Sunday, October 10, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Imagery of the Hungarian sludge spill

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 09:06 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Imagery of the Hungarian sludge spill

Hot off the satellite, we've received brand new Ikonos imagery of the recent sludge spill in Hungary. See the below screen shots for before/after images; you can also view the the imagery in Google Earth using this KML overlay. Special thanks to GeoEye for making updated imagery available so quickly.

Image credit: DigitalGlobe (left) and GeoEye (right)


Image credit: DigitalGlobe (left) and GeoEye (right)


Image credit: DigitalGlobe (left) and GeoEye (right)


Posted by Matt Manolides, Senior Geo Data Strategist
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/10/imagery-of-hungarian-sludge-spill.html

[G] What we’re driving at

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 07:38 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: What we're driving at

Larry and Sergey founded Google because they wanted to help solve really big problems using technology. And one of the big problems we're working on today is car safety and efficiency. Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use.

So we have developed technology for cars that can drive themselves. Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard. They've driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles. We think this is a first in robotics research.

Our automated cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic, as well as detailed maps (which we collect using manually driven vehicles) to navigate the road ahead. This is all made possible by Google's data centers, which can process the enormous amounts of information gathered by our cars when mapping their terrain.

To develop this technology, we gathered some of the very best engineers from the DARPA Challenges, a series of autonomous vehicle races organized by the U.S. Government. Chris Urmson was the technical team leader of the CMU team that won the 2007 Urban Challenge. Mike Montemerlo was the software lead for the Stanford team that won the 2005 Grand Challenge. Also on the team is Anthony Levandowski, who built the world's first autonomous motorcycle that participated in a DARPA Grand Challenge, and who also built a modified Prius that delivered pizza without a person inside. The work of these and other engineers on the team is on display in the National Museum of American History.

Safety has been our first priority in this project. Our cars are never unmanned. We always have a trained safety driver behind the wheel who can take over as easily as one disengages cruise control. And we also have a trained software operator in the passenger seat to monitor the software. Any test begins by sending out a driver in a conventionally driven car to map the route and road conditions. By mapping features like lane markers and traffic signs, the software in the car becomes familiar with the environment and its characteristics in advance. And we've briefed local police on our work.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million lives are lost every year in road traffic accidents. We believe our technology has the potential to cut that number, perhaps by as much as half. We're also confident that self-driving cars will transform car sharing, significantly reducing car usage, as well as help create the new "highway trains of tomorrow." These highway trains should cut energy consumption while also increasing the number of people that can be transported on our major roads. In terms of time efficiency, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that people spend on average 52 minutes each working day commuting. Imagine being able to spend that time more productively.

We've always been optimistic about technology's ability to advance society, which is why we have pushed so hard to improve the capabilities of self-driving cars beyond where they are today. While this project is very much in the experimental stage, it provides a glimpse of what transportation might look like in the future thanks to advanced computer science. And that future is very exciting.

Posted by Sebastian Thrun, Distinguished Software Engineer
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-were-driving-at.html

[G] Join the birthday salute to John Lennon

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 11:27 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Join the birthday salute to John Lennon

(Cross-posted with the YouTube Blog)

Today we join Yoko Ono in asking fans around the world to upload video tributes to John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday.



If you have memories to share of this legendary member of the Beatles and his music, upload a video to www.youtube.com/johnlennon and you'll join a global chorus that includes Jeff Bridges, Jonas Brothers, Ringo Starr and the entire crowd at an Aerosmith concert.



As part of today's celebration, you may have noticed a special YouTube logo that's being featured in 25 different countries highlighting the artist's famous self-portrait. This unique artwork is also part of a birthday video that you can find at www.google.com. It's the very first time that a YouTube video has been embedded into a one-of-a-kind Google doodle—read a bit more about it in this post.

"Spread Peace. Imagine Peace." is how Yoko suggests you celebrate the day, along with sharing your video tribute with the world.

Posted by Michele Flannery, Music Manager, YouTube
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/join-birthday-salute-to-john-lennon.html

[G] Join the birthday salute to John Lennon

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 08:23 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Join the birthday salute to John Lennon

Today we join Yoko Ono in asking fans around the world to upload video tributes to John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday.


If you have memories to share of this legendary member of the Beatles and his music, upload a video to www.youtube.com/johnlennon and you'll join a global chorus that includes Aerosmith, Jeff Bridges, Jonas Brothers, Ringo Starr, and YouTube Community members like Goh Nakamura and DJ Mike Relm.


As part of today's celebration, you may have noticed a special YouTube logo that's being featured in 24 different countries highlighting the artist's famous self-portrait. This unique artwork is also part of a birthday video that you can find at www.google.com. It's the very first time that a YouTube video has been embedded into a one-of-a-kind Google Doodle — read a message from artist who created it here.

"Spread Peace. Imagine Peace." is how Yoko suggests you celebrate the day, along with sharing your video tribute with the world.

Michele Flannery, Music Manager, recently watched Plastic Ono Band - "Give Peace A Chance"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/BAGsACB62jA/join-birthday-salute-to-john-lennon.html
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