Friday, March 16, 2012

Googland

Googland

[G] We’ve gone mad for college hoops

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: We've gone mad for college hoops

It's March Madness and many basketball fans are turning to the web to research teams, coaches and players to build the perfect bracket. Being sports nerds ourselves, ever since the seeds announcement on Sunday we've been heads down in data, and with just a few hours left until first tip-off and brackets close, we're attempting a buzzer beater: could search volume be a good indicator of game outcome?

We looked back at basketball search trends to see how Google would have performed if it had submitted a bracket for the past few tournaments. We've had our hits and misses over the years but in the spirit of the games and curiosity, we've decided to reveal our picks for the 2012 tournament based on search volume. Check back often to see how we're doing.

Along with our official bracket, we've collected all the ways you can use Google to make your selections and stay connected with your teams and fellow fans throughout the tournament. Explore the full list on our College Hoops 2012 page.

Connect
Stay informed
  • Keep up with your bracket picks by searching for [march madness] or individual teams like [duke basketball] to see real-time scores and schedules for the tournament.
Explore
  • Download a complimentary copy of the Zagat guide Winning Hangouts for College Basketball Fans to find a place to watch the games and cheer on your favorite teams. The guide features trusted ratings and reviews for restaurants, sports bars and gastropubs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
  • Since chances are you can't physically fly to every game around the U.S., take a virtual tour of the tournament locations via a customized map overlay in Google Earth and watch this video of 3D models of the stadiums where your favorite teams will be playing.

It's true, I only have one Pac-12 team to support, and it's not my beloved Stanford Cardinal. But, this is still my favorite time of year—buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories and an overwhelming display of pure passion and athleticism that can only be seen during a tournament like this. Good luck to all 64 teams on their journey to the National Championship, and don't forget to join the action using #GoogleHoops on Google+.

Posted by Lauren Gellman, Product Marketing Manager 
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/weve-gone-mad-for-college-hoops.html

[G] 19,000+ episodes of Indian TV on YouTube Shows

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 04:45 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: 19,000+ episodes of Indian TV on YouTube Shows

India is one of world's largest producers of TV shows. With more than 400 terrestrial and local channels available, Indians often face the challenging question: What am I going to watch?



The good news is that we increasingly don't have to worry about when to watch. Over the last few years, major Indian broadcasters such as Sony Entertainment Television, Colors, ImagineTV, Star India, and VikatanTV have been bringing their shows to YouTube so that you can watch them whenever you want.



Now that our Indian TV partners offer more than 19,000 full episodes of 300 programs in six different languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, and Punjabi), we wanted to offer our Indian viewers an updated Shows page at youtube.com/shows to help you better follow shows you love and discover new favorites. For the rest of the world, you can still find the shows through youtube.com/shows/other-languages.







You'll find programs into genres like drama and comedy, as well as the latest and top watched episodes featured on the page. Missed the last episode of Bade Acche Lagte Hai? It'll be right there in the channel waiting for you. If you're looking for a few good places to start, check out popular shows like Balika Vadhu, Ramayan, CID, Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and Thendral.



These 19,000+ episodes are just a start, so we hope we can keep delivering more and more content that viewers across India—and around the world—want to see.



Ajith Rao, software engineer, recently watched "Adaalat - Episode 104," and Gowri Ramkumar, technical account manager, recently watched "Kuch toh log Kahenge - episode 118."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/03LKwbNb5w8/19000-episodes-of-indian-tv-on-youtube.html

[G] Helping the Hooch with water conservation at our Douglas County data center

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Helping the Hooch with water conservation at our Douglas County data center

If you're familiar with the work of the Southern poet Sidney Lanier, you'll know he wrote about the beauty of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia. "The Hooch," as it's known around here, starts up in the northeastern part of the state, runs through Atlanta and down into Alabama before emptying out into the Gulf of Mexico. Those of us who work in Google's Douglas County, Ga. data center have a special fondness for the Chattahoochee because it's an integral part of our ability to run a highly efficient facility.

Google's data centers use half the energy of a typical data center in part because we rely on free cooling rather than energy hungry mechanical chillers. In Douglas County, like at most of our facilities, we use evaporative cooling, which brings cold water into the data center to cool the servers, then releases it as water vapor through cooling towers.

A typical data center can use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a day. When we first built the Georgia facility in 2007, the water we used came from the local potable (drinking) water supply. But we soon realized that the water we used didn't need to be clean enough to drink. So we talked to the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority (known locally as the WSA) about setting up a system that uses reuse water—also known as grey- or recycled water—in our cooling infrastructure. With this system in place, we're able to use recycled water for 100 percent of our cooling needs.

This video of the system includes never-before-seen footage of our Douglas County facility:



Here's how it works: The WSA has a water treatment facility in Douglasville, Ga. that cleans wastewater from the local communities and releases it back into the Chattahoochee. We worked with the WSA to build a side-stream plant about five miles west of our data center that diverts up to 30 percent of the water that would have gone back into the river; instead we send it through the plant for treatment and then on to the data center. Any water that doesn't evaporate during the cooling process then goes to an Effluent Treatment Plant located on-site. There, we treat the water once again to disinfect it, remove mineral solids and send it back out to the Chattahoochee—clean, clear and safe.


The Chattahoochee provides drinking water, public greenspace and recreational activities for millions of people. In fact, just two weeks ago it was the first river to be designated a National Water Trail in a new system announced by the Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar—a system that encourages community stewardship of local waterways. We're glad to do our part in creating an environmentally sustainable economy along the shores of the Hooch.

Posted by Jim Brown, Data Center Facilities Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/helping-hooch-with-water-conservation.html

[G] Increase your earnings with Google Affiliate Network exclusive promotions

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: Increase your earnings with Google Affiliate Network exclusive promotions


If you aren't already a Google Affiliate Network publisher, now is a good time to join and earn additional revenue from your website. Over 40 promotions will be available exclusively to Google Affiliate Network publishers from Friday, March 23 through Monday, March 26. As a publisher, you'll earn a performance fee from orders that originate from your links. You can view all exclusive promotions on this blog post.


How do I post these promotions on my site?

To access any of these exclusive promotions, you need to be an approved publisher in Google Affiliate Network.


  1. Apply for Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense Publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).

  2. Once approved, review the promotions available and click the "Apply Now" link for each one that you wish to promote.

  3. Tracking links will be available in your Google Affiliate Network account by viewing the Home tab on March 19th. You can also search for "March Exclusive" links in the Links tab on March 23rd.


Need help applying or want more information? Review the Publisher Beginner's guide today.


When can I post these promotions on my site?

All promotions will be available starting midnight Central Time on March 23rd, and all will expire at midnight Central Time on March 26th. Please remember that you may not post any of these exclusive promotions until March 23rd.



For additional questions, check out the Help Center or contact us.



Posted by Jamie Ross, Google Affiliate Network Strategist


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tuAm/~3/7-uxNYIa_6w/increase-your-earnings-with-google.html
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