Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] YouTube Town Hall: Where your views count

Posted: 18 May 2011 03:15 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: YouTube Town Hall: Where your views count

How would you vote if you focused purely on the ideas needed to make our country and our world a better place, rather than on the parties putting them forward? That's a question that the new YouTube Town Hall seeks to answer.


YouTube Town Hall is an online platform for members of Congress to virtually debate and discuss the most important issues of the day. You can select an issue, watch two short videos of members of congress expressing different perspectives on how to tackle this issue, and then support the one you agree with most. The most supported videos will be tracked on the YouTube Town Hall Leaderboard. After you watch the video, you'll find out which party the representative comes from—and sometimes you might be surprised.


The first issues up for debate—budget, economy, energy, Afghanistan, education and healthcare—are those that were among the most popular on Google News and Google search over the past year. You'll also have the opportunity to ask the questions you want members of Congress to answer. Every month, members of Congress will add new videos to the site answering a selection of the top-voted questions. So if you're interested in lowering gas prices, reforming the tax system or making college more affordable, ask now!




URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/qm_KBccbyK4/youtube-town-hall-where-your-views.html

[G] Expanding Google News for more variety and multimedia

Posted: 17 May 2011 11:02 PM PDT

Google News Blog: Expanding Google News for more variety and multimedia

Posted by Chase Hensel, Associate Product Manager, Google News

Every day, Google News crawls through thousands of news articles to present you with the most relevant and recent stories. For a long time, we've realized that bringing relevant news to the surface is only part of the puzzle—it should also be easy to scan for stories of interest and dig deeper when you find them.

The newly expandable stories on Google News in the U.S., released today, give you greater story diversity with less clutter.

Now you can easily see more content, see less of what you don't use and have a more streamlined experience:
  • Click-to-expand: Each story cluster is collapsed down to one headline with the exception of the top story. When something grabs you, click nearby anywhere but the title to expand the story box.
  • Labeled diversity: For stories you've expanded, you'll see genre labels for some of the additional articles that explain why they were chosen and how they add value. For example, you might see something labeled as an "Opinion" piece or an indication that an article is "In Depth."
  • Multimedia and more: Within each expanded story box, you'll find a sliding bar of videos and photos, links to related sections and easier-to-use sharing options, so you can quickly digest the sights and sounds of a news story, dig into different types of publications and share what you find interesting with one click.
  • Personalized top stories: The Top Stories section is expanded to six or more stories from three to give you more topic diversity. The first three stories remain unpersonalized and the same as before. The rest may be personalized based on your interests. To personalize your Google News experience you can click on "Edit" under "News for you." You can choose the "Standard Edition" if you don't want personalization.
  • Less is more: The default view is now the popular "One Column" (formerly "Section") view. We merged List View into Top Stories, as described above. You can still switch to "Two Column" view, which resembles classic Google News.

We hope you like these changes—please share your feedback and visit our Help Center to learn more.
URL: http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/expanding-google-news-for-more-variety.html

[G] Showing the display URL domain in the headline for select ads on Google

Posted: 17 May 2011 07:51 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Showing the display URL domain in the headline for select ads on Google

In an AdWords ad, the display URL may be last, but it's certainly not least. In fact, the display URL can be an important deciding factor in whether a user clicks on your ad.

That's why, starting today, we'll automatically show your display URL domain in the headline for select top placement ads on Google. As a result, your brand will be featured more prominently in your ad, and you can use the text in the headline to highlight other information. Potential customers, on the other hand, will be able to more easily identify the site to which they'll be taken after they click on your ad.

Before

After

When shown in the headline, the display URL will be separated from the rest of the text by a vertical bar and will include only the domain, not the "www." prefix or any subdirectories. Your display URL will also continue to appear as normal below the description line. Of course, if the headline already contains your domain, we won't display it again. Finally, it's possible for the display URL domain to appear in addition to a description line that is promoted to the headline, as long as the resulting headline is sixty-eight characters or less.

This is a global launch that affects all countries and languages. For more information, please visit our Help Center.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/05/showing-display-url-domain-in-headline.html

[G] Exploring space with Google

Posted: 17 May 2011 03:15 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Exploring space with Google

Cross-posted from the Google Students Blog

Update: The live interview with the crew of the Endeavour will stream at 6 AM Eastern time on Thursday at youtube.com/pbsnewshour. That's 11 AM in London, 12 PM for much of Europe, and 3 AM on the West Coast of the United States. Don't worry, it'll be up soon after for later viewing.

At Google, we're never afraid to think big, and our mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful doesn't stop at our exosphere. The universe is full of information, and as we push the boundaries of exploration, our job will be to organize it and make it searchable.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone out there that we have a passion for space. Google's culture of innovation stems from our pioneering quest for knowledge; each one of us is empowered to think differently, break the limits, and take intelligent risks. Googlers are scientists, engineers, technologists, space enthusiasts; I have yet to meet a Googler who didn't share the spirit of exploration.

In partnership with NASA, and PBS, YouTube and Google Moderator will pose your questions to the crew of STS-134, the final mission of the space Shuttle Endeavour, in a live interview emceed by stellar talent (another space joke!) Miles O'Brien.

To mark the occasion, we put together this video to celebrate our love for space, told with the help of products we pour our hearts into every day. You'll see everything from historical sky maps featured in Google Earth, to 3D buildings at Kennedy Space Center, and our salute to both the astounding achievement of the Apollo era and the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a new space race of entrepreneurial leadership.


With our main campus less than a mile away from the NASA Ames Research Center, it seemed natural that our organizations should strike up a relationship and find ways to work together. Over the years, we have collaborated with our NASA colleagues on some amazing projects, and are very proud of the joint work and collaboration that have contributed to our space products, such as Moon and Mars in Google Earth. Most importantly, the longstanding friendship between our organizations means we can use our skills to complement each other, and bring people together around the globe. Literally. When we say around the globe, we mean....around the globe. With an altitude of roughly 200 miles, and orbiting at about 17,500 miles per hour! (I crack myself up with my space jokes.)

We hope you love the video as much as we do; it's our way of making space exploration open and accessible to everyone. Happy viewing, and keep exploring!

Posted by Tiffany Montague, Intergalactic Federation King Almighty and Commander of the Universe
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/05/exploring-space-with-google.html

[G] Google Map Maker on Campus

Posted: 17 May 2011 03:15 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Google Map Maker on Campus


As part of the recent US Map Maker launch, the Map Maker Community team has begun a series of campus visits across the US.

Our first stop was the University of California at Berkeley, where we gave students and faculty a chance to learn about Google Map Maker and work with Map Maker team members in person to map their campus.


Even though the map of Berkeley and the UC Berkeley Campus on Google Maps were already well mapped, students still identified many opportunities to add their local knowledge to the map. Edits included moving location markers, tracing building boundaries, and adding names of campus dorms. The Google Map Maker community team was on site to guide these new mappers and note their thoughtful feedback.


Participants were excited about making corrections and contributions to the map in their area, particularly the U.C. Berkeley campus, and seeing the edits they made appear on the monitor that had been set up on the big screen at the front of the room to show real-time mapping.

Everyone has local knowledge they can add to the map. Help us make your school look even better! Check out your college campus at mapmaker.google.com and leave your mark on the map by drawing walking paths, adding details to your school's buildings, and more.

For more information on how to get started and to connect with other mappers, check out the Google Map Maker community forum. You can also reach out to the Map Maker community team at mapping@google.com.

Happy Mapping!

Posted by Andrew Kornblatt, Map Maker Community Team
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-map-maker-on-campus.html

[G] Google Transit goes to Washington

Posted: 17 May 2011 03:15 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Google Transit goes to Washington

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]

Every day, many thousands of commuters, locals, and tourists ride public transit in Washington, D.C. To help all of these transit riders find their way around the metro area, today we're making comprehensive information about D.C.'s public transportation available on Google Transit.

In partnership with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), we're adding all of D.C.'s Metro and bus stations, stops and routes, as well as connections to other transit systems in nearby cities. You can find this information on Google Maps as well as Google Maps for mobile—no matter where you are, you can get to where you're going. With Google Transit, D.C. metro-area commuters—including those in Baltimore, Montgomery and Jefferson counties—may discover a quicker route to work, while visitors can easily make their way from Reagan National Airport straight to the Smithsonian.


Public transportation is a vital part of city infrastructure and can help alleviate congestion and reduce emissions. But planning your trip on public transit can be challenging, especially when there are multiple transit agencies and you need to use information from multiple sources to figure out the best route. With mapping tools like the transit feature, we're working to make that easier.

Directions are also available on Google Maps for mobile—so if you're graduating from GWU and want to meet some friends in Adams Morgan to celebrate, it's as easy as pulling out your phone. If you're using an Android device, for example, search for [Adams Morgan] in Google Maps, click on the Places result and select "Directions." Switch to Transit in the upper-left corner and find out which bus gets you there fastest.


Wherever your journey takes you, whether using public transit, driving, biking or walking, we hope Google Transit directions in D.C. make finding your way a little easier.

Posted by Noam Ben Haim, Product Manager, Google Maps
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-transit-goes-to-washington.html

[G] Showcase your business with a 360-degree perspective

Posted: 17 May 2011 03:15 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Showcase your business with a 360-degree perspective


When I'm looking for a restaurant in San Francisco, I always browse photos to see if the ambiance is right for the occasion. With our Business Photos pilot, we've been photographing businesses, with their permission, to highlight the qualities that make their locations stand out. In addition to the photos that business owners can upload directly through Google Places, these photos help potential customers get a better view of the decor, merchandise, food, and more on each business' Place page.

Gruhn Guitars Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

We've also been taking 360-degree photography to help businesses owners showcase their locations further, and starting today you can experience that panoramic perspective for select businesses in the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

This experience, using Street View technology, includes 360-degree imagery of the business interior and storefront. With this immersive imagery, potential customers can easily imagine themselves at the business and decide if they want to visit in person.

Tenkai, Kyoto, Japan

We're now starting to make these images available through the Place pages of select businesses we've photographed. When 360-degree imagery of a business is available, you'll see an arrow appear over the thumbnail Street View image on that business' Place page. Press the arrow to preview the storefront or interior, then click on the thumbnail to see the image in Street View.

Storefront thumbnail for Susan Avery Flowers and Event Styling in Australia

With this pilot, you'll begin to see additional photo experiences on the Place pages of a growing number of businesses. As additional imagery becomes available for more locations in the coming months, you'll also be able to enter the interior perspective of businesses directly from the Street View images of nearby roads on Google Maps.

We're continuing this program with businesses in select cities in the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, UK, South Korea, and France. If you would like to highlight your business to Google Maps users, please visit the Business Photos site to learn more and apply.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/05/showcase-your-business-with-360-degree.html

[G] Sign up for the Geo Teachers Institute

Posted: 17 May 2011 03:15 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Sign up for the Geo Teachers Institute

For years, Google's geo products have been identified as a powerful learning toolkit that can help students conceptualize, visualize, share, and communicate information about the world around them.

This fall, we will host two Google Geo Teachers Institutes: September 23 and 24, 2011 in Washington DC at National Geographic Headquarters and September 26 and 27, 2011 at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College in Lewiston, Maine.

This event is a free professional development experience designed to help educators get the most from Google's geo products and technologies. The Geo Teachers Institute is an intensive, two-day event where participants get hands-on experience using Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp, including a focus on features like Ocean, Mars, Moon and Sky in Google Earth.

Attendees will learn about innovative instructional strategies and receive resources to share with colleagues. The Google Geo Education team hopes this event will empower educators to bring the world's geographic information to students in a compelling, fresh, and fun way.

If you are interested, please complete this application. You will be notified if you are selected by August 15, 2011. Even if you can't make it to this event, we have many online resources available for Google Earth and SketchUp and encourage you to check them out.

Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education Program Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/05/sign-up-for-geo-teachers-institute.html

[G] Google Translate: the remix

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:58 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Google Translate: the remix

When we built Google Translate we thought it was a cool tool, but we have to admit we had fairly straightforward ideas about what it would be useful for (lowering language barriers and making more web content available to people around the world). As with many inventions, though, it turns out people have found uses for the tool that we never imagined. Recently, two clever Translate trends caught our eye—perhaps one of them will inspire you to come up with a fun Translate trick of your own.

First, some creative folks translated strings of consonants into German to create a new beatboxing tool. The phrase "pv zk bschk" didn't initially make much sense to us, but a quick listen got us nodding our heads along to the beat.



Now it seems there's a similar trend in Taiwan: using the spoken output of Google Translate as the vocals for self-composed songs or video spoofs. Recently, a video called "Google Translate Song" ratcheted up over half a million views and became one of the most popular YouTube videos in Taiwan this month.



Whether you're laying down your next track, ordering take-out or communing with animals, we hope you're having as much fun using Translate as we have building it.

Posted by Jeff Chin, Product Manager, Google Translate
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-translate-remix.html

[G] Future female engineers come together in the Technovation Challenge

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:58 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Future female engineers come together in the Technovation Challenge

(Cross-posted on the Students Blog)

I was only 12 years old when I was introduced to BASIC, my first programming language, and it influenced my entire career path. Now working as a female engineer in a male-dominated industry, I recognize the importance of getting women interested in science and technology at a young age. In March, I decided to get involved as a mentor in the Technovation Challenge—an outreach program that gives high school girls a chance to explore computer science and engineering as well as grow their confidence and entrepreneurial skills while being guided by women mentors in the field.

The Technovation Challenge is a nine-week course for teams of high school girls to design a mobile app prototype, write a business plan and pitch their proposal to a panel of judges—which includes tech leaders and VCs—at one of many events held around the country.

One of the biggest obstacles in getting students involved in computing is the technical expertise that's usually needed to program software. So I was excited to learn that App Inventor for Android, which makes it easy for anyone to create mobile apps for Android-powered devices, would be part of the Challenge this year. Rather than reading about CS, the girls were able to directly participate in engineering to quickly prototype mobile apps, without getting bogged down by the nitty-gritty of programming. Whether the girls were brainstorming ideas for their apps, fleshing out their business plans or hacking away at their prototypes, I was inspired by their creativity and determination.

A team of girls build their mobile prototype using Android App Inventor

At the regional pitch night in Mountain View in April, I was floored by not only my team's presentations, but by all 50 girls competing. It was hard to believe that these confident young women—with their solid business plans and app prototypes—had joined the program just nine weeks ago with no background in entrepreneurship or programming. My team pitched a social education app—a chemistry-based game like Jeopardy! that students can play with friends in order to prepare for tests.

This Saturday, May 21, marks the culmination of the program, when the regional winners will convene on our Mountain View campus for the national pitch night. Here, they'll compete to have their app professionally developed and distributed on the Android Marketplace by demoing their prototypes, presenting their business plans and ultimately convincing industry leaders that their startup is worth investing in.

The Technovation Challenge tackles the computing world's gender gap head on, giving girls early exposure to tech in a fun, engaging environment that develops their skills and confidence. I'm proud to mentor high school girls interested in engineering and technology, and I hope their experience in this program today will inspire them to become the tech leaders of tomorrow.

Posted by Shubhie Panicker, Software Engineer and Technovation Challenge mentor
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/future-female-engineers-come-together.html

[G] Pivot Tables now in Google spreadsheets

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Pivot Tables now in Google spreadsheets

Over the past few months, we've released a string of new features in Google Docs to give your business more tools for collaborative document editing and data analysis. From simpler file uploads to discussions and mobile editing in documents, we're making it easier for you and your colleagues to work together on the web. Continuing with this effort, we're launching pivot tables in Google spreadsheets, which will be rolled out to all Rapid Release users over the next 24 hours.

With pivot tables, you can quickly narrow down large data sets to get high level insights. Say you run a retail chain and you have thousands of rows of sales data broken down by purchase. It could be helpful for you and your sales manager to view the total annual revenue for each region without having to enter multiple formulas. In a matter of seconds, you can create a pivot table and summarize all of your data according to the factors you specify, all while collaborating with your sales manager on the spreadsheet.

To see how pivot tables work in Google spreadsheets, check out this video:



We hope pivot tables in Google spreadsheets will help you save time analyzing your data. For more details on using pivot tables, take a look at our post on the Google Docs Blog.

Posted by Josh Danziger, Software Engineer
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/pivot-tables-now-in-google-spreadsheets.html

[G] Google Joins Cloud2 Commission Examining Cloud Computing

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Joins Cloud2 Commission Examining Cloud Computing

Posted by Sarah Falvey, Sr. Policy Analyst, Google

At Google, we believe the Internet is a rich platform for innovation and that when organizations fully adopt online services (what we call "100% web") they dramatically improve productivity and reduce their costs. In order to advance these interests, we work closely with similarly minded groups to advance this common goal and to enable innovation.

To that end, we are excited to participate in the TechAmerica Foundation's recently formed Commission on the Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud (CLOUD2). The Commission's three-month mandate is to provide the Obama Administration with recommendations for how the U.S. Government could help drive American innovation in the cloud. This comes on the heels of the Administration's "Cloud First" policy, an important first step in helping the federal government take advantage of the benefits cloud computing has to offer. The Commission will make recommendations to the U.S. Government on ways to spur the adoption of cloud computing and to address policies that hinder U.S. leadership in the commercial space. We're supporting the efforts of two CLOUD2 working groups: the first works on facilitating the flow of information between countries, and the second deals with security in the cloud.

With Google Apps, we are investing in technologies that help businesses, educational institutions and governments be productive with a 100% web approach. We're committed to minimizing barriers to adoption of the cloud by the public sector. Additionally, we hope to promote the development of technology-neutral, non-proprietary and interoperable standards to ensure that the benefits offered by cloud computing are fully realized.

For these reasons, we're excited to support TechAmerica's efforts in this important area and look forward to working with other industry players to further the adoption of cloud computing.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-joins-cloud2-commission.html

[G] Introducing TRUSTe data privacy certification for Apps Marketplace apps

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Introducing TRUSTe data privacy certification for Apps Marketplace apps

Posted by Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead

Over a year ago, we created the Google Apps Marketplace to help you easily discover, evaluate, and deploy integrated web applications for your business or school. In that time, many of you have told us that evaluating apps can be particularly tricky, as you need to consider questions like:
  • who already uses the app, and why do they like it (or not)?
  • will the app's features address my particular needs?
  • can I trust the vendor who created the app with my data?

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to answer these questions. For example, we offer verified app reviews to highlight comments from customers who we know to be using the app.

Today we're announcing a feature designed to help address the trust question — a TRUSTe administered data privacy certification program for Marketplace apps. TRUSTe has created a certification program for installable Marketplace apps to verify that they clearly communicate their data handling and privacy practices. This program, which is optional for vendors, displays a green TRUSTe logo on a certified app's Marketplace listing page as well as search results pages. The logo links then to a certification summary with more specific information about the app.



TRUSTe certification makes it easier for you, as a buyer, to verify the following about an app:
  • the vendor has been contacted and certified by TRUSTe personnel
  • the purpose for data collection and sharing, and the security used for sharing (https)
  • there is an easy-to-read privacy policy available

Since certification is optional, the absence of a TRUSTe seal does not imply the app has unacceptable or difficult-to-understand practices for data handling and privacy. In fact, the program just launched today, so most apps have not yet applied for certification.

If you have additional questions about what this particular certification covers, please see the TRUSTe customer FAQ. If you're a vendor with installable Marketplace apps and are interested in certification, please review the application process.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-truste-data-privacy.html

[G] Google Commerce Search Arrives in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Commerce Search Arrives in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands

Posted by Erik De Muinck Keizer, Head of Enterprise Search, EMEA

For the past 18 months, retailers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Japan, and France have benefited from a better search and browse experience on their e-commerce sites, powered by Google. Retailers such as Woodcraft.com, BabyAge.com, and HealthWarehouse.com implemented Google Commerce Search on their respective websites. As a result, Woodcraft increased search revenues 34%, BabyAge increased site searches 64% and HealthWarehouse saw online conversions increase 19%—and all have reported an increase in customer satisfaction. Similarly, many prominent global retailers like L'Occitane en Provence and Forever 21 have pre-announced their implementation of Google Commerce Search or recently gone live with GCS on their mobile websites.

We're delighted to be expanding our international presence by announcing that Google Commerce Search is now available in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Key benefits include:

  • A rich shopping experience: Provide the same interactive shopping experience found on only the top retail websites. Google Commerce Search includes features such as instant results that display with every keystroke, automated product recommendations, spell-checker, synonyms and many enhancements to come.
  • The most effective merchandising: Automate promotion of cross-sells and up-sells across your site and highlight related content without the need for an entire engineering team to manually tweak and optimize your shopping experience.
  • A powerful management suite: Our all-encompassing customization tools enable flexibility and control so that your business can adapt to changing requirements more quickly and at lower cost.
  • Mobile compatibility: Provide a fast, relevant and mobile-friendly shopping experience from any device.

If you're a global retailer already using Google Commerce Search, the full capabilities of our product are immediately available for your Italian, Spanish, and Dutch language websites. If you're a retailer who would like to take advantage of capabilities like the ones mentioned above, visit www.google.com/commercesearch.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-commerce-search-arrives-in-italy.html

[G] Celebrating small businesses and integrated, easy-to-use web tools

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Celebrating small businesses and integrated, easy-to-use web tools


Posted by Joanne Schneider, Google Apps Small Business Team

In honor of National Small Business Week, we'd like to take time this week to share ways that Google Apps and the Google Apps Marketplace can help small businesses work more productively and efficiently.

Today, we're highlighting a few of the Small Business Web apps in the Google Apps Marketplace, and how our customers run their businesses on them every day. Google shares the Small Business Web's dedication to providing tools that have enterprise-grade functionality, as well as align with small businesses' priorities.

Apps that work together
Particularly for companies without a dedicated IT team or person, the list of necessary business tools can quickly become unmanageable. Web apps that provide deep integrations with Google Apps and with each other are especially useful for growing businesses that don't have time to manage multiple, distinct applications.

Olark lets customers live chat with website visitors directly from the Gmail interface through Google Talk, and provides easy access to chat transcripts. Peter Macaulay of KitchenwareDirect.com.au says, "The ability to live chat with customers without leaving the Google Apps interface is a huge productivity advantage. The simple and elegant implementation meant we were up and running in a matter of minutes. Staff members are easily able to set their availability for chat, enabling them to easily multi-task."

WORKetc is another app that makes Gmail into the front end workspace, but for CRM, project management, and customer support. It let's you easily share emails related to particular projects with relevant team members without forwarding or copying other email addresses. D. Hogan of Varis Energy says, "Any emails that need to be shared with my team get tagged in the WORKetc gadget that is built right into Gmail. This immediately lets everyone else who is assigned to a project or lead have access to the new information from the received email."

Access all the time
As compared to larger businesses, small businesses are even less suited to managing servers, and tend to have many employees on the road or in non-office locations. Accessing their data and documents from anywhere, on any Internet-connected device is a core benefit of using web-based tools like Google Docs. OfficeDrop digitizes paper documents to make them text-searchable in Google Docs. Greg Skidmore of Belpointe Asset Management says, "Each month we send a box of paper files to OfficeDrop and have them scanned directly into Google Docs. If I have a document that I need scanned right away, I use OfficeDrop's scanning software, ScanDrop, and upload it immediately."

Easy to Use
Small business owners and employees often wear a lot of hats and they've asked for solutions that are easy to learn and use. Michael Bower of Michael Bower Digital says, "I always need to know where my money is, without wasting time organizing my paperwork. As my business grew, I was losing control of my cashflow. Both Google Apps and FreshBooks have just enough features to keep my workflow and invoicing organized, allowing me to focus on my work."

These are just a few examples of the many Small Business Web app vendors in the Google Apps Marketplace who provide the functionality and integrations a small business needs. Over 30 Google Apps Marketplace apps have already joined the Small Business Web and declared their commitment to helping small businesses focus on what they do best. They include:

Finance
Bill.com
billFLO
EchoSign
Expensify
FreeAgent
Freshbooks
Harvest
Kashoo
Outright
Shoeboxed
CRM
Assistly
Batchbook CRM
Capsule CRM
Connect2Field
Disqourse CRM
Get Satisfaction
PipelineDeals
SAManage
Solve360 CRM
Tactile CRM
WorkETC
Doc Management
Box.net
FormLizard
OfficeDrop


Collaboration
MindMeister
Teambox
uberVU
YoolinkPro
Sales and Marketing
Mailchimp
Olark
SiteKreator
VerticalResponse
zferral
We celebrate National Small Business Week to recognize the importance of small businesses for promoting a healthy economy, and we're excited to help them continue to grow and succeed through the smart use of technology.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/celebrating-small-businesses-and.html

[G] New computers for the browser-based world

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: New computers for the browser-based world

Posted by Rajen Sheth, Group Product Manager, Chrome for Business

Today at Google I/O we unveiled the first Chromebooks. These mobile devices are a new kind of computer designed specifically for people who live in the browser. Chromebooks are made for people seeking uncompromising speed, simplicity and security, while providing features that will delight the IT department, too. For businesses and schools, we're offering a subscription that includes the Chromebook, a web-based management console and 24/7 support from Google starting at $28 per month for businesses and $20 per month for schools.1

The concurrent rise of cloud computing and powerful devices like smartphones and tablets is dramatically changing the way we work. But to date the innovation has stopped at the PC. We still worry about crashes, long boot times, software incompatibilities, endless program updates, outdated hardware, viruses, and all the other headaches associated with a personal computer. What's more, managing a PC is expensive when you include setup, maintenance and security - not to mention the lost productivity when things break. According to Gartner Research, the total cost for a desktop computer is between about $3,300 and $5,800 per year and laptops can cost even more.2

Chromebooks relieve these pains. They boot in 8 seconds, resume instantly and have WiFi and optional 3G so that users can always stay connected. Since Chromebooks update automatically, the software gets better over time, delivering the latest features as soon as they are released. Chromebooks are the first PCs designed with ongoing security threats in mind, which is critical for businesses. Chromebooks employ the principle of "defense in depth" to provide multiple layers of protection, including sandboxing, data encryption, and verified boot - to help keep your organization safe.

We also recognize that organizations want to centrally manage their Chromebooks, so we're happy to announce we're making this easy, with the ability to control accounts, applications and devices from a single web-based console. The new Chromebooks pricing model and simple, central maintenance means that Chromebooks are far more cost-effective than traditional PCs. Companies can save thousands of dollars per employee each year!

The browser is the platform
Chromebooks arrive as the browser is rapidly replacing the desktop as the platform for business applications. 85% of new software vendors will be focused on developing web-based apps by next year, and pretty much all software innovation takes place in the browser today.3 Typically businesses would have to rewrite or repurchase applications when moving to another operating system – not with Chrome OS! Chromebooks work with your existing web apps, browser-based apps behind the firewall and we even have a solution for your desktop applications via our collaboration with Citrix. By navigating to an HTML5-based version of Citrix Receiver, users can access virtualized applications such as Adobe® Photoshop® right from the browser.

We believe that a combination of web and virtualized apps will suit most business users today; in fact, a recent survey we commissioned found that two-thirds of companies could already switch the majority of their employees to an exclusively browser-based computing environment.4

What we learned from the pilot program
Since December more than 50,000 organizations have applied to our pilot program for testing Chromebooks. Participants ranged from the Intercontinental Hotels Group, Logitech® and MeadWestvaco to KIPP Academy and the City of Orlando. We heard from sales managers that the long battery life and integrated 3G helped them work more often from more places. Teachers told us that fast boot times and a reliable operating system meant more time to teach not troubleshoot. And IT administrators reported that Chromebooks were easier to manage and reduced security concerns, especially around viruses and the loss of sensitive data.

How to get your Chromebooks
Starting today, businesses and schools can contact Google regarding Chromebooks for Business and Education. This hardware and software as a service includes the Chromebooks themselves, a web-based management console to remotely manage users, applications and policies, full enterprise support, device warranties and replacements and regular hardware refreshes. Initially Chromebook subscriptions will be available in the US, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain, and we'll be bringing them to other countries soon.

Learn more about Chromebooks for Business and how pilot customers are using them.

You can also join us for a live webinar on Chromebooks for Business and Education on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 9 AM Pacific Time. Register here.


1Plus applicable taxes and other fees, subject to change without prior notice.
2Gartner Research, 2010. "Desktop Total Cost of Ownership: 2011 Update"
3IDC, 2010. "Worldwide Software as a Service 2010–2014 Forecast: Software Will Never Be the Same."
4Google-commissioned 2011 Hall & Partners online survey of over 400 IT decision makers.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-computers-for-browser-based-world.html

[G] Summarize your data with pivot tables

Posted: 17 May 2011 01:07 PM PDT

Docs Blog: Summarize your data with pivot tables

Starting today, we're rolling out pivot tables in Google spreadsheets. Pivot tables make it easy to process and summarize large data sets in seconds. Check out the video below for a look at how pivot tables work in Google spreadsheets:



In essence, a pivot table does just that -- it allows you to "pivot" or rotate data, thus looking at it from different angles and seeing a variety of patterns which may not be immediately obvious. Let's take a very simple example of a list of students. This list includes a number of students and some information about them, including gender, class level, and major.


To create a pivot table, select your data and go to Data > Pivot Table Report. In the pivot table report editor, you can add fields to set your rows, columns, and values and can drag and drop the fields around within the editor. Here, we've used pivot tables to display the number of students in each class level by gender.


Fields in the Values section can be summarized using built-in formulas to sum, count, or otherwise calculate your data. In the example above the number of students in each class level was summarized via a simple count.


The filter section lets you specify exactly what data you want to be included in the pivot table. For example, we can choose to only count the students in certain extracurricular activities.


With each change, the pivot table is updated in real-time for both you and any collaborators. If you prefer to make changes in batches, you can switch to manual mode. In this mode, your changes won't be saved until you select Update table.

You can try pivot tables out for yourself using this template or by using your own data set. Please note that pivot tables from Microsoft Excel can't be uploaded to Google spreadsheets at this time.

We hope you'll enjoy exploring pivot tables in Google spreadsheets and that they'll save you time analyzing your data. Check out our help content for even more examples.

Posted by: Matt Ziegelbaum, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/05/summarize-your-data-with-pivot-tables.html

[G] Music Tuesday: Danger Mouse’s Rome project, an introduction to videosongs and more

Posted: 17 May 2011 07:18 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Music Tuesday: Danger Mouse's Rome project, an introduction to videosongs and more

This week on youtube.com/music, we're thinking about film and music. The two art forms have a love affair dating back to the 1890s, when piano players were hired to cover up the clattering noise of the film projector. Over the years that relationship has transformed; we now think of film and music as inseparable. This week, we profile two innovative and very different projects that are putting video and music on equal artistic footing -- and we bring you one album premiere!

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi curate the homepage
You know Danger Mouse. Maybe you've heard his Grey Album, which artfully mashed up Jay-Z's Black Album and The Beatles' White Album to near-universal acclaim. Maybe you know him as one-half of super-duo Gnarls Barkley. Or perhaps you dig Broken Bells? His restless creativity has found a lot of outlets over the years, but when he teamed up with Italian composer Daniele Luppi for his latest project, the focus quickly turned cinematic. The duo share a love of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western soundtracks, and with the help of Jack White and Norah Jones, they turned that love into a spacious, absorbing and slightly mysterious album. Then they took it a step further, inviting director Chris Milk to create a groundbreaking and beautiful interactive web video. (Type ro.me into a Chrome browser to see what they've done.) Luppi and the Mouse curate YouTube's homepage today with their favorite Chris Milk films.



VideoSongs: creativity gone wild
If Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi have inspired boundary-pushing video experiments, "videosong" makers are actually dissolving the boundaries between song and video. The videosong has two rules: first, what you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). Second, if you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds). The duo Pomplamoose are now well-known for their charming experiments in this realm, but an entire world of creators has popped up around the form. Whether they're incorporating skate park videos as percussion instruments or adeptly covering Radiohead, this rapidly burgeoning scene is ground zero for music/video innovation on YouTube. Check it out now!



SMOD album premiere
You probably haven't heard of SMOD, but here's why you care about them: Manu Chao produced their album, and one member is the son of Mali's pioneering blind musical duo Amadou & Mariam. So if you like African pop with a bit of hip-hop in its jaws, this album is for you. Sunny pop, ringing guitars, harmonizing singers...just a little bit of summer, before summer officially starts.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched "Diego Stocco - Music from a Bonsai."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/WTSO8gc_R4I/music-tuesday-danger-mouses-rome.html

[G] Google’s 2010 U.S. Economic Impact

Posted: 17 May 2011 06:59 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Google's 2010 U.S. Economic Impact

This week is National Small Business Week, an opportunity to celebrate the spirit and ingenuity of small businesses like Everblue, a start-up in North Carolina.

Everblue was founded in 2008 by veterans Chris and Jon Boggiano along with fellow entrepreneur Grant McGregor. The brothers' goal was to make the U.S. more energy independent by helping people get certified in sustainable building practices. With old-fashioned hard work and some help from Google AdWords, their business has quadrupled in size. They now have 80 full time employees and instructors, and this year alone they'll train tens of thousands of people—architects, engineers, electricians and others—to build smarter and greener.

Chris and Jon Boggiano, veterans and co-founders of Everblue, a training institute for sustainable building.

Today we're announcing that Google provided $64 billion of economic activity to businesses, website publishers and non-profits in 2010. This is an 18% increase from the economic impact total in 2009. Here's how it works: for every $1 a business spends on Google AdWords, they receive an average of $8 in profit through Google Search and AdWords.

We're proud that Everblue and over one million American businesses use our advertising services to tell consumers about their products and services. Learn more at google.com/economicimpact.

Posted by Claire Hughes Johnson, Vice President, Global Online Sales
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/googles-2010-us-economic-impact.html
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