Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Now available with Google Apps: AdWords

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 03:53 AM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Now available with Google Apps: AdWords



Editor's note: We recently launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what's new and how your organization can benefit.



Welcome to Google AdWords
Every business wants to connect with its customers and this is often one of the goals that a business spends the most time on. Now, your business can more easily use the power of Google AdWords to connect with your customers using your Google Apps account.

AdWords gives you the ability to reach more than 80% of Internet users* as they are actively searching for information about products and services on Google and Google's advertising network. AdWords enables you to connect with your potential customers at the right time with the right message, by letting you select Google search keywords related to your product or services so that users searching for these keywords can see your advertisements.

Setting up an account takes only minutes and controlling costs is easy - you only pay when people click on your ad and land on your site, and you can set a daily budget to limit your total spend. AdWords also offers great flexibility, allowing you to change your budget on the fly. Plus, if your business serves certain geographies, you have the ability to target your ads only to people searching in a particular state, city, or region.



Now that AdWords works with Google Apps, collaborating with other people in your organization to manage campaigns in AdWords is simple as well. You can invite colleagues to access your AdWords account with their existing Google Apps accounts and grant them differing levels of access depending on how much or little control you'd like them to have. Whether your business has one person that handles all of the online marketing or a team that works collaboratively, AdWords can accommodate your needs.



Also, in addition to collaborating in AdWords itself, tight integration with Google Apps lets you export your reports to Google Docs in a single click. This lets you share your campaign data with colleagues and collaborate in real-time in the same way that you already collaborate on other documents and spreadsheets using Google Docs with your Apps account.



Be sure to check out some success stories from businesses of all sizes, including First Crush Restaurant, which was able to increase traffic to its website by 400%, or Happy Hound dog daycare and boarding facility, which gets over 90% of its business through AdWords.

Learn more and get started
Google AdWords can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com] (replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). If your organization isn't using Google Apps yet, you can learn more and sign up today at http://www.google.com/apps/more.

For more information about AdWords you can visit our information page or you can find the latest news and tips at the AdWords Blog.

Share your story
Have you already started using Google AdWords at your organization, or plan to now that it's available? Please share your story and your organization could be featured in the next Gone Google ad campaign!


Posted by Kit Broussard, AdWords Team

Note: Google AdWords may not be available in all areas.
*Source: comScore Media Metrix (US, May 2009)
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/now-available-with-google-apps-adwords.html

[G] Z Gallerie goes Google and moves its 55 retail stores to Google Apps

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 03:53 AM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Z Gallerie goes Google and moves its 55 retail stores to Google Apps

Editor's note: Today our guest blogger is Howard Kolodny, CIO of Z Gallerie. To learn more about other companies "going Google" check out our community map or test drive life in the cloud with the Go Google Cloud Calculator.

Z Gallerie is a Southern California-based home furnishing and accessories retailer with 55 stores in 19 states. We were started in 1979 by 3 siblings as a poster shop and have grown into a national furnishings store with over 1,000 employees.

We started looking at Google Apps to solve a key problem. In our stores, the only computers we have are also cash registers, so data security is definitely a concern. We didn't want any confidential information stored on store computers. Moving to a 100% web option with Google Apps instantly improved data security at our retail stores. Now we don't have to install software on hundreds of computers all over the country, and there is no need to worry about data being accessed on those computers, because it's all safely stored and protected in the cloud. Plus we're able to offer a greatly improved email service for our employees.

In addition to added security, we've also seen improved productivity since moving to Apps. Before we switched to Google Apps, we had an antiquated email system that made it hard to find emails, and word processing software that hindered collaboration and forced us to do a lot of manual work. Because of the lack of functionality of our previous tools, we often resorted to using paper request forms and faxing information back and forth between corporate offices and retail stores.

Supply ordering has completely changed after moving to Google Apps. Each store used to print out a form, fill in what they need for the store, and then fax it in, only to have someone in the office manually add it all up. Now we have a spreadsheet with all available supplies and each store enters what it needs. We use a similar process for our modified holiday hours. Previously each store would send in their updated hours and someone at headquarters would enter them all into a spreadsheet and send it out to everyone. Shared spreadsheets have saved us hours of tedious manual work, not to mention a lot of paper.

Employees have enthusiastically embraced the new technology and their extra time is put to good use. Many already used Gmail outside of the office so the transition was easy. Google Apps partner, SADA Systems, helped with training and deployment to get employees up to speed. Since deployment, we've been pleasantly surprised by how much positive feedback we've received from employees. They've been particularly appreciative of the speed of search in Gmail. Knowing that they can always easily find something in their inboxes has made it easier to follow up on consumers' questions about promotions that ran months before, or emails from headquarters. Everything is right at their fingertips.

Google Apps provides a more secure way to store and access data, an easier and cheaper way to maintain our information systems and has increased employee productivity tremendously. This change has also improved morale by giving our employees faster and easier ways to do their work and allowing them to work together. With the holidays approaching, it's comforting to know that we're ready to handle anything that comes our way because we have the right tools in Google Apps.

Posted by Howard Kolodny, CIO, Z Gallerie
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/z-gallerie-goes-google-and-moves-its-55.html

[G] Optional attendees in Google Calendar

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 03:53 AM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Optional attendees in Google Calendar

Time is one of our most precious resources. Despite their necessity, meetings tend to vary in importance for different attendees. John might be really interested in his team's weekly meeting, whereas Jane, who is working on a unrelated project, may want to skip it.

Guests' roles in meetings tend to vary as well. Some people have to be there to lead the meeting or help make decisions, whereas others are gathering information they may be able to digest just as well via the notes. Without knowing which attendees are crucial and which are optional, it can be difficult to know which meetings you really need to attend.

That's where Google Calendar's new "Optional attendees" feature comes in. With a couple clicks, you can openly communicate the importance of a meeting for each attendee. Click on the "Make some attendees optional link" above the guest list and then toggle the role of each attendee by clicking the icon next to his or her name. So far, this feature has helped us more effectively manage our own time on the Calendar team — we hope it does the same for you.


Posted by Karol Stosiek, Software Engineering Intern
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/optional-attendees-in-google-calendar.html

[G] Extra Credit: What more can you do with Apps for Education?

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 03:53 AM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Extra Credit: What more can you do with Apps for Education?

Is your school already using Google Apps for Education? Want to move beyond the basics, and learn how to customize, integrate, and extend Google Apps on your campus?

This December, we're kicking off a series of free "Extra Credit" webinars covering advanced topics for IT leaders in education, such as integrating Google Apps with LMSes (learning management systems), SISes (Student Information Systems), and other common learning programs, like student e-portfolios.

We're excited to have experts from Northwestern University, Truman State University, Clemson University, SunGard Higher Education, and Appirio, Inc. sharing their experience and learnings in this first set of webinars, running December 6 - 9, at 11AM PST daily. Topics will include:
  • What EDU can learn from Enterprise deployments
  • Google Apps as an Eportfolio solution
  • Integrating Google Apps and Blackboard™ with Bboogle
  • Integrating Google Apps with SunGard Higher Education ® products

Learn more, and reserve your spot at google.com/apps/extracredit. Registration is free.

Posted by Jason Cook, Google Apps for Education team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/extra-credit-what-more-can-you-do-with.html

[G] Life after Google Summer of Code

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 03:26 AM PST

Google Open Source Blog: Life after Google Summer of Code

My name is Oscar Castañeda, I am a student from Guatemala currently doing a master's in Computer Science at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in The Netherlands. For the 2010 Google Summer of Code I completed a project with the Google Open Source Programs Office as my mentoring organization and professor Michel van Eeten (TUDelft) and Nitin Bhide (Founder SVNPlot) as my project mentors.

In my research I study behavior in code production for all open source projects in the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) from 2004 to 2009, and this research was the subject of my Google Summer of Code project. I contributed to SVNPlot, a tool that creates various type of graphs and statistics from Subversion logs. My contributions enable SVNPlot users and developers to generate networks of file co-authorship that can be used to study behavior in code production, like the graph below which shows code production in the Apache Hadoop community and sub-communities in 2009.

After having finished my project in August, one remaining goal I had was to give a talk about my project, so presenting at ApacheCon NA this year was a good opportunity to accomplish that task.

I was able to travel to Atlanta and attend ApacheCon thanks to sponsorship from the ASF's Travel Assistance Committee (TAC). The experience has been outstanding and packed with lots of fun. Other students and open source enthusiasts from all over the world were also sponsored by the ASF. We assembled into what became known as the "TAC Team." As part of the TAC Team, we were in charge of chairing conference sessions, hosting Meetups and helping out behind the scenes. Best of all, we could attend the full conference and all the fun events that followed.

For me the experience was particularly interesting because I met many of the committers that power the ASF. Having done research on how ASF developers organize into communities, attending ApacheCon allowed me to put faces to usernames several times.

My challenge at ApacheCon was to give a talk to the very people whose code production behavior I had studied. The approach I took was to practice, practice, practice.

BarCamp offered an initial ice breaker in the preparations for my talk. The unconference style of BarCamp made it easy to propose a topic to talk about for 30 minutes. I simply posted a sticky note on the white board with the title "What is Meritocracy?" As soon as my slot started I noticed that BarCamp would be an interesting experience. Rather than just a presentation, the BarCamp talk I had proposed turned into an active exchange of ideas where I received many challenging questions.

Chairing conference sessions also helped me prepare for my talk. As session chair I was introducing speakers and assisting them with time management. In addition, I was sitting in on sessions, and seeing the speakers present helped me get into the flow of speaking at a conference. I found extraordinary examples in talks on Hadoop, Tuscany, and Mahout. And finally, the day came for me to present.

I was scheduled for the first morning session in the community track. It was a pleasant surprise to see that over 30 attendees showed up for my talk. All of them were well-prepared with mugs full of coffee, ready to listen to my morning talk. And in the end I found that practice does pay off. I wasn't nervous and felt confident giving my presentation, a feeling that was reinforced when I saw that the audience was actually awake! However, deeper into the session I lost track of time. Luckily a fellow TAC team flashed the 20 minutes card, showing me that I could finish all my slides and still leave time for questions. The slides and a recording of my talk are available for those who want to know more.

Overall the experience has been very gratifying. I met lots of interesting people and learned more about open source and new developments there from the developers themselves. I highly recommend future Google Summer of Code students to consider including presenting their project at a conference as one of their project goals.

By Oscar Castañeda, 2010 Google Summer of Code Student
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/11/life-after-google-summer-of-code.html

[G] Introducing Google Earth 6—the next generation of realism

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 09:17 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Introducing Google Earth 6—the next generation of realism

(Cross-posted on the Google LatLong Blog)

Today we're introducing the latest version of Google Earth, our interactive digital atlas. Now you can explore your childhood home, visit distant lands or scope out your next vacation spot with even more realistic tools.

In Google Earth 6, we're taking realism in the virtual globe to the next level with two new features: a truly integrated Street View experience and 3D trees. We've also made it even easier to browse historical imagery. Over the next several days on our LatLong blog, we'll be digging deeper into these great new features, but here's an overview to whet your appetite.



Integrated Street View
When Google Earth was first introduced, people were wowed by the ability to virtually fly from outer space right down to the roof of their house. While flying over rooftops gives you a super-human view of our world, the ground level is where we experience our daily lives. We took our first baby steps toward bringing the Google Earth experience to street level with our implementation of Street View in Google Earth in 2008, which enabled flying into Street View panoramas. In Google Earth 6, the Street View experience is now fully integrated, so you can journey from outer space right to your doorstep in one seamless flight.

Now, you'll notice that Pegman is docked right alongside the navigation controls—an ever-present travel companion ready whenever you want to get your feet on the street and take a virtual walk around. Just pick up Pegman and drop him wherever you see a highlighted blue road to fly right down to the ground. Once there, you can use the navigation controls or your mouse to look around. And unlike our earlier Street View layer, you can now move seamlessly from one location to another as if you're walking down the street by using the scroll-wheel on your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard. If you want to visit somewhere farther away, simply click the "exit" button and you'll immediately return to an aerial view where you can easily fly to your next destination.

Drag and drop Pegman to enter Street View. The blue lines indicate where Street View imagery is available.

3D trees
I think we can all agree that our planet without trees would be a pretty desolate place. Besides the ever-important task of providing us with the oxygen we breathe, trees are an integral part of the landscape around us. In Google Earth, while we and our users have been busy populating the globe with many thousands of 3D building models, trees have been rather hard to come by. All that is changing with Google Earth 6, which includes beautifully detailed, 3D models for dozens of species of trees, from the Japanese Maple to the East African Cordia to my personal favorite, the cacao tree. While we've just gotten started planting trees in Google Earth, we already have more than 80 million trees in places such as Athens, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Tokyo. Through our Google Earth Outreach program, we've also been working with organizations including the Green Belt Movement in Africa, the Amazon Conservation Team in Brazil and CONABIO in Mexico to model our planet's threatened forests.

To enjoy these leafy additions to Google Earth, make sure you turn on the 3D buildings layer on the left side panel. As a starting point, try a search for "Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco." Once you arrive at your destination, click the zoom slider. You'll then be taken down to the ground where you can use our new ground-level navigation to walk among the trees.

3D trees in San Francisco, California

Easy-to-use historical imagery
One of the features people told us they liked best in Google Earth 5 was the availability of historical imagery, which enables you to visually go back in time to see such things as Warsaw in 1935, London in 1945, and Port-au-Prince Haiti before and after the devastating earthquake of January 2010. But it wasn't always obvious when historical imagery was available for a particular place, making this feature one of Google Earth's lesser-known gems.

So with this new version, we've made it very easy to discover historical imagery. When you fly to an area where historical imagery is available, the date of the oldest imagery will appear in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. If you click on this date, you'll instantly be taken back in time to view imagery from that time period. You can then browse through all the historical imagery available for that location, or simply close the time control and return to the default view.

The site of Google's Mountain View campus in 1948

To download Google Earth 6, or to see videos of our newest features, visit http://earth.google.com.

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-google-earth-6the-next.html

[G] 3D Trees in Google Earth 6

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 04:39 PM PST

Google LatLong: 3D Trees in Google Earth 6


We strive to provide as much realism as possible in Google Earth, but until now, trees have largely been missing from the landscape of our product. Trees have been modeled individually in a handful of locations, such as Disney World and the Eiffel Tower, and we've learned from those instances to make sure we could represent trees in a realistic way that could scale to places where trees exist en masse, like urban parks and large forests.

Over time we've developed a way to produce highly detailed, photo-textured versions of specific tree species and reproduce them at large scale. In the new release of Google Earth 6, people in several cities will now be able to browse 3D trees in some of their favorite parks, and maybe even pick out a spot for their next picnic! Our urban tree coverage includes San Francisco (downtown and Golden Gate Park), Chicago (Grant, Millennium and Lincoln Parks), New York City (Prospect and Riverside Parks), Athens (Thiseio Park, the National Gardens, Lykavittos Hill and around the Acropolis), Berlin (Tiergarten Park) and Tokyo (Yoyogi Park, Shinjuku Gyoen and the Akasaka Imperial Grounds). Prospective students can even scope out the beautiful greenery on campus at the University of California, Davis.

With 3D trees in Google Earth, we've brought characteristic trees to life, from the palm trees that dot San Francisco's bayfront Embarcadero Street, to the olive trees that cling to the Acropolis in Athens, to the flowering dogwoods found in Tokyo's parks. All told, there are around 50 different tree species to explore in Google Earth and counting!



Of course trees also grow and flourish outside of cities. In fact, urban trees only make up a very small percentage of the estimated more than 400 billion trees on our planet. In order to tell the greater story of trees on our planet, we worked with several environmental organizations to model reforestation projects and protected forests in Google Earth. Working with Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement, we modeled five tree replanting sites in Kenya. These sites represent just a small part of the Green Belt Movement's work planting more than 40 million trees to restore the environment and improve the lives of people who are linked to the land.

We also worked with the Surui people, an indigenous group in the Amazon who are working to protect their rainforest from illegal logging. The Surui and one of their partners, the Amazon Conservation Team, selected some of their most culturally significant trees, including the acai palm and the cashew tree, to be modeled for this project. The resulting 3D visualization enables Google Earth users from all over the world to experience the magic of the Amazon rainforest.

Our third partner, CONABIO, supports and protects Mexico's biodiversity through an ambitious forest monitoring project that tracks changes in forest health and cover over time. This project has helped define priority forests that need urgent attention and protection, like the two mangrove forest areas that we've modeled in Google Earth. These forests that hug the Mexican coastline provide unique habitats for wildlife animals like crocodiles and jaguars that depend on these sensitive ecosystems to survive.

This first release of 3D trees in Google Earth includes more than 80 million trees to study and explore. But we're not content to rest on our virtual laurels, so look out for trees in more cities and forests soon!

To start exploring 3D trees in Google Earth, first download Google Earth 6. Then explore our tree showcase, where you will find links to tours of trees in San Francisco, Tokyo, Athens, the Surui forest, and more.

A view of the 3D trees in Chicago's Lincoln Park

Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Program Manager, Google Earth
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/11/3d-trees-in-google-earth-6.html

[G] Introducing Google Earth 6—the next generation of realism

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 04:39 PM PST

Google LatLong: Introducing Google Earth 6—the next generation of realism

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

Today we're introducing the latest version of Google Earth, our interactive digital atlas. Now you can explore your childhood home, visit distant lands or scope out your next vacation spot with even more realistic tools.

In Google Earth 6, we're taking realism in the virtual globe to the next level with two new features: a truly integrated Street View experience and 3D trees. We've also made it even easier to browse historical imagery. Over the next several days, we'll be digging deeper into these great new features, but here's an overview to whet your appetite.



Integrated Street View
When Google Earth was first introduced, people were wowed by the ability to virtually fly from outer space right down to the roof of their house. While flying over rooftops gives you a super-human view of our world, the ground level is where we experience our daily lives. We took our first baby steps toward bringing the Google Earth experience to street level with our implementation of Street View in Google Earth in 2008, which enabled flying into Street View panoramas. In Google Earth 6, the Street View experience is now fully integrated, so you can journey from outer space right to your doorstep in one seamless flight.

Now, you'll notice that Pegman is docked right alongside the navigation controls—an ever-present travel companion ready whenever you want to get your feet on the street and take a virtual walk around. Just pick up Pegman and drop him wherever you see a highlighted blue road to fly right down to the ground. Once there, you can use the navigation controls or your mouse to look around. And unlike our earlier Street View layer, you can now move seamlessly from one location to another as if you're walking down the street by using the scroll-wheel on your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard. If you want to visit somewhere farther away, simply click the "exit" button and you'll immediately return to an aerial view where you can easily fly to your next destination.

Drag and drop Pegman to enter Street View. The blue lines indicate where Street View imagery is available.

3D trees
I think we can all agree that our planet without trees would be a pretty desolate place. Besides the ever-important task of providing us with the oxygen we breathe, trees are an integral part of the landscape around us. In Google Earth, while we and our users have been busy populating the globe with many thousands of 3D building models, trees have been rather hard to come by. All that is changing with Google Earth 6, which includes beautifully detailed, 3D models for dozens of species of trees, from the Japanese Maple to the East African Cordia to my personal favorite, the cacao tree. While we've just gotten started planting trees in Google Earth, we already have more than 80 million trees in places such as Athens, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Tokyo. Through our Google Earth Outreach program, we've also been working with organizations including the Green Belt Movement in Africa, the Amazon Conservation Team in Brazil and CONABIO in Mexico to model our planet's threatened forests.

To enjoy these leafy additions to Google Earth, make sure you turn on the 3D buildings layer on the left side panel. As a starting point, try a search for "Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco." Once you arrive at your destination, click the zoom slider. You'll then be taken down to the ground where you can use our new ground-level navigation to walk among the trees.

3D trees in San Francisco, California

Easy-to-use historical imagery
One of the features people told us they liked best in Google Earth 5 was the availability of historical imagery, which enables you to visually go back in time to see such things as Warsaw in 1935, London in 1945, and Port-au-Prince Haiti before and after the devastating earthquake of January 2010. But it wasn't always obvious when historical imagery was available for a particular place, making this feature one of Google Earth's lesser-known gems.

So with this new version, we've made it very easy to discover historical imagery. When you fly to an area where historical imagery is available, the date of the oldest imagery will appear in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. If you click on this date, you'll instantly be taken back in time to view imagery from that time period. You can then browse through all the historical imagery available for that location, or simply close the time control and return to the default view.

The site of Google's Mountain View campus in 1948

To download Google Earth 6, or to see videos of our newest features, visit http://earth.google.com.

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-google-earth-6the-next.html

[G] Optional attendees in Google Calendar

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 09:12 AM PST

Official Gmail Blog: Optional attendees in Google Calendar

Posted by Karol Stosiek, Software Engineering Intern

Time is one of our most precious resources. Despite their necessity, meetings tend to vary in importance for different attendees. John might be really interested in his team's weekly meeting, whereas Jane, who is working on a unrelated project, may want to skip it.

Guests' roles in meetings tend to vary as well. Some people have to be there to lead the meeting or help make decisions, whereas others are gathering information they may be able to digest just as well via the notes. Without knowing which attendees are crucial and which are optional, it can be difficult to know which meetings you really need to attend.

That's where Google Calendar's new "Optional attendees" feature comes in. With a couple clicks, you can openly communicate the importance of a meeting for each attendee. Click on the "Make some attendees optional link" above the guest list and then toggle the role of each attendee by clicking the icon next to his or her name. So far, this feature has helped us more effectively manage our own time on the Calendar team — we hope it does the same for you.

URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/optional-attendees-in-google-calendar.html
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