Friday, February 4, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Introducing Blogger Android App

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 08:36 PM PST

Blogger Buzz: Introducing Blogger Android App

Posted by Vinay Sekhri

Have you ever wanted to write up a quick blog post on the go? Now there is an easy way to do this on your Android phone! We are excited to announce our first version of the Blogger Android App. Using the app you can easily compose a post, attach a photo that you just took with your phone, and either save it as a local draft for later or immediately publish it to your blog. If you are an Android user, you can start using the Blogger app today by downloading it for free from the Android Market.


Feature highlights
  • Multiple accounts and blogs: You can easily switch between different accounts and blogs that you have author rights to. Simply choose your account and blog and you are all set to go.
  • Write and save/publish: You can write a post, assign labels, and then either save it as a draft or immediately publish it. Saving as draft is handy if you need to wait until you have Internet connectivity.
  • Photos from camera and gallery: If you see something interesting, you can take a photo directly from the app and include it in the blog post. You can also browse your gallery to include the ones you like.
  • Sharing to Blogger from gallery or browser: Blogger is one of the available sharing options. If you come across a photo in the gallery, or a website while browsing, you can share the content to the Blogger app directly from the sharing menu.
  • Share location: You can share your location by activating the location bar and selecting the correct location. This information will be included in your post.
  • View saved/published posts: By switching to the List View, you can view all your drafts and published posts that you wrote using the app. By performing a long-press on a published post you can invoke a menu that includes the option to view your post in a browser.
We hope you enjoy the app. As always, we would love to hear what you think so please feel free to share your thoughts with us through our feedback form. (Note: this app is available only on Android devices but we are working toward supporting other smartphone platforms to allow more of our users to easily post to Blogger on the go.)
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/02/introducing-blogger-android-app.html

[G] YouTube Highlights 2/3/2011

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 02:39 PM PST

Official Google Blog: YouTube Highlights 2/3/2011

This is the latest in our series of YouTube highlights. Every couple of weeks, we bring you regular updates on new product features, interesting programs to watch and tips you can use to grow your audience on YouTube. Just look for the label "YouTube Highlights" and subscribe to the series. – Ed.

Since our last update, we've connected you with the U.S. President via an exclusive YouTube interview, brought the Sundance Film Festival to your virtual door and launched a new homepage that's personalized to your interests.

YouTube World View kicks off
For the second year in a row, President Obama sat down with YouTube for his first interview after the State of the Union speech. The President took the opportunity to respond to the protests in Egypt, address concerns on jobs, debt and health care, and to answer a series of more personal questions that you submitted in video and text via YouTube.

This interview marks the beginning of the YouTube World View program, a series of interviews that will let you ask important questions of public leaders and big thinkers from around the world.



U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner will be doing a YouTube Interview soon, so stay tuned for more news on how to participate.

"Life in a Day" premiered at Sundance
We premiered the world's largest user-generated documentary "Life in a Day" last week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. After months of hard work, Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald and a team of editors created a 90-minute documentary film based on thousands of videos uploaded from around the world on a single day—July 24, 2010. The film will be distributed in the U.S. on the one-year anniversary of that date and available on YouTube at the same time. Between now and then, "Life in a Day" will play at film festivals worldwide and international distribution deals will be put in place in other regions.

YouTube and the Sundance Film Institute also teamed up to bring you a collection of past and present short films in the YouTube Screening Room.

The Onion's A.V. Club "Inventory" lists comes to YouTube
The Onion's sister publication the A.V. Club debuted a new video series on YouTube called "Inventory," based on the popular lists that catalog the unconventional—everything from the "19 artists who dramatically reinvented themselves after their early work" to "25 songs about outdated (and soon-to-be outdated) technology."

YouTube partner Josh Sundquist is January's "On the Rise" star
Our congratulations to Josh Sundquist, who edged past Luke Conard in the final hours to win this month's edition of On the Rise, a program in which you decide who gets featured on the YouTube homepage based on a shortlist of channels that have experienced fast growth in the last month.

The "Bobee?" Track this and other trends
Each weekday, YouTube Trends takes a look at the most interesting videos and cultural phenomena on YouTube as they develop. We comb through YouTube's search data to investigate top spiking search terms and the videos they lead to. For example, we've recently come across a new dance craze popping up in Taiwan called "Bobee." Find out what other interesting trends we've uncovered.



New YouTube homepage for everyone
With the new YouTube homepage, rolled out to everyone this month, our goal was to put more of an emphasis on "videos for you." So we removed or moved some elements of the page to make room for videos that matter more to you—your subscriptions, friends' sharing and recommendations. We hope you enjoy more videos as a result and are always open to hearing your suggestions for improvement.

Five questions for Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn, Pomplamoose
What you hear is what you get with Pomplamoose, a YouTube musical partner that's garnered millions of video views on YouTube. Every sound you hear in their music videos is produced by an instrument you see played in their music videos—a refreshingly old-fashioned idea they call the "videosong." Pomplamoose's approach to original music has opened up opportunities for them in other arenas like TV (see their Hyundai commercials). Learn how they got their start.



We'll update you again in a few weeks. In the meantime, you can get frequent updates from the team on the YouTube Blog.

Posted by Serena Satyasai, Marketing Manager, The YouTube Team
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/youtube-highlights-232011.html

[G] IPv6 marks the next chapter in the history of the Internet

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 01:53 PM PST

Official Google Blog: IPv6 marks the next chapter in the history of the Internet

(Cross-posted on the Public Policy Blog)

In the same way your phone is associated with a unique number, your computer is assigned a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address when you connect to the Internet. The current protocol, IPv4, allows for approximately 4 billion unique addresses—and that number is about to run out.

This morning the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced (PDF) that it has distributed the last batch of its remaining IPv4 addresses to the world's five Regional Internet Registries, the organizations that manage IP addresses in different regions. These Registries will begin assigning the final IPv4 addresses within their regions until they run out completely, which could come as soon as early 2012.

As the last blocks of IPv4 addresses are assigned, adoption of a new protocol—IPv6—is essential to the continued growth of the open Internet. IPv6 will expand Internet address space to 128 bits, making room for approximately 340 trillion addresses (enough to last us for the foreseeable future).

Google, along with others, has been working for years to implement the larger IPv6 format. We're also participating in the planned World IPv6 Day, scheduled for June 8, 2011. On this day, all of the participating organizations will enable access to as many services as possible via IPv6.

Today's ICANN announcement marks a major milestone in the history of the Internet. IPv6, the next chapter, is now under way.

Posted by Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/ipv6-marks-next-chapter-in-history-of.html

[G] It's Googler v. Googler this weekend as the Packers and Steelers face off

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:01 AM PST

Official Google Blog: It's Googler v. Googler this weekend as the Packers and Steelers face off

When you think about football, computer scientists probably aren't the first thing to jump into your head. But with the big game this weekend, that's exactly how to describe some of the fans who will be rooting along for both the Packers and Steelers. With Google engineering offices in both Pittsburgh, Pa. and Madison, Wis., Googlers in both areas will be glued to our TVs on Sunday along with the rest of the country.

As everyone begins to gear up for their own parties this weekend, we thought it would be fun to see what the world's (American) football fans are searching for on the web.

Across the U.S., Google users have shown that football is the most popular sport, in terms of queries, year after year—ahead of baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey. Surprisingly, two states that don't have NFL teams search for [nfl] the most—Delaware and South Dakota.


You might be surprised at the lengths to which we go in terms of being fans. Take for example, the Packers. Fans in Wisconsin are currently taking a higher interest in our quarterback Aaron Rodgers than pop superstar Lady Gaga.


Pittsburgh residents also have gone Steeler-crazy, with queries for the Steelers running higher than queries for President Obama for most of the season.


Each team is also known for its fan gear: Cheeseheads for Packers nuts and Terrible Towels for Steelers supporters. As of the last week, [terrible towels] are being searched for more than [cheeseheads]. Perhaps the rise in searches for Terrible Towels can be attributed to their dual use: for cheering during the game or, in the event of a Steelers loss, to dry those terrible tears.


As we poked around the search trends, we wondered—could search query volume be the new "Sports Illustrated" jinx? Might Google's search query volume leader foreshadow the loser of the big game? In examining the data, we've found that over the past two seasons, that has indeed been the case. Last year, the losing quarterback, Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, led the New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in query volume heading into the game. Brees and the Saints won. Same situation the year before: heading into the big game on February 1, 2009, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner held a significant lead in query volume over Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben and the Pittsburgh Steelers came out on top.

That trend doesn't bode well for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The Packers quarterback has maintained an edge in query volume over Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and is still in the lead as we head into Sunday. Could that mean the Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Lombardi trophy over their heads Sunday night? Our Cheesehead-wearing Wisconsin engineers are certainly hoping that the data doesn't hold up!


But it isn't just about the players and game on the field. Food, the halftime show and the commercials are just as big a part of the celebration. If the minutes in between the game action are your favorite part, YouTube hosts their annual Ad Blitz, a contest where people review and rate the Superbowl commercials as they air. This year, you can even vote on your mobile phone as you're watching the game. The winner will receive YouTube homepage glory on February 19, after all the votes are tallied.

Some game watchers pay particularly close attention to the TV during the halftime show. If history is any indication, this year's act, the Black Eyed Peas, can expect a surge of search queries the day of the game. Past performers [the who], [tom petty], [bruce springsteen] and the [rolling stones] have all had peak interest level during the year they performed at halftime.


For others—especially if your team's not competing—the best part is always the spread. Searches for food and recipes surge, beginning two weeks ahead of the game, as families start to plan their party. This year, searches for [super bowl recipes] outpace those for [super bowl food] and [super bowl snacks]. Dips of all types are hot this year, with slight differences across the country: searches for [guacamole] are on average 12% more popular in Wisconsin than in Pennsylvania, while searches for [baba ganoush] are 5% more popular in Pennsylvania than in Wisconsin.

If we had our way, it would be all [bratwurst] and [fish boils] in Wisconsin and [pierogies] and [primanti brothers] in Pittsburgh. But with fans all over the country planning their menus, it seems that the big winner in the snack world appears to be chicken. Each year, searches for [chicken wings] hit their peak the week of the game.


So whether you're a passionate Cheesehead, a proud waver of Terrible Towels or you just enjoy the spectacle, there's something for you to enjoy around the big game: sports, drama, commercials, music, performance and food! This weekend, Googlers in our Pittsburgh and Wisconsin offices will, with millions more across the world, be on the edge of their couches watching the game and cheering along for their team. Either way, we know that only one Google office will hold bragging rights for the next year!

Googlers in Pittsburgh

Googlers in Madison

Posted by Jim Laudon, Site Director of Google's Madison office and Andrew Moore, Site Director of Google's Pittsburgh office
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/its-googler-v-googler-this-weekend-as.html

[G] Two improvements to contact groups

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 10:31 AM PST

Official Gmail Blog: Two improvements to contact groups

Posted by Will Scott, Software Engineer

Organizing your Gmail contacts into groups can save you time when you're writing messages to multiple people at once. For example, if you create a "Family" group, instead of addressing an email to your mom, dad, sister and brother, you can just start typing "Family" and Gmail will complete the rest. Today we're making two improvements to contact groups which should make them easier to create and control.

First, let's say you have a list of coworkers you think you'll want to contact again in the future. Now, you can paste that list into the Add to group menu when viewing your "Coworkers" group to populate or extend it.


Second, we've added the ability to specify which one of your contact's email addresses you want to use in a given group. So, for example, you can now use your friend's personal address in your "Poker Buddies" group and that same friend's work address in your "Coworkers" group.


We're always listening for feedback about what we can do to make Contacts, and all of Gmail, better, so let us know what you think.
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/two-improvements-to-contact-groups.html

[G] A dash of speed, 3D and apps

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 09:15 AM PST

Google Chrome Blog: A dash of speed, 3D and apps

Today, we're excited to bring several new features from Chrome's beta channel to the stable build, including WebGL, Chrome Instant, and the Chrome Web Store.

WebGL is a new technology which brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser. With WebGL in Chrome, you can experience rich 3D experiences right inside the browser with no need for additional software. Curious about the three-dimensional possibilities? Try out these demos to experience the power of WebGL in the latest stable version of Chrome.

With Chrome Instant (à la Google Instant), web pages that you frequently visit will begin loading as soon as you start typing the URL. ("Look, Mom - no enter key!"). If supported by your default search engine, search results appear instantly as you type queries in the omnibox. To try out Instant, you'll need to enable it in the Basics tab of Chrome's options.

Lastly, the Chrome Web Store is now open to all Chrome users in the United States. As part of this, we've now added a link to the Chrome Web Store on the New Tab page, along with two sample apps. (If you don't use these sample apps, they will automatically disappear after some time).

Some of the newest additions in the Chrome Web Store include BBC GoodFood, Autodesk, Sesame Street, nine King.com Games and Marvel Comics. There are also many apps that take advantage of the latest web technologies to deliver an immersive experience, such as Tweetdeck and The New York Times. While the store is currently only available for Chrome users in the U.S., we're working hard to expand availability to users around the world soon, so stay tuned!



Posted by Erik Kay and Aaron Boodman, Software Engineers
URL: http://chrome.blogspot.com/2011/02/dash-of-speed-3d-and-apps.html
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