: 18 May 2010 11:28 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Simplify common tasks with the new Google Apps Script

Last year at our Google I/O Developer Conference, we launched Google Apps Script, a software tool that lets you customize and automate Google Apps. Today, on the verge of our first birthday, we're releasing significant updates to Google Apps Script, including its integration with other properties like Google Maps and Google Docs as well as third-party services and databases through the new Java Database connectivity.

Check out our new scripts templates to try out some of the common tasks and processes that this new version of Google Apps Script can easily simplify and automate. And to learn more about how organizations can use it, head over to the Google Enterprise blog. Finally, if you're attending this year's Google I/O, we're holding a session on using scripts to automate business processes — maybe we'll see you there!

Posted by Jonathan Rochelle, Group Product Manager, Google Apps
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/simplify-common-tasks-with-new-google.html

[G] Remember to tune in to live-streamed Google I/O keynotes

Posted: 18 May 2010 09:08 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Remember to tune in to live-streamed Google I/O keynotes

(Cross-posted from the Google Code Blog)

For those not attending Google I/O, remember to tune in to http://youtube.com/GoogleDevelopers on Wednesday, May 19 and Thursday, May 20, to watch the Google I/O keynote presentations live.

Keynote times:
Wednesday, May 19, 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Thursday, May 20, 8:30am - 10:00am PDT

To stay up to date on I/O news, follow us on Twitter or Buzz — and to go one level deeper on I/O session content, live wave with us.

Posted by Christine Tsai, Google Developer Team
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/remember-to-tune-in-to-live-streamed.html

[G] Google I/O: live keynote streams

Posted: 18 May 2010 09:08 AM PDT

Official Google Mac Blog: Google I/O: live keynote streams

By Greg Robbins, Software Engineer

Google I/O, which starts tomorrow, is our annual conference to help developers learn about the latest ways their applications can work with Google services. If you develop applications or just are enthusiastic about using applications that interact with your Google account, you can learn the highlights of this year's announcements by watching the live keynote streams. See the Google Code blog for more details.
URL: http://googlemac.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-io-live-keynote-streams.html

[G] Doodle 4 Google, meet the 40 Regional Finalists (we did!)

Posted: 18 May 2010 09:08 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Doodle 4 Google, meet the 40 Regional Finalists (we did!)

For the first time ever, as part of this year's Doodle 4 Google competition, we're heading straight to classrooms all across the United States. From Gig Harbor, WA to Niceville, FL, Googlers are visiting the schools of our top 40 Regional Finalists to celebrate art and technology with thousands of K-12 students and teachers.

With our top 40 Regional Finalists unveiled, it's now your turn to vote on the top 40 doodles! Starting at 6:00 a.m. PDT today through May 25 at 5:00 p.m. PDT, you can cast your online votes for your favorite Regional Finalist's doodle (one from each of the four grade groups). On May 26, we'll announce the national winner at our awards ceremony in New York City, and the winning design will appear on google.com on Thursday, May 27. The national winner will also receive a $15,000 college scholarship and $25,000 towards a new computer lab for their school.

The Doodle 4 Google contest is all about designing and dreaming big, and this year we asked students to design our Google logo with the theme, "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." More than 33,000 submissions poured in from all 50 states, and we were absolutely delighted by the creativity and talent of the submissions we saw. How exactly did we get from 33,000 to the top 40? We were lucky to have in our judging process not only Google employees but also 12 Expert Jurors, well-known cartoonists and animators from companies like Disney, Pixar Animation Studios and The Peanuts Gang/Charles Schulz.

In addition to our top 40 Regional Finalists, we'd like to congratulate the 400 State Finalists as well as our Extra Credit Technology Booster award winners.

Doodle 4 Google wouldn't have been possible without the help and guidance of teachers and administrators who work hard every day to encourage art and creativity in the classroom — it is this sort of creativity that will lead to tomorrow's designers, technologists and engineers.

Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/doodle-4-google-meet-40-regional.html
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