Every year right about now we round up our blogging activity across Google. Ready? Here goes.
This is our 368th post of the year on the main Google blog, which is 23% more than in 2007. In addition to more posts, we are thrilled to know that we have many more readers now — 78% more, to be exact. The number of unique visitors jumped from 6,738,830 last year to more than 12 million (12,000,723) in 2008. And readers are coming from all over: the UK, Canada, India, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Japan and beyond. The top non-Google referrers are Yahoo, Digg, Reddit, Lifehacker and Slashdot.
We posted quite a bit about new products (10) and new product features (56), but nothing caused as much excitement as our earlier-than-planned unveiling of Google Chrome. This post alone had 1,735,093 unique visitors and generated 12% of our total-year pageviews on the blog! There was also the much-anticipated announcement of the first Android-powered phone. And people enjoyed reading about our design philosophies. Who knew a little change to a favicon would generate such interest?
But it wasn't all just product news; there was much else to cover in 2008. To mark Google's 10th birthday, we took a moment to reflect on the enormous impact the Internet has had on people's lives since our founding. Some of our in-house experts shared their thoughts on how various technologies will evolve in the next 10 years.
Like many of you, we were on the edge of seats watching all of the U.S. election action. We posted 27 times about political subjects, providing information about voting tools, how the political process works, and what was top of mind on Election Day. It's clear that technology will be playing an even bigger role in politics in years to come.
Of course, we had some fun too: We kept our long-standing April Fools' Day tradition going with the announcement of Project Virgle; we covered new ways to get around the Googleplex and the masterminding of a giant Ferris wheel; and we raised our glass to a couple who got married with Google.
And the Google blog network keeps on growing: 44 new blogs launched this year, for a total of 127 active company blogs. A few highlights: eight new developer blogs (the Open Source blog is shining star, with 370,000 unique visitors since its start in February), and 22 new ads-related blogs, nearly half of which are in languages other than English (there are AdSense blogs in Traditional Chinese and Russian; and AdWords blogs in Danish, German, Turkish, French, Russian, Korean, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Spanish). There's even an Analytics blog in French. And we also welcomed three new regional blogs, for India, Africa, and the Ukraine. Sharing information with people wherever they are in whatever language they speak is a priority for us, and each of these new blogs helps us get a little bit closer to this goal. If the total number of Google blogs makes your head spin, don't worry. We've developed a new blog directory and gadget to help you more easily track news and updates from us.
We're looking forward to another robust year of keeping you informed of all the goings-on at Google. In the meantime, we wish you and yours a very happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Freedom is Fun
Happy festive season to all those who are celebrating, and commiserations to those who are missing out or have not been blessed with a nice Christmas period.
Many thanks to Q for being a custodian of the blog. It would surely have died long ago but for his endeavour and I deeply appreciate his ongoing efforts.
NYC in Sauer
I have a queue of interesting things... like this lovely screenshot of a NYC map for Sauerbraten that pushes the engine's performance.
There was a Christmas release of SuperTuxKart and it's full of goodies. Verison 0.6rc1 (an rc, thusly YMMV) offers (among a lot of new tracks and other improvements) improved physics with skidding, nitro, a better AI, and positional sound effects. Sounds super.
Gearhead2 is now completable as of the latest release, version 0.530, meaning that it is no longer a tech demo but a real live game. It's a futuristic / mech-based graphical roguelike and a very nice one too by all accounts.
UFO:AI Starchaser
I really liked this UFO:AI "Starchaser" interceptor (right). I'm looking forward to 2.3 which should be another impressive release for the project.
Vega Strike has had a lot of speech packs contributed in the last few weeks. To preview them you'll have to head on over to the VS forums (sorry, no direct links). I'm sure this will make the next release of the game more atmospheric. Whilst core development seems a little cool at the moment, the community contributions are as active as ever and I predict an explosive release sometime in 2009 that makes people go, "Wow, that's what open source can do." I also mined this nugget from the Ogre forums when procrastinating the other day (hellcatv is a lead VS dev, VS is prospectively getting ported to OGRE, and that thread is about a feature that looks particularly useful for transitions between space and planetscapes). Yes, that is rumour-mongering, and I'm proud of it!
Scourge is getting nicer lighting, there's a poor quality video on vimeo of it in its infancy (the effects have since improved). There was a bump with the 0.21 release, which got pulled and replaced by 0.21.1, but now that's sorted out development momentum has returned and already 0.22 looks promising.
I don't monitor nearly as many projects as I used to. Are there any other impressive screenshots you guys have seen lately? Any other projects looking promising for nice 2009 releases?
Casino Games- a perfect game to make money
An online casino game is creating a niche with its high demand all over the globe. People find internet gambling to be a convenient way to try their luck due to which its momentous success and growth is reaching the zenith. This has led to a cut-throat competition among the world of cell phone roulette with faster servers and stronger security as the prime standard. Now the players have a host of options to opt from, as diversity of opportunity and services are coming up. Customer retention is an important aspect in any business, and same is with cell phone roulette. The easier and varied payment options, sign-up bonuses, array in games and openhanded loyalty bonuses are some of the tools to attract and retain the prospect clients. All these contribute to be a captivating factor for the players.
The cell phone usage has become so universal that you would find at least a dozen of people busy in using some or the other form of mobile device, be it a PDA or a cell phone. Looking at the future prospects, the emergence of Online Casinos in to the cell phone devices was simply inevitable. Now making real money is fun through cell phone online casino games. Just like your laptop or your home computers, the mobile devices offer a diverse gaming option for its players.
Monday, December 29, 2008
A grateful season
The holidays are a time for giving, and Googlers across the globe have found some creative ways to give back to their communities this season. From raising money and crafting greeting cards to building gingerbread houses and giving blood, Googlers from east to west have been busy spreading good cheer. We've highlighted just a few of these efforts here, and we're looking forward to many more opportunities to give back in the new year.
London
The UK engineering recruitment team started to plan its annual Secret Santa gift exchange. But as they began thinking about last year, they realized that hardly anyone on the team could remember what they'd received, let alone given. Instead of spending 10 pounds on gag gifts, they decided to use the money to make a difference. After discovering that a local children's hospital was in desperate need of gifts, they quickly raised enough money to buy a Nintendo Wii gaming console for one of the wards.
Mexico City
In the past, Google has held a "Doodle 4 Google" contest in the US, the UK, and Australia, inviting kids K-12 to submit a homepage doodle inspired by a particular theme. This year Mexico held its first such contest (theme: "the Mexico we want"). For each doodle submitted, Google donated to a non-profit that works to eradicate childhood malnutrition in Mexico. In total, more than 70,000 kilos (154,000 pounds) of food and aid were donated. Winner, Ana Karen Villagómez, was recently recognized in a ceremony in Mexico City; her doodle (pictured below) will appear on the Google homepage on January 6.
Boston and beyond
Boston Googlers delivered gifts to some very grateful students at a local school and spent the morning reading and playing with the children. The Chicago office held its first-ever holiday blood drive, donating 36 units of blood. And the Ann Arbor office held a "CANstruction" competition, creating sculptures out of canned food, personal items and baby items, which were all later donated.
We hope that your holiday season is filled with plenty of time to slow down and reflect on what's important to you, and that you too feel inspired to find ways to give back to your own community in the new year.
London
The UK engineering recruitment team started to plan its annual Secret Santa gift exchange. But as they began thinking about last year, they realized that hardly anyone on the team could remember what they'd received, let alone given. Instead of spending 10 pounds on gag gifts, they decided to use the money to make a difference. After discovering that a local children's hospital was in desperate need of gifts, they quickly raised enough money to buy a Nintendo Wii gaming console for one of the wards.
Mexico City
In the past, Google has held a "Doodle 4 Google" contest in the US, the UK, and Australia, inviting kids K-12 to submit a homepage doodle inspired by a particular theme. This year Mexico held its first such contest (theme: "the Mexico we want"). For each doodle submitted, Google donated to a non-profit that works to eradicate childhood malnutrition in Mexico. In total, more than 70,000 kilos (154,000 pounds) of food and aid were donated. Winner, Ana Karen Villagómez, was recently recognized in a ceremony in Mexico City; her doodle (pictured below) will appear on the Google homepage on January 6.
Boston and beyond
Boston Googlers delivered gifts to some very grateful students at a local school and spent the morning reading and playing with the children. The Chicago office held its first-ever holiday blood drive, donating 36 units of blood. And the Ann Arbor office held a "CANstruction" competition, creating sculptures out of canned food, personal items and baby items, which were all later donated.
We hope that your holiday season is filled with plenty of time to slow down and reflect on what's important to you, and that you too feel inspired to find ways to give back to your own community in the new year.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Plutocracy, Cheese Boys and Goblin Hack 1.16
Cheese Boys breaking the fourth wall
Goblin Hack 1.16
Plutocracy rev 499a multiplayer 3D RTS game focusing on merchant trade and domination by economic means, although warfare and piracy are always an option. The game has a 1600s Caribbean theme, is played on a real globe, and aims to replicate realistic economic transactions.I fell in love with it's graphical style, which reminds me of Populous III. I haven't had the chance to play it with anybody else and there are no bots, so I can't say anything about playability, besides the fact that it's easy to lose your units out of sight.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Fujitsu ST6012 Tablet PC
When I come across a cool new gaget on the web I immediately want to share it with all of you so you can see and know whats new. Enjoy!
You have got to love all these new electric tablets that are coming out these days! One of the latest is the Fujitsu ST6012. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the name of Fujitsu. For those that aren’t, we have reported on this company’s products before, most recently, the Laptop4Life Program.
The Fujitsu ST6012 is a 12-inch tablet PC that comes with some very interesting features including a TFT WXGA display with indoor and outdoor wide views. It is also equipped with an integrated Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300AGN (802.11a/b/g/draft-n) as well as Bluetooth wireless.
Under the hood of the ST6012 is an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor Ultra Low Voltage SU9400 and Intel Centrino 2 with Intel Pro Technology. As for the memory, it has 1GB DDR3 MHz memory, and 80GB S-ATA 150, 5400 rpm hard drive2.
As for the software, it comes with Genuine Windows Vista Business, Bonus Media with Microsoft Office OneNote 20071 and Microsoft Office Ready PC. It also includes a fingerprint sensor, embedded TPM, a Smart Card slot, as well as the Fujitsu Security Application Panel.
If that isn’t enough, the ST6012 comes with an integrated camera and wireless USB. If you are interested in this, (and how could you not be) it will cost about $1,999-2,579. Source: PC Gagets
Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
EPMD - We Mean Business
No group has ever meant business like EPMD. Parrish Smith and Erick Sermon are the epitome of business. Erick and Parrish have been makin' dollars for over 20 years now. They released their first album in '88 (Strictly Business) and have been East-Coast legends since. As a group they have faced a fair share of turmoil. They separated in '93 and re-united four years later. It wouldn't be for long though because Erick and Parrish haven't released any material for over nine years. Until this December that is when they released We Mean Business amidst controversy of the lack of DJ Scratch. DJ Scratch has been an important part of every EPMD album. In many senses, he is just as important to the group as Erick and Parrish are. So the questions is can they overcome his loss?...
1. Puttin' Work In
Featuring Raekwon
Not a bad start. It's kind of refreshing to hear an album without an rap intro. And it's even more refreshing to hear these hip-hop pioneers together. Don't get me wrong though, this song is far from perfect, but it's also far from obscurity.
2. What You Talkin'
Featuring Havoc
I could do without the superficial hook and the over-exaggerated instrumental, but this track is alright. On a sidenote, I'm surprised Soulja Boy hasn't said anything about EPMD yet. They hit him with this gem: "The Oscar De La Hoya, the golden boy/I'm not dude, don't believe I'll show ya boy/Ask Destiny's Child/ I'm not Soulja Boy"
3. Roc-Da-Spot
This is definitely what you'd call classic EPMD. The funk sample, the Biggie sample, the hook. Well done. I was feeling this one.
4. Blow
The first two verses were fire. The last verse was just off. I don't know if it was recorded separately or what, but it just did not sound good at all. It's a good song despite all that though.
5. Run It
Featuring KRS One
KRS One the black educator telling people "Get down on the floor" and making all sorts of ambience sound? Am I missing something? Isn't he supposed to be busy being an positive influence to youngn's? By the way, this song is terrible.
6. Yo
Featuring Redman
Best song off the album period. I said no discussion! Who told Redman it was OK to outshine EPMD on their own album? Check it.
7. Listen Up
Featuring Teddy Riley
Some songs would be better acapella. This is one of them.
8. Bac Stabbers
You know the phrase "Good idea, poor execution"? Well, this is a case of "Poor idea, good execution", if that makes any sense at all. Leave it to EPMD to make a song for the bac(k) stabbers, and equip some old-school techno sample.
9. Never Defeat 'Em
Featuring Method Man
Erick Sermon sets it off over this engaging instrumental, and Method Man body's his verse. But then Parrish put me to sleep, he does not sound good over this instrumental.
10. Jane
Every EPMD album has a song called Jane. It is typically just a song for the ladies, and it's no exception this time.
11. Left 4 Dead
Featuring Skyzoo; Produced by 9th Wonder
This song sounds the same way it looks on paper. EPMD is the essence of true school hip-hop, 9th and Skyzoo are two cats who are taking hip-hop where EPMD took them before. Needless to say, this track is crazy, and definitely worth checking out.
12. They Tell Me
Featuring Keith Murray
Keith Murray and EPMD have done some classic work together, this is not indicative of that at all. Skip/delete/sleep/right click... whatever you have to do, this one is not worth your time.
13. Actin' Up
Featuring Vic D and Tre
A good send-off. Everything was on point here. Good guest spot, good instrumental, good lyrics. Nothing better than good but still...
Bottom Line:
This album will not attract any new fans for EPMD. They stuck to an old formula with the exception of Left 4 Dead, and will most likely only appeal to old fans. Still it's a good album, and you should definitely check it out if you haven't already done so.
0-20: Terrible listening experience
21-40: Maybe one good song
41-60: A few good songs
61-80: Half are good songs, half are weak
81-100: Great listening experience, almost all are great songsI give this album an 84.
You can find a link here.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tracking Santa: the backstory
When I look back on four years of tracking Old St. Nick on Christmas Eve, I can't help but smile. The Santa tracker has really come a long way. I always thought NORAD's Santa Tracker was a great holiday tradition, but I felt like it could have been even better if people could visualize exactly where Santa was on Christmas Eve. So in 2004, shortly after Keyhole was acquired by Google, we followed Santa in the "Keyhole Earth Viewer" — Google Earth's original name — and we called it the "Keyhole Santa Radar." The audience was relatively small since Keyhole was still a for-pay service at that point, and we hosted everything on a single machine shared with the Keyhole Community BBS server. We probably should have had three separate servers to host the Santa tracker — that first year, we had only a portion of a single machine. That night, about 25,000 people kept tabs on Santa and, needless to say, wreaked some havoc on our servers!
Over the next two years, our Santa-tracking efforts improved dramatically. By December 2005, Keyhole had become Google Earth and our audience had become much, much larger. Our "Santa Radar" team also grew: we used greatly improved icons from Dennis Hwang, the Google Doodler, and set up 20 machines to serve the tracking information. My colleague Michael Ashbridge took over the software and more than 250,000 people tracked Santa on Google Earth that Christmas Eve. In 2006, Google acquired SketchUp, a 3D modeling software that enabled us to include models of Santa's North Pole workshop and sleigh. We also incorporated a tracking feed directly from NORAD's headquarters, and we were now displaying NORAD's information in Google Earth. That year, more than a million people tracked Santa.
In 2007, Google became NORAD's official Santa Tracking technology partner and hosted www.noradsanta.org. In addition to tracking Santa in Google Earth, we added a Google Maps tracker and integrated YouTube videos into the journey as well. Now, we had Santa on the map and on "Santa Cam" arriving in several different locations around the world, with commentary in six different languages. The heavy traffic — several millions of users — put Google's infrastructure to the test, but with some heroic work by our system reliability engineers, the Santa Tracker worked continuously.
This year, Googler Bruno Bowden is in charge of the Santa software, and we have further upgraded our server capacity. We're hoping this version of the tracker will be the best yet. In addition to our "Santa Cam" footage, geo-located photos from Panoramio will be viewable in Google Maps for each of Santa's stops that don't include video. We've also included a few new ways to track Santa. With Google Maps for mobile, anyone can keep tabs on him from their mobile phones (just activate GMM and search for "norad santa"). You can also receive updates from "Bitz the Elf" on Twitter by following @noradsanta. And of course, be sure to visit www.noradsanta.org tomorrow morning starting at 6:00 am EST when Santa's journey begins. Enjoy, and see you in 2009!
Over the next two years, our Santa-tracking efforts improved dramatically. By December 2005, Keyhole had become Google Earth and our audience had become much, much larger. Our "Santa Radar" team also grew: we used greatly improved icons from Dennis Hwang, the Google Doodler, and set up 20 machines to serve the tracking information. My colleague Michael Ashbridge took over the software and more than 250,000 people tracked Santa on Google Earth that Christmas Eve. In 2006, Google acquired SketchUp, a 3D modeling software that enabled us to include models of Santa's North Pole workshop and sleigh. We also incorporated a tracking feed directly from NORAD's headquarters, and we were now displaying NORAD's information in Google Earth. That year, more than a million people tracked Santa.
In 2007, Google became NORAD's official Santa Tracking technology partner and hosted www.noradsanta.org. In addition to tracking Santa in Google Earth, we added a Google Maps tracker and integrated YouTube videos into the journey as well. Now, we had Santa on the map and on "Santa Cam" arriving in several different locations around the world, with commentary in six different languages. The heavy traffic — several millions of users — put Google's infrastructure to the test, but with some heroic work by our system reliability engineers, the Santa Tracker worked continuously.
This year, Googler Bruno Bowden is in charge of the Santa software, and we have further upgraded our server capacity. We're hoping this version of the tracker will be the best yet. In addition to our "Santa Cam" footage, geo-located photos from Panoramio will be viewable in Google Maps for each of Santa's stops that don't include video. We've also included a few new ways to track Santa. With Google Maps for mobile, anyone can keep tabs on him from their mobile phones (just activate GMM and search for "norad santa"). You can also receive updates from "Bitz the Elf" on Twitter by following @noradsanta. And of course, be sure to visit www.noradsanta.org tomorrow morning starting at 6:00 am EST when Santa's journey begins. Enjoy, and see you in 2009!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Have you noticed the lack of posts?
Isn't this a familiar sight?
I hate coming to sites and seeing posts similar to this: "I've been busy lately, that's why I haven't been posting".
But alas, I am faced with a similar situation. Not only have I become increasingly busy with life, but aside from The Hip Hop Mortuary, I also run two other sites and contribute for three more.
I don't want this site to go under like countless other quality blogs. So I'm asking for help.
I don't want to place the blame on the staff here, because it's not their fault. But in the same sense we need to get this site active.
If you're a reader of this blog and would like to contribute reviews, GET AT ME!
Leave a message in the C-box or at my e-mail
ironflag1@gmail.com
Thank you.
I hate coming to sites and seeing posts similar to this: "I've been busy lately, that's why I haven't been posting".
But alas, I am faced with a similar situation. Not only have I become increasingly busy with life, but aside from The Hip Hop Mortuary, I also run two other sites and contribute for three more.
I don't want this site to go under like countless other quality blogs. So I'm asking for help.
I don't want to place the blame on the staff here, because it's not their fault. But in the same sense we need to get this site active.
If you're a reader of this blog and would like to contribute reviews, GET AT ME!
Leave a message in the C-box or at my e-mail
ironflag1@gmail.com
Thank you.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Xbox 360 - The Next Generation Video Game
Xbox 360 is a next generation video game which may play both the DVD movies and the games also. This form of video game system is the modern way of playing the games or listening to the music and watching movies.
The features which attracts us more and more towards the Xbox 360 includes DVD playback kits, controllers, cables, adapters, wireless gears and the whole load of superb accessories. An USB camera can also be added to it which has been specially designed for this subsequent generation system.
The placates: Two different systems are offered by the Xbox 360 which has different prices. The Xbox 360 Elite System is costlier which is offered at about $400 and the Xbox 360 Core System is very inexpensive which is offered at $300.
1. The Elite System: It offers everything which can ever thing off for your system. It has a control system and a very big hard drive. The control system is black and has no wires. The headset is a bit weird which has a great black finish.
2. The Core System: It comes with a plugging in comfort. It is mainly a stripped bones system for the people ho merely wish to play the video games. This system is best for the younger children who just play her or his video games.
Friday, December 19, 2008
New search-by-style options for Google Image Search
Many of us use Google Image Search to find imagery of people, clip art for presentations, diagrams for reports, and of course symbols and patterns for artistic inspiration. Unfortunately, searching for the perfect image can be challenging if the search results match the meaning of your query but aren't in a style that's useful to you. So some time ago we launched face search, which lets you limit your search results to only images containing faces (see a search without and with this option). More recently we also rolled out photo search, which limits results to images that contain photographic elements, ignoring many cartoons and drawings which may not be useful to you (see a search without and with this option).
Today we're pleased to extend this capability to clip art and line drawings. To see the effect of these new options, let's take a look at the first few results for "Christmas," one of our most popular queries on Image Search right now.
Photo content
Clip art
Line drawing
All of these options can be selected from the "Any content" drop down in the blue title bar on any search results page, or by selecting one of the "Content types" on the Advanced Image Search page. The good news: no extra typing! In all these examples our query remained exactly the same, we just restricted our results to different visual styles. So whether you're interested holiday wreaths, Celtic patterns, or office clip art, it just became a lot easier to find the images you're looking for.
Today we're pleased to extend this capability to clip art and line drawings. To see the effect of these new options, let's take a look at the first few results for "Christmas," one of our most popular queries on Image Search right now.
Photo content
Clip artLine drawingAll of these options can be selected from the "Any content" drop down in the blue title bar on any search results page, or by selecting one of the "Content types" on the Advanced Image Search page. The good news: no extra typing! In all these examples our query remained exactly the same, we just restricted our results to different visual styles. So whether you're interested holiday wreaths, Celtic patterns, or office clip art, it just became a lot easier to find the images you're looking for.
Black Googlers Network: building community
We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we know that a world's worth of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. We have more than a dozen employee-driven resource groups, from Gayglers to GWE (Google Women Engineers), that actively participate around the world in building community and driving policy at Google. This is the next post in our Interface series, which takes a look at valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. For more information on how Google fosters an inclusive work environment, visit Life at Google on our Jobs site. – Ed.
It's been a busy few months for the Black Googlers Network (BGN). One of our group's core goals is to build a community that keeps us connected, facilitates the sharing of ideas, and participates in community outreach. We sponsored a variety of events this fall across many of our offices, giving us the opportunity to give back and have some fun while doing it.
To kick things off, a group of us from the Mountain View, New York, Ann Arbor, Chicago and Atlanta offices, to name a few, rolled up our sleeves for our first annual service trip. We headed to New Orleans in September to aid in the Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts. Undeterred by Hurricane Gustav, which unexpectedly hit the coast the week before we arrived, we managed to make some adjustments to flights and itineraries and were some of the first volunteers back into the city.
We partnered with the St. Bernard Project, learning everything from how to lay flooring to installing drywall as we worked on three homes. Additionally, we joined a strategy session with The Idea Village, helping them kick off their newest initiative, the 504ward Project. The opportunity to serve the community in such a meaningful way while getting to know BGN members was unique. We each put our minds, bodies, and souls into the city and the experience.
Next, BGN participated in the United Negro College Fund's annual Walk-a-thon in Oakland, CA. Our Google-UNCF partnership also includes an annual scholarship for college students pursing a degree in engineering or computer science, and we're continuing to explore different ways to support and encourage underrepresented students.
This month, we're coming together in many of our offices for the holidays, giving ourselves a chance to catch up and take stock of the work we've done over the past year. Not to be slowed down for too long, though, as we will soon begin the exciting process of planning our new initiatives for 2009.
It's been a busy few months for the Black Googlers Network (BGN). One of our group's core goals is to build a community that keeps us connected, facilitates the sharing of ideas, and participates in community outreach. We sponsored a variety of events this fall across many of our offices, giving us the opportunity to give back and have some fun while doing it.
To kick things off, a group of us from the Mountain View, New York, Ann Arbor, Chicago and Atlanta offices, to name a few, rolled up our sleeves for our first annual service trip. We headed to New Orleans in September to aid in the Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts. Undeterred by Hurricane Gustav, which unexpectedly hit the coast the week before we arrived, we managed to make some adjustments to flights and itineraries and were some of the first volunteers back into the city.
We partnered with the St. Bernard Project, learning everything from how to lay flooring to installing drywall as we worked on three homes. Additionally, we joined a strategy session with The Idea Village, helping them kick off their newest initiative, the 504ward Project. The opportunity to serve the community in such a meaningful way while getting to know BGN members was unique. We each put our minds, bodies, and souls into the city and the experience.
Next, BGN participated in the United Negro College Fund's annual Walk-a-thon in Oakland, CA. Our Google-UNCF partnership also includes an annual scholarship for college students pursing a degree in engineering or computer science, and we're continuing to explore different ways to support and encourage underrepresented students.
This month, we're coming together in many of our offices for the holidays, giving ourselves a chance to catch up and take stock of the work we've done over the past year. Not to be slowed down for too long, though, as we will soon begin the exciting process of planning our new initiatives for 2009.
Free Images to Bolster your Blog
I came across this article while blog hoppin and I wanted to share it with you all for I know it can be of interest to you all to help improve your blogging.
A few weeks ago, I blogged about a survey from MarketingSherpa that showed that adding certain things to an ad increases user responsiveness. At the time, I was focused on video; specifically how bloggers can use it to better engage their reader and even increase conversions if they happen to be an affiliate blogger. But video wasn’t the only item on MarketingSherpa’s list. In fact, the top item was images.
Images are a great way to give your blog an added professional touch. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. And the best part is that getting decent picture doesn’t have to cost you anything at all.
Free Photos
A great source of free images for your blog post is Flickr. The site features millions of images, and many of them are free and of a very high quality. The free images are under a creative commons license, meaning that you just have to give credit to the photographer. A great way to do that is to add a caption to the image, and use the image itself to link back to the image’s page on Flickr.
If you’re an affiliate blogger, however, and you want to use a Flickr photo to help increase sales, you should double check the creative common license on it. Some people share content under the condition that it’s not used for commercial purposes. Granted, you could probably get away with using their images anyway, but it would be unfair to the photographer who is being nice enough to share their work with you and the world for free. Just think blogger ethics. Besides, if affiliate blogging is your bread and butter, the affiliate program that you blog for most likely offers affiliate marketing tools that you can use to get the same level of user engagement. These will often include banners and image that are perfect for showcasing the product you’re promoting by blogging about. And even if they don’t, chances are that a quick email to your affliate manager can get you the images you need to better engage your readers.
Written by CT Moore from Share Results Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
A few weeks ago, I blogged about a survey from MarketingSherpa that showed that adding certain things to an ad increases user responsiveness. At the time, I was focused on video; specifically how bloggers can use it to better engage their reader and even increase conversions if they happen to be an affiliate blogger. But video wasn’t the only item on MarketingSherpa’s list. In fact, the top item was images.
Images are a great way to give your blog an added professional touch. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. And the best part is that getting decent picture doesn’t have to cost you anything at all.
Free Photos
A great source of free images for your blog post is Flickr. The site features millions of images, and many of them are free and of a very high quality. The free images are under a creative commons license, meaning that you just have to give credit to the photographer. A great way to do that is to add a caption to the image, and use the image itself to link back to the image’s page on Flickr.
If you’re an affiliate blogger, however, and you want to use a Flickr photo to help increase sales, you should double check the creative common license on it. Some people share content under the condition that it’s not used for commercial purposes. Granted, you could probably get away with using their images anyway, but it would be unfair to the photographer who is being nice enough to share their work with you and the world for free. Just think blogger ethics. Besides, if affiliate blogging is your bread and butter, the affiliate program that you blog for most likely offers affiliate marketing tools that you can use to get the same level of user engagement. These will often include banners and image that are perfect for showcasing the product you’re promoting by blogging about. And even if they don’t, chances are that a quick email to your affliate manager can get you the images you need to better engage your readers.
Written by CT Moore from Share Results Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
DccNiTghtmare 0.3, ASC 2.20
DNT: inspiration source in the shelf
DNT: post-apocalyptic santaTo my great joy, there are already three solvable quests and a bunch of collectable items. The main thing, however: humor. In your journes you can either choose the light path and install GNU/Linux on the computers you pass by or infect it with the dark force of ruinix. You can actually do this in the latest version. I like where this is going, if this open source/proprietary thing gets implemented well, the game will have completely different playing styles.
Update: 0.3.2 of DNT has been released and it runs! [video] Also check out this DNT tutorial in comic form.
Advanced Strategic Command's latest stable version is 2.2.0. Some of the changes include new terrain and object graphics and changed unit definitions. Unfortunately it won't run on my system for now, so no screens from me this time.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Heli Attack 3
The heli attack 3 is the pergola survival shooter game which is very similar to the previous game of heli attack 2. Heli attack 2 was considered as the best playoff in the year 2003. So, the new version of this game surely promises to offer superb graphic game to the players. Apart from altering the core of the game play, the team of the game producers or designers has added a lot of movements like crouching and climbing. The heli attack 3 game has introduced a complete set of new weapons that are used while playing. These weapons make this game more interesting and a complete entertainment package.
The level series has also been added to the new version for an alteration of the scenery and increase the difficulty of the enemies. A really cool gun has also been added to the game in order to reward the hardcore gamers who pass all the difficult stages of the games and make through to the final level of the game. In the recent time, the heli attack 3 game has attained a lot of recognition amid all age groups. The people who love to play a challenging computer game opt to play this game. This game is very adventurous and complete fun to play.
The level series has also been added to the new version for an alteration of the scenery and increase the difficulty of the enemies. A really cool gun has also been added to the game in order to reward the hardcore gamers who pass all the difficult stages of the games and make through to the final level of the game. In the recent time, the heli attack 3 game has attained a lot of recognition amid all age groups. The people who love to play a challenging computer game opt to play this game. This game is very adventurous and complete fun to play.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Blog gadget 2.0
Back in September we introduced an iGoogle gadget that makes it possible to read recent posts from all of our corporate blogs, right on your dashboard. With the help of developer Ben Lisbakken, we're ready to roll out the next version of the gadget, which translates posts into 34 languages. Using Google Translate, the gadget gives people all over the world access to posts they might otherwise be unable to read. The default setting translates posts into the language in which your browser is set, but you can also choose from any of our supported languages by going into the "Edit" setting (found in the "Menu" arrow in the right-hand corner). If you want to learn more about Google in Latin America or AdWords in Russia, for example, but haven't had the chance to learn Spanish or Russian, give the gadget a spin. While machine translation is not exact, and we're constantly working to improve the quality, hopefully this new feature lets you get the gist of the post.
Here's a list of the supported languages:
Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Just choose the category of blogs you would like to read and click the "Translate" button.
The gadget will translate the posts and give you the option to "Revert" back to the original language. And to read the entire blog in translation, just click on the blog title beneath the post.
We hope you have fun exploring the entire Google blogosphere.
Here's a list of the supported languages:
Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Just choose the category of blogs you would like to read and click the "Translate" button.
The gadget will translate the posts and give you the option to "Revert" back to the original language. And to read the entire blog in translation, just click on the blog title beneath the post.
We hope you have fun exploring the entire Google blogosphere.
Jean Bartik: the untold story of a remarkable ENIAC programmer
This guest post was written by Kathy Kleiman, who discovered the ENIAC Programmers 20 years ago and founded the ENIAC Programmers Project to record their stories and produce the first feature documentary about their work. More at www.eniacprogrammers.org. – Ed.
"For many years in the computing industry, the hardware was it, the software was considered an auxiliary thing."
– Jean Bartik
For more than 50 years, the women of Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) were forgotten, and their role in programming the first all-electronic programmable computer and creating the software industry lost. But this fall, old met young, and a great computer pioneer met today's Internet pioneers. It happened in Silicon Valley and it happened at Google.
A little over a month ago, the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View honored Jean Bartik with its Fellows Award. This lifetime achievement award recognized her work as a programmer of the ENIAC and leader of the team to convert ENIAC to a stored program machine.
The Fellows Award was a rousing celebration of Bartik, Bob Metcalfe and Linus Torvalds. The next night, Bartik returned to CHM to discuss her life story in An Evening with Jean Jennings Bartik, ENIAC Pioneer. More than 400 people attended. They laughed at Bartik's descriptions of the ENIAC Programmers' exploits and enjoyed her stories of “Technical Camelot,” Bartik's description of her days at Eckert and Mauchly Computer Corporation in the 1950s. This video captures the evening:
During the Q&A session, one audience member asked: “If you were working today, where would you want to work?” Without hesitation, Bartik replied “Google!” with a huge smile. Googlers in the audience cheered.
Two days later, Bartik and I went to Google. We were met by our hosts, Ellen Spertus, Robin Jeffries, Peter Toole and Stephanie Williams, and whisked onto the campus past scrolling screens of Google searches and beach volleyball courts.
In the cafeteria, two dozen Google Women Engineers joined us. They pushed their chairs close to Bartik and leaned in to catch every word. Bartik regaled them with stories of computing's pioneers – the genius of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, co-inventors of the computer, and the ingenuity of Betty Holberton and Kay Mauchly Antonelli, fellow programmers and software creators. She shared the joys and struggles of those who created the computer industry.
After lunch we toured the campus. Bartik enjoyed seeing where Googlers program work and the videoconferencing equipment they use to talk with colleagues around the world.
It is a visit we will never forget, and for me, its own moment in history. Twenty years ago, I discovered the ENIAC Programmers and learned their untold story. I founded the ENIAC Programmers Project to record their histories, seek recognition for them and produce the first feature documentary of their story. Our website provides more information about the documentary, WWII-era pictures and an opportunity to help change history. The stories Bartik shared with Googlers that day belong to the world.
"For many years in the computing industry, the hardware was it, the software was considered an auxiliary thing."
– Jean Bartik
For more than 50 years, the women of Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) were forgotten, and their role in programming the first all-electronic programmable computer and creating the software industry lost. But this fall, old met young, and a great computer pioneer met today's Internet pioneers. It happened in Silicon Valley and it happened at Google.
A little over a month ago, the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View honored Jean Bartik with its Fellows Award. This lifetime achievement award recognized her work as a programmer of the ENIAC and leader of the team to convert ENIAC to a stored program machine.
The Fellows Award was a rousing celebration of Bartik, Bob Metcalfe and Linus Torvalds. The next night, Bartik returned to CHM to discuss her life story in An Evening with Jean Jennings Bartik, ENIAC Pioneer. More than 400 people attended. They laughed at Bartik's descriptions of the ENIAC Programmers' exploits and enjoyed her stories of “Technical Camelot,” Bartik's description of her days at Eckert and Mauchly Computer Corporation in the 1950s. This video captures the evening:
During the Q&A session, one audience member asked: “If you were working today, where would you want to work?” Without hesitation, Bartik replied “Google!” with a huge smile. Googlers in the audience cheered.
Two days later, Bartik and I went to Google. We were met by our hosts, Ellen Spertus, Robin Jeffries, Peter Toole and Stephanie Williams, and whisked onto the campus past scrolling screens of Google searches and beach volleyball courts.
In the cafeteria, two dozen Google Women Engineers joined us. They pushed their chairs close to Bartik and leaned in to catch every word. Bartik regaled them with stories of computing's pioneers – the genius of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, co-inventors of the computer, and the ingenuity of Betty Holberton and Kay Mauchly Antonelli, fellow programmers and software creators. She shared the joys and struggles of those who created the computer industry.
After lunch we toured the campus. Bartik enjoyed seeing where Googlers program work and the videoconferencing equipment they use to talk with colleagues around the world.
It is a visit we will never forget, and for me, its own moment in history. Twenty years ago, I discovered the ENIAC Programmers and learned their untold story. I founded the ENIAC Programmers Project to record their histories, seek recognition for them and produce the first feature documentary of their story. Our website provides more information about the documentary, WWII-era pictures and an opportunity to help change history. The stories Bartik shared with Googlers that day belong to the world.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Late nights and leftovers - Scourge 0.21
Scourge 0.21 is out. It's been optimized and stabilized considerably and now has a full 12 chapter storyline. Each release of Scourge gets closer to being a really good game - there are still a few issues that need addressing such as the character models - and that is reflected in the increasing activity of contributors. Until a year or so ago, Scourge development was mainly a 1 man effort, but 4 people put a lot of work into this release. A new model format (they are looking at [the unfortunately named] assimp for 0.22) and some better character models (think Glestimals, some JCRPG models, and a few of their own) and Scourge will offer some real immersion as well as a platform for creating new Free Software 3D isometric RPGs.
Talking about optimizations, VDrift is getting back on track after a ground-up rewrite to address key weaknesses in the codebase. Most features are now back and working better than before. I'm going to give the SVN version a go, but the vdrift-data check out takes a while. I think I started it 40 minutes ago.
Cube on the iPhone? No, really. Yes, really. Video:
Talking of cube-things, in Sauerbraten land I thought this idea was a good one. The Intensity Engine is a... well, it's ambitious. I won't go into that bit. However it brings procedurally generated content to Sauerbraten and that's pretty awesome. Video:
[i]Oops, forgot to link to the [arguably more interesting] counterpart video which shows how a bit of Python generates the above.[i]
Yo Frankie! Or yo, what's the deal Frankie? I guess when something gets so much hype, the expectations are high. The screenshots look lovely. The game? Well, the BGE version (which came with 0documentation and meant I had to ask in irc how to actually start the game since the Yo Frankie website gives as much info as the 0documentation) performance was terrible and the Crystal Space version I couldn't play because 0launch* is just about the worst way of distributing a game I have ever encountered. All hype and a totally cute techdemo. Good effort though.
* As if web browsers weren't already overburdened, apparently now they should be installers for things too. I hope the next release they at least provide a tar.gz download alternative.
I'm a bit off-radar at the moment with work. Thankfully Q is filling in brilliantly. He's the next-gen Free Gamer dude because he actually does stuff like create videos rather than just linkify interesting things.
Picasa 3 (and name tags) go global
A few months back, we announced some pretty big upgrades to Picasa and Picasa Web Albums for English-speaking users in the U.S. On the PC side, we rolled out a brand-new version of Picasa, with a slew of new tools like effortless web sync, movie editing, and photo-retouching capabilities. On the web, we launched "name tags," a new feature that automatically helps organize your photo collection based on who's in each of your pictures.
Today, just in time for your holiday snapshots, these changes (and more!) are available in all of the 38 languages we currently support. If you've been waiting to try the new photo-collage feature in Picasa, or been curious to see how clustering technology can automatically find similar faces across your photo collection, now's the time to download Picasa 3.1 or opt in to name tags on Picasa Web Albums.
Of course, having a truly global audience sharing and commenting on photos is one of the things that makes Picasa special. The people and places you'll spot on our Explore page attest to this, as do the multilingual comments users receive on their most popular public albums. That's why we just launched automatic comment translation on Picasa Web Albums, which harnesses Google Translate to make sure you know that "美麗的落日" means "Beautiful sunset!"
In fact, if you look closely, you'll see that we've recently rolled out a number of other small but meaningful changes across Picasa Web Albums, in all 38 languages -- ranging from improved sharing to better video playback. Swing by the Google Photos blog to learn more about what's new.
(Or, if you speak British or American English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian or European Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Danish , Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Tagolog, Thai, Vietnamese, or Ukrainian, just visit Picasa Web Albums and see for yourself!)
Today, just in time for your holiday snapshots, these changes (and more!) are available in all of the 38 languages we currently support. If you've been waiting to try the new photo-collage feature in Picasa, or been curious to see how clustering technology can automatically find similar faces across your photo collection, now's the time to download Picasa 3.1 or opt in to name tags on Picasa Web Albums.
Of course, having a truly global audience sharing and commenting on photos is one of the things that makes Picasa special. The people and places you'll spot on our Explore page attest to this, as do the multilingual comments users receive on their most popular public albums. That's why we just launched automatic comment translation on Picasa Web Albums, which harnesses Google Translate to make sure you know that "美麗的落日" means "Beautiful sunset!"
In fact, if you look closely, you'll see that we've recently rolled out a number of other small but meaningful changes across Picasa Web Albums, in all 38 languages -- ranging from improved sharing to better video playback. Swing by the Google Photos blog to learn more about what's new.
(Or, if you speak British or American English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian or European Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Danish , Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Tagolog, Thai, Vietnamese, or Ukrainian, just visit Picasa Web Albums and see for yourself!)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Gingerbread architecture for all
(Cross-posted from the Google SketchUp Blog)
Chilly weather, hot chocolate, holiday celebrations... I'm proud to kick off our sweetest SketchUp modeling challenge ever: the first annual Google SketchUp Gingerbread House Design Competition. To make it a little easier to design the gingerbread house of your dreams, I modeled a blank house to get you started. Go ahead and download it from the 3D Warehouse, then follow the instructions in the file.
I also built a selection of decorations (candy canes, gumdrops, wafer roof tiles) that you can use to spiff up your model. Of course, you're welcome to do anything you like; it's your masterpiece. When you're finished, don't forget to label your gingerbread house with the tag "gingerbread2009" and upload it to the 3D Warehouse. The competition deadline is January 4th at midnight, Pacific Standard Time.
This undertaking is all about having fun with SketchUp, so the prizes will be glory based. (What did you expect: a gingerbread flat-screen TV?) We'll award the following prizes, and announce the winners here and on the SketchUpdate about a week after the competition closes on January 4th.
Chilly weather, hot chocolate, holiday celebrations... I'm proud to kick off our sweetest SketchUp modeling challenge ever: the first annual Google SketchUp Gingerbread House Design Competition. To make it a little easier to design the gingerbread house of your dreams, I modeled a blank house to get you started. Go ahead and download it from the 3D Warehouse, then follow the instructions in the file.
I also built a selection of decorations (candy canes, gumdrops, wafer roof tiles) that you can use to spiff up your model. Of course, you're welcome to do anything you like; it's your masterpiece. When you're finished, don't forget to label your gingerbread house with the tag "gingerbread2009" and upload it to the 3D Warehouse. The competition deadline is January 4th at midnight, Pacific Standard Time.
This undertaking is all about having fun with SketchUp, so the prizes will be glory based. (What did you expect: a gingerbread flat-screen TV?) We'll award the following prizes, and announce the winners here and on the SketchUpdate about a week after the competition closes on January 4th.
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd place – for the best overall gingerbread houses in the collection
- The 'Sprinkles' Prize – for the best additions to the base model (the crazier, the better)
- The 'Swirl' Prize – for the best use of Dynamic Components in the model
- The 'Sweet-tooth' Prize – for the most creative use of a single candy ingredient in a model
Net neutrality and the benefits of caching
(Cross-posted from the Google Public Policy Blog)
One of the first posts I wrote for this blog last summer tried to define what we at Google mean when we talk about the concept of net neutrality.
Broadband providers -- the on-ramps to the Internet -- should not be allowed to prioritize traffic based on the source, ownership or destination of the content. As I noted in that post, broadband providers should have the flexibility to employ network upgrades, such as edge caching. However, they shouldn't be able to leverage their unilateral control over consumers' broadband connections to hamper user choice, competition, and innovation. Our commitment to that principle of net neutrality remains as strong as ever.
Some critics have questioned whether improving Web performance through edge caching -- temporary storage of frequently accessed data on servers that are located close to end users -- violates the concept of network neutrality. As I said last summer, this myth -- which unfortunately underlies a confused story in Monday's Wall Street Journal -- is based on a misunderstanding of the way in which the open Internet works.
Edge caching is a common practice used by ISPs and application and content providers in order to improve the end user experience. Companies like Akamai, Limelight, and Amazon's Cloudfront provide local caching services, and broadband providers typically utilize caching as part of what are known as content distribution networks (CDNs). Google and many other Internet companies also deploy servers of their own around the world.
By bringing YouTube videos and other content physically closer to end users, site operators can improve page load times for videos and Web pages. In addition, these solutions help broadband providers by minimizing the need to send traffic outside of their networks and reducing congestion on the Internet's backbones. In fact, caching represents one type of innovative network practice encouraged by the open Internet.
Google has offered to "colocate" caching servers within broadband providers' own facilities; this reduces the provider's bandwidth costs since the same video wouldn't have to be transmitted multiple times. We've always said that broadband providers can engage in activities like colocation and caching, so long as they do so on a non-discriminatory basis.
All of Google's colocation agreements with ISPs -- which we've done through projects called OpenEdge and Google Global Cache -- are non-exclusive, meaning any other entity could employ similar arrangements. Also, none of them require (or encourage) that Google traffic be treated with higher priority than other traffic. In contrast, if broadband providers were to leverage their unilateral control over consumers' connections and offer colocation or caching services in an anti-competitive fashion, that would threaten the open Internet and the innovation it enables.
Despite the hyperbolic tone and confused claims in Monday's Journal story, I want to be perfectly clear about one thing: Google remains strongly committed to the principle of net neutrality, and we will continue to work with policymakers in the years ahead to keep the Internet free and open.
P.S.: The Journal story also quoted me as characterizing President-elect Obama's net neutrality policies as "much less specific than they were before." For what it's worth, I don't recall making such a comment, and it seems especially odd given that President-elect Obama's supportive stance on network neutrality hasn't changed at all.
Update: Larry Lessig, Save the Internet, Public Knowledge, David Isenberg, Wired and others all found fault with today's piece too.
One of the first posts I wrote for this blog last summer tried to define what we at Google mean when we talk about the concept of net neutrality.
Broadband providers -- the on-ramps to the Internet -- should not be allowed to prioritize traffic based on the source, ownership or destination of the content. As I noted in that post, broadband providers should have the flexibility to employ network upgrades, such as edge caching. However, they shouldn't be able to leverage their unilateral control over consumers' broadband connections to hamper user choice, competition, and innovation. Our commitment to that principle of net neutrality remains as strong as ever.
Some critics have questioned whether improving Web performance through edge caching -- temporary storage of frequently accessed data on servers that are located close to end users -- violates the concept of network neutrality. As I said last summer, this myth -- which unfortunately underlies a confused story in Monday's Wall Street Journal -- is based on a misunderstanding of the way in which the open Internet works.
Edge caching is a common practice used by ISPs and application and content providers in order to improve the end user experience. Companies like Akamai, Limelight, and Amazon's Cloudfront provide local caching services, and broadband providers typically utilize caching as part of what are known as content distribution networks (CDNs). Google and many other Internet companies also deploy servers of their own around the world.
By bringing YouTube videos and other content physically closer to end users, site operators can improve page load times for videos and Web pages. In addition, these solutions help broadband providers by minimizing the need to send traffic outside of their networks and reducing congestion on the Internet's backbones. In fact, caching represents one type of innovative network practice encouraged by the open Internet.
Google has offered to "colocate" caching servers within broadband providers' own facilities; this reduces the provider's bandwidth costs since the same video wouldn't have to be transmitted multiple times. We've always said that broadband providers can engage in activities like colocation and caching, so long as they do so on a non-discriminatory basis.
All of Google's colocation agreements with ISPs -- which we've done through projects called OpenEdge and Google Global Cache -- are non-exclusive, meaning any other entity could employ similar arrangements. Also, none of them require (or encourage) that Google traffic be treated with higher priority than other traffic. In contrast, if broadband providers were to leverage their unilateral control over consumers' connections and offer colocation or caching services in an anti-competitive fashion, that would threaten the open Internet and the innovation it enables.
Despite the hyperbolic tone and confused claims in Monday's Journal story, I want to be perfectly clear about one thing: Google remains strongly committed to the principle of net neutrality, and we will continue to work with policymakers in the years ahead to keep the Internet free and open.
P.S.: The Journal story also quoted me as characterizing President-elect Obama's net neutrality policies as "much less specific than they were before." For what it's worth, I don't recall making such a comment, and it seems especially odd given that President-elect Obama's supportive stance on network neutrality hasn't changed at all.
Update: Larry Lessig, Save the Internet, Public Knowledge, David Isenberg, Wired and others all found fault with today's piece too.
@Twitter: Welcome to Google Friend Connect
We know many of you enjoy using Twitter to see what people are talking about and to let others know what you've been up to, whether it's sharing a YouTube video or checking in on your friend's tweets. To help you and your Twitter network stay connected no matter where you are on the web, we're excited to announce that Google Friend Connect has integrated with Twitter. This means that when you join a friend connected site, you can choose to use your Twitter profile, discover people you follow on Twitter who are also members of the site, and quickly tweet that you have found a cool website.
To send a tweet about a site you have joined, click the invite link in the members gadget, then click the Twitter icon on the share tab. The next time your followers sign in to Twitter, they'll see your tweet containing a link to the interesting site you've found.
This integration with Twitter is an example of how we want to continue improving Friend Connect, extending the open social web and bringing social features to more places on the web.
To send a tweet about a site you have joined, click the invite link in the members gadget, then click the Twitter icon on the share tab. The next time your followers sign in to Twitter, they'll see your tweet containing a link to the interesting site you've found.
This integration with Twitter is an example of how we want to continue improving Friend Connect, extending the open social web and bringing social features to more places on the web.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Word War vi 0.24, Daggerwind Scrolls, jClassicRPG music, Yo Frankie! download
Word War vi 0.24One super thing about it is that development and tweaking is being influenced by player criticism a lot. So for posting feedback on the game, use this thread.
Daggerwind ScrollsDaggerwind Scrolls is a traditional 1st/3rd person CRPG dungeon crawl game written using C# for Mac OS X. Its a fan based project inspired by 'The Elder Scrolls Daggerfall', Bethesda Softworks 1994.I haven't given it a try (and won't do as long as there are no for-*nix instructions).
I now count four bigger The Elder Scrolls-related open source projects: Daggerwind Scrolls and DungeonHack (Daggerfall-inspired game projects), OpenMW and The Crystal Scrolls (Morrowind engines).
jClassicRPG's first soundtrack was released on Jamendo. The music was composed by the project's developer and there will be many more track additions in the near future, I presume.
Yo Frankie! logo, in case you missed it ;)Apricot (aka yofrankie) is now available for download. Is your definition of a video game "video game engine plus media"? I think Yo Frankie! shows that this is not true. :|
Should you download it? Sure, why not? Do it at least for checking out how cool it looks (if your machine can take it) and to watch the video tutorials (if you're into Blender editing at all).
Play The Adventurous Stunt Dirt Bike
From the children motor cycle playoffs to the off road bike games and even reverse to few of the very initial bike games which have been created in the times ago includes superb stunts, jumps and the crashes which are enough to keep the player on the side of the seat at any point of the time. In the recent times, the Stunt dirt bike games are very easily downloaded in the computer.
Stunt dirt bike games are very adventurous. It is a fun flash playoff where the player has to choose amid different vehicles in order to traverse through a range of obstacles. It is mostly liked by the guys as they love adventure and challenges. This game basically has a bike rider who performs superb bike stunts which are very risky. Not only the young boys; the oldies also love to play this games and the girls who have passion for bikes. It is a very fun filled playoff which has managed to gather a lot of recognition in the past few years. The graphics of this game gives a very real feeling which increases the fun a lot.
The people who do not get a chance to ride the bikes and love to try different bike stunts can choose to play this game as an alternative for their passion. It is an enormously legendry and challenging game.
Stunt dirt bike games are very adventurous. It is a fun flash playoff where the player has to choose amid different vehicles in order to traverse through a range of obstacles. It is mostly liked by the guys as they love adventure and challenges. This game basically has a bike rider who performs superb bike stunts which are very risky. Not only the young boys; the oldies also love to play this games and the girls who have passion for bikes. It is a very fun filled playoff which has managed to gather a lot of recognition in the past few years. The graphics of this game gives a very real feeling which increases the fun a lot.
The people who do not get a chance to ride the bikes and love to try different bike stunts can choose to play this game as an alternative for their passion. It is an enormously legendry and challenging game.
Bowja The Ninja: The Free Online Ninja Game
The people who always wait eagerly to play the new ninja series have good news here. A new game have been introduced which offers complete fun and adventure. In the newly introduced game which is named bowja the ninja is a playoff where ninja is on a secret mission to the Factory Island in order to take out the danger that is Gi8000 or very commonly known as the Randy the Robert. In this game ninja defeat the workers of the factory so that he could save the humanity forever before it gets very late.
Bowja the Ninja which is created by Robin Venice is a very appealing point and click adventure were you should be able to locate the accurate places in order to make the little Bowja advance, solve the puzzles and besting the foes along the entire way. The little voices, scenery and the animations of this game make it a very pleasurable game all through the game. At last, once you save the humanity and complete the entire game, you are rewarded few game art downloads as a treat.
Bowja the Ninja is a superb game to play. Not only the young boys; the older people also love to play this indoor game throughout the day. Therefore, this mission game is one of the excellent games to play on the internet.
Bowja the Ninja which is created by Robin Venice is a very appealing point and click adventure were you should be able to locate the accurate places in order to make the little Bowja advance, solve the puzzles and besting the foes along the entire way. The little voices, scenery and the animations of this game make it a very pleasurable game all through the game. At last, once you save the humanity and complete the entire game, you are rewarded few game art downloads as a treat.
Bowja the Ninja is a superb game to play. Not only the young boys; the older people also love to play this indoor game throughout the day. Therefore, this mission game is one of the excellent games to play on the internet.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Google Chrome (BETA)
Since we first released Google Chrome, the development team has been hard at work improving the stability and overall performance of the browser. In just 100 days, we have reached more than 10 million active users around the world (on all seven continents, no less) and released 14 updates to the product. We're excited to announce that with today's fifteenth release we are taking off the "beta" label!
Google Chrome is a better browser today thanks to the many users who sent their feedback and the many more who enabled automatic crash reports, helping us rapidly diagnose and fix issues. Some of the areas where we've made great progress include:
Better stability and performance of plug-ins (particularly video). Video and audio glitches were among the most common bugs fixed during the beta period. If you had problems watching videos with Google Chrome in the past, you should be pleasantly surprised with the performance now.
Even more speed. Google Chrome starts up fast, loads pages quickly, and just keeps getting faster. Since the first beta, the V8 JavaScript engine runs 1.4 times faster on the SunSpider benchmark and 1.5 times faster on the V8 benchmark — and there is more speed to come.
Bookmark manager and privacy controls. We heard you! Better bookmark features were a top request from our users. It's now easier to switch between another browser and Google Chrome with the bookmark import and export features, and we added a new simple way to manage large numbers of bookmarks, too. We also wanted to make it even easier for you to control your browsing data, so all of the features in Google Chrome which affect user privacy are now grouped in one place with detailed explanations for each one.
We've taken security very seriously from the beginning and we will continue to look for ways to make Google Chrome and all browsers even more secure. Google Chrome's unique sandbox technology creates an additional layer of defense against harmful software, while the Safe Browsing feature provides protection against phishing and malware attacks for many browser users.
We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met but our work is far from done. We are working to add some common browser features such as form autofill and RSS support in the near future. We are also developing an extensions platform along with support for Mac and Linux. If you are already using Google Chrome, the update system ensures that you get the latest bug fixes and security patches, so you will get the newest version automatically in the next few days. If you haven't used Google Chrome for a while, now might be a good time to give it another spin.
Download Google Chrome and try it out. Let us know what you think.
Google Chrome is a better browser today thanks to the many users who sent their feedback and the many more who enabled automatic crash reports, helping us rapidly diagnose and fix issues. Some of the areas where we've made great progress include:
Better stability and performance of plug-ins (particularly video). Video and audio glitches were among the most common bugs fixed during the beta period. If you had problems watching videos with Google Chrome in the past, you should be pleasantly surprised with the performance now.
Even more speed. Google Chrome starts up fast, loads pages quickly, and just keeps getting faster. Since the first beta, the V8 JavaScript engine runs 1.4 times faster on the SunSpider benchmark and 1.5 times faster on the V8 benchmark — and there is more speed to come.
Bookmark manager and privacy controls. We heard you! Better bookmark features were a top request from our users. It's now easier to switch between another browser and Google Chrome with the bookmark import and export features, and we added a new simple way to manage large numbers of bookmarks, too. We also wanted to make it even easier for you to control your browsing data, so all of the features in Google Chrome which affect user privacy are now grouped in one place with detailed explanations for each one.
We've taken security very seriously from the beginning and we will continue to look for ways to make Google Chrome and all browsers even more secure. Google Chrome's unique sandbox technology creates an additional layer of defense against harmful software, while the Safe Browsing feature provides protection against phishing and malware attacks for many browser users.
We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met but our work is far from done. We are working to add some common browser features such as form autofill and RSS support in the near future. We are also developing an extensions platform along with support for Mac and Linux. If you are already using Google Chrome, the update system ensures that you get the latest bug fixes and security patches, so you will get the newest version automatically in the next few days. If you haven't used Google Chrome for a while, now might be a good time to give it another spin.
Download Google Chrome and try it out. Let us know what you think.
Safety, education, and empowerment on YouTube
(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)
We've always been committed to providing you the tools to have the best possible YouTube experience. Educating parents, teens, and families on how to stay safe on our site is a critical part of that commitment, so we can't think of a more appropriate place to introduce our new Abuse and Safety Center than at the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) conference in Washington, D.C., today.
The center features straightforward safety tips and multimedia resources from experts and prominent safety organizations. We are empowering people with the information and tools they need to help them deal with issues like cyberbullying, online harassment, and hateful content.
The new center also makes it easier for you to find our Help and Safety Tool, which lets you report concerns to us and gives you granular control over your channel, like the option of blocking comments from specific users or disabling the video comments feature on specific videos.
The Abuse and Safety Center is easy to find. Just look at the bottom of any YouTube page and click on the link titled "Abuse and Safety Center." From phishing scams to just learning what it means to be a good YouTube citizen, you'll find the information you need.
Finally, check out FOSI's meeting page for more information about our presence at the conference, where Shantal Rands from Google's legal team will receive a FOSI Award for Outstanding Achievement in advancing the goal of a safer Internet. Plus, Andrew McLaughlin, Google's Director of Global Policy & Government Affairs, is speaking about "Protecting Kids and Free Speech Online," and YouTube's Policy Analyst Micah Schaffer will address online safety in social media.
We'll continue to add new information and features to the center, so check back often.
We've always been committed to providing you the tools to have the best possible YouTube experience. Educating parents, teens, and families on how to stay safe on our site is a critical part of that commitment, so we can't think of a more appropriate place to introduce our new Abuse and Safety Center than at the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) conference in Washington, D.C., today.
The center features straightforward safety tips and multimedia resources from experts and prominent safety organizations. We are empowering people with the information and tools they need to help them deal with issues like cyberbullying, online harassment, and hateful content.
The new center also makes it easier for you to find our Help and Safety Tool, which lets you report concerns to us and gives you granular control over your channel, like the option of blocking comments from specific users or disabling the video comments feature on specific videos.
The Abuse and Safety Center is easy to find. Just look at the bottom of any YouTube page and click on the link titled "Abuse and Safety Center." From phishing scams to just learning what it means to be a good YouTube citizen, you'll find the information you need.
Finally, check out FOSI's meeting page for more information about our presence at the conference, where Shantal Rands from Google's legal team will receive a FOSI Award for Outstanding Achievement in advancing the goal of a safer Internet. Plus, Andrew McLaughlin, Google's Director of Global Policy & Government Affairs, is speaking about "Protecting Kids and Free Speech Online," and YouTube's Policy Analyst Micah Schaffer will address online safety in social media.
We'll continue to add new information and features to the center, so check back often.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)
"Psycho Killah, Norman Banks". I understand that quoting an old Ol' Dirty line might will do one of two things:1. Makes me seem like a Wu stan who actually keeps up with the 9 members, and ever-growing legions of weed carriers.
Or:
2. Makes me seem like a dumbass who has no fucking clue what he's talking about.
After this intro, I'm guessing readers will gravitate towards the second option. Like most people, I discovered terrible mainstream rap before I found boom-bap heaven. In the context of this review that means that I know criminally little about the Wu. In fact I had no clue Masta Killa was a member until I did a little research for this post. But luckily I have kept up with Ghostface. There's 3 Wu albums everyone has heard: Liquid Swords, Supreme Clientele, and Only Built For Cuban Linx. Supreme Clientele stood out most to me, and as a result I have went through most of Ghost's discography. What does that mean for this review? Well...
1. The Return of Clyde Smith
It's just an intro. Sorry..
2. Shakey Dog
The instrumental is easily identifiable, considering that this beat has been sampled 100's of times. The "Oh Yeah" vocal sample also appears on Pharell's Rockstar (which is a sad piece of trivia I have held onto). And the storytelling is the stuff of legends.
3. Kilo
"I'm getting ready to fuck Catwoman or something", what more needs to be said? My only complaint with this song is the instrumental. It's not engaging at all. Good job MoSS. Oh the vocal is kind of lame too. Especially when Rae and Ghost ad-lib it.
4. The Champ
I feel like I should hate this song out of principle. RZA doesn't produce at all on this album. Yet you have Just Blaze pimpin the Roc at the beginning. Regardless, Justin Blaze does a great job on the instrumental and Ghostface kills it (Get it? Get it? Get it?).
5. Major Operation
I've always wished I could say something funny or even something halfway enlightening about skits. But like always I have nothing to say.
6. 9 Milli Bros
If you couldn't tell by the title all 9 members of the Wu get on this track, along with Cappadonna for safe measure. This shit is ill beyond belief. Produced by MF Doom for anyone whose a non-believer.
7. Beauty Jackson
Ghostface's singing has always brought tears of laughter to my eyes. I wasn't really feeling this song, but it's relatively short so I can't complain. This was more of a curiousity piece to hear how Ghostface would sound over a Dilla insrumental. How is it? Well, it's kind of indescribable.
8. Heart Street Directions
Skit.
9. Columbus Exchange/ "Crack Spot"
I wasn't really feeling this one. It was produced by Crack Val, isn't that saying enough? It would be smart to skip this one.
10. R.A.G.U.
Kind of similar to song number 7. This song is for those that would like to hear Ghost and Rae the Chef over a Pete Rock composition. Nothing wrong with this track. It's no banger, but it's not anything you should sleep on either.
11. Bad Mouth Kid
These skits are growing old quickly.
12.Whip You With A Strap
No matter how gently Ghostface sings (or lullaby's in my opinion) it doesn't make a difference. This shit does not sound good together. What is Ghost doing making songs for the ladies? Ruins a good Dilla instrumental.
Editors note: Yeah, I was wrong about this one.
13. Back Like That
Another song for the ladies, this one sounds a lot more natural, but still sounds like 100% Grade A synthetic bullshit. Any time you feature Ne-Yo on a track your not speaking from the heart but from your record label's pockets. It was a single so I can't really complain.
14. Be Easy
I don't really know how to describe this one. It's a lighthearted single that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's very Wu while also being very poppy (figure that one out).
15. Clipse Of Doom
The beat is terrible here. And it really detaches from this song. Very generic hook too.
16. Jellyfish
Something about MF Doom producing a track for the ladies doesn't sing for me. This track was very ehhh anyway.
17. Dogs Of War
Pete Rock is killing it at this point. A Sly & The Family Stone sample? Yes! Trife Da God is weak as usual, but the rest of the guests go hard. Preaching the family message here.
18. Barbershop
Interlude with about 30 seconds of spitting. I don't think you'll miss anything by skipping this one.
19. Ms. Sweetwater
These skits are killing me, and not in the Pete Rock sense either. Huh? Read the commentary for Dogs Of War.
20. Big Girl
Ghost produced this track himself. The vocal sample he uses really interferes with his sing-song flow. But aside from that, this song stood out to me.
21. Underwater
No matter how good Ghost's verse would have been, this should have been a straight instrumental. It holds it's own by leaps and bounds. That being said Ghost sounds pretty good over this instrumental, but if I were to make a recommendation it would be to track down the original beat from MF Doom's Orange Blossoms.
22. The Ironman Takeover
It's only five seconds.
23. Momma
I can feel the P Diddy influence just smacking me across the face. It's a good song despite it, but it's obviously a Hitmen production job.
24. Three Bricks
The grand finale. Ghost, Raekwon and a recycled Biggie verse. It's a good song to finish out a good album.
Bottom Line:
Overall this album was good. There were far too many songs and far far far too many interludes. But there are a good number of tracks that are well worth your time to track down.
0-20: Terrible listening experience
21-40: Maybe one good song
41-60: A few good songs
61-80: Half are good songs, half are weak
81-100: Great listening experience, almost all are great songsI give this album an 83.
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