Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Now available with Google Apps: Blogger

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 09:48 PM PST

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



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 Blogger
How do you let the world know what's important to your organization on a day-to-day basis? You may have a Web site, but when was the last time you added fresh content? You may have advertisements and media placements, but how interactive can you make those conversations? Many companies solve these problems by using blogs to connect in more meaningful ways, sharing up-to-date information and allowing follow-on conversations; and now Google Apps users have the perfect tool for delivering a corporate blog: Blogger.

Blogger is an easy-to-use yet extremely powerful content publishing platform that helps you broadcast stories, insights, and ideas to others in only a few clicks. Your organization can use Blogger to start conversations with customers or partners about upcoming events, product launches, or your company's vision for your industry.

A recent study showed that an estimated 34% of US companies already use one or more blogs to connect with their customers, and this figure has doubled in the past few years.* Google uses blogs, just like the Enterprise Blog where you're reading now, to connect with our users and partners. In fact, Google has almost a hundred blogs running on the Blogger platform, covering topics as diverse as our renewable energy policies, product updates, developer challenges and code snippets, and information for advertisers and partners.

Blogger offers a powerful rich-editor that lets you create a great looking site with simple and intuitive tools that require no web design experience to use. And for those that want to achieve a deeper level of customization, Blogger provides great flexibility and full control over the blog content you create, letting you edit the HTML and add CSS and Javascript to create your own unique look and feel.

Just like Google Apps, Blogger runs in Google's cloud so you never have to worry about provisioning new hardware or updating software. Blogger already serves content from millions of contributors to over 300 million readers, so the platform is ready to scale to meet your needs as readership grows with your organization.

Learn more and get started
Blogger 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 you can take a product tour or learn about Blogger's top features. Finally, you can track the latest news and updates on Blogger's own blog.

Share your story
Have you already started using Blogger 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 Anil Sabharwal, Product Manager, Blogger

Note: Blogger may not be available in all areas.
* Source: eMarketer, August 2010
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/now-available-with-google-apps-blogger.html

[G] Live Webinar: Jaguar Land Rover’s journey to the cloud

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 09:48 PM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Live Webinar: Jaguar Land Rover's journey to the cloud

On Friday 26th November we'll be joined by Andy Bennett, IT Operations Manager at Jaguar Land Rover. Andy will share his team's experience moving more than 15,000 Jaguar Land Rover employees to Google Apps. He will detail both the resulting cost savings and the new ways of working that Google Apps has encouraged.

Jeremy Vincent, CIO of Jaguar Land Rover, gives us a taste of the session:

"We switched our entire global organisation (15,000+ users) to Gmail, Calendar and Contacts in one weekend in December 2009, saving around £1.75m in total one-off migration costs as we separated from our former parent company.

Now, almost one year in, we have a truly enterprise-wide common critical business application which is delivering benefits continuously, especially as we turn on more Google applications and as Google continuously improves its product set."

To hear more about Jaguar Land Rover's switch to Google Apps attend this live webcast, Friday 26th Nov 2010 at 11.00 GMT. Register today.

This session will be moderated by Angela Ashenden, Principal Analyst at MWD Advisors.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/live-webinar-jaguar-land-rovers-journey.html

[G] Q&A with Chef John of Food Wishes

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 05:29 PM PST

YouTube Blog: Q&A with Chef John of Food Wishes

Chef John Mitzewich is the voice behind YouTube's most subscribed cooking channel, Food Wishes. Chef John today posted his 500th video to YouTube, and he recently took time out to answer a few questions about how he makes his videos and the trends he's seeing as a YouTube chef.

How do you decide what to make videos about?
The whole concept of the "Food Wishes" channel is "What's your food wish?" I get tons of recipe requests, and try to honor the most popular wishes when I plan my dishes. Other times, I'll just start cooking something and realize it would make a cool video, so I'll throw the camera on a tripod and begin filming.

How seasonal are your videos -- both in terms of how you think about what you create and how your audience fluctuates?
Since I film what I eat, and I tend to eat very seasonally, the videos are generally quite in tune to what's available that time of year. Also, if I know a certain seasonal dish is coming up (like chicken wings for the Super Bowl), I'll try and plan something a few weeks ahead so people have time to learn and make it.



What are some other trends you've noticed in viewership of your videos, subscriber growth or fan comments over the years?
Subscribers and viewership have both grown steadily over the last 12 months and are increasing faster compared to when I first started out. I've more than doubled both my subscribers and viewership this year compared to last. It seems every year that the holiday season is when my entire catalogue gets a boost, as I think more people are looking for that special recipe to make for their family and friends. My viewership has also been pretty diverse. I get a huge range of ages, from kids cooking their first recipe, to seniors who've never cooked before getting into it for the first time.

What are the keys to really great cooking videos?
To me, a great cooking video is one that makes the viewer feel like they're making the video with you, not just watching someone make a recipe. I want to bring the viewer right into the scene. Close, interesting shots of the food, with an engaging, affable narration are what I try and use to achieve this.

How important is a mouth-watering thumbnail?
A great looking thumbnail that is clear, bright, and close-up, is second in importance only to the recipe title itself.

What is a common mistake budding cooks make when making videos?
They try to do a TV-style cooking show. You're on YouTube, not Food Network, so stop trying to do an imitation of a network "stand and stir" show. Generally the viewer is way more interested in the food, than the person making it; so stop trying to "perform" for the camera, and just show us the cooking.

Do you have any insight into how much technology, like YouTube videos or iPad, is moving into the kitchen?
I know this is a huge trend! I get all kinds of emails from people that tell me they take their laptops or iPads into the kitchen to cook with. A library of your favorite video recipes from YouTube on your iPad IS the cookbook of the next decade.

Thanksgiving. How do you approach this holiday as a video-making chef?
I just try to film a nice variety of recipes suited to entertaining. People are at their most insecure when cooking for friends and family during the holidays, so I want these videos to make life a little easier (and more fun!).

Anything else you'd like to add?
For someone who doesn't cook, watching a video recipe is the best, and most enjoyable way to learn. As food television trends towards reality shows and contest-based programming, I predict YouTube becomes the primary resource for on-demand culinary instruction.

Annie Baxter, YouTube communications, recently watched "Peach Brulee Burrata Recipe"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/o7Or_wtBgBk/q-with-chef-john-of-food-wishes.html

[G] New this week in Docs: Drag and drop upload and compact controls

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 02:41 PM PST

Official Google Docs Blog: New this week in Docs: Drag and drop upload and compact controls

We just launched a pair of features that can save you time and give you more room to work: drag and drop upload and compact controls.

Drag and drop upload
A few weeks ago, we made it easier to add images to your documents using drag and drop. Today we're extending that functionality to the file upload page, making it even easier to move your files into the cloud. Now if you're using Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, you'll be able to quickly drag files into the drop area and shoot them up to the cloud.

Compact controls
The document editor borrowed a feature from spreadsheets to save screen space. You can now hide the title bar above the editor by choosing View -> Compact controls or pressing Ctrl Shift F (Cmd Shift F on Macs).


Let us know what you think in the comments.

Posted by: Mike Procopio, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-this-week-in-docs-drag-and-drop.html

[G] Welcome, Google Apps Users!

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 01:09 PM PST

Blogger Buzz: Welcome, Google Apps Users!

Google Apps users have been asking for Blogger and now, with our recently launched infrastructure improvement, they can use Blogger for free with their Google Apps accounts. We're excited to provide Apps users with this great tool to have their voices heard on the web.

Google Apps is Google's suite of cloud-based messaging and collaboration web apps used by more than 30 million users in small businesses, large enterprises, educational institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations around the world. If your organization hasn't gone Google yet, you can learn more about how to lower IT costs and improve productivity and collaboration at google.com/apps.

For those Blogger users who have a Google Apps account, if your administrator has already transitioned your organization to the new infrastructure, you can now use Blogger by signing in at blogger.com with your existing Apps account.

For more details, read the complete post on the Google Enterprise blog and follow all the updates on other newly available services from Google Apps users.


URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/11/welcome-google-apps-users.html
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