Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Fast-tracking young web developers at CSSI

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Fast-tracking young web developers at CSSI

Every summer, we run a range of educational outreach programs designed to get students of all ages excited about technology. Our Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) is focused around incoming college freshmen who are considering a computer science major, particularly those groups traditionally underrepresented in the field. Last year the program was so successful that 24 of 29 students declared a major in Computer Science. So this year we decided to run CSSI twice.



For each session, we invited nearly 30 young developers with little to no prior programming experience to the Googleplex for an intense three-week course in web application development. Unlike traditional introductory computer science programs, which are largely theoretical, CSSI enables students to gain a better understanding of software engineering through immediate participation. The goal is to give the students the tools they need to create exciting technical solutions now, which in turn gives them the confidence to take their ideas and turn them into reality.



We wanted to equip students with a comprehensive toolset to tackle the world of web and mobile applications. In the first two weeks of the program we introduced students to App Inventor for Android, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, Django and App Engine. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but the students far surpassed our expectations and demanded more. In the final week of the program, they built some spectacular web applications, inspiring us with their passion and their enthusiasm for experimentation. They wrote online games, embedded Google Calendar's self-scheduler onto their websites and built blogging services. Some even began exploring the nitty-gritty details of computer graphics. Every one of our 56 students had the satisfaction of developing a publicly-available service on the web, hosted on Google's servers.



Moreover, the development process was deeply social: we emphasized and facilitated group work, helping students build a network of peers with a shared passion for technology. Google engineers served as mentors, and when we discovered that the students were so excited about their lessons that they continued to work on their projects in the evenings, mentors teamed up with them on Google+ Hangouts, using video conferencing and Google Docs to debug programs collaboratively online.



While both sessions of CSSI 2011 are now over, we'll be accepting applications for the 2012 sessions early next year, so stay tuned! Our goal with our education programs isn't just to strengthen the study of computer science—we also want to enable rewarding collaboration among Google's engineers and usability researchers, educators and the community at large. CSSI is one way to show young people how valuable teamwork can be and encourage them to take that spirit of cooperation back with them to their personal and academic lives.



How do we know we're on the right track? Not even three days after the end of the first session, a student posted the following message on Google+: "Five weeks before school starts, anyone interested in starting up a new web project?"



She had six eager recruits within the hour.



Posted by Radha Narayan, Software Engineer, Google Search Team
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/fast-tracking-young-web-developers-at.html

[G] Scholarships for aspiring journalists from Google, the AP and ONA

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Scholarships for aspiring journalists from Google, the AP and ONA

(Cross-posted on the Google Student Blog)

Consider the following:
  • Are you an undergraduate or graduate student in the U.S. with new ideas about news? 
  • Have you already created original journalistic content with computer science elements? 
  • Do you find yourself brainstorming different ways of telling stories and covering your community news using technology?
If you responded with a resounding "yes" to any of the above questions, then the new AP-Google Journalism and Technology Scholarship may be perfect for you.

To further encourage and enable innovation from classrooms and dorm rooms alike, we're announcing a new scholarship program with the Associated Press that will provide $20,000 scholarships for the 2012-2013 academic year to six promising students pursuing or planning to pursue degrees at the intersection of journalism and technology.

While we're underwriting the scholarships in partnership with the AP, the Online News Association will be responsible for administering the program and managing the selection process. We support a variety of scholarships aimed at giving students from historically underrepresented groups experience in the technology industry, and a key goal of this program will be to promote geographic, gender and ethnic diversity, with an emphasis on rural and urban areas.

Whether you're exploring data visualizations, 3D storytelling, digital ethics or something else entirely, as ONA's executive director Jane McDonnell says, "our hope is to shine a light on the hidden treasures in schools across the country—the digital-minded journalists who will be the future of our industry."

Help us shine a light in your direction—applications are open until January 27, 2012. We hope this program inspires today's students as they become leaders showcasing what's possible through digital journalism, and we look forward to celebrating the scholarship winners at the 2012 ONA conference in San Francisco.

Posted by Nilka Thomas, Manager, Global Diversity & Inclusion Programs
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/scholarships-for-aspiring-journalists.html

[G] The City of Calgary does more with less for citizens through a new search-centric website

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: The City of Calgary does more with less for citizens through a new search-centric website

Posted by David Watson, Executive Project Sponsor for Calgary.ca for The City of Calgary.



Editors note: Today's guest blogger is David Watson, executive project sponsor for calgary.ca for The City of Calgary. He sponsored a sweeping program to bring greater efficiencies to operations and provide enhanced and broader services to citizens. At its heart is a new search-centric website launched today, and powered by the Google Search Appliance.



Many municipalities today are under increasing pressure to reduce overhead while providing a wide array of services to citizens. In The City of Calgary, we looked to the Internet to enable us to provide enhanced citizen services as efficiently as possible. Our research showed several interesting facts:

- Over 93% of Calgarians use the Internet.

- Only 18% of traffic came directly to our home page - 55% of people came from search engines, primarily Google.

- Citizens want to interact with us online, instead of spending time on the phone or in-person - 60% noted better convenience, such as not having to drive to a city facility. Others noted speed and 24/7 availability.

- More than 40% of Calgary citizens said they wanted more services online.



Our public-facing web presence, which has 16,000 pages of content, across 28 business units, with a wide variety of applications, functionality, documents and information for our citizens, handled 9 million visits in 2010. The major drawback was that the information was difficult to find.



Forty-seven percent of Calgary citizens surveyed reported that the incumbent search engine on Calgary.ca did not work well. It required knowledge of city acronyms and terminology, something many citizens, understandably, don't possess. Our content and our site was cluttered, out-of-date, and difficult to weed through. We struggled with maintenance as individual business units continued to add to our already packed site.



In response, we formed the Web Leadership and Renewal Program in 2007. Among the chief goals was to provide citizens with easy-to-use search and better access to city programs and services. This led us to create an entirely new, search-centric site which was first concepted and tested in November 2009, and finally launched today.



The Google Search Appliance (GSA) is the cornerstone of this new site and our efforts to improve access to services and programs and increase government efficiency. It is linked to a content management system, ESRI for interactive mapping, and to websites such as calgarymayor.ca to provide a holistic, integrated search experience.



Now, citizens can search for everything from YouTube videos on saving water to animal services and permit information, and they can easily serve themselves by finding answers to everyday questions. Calgary.ca is just as easy and effective as searching on Google.com. The search-based concept lets Calgarians type in common keywords or phrases to find what they need, without specific knowledge of city acronyms or terminology.



We can conserve phone and in-person resources for more complex requests and apply valuable government resources more strategically. Citizens benefit from the convenience of finding most of what they need online. They can avoid unnecessary driving and parking fees and have 24/7 access.



Certain search features of the GSA were very important to us. Topping the list were best bets, synonyms, and spelling correction. Related searches and content rating were also vital, as well as the ability to easily promote the relevance of a search result based on its popularity. The Google Search Appliance provided all of these capabilities, plus it had a reputation for being very easy to install and maintain.



Citizens are rapidly adopting search now. Early metrics show that only 4% of visits to the old calgary.ca used the internal search engine. In comparison, 65% of visitors to the new calgary.ca used the the GSA, and the search results page is the second most visited page after the home page.



Ultimately, our job is to provide city services as efficiently as possible. We strive to do more with less. By making the right content easy to retrieve, citizens get the convenience they seek—and we can reduce unnecessary overhead and increase the value and variety of our services and programs.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/08/city-of-calgary-does-more-with-less-for.html

[G] New Google Analytics SDK for Android - Version 1.3

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: New Google Analytics SDK for Android - Version 1.3

Today we're announcing a new and improved version of the Google Analytics SDK for Android. This release is jam-packed with lots of good fixes, improved methods, and most importantly, better campaign tracking!  Read on for all the juicy details.



General Campaign Tracking

This new feature is probably the most exciting one for this release.  The SDK now supports the ability to set campaign referral information at any time, instead of at installation time.  This gives advertisers the ability to now track ads which lead people to user their app. To learn more about this feature and how to use it, check out the new campaign tracking section in our documentation.



Anonymizing Ip Addresses

To provide more privacy to your users, we added a new setAnonymizeIp method in the GoogleAnalyticsTracker class. This removes the last octet of the IP address prior to storage and makes the tracking more anonymous 



Configuring The Sample Rate

If you are getting a large volume of traffic, you can set the tracking sample rate to only send a portion of data to Google Analytics. Once configured, the tracker will decide based on visitor ID whether to send hits.



Deprecations

We are deprecating the start and stop methods in favor of the startNewSession and stopSession. The existing methods will continue to be in the library, so your applications will still work when you upgrade, but we highlight recommend you move to these new methods.



Bug Fixes

In this release we were also able to fix three bugs:





1. We've fixed a few issues with how the SDK accesses SQLite. As a result you will see less warnings and the SDK now uses less memory!



2. We've fixed a bug that might occur if you're using custom variables.



3. The tracker no longer uses the application context passed to the SDK when starting up.  This should avoid memory leaks caused by holding Activity Contexts beyond the life of the Activity.





We hope you'll find this latest version of the Google Analytics SDK for Android to be a big improvement over previous versions.  We also hope you realize we're committed to making Google Analytics a first class provider of mobile app analytics as well as web analytics.



There's plenty more coming for the Google Analytics SDKs for both Android and iOS.  Stay tuned.







Posted by Jim Cotugno and Neil Rhodes, Google Analytics Tracking Team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/DWkJM39gKiE/new-google-analytics-sdk-for-android.html

[G] August’s On The Rise nominees

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: August's On The Rise nominees

Each month, we identify four YouTube Partners who are growing their subscribers but haven't yet reached the 100,000 mark for our On The Rise program. You vote for your favorite in the top right corner of this blog, and the winner will be featured on the YouTube homepage and the videos channel.



For August, we've got a mix of educators, creative folks and personalities. Check out the nominees' videos below, and then cast your vote in the upper right-hand corner of this blog by August 22 at 6pm PT. We'll announce the winner on August 29.



TheGeekGroup

The Geek Group describes itself as "a non-profit science and technology educational organization, creating a peer group and support network for anyone with a sincere and passionate desire to learn." These videos get you hands-on views of electronics, mechanics and even some retro technology.







JasonMundayMusic

Musician and producer Jason Munday weaves video games, Harry Potter and cartoons into his upbeat, dancey songs. From the Ministry of Magic Music to collaborations with other YouTubers to his solo works, Jason's channel could be just what you need for those musical/gaming cravings.







RobynStamps

On her channel Robyn shares her love of stamps, all things crafts and the color pink. She has hundreds of videos with easy-to-follow ideas on craft making, as well as vlogs with family and friends.







MilTownKid

Casey aka MilTownKid brings you "random video creations," ranging from deep thoughts to his martial arts passion. Expect to see vlogging on Milwaukee happenings, new websites to check out and interesting people Casey meets along his way.







Past winners like DestinWS2, CuteGirlsHairstyles and ThePianoGuys have since been featured in the news, performed at VidCon and more, all thanks to your support. If you're interested in checking out more rising YouTube Partners, visit our On The Rise channel, which features nominees, trending partners and monthly blog winners. Look for more featured partners on the YouTube Browse page.



Devon Storbeck, Partner Support, recently watched "Mud is Interesting - Smarter Every Day 18."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/buJ10Iz7Wgo/augusts-on-rise-nominees.html

[G] Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Posted by Larry Page, CEO

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

Since its launch in November 2007, Android has not only dramatically increased consumer choice but also improved the entire mobile experience for users. Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide—with over 550,000 devices now lit up every day—through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries. Given Android's phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so excited today to announce that we have agreed to acquire Motorola.

Motorola has a history of over 80 years of innovation in communications technology and products, and in the development of intellectual property, which have helped drive the remarkable revolution in mobile computing we are all enjoying today. Its many industry milestones include the introduction of the world's first portable cell phone nearly 30 years ago, and the StarTAC—the smallest and lightest phone on earth at time of launch. In 2007, Motorola was a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance that worked to make Android the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. I have loved my Motorola phones from the StarTAC era up to the current DROIDs.

In 2008, Motorola bet big on Android as the sole operating system across all of its smartphone devices. It was a smart bet and we're thrilled at the success they've achieved so far. We believe that their mobile business is on an upward trajectory and poised for explosive growth.

Motorola is also a market leader in the home devices and video solutions business. With the transition to Internet Protocol, we are excited to work together with Motorola and the industry to support our partners and cooperate with them to accelerate innovation in this space.

Motorola's total commitment to Android in mobile devices is one of many reasons that there is a natural fit between our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.

This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android's success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences.

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to "protect competition and innovation in the open source software community" and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google's patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.

I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.


Forward-Looking Statements

This blogpost includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21Eof the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as Google or management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "forecasts," "estimates" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the proposed transaction, including its financial impact, and other statements of management's beliefs, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on the results of operations and financial condition of the combined companies or the price of Google or Motorola stock. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed transaction and the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals at all or in a timely manner; the ability of Google to successfully integrate Motorola's operations, product lines and technology; the ability of Google to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Motorola's business after the completion of the transaction and realize additional opportunities for growth and innovation; and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in Google's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Google undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/08/supercharging-android-google-to-acquire.html

[G] Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:16 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility


Since its launch in November 2007, Android has not only dramatically increased consumer choice but also improved the entire mobile experience for users. Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide—with over 550,000 devices now lit up every day—through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries. Given Android's phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so excited today to announce that we have agreed to acquire Motorola.

Motorola has a history of over 80 years of innovation in communications technology and products, and in the development of intellectual property, which have helped drive the remarkable revolution in mobile computing we are all enjoying today. Its many industry milestones include the introduction of the world's first portable cell phone nearly 30 years ago, and the StarTAC—the smallest and lightest phone on earth at time of launch. In 2007, Motorola was a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance that worked to make Android the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. I have loved my Motorola phones from the StarTAC era up to the current DROIDs.

In 2008, Motorola bet big on Android as the sole operating system across all of its smartphone devices. It was a smart bet and we're thrilled at the success they've achieved so far. We believe that their mobile business is on an upward trajectory and poised for explosive growth.

Motorola is also a market leader in the home devices and video solutions business. With the transition to Internet Protocol, we are excited to work together with Motorola and the industry to support our partners and cooperate with them to accelerate innovation in this space.

Motorola's total commitment to Android in mobile devices is one of many reasons that there is a natural fit between our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.

This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android's success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences.

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to "protect competition and innovation in the open source software community" and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google's patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.

I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.

Posted by Larry Page, CEO

Forward-Looking Statements


This blogpost includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as Google or management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "forecasts," "estimates" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the proposed transaction, including its financial impact, and other statements of management's beliefs, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on the results of operations and financial condition of the combined companies or the price of Google or Motorola stock. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed transaction and the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals at all or in a timely manner; the ability of Google to successfully integrate Motorola's operations, product lines and technology; the ability of Google to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Motorola's business after the completion of the transaction and realize additional opportunities for growth and innovation; and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in Google's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Google undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/supercharging-android-google-to-acquire.html
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