Thursday, September 2, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Towards Energy-Proportional Datacenters

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 09:59 PM PDT

Official Google Research Blog: Towards Energy-Proportional Datacenters

Posted by Dennis Abts, Michael R. Marty, Philip M. Wells, Peter Klausler, and Hong Liu

This is part of the series highlighting some notable publications by Googlers.

At Google, we operate large datacenters containing clusters of servers, networking switches, and more. While this gear costs a lot of money, an increasingly important cost -- both in terms of dollars and environmental impact -- is the electricity that drives the computing clusters and the cooling infrastructure. Since our clusters often do not run at full utilization, Google recently put forth a call to industry and researchers to develop energy proportional computer systems. With such systems, the power consumed by our clusters would be directly proportional to utilization. Servers consume the most electricity, and therefore researchers have responded to Google's call by focusing their attention towards servers. As the servers become increasingly energy proportional, however, the "always on" network fabric that connects servers together will consume an increasing fraction of datacenter power unless it too becomes energy proportional.

In a paper recently published at the International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA), we push further towards the goal of energy-proportional computing by focusing on the energy usage of high-bandwidth, highly-scalable cluster networking fabrics. This research considers a broad set of architectural and technological solutions to optimize energy usage without sacrificing performance. First, we show how the Flattened Butterfly network topology uses less power since it uses less switching chips and fewer links than a comparable-performance network built using the more conventional Fat Tree topology. Second, our approach takes advantage of the observation that when network demand is low, we can reduce the speed at which links transmit data. We show via simulation, that by tuning the speeds of the links very rapidly, we can reduce power consumption with little impact on performance. Finally, our research is a further call to action for the academic and industry research communities to make energy efficiency, and energy proportionality in particular, a first-class citizen in networking research. Put together, our proposed techniques can reduce energy cost for typical Google workloads seen in our production datacenters by millions of dollars!
URL: http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2010/09/towards-energy-proportional-datacenters.html

[G] Model the world with Google SketchUp 8

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 06:49 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Model the world with Google SketchUp 8

It's been 10 years since the first version of Google SketchUp was released, and there are more people modeling in SketchUp now that we ever could have imagined—over a million of you a week, in fact. That's a pretty humbling number of 3D model makers.

People around the world are modeling everything—from a new design for their kitchen to entire cities in Google Earth. For our small part in this global phenomenon, I'm proud to announce that SketchUp 8, the next major version of our 3D modeling tool, is available for download today. We've added significant new geo-modeling capabilities that leverage Google's vast collection of geo-spatial data to make it quicker, easier and more fun than ever to build models of the world around us.

Head on over to our website for the whole story, or just grab yourself a new build and get back to modeling.



Posted by Posted by John Bacus, Product Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/model-world-with-google-sketchup-8.html

[G] The Armchair Traveler

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 05:18 PM PDT

Inside Google Books: The Armchair Traveler

Posted by Cheryl Pon, Google Books Online Team

Now that it's early September and we're officially in the dog days of summer, what better way to spend this hot, sultry period than to take a refresher and travel to exotic lands afar? Even if you're working through the summer or are more of a staycationer, you can take a trip around the world by exploring different countries through Google Books!

Courtesy of books scanned via our library project, anyone can stroll through China, experience ninety days' worth of Europe or get to know South America. And if you're feeling a little fantastical, you can leave Kansas behind and head off with Dorothy to explore the land of Oz.

With the plethora of travel-related books available in full view on Google Books, you can explore the world and be visually enlightened with sights from afar from the comfort of your couch and a frosty glass of lemonade!

Check out the beautiful Flower Pagoda in Canton, China:


Swing by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence to admire the Birth of Venice in Italy and the Italians by Edward Hutton:


See London through Herbert Fry's eighteen bird's-eye views of the principal streets, or be a Wanderer in Paris experiencing the lovely cafés, museums and walks down rue de l'hôtel de ville:


And while you're there, why not visit the Arc De Triomphe De l'Etoile?


If you're more of a nature-lover, hitch up your wagon of books via My Library on Google Books and set off on the Oregon Trail and imagine wildflowers, horseback riding, and gorgeous sunsets on plains via first-hand experiences penned by Francis Parkman, or if you're feeling really adventurous, literally "book" yourself an around-the-world experience by traveling alongside Jules Verne for Five Weeks in a Balloon. For an intellectual dos of scientific observations, you can travel from Chile to Argentina and back again with Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle.

After you return from your incredible journeys, you can easily show other readers your virtual trip by sharing images you found interesting. Blog interesting images using our Share This Clip feature in Google Books, and share your bookshelf with family, friends, or the world!
URL: http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2010/09/armchair-traveler.html

[G] Identify new opportunities in your AdWords account with the Opportunities tab

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 03:58 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Identify new opportunities in your AdWords account with the Opportunities tab

We've just added a new course to the AdWords Online Classroom about the Opportunities tab in your AdWords account.

In case you're not familiar with the Opportunities tab, it's designed to help you discover ways to potentially improve your campaign's effectiveness by providing keywords, keyword bids, and budget ideas. These ideas are specifically catered for your account based on your campaign's past performance and may help increase your AdWords return on investment.

Our newly added course will help you learn to use the Opportunities tab to its full potential. You'll also hear stories from other advertisers who have used the Opportunities tab to extend their advertising reach and improve their account performance.

Click on the country flag most appropriate to you to watch this course now:


Posted by Jason Shafton, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/09/identify-new-opportunities-in-your.html

[G] Get more out of calling in Gmail

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 03:10 PM PDT

Google Voice Blog: Get more out of calling in Gmail

Last week, we launched Google Voice in Gmail to let you make calls right from your computer. The uptake has been amazing and 10,000,000 calls later, we wanted to offer some tips and tricks on how you, as a loyal Google Voice user, can unlock additional features when you setup Gmail to receive calls with your Google Voice number. If you haven't already hooked it up, go to Google Voice, click on settings and check the box next to Google Chat in your list of forwarding phones.

Now, you'll be able to make and receive calls to your Google Voice number right in Gmail. Plus, you'll have access to a bunch of handy features, like:

Call screening
Not sure who's calling you? Instead of hitting "Answer" or "Ignore" when you get a call in Gmail, click the "Screen" button. The caller will be sent to your voicemail and you can listen in while they leave you a message. If you decide you want to take the call, just click "Join" at any time to pick up.


Switching calls between Gmail and other phones
Let's say you picked up a call on your Gmail, but you need to head out the door. It's a pain to hang up and call the person back from your cell, especially for those important calls. Hit the asterisk (*) on the Gmail dial pad at any time during the call and your other Google Voice forwarding phones will ring. Just pick up the call from one of your other phones and continue the conversation without ever having to disconnect the call.

Recording calls
Is your conversation too good to forget? Press 4 on the dial pad at any time and the call and both parties will be notified that the call is being recorded. To stop the recording, press 4 again or hang up. Call recordings will be saved in your Google Voice inbox.

Click to dial with the Chrome Extension
Searching for your favorite restaurant or bar on Google Maps? Friend email you their phone number? The Google Voice extension for Google Chrome allows you to just click on any phone number on any website or in any email, and it will dial the number for you.


Posted by Michael Bolognino, Google Voice Product Marketing Manager
URL: http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/get-more-out-of-calling-in-gmail.html

[G] More easily find some of your favorite businesses right on the map

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 02:21 PM PDT

Google LatLong: More easily find some of your favorite businesses right on the map


Over the years, we've made many improvements to Google Maps to make it as useful and relevant as possible. From basics like road and street names, to labels for points of interest and landmarks, to panoramic images on Street View, we're working hard to make Google Maps as reflective of the real world as possible.

As part of this effort, we include "places" directly on the map by providing clickable icons that link to the Place page for those locations. When you're on Google Maps on your desktop or on your mobile phone, this makes it easy to explore the world around you and tap into information on the web that can help you make decisions. For example, you can use the map to answer questions like, "Is there a good place to eat near my business meeting?" or "What shops are on that street two blocks over?" In a pilot program in Australia earlier this year, we further expanded this idea of putting places directly on the map by allowing business owners to brand their locations with their own icons - helping users find familiar brands and helping businesses promote themselves. Interest in this feature has been growing, and today we're excited to announce the beta of sponsored map icons in the United States.

Now, when you zoom in to areas of interest on Google Maps, you'll more easily be able to spot the locations of companies and brands that are already familiar to you. That's because we're working with business owners to enable them to replace the standard icons that appear on the map at their business locations with their well-known company logos. These logos appear directly on the map when you zoom in to see a close-up view of an area. Just like the existing default business icons that appear in grey, these colored logos are clickable and open the Place page for that business. Both large and small businesses can claim their Place pages and enhance them with information including hours of operation, product inventory, photos and videos.


By helping users identify popular businesses, we're making it easier to browse the map and navigate the real world. That might mean fortunately stumbling upon a nearby ATM when you're looking up the address of the new restaurant where you're dining tonight, or exploring the neighborhood you just moved into by figuring out where the grocery store is relative to your new apartment.

In the coming weeks, we'll also make these sponsored map icons visible on mobile phones, because more often than not, you want to know what's around you when you're on the go. So if you're rushing to meet friends who are impatiently waiting for you "across from the fast food joint," you can quickly zoom in on the map to see exactly where that is. Or if you're on the airport shuttle and just remembered you forgot to pack toothpaste, you can keep on time for your flight by checking out Google Maps and discovering that there's a retail store just a block away from the hotel where you'll be staying.


In addition to helping you find locations for some of your favorite businesses, these recognizable logos also help business owners promote the storefronts of their well-visited locations. Advertisers pay to have their company logos appear on the map, and to help you remember their locations the next time you're in the area. Sponsored map icons are being offered as a limited beta to companies in the U.S. with multiple locations and a well-known brand. Participation in this beta does not affect visibility on the map; the new feature is only available to businesses that already appear on the map, and whose default icons can be swapped out for their logo.

Businesses across a variety of industries, from banking to retailers to self-storage, are participating. We hope you enjoy the ease of finding familiar businesses while browsing new, potentially unfamiliar neighborhoods on Google Maps.

Posted by Matthew Leske, Product Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-easily-find-some-of-your-favorite.html

[G] Model the world with Google SketchUp 8

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 02:21 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Model the world with Google SketchUp 8

In the four years that the SketchUp team has been working at Google, we've seen an unprecedented collection of user-generated 3D building models spring up all around the world. It is exciting and gratifying to see what you've all been able to do with SketchUp, and we're always looking for ways to make your work more effective.

For all of you who are in on the 3D modeling action, I'm proud to announce the release of Google SketchUp 8 today. We've added loads of new features specifically designed to make it easier for you to build Google Earth-ready models of the places that matter to you.

New features in SketchUp 8 include:
  • Major new features for modeling in geospatial context and for creating new 3D building models for Google Earth.
    • Model directly from Google's massive collection of earth imagery, including aerial, oblique and Street View photography in addition to detailed geometric terrain and user generated 3D building models.
    • Import and improve models created with Google Building Maker
    • Participate in a community of geo-modelers collaborating on the shared construction of a detailed 3D model of the world.
  • new "Solid" tools in SketchUp Pro for common additive/subtractive modeling operations
    • "Outer Shell" to quickly simplify complex models imported from Building Maker
    • "Union, Subtract, Trim, Intersect and Split" to create complex additive and subtractive form from simple components.
  • additional features in LayOut for documenting models professionally
    • Custom line styles
    • a simple set of dimensioning and annotation tools
    • native document export to DWG/DXF 2010 format




SketchUp 8 is available today in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German with more languages to be release in the weeks to come. SketchUp Pro costs $495, upgrades from any earlier version are available for $95. And, of course, there is still a powerful version of SketchUp available for free.


Posted by John Bacus, Product Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/09/model-world-with-google-sketchup-8.html

[G] Back-to-Basics: How much mobile traffic do you get?

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 10:39 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Back-to-Basics: How much mobile traffic do you get?

More and more people are surfing the Internet from their phones these days. Take a look at the following graph. It shows the number of monthly visits to googlestore.com from Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry devices over the past 2 years. There were 277 visits in Sep, 2008. But in July of 2010, there were over 13,000 visits!










Given this kind of growth, it makes sense for many businesses to set up a mobile device-friendly site. If you've been considering whether to create a mobile site, you may want to check out the Mobile Devices report in the Visitors section. You can see how many visits you received from each mobile operating system, how many pages they visit on average, how much time they spend on your site, as well as see conversion and ecommerce information.































In next week's Back to Basics, I'll show you how to create your own trend graph like the one in this article, so you can really dig into the numbers for your own site.


Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/09/back-to-basics-how-much-mobile-traffic.html
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