Thursday, October 13, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Two days in D.C. for the winners of the Google Science Fair

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 09:32 PM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Two days in D.C. for the winners of the Google Science Fair

Posted by Shree Bose, Google Science Fair winner

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog and the Google Science Fair blog)

Last week, 17-year-old Shree Bose from Fort Worth, Texas, the grand prize winner of the Google Science Fair, visited Washington, D.C. at the invitation of the White House. We invited Shree to write about her experience in the capital. - Ed.

Adrenaline. I turned around as the brilliantly polished door behind me opened, and suddenly I was face to face with a man I'd seen so many times on television. The President of the United States calmly extended his hand to shake mine and those of Naomi and Lauren, the other two winners of Google's first-ever Science Fair. He knew about our projects and was genuinely excited to talk with us.

The Oval Office is more than just a room. It has a palpable aura of grandeur, with the presidential seal in the center of the deep blue carpet and a portrait of George Washington hanging on the wall. The desk, where presidents of the past have contemplated some of the most important decisions in the world's history, was polished to a gleam. President Obama leaned against it as he talked to us.

He asked us how we became interested in science, what our plans were for the future and which colleges we were interested in. Smiling, he told us to stick with science. We left the Oval Office feeling like our individual futures were important to the nation's future; like we could change the world.

Our trip to Washington, D.C., also included visits to the National Institute of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Over our two days, we were given the opportunity to sit down and talk with many of our country's leaders who have not only been extraordinarily successful in the fields we wish to go into in the future, but who also encouraged us to follow our own dreams. It was more than just meetings; it was inspiration.

Naomi Shah, Shree Bose and Lauren Hodge meet President Obama in the Oval Office
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/10/two-days-in-dc-for-winners-of-google.html

[G] Find your audience with the Google Display Network

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 09:32 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Find your audience with the Google Display Network

Advertising is about getting your message in front of the right people. Whether you need to increase brand awareness or maximize ROI on direct response campaigns, your challenge continues to be about delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.

How can you do this intelligently, and at scale? Audience Solutions on the Google Display Network (GDN) provides the insight you need, connecting potential customers by with exactly what they are looking for -- when they are ready to buy.

Please join Google in our upcoming webinar to learn more about audience targeting strategies for your campaigns using Audience Solutions on the Google Display Network. We'll discuss the following topics:
  • Enhance search: Making the most of your search investment through Remarketing
  • Deeper insights: Gaining insights about your current customers to expand your audience
  • Extend reach: Reaching new audiences based on their interests and purchase intent
  • ROI Optimization: Taking advantage of transparency and controls to optimize your campaigns
Register here for the webinar to be held on November 1st, 2011 at 10:00am PST / 12:00pm CST / 1:00pm EST. You can also preview a video of this invite here.

Posted by Lauren Barbato, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/10/find-your-audience-with-google-display.html

[G] DjangoCon US 2011 Sprints

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 01:18 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: DjangoCon US 2011 Sprints

What's the best way to wrap up a fantastic conference? With an even more fantastic sprint! DjangoCon US 2011 was recently held in Portland, Oregon, and on September 9 and 10, DjangoCon attendees crammed into the offices of Urban Airship to sprint on Django. At the peak of the sprint, over 120 people — almost one third of the conference attendees — were at the sprint venue. Even more people joined in online, using IRC to communicate with those at the
sprint venue.


The sprints were an excellent opportunity for the international Django community to gather and make plans for the future. Over the two day sprint, there were breakout sessions discussing a possible new template tag syntax, the requirements for a next-generation admin system, and the needs of a User model. Some people contributed to infrastructure, such as greasing the gears
connecting Django's ticket system to code sharing sites like GitHub. There was a group brainstorming about the possibility of replacing Django's ticket tracker with something better. Others made contributions to documentation, working on draft tutorials, topic guides, and improving the 'out of the box' experience for new Django users. And, of course, there was the usual sprinting fare of bug squashing and feature construction.

Attendees ranged from long-time Django veterans to recent Django converts; from twenty-somethings to seasoned software veterans. People came from all corners of the globe to attend the conference — South America, Australia, South Africa, Europe, Canada and all parts of the United States.


Portland is a great town for food lovers, and as a result, it's easy for "lets pop out for a quick bite" to turn into a 3 hour lunch break, eating up valuable sprinting time. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Google, and Emma, the sprints were a fully catered event -- so Portland's excellent food came to us, and no time and energy was lost in the hunt for sustenance!

The DjangoCon US 2011 sprints were an incredibly successful event; organizers for DjangoCon US 2012 in Washington DC, and DjangoCon Europe 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland have a lot to live up to. Here's hoping next year's events will be just as successful!

By Russell Keith-Magee, Django Software Foundation President; Photos by Frank Wiles


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/8dMZfo2oDNI/djangocon-us-2011-sprints.html

[G] Take the green route in Google Maps

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 01:18 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Take the green route in Google Maps

(Cross posted from the Google Green Blog)

We've learned that most people who use Google Maps just want to get from Point A to Point B -- as quickly and painlessly as possible. Whether it's planning a weekend bike route, finding the quickest roads during rush hour, or identifying bus paths with the fewest transfers, people are making the most out of Maps features to travel faster and greener. Here's how you can use Google Maps to minimize your impact on the environment.

Commuting by bike
As an avid cyclist, I feel very fortunate to live in Boulder, Colorado and be surrounded by over 300 miles of bike lanes, routes and paths. When the weather is cooperating, I try to commute to work every day. It's a great way to stay healthy and arrive at the office feeling awake! According to Biking Directions in Google Maps, it takes me 10 minutes to travel 2 miles from Point A (my house) to Point B (the office). It also shows three alternative routes, and I can check the weather in Google Maps to see if I'll need a rain jacket for the ride home. I can also use Biking Directions on my mobile phone, which came in handy for me during a biking trip in Austin when I got lost on a major highway and needed a safe route back to the hotel.

Did you know that Google Maps has biking directions available in over 200 US cities and in 9 Canadian regions? A collaboration with Rails to Trails, an organization that converts old railroad tracks into bike paths, has made information about over 12,000 miles of bike paths available to Google Maps users.

Taking public transit
Millions of people use Google Transit every week, viewing public transit routes on both Google Maps and Google Maps for mobile in over 470 cities around the world. You can take a train from Kyoto to Osaka or find your way around London on the Tube. In some places, you can compare the cost of taking public transit and driving by viewing the calculation below the list of directions (like in this example). Feel free to customize your routes and departure and arrival times under "Show options" to minimize walking or limit the number of transfers. You'll know if your bus is late by checking out live transit updates.

Being green in the car
According to the 2011 Urban Mobility Report by Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, motorists wasted 1.9 billion gallons of fuel last year in the US because of traffic congestion, costing the average commuter an additional $713 in commuting costs. You can save time and money by clicking on the Traffic layer in the top right corner to view real-time traffic conditions on your route, and then drag and adjust your route to green. If you need directions in advance, save paper by sending your directions directly to your car, GPS, or phone. The Send-to-Car feature is available to more than 20 car brands worldwide, and the Send-to-GPS feature is available to more than 10 GPS brands. And for those of you who drive electric vehicles, you can search for electric vehicle charging stations by typing "ev charging station in [your city]" and recharge.

As you can see, Google Maps is loaded with features to help you save time, save money, and get where you need to be -- all while minimizing your commute's impact on the environment. Go green with Google Maps, and safe travels!

Posted by Tasha Danko, Geo Team
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/10/take-green-route-in-google-maps.html

[G] Building an amazing mobile shopping experience with Google Commerce Search

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 01:18 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Building an amazing mobile shopping experience with Google Commerce Search

Mobile usage in retail is on the rise—every year we see an increasing number of shopping queries originate from mobile phones. As mobile continues to proliferate, it's also fundamentally changing the way people shop. Mobile and shopping are made for each other.

Knowing this, we're sharing a secret with you: it's not too late to get your e-commerce site ready for the mobile surge this holiday shopping season. In fact, our newest customer, Timberland, just went live with their mobile-optimized website powered by Google Commerce Search in a matter of days.

Chris Hardisty, director of Timberland Global E-Commerce, told us: "Our first priority in developing our mobile website was making sure customers had the best experience possible. Shoppers today expect fast and relevant results especially on mobile, where speed and interactivity matter most. Since we launched our mobile-optimized website, we have seen mobile sales grow 20 times faster than our desktop site sales."


Today we're growing the Google Commerce Search family by opening up our new Google Commerce Search Partner Program, and welcoming Branding Brand and Perficient Systems as our inaugural partners. We wanted to make it easier for retailers to adopt Google Commerce Search to help them achieve amazing results and meet their customers' needs. Through this new program, system integrators, digital agencies and commerce platform providers can partner with us to bring the unique capabilities of Google Commerce Search to their retail clients.

Branding Brand has worked with Timberland and—earlier this year—GNC to turn their mobile visions into reality. Before GNC optimized their mobile website, 10 to 15 percent of their e-commerce traffic came from mobile. Since launching it this summer, there are twice as many visitors using search, and mobile search conversions are up 50 percent.



If you decide that building a mobile application is the best choice for you, it's still important to build a powerful search experience that will help shoppers find exactly what they're looking for and engage with your brand. In August, Westfield launched a mobile shopping app powered by Google Commerce Search for its 55 malls throughout the U.S. Alan Cohen, Executive Vice President, Management and Marketing for Westfield, told us "Whether the shopper is looking for a very specific product or general holiday gift items, the ability to search retailer products effortlessly is of real benefit."

Ready to get started with your mobile commerce site? With the big holiday shopping season coming soon, we wanted to share some tips based on our relationships with our merchant customers:
  • Every millisecond counts: You can't deliver an amazing mobile shopping experience to your customers by wasting their time. Shoppers should be able to find the products without unnecessary clicks, typing or other steps.
  • Engage your audience: Search has become highly interactive with suggestions and auto-complete, while mobile allows consumers to touch and engage with their devices in new and fun ways. Combining the two allows you to intrigue your potential customers for instant gratification.
  • Get to the point: Whether someone's looking for a high-resolution digital camera or orange khaki trousers, you want to make sure that it's easy to find—with minimal keystrokes, of course. Space is limited on those 3- or 4-inch screens, so make the most of it by providing relevant search results.
  • Bridge the gap: According to our holiday retail user survey, 65 percent of high-end device users report they have used their device to find a business and then made a purchase at that business in person. In other words: mobile provides a great opportunity to drive foot traffic and bridge online and offline sales. You can delight shoppers by showing them when a product is also available in a store nearby—in-line with the search results.
We built Google Commerce Search just under two years ago to help retailers provide a great shopping experience to their customers, and we've had positive feedback from our retail partners on how they've been able to increase search revenues, site searches and online conversions while increasing customer satisfaction. Get started now with Google Commerce Search to build a great mobile experience in time for this year's shopping season.

Posted by Nitin Mangtani, Group Product Manager, Google Commerce
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/building-amazing-mobile-shopping.html

[G] Meet the October "On The Rise" Nominees

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 01:18 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Meet the October "On The Rise" Nominees

Each month, we find four YouTube Partners whose subscriber numbers are growing but who still have fewer than 100,000 for our On The Rise program. After you check out their videos and channels, we want to hear your vote for your favorite in the top right corner of this blog. The channel with the most votes at the end of the week will be featured on the YouTube homepage and videos page.



Our nominees this month are all artists in their own field, and their videos could be especially useful this Halloween. Whether it's getting you in the spirit with songs about witches and wizards, drawing faces for your jack-o-lanterns, or perfecting your costume with vintage makeup or martial arts moves, these YouTubers can be just what you're looking for. Check out their videos and vote for your favorite on the top right corner of this blog by October 19 at 6pm PT, and we'll announce the winner on October 27.



cartoonblock

Wielding only a Staedtler pencil and a kneaded eraser, Evan Burse made his career animating for hits like Batman and Scooby-Doo. But he's also committed to giving back - his YouTube channel contains tutorials for anyone interested in re-creating their favorite superheroes, anime and cartoon characters.







kwonkicker

Micah, aka Kwonkicker, has devoted his channel to martial arts - specifically, a style he refers to as Taekwondo Kickboxing. If you're looking for training tutorials or martial arts-based action films, you'll find it all here.







hollywoodnoirmakeup

Ashley's history as a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics and her passion for old Hollywood and film noir serve her well on YouTube. Her tutorials have earned her a dedicated following, and she even keeps a running list of upcoming requested tutorials.







AlexanderCarpenter

Alex is well known for his original music videos about pop culture, movies, and books, like this video about Alex's favorite book (and a great costume idea). If you like it, check his tour dates to see when he might be playing near you!







Past winners like theneedledrop and JasonMundayMusic and have seen their audiences grow, 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 "Adele - Someone Like You."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/uAmJhScJhTI/meet-october-on-rise-nominees.html

[G] A Google chat with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Leymah Gbowee

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 08:12 AM PDT

Inside Google Books: A Google chat with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Leymah Gbowee

Posted by Anna Tong, Google eBooks Associate

Last Wednesday, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee stopped by Google to discuss her new memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (Beast Books, 2011). We were fortunate to have this extraordinary individual visit just two days before she found out she was one of three women awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

By way of background, Liberia in the early 2000s was a country ravaged by a civil war that had claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people. But the country's president refused to hold peace talks. Meanwhile the fighting continued, and warlords trained child soldiers. In the midst of this chaos, Gbowee had a dream.

"I heard a voice, and it was talking to me, commanding me: Gather the women to pray for peace!" she writes.

Gbowee began organizing Liberian women of all ages, backgrounds and religions. Hers is an amazing tale of women's unity: dressed in white, they picketed for months and confronted Africa's male leaders. Thanks to their efforts peace was achieved, and in 2005, Liberia elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - the first modern-day female head of state in Africa.

Google vice president Megan Smith talks with Leymah Gbowee

I had the good fortune of being able to sit down with Leymah before her talk and ask her some questions. The first two questions are excerpted from my conversation with Leymah, while the second two are questions asked by Google audience members during her talk:

Q: What advice can you give to girls around the world?

A: Something that happens to girls that's universal and across all social statuses is that we let little things take our focus away. Whether you're a girl from Liberia or the U.S. or Hong Kong, you will have challenges. Don't let your story be that you didn't mount those challenges, whether in school or in your social life.

Q: A central story in your memoir is your relationship with an abusive man. That's something many women can relate to. What's your advice to them?

A: I always make myself available to listen in a non-judgmental way. When you are in an abusive relationship, the person is making you believe you can't get out, nobody will love you, etc. I try to sit and listen to women and I never criticize. I'm that shoulder. I'm there. I let them know there's always a place to come to if they need something. I've found myself helping women with finances if they make the decision to run away – I did this with girls who were married to ex-combatants.

Q: Were you ever afraid?

A: The war started when I was 17. I had my moments with terror in those early stages. The first time I saw a dead body I froze. By the time I was 31 I could walk over a dead body without a second thought. I had become immune to anything called fear.

Q: The Western media made a big deal out of the Liberian women withholding sex while advocating for peace, but it wasn't a huge part of your memoir. What are your thoughts on that?

A: In [the US] the sex industry keeps the financial wheels turning... that over-objectification, it's destroying not just this country but our country as well. When I was growing up I sold donuts. Now girls say, "Why do I want to sell a donut when I can sell myself and make $20?" [Google needs] to start a campaign here showcasing very smart women turning on their brains... it is part of your corporate social responsibility.


Mighty Be Our Powers, which is available as an ebook in the Google eBookstore (US-only), reveals Leymah's personal history. It's a powerful story: after reading it, the CEO of Barnes & Noble was so moved that he personally paid for Leymah's book tour. In the book, she writes about events in her life like having a happy childhood, an abusive relationship, and what it was like growing up in war-torn Liberia.
URL: http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2011/10/google-chat-with-nobel-peace-prize.html
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