Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Introducing Weighted Sort

Posted: 25 Aug 2010 05:06 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Introducing Weighted Sort

Have you ever sorted a report by bounce rate and seen nothing but entries with a 100% bounce rate? Have you then noticed that these entries only have 1 visit? Not only is this useless and frustrating, but it obscures the real data points that you care about behind pages of garbage.

Well fret no more! We are pleased to announce a new sorting algorithm called weighted sort. Now when you sort on a computed metric, you can weight that sort by the number of data points, bringing you the most interesting and actionable rows first. For instance, in our example weighted sort will weight the computed value bounce rate by the number of visits. Let's take a look at some screen shots that will make this effect more obvious.

Here we are sorting by descending value on bounce rate. Notice how all these rows have 1 visit each for a bounce rate of 100%. Useless. Now lets turn on weighted sort.

Ah ha! Now this is something you can make sense of. Weighted sort took into consideration the number of visits for each row bringing to the forefront the items you care about. Keep in mind that because weighted sort is no longer a strict sort, there will be values that don't strictly follow the order you would assume.

Weighted sort is also available on other popular computed metrics, including goal conversion rate, % new visits etc. Try it out now on your own data! Take a look at the demo below to learn more or read the help article to get started.


Happy sorting!

Posted by Linus Chou, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/08/introducing-weighted-sort.html

[G] Our 6th Google Summer of Code Has Come to an End

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 08:58 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Our 6th Google Summer of Code Has Come to an End


We've just finished our 6th year of Google Summer of Code™, our innovative program designed to introduce students at colleges and universities around the world to open source software development. Over 2000 mentors and over 1000 students from 69 countries began working together on over 150 open source software projects, and we're happy to announce that 89% of our student participants have received passing final evaluations, which is about 4% better than 2009. This is our best success rate to date.

These successful students are now preparing code samples to present to the rest of the world; we'll post an update here when the source code produced during this year's Google Summer of Code has been made available on project hosting on Google Code. Of course, there's no need to wait for code samples - you can check out their work by visiting the websites and mailing lists of the participating projects now. We'll also be publishing more extensive statistics from our program evaluations, along with wrap up reports from some of our participating mentoring organizations, so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to all of our students for their hard work this summer. We hope you will continue working with your project communities with source code, documentation, and enthusiasm long after this summer has ended. Many thanks also to our community of mentors whose time, skill and dedication make this program possible.

By Carol Smith, Open Source Team
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/08/our-6th-google-summer-of-code-has-come.html

[G] Google Finance smartens up for your smartphone

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 08:28 PM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Google Finance smartens up for your smartphone

(Cross-posted from the Google Finance blog)

Here on the Google Finance team, we're always looking for new ways to help you access the finance data, charts, and reports that you need in the blink of an eye. But all the data in the world won't help if you can't access it when you need it most. Since many of us are on the run throughout the day and don't always have our computers in front of us, it came as no surprise that one of users' most frequently requested features was a fast, easy-to-use mobile website for Google Finance.

We heard your feedback and are please to announce we've launched the new Android/iPhone edition of Google Finance for mobile! The markets don't stop when you leave your desk, so we're bringing the markets to you. Our new design gives you a unified experience across desktop and Android or iPhone phones, offering nearly all the same features and functionality on both. You can easily access the new site when you do a Google search for stock tickers or company names on your mobile device, or when you tap the "Finance" tab on the Google mobile homepage.


Now no matter where you are, you can keep up with your portfolio, the latest market news, and the sectors you care about, with real time quotes and data -- all at a glance.

Prefer it in app form? Android users can also get the Google Finance app in Android Market.

As always, if you have feedback on this or other topics, please share it on our Google Finance survey or visit our Product Ideas site where you can share and vote on ideas.

For more tips and tricks on Google Finance, follow us on Twitter.

Posted by Brian Shih, Product Manager
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-finance-smartens-up-for-your.html

[G] Google Scholarship program kicks off in China

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 08:01 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Google Scholarship program kicks off in China

About a week ago, we hosted more than 130 Google Scholarship recipients in our Beijing office. These outstanding undergraduates and graduate students in computer science and software engineering from more than 20 universities across China were the recipients of the Google Excellence Scholarship and the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship—our first scholarships in China. The students participated in an awards ceremony and toured the Google office.

The Google Excellence Scholarship aims to award the outstanding undergraduates and master degree students from the computer science and software engineering disciplines. It has been set up at 20 top universities in China, with five awardees for each university—three undergraduates and two graduates.

The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship supports outstanding female students in computer science, including undergraduates, master's degree students and Ph.D. students, at five top universities. There are six awardees for each university (three undergrads and three graduate students), as well as three awardees from Taiwan.

Google has been collaborating with Chinese universities for a long time through a variety of programs—ranging from curriculum development, donations, to today's scholarship program—to support the education of talented students in China. And we'll extend into other university collaboration programs in the future.

Congratulations to all the Google Scholarship recipients! And if you read Chinese, check out our corresponding post on the Google China Blog.

Google Scholarship Universities for 2010:
Beihang University, Beijing Normal University, Fudan University*, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University, Nankai University, Peking University*, Renmin University of China, Shanghai Jiao Tong University*, Shandong University, South China University of Technology, Southeastern University, Sun Yat-sen University*, Tianjin University, Tongji University, Tsinghua University*, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, University of Science and Technology of China, Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Wuhan University

*Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship Program universities

Posted by Kathy Deng, Google University Relations
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-scholarship-program-kicks-off-in.html

[G] What do you think about human rights (and your rights) online?

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 08:01 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: What do you think about human rights (and your rights) online?

Government police shutting down farmer's protests in China. A tobacco company employing under-age workers in Kazakhstan. Iranian merchants striking to protest tax increases in Tehran. We've seen stories like these on our computers and phones every day, and YouTube has been documenting many of them on our breaking news feed on Citizentube over the past few months. Videos like these are more than just breaking news images; they're often political statements meant to bring about change.

Earlier this summer YouTube started a blog series with WITNESS, a human rights video advocacy and training organization, examining the role of online video in human rights. So far we've talked about why video matters to human rights and how you can protect yourself and the people you film when uploading to YouTube.

Now we want to raise some key topics about the future of human rights video online, and to hear your thoughts and ideas in a special Moderator series that we've set up. Read more about this project on the YouTube blog.

Posted by Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics, YouTube, and Sameer Padania for WITNESS
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-do-you-think-about-human-rights.html

[G] Street View Imagery Available in Building Maker

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 04:29 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Street View Imagery Available in Building Maker

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp blog]

If you've ever modeled a building in Google Building Maker, you may have found yourself wanting to use crisper, more detailed photos in addition to the aerial oblique imagery. Or, you may have had problems with poor textures caused by other buildings blocking the view of your building. In response to these issues we recently added the ability to add your own photos to Building Maker, but now you can also use imagery directly from Street View on Google Maps!

Start modeling your building using the aerial imagery. After you have constrained a block in at least two aerial images, you will be able to "Add Street View Images" from a drop down menu on the left-hand side. Capture a few images from Street View and continue modeling as normal. The following video illustrates an example of using this new feature:



We have also added 6 new cities to Building Maker (all, with the exception of Vienna, have Street View imagery!):

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Vienna, Austria
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Santa Cruz, CA, United States
Riverside, CA, United States

Try modeling with Street View imagery in Google Building Maker now!

Posted by Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Advocate
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/08/street-view-imagery-available-in.html

[G] Google Finance smartens up for your smartphone

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 02:46 PM PDT

Google Finance Blog: Google Finance smartens up for your smartphone

Posted by Brian Shih, Product Manager

Here on the Google Finance team, we're always looking for new ways to help you access the finance data, charts, and reports that you need in the blink of an eye. But all the data in the world won't help if you can't access it when you need it most. Since many of us are on the run throughout the day and don't always have our computers in front of us, it came as no surprise that one of users' most frequently requested features was a fast, easy-to-use mobile website for Google Finance.

We heard your feedback and are please to announce we've launched the new Android/iPhone edition of Google Finance for mobile! The markets don't stop when you leave your desk, so we're bringing the markets to you. Our new design gives you a unified experience across desktop and Android or iPhone phones, offering nearly all the same features and functionality on both. You can easily access the new site when you do a Google search for stock tickers or company names on your mobile device, or when you tap the "Finance" tab on the Google mobile homepage.

Now no matter where you are, you can keep up with your portfolio, the latest market news, and the sectors you care about, with real time quotes and data -- all at a glance.


Prefer it in app form? Android users can also get the Google Finance app in Android Market.

As always, if you have feedback on this or other topics, please share it on our Google Finance survey or visit our Product Ideas site where you can share and vote on ideas.

For more tips and tricks on Google Finance, follow us on Twitter.
URL: http://googlefinanceblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-finance-smartens-up-for-your.html

[G] It’s Fall TV time

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 02:24 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: It's Fall TV time

Summer is coming to a close here in the U.S., but that also means a renewed palette of television is around the corner. The Fall TV Preview is here to help guide you through the slate of new and returning shows from major broadcast and cable networks. Co-presented by our friends at EntertainmentWeekly, the program offers bite-sized previews of scripted shows, reality TV, comedies, dramas and more.



We'll also be featuring a playlist of Entertainment Weekly's latest interviews with the hottest TV stars, so you'll be well-equipped to speculate on this season's break-out hits and potential misses.

Fall TV Preview is live through September 13.

Mark Day, Comedy Manager, recently watched "Fall TV 2010 - 'Fringe' Part 1."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/urG55xyLw9k/its-fall-tv-time.html

[G] HTML5Rocks tag tutorial

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 06:54 AM PDT

The WebM Open Media Project Blog: HTML5Rocks tag tutorial

The HTML5Rocks team has published a tutorial on the HTML5 <video> tag. It includes clear explanations of the video formats supported by the various browsers and code snippets for supporting each in your pages. Check it out.
URL: http://webmproject.blogspot.com/2010/08/html5rocks-tag-tutorial.html

[G] What do you think about human rights (and your rights) online?

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 06:11 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: What do you think about human rights (and your rights) online?

Government police shutting down farmer's protests in China. A tobacco company employing under-age workers in Kazakhstan. Iranian merchants striking to protest tax increases in Tehran. We've seen stories like these on our computers and phones every day, and we've been documenting many of them on our breaking news feed on Citizentube over the past few months. Videos like these are more than just breaking news images; they're often political statements meant to bring about change.

Earlier this summer we started a blog series with WITNESS, a human rights video advocacy and training organization, examining the role of online video in human rights. So far we've talked about why video matters to human rights and how you can protect yourself and the people you film when uploading to YouTube. In this post, we want to raise some key topics about the future of human rights video online, and to hear your thoughts and ideas in a special Moderator series that we've set up on these questions:

How can uploaders balance privacy concerns with the need for wider exposure?

YouTube and other websites give citizens the opportunity to tell stories that would otherwise not get get heard. But what if wider exposure could be harmful to the people you've captured on video? At Google and YouTube, we talk a lot about the privacy of your personal data, but what about the privacy of your personal visual identity? There are some exciting technologies that can automatically identify human faces in digital media, but the implications of these technologies need to be considered carefully: if improperly implemented, they could make it even easier for governments and oppressive regimes to identify, track down and arrest activists or protesters (this has happened in Burma and Iran). While we've said before that people should consider blurring the faces in human rights videos and getting consent from those they film, inevitably judgment calls need to be made by uploaders who are trying to get footage out quickly to massive audiences to raise awareness. How do you think uploaders can find the right balance?

How can we stay alert to human rights footage without getting de-sensitized to it?

What image first opened your eyes to a human rights issue? In the past, in many countries, human rights images were largely filtered through the news media. But today, nearly everyone has seen a video or photo on the Internet that has made them aware of injustice. With access to these kinds of images getting easier, and more stories appearing from more places, the sheer quantity of this content risks either overwhelming viewers, or desensitizing us to its value. Researchers, educators and legislators are all thinking about how to build media literacy for the virtual age -- and human rights is a growing part of that discussion. How do you think people can stay alert to the power of these images without becoming immune to them?

Does human rights content online require some kind of special status?

As many of the examples in this blog series illustrate, human rights video is unique, and it requires special consideration by viewers, activists, legislators and online platforms. At YouTube, our terms of service carve out special exceptions for videos that have educational, scientific, or documentary value. But in many cases, human rights content is subjective and requires special interpretation -- and now that video can spread far and wide and can easily be reused and remixed beyond its original context (including by human rights abusers themselves), it's even more important to follow some common guidelines. Every online hosting platform on the web has its own policies for dealing with this content and slowly, a new set of ethics and guidelines is developing in this arena. What do you think those guidelines should look like? And do you think human rights video deserves some kind of special status across the web? Why or why not?

We'd like to hear your thoughts on these questions. Submit your responses or questions to our Moderator series on Citizentube, in video or in text, and we'll continue the conversation with thoughts on some of your top-voted submissions in a future post.

Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics, YouTube, and Sameer Padania for WITNESS


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/Xfm1PRuwtxo/what-do-you-think-about-human-rights.html
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