Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Mapping out our new building with art

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 10:28 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Mapping out our new building with art


The Geo team recently moved into a new building here at the Googleplex in Mountain View, and we wanted to give the building a real geographic feel. We placed a couple of life-size Google Maps pins outside of the building to connect our physical presence with the online map, and named the conference rooms after famous explorers. But despite Pegman's constant presence in the building, we still felt something was missing.


That's when we discovered artist Christoph Niemann's creative take on online mapping. We thought his humorous depictions were the perfect thing to give our new office a fun, distinctly geo feel. We got in touch with Christoph, and luckily, he thought it was a great idea too! We knew that the building design team had been planning to put more generic art on the walls, so we basically charged into their planning meeting and yelled "Wait!" Once we showed them Christoph's art, they were equally excited about the quirky, funny designs, and they incorporated his art all around the building. You can find his maps in obvious places such as a print on a lounge wall, but also in unexpected places like on glass walls!

My personal favorite is "omelet," which covers an entire lounge wall on the first floor and even wraps around the corner. I love the way the road tangles and knots in the center, then runs along the wall and turns the corner, escaping the lounge.


We were lucky to have Christoph visit our new office to speak with the team about his design vision and process, as well as his love of maps. His talk drew a large crowd of eager fans who'd been enjoying his work in our building for the past month. He had us rolling on the floor with his witty metaphor-bending designs and acerbic comments about life as a designer. We also appreciated learning more about his creative and iterative approach to mixing maps with humor. We were very flattered that he ended up using Google Maps to inspire this collection of artistry, and thought our maps were a canonical reference that any audience would immediately "get."

Special thanks to Tai Kuncio for her work with the building planners
and Peter Brueckner for these photos.

So thanks, Christoph, for turning our look on its head, tail, up the stairs and around the corner - and for helping our office feel appropriately fun, silly and, well, Googley.

Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Administrative Assistant
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/07/mapping-out-our-new-building-with-art.html

[G] A zoom tool and more in drawings

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 08:34 PM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: A zoom tool and more in drawings

In a visual application like Google drawings, we know the details count, which is why we're excited to announce another batch of features and shortcuts that will help you refine your drawings. Create a drawing to check them out.

Zoom improvements
We've added several new and simple ways to zoom in and out within a drawing: a zoom tool on the toolbar; the ability to draw a rectangle around an area to zoom; zoom levels to the View menu; and keyboard shortcuts to zoom in (Ctrl Shift → or Cmd Shift → on a Mac) and zoom out (Ctrl Shift ← or Cmd Shift ← on a Mac).


Pie and arc drawing improvements
Once you've selected the pie or arc shape, drag from the center point, then release to set the radius, move your mouse along the circumference to set the angle, then click when you're done. Hint - you can hold shift during step 2 to constrain your arc to 15 degree increments.

You can also select Edit > Change Shape to toggle between a pie shape and arc shape.


Duplicate while rotating and resizing
You may already know that if you hold Control (or Command on a Mac) you can make a copy of an object as you drag it. Well, we have extended the Control/Command modifier to duplicate objects while you resize and rotate objects too, which makes it easy to make both concentric and radial diagrams.

Hint: duplicating while resizing works better if you resize from large to small, since each new object gets placed on top.


New line decoration controls
Now you can change the style of the cap used at the end of your lines from the default butt cap to use square caps or round caps (see below).


You can also change the appearance of line joins within your polylines and shapes from the default round join to use miter joins or bevel joins. These options are available via Format > Line decorations.


Let us know what you think in the forums.

Posted by: Chris Nokleberg, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/07/zoom-tool-and-more-in-drawings.html

[G] Video chatting with Grandma

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 08:16 PM PDT

Google Talkabout: Video chatting with Grandma

(Cross-posted from the Gmail Blog)

Two weeks ago we asked you to submit photos of you video chatting with your grandma. Thank you for all your submissions! As promised, we'd like to highlight a few photos that particularly touched us.

Emmanuel from Israel submitted this photo and wrote "My grandmother lives in Nice, France and could not come to our wedding in Israel, this is as close as we got to having her with us."


Charlie from New York City sent in these great photos of his daughter Maayan's first video chat with her grandparents in Portland.



And Niranjan from Bangalore submitted this photo of him video chatting with his grandmother in Mumbai while away at college.


Thanks again for your submissions-- and happy video chatting!

Posted by Cody Bratt, Google Chat team
URL: http://googletalk.blogspot.com/2010/07/video-chatting-with-grandma.html

[G] Google Search Appliance now supports OpenSearch, enabling searching directly from browsers or Windows 7 clients

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 07:38 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Search Appliance now supports OpenSearch, enabling searching directly from browsers or Windows 7 clients

People should have the power to conduct searches from everywhere. This is why we provide users with numerous options beyond Google.com, such as typing in a search query directly in the address bar in Google Chrome, or through Google Toolbar, or Google Desktop.

However, when it comes to searching information on their corporate intranet, most users' choices are limited. Corporate users typically have to go to a special URL or open up a special portal application to search their intranet. To alleviate this limitation, we have integrated the Google Search Appliance with the OpenSearch protocol. OpenSearch is a collection of simple formats for the sharing of search results. So for instance, integrating with OpenSearch enables accessing the Google Search Appliance directly from the browser:

Or, as shown below, you can search directly from Windows Explorer within Windows 7:

Ultimately, we are trying to provide as many options as possible to the end user. And by supporting OpenSearch, these options will increase as more platforms connect with OpenSearch.

You can immediately download this feature on Enterprise Labs, or learn more about it in our technical documentation.

Posted by Alexander Kerschhofer, Google Search Appliance team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/google-search-appliance-now-supports.html

[G] Global collaboration for artists, courtesy of Google Apps

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 07:38 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Global collaboration for artists, courtesy of Google Apps

Editor's Note: Continuing our "Going Google Everywhere" series, we're pleased to welcome guest blogger Itamar Kubovy, Executive Director of Pilobolus, an innovative modern dance company that has gone Google. Itamar has been producing, writing and directing theater, dance and film since 1985 in Europe and the US. He joined Pilobolus at the beginning of 2004 as the company's first Executive Director. Last week, Pilobolus opened its 23rd summer season at the Joyce Theater in New York City, premiering new works and showcasing beloved classics. Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our community map.


Pilobolus is a small company with 50 people strewn all over the world at any one time. We perform 200 shows in 30 or 40 different countries each year and have two different dance companies, so each week we have people moving around the world for performances and educational activities. There are a lot of logistics and moving parts that keepPilobolus going.

We moved to Google Apps Premier Edition because we needed enterprise-level collaboration tools, without the high cost and maintenance. Most of us have iPhones and we keep track of 20 to 30 Google Calendars at a time. We also use Google Docs to manage our travel arrangements. Before moving to Google Apps, we would print out piles of travel itineraries that constantly kept changing. We estimate we are saving about 12,000 pieces of paper a year with Google Docs, if you consider that each dancer had about 10 pages of printed travel instructions for each venue!

So much of the information we need to share is visual – rehearsals, performances, and such. It used to be difficult to share visual information when performances were kept on videotape. There was typically just one tape floating around, and if we wanted to share it with a choreographer or other dancers somewhere else, itwasn't easy. Now, we upload all of our performances onto Google Video for business , part of the Google Apps Premier Edition suite. We have found that there is a lot more discussion happening, and we've been able to collaborate in real-time with choreographers and artists all around the world.

In one instance, we worked with a couple in Tel Aviv who was helping us choreograph a new dance. The woman of the couple was due to have a baby any second and couldn't travel. From a studio in Florida, we were able to collaborate together with the team in Tel Aviv using video streams of the rehearsal over Google Video. The power of Google Video for business for global collaboration is dramatically changing the way we work together and collaborate. It's so important in terms of communicating what went right or wrong, pinpointing a weak link in the performance, communicating changes to the choreography, or in asking questions of choreographers located in different places around the world.

Video is a great collaboration tool when it comes to rich media – it's the way we bring together a team that is spread all over the world.Google's tools have definitely made it easier to put our best foot forward!

Posted by Serena Satyasai, Google Apps Marketing
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/global-collaboration-for-artists.html

[G] Announcing New Google Buzz API features

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 06:40 PM PDT

Social Web Blog: Announcing New Google Buzz API features

Today we announced several new Google Buzz API features including our top developer request, the Google Buzz firehose. You can read more about it and the other new features here.
URL: http://googlesocialweb.blogspot.com/2010/07/announcing-new-google-buzz-api-features.html

[G] AdSense: Behind the Scenes - Meet Alton

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 03:08 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: AdSense: Behind the Scenes - Meet Alton

In the next part of our video series, Alton, our Optimization specialist, shares with us his experience working with publishers, his favorite meal at Google, and some recommendations on summer reading.

For more videos, please visit our YouTube channel.



Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense Team
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/07/adsense-behind-scenes-meet-alton.html

[G] Video chatting with Grandma

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 02:37 PM PDT

Official Gmail Blog: Video chatting with Grandma

Posted by Cody Bratt, Google Chat team

Two weeks ago we asked you to submit photos of you video chatting with your grandma. Thank you for all your submissions! As promised, we'd like to highlight a few photos that particularly touched us.

Emmanuel from Israel submitted this photo and wrote "My grandmother lives in Nice, France and could not come to our wedding in Israel, this is as close as we got to having her with us."


Charlie from New York City sent in these great photos of his daughter Maayan's first video chat with her grandparents in Portland.



And Niranjan from Bangalore submitted this photo of him video chatting with his grandmother in Mumbai while away at college.


Thanks again for your submissions and happy video chatting!
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/video-chatting-with-grandma.html

[G] YouTube answers your questions about “YouTube Worldwide”; next topic is advertising

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 12:27 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: YouTube answers your questions about "YouTube Worldwide"; next topic is advertising

"YouTube Answers" is a series we began in April to introduce you to a variety of people who work here and give you the chance to ask us questions about a broad topic relevant to the site. Camille Hearst and Shenaz Zack bravely went first, to answer your questions about partnerships. Next, we recruited Brian Truong, Product Manager; Shalabh Chaturvedi, Software Engineer, and Victoria Grand, Head of Policy, to tackle your queries about our international sites and policies:















Big thanks to everyone who asked a question! We saw a three-fold increase in questions and votes this round.





Next up: head over to the YouTube channel where we're using Moderator to collect questions on the topic of "Advertising on YouTube." This is a good opportunity to ask about how advertising on YouTube works, what the different ad formats are, what advertisers are looking for, and ways you might be able to connect with them. We'll be taking questions until Monday, July 26, and then we'll be back as soon as possible afterward with two new staffers in the hot seat.




Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Community, recently watched "Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10."



URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/e2jBxkxVVo0/youtube-answers-your-questions-about.html

[G] Case Studies & Learnings for Consumer Packaged Goods Webinar, Summer 2010 Webinar

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 11:46 AM PDT

Official Google CPG Blog: Case Studies & Learnings for Consumer Packaged Goods Webinar, Summer 2010 Webinar







Please join us on Thursday, July 22, 2010 for the next ThinkCPG with Google webinar - Case Studies & Learnings for Consumer Packaged Goods, Summer 2010 series.

During this webinar we will learn from three separate case studies as measured through third-party research:
  • Search Match Market Consortium Study - Food: What is the offline impact of search advertising when brands take advantage of their search opportunities? What is the impact when they are dark? What is the impact to private label sales? Presented by: Debra Eskra, Director of Testing & Media Solutions, SymphonyIRI Group
  • Quaker Instant Oatmeal Display Case Study: What kind of impact did the Awaken Your Senses campaign, which was promoted on YouTube and the Google Display Network, have on Quaker Oatmeal and Private Label sales? Presented by: Sarah Bild, Marketing Manager, PepsiCo-Quaker Oats
  • CPG Gfk Benchmark Study from Germany: How do we evaluate Search and YouTube across all media? How does Search and YouTube ROI stack up against traditional media? Presented by: Jens Monsees, Head of Industry for CPG Germany, Google, Inc.
Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 10amPST / 12pmCST / 1pmEST
Click here to register
URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2010/07/case-studies-learnings-for-consumer.html
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