Saturday, April 30, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Google Summer of Code Student Project Wins Statistical Software Award

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 04:20 AM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Google Summer of Code Student Project Wins Statistical Software Award

We are happy to report that one of the Google Summer of Code students from last year, Ian Fellows, has been awarded the John M. Chambers Statistical Software Award for his work with the R Project. This award will be presented at the annual Joint Statistical Meeting in August.

Ian's project involved extending the scope of the Deducer cross-platform GUI interface to R by adding an intuitive plot builder for building up complex statistical graphics in a user friendly environment. Ian has described the plot builder as "a piece of software that simply wouldn't have been built except for the funding from Google." In addition to the online documentation, Ian has put together a series of video tutorials on YouTube introducing the new software:

Deducer Video - Part 1

Console Video - Part 2

We're also happy to report that once again Ian will be participating in the Google Summer of Code, this year as a mentor with the R Project.

I personally use ggplot2 frequently for visualizing complex data sets at Google, and I'm looking forward to utilizing the new GUI PlotBuilder for my work. Congratulations again, Ian.

By Murray Stokely, Software Engineering Team


URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2011/04/google-summer-of-code-student-project.html

[G] Google Apps highlights – 4/29/2011

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 06:21 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Google Apps highlights – 4/29/2011

This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label "Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

In the last couple of weeks, we've helped you personalize Gmail in new ways, made our applications speedier to use, brought text recognition and editing powers to Android phones, and given you a glimpse into the inner workings of a Google data center.

Customize Gmail with a favorite photo
For a long while, Gmail has had themes so your inbox can reflect a bit of your personality. Now, you can set Gmail's background to a photo from your computer or Picasa Web Albums. So if Gmail's standard theme choices don't quite float your boat, now we're sure you can create a theme you'll love.


Faster multitasking in Gmail with the Background Send Lab
Features like nearly-instant search and integrated instant messaging help you save time in your inbox, but we're always looking for new ways to speed up your experience in Gmail. On Monday we released a new feature in Labs called Background Send that can shave off a few seconds each time you hit "Send." With this feature enabled, you can start working with other messages while your outgoing message is processed in the background without slowing you down. Give it a try from the Labs tab of Gmail Settings.


Streamlined file uploads in Google Docs
On Monday, we sped up the Google Docs experience with improvements to file uploads. Now you can upload a whole folder at once, and if you use Chrome, Safari or Firefox, you can even drag and drop files from your desktop into the documents list or specific collections. You'll also see an upload progress window right in the documents list.


New Google Docs app for Android
Thanks to a brand new Google Docs app for Android, it's easier to browse, search, edit and share your documents right from your mobile phone. You can even create new documents by snapping a picture of text with your phone's camera, and thanks to Google Docs' optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities, words in the image are converted to text that you can continue editing from your phone or computer.


100 new fonts in Google Sites
With more design choices in Google Sites, you can create better looking sites that match the look and feel you want to achieve. This Wednesday, we added 100 new fonts to the text formatting options in Google Sites, so it's easier to make more personalized pages for your organization, project, classroom or business.


Get a sneak peek into a Google data center
Businesses, schools and individuals considering Google Apps often want to learn more about the technology and procedures in our data centers designed to help keep your data safe, secure and available whenever you want it. Since we can't invite everyone to tour one of our data centers, we thought we'd pull the curtain back with an in-depth video:



Who's gone Google?
A hearty welcome goes out to over 50,000 businesses, schools and organizations that have switched to Google Apps in the last two weeks. Several have shared their stories on the Google Enterprise Blog, so you can learn about how Cinram has improved communication and collaboration across 20 manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe, how Gibson Sotheby's International Realty is empowering hundreds of mobile workers like never before, and how the states of Rhode Island and Missouri are making Google Apps available to more than a million students and 100,000 staff members.

I hope these product updates and customer stories help you and your organization get even more from Google Apps. For more details and the latest news, check out the Google Apps Blog.

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/google-apps-highlights-4292011.html

[G] This week in search 4/29/11

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 06:21 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: This week in search 4/29/11

This is part of a regular series of posts on search experience updates that runs on Fridays. Look for the label "This week in search" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

This week, you can find what you're searching for a little faster, whether it's a recipe, the time of the royal wedding or a local prayer time.

More relevant predictions in Recipe View
In the past, when you searched in Recipe View on Google, you'd see the same search predictions that you'd see on the main web results page, which wasn't always helpful for specifically food-related searches. Now when you search in Recipe View, you'll see more relevant search predictions. For example, typing [c] will give you predictions for [chicken] or [cake] versus [craigslist] or [cnn], and typing [co] will predict [cookies] or [coconut]—and maybe inspire you to make coconut cookies. This feature is currently available in English, with more languages and local delicacies to follow.


Rich snippets for prayer times
Rich snippets are the brief descriptions you see beneath search results that summarize what's on a webpage and provide you with more information before you click on a site link. For example, if you search for [events], you'll see a list of upcoming local events on the results page.

Now, in addition to rich snippets for events, reviews and people, you can find local prayer times quicker and easier in your results. For example, a search for Islamic prayer times in London will show prayer times and locations. As more sites around the world use rich snippets for prayer times, you'll start seeing results for additional cities.


The technology is open for use by religious organizations from any faith, and is particularly useful for Islamic prayer times, which are measured according to the movement of the sun. If you have a site with prayer times, you can update your site using the rich snippets format specified in Google Webmaster Central.

Google Instant in Japan
Searchers in Japan will now be able to see search predictions and results appear as they type. Google Instant will be available for everyone in Japan over the next few days, as well as for those typing in Japanese on other domains that currently support Google Instant.


Time for the royal wedding
The highly anticipated royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton had many people setting their alarm clocks to watch the live broadcast from Britain—which meant figuring out exactly what time the ceremony would be in your local time zone. To make it easier to tune in at the right hour, searches related to the royal wedding displayed a box at the top of the results page with the time of the wedding in your local time zone; this info was available in 23 languages. Congratulations to the happy couple!


As we head into the weekend, don't forget to try solving today's A Google a Day question at www.agoogleaday.com:


Posted by Ben Gomes, Google Fellow
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-week-in-search-42911.html

[G] This week's Trends: tornadoes, weddings, and saxophones

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 05:03 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: This week's Trends: tornadoes, weddings, and saxophones

Each weekday, we at YouTube Trends take a look at the most interesting videos and cultural phenomena on YouTube as they develop. We want take a moment to highlight some of what we've come across this week:


Check back every day for the latest about what's trending on YouTube at: www.YouTube.com/Trends

Kevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Jersey Shore Gone Wilde."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/TxbAP8bMDUw/this-weeks-trends-tornadoes-weddings.html

[G] Party with NFL Rookies - on YouTube

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 02:25 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Party with NFL Rookies - on YouTube

Football fans will have the chance to get an up-close look at the new crop of NFL rookies this Saturday, April 30, live on YouTube. We'll be hosting an exclusive live stream of the 2011 NFL Players Association Rookie Debut party, beginning at 10pm ET live from Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The live stream will be on the NFL Players Association's YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/nflplayers

Former Pro Bowl running back/kick returner Brian Mitchell and three-time Super Bowl champion linebacker Willie McGinest will host the party, with appearances from dozens of football players from the past, present and future - including St. Louis Rams running back and Super Bowl champion Marshall Faulk.

Some of the expected attendees (and high draft picks) include: Blaine Gabbert, Patrick Peterson, and last year's Heisman winner running back Mark Ingram of Alabama and linebacker Von Miller of Texas A&M.

Check out the live stream during the event for exclusive backstage access, interviews and performances - then return to the channel later for plenty of on-demand coverage of the event.

Enjoy the party!

Andrew Bangs, sports manager, recently watched "Epicly Later'd Dylan Rieder (PT 1 of 4)."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/wncJWKzBETw/party-with-nfl-rookies-on-youtube.html

[G] Celebrating Arbor Day with Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 01:28 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Celebrating Arbor Day with Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

From time to time we invite guests to post about topics of interest and we're pleased to have Emily Limm join us for U.S. Arbor Day. Emily is the science director for the non-profit Save the Redwoods League and is studying the impact of climate change on the redwood forests of northern California. To raise awareness about the League's research, she worked with Google Earth Outreach to model old-growth redwoods on Google Earth. In this post, Emily shares her ideas on how technology and citizen science can help scientific research. -Ed.

Today is U.S. Arbor Day, a holiday established 120 years ago to celebrate our often under-appreciated forests, which provide us with necessities like clean air and drinking water as well as small pleasures like shade for a summer's day picnic or a beautiful place to hike with crunchy leaves underfoot. Arbor Day holds special meaning for me because I spend most of my time in the coastal redwood forests of California, working to protect the world's tallest tree species.

Over the past few months, Save the Redwoods League and the Google Earth Outreach team have collaborated to create 3D models of the old-growth redwood forest in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in northern California, so you can now take a virtual hike among the ancient trees and cruise over towering treetops. Explore the park by activating the 3D trees layer in Earth (under 3D Buildings) and searching for [jedediah smith redwoods state park, ca]. Tilt your view angle toward the horizon to make the trees appear. You can download the KML file for the narrated tour about redwoods to view in Google Earth, or watch the video version below:



In order to protect redwoods in Jedediah Smith and elsewhere, my colleagues and I are working to collect data on geographic regions where the trees are currently thriving to determine how future forests will fare in our changing climate. A critical piece of our work is collecting and comparing field observations of redwoods across different climates, but we need more data to draw strong conclusions—and that's where you come in.

Today, Save the Redwoods League is launching our citizen science project Redwood Watch, powered by iNaturalist.org, a platform for recording, organizing and mapping nature observations. By sharing a simple digital photograph of a redwood tree and the time and location where the picture was taken, you can help the League track and monitor the species. If you know of a redwood tree—perhaps in your own backyard or in a nearby park—you can use the free Redwood Watch iPhone application or your own camera to take a photo, add a comment and submit it online. iNaturalist stores your observation and, if geographical coordinates weren't captured automatically, uses the Google Maps APIs to assign them to your photo. With your geolocated observation, we can zoom out and analyze your observation in the context of global environmental and climatic patterns.

An observation of a coast redwood submitted to the Redwood Watch on iNaturalist.org.

The more field observations Save the Redwoods League collects, the better we'll understand what climate makes a healthy redwood today, and predict where the redwood forests of tomorrow will thrive. We hope to see you on the Redwood Watch.

Happy Arbor Day from Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth!

Note: There are plenty of parallel projects going on around the world, so if you don't live near redwoods, consider participating in one of the other iNaturalist.org citizen science projects.

Posted by Emily Limm, Ph.D., Director of Science and Planning, Save the Redwoods League
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/04/celebrating-arbor-day-with-save.html

[G] Post Japan Earthquake panoramas in Google Earth

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 01:28 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Post Japan Earthquake panoramas in Google Earth


In an effort to continue to help keep people informed about the extent of the tragedy that has recently struck Japan, Google Earth has added panorama photos of post-earthquake zones. These photos come from our partner 360cities and can be found in the "Photos" layer in Google Earth, along with other 360cities and Panoramio photos. These dramatic panorama photos are part of the work of photographer, Akila Ninomiya.

In March 2011, Mr. Ninomiya took his camera and bravely ventured into the heart of post-earthquake zones in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He documented earthquake and tsunami damages in cities including Rikuzen-Takada, Kamaishi, Osawa, Miyako, Settai, and Omoto.

Mr Ninomiya didn't just take pictures. He took 360 degree panoramas, which give unique perspectives to the extent and severity of this unprecedented natural disaster.

To see his collection in Google Earth, make sure you have the "Photos" layer turned on. Then fly to any of the cities mentioned above, eg. Ofunato, Japan. You will see a number of orange colored photo placemarks. Click on one of them and you will see a picture like the one below:


To see the 360 degree view, click on the center picture in the balloon and it will take you into the panoramas. If you wish to view the post earthquake panoramas only, download this KML collection and open it in Google Earth.

These panoramas were taken as part of a non-profit Japan Pano Journalism Project, which aimed to document the 2011 Japan Earthquake damage and recovery with 360ยบ panoramic photography.

Posted by Wei Luo, Technical Lead/Manager, Google Earth
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/04/post-japan-earthquake-panoramas-in.html

[G] Celebrating Arbor Day with Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 12:21 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Celebrating Arbor Day with Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth

From time to time we invite guests to post about topics of interest and we're pleased to have Emily Limm join us for U.S. Arbor Day. Emily is the science director for the non-profit Save the Redwoods League and is studying the impact of climate change on the redwood forests of northern California. To raise awareness about the League's research, she worked with Google Earth Outreach to model old-growth redwoods on Google Earth. In this post, Emily shares her ideas on how technology and citizen science can help scientific research. -Ed.

Today is U.S. Arbor Day, a holiday established 120 years ago to celebrate our often under-appreciated forests, which provide us with necessities like clean air and drinking water as well as small pleasures like shade for a summer's day picnic or a beautiful place to hike with crunchy leaves underfoot. Arbor Day holds special meaning for me because I spend most of my time in the coastal redwood forests of California, working to protect the world's tallest tree species.

Over the past few months, Save the Redwoods League and the Google Earth Outreach team have collaborated to create 3D models of the old-growth redwood forest in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in northern California, so you can now take a virtual hike among the ancient trees and cruise over towering treetops. Explore the park by activating the 3D trees layer in Earth (under 3D Buildings) and searching for [jedediah smith redwoods state park, ca]. Tilt your view angle toward the horizon to make the trees appear. You can download the KML file for the narrated tour about redwoods to view in Google Earth, or watch the video version below:



In order to protect redwoods in Jedediah Smith and elsewhere, my colleagues and I are working to collect data on geographic regions where the trees are currently thriving to determine how future forests will fare in our changing climate. A critical piece of our work is collecting and comparing field observations of redwoods across different climates, but we need more data to draw strong conclusions—and that's where you come in.

Today, Save the Redwoods League is launching our citizen science project Redwood Watch, powered by iNaturalist.org, a platform for recording, organizing and mapping nature observations. By sharing a simple digital photograph of a redwood tree and the time and location where the picture was taken, you can help the League track and monitor the species. If you know of a redwood tree—perhaps in your own backyard or in a nearby park—you can use the free Redwood Watch iPhone application or your own camera to take a photo, add a comment and submit it online. iNaturalist stores your observation and, if geographical coordinates weren't captured automatically, uses the Google Maps APIs to assign them to your photo. With your geolocated observation, we can zoom out and analyze your observation in the context of global environmental and climatic patterns.

An observation of a coast redwood submitted to the Redwood Watch on iNaturalist.org.

The more field observations Save the Redwoods League collects, the better we'll understand what climate makes a healthy redwood today, and predict where the redwood forests of tomorrow will thrive. We hope to see you on the Redwood Watch.

Happy Arbor Day from Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth!

Note: There are plenty of parallel projects going on around the world, so if you don't live near redwoods, consider participating in one of the other iNaturalist.org citizen science projects.

Posted by Emily Limm, Ph.D., Director of Science and Planning, Save the Redwoods League
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/celebrating-arbor-day-with-save.html

[G] The Beatification of Pope John Paul II to be Live Streamed on YouTube

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:40 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: The Beatification of Pope John Paul II to be Live Streamed on YouTube

This Sunday, May 1st, at 1:00am ET / 9:00am CET, people across the globe will be able to attend the Beatification ceremony of Pope John Paul II via a live stream on YouTube. The live stream of Pope John Paul II's Beatification will be available on YouTube's Live browse page at (www.youtube.com/live), a YouTube channel created specifically by the Vatican to celebrate the pontiff (www.youtube.com/johnpaul2). The channel contains hundreds of videos documenting his pontificate. The stream will also available through the Vatican Player (www.vatican.va/video) which will be on several other Catholic sites that link to it.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the Beatification ceremony in person in Saint Peter's Square. In addition, the YouTube live stream will enable an online audience across the globe to hear and see the ceremony at 1:00am ET / 9:00am CET.

At 2:00am ET / 10:00am Pope Benedict XVI will preside over Holy Mass, culminating in the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. The live stream will end at 4:45am ET / 12:45 CET with the weekly Marian Prayer, where Pope Benedict XVI will give a personal message that focuses on the Beatification of Pope John Paul II.

When the stream has ended, the entire ceremony will be uploaded on www.youtube.com/johnpaul2, giving both those who missed the beatification, and those who saw it, a chance to witness the ceremony on YouTube.

The YouTube Team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/RS7PZNhLx4k/beatification-of-pope-john-paul-ii-to.html

[G] YouTube highlights 4/28/2011

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 05:21 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: YouTube highlights 4/28/2011

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.

Music, Mother Earth, flash mobs and royalty were all celebrated on YouTube in the past two weeks. Read on for more details.

A front row seat to the royal wedding
The much anticipated royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is finally here, and you have a front seat. Tune into the Royal Channel, the official YouTube channel of the British Monarchy, on April 29 to see the entire wedding celebration live. The live stream will begin at 10:00am BST (9:00am GMT, 2:00am PT, 5:00am ET) on Friday, April 29, and will follow the wedding procession, marriage ceremony at Westminster Abbey and balcony kiss. The Royal Channel will also feature live blog commentary of the event to give timely updates and insights as the day unfolds. If you can't watch the live event, footage will be shown in its entirety directly following the celebration and will be available in full on the site to view afterward.

From Brazil to the California desert, a celebration of music
Earlier this year, we took on the task of capturing the festivity, passion and celebration of Brazil's famed Carnaval. We live streamed six days of incredible festivities for the world, resulting in more than 11 million channel views to date. Continuing in that spirit of sharing world events more broadly, we helped expand the reach of California's Coachella Festival by live streaming the event. YouTube streamed more than 65 bands and three days of music on three separate channels, generating more than 60 million views during live and re-broadcast events. If you missed the events, you can still check out the magic of Carnaval or your favorite artists' Coachella performances at www.youtube.com/Carnaval and www.youtube.com/Coachella.



It's easy being green
In conjunction with Earth Day on April 22, we introduced YouTube Live Green, a guide to eco-living. With sponsor Garnier Fructis, we've curated videos on natural beauty tips, healthy menu options, recommendations on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle and other eco-friendly content to inform and inspire you. New videos will be featured each week from some of our top eco-friendly partners including Ehow, Planet Green, HGTV and National Geographic, so check back often!



This week in trends
Some quick highlights from YouTube Trends:
  • T-Mobile's "Royal Wedding Entrance" is averaging around 1 million views per day! Last week it was among our most shared videos, and just two weeks after it was posted, it's clocked 13 million views
  • In Syria, video captured incredible footage of reported violence and widespread protests
  • Tornadoes continue to ravage parts of the United States, and the footage continues to pour in. The latest comes from Tuscaloosa, Ala.
  • The flash mob phenomenon continues to be popular. We recently compiled the 10 most viewed flash mobs of all time
Until next time, stay on top of the world of video via the YouTube Blog.

Posted by Neha Mandal, Product Marketing Manager, The YouTube Team
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/youtube-highlights-4282011.html
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