Saturday, March 31, 2012

Googland

Googland

[G] JetBlue emergency landing, Pope visits Latin America, Wildfire devastates Colorado

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: JetBlue emergency landing, Pope visits Latin America, Wildfire devastates Colorado

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.

  • We viewed appalling scenes in the air over America as a JetBlue flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot was restrained for "erratic behavior".
  • We saw the Pope endear himself to Latin America, donning a sombrero in Mexico and meeting Fidel Castro in Cuba.
  • We witnessed devastating wildfires in Colorado force the evacuation of hundreds of residents, with at least one death reported.
  • We observed a sense of 'petrol panic' as motorists in the UK and beyond were worried by rising oil prices and a potential fuel shortage because of strikes.
  • We followed the GOP candidates as the presidential race took yet another turn, with Rick Santorum winning his 11th state of the campaign in Louisiana.
  • We marked a successful run-off presidential election in Senegal, won by Macky Sall amid many economic challenges in the country.
  • We saw no let up in the controversy surrounding the Trayvon Martin case, as Trayvon's frustrated parents took their plea for justice to a Congressional forum on neighborhood watch groups and racial profiling.
  • We overheard US President Barack Obama talking about a future after the next presidential election during a 3-day tour in South Korea that focused on securing nuclear stability in the region.
  • And finally, we watched one man go where few have gone before, as Titanic director James Cameron plunged to the deepest point on Earth in his submarine: the Deepsea Challenger.
Come back to see the news unfold on YouTube.

Olivia Ma, YouTube News & Politics, recently watched "Suu Kyi set for parliament in key Myanmar vote".



URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/b4yEDkIvsvs/jetblue-emergency-landing-pope-visits.html

[G] A new way to access quality content online

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Google News Blog: A new way to access quality content online

Posted by Paul McDonald, Product Manager

Whether we're getting the latest election news, making sense of the day's stock market activity or looking for an update on our favorite celebrities, we rely on publishers to inform and entertain us. Online publishers often fund the creation of this content through ads; sometimes they ask you to pay for content directly, by buying a subscription or purchasing a particular article.

Now, you may see a new option: the ability to access some of this content by responding to microsurveys, without having to pull out your wallet or sign in. When a site has implemented this option, you'll see a prompt that offers you a choice between answering a market research question or completing another action specified by the publisher (such as signing up for an account or purchasing access). All responses are completely anonymous -- they aren't tied to your identity or later used to target ads. The prompts look like this:



Publishers get paid for hosting surveys. A number of publishers, such as the The Texas Tribune, the Star Tribune and Adweek have already started running these microsurveys on their sites.

So what's the point of these questions? From international brands to local food trucks, every business owner wants to make important decisions with their customers' feedback in mind. That's why we've created Google Consumer Surveys, a new business-facing product that makes custom market research easy. It enables companies to ask questions (the ones you'll later see on your screen) and get back quantitative results quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. Companies have already been using it to research everything from online shopping behavior (Lucky Brand Jeans) to gluten-free baking mixes (King Arthur Flour), and to assess brand awareness (Timbuk2) and inform product development (479 Popcorn). Google shares the money these companies spend with our publisher partners.




The idea behind Google Consumer Surveys is to create a model that benefits everyone. You get to keep enjoying your favorite online content, publishers have an additional option for making money from that content, and businesses have a new way of finding out what their customers want.

If you're a publisher interested in running microsurveys on your site, let us know.
URL: http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-way-to-access-quality-content.html

[G] Posted by: LeighAnn Montieth, General Manager, New York Yoga

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Posted by: LeighAnn Montieth, General Manager, New York Yoga

Posted by: LeighAnn Montieth, General Manager, New York Yoga

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is LeighAnn Montieth, General Manager of New York Yoga, a neighborhood Yoga studio with two locations in New York City.

New York Yoga is a neighborhood yoga studio that specializes in Vinyasa and Hot Yoga. It is also one of the first studios to offer On-Demand Yoga Internet videos, so that yogis can practice the discipline anytime, anywhere.

When I joined the studio staff five years ago, we were all using our personal email addresses and I didn't think that was the best way to present the business. There was also the challenge of staff scheduling. Between the two studios, we have eight full-time employees and over 50 teachers who work as part-time independent contractors. For many, yoga is not their primary focus so when their schedules are split or busy, scheduling can be tricky. Having dozens of teachers calling us each week to ask what time they were teaching, or scheduling substitutes on a paper calendar, wasn't a great use of our time, or theirs.

We needed one central place where all of our staff members and teachers could stay organized, and easily communicate. That's when we decided to transition to Google Apps for Business for our team. Now, all of our email addresses are at newyorkyoga.com, which helps us better brand our business and makes everyone feel like part of the team. And we use Google Docs to track substitute and other employee requests, as well as membership log-ins.

Having all of our information in one location has been extremely beneficial. It helps me save time fielding multiple phone calls and spend more time focusing on our clients. Even if I'm on vacation or working from home, I'm able to quickly log in, make sure all classes have an assigned teacher, and also stay up-to-speed with our client-base in real time. The ability to be mobile and access information from anywhere is something we've never had before, and it makes my job a lot easier.

Google Apps has given us the communication and organizational tools we need to succeed and maintain a healthy level of zen.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2012/03/posted-by-leighann-montieth-general.html

[G] Upcoming Webinar: Measurement and optimization on the GDN

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Upcoming Webinar: Measurement and optimization on the GDN

Looking to measure and optimize your GDN campaigns? We'll be hosting a webinar on April 2nd at 3:00pm GMT to discuss how to create successful GDN campaigns. You can use the GDN to target specific sites, categories, topics and audiences, and in this webinar we'll discuss best practices surrounding the creation and optimization of GDN campaigns. This webinar will be presented by a UK-based Google Display Specialist and more specialists will on hand to answer any questions you may have.
Register now here! For upcoming live webinars and webinar recording links, please visit google.co.uk/ads/webinars.

Posted by Lauren Barbato, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2012/03/upcoming-webinar-measurement-and.html

[G] Updates to Google Merchant Center Terms of Service

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Updates to Google Merchant Center Terms of Service

(Cross-posted from the Google Commerce blog)

Back in January, we announced our new Google Terms of Service to provide a more consistent experience for users across Google's products. Starting today, March 29, Google Merchant Center will be covered by the new Google Terms of Service along with a short set of additional terms and conditions specific to Merchant Center.

While the substance in the additional Merchant Center terms and conditions remains unchanged from the previous version, the new additional terms and conditions are shorter and reworded to be easier to understand. We encourage you to take the time to review the new Google Terms of Service along with the additional Merchant Center terms and conditions.

Posted by Mayuresh Saoji, Senior Product Manager, Google Merchant Center team
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2012/03/updates-to-google-merchant-center-terms.html

[G] A fast, accurate, and affordable way to do online market research

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: A fast, accurate, and affordable way to do online market research

From international brands to local food trucks, every business wants to make important decisions with their customers' feedback in mind. Which version of your new logo will people like better? How much interest do dog owners have in organic dog food? Is your brand awareness growing over time?

We now have a new option for companies looking to answer these types of questions and more: Google Consumer Surveys. Whether you're a Fortune 500 company or a local bike shop, Consumer Surveys makes market research fast, accurate, and affordable.


You can create an online survey in minutes, have responses within hours and fully analyzed results in days. We do all the heavy lifting for you, finding interesting nuggets of information (or "insights") and providing you with tools for digging deeper.

Here's how it works: people browsing the web come across your questions when they try to access high quality content like news articles or videos. Answering the question gives them near instant access to the page they want. All responses are anonymous; they aren't tied to users' identity or later used to target ads. This provides an alternative to the traditional paywall model: site visitors don't have to pull out a wallet or sign in, publishers get paid as their site visitors respond, and you gain insight into what people think -- for just $0.10 per response for the general US population or $0.50 per response for custom audiences.

We've already been working with a number of companies researching everything from online shopping behavior (Lucky Brand Jeans) to gluten-free baking mixes (King Arthur Flour), and using Consumer Surveys to track brand awareness (Timbuk2) and inform product development (479 Popcorn). Check out google.com/insights/consumersurveys to learn more.

Posted by Brett Slatkin, Software Engineer
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2012/03/fast-accurate-and-affordable-way-to-do.html

[G] Localize your apps and content more easily -- new formats in Translator Toolkit

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Localize your apps and content more easily -- new formats in Translator Toolkit



At Google, we put a lot of energy into helping localize the world's information to make it more useful to more people. It's not just about localizing our own products -- we want to provide tools that make it easy for translators and developers around the world to localize their own apps and content. Google Translator Toolkit is our online translation tool for amateur and professional translators -- it's built on Google Translate and supports more than 100,000 language pairs.



This week, the Translator Toolkit team has launched support for four new translation-related file formats:

• Android Resource (.xml)

• Application Resource Bundle (.arb)

• Chrome Extension (.json)

• GNU gettext-based (.po)



With these new file formats, you can use Translator Toolkit to localize your apps and other products and content much more quickly and easily.



For example, to translate your Android application, go into the res/values directory and upload strings.xml into Translator Toolkit -- Translator Toolkit will now automatically translate it. You can then share your translations with amateur or professional translators, who can localize the text using Translator Toolkit's WYSIWYG online editor.









When you're finished, you can export your translated application and store it in a locale-specific directory in Android. Voilà -- easy localization! 翻译起来太方便了!



In addition, we've made the Translator Toolkit interface more intuitive for these new file formats so users can translate faster and more accurately. For example, you can turn on 'Customized colors' so translators can annotate the edited segments, 'Number of characters in the segment' to make sure the text doesn't run too long (very important for mobile devices), and 'Synchronized scrolling' so you can scroll the original and translated text at the same time, which makes navigation much easier.










With these new file formats and UI features, along with the file formats we already support (.aea, .srt, .html), we hope Translator Toolkit can help you reach more users around the world.



When you're ready, give Google Translator Toolkit a try and suggest any improvements you'd like to see so we can work on making it even better.



Posted by Chris Yang, Product Manager and Haidong Shao, Software Engineer, Translator Toolkit


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/Fiiv3NhqYVc/localize-your-apps-and-content-more.html

[G] Create your own video duels with YouTube Slam

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Create your own video duels with YouTube Slam

Last year we started experimenting with the idea that you could find the next big thing on YouTube. YouTube Slam pits two videos against each other, where you get points for picking the crowd favorite. In just a few months, hundreds of thousands of you cast more than a million votes on Slams we created, and today we're turning the game controls over to you.



You can now turn any of your playlists into a YouTube Slam. Play solo, share the YouTube link with your friends or even play together in a Google+ Hangout. Here's how to do it:


  1. Make a playlist with the videos you want to include in the Slam (you'll need at least two videos and they have to be public), or choose a playlist you have already

  2. Go to www.youtube.com/slam/create

  3. Click the "Create Slam" button next to one of your playlists. It'll look like this:






When you click "Play Slam" you'll be taken into your game, and we'll show the highest scoring videos and players on the leaderboard page of your Slam. Click "View the winners" at any time to check it out.



Want to get your friends involved? You can now play custom or existing Slams live with friends inside a Google+ Hangout by clicking the "Play Slam with your friends" link. You can also share the YouTube Slam link with friends directly to get more people playing. If you feel like the Slam has been settled, you can remove it at any time.







Slam is still a work in progress, and we want to hear your feedback. Let us know what you think in the comments below or by clicking the "Feedback" link on any Slam.



Interested in learning more about the research behind YouTube Slam? Check out our recent Google Research Blog post about gamification of search ranking, or find out about our work on finding funny videos and talented musicians.



Sanketh Shetty, software engineer, recently played a "Tree Cutting Fails" Slam.


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/gFHdNrj9jFQ/create-your-own-video-duels-with.html

[G] Traffic and Transit Come to Google Maps in Malaysia

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Google Lat Long: Traffic and Transit Come to Google Maps in Malaysia


We originally launched Google Maps in Malaysia back in 2009, and since then, Malaysians have been avid users of the service on both their desktops and mobile devices. So today, we are happy to announce three new features for Malaysia that we hope will make the map even more useful — especially for a nation with a lot of commuters.

First up, we have implemented the Traffic layer, which provides data about real time road congestion right on the map. Users can quickly see whether roads are congested or flowing freely based on colour coding — red for choc-a-bloc, yellow for slow moving, and green for smooth flowing.

Traffic Layer in Kuala Lumpur

Second, Transit information is now available, meaning that Malaysian public transportation details can now be found on Google Maps. This means that train and bus stops are now listed on the map, but more importantly, when you go to the "Get Directions" tab, you will see a new option — designated with a bus icon — to plan your route via public transport. The results of your search will give you step-by-step public transportation directions on how to get from Place A to Place B via bus, LRT, monorail, and Komuter train.
Transit Information in Google Maps Mobile in Kuala Lumpur

Finally, Google Maps is now available in Bahasa Malaysia, giving Malay native speakers better accessibility and the option of interfacing and navigating with Google Maps. Since 60 percent of Malaysians use Bahasa Malaysia as their primary language with over 90 percent proficiency, this localisation should make it easier for Malaysians to get the most from Maps.

To plan your journey and and get ahead in your travels, go to maps.google.com.my.

To learn more about traffic in Google Maps you can watch this video tutorial:



Posted by Jing Lim, Software Engineer, Google Maps Malaysia
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/03/traffic-and-transit-come-to-google-maps.html

[G] Find out your trip duration based on current traffic

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Google Lat Long: Find out your trip duration based on current traffic


Should I take public transit or a taxi to the airport? What's the fastest way to get to my appointment on time: local streets or the expressway? Oftentimes, the answer to these questions depends on the current traffic conditions.

Now using both live and historic traffic data, Google Maps enables you to once again see the estimated length of time your journey might take. In areas where the information is available, this new and improved feature evaluates current traffic conditions and is constantly being refreshed to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date estimate possible. To see this feature, simply access directions as you normally would on Google Maps. Below the time estimate for how long your trip might take without any traffic, you'll see the adjusted estimate that factors in current traffic data.

For example, if I'm trying to get to JFK Airport from Manhattan I can see it is quicker to take the train versus a taxi during rush hour.

Comparing Driving Time vs. Transit Time

If the roads you're traveling do not yet show the current traffic information, don't despair. You can help your fellow drivers and improve traffic data about road conditions and speeds by turning on the My Location feature on Google Maps for Android.

We hope being able to plan your travels based on current traffic information saves you time, and perhaps even prevents some road frustration. Happy driving!

To learn more about directions and navigation on your Android phone, start here.

Posted by Szabolcs Payrits, Software Engineer, Google Maps
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/03/find-out-your-trip-duration-based-on.html
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