Saturday, February 25, 2012

Googland

Googland

[G] Follow in Darwin's footsteps with the iNaturalist mobile app

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:43 PM PST

Google Lat Long: Follow in Darwin's footsteps with the iNaturalist mobile app


Editor's Note: Today's guest author is Dr. Scott Loarie, a fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford and co-director of iNaturalist.org, a biodiversity citizen-science website. Pepperwood Preserve was the recipient of a Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant, funded through the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at the Tides Foundation. We're excited to share how the iNaturalist Android application developed as a result of this grant is being used in action at Pepperwood Preserve.

Last weekend, as I rolled back a piece of bark at Pepperwood Preserve to reveal a big black beetle, I was reminded of a great story about Charles Darwin. Out collecting beetles, Darwin already had a beetle in each hand when he spotted a third. To free up a hand, he popped one of the beetles in his mouth. No sooner had he done this when it excreted some sort of burning liquid onto his tongue forcing him to spit it out, drop the second, and miss his chance for the third.

Now in 2012, all I had to do was point my phone at the beetle and snap its picture with the iNaturalist app (available on iOS and Android). Beetle mishaps aside, following in Darwin's footsteps wasn't really something non-scientists could participate in until recently. Specimens had to be collected, stuffed and shipped to museums where they were identified, labeled and catalogued. But with new technologies like Google Maps and smartphones, contributing data to museums now only takes a single click.

Pepperwood Research Specialist Morgan Kennedy demonstrates how to use the iNaturalist app to observe a native grass at Pepperwood Preserve.

Last Saturday, Morgan Kennedy introduced the Pepperwood Vital Signs project on iNaturalist.org, a citizen-science website I help direct, to a group of about 20 community members at Pepperwood Preserve. The project aims to map the distribution of plants and animals across the preserve with geo-referenced photos contributed by community members. The community members participating in the project often don't know the name of the species they are photographing, but by passing the contributions on to international museum consortiums and conservation organizations, iNaturalist photos are usually identified by scientists and experts within a few days.

Over the last year, community members have documented more than 400 distinct species by uploading more than 900 geo-referenced photos from Pepperwood. As the pilot preserve participating in the new Bay Area Open Space Council BioAtlas initiative, Pepperwood is developing ways to use iNaturalist to assemble the contributed data into digital education materials that can be used by the preserves to further engage and educate their community members.

This Google Map shows the Pepperwood Boundaries and more than 900 contributions to the Pepperwood Vital Signs project on iNaturalist.org.

Saturday's training was especially exciting because Morgan demoed the new Android App that iNaturalist developed with the support of a Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant to Pepperwood. By making the contribution of data to museums easy and fun, the Android app clears a major barrier towards recruiting non-scientists to participate.

These reinforcements couldn't have arrived sooner. Plants and animals are disappearing about 1,000 times faster than normal with ongoing climate and land-use change, and one of the most difficult hurdles towards addressing these challenges has been the basic scarcity of information about where plants and animals persist and where they do not. Without the help of non-scientists, the handfuls of museums and graduate students tasked with providing this information simply can't scale to meet these challenges.

Want to get involved? Download the app (on iOS or Android), get outdoors, and start documenting nature from wherever you are in the world! If you want to start your own regional project, like the Pepperwood Vital Signs project, you can do that here. You'll be following in Darwin's footsteps - just don't be tempted to put any beetles in your mouth!

Posted by Scott Loarie, co-director iNaturalist.org
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/02/follow-in-darwins-footsteps-with.html

[G] This week's top news on YouTube: Journalists killed in Homs, soldiers killed in Afghanistan riots, Buenos Aires train crash

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 04:57 PM PST

YouTube Blog: This week's top news on YouTube: Journalists killed in Homs, soldiers killed in Afghanistan riots, Buenos Aires train crash


Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.














URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/JrSq_XdPVDg/this-weeks-top-news-on-youtube.html

[G] VP8 Hardware Decoder Version 5 “Eagle” Released

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 04:57 PM PST

The WebM Open Media Project Blog: VP8 Hardware Decoder Version 5 "Eagle" Released

Today we have made available the fifth generation of the silicon-proven G-Series 1 VP8 hardware decoder IP, internally called "Eagle".

Eagle has the following key figures:
  • 1080p 60fps VP8 decoding at 200MHz
  • Maximum clock frequency 290 MHz, up by 32% (65 nm LP process, topographical synthesis)
  • 357 kgates logic, 52 kB single-port SRAM
  • Less than 2 MHz host CPU load
The increased performance levels allow a great multi-channel playback experience suitable e.g. for TV channel preview, multi-party video conferencing and multi-tab YouTube watching. The G-Series 1 decoder has recently secured multiple design wins in leading Smart TV and Set-Top Box SoCs, proving the performance to be at an appropriate level even for the highest-quality content decoding.

The G1 v5 VP8 decoder is available for licensing at no cost to chip manufacturers at the WebM Project's hardware page. The multi-format version of the IP and support services for the VP8 standalone core are provided by our channel partner Verisilicon.

WebM Project releases a new generation video IP every quarter to allow the semiconductor licensees to always take advantage of the latest technology. In our next decoder release, we are targeting significant performance boost and smaller silicon footprint.


Aki Kuusela is Engineering Manager of the WebM Project hardware team.
URL: http://blog.webmproject.org/2012/02/vp8-hw-decoder-version-5-eagle-released.html

[G] Opening the Oscar (search) envelope

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:04 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Opening the Oscar (search) envelope

Time to polish the champagne flutes and brush up on your movie trivia—it's almost Oscar night again. Before you make any Oscar bets, get an edge by exploring Google Insights for Search. Out of the major entertainment awards shows (Tonys, Emmys, Grammys) the Oscars are the most popular in terms of search volume, and as we discovered last year, patterns in search behavior can help us predict which stars will go home with shiny gold statues. So without further delay, let's open the (search) envelopes and see who the Oscar (may) go to this year.

Best Picture
Last year we found that for three years running, the films that won best picture had two things in common when it came to search data. First, the winning movies had all shown an upward trend in search volume for at least four consecutive weeks during the previous year. Second, within the U.S. the winning film had the highest percentage of its searches originating from the state of New York. Looking at search data for 2011, there were three films that satisfied these conditions—The King's Speech, The Social Network and Black Swan. Our prediction was on the mark: The King's Speech took home the Oscar in 2011.

This year, if we assume the two "winning conditions"—at least four consecutive weeks of increasing search volume plus highest regional interest from New York—will apply, then we can narrow down the nominees to a field of four: The Artist, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Midnight in Paris and War Horse. But how to go from four to one?

Let's again look back at last year's finalists. When you compare search query volumes for The King's Speech, The Social Network and Black Swan, the winning film, The King's Speech, had the lowest search volume throughout the year leading up to the Oscars. It was the underdog that took home the statue.


We tried the same test on the Best Picture nominees from 2010. The nominated movies in 2010 that met the two conditions were The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds. Once again, it was the the winning film, The Hurt Locker, that had lower search volume in 2009.

If the underdog trend holds this year, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close could be our surprise winner. If we go strictly by search popularity, however, The Artist or Midnight in Paris have the best chances—among our group of four, they're currently blowing the competition out of the water.


If we're having a popularity contest, it's only fair to look at all nine nominees for best picture. A 2-step comparison shows that the most popular films by search volume are The Help and Martin Scorsese's Hugo.

Best Actor
Of this year's five nominees for Best Actor, Brad Pitt (Moneyball) is clearly the most popular—searches for Brad in the last 12 months far outpace any of the other leading men, as was the case in 2009 when he was nominated for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. However, it could be Brad's famous good looks that have us searching, which brings about a good point: the most searched-for nominee doesn't guarantee a win. James Franco had the highest search volume in 2011 but Colin Firth won, and in 2010, George Clooney was the most-searched nominee but Jeff Bridges took home the Oscar.

The pattern emerging over the past few years is that the winner is generally in the middle of the pack in terms of searches and has relatively steady search volume throughout the year. First-time nominee Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) fits that bill this year, but so does George Clooney (The Descendants). Maybe it will finally be George's year to win Best Actor.


Best Actress
For the past three years, the eventual Best Actress winner has seen a spike of interest in the preceding December. Additionally, two of the three most recent winners have had the strongest regional interest within the U.S. from the cities of Los Angeles and New York City (2010 winner Sandra Bullock is the exception).

Among this year's nominees, Rooney Mara is the clear breakout star, with a huge surge in search volume this past December for the young lead in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. However, it's Meryl Streep who has the highest regional interest in NYC and while Rooney is popular in LA, she's even more popular in San Francisco. So it could be her name that is announced when the envelope is opened—or not.


Of course, we don't have a Magic 8-Ball or access to the names in those top-secret envelopes, so our predictions are just that—but it's always enjoyable to look at how what people are interested in online plays out in the real world. As you prepare for your Oscar viewing parties this year, put a visit to Insights for Search on your checklist before the red carpet walk begins (fun fact: searches for [red carpet] peak at Oscar time every year). Between dry cleaning your tuxedo and making hors d'oeuvres, tune in to a pre-Oscar hangout on the +Good Morning America page, where the live discussion will be the fashion dos and don'ts of the big night. You can also stay up to date on all Oscar news on +Oscars, the official Google+ Page of the Academy Awards.

Posted by Rebecca Mall, Entertainment Account Executive, LA office
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/opening-oscar-search-envelope.html

[G] Open Monitor: Building a World Wide Internet Connectivity Monitor through Google Summer of Code 2011

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:04 PM PST

Google Open Source Blog: Open Monitor: Building a World Wide Internet Connectivity Monitor through Google Summer of Code 2011









Despite all the magnificent improvements to both technology and the internet these days, we lack a free and open source real time internet connectivity monitor from which anyone can tell what the connectivity conditions are in any part of the world. Solving this problem is a huge undertaking, but at Umit Project, we saw a chance to start developing such a solution through the Google Summer of Code when we were chosen as a mentoring organization for the 2011 program.

   

We chose a hybrid P2P approach that would consist of hybrid peers and a centralized server that we call the aggregator. The hybrid peers would be able to communicate with each other and pass along reports even if direct connection to the aggregator is blocked, acting as both a server and client and promoting themselves to super peers as needed. The aggregator would be responsible for gathering all the connectivity reports from the peers and showing them in real time in a Google App Engine based site using the Google Maps API.



We also thought of having three different kinds of peers: desktop peer, desktop super peer and mobile peer. The desktop peer runs on top of the same code base but promotion to super peer status is based on the peer's availability. The desktop version is very portable (runs on Mac, Linux and Windows) and is written in Python, while the mobile peer is Android based, can not turn into a super peer and is focused on getting us a view from inside mobile ISPs.



We were given three talented students for the three month long Google Summer of Code, and each of them tackled the different pieces of the system. Despite the overwhelming amount of work and the short time frame they were working with, the students managed to get these systems to form a network, communicate, run connectivity tests and share reports.









The Umit Project team has been working very hard since Google Summer of Code ended in August to deliver our first version of Open Monitor and we're very close to releasing an alpha in the next few weeks for selected trusted testers.



If you're interested in knowing more about the project, its motivation, and more technical details about it, we have released a video on YouTube of a presentation given about the project at the Creativity World Forum 2011 and another talk given at the Chicago Python User Group Meeting. Slides of the CWF11 presentation are also available to view.



Special thanks to Google for their amazing Google Summer of Code program!



By Adriano Marques, Director of Umit Project and Google Summer of Code mentor


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/0ROAQ768DTg/open-monitor-building-world-wide.html

[G] Get More Into: Australia’s Laneway Festival

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:09 AM PST

YouTube Blog: Get More Into: Australia's Laneway Festival

Since we missed Music Tuesday this week, we wanted to take you back to Australia for another dose of the local music scene. Enjoy!



From big-time dream-pop to big-haired rock & roll, there are plenty of reasons to love festival season in the Southern hemisphere. Following the pumped up kicks, rockabilly licks, and modern-day lullabies that brought sold out crowds across Australia for Big Day Out, we spent the day hanging at St. Jerome's Laneway Festival in Sydney. What began as a packed side-alley show in Melbourne has quickly developed into a national touring event and a favourite summer festival.



Between sets in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, and Singapore, here's what some of Laneway's biggest names had to say about touring down under, the Laneway vibe, and their favorite inspirational acts on YouTube:


  • The Horrors get into psychadelic pop and out-of-this world sounds of Connan Mockasin

  • Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and vocalist Jonti talks big beats and big sounds of Flying Lotus

  • Hear what outstanding female vocalist have inspired The Drums to come together as a band

  • Recorded in their same hometown, Twin Shadows' At My Heels brings laughs & tears to electronic pop duo Chairlift

  • M83, known the world over for reverb effects and loud instrumentals, has his first encounter with the electronic music of Jean Michel Jarre






The Laneway crew's just completed their tour but you can enjoy your own little taste of this iconic Australian festival right here on YouTube.



Ernesto Soriano III, YouTube Australia, recently watched "Toro y Moi 'Still Sound'."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/soaAGvc2nBM/get-more-into-australias-laneway.html

[G] Google welcomes broad industry agreement on advertising and privacy

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:09 AM PST

Google Public Policy Blog: Google welcomes broad industry agreement on advertising and privacy

Posted by Susan Wojcicki, SVP, Advertising

There's been a lot of debate over the last few years about personalization on the web. We believe that tailoring your web experience -- for example by showing you more relevant, interest-based ads, or making it easy to recommend stuff you like to friends -- is a good thing. We also believe that the best way to protect your privacy is to enable you to exercise choice through meaningful product controls. That said, given the number of different browsers and products available online today -- many of which have different privacy controls -- we recognize that it can get confusing.

So we're pleased to sign up to today's industry-wide agreement (you can read the details here) -- put together by the White House, the Federal Trade Commission and the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), which represents over 90 percent of all online advertising in the U.S -- to create a simpler, more unified approach to privacy on the web. Under this agreement, users will be able to exercise choice under the DAA Principles by setting what has been called a "Do Not Track" header straight from their browser. The DAA Principles, and therefore the header, cover some aspects of tailored advertising. But, for example, if users have requested personalization (such as by signing up for particular services) or visit websites that use "first party" cookies to personalize the overall experience (for example a news website recommending articles to its readers, or a video site remembering your volume preferences), then browsers will not break that experience. In addition, today's agreement supports continued innovation and competition on the web, as well as important, basic web functionality -- such as malware, spam and fraud detection.

We look forward to working with our industry partners, the White House, the FTC, the DAA and all the major browsers including Google Chrome, to adopt a broadly consistent approach to these controls -- rather than the situation today where every browser sets its own defaults, policies, and exceptions. In particular, we are pleased that today's agreement will ensure that users are given an explicit choice, and be fully informed of the available options.

This agreement will not solve all the privacy issues users face on the web today. However, it represents a meaningful step forward in privacy controls for users. We look forward to making this happen.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2012/02/google-welcomes-broad-industry.html
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