Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] New in Labs: Move the attachment and other icon column

Posted: 25 May 2010 04:46 PM PDT

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Move the attachment and other icon column

Posted by Greg Bullock, Software Engineer

The icon column in Gmail helps to easily distinguish the various types of items in your inbox (e.g. messages with attachments, chats, calendar invitations, Buzz posts, and more). It's usually all the way over on the right of the screen, but with screen sizes becoming increasingly wider, I chose to make a very modest addition to Gmail Labs to try and give these icons greater visibility.

I found it much more useful to have this column situated on the far left of my inbox -- and it turns out that many of my colleagues did too.

If you'd like try out "Move Icon Column," simply visit the Labs tab under Gmail Settings, find this new Lab in the list, hit enable, and then save. It's not big and it's not clever but hopefully this lab might just be helpful for you too; it's the little things in life after all.

URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-in-labs-move-attachment-and-other.html

[G] Stockholm is on the 3D map

Posted: 25 May 2010 04:46 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Stockholm is on the 3D map

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp blog]

Stockholm, which is said to be referred to as the "Venice of the North" may not receive a lot of sunlight throughout the year, but today it's in the limelight as the newest city to be included in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth. Watch the video below to see Stockholm, Sweden in 3D:


Stockholm is a unique geographic location - filled with historic bridges, buildings, and parks. The rich architectural history make it a fulfilling destination for the virtual tourist.


The city's oldest section is "Gamla Stan"(The Old City). It's located on the original small islands of the city's earliest settlements and features cobbled streets and medieval alleyways.


And if time is short, make sure you fly over to The Royal Palace, the official residence ofHis Majesty The King. Explore Stockholm in 3D with Google Earth and now with Earth view in Google Maps.


Posted by Bruce Polderman, Product Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/05/stockholm-is-on-3d-map.html

[G] Recapping WebM's First Week

Posted: 25 May 2010 04:46 PM PDT

The WebM Open Media Project Blog: Recapping WebM's First Week

The WebM project launched last Wednesday with broad industry backing (watch video of the announcement). The list of supporters keeps growing with new additions such as the popular VLC media player, Miro Video Converter, HeyWatch cloud encoding platform, and videantis programmable processor platform. We're also happy to see that future versions of IE will support playback of VP8 when the user has installed the codec.

Our announcement sparked discussions in the community around the design and quality of our developer release. We've done extensive testing of VP8 and know that the codec can match or exceed the quality of other leading codecs. Starting this week, the engineers behind WebM will post frequently to this blog with details on how to make optimal use of its VP8 video codec and Vorbis audio codec. We are confident that the open development model will bring additional improvements that will further optimize WebM. In fact, the power of open development is already visible, with developers submitting patches and the folks at Flumotion enabling live streaming support in their product just three days after the project was launched.

Keep an eye on this blog for regular updates on the adoption and development of WebM. To participate in the conversation or to ask questions of the WebM team, please join our discussion group.

John Luther
Product Manager, Google
URL: http://webmproject.blogspot.com/2010/05/recapping-webms-first-week.html

[G] Google at Gov 2.0

Posted: 25 May 2010 04:46 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google at Gov 2.0

The Google Enterprise team is excited to be taking part in this week's Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington, DC. From today through Thursday, the Gov 2.0 Expo brings together government and industry leaders from across the nation to discuss transformative technologies that can help support the mission of governments everywhere.

We're particularly excited that Dave Girouard, president of Google Enterprise, and Randi Levin, the Chief Technology Officer for the City of Los Angeles, will be sharing the stage for this event's keynote. Titled "Cloud Computing Services: Finding a Solution for Over Budget, Understaffed Agencies," this conversation, moderated by conference chair Tim O'Reilly, will explore Los Angeles' decision to move to the cloud and adopt Google Apps – and what's happened since.

If you'll be at Gov 2.0, watch for Dave and Randi on the main stage at 8:50 a.m. EDT. Afterwards, stop by the Google booth to learn more about how Google Apps is helping government agencies of all sizes provide secure, modern collaboration tools to their employees, while at the same time allowing them to realize significant cost savings.

If you can't be at Gov 2.0 in person, we invite you to tune in live to Dave and Randi's presentation on the Gov 2.0 site (note: online registration required). Watch this space for more about Google Apps and the work we're doing with our government customers.

Posted by Dan Israel, Public Sector Marketing Manager, Google Enterprise
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-at-gov-20.html

[G] Saluting Revenue Spark and National Small Business Week

Posted: 25 May 2010 04:45 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Saluting Revenue Spark and National Small Business Week

Editor's Note: This is the second post in a series celebrating National Small Business Week. Our first post highlighted an entrepreneur who has founded two companies and is a strong believer in the power of Google Apps. Today we'll meet another entrepreneur that is an avid supporter of the benefits of cloud computing.

Steve Messere is an entrepreneur and businessman who has added to the growing count of small businesses that are helping move America forward. Aside from running his own company, Steve is actively involved in promoting "sustainable capitalism" as a new form of profit-seeking business, combining traditional shareholder value with a "cradle-to-cradle" approach to environment impact, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

When Steve founded Revenue Spark – a business that helps green technology companies to take their product to market – he already saw the value of cloud computing. He knew that it was the technology needed to propel his own business forward, and adopted Google Apps from the onset.

For Steve, "anytime, anywhere" access is critical, and this requires business tools that are platform independent and available through a browser on either laptop or mobile devices. With Google Apps, Steve and his employees can be productive no matter where they are – at home, on the road, or in the office.

Steve's plan is to use cloud-based tools like Google Apps to achieve a virtual status – one that allows him to recruit talent from across the country and grow faster than he could if he had to acquire physical space in the real world. He's already off and running.

Revenue Spark is adding clients and new employees around the US and is on its first tour of Europe, looking to bring clients online with its service. Steve is also planning to open an office in New Zealand that will rely entirely on cloud computing as a vital connection to other Revenue Spark teams and shared information tools.

In Steve's words, "Cloud computing not only makes it possible for Revenue Spark to enable our teams to be the 'best at their best' but it fits our company's overall global mission of being a leader in sustainable business practices."

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, the Google Apps team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/05/saluting-revenue-spark-and-national.html

[G] Join us for a top tech tips webinar this week

Posted: 25 May 2010 01:41 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: Join us for a top tech tips webinar this week

This Wednesday, May 26th at 5pm GMT, we're hosting a live webinar to share some top tech tips with you.

To register for this webinar, please visit our Help Center.

The topics we'll cover in this webinar are:
  • How to determine which ad variations perform best for you
  • How to use HTML/CCC to wrap text around ad units
  • How to ensure your best-performing ad units are defined first in your ad code
  • Using Google Analytics to better understand your users and make your ad implementations more effective
  • Using Webmaster Tools to increase the index and rank of your site
Prior to the webinar, you can post your questions on our Google Moderator page and we'll address them during the webinar.

Posted by Caroline Halpin - AdSense Optimization team
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/05/join-us-for-top-tech-tips-webinar-this.html

[G] Faster finding and other document tweaks

Posted: 25 May 2010 01:41 PM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: Faster finding and other document tweaks

Today we added a few features to the new version of the Google document editor.

Faster find
When you press Ctrl+F (⌘+F on Macs) you'll see a drop-down box where you can type the word or phrase you're looking for in your doc. As you type, all the matches in the doc will be highlighted and you can press to jump to the next match.

If you want more advanced find options or if you want to replace text, you can access the full Find and Replace dialog from the Edit menu.

Headings in the toolbar
We also added Paragraph Styles to the toolbar. This makes it much easier to quickly apply headings to things you've selected in your doc, or to change your selection to normal text.


Bookmarks in the link dialog
Finally, we added bookmarks to the link dialog. If you go into that dialog, you'll see a list of all the bookmarks in your document and the snippet of text that's near that bookmark.


Let us know if you have feedback on the forums.

Posted by: John Day Richter, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/05/faster-finding-and-other-document.html

[G] Google Analytics: More choice for users

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Google Analytics: More choice for users

Posted by Will DeVries, Policy Counsel

We created Google Analytics to help website owners aggregate and analyze their traffic so they can improve and update their sites. Like traffic pattern reports tell you about traffic on a highway or street, Google Analytics provides general trends for a website (numbers of visitors, average time spent on one page) without revealing any personally identifiable information.

Even though Google Analytics doesn't reveal personal information, we believe in giving users more choice and control whenever possible. So today we're excited to launch the beta version of our new opt-out for Google Analytics. Now, you can download and install an add-on for your desktop browser that will stop data from being sent from your computer when you visit websites that use Google Analytics Javascript to track usage. This means the information from your visit will not be sent to Google Analytics or included in its reports.

We hope this option will give users even more choices when online. For more information on user choices when using Google Analytics, check out this overview. And for information on other Google efforts to provide you with choice and control, check out the Google Privacy Center.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-analytics-more-choice-for-users.html

[G] Greater choice and transparency for Google Analytics

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Greater choice and transparency for Google Analytics

Many website owners use Google Analytics and other web analytics tools to make business-critical decisions about how to improve their websites by understanding how users engage with their webpages. We've worked hard to make Google Analytics both a robust and reliable web analytics platform while also ensuring the trust and privacy of visitors of these websites. Today we're taking additional steps to provide even more choice and transparency for both website owners and users.

First, we're announcing the availability of the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The opt-out provides users with a choice of whether information about website visits is collected by Google Analytics. The add-on stops data from being sent from your computer when you visit websites that use Google Analytics Javascript (ga.js) to track usage. The beta version of the opt-out that we are releasing today is available for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, and can be downloaded here: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Additionally, we're also releasing new functionality for website owners to provide an additional level of privacy for visitors to their sites by offering an option to anonymize IP address information sent to Google. Google Analytics uses the IP address of website visitors to provide general geographic reporting. Website owners can now choose to have Google Analytics store and use only a portion of this IP address for geographic reports. Keep in mind, that using this functionality will somewhat reduce the accuracy of geographic data in your Analytics reports. You can learn how to implement this within your existing Google Analytics installation here: http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/gaJS/gaJSApi_gat.html

We're committed to Google Analytics as an industry-leading web analytics platform that also provides users with transparency and choice when it comes to privacy.

Posted by Amy Chang, Director of Product Management, Google Analytics
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/05/greater-choice-and-transparency-for.html

[G] A new Chrome stable release: Welcome, Mac and Linux!

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Google Chrome Blog: A new Chrome stable release: Welcome, Mac and Linux!

In our most recent beta release, we fired up all engines to bring to life our fastest version of Chrome to date.

Today, we're bringing all this beta goodness to the stable channel so that it's available to all Chrome users. We're particularly excited to bring Chrome for Mac and Linux out of beta, and introduce Chrome's first stable release for Mac and Linux users. You can read more about the Mac and Linux stable releases on the Google Mac and Chromium blogs respectively.

Today's stable release also comes with a host of new features. You'll be able to synchronize not only bookmarks across multiple computers, but also browser preferences -- including themes, homepage and startup settings, web content settings, preferred languages, and even page zoom settings. Meanwhile, for avid extensions users, you can enable each extension to work in incognito mode through the extensions manager.

Our stable release also incorporates HTML5 features such as Geolocation APIs, App Cache, web sockets, and file drag-and-drop. For a taste of HTML5's powerful features, try browsing through websites developed in HTML5 such as scribd.com, dragging and dropping attachments in Gmail, or by enabling the geolocation functionality in Google Maps. We've also given Chrome's bookmark manager a facelift with HTML5:



In recent weeks, we've been beta-testing Adobe Flash Player integration into Chrome. While Flash Player integration in the browser is not included by default in today's stable release, we're excited to enable this feature with the full release of Flash Player (version 10.1) soon.

If you're already using Chrome for Windows, Mac or Linux, you'll be auto-updated to this latest release soon. You can also try out these new features on our speedy browser now, by downloading Chrome from google.com/chrome.


Posted by Brian Rakowski, Product Manager
URL: http://chrome.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-chrome-stable-release-welcome-mac.html

[G] Evolving from beta to stable with a faster version of Chrome

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Evolving from beta to stable with a faster version of Chrome

After a bit of evolution and lots of work from the team, we're thrilled to introduce a new stable version of Chrome for Windows, Mac and Linux. Since last December, we've been chipping away at bugs and building in new features to get the Mac and Linux versions caught up with the Windows version, and now we can finally announce that the Mac and Linux versions are ready for prime time.


Google Chrome for Windows



Google Chrome for Mac

Google Chrome for Linux

The performance bar for all three versions keeps getting higher: today's new stable release for Windows, Mac and Linux is our fastest yet, incorporating one of our most significant speed improvements to date. We've improved by 213 percent and 305 percent in Javascript performance by the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks since our very first beta, back in Chrome's Cretaceous period (September 2008). To mark these speed improvements, we've also released a series of three unconventional speed tests for the browser:



(If you're interested in how we pitted Chrome against the forces of a potato gun, lightning, and the speed of sound, take a look behind-the-scenes in this video, or read the full technical details in the video's description drop-down in YouTube).

You may also notice that today's new stable release comes with a few new features, including the ability to synchronize browser preferences across computers, new HTML5 capabilities and a revamped bookmark manager. For more details, read on in the Google Chrome Blog.

If you haven't tried Google Chrome since the stone age, check out this brand new stable release. If you're already using Chrome, you'll be automatically updated to this new version soon. To try it right away, download the latest version at google.com/chrome.



(First dev, then beta, now stable! Many thanks to Christoph Niemann)

Posted by Brian Rakowski, Product Manager, Google Chrome
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/evolving-from-beta-to-stable-with.html

[G] Google Chrome for Mac: Ready, beta, now stable!

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Official Google Mac Blog: Google Chrome for Mac: Ready, beta, now stable!

In the past five months, we've counted lines of code, given thanks in Lego, and even waxed poetic -- but most importantly, we've been working hard on bringing Google Chrome for Mac from its initial beta to the stable channel.

Today, I'm happy to announce that Google Chrome for Mac is being promoted out of beta to our stable channel. We believe that it provides not only the stability, performance and polish that every Mac user expects, but also a seamless native Mac application experience that Mac users will feel instantly at home with.


(First dev, then beta, now stable! Many thanks to Christoph Niemann)

Just like its Windows and Linux siblings, the stable version of Chrome for Mac comes with all the goodness of one of our biggest speed improvements to date. We've worked to make Chrome for Mac fast, fully-featured and extensible - with access to more than 4,500 extensions in the gallery. Some of Chrome for Mac's most-requested features are now available, including full-screen mode (just hit Command + Shift + F!), easy and powerful bookmark management, as well as the ability to synchronize not only bookmarks, but also browser preferences across computers.

For those of you already on the beta channel, you'll be auto-updated to the stable channel soon - or, if you don't want to wait, you can download the stable version of Chrome for Mac today. If you later decide that you'd like to return to the beta channel to experience new, experimental features and improvements, you can always find the link back to the beta channel on google.com/chrome.

Posted by Mike Smith, Product Manager, Google Chrome Team
URL: http://googlemac.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-chrome-for-mac-ready-beta-now.html

[G] Google Apps Marketplace highlights – 5/25/2010

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Apps Marketplace highlights – 5/25/2010

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts on new apps in the Google Apps Marketplace – things that have caught our eye here at Google. We'll do this every few weeks or as we see things that we'd like to share. Look for the label "marketplace highlights" and subscribe to the series if you'd like to stay tuned.

Businesses that use Google Apps not only get access to Google's applications, they also get easy access to some of the best business apps on the web through the Google Apps Marketplace. These Marketplace apps are easy to try and buy, and integrate with Google Apps "out of the box," making it even easier for businesses to run more of their systems in the cloud.

You can learn more about the Marketplace and watch a short video on how it works here.

Bill.com - Simple bill management

Bill.com is used by thousands of businesses to automate bill management. Simply upload bills, route for approval, schedule and pay, and sync with your accounting system.
  • Eliminate paper filing and storage
  • Automate approval process
  • Pay anyone electronically
Syncplicity – Easy sync, backup, share and file management

Syncplicity's unique Google Apps synchronization means users now have the choice to create and edit their files in desktop apps and then open that same file in Google Docs seamlessly.
  • Sync your desktop directly with Google Docs
  • Continue to create and edit files on your desktop
  • Offline access, backup, and sync for Google Docs
TextFlow – Powerful track changes for Google Docs

TextFlowintegrates with Google Docs to offer a powerful alternative to Microsoft Word(tm) "track changes," document comparison, and review functions.
  • See what changes have been made by whom
  • Visualize the full revision history of a document
  • Decide which changes to accept or reject
Mavenlink – Project collaboration for consultants

Mavenlink manages project communications, documents, budgets, and payments between independent professionals and their clients.
  • Keep all team members and your clients in the loop
  • Get paid for your work with controls over budgeting and overages
  • Email digests keep everyone working together, with minimum noise
Gist Gadget – Rich profiles for your email contacts in Gmail

The Gist Gadget automatically pulls together information for anyone in the "From" or "CC" fields in Gmail and places a profile at the bottom of an opened email.
  • See contact information and updates
  • Request profiles to build a direct connection
  • Search across all your contacts
Posted by Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead, Google Enterprise
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-apps-marketplace-highlights_25.html

[G] Google’s U.S. economic impact

Posted: 25 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Google's U.S. economic impact

Posted by Claire Hughes Johnson, Vice President, Global Online Sales
(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

In 1978, people told Douglas Twiddy he was crazy when he started renting out vacation homes in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. More than 30 years later, his son Ross is using our AdWords advertising program to help attract prospective renters — and grow his small business, Twiddy. Thanks in part to AdWords, in just the past two years the company has added 100 new homes to its listings and hired 16 full-time employees and it brings on another 50 seasonal employees each year.

This week is National Small Business Week, and Ross will be with me on Capitol Hill in Washington today to share his story and help unveil something that means a tremendous amount to me: a new report detailing, for the first time ever, Google's economic impact in all 50 states.

People think of Google first and foremost as a search engine, but it's also an engine of economic growth. In our report, we're announcing that in 2009 we generated a total of $54 billion of economic activity for American businesses, website publishers and non-profits. Over the years people have asked us whether we could quantify our economic impact on a state level, and we're pleased to do that for the first time with this report, which you can download at google.com/economicimpact.

In a time of tighter budgets and a slow economic recovery, we're glad to support so many small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country by helping them find new customers more efficiently and monetize their websites through targeted advertising.

Here's a video from me and our Chief Economist, Hal Varian, with more background on where we get the numbers:



The report is filled with really wonderful stories about the direct economic impact that AdWords, AdSense, Google Grants and our search engine have across the country. These are the stories of entrepreneurs across the country growing their businesses with Google. And this morning Googlers are hosting events in 10 other cities across the country (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Oakland, Portland (OR), Raleigh and Seattle) to help share those stories. Ladies and gentlemen, start your economic engines!
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/05/googles-us-economic-impact.html

[G] Google’s U.S. economic impact

Posted: 25 May 2010 07:37 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Google's U.S. economic impact

(Cross-posted to the Google Public Policy Blog)

In 1978, people told Douglas Twiddy he was crazy when he started renting out vacation homes in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. More than 30 years later, his son Ross is using our AdWords advertising program to help attract prospective renters — and grow his small business, Twiddy. Thanks in part to AdWords, in just the past two years the company has added 100 new homes to its listings and hired 16 full-time employees, and it brings on another 50 seasonal employees each year.

This week is National Small Business Week, and Ross will be with me on Capitol Hill in Washington today to share his story and help unveil something that means a tremendous amount to me: a new report detailing, for the first time ever, Google's economic impact in all 50 states.

People think of Google first and foremost as a search engine, but it's also an engine of economic growth. In our report, we're announcing that in 2009 we generated a total of $54 billion of economic activity for American businesses, website publishers and non-profits. Over the years people have asked us whether we could quantify our economic impact on a state level, and we're pleased to do that for the first time with this report, which you can download at google.com/economicimpact.

In a time of tighter budgets and a slow economic recovery, we're glad to support so many small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country by helping them find new customers more efficiently and monetize their websites through targeted advertising.

Here's a video from me and our Chief Economist, Hal Varian, with more background on where we get the numbers:



The report is filled with really wonderful stories about the direct economic impact that AdWords, AdSense, Google Grants and our search engine have across the country. These are the stories of entrepreneurs across the country growing their businesses with Google. And this morning Googlers are hosting events in 10 other cities across the country (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Oakland, Portland (OR), Raleigh and Seattle) to help share those stories. Ladies and gentlemen, start your economic engines!

Posted by Claire Hughes Johnson, Vice President, Global Online Sales
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/googles-us-economic-impact.html
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