If you did a Google search between 6:30 a.m. PST and 7:25 a.m. PST this morning, you likely saw that the message "This site may harm your computer" accompanied each and every search result. This was clearly an error, and we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to our users.
What happened? Very simply, human error. Google flags search results with the message "This site may harm your computer" if the site is known to install malicious software in the background or otherwise surreptitiously. We do this to protect our users against visiting sites that could harm their computers. We maintain a list of such sites through both manual and automated methods. We work with a non-profit called StopBadware.org to come up with criteria for maintaining this list, and to provide simple processes for webmasters to remove their site from the list.
We periodically update that list and released one such update to the site this morning. Unfortunately (and here's the human error), the URL of '/' was mistakenly checked in as a value to the file and '/' expands to all URLs. Fortunately, our on-call site reliability team found the problem quickly and reverted the file. Since we push these updates in a staggered and rolling fashion, the errors began appearing between 6:27 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. and began disappearing between 7:10 and 7:25 a.m., so the duration of the problem for any particular user was approximately 40 minutes.
Thanks to our team for their quick work in finding this. And again, our apologies to any of you who were inconvenienced this morning, and to site owners whose pages were incorrectly labelled. We will carefully investigate this incident and put more robust file checks in place to prevent it from happening again.
Thanks for your understanding.
Update at 10:29 am PST: This post was revised as more precise information became available (changes are in blue). Here's StopBadware's explanation.
Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Google Toolbar in Firefox: a personalized new tab page
Those of you who use Google Toolbar on Firefox are probably pretty familiar with the many features Toolbar 5 (beta) has to offer — from bookmarks to buttons and search box to "send to." We've added a couple more features to the Firefox Toolbar, so feel free to download this "second beta" to get all the latest and greatest Google Toolbar has to offer.
One of the features I'm really excited about is the new tab page. Now, when you open up a new tab, instead of the blank white page you see by default in Firefox, you will instead see small thumbnails of your favorite sites (up to 9), as well as recently-closed and bookmarked pages based on your browser history. You can edit the thumbnails, and all this data remains locally on your browser, which means none of the information about your most viewed sites or recently closed pages will be sent back to Google. If for whatever reason you don't like this updated new tab page, you can always change it back to a blank page or to the website of your choice through either your Toolbar or Firefox settings. Some tab extensions may conflict with this feature, and it currently isn't compatible with Firefox 2, so make sure you check your settings or visit the Google Toolbar help center if you are having any problems.
Next time you want to go to your favorite site more quickly or restore an accidentally closed tab, you don't need to type out the URL. Typing Ctrl + T or double-clicking to the right of your open tabs will open up the new tab page with all your favorite sites right at your finger tips.
In addition, this release now provides the ability for Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking users to access Toolbar 5 with robust right-to-left text support. We've also fixed some of the most reported bugs to give you a faster and more stable experience with this update.
We're always working on improvements and new features to Google Toolbar based on your feedback, so keep those suggestions coming.
Update on 4/1: Yesterday, Firefox Toolbar 5 came out of beta.
One of the features I'm really excited about is the new tab page. Now, when you open up a new tab, instead of the blank white page you see by default in Firefox, you will instead see small thumbnails of your favorite sites (up to 9), as well as recently-closed and bookmarked pages based on your browser history. You can edit the thumbnails, and all this data remains locally on your browser, which means none of the information about your most viewed sites or recently closed pages will be sent back to Google. If for whatever reason you don't like this updated new tab page, you can always change it back to a blank page or to the website of your choice through either your Toolbar or Firefox settings. Some tab extensions may conflict with this feature, and it currently isn't compatible with Firefox 2, so make sure you check your settings or visit the Google Toolbar help center if you are having any problems.
Next time you want to go to your favorite site more quickly or restore an accidentally closed tab, you don't need to type out the URL. Typing Ctrl + T or double-clicking to the right of your open tabs will open up the new tab page with all your favorite sites right at your finger tips.
In addition, this release now provides the ability for Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking users to access Toolbar 5 with robust right-to-left text support. We've also fixed some of the most reported bugs to give you a faster and more stable experience with this update.
We're always working on improvements and new features to Google Toolbar based on your feedback, so keep those suggestions coming.
Update on 4/1: Yesterday, Firefox Toolbar 5 came out of beta.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Net Games- A Great Learning Opportunity
In the recent days, the kids may fun a lot of kinds of the online playoffs which may incite various sensibilities and infuse the dissimilar felling into them. According to the very recent research which was operated by a university in Toronto, it is said that the regular habit of playing the online games by the kids help in getting the better visual acuity and the reaction time as compared to the other kids who do not show any interest in playing the net games. The net games helps kids a lot to identify the things in a much quicker way.
Most significantly, the dissimilar net games have a very different culture of knowing and playing, which may not look very easy to know or learn. The player who wishes to learn this tactics needs to get a certain set of the attitudes in order to get to know the techniques to play the fair game. As a matter of fact, each net game has its unique goals, outcomes and the limitations which make it very different from the other online games. Among the most interesting and attracting features of the net games is the very beneficiary social networking. All such playoffs encourage the players in order to make the visuals relationship with the contenders.
The net games helps in playing the games and competing with the other people at the same time who is sitting on the other part of the world which is impossible in practical.
Most significantly, the dissimilar net games have a very different culture of knowing and playing, which may not look very easy to know or learn. The player who wishes to learn this tactics needs to get a certain set of the attitudes in order to get to know the techniques to play the fair game. As a matter of fact, each net game has its unique goals, outcomes and the limitations which make it very different from the other online games. Among the most interesting and attracting features of the net games is the very beneficiary social networking. All such playoffs encourage the players in order to make the visuals relationship with the contenders.
The net games helps in playing the games and competing with the other people at the same time who is sitting on the other part of the world which is impossible in practical.
Online Home Game Extravaganza
The online home games fever did not any time to engulf the entire world. With the very vast or never ending types, all these online games cater a lot to the entertainment needs of the people. Not only the kids; all these online home games very well known amid the youth also. Quite some time before, all the Indian men and kids gazed their eyes in entertaining themselves by watching cricket or any other sports on the television. But, due to the complete revolution of the internet all over the world, the men prefer to sit back at home and play the online home games on the internet.
In the present day, the best hangout place for almost every person is the much loved gaming zone. The various online game websites offer a superb and very unique multi player selection where the online game players can play a single game with the other players as the opponents. The gamers from the entire world come in contact with each other via live chats along with playing the online game. It means, as you play the game, you can increase your fun as you can bully or boost the other opponents during the time of game itself. Thus, the online home game is a complete fun and thrill to play without wasting your time in looking out for fun and entertainment.
The Online Football Game
The online game of football is very well known internet phenomenon. Contrasting to the real playoff of the football, the online football game is played with the help of fingers making use of the mouse and keyboards. But it does not mean that it excludes fun. The online football game has exactly the same thrill and the same spirit as compared to the actual game of football. Usually, a person who is interested in playing the online football game has to download the game software for playing the football on the web. There are a lot of portals which provides a great platform for playing football game. Moreover, almost all the well known online football playoff software packages which are available on the computer shops offer facility of having fun in the web also.
The game of football was a very late participant into the world of the online playoff arena. But, after its entrance, it very soon became among one of the very popular and sought after playoffs in the web world. The online football game includes a lot of varied online games which is a great fun to play. Numerous portals on the internet offer a great or fantasy playoff of the virtual manager for the major football game tournaments and the premier football leagues. Thus, if you do not get a chance to actually see any football match, then you can get the experience while sitting and playing on the computer.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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• Easy to Use - You remember one password, RoboForm remembers the rest. • Saves Time - With ONE CLICK RoboForm goes to a website and logs you in automatically. • Saves More Time - RoboForm also fills long registration and checkout forms with one click. • Secures Your Information - Stores passwords on YOUR computer, protects them with AES encryption.• Strengthens Passwords - Generates random passwords that hackers cannot guess.• Fights Phishing - Fills passwords only on matching web sites.• Defeats Keyloggers - Does not require using keyboard to type passwords.• Simple to Use - Just download RoboForm and learn as you go.
Copyright © 1999-2009 by Siber Systems Inc. Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
Introducing Measurement Lab
When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else? It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users, to address this sort of question today.
Last year we asked a small group of academics about ways to advance network research and provide users with tools to test their broadband connections. Today Google, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers are taking the wraps off of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), an open platform that researchers can use to deploy Internet measurement tools.
Researchers are already developing tools that allow users to, among other things, measure the speed of their connection, run diagnostics, and attempt to discern if their ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications. These tools generate and send some data back-and-forth between the user's computer and a server elsewhere on the Internet. Unfortunately, researchers lack widely-distributed servers with ample connectivity. This poses a barrier to the accuracy and scalability of these tools. Researchers also have trouble sharing data with one another.
M-Lab aims to address these problems. Over the course of early 2009, Google will provide researchers with 36 servers in 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe. All data collected via M-Lab will be made publicly available for other researchers to build on. M-Lab is intended to be a truly community-based effort, and we welcome the support of other companies, institutions, researchers, and users that want to provide servers, tools, or other resources that can help the platform flourish.
Today, M-Lab is at the beginning of its development. To start, three tools running on servers near Google's headquarters are available to help users attempt to diagnose common problems that might impair their broadband speed, as well as determine whether BitTorrent is being blocked or throttled by their ISPs. These tools were created by the individual researchers who helped found M-Lab. By running these tools, users will get information about their connection and provide researchers with valuable aggregate data. Like M-Lab itself these tools are still in development, and they will only support a limited number of simultaneous users at this initial stage.
At Google, we care deeply about sustaining the Internet as an open platform for consumer choice and innovation. No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they're getting when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of sound policy. Transparency has always been crucial to the success of the Internet, and, by advancing network research in this area, M-Lab aims to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet.
You can learn more at the M-Lab website. If you're a researcher who'd like to deploy a tool, or a company or institution that is interested in providing technical resources, we invite you to get involved.
Last year we asked a small group of academics about ways to advance network research and provide users with tools to test their broadband connections. Today Google, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers are taking the wraps off of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), an open platform that researchers can use to deploy Internet measurement tools.
Researchers are already developing tools that allow users to, among other things, measure the speed of their connection, run diagnostics, and attempt to discern if their ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications. These tools generate and send some data back-and-forth between the user's computer and a server elsewhere on the Internet. Unfortunately, researchers lack widely-distributed servers with ample connectivity. This poses a barrier to the accuracy and scalability of these tools. Researchers also have trouble sharing data with one another.
M-Lab aims to address these problems. Over the course of early 2009, Google will provide researchers with 36 servers in 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe. All data collected via M-Lab will be made publicly available for other researchers to build on. M-Lab is intended to be a truly community-based effort, and we welcome the support of other companies, institutions, researchers, and users that want to provide servers, tools, or other resources that can help the platform flourish.
Today, M-Lab is at the beginning of its development. To start, three tools running on servers near Google's headquarters are available to help users attempt to diagnose common problems that might impair their broadband speed, as well as determine whether BitTorrent is being blocked or throttled by their ISPs. These tools were created by the individual researchers who helped found M-Lab. By running these tools, users will get information about their connection and provide researchers with valuable aggregate data. Like M-Lab itself these tools are still in development, and they will only support a limited number of simultaneous users at this initial stage.
At Google, we care deeply about sustaining the Internet as an open platform for consumer choice and innovation. No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they're getting when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of sound policy. Transparency has always been crucial to the success of the Internet, and, by advancing network research in this area, M-Lab aims to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet.
You can learn more at the M-Lab website. If you're a researcher who'd like to deploy a tool, or a company or institution that is interested in providing technical resources, we invite you to get involved.
Raising data privacy awareness
For the second year, the U.S. and Canada are joining 27 European countries to celebrate Data Privacy Day today. As we explained last year, the lack of understanding about online data protection is a global issue. As increasing amounts of data get uploaded to the Internet every day, it becomes more and more important for people to understand the benefits and risks of online communications and to learn how to use available tools to control and manage the information they share online.
To mark this special day of awareness, we are supporting an event hosted by the Information Technology Association of America called "Data Privacy Day: Increasing Privacy Awareness and Trust." We'll join U.S. and European government officials and key members of the privacy community on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, to discuss how to increase public awareness about data privacy. This event is a part of our ongoing constructive dialogue with regulators and legislators, consumer and industry groups, and think tanks and privacy advocates to discuss how to protect user information.
Our efforts to raise data privacy awareness extend beyond the public policy arena; we aim to connect directly with our users, too. We're committed to protecting users' online privacy by following the principles of transparency and choice. We're transparent about the data we collect, and we design products that give people control over the information they share. Earlier this year, we revamped our Privacy Center, where we offer information, tips, and videos that explain Google's privacy practices and show people how they can control what data they share. The Privacy Center also includes a link to a series of blog posts about how we use data to improve our products and services for our users. We recently translated the Privacy Center into multiple languages so that we can better serve people all around the world. We're also continuously working on innovative services and features that make information available to people in new ways, but with built-in privacy controls. For example, we introduced privacy-protective face-blurring for Street View earlier this year. And the launch of our browser, Google Chrome, included a feature for surfing the Internet in "incognito mode."
For the coming year, we want to improve our privacy practices even more by engaging in further dialogue with people who use our products and services, offering up easier-to-understand policies, and providing more privacy tools and controls. We hope that you'll take a few minutes on Data Privacy Day to explore our Privacy Center and learn about our commitment to this important issue.
To mark this special day of awareness, we are supporting an event hosted by the Information Technology Association of America called "Data Privacy Day: Increasing Privacy Awareness and Trust." We'll join U.S. and European government officials and key members of the privacy community on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, to discuss how to increase public awareness about data privacy. This event is a part of our ongoing constructive dialogue with regulators and legislators, consumer and industry groups, and think tanks and privacy advocates to discuss how to protect user information.
Our efforts to raise data privacy awareness extend beyond the public policy arena; we aim to connect directly with our users, too. We're committed to protecting users' online privacy by following the principles of transparency and choice. We're transparent about the data we collect, and we design products that give people control over the information they share. Earlier this year, we revamped our Privacy Center, where we offer information, tips, and videos that explain Google's privacy practices and show people how they can control what data they share. The Privacy Center also includes a link to a series of blog posts about how we use data to improve our products and services for our users. We recently translated the Privacy Center into multiple languages so that we can better serve people all around the world. We're also continuously working on innovative services and features that make information available to people in new ways, but with built-in privacy controls. For example, we introduced privacy-protective face-blurring for Street View earlier this year. And the launch of our browser, Google Chrome, included a feature for surfing the Internet in "incognito mode."
For the coming year, we want to improve our privacy practices even more by engaging in further dialogue with people who use our products and services, offering up easier-to-understand policies, and providing more privacy tools and controls. We hope that you'll take a few minutes on Data Privacy Day to explore our Privacy Center and learn about our commitment to this important issue.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
More computing, less power
In the fall we posted information about the efficiency of Google data centers and promised to update this information every quarter. We've now collected data for the fourth quarter of 2008 and published them to our sustainable computing website. Specifically, we're keeping track of the efficiency of any Google-designed data center with an IT load of at least 5 MW and a time-in-operation of at least 6 months. In Q4 our average power and cooling overhead in these facilities was 16%, bringing the overhead for the trailing 12 months to 19% (down from 21% a quarter earlier). For comparison, a recent EPA report put the overhead of the average enterprise data center at 100% or higher. We're very happy to have further improved our efficiency, and a number of factors contributed to that result.
First, efficiency is affected by seasonal weather patterns — cooler weather is better than hot weather, and several of our facilities benefited from that in Q4. Also, we continually review our efficiency metrics so that we notice, for example, that one of our data centers is not performing consistently with others of similar size and locale. So we'll take a closer look at optimizing that facility. Are we using fans to cool spaces that don't need to be cooled? Is the thermostat at the right set-point? Can we reduce the time the chillers need to run while keeping the machines operational? So we apply lessons we've learned from better-performing data centers to other facilities, and several such improvements took place in Q4. For the nitty-gritty technical details, visit our data center efficiency page.
While we've made a lot of progress in data center efficiency, we're still learning. As we continue to explore ways to use the least amount of power to do the most amount of computing, we'll continue to share our data and best practices with you. In early March we will participate in the CeBIT conference where we plan to disclose more details on our sustainability efforts as part of this year's theme of "Green IT." Stay tuned.
First, efficiency is affected by seasonal weather patterns — cooler weather is better than hot weather, and several of our facilities benefited from that in Q4. Also, we continually review our efficiency metrics so that we notice, for example, that one of our data centers is not performing consistently with others of similar size and locale. So we'll take a closer look at optimizing that facility. Are we using fans to cool spaces that don't need to be cooled? Is the thermostat at the right set-point? Can we reduce the time the chillers need to run while keeping the machines operational? So we apply lessons we've learned from better-performing data centers to other facilities, and several such improvements took place in Q4. For the nitty-gritty technical details, visit our data center efficiency page.
While we've made a lot of progress in data center efficiency, we're still learning. As we continue to explore ways to use the least amount of power to do the most amount of computing, we'll continue to share our data and best practices with you. In early March we will participate in the CeBIT conference where we plan to disclose more details on our sustainability efforts as part of this year's theme of "Green IT." Stay tuned.
Play Multiplayer Games With Friends
Along with the well known other website games, the multi player playoffs are becoming more and more well known kind of games amid the youth as well as the oldies. This type of the online game allows the gamers to play and even compete with the other players like friends and also with the computer. In order to play with the computer, you merely have to click on options which are provided in the guidelines of the games. Whereas, apart from this, in order to play with the other players, you need to sit online and enter into the gaming world where you will find a lot of people playing the same game. This helps in playing the game with the people whom you don’t even know and are a tough fight for you.
Just like the other online games, the players in the multi player games also need to take on the different characters who are involved in a lot of number of the plots. Few of the characters which are involved in the multiplayer online games are police officers who are continuously looking for the terrorists who are empowered with a lot of diverse powers at the time of the war.
Competing with the friends is a great fun while playing the multiplayer games. You can play continuously for hours without realizing as the fun involved in playing such games is infinite.
Just like the other online games, the players in the multi player games also need to take on the different characters who are involved in a lot of number of the plots. Few of the characters which are involved in the multiplayer online games are police officers who are continuously looking for the terrorists who are empowered with a lot of diverse powers at the time of the war.
Competing with the friends is a great fun while playing the multiplayer games. You can play continuously for hours without realizing as the fun involved in playing such games is infinite.
Play Monster Truck Games For Thrill
Nothing can beat a truck and imagine when you are playing an online game which includes a monster truck. Sounds great! Yes, the people who love to play online games which include thrill and adventure should surely turn to the monster truck game which involves huge truck which looks more like a monster. The monster truck game has outrun all the other adventurous games in the internet as it actually gives the feeling of riding a monster vehicle and fighting all through your way.
The monster truck online game has become very famous not only among the young people, but the old people and the middle aged people also love to play this game. Amid the racing games, the monster truck has no comparison. This free flash online game has rocked the world with its superb 3d graphics. The people cannot actually witness or have not yet got any opportunity to ride any huge vehicle should definitely opt to play the monster truck game as it gives a superb feeling. The different colored monster trucks and speed makes a great game to play.
A lot of portals are available in the internet which offers the different monster truck games. You can select anyone which excites you the most. The various trucks in the various stages keeps you glued in the game for a very long time.
The monster truck online game has become very famous not only among the young people, but the old people and the middle aged people also love to play this game. Amid the racing games, the monster truck has no comparison. This free flash online game has rocked the world with its superb 3d graphics. The people cannot actually witness or have not yet got any opportunity to ride any huge vehicle should definitely opt to play the monster truck game as it gives a superb feeling. The different colored monster trucks and speed makes a great game to play.
A lot of portals are available in the internet which offers the different monster truck games. You can select anyone which excites you the most. The various trucks in the various stages keeps you glued in the game for a very long time.
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Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
Monday, January 26, 2009
An update from the Project 10^100 team
As part of our tenth birthday celebration, in September we announced Project 10^100, a call for ideas to help as many people as possible, and a program to bring the best of those ideas to life. The response we received has wowed and humbled us. People sent in more than 150,000 ideas, with submissions in all of the 25 languages for which we had a submission form. Proving that there is strength in numbers, many people submitted similar ideas for tackling big problems.
All of this reviewing and sorting has kept Googlers around the world quite busy. Because of the sheer number of ideas we received, we were unable to compile the list of finalists in time for our January 27 target and will have to push back that announcement to March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). We apologize for the delay and encourage you to return to the site on that date to vote for your favorite ideas. Perhaps the luck of the Irish will be with you and yours, or a similar idea will be a finalist!
Update on 3/16: We will unfortunately have to delay announcing the top ideas for Project 10^100 for a while longer. We've never managed a project like this and it's taken more time than we ever imagined possible. We apologize for our over optimistic assumptions about how quickly we could analyze all the ideas that we've received, and thank everyone for their patience. We'll continue posting updates on Project 10^100 here.
All of this reviewing and sorting has kept Googlers around the world quite busy. Because of the sheer number of ideas we received, we were unable to compile the list of finalists in time for our January 27 target and will have to push back that announcement to March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). We apologize for the delay and encourage you to return to the site on that date to vote for your favorite ideas. Perhaps the luck of the Irish will be with you and yours, or a similar idea will be a finalist!
Update on 3/16: We will unfortunately have to delay announcing the top ideas for Project 10^100 for a while longer. We've never managed a project like this and it's taken more time than we ever imagined possible. We apologize for our over optimistic assumptions about how quickly we could analyze all the ideas that we've received, and thank everyone for their patience. We'll continue posting updates on Project 10^100 here.
A look back at spam in 2008
Most people think of "spam" as an unwelcome email that arrives – or, better yet, doesn't – in an email inbox, announcing some pesky, unsavory, or offensive opportunity that we most likely would rather not know about. But for the Google Enterprise team focused on spam that affects business (or, more accurately, on preventing it), the word means more. Looking back over 2008, a year where spam levels rose more than 25% compared with 2007, we have some memorable moments to share.
From November's breakthrough "takedown" of a global spam proliferator to the day in April when spam hit an all-time high and the growing threat of link-borne viruses, the Google Enterprise "spam squad" (the team behind the products in our "powered by Postini" family) recaps "The Year in Spam" and provides an outlook for 2009 that might help you understand what to watch out for this year – and how you can keep email threats at bay. Head on over to the Enterprise Blog for more.
From November's breakthrough "takedown" of a global spam proliferator to the day in April when spam hit an all-time high and the growing threat of link-borne viruses, the Google Enterprise "spam squad" (the team behind the products in our "powered by Postini" family) recaps "The Year in Spam" and provides an outlook for 2009 that might help you understand what to watch out for this year – and how you can keep email threats at bay. Head on over to the Enterprise Blog for more.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Mid-night madness - LinCity-NG 2.0
It's something-am, I have overdue work, and a Freshmeat announcement put a bee in my bonnet about posting.
LinCity 2.0
LinCity-NG 2.0 is out in the wild, and boy is it starting to look like a nice game. There are only two things that look a bit weak these days - the name (NG? Linux-only?) and the UI (a bit scrappy). For those who don't know, LinCity-NG is a GotM fork of Lincity which brings it into this century with much nicer graphics and a more informative user interface.
Plenty of nice new graphics (notably vegetation, grass, trees) make the game look aesthetically smooth. New resource management (water) adds to the depth of gameplay. There's a load of other new aspects too but there's no official announcement and I'm too busy procrastinating to go digging.
Glest (the 3D RTS) is dead, long live Glest! No, really. Mainline Glest development has ended and Glest Advanced Engine (information), a community-born enhancement, is to officially become the new Glest. Glest Advanced Engine is a project built on top of Glest, that adds new features to the game, it includes both new code and data.
UFO:AI
There's a whopping development update on the UFO:AI website (3D TBS RPG). I would link directly, for posterity, but there's no direct links or rss or anything like that. So I guess I have to summarize. Bah!
Map editor improvements, 3D geoscape improvements, UI improvements, new music, sounds & models, new hiring screen, texture updates and new textures, AI infrastructure updates, battlescape improvements, aircraft updates, balancing work, improvements to campaign system, er... basically everything got a bit better.
It looks like the next release will kick serious alien a$$, and really this project is producing one of the stand out open source games, I'm sure you'll all agree. Not that the game doesn't have weaknesses. A lack of really talented core developers mean features like destructible terrain and buildings (a feature found in the original 2D UFO games) is not currently possible. Such issues come down to the underlying technology which is built on an enhanced version of the Quake 2 source.
I'm sure there's some smaller game updates I'm forgetting, like perhaps Word War Vi 0.25 or Vacuum Magic 0.8 or Free Vikings 0.8 or something, but for the life of me I just can't seem to remember... *shrugs*
Early morning edit: just came across Open Simulator. Kinda WTF.
Post-early-morning-edit edit: aaaaaaahhhhh I remember now. The 3D Ultima Online client project Iris2 has a new stable release. Lots of improvements and it looks great. I wonder when the UO community will wake up and move over to an all-open-source platform. :-)
Easy Free Download Games
All the people who love to play the online games need to know the ways by which they can download the games with very easy steps without any cost. If you already know where you can find such games, it is not at all difficult to get the full version of the online games. Though, before you begin with the process of downloading the online games without any cost, you need to keep in mind quite a few things.
The mostly and widely known process of downloading the online games in full version is via the file sharing networking. A lot of people are their, who would agree with this and accept it as a great way of getting the full version of free online games. Buying the online games from any place would be very expensive and a bad deal. In addition, when you reach the market to buy one version of online game, you will realize that one more and better kind of games is about to come to the market. Therefore, every time you cannot afford to buy each and every version of online games as spending on something which is available free of cost is not liked by us.
Due to this reason, many people take benefit from the P2P file sharing networks. It allow the online game lovers to get the latest version of games free of cost as soon as it hits the market without spending a penny.
The mostly and widely known process of downloading the online games in full version is via the file sharing networking. A lot of people are their, who would agree with this and accept it as a great way of getting the full version of free online games. Buying the online games from any place would be very expensive and a bad deal. In addition, when you reach the market to buy one version of online game, you will realize that one more and better kind of games is about to come to the market. Therefore, every time you cannot afford to buy each and every version of online games as spending on something which is available free of cost is not liked by us.
Due to this reason, many people take benefit from the P2P file sharing networks. It allow the online game lovers to get the latest version of games free of cost as soon as it hits the market without spending a penny.
Online 3d Games Mania
A lot of web sites offer entertaining and sophisticated 3D online games with superb graphics to have fun. The racing playoffs include games like the luxury cars, spaceships, boat games and barrels. The online racing 3d games which can be played via online are gaining more and more recognition and becoming very complex as the internet speeds is mounting which allow a very high resolution of the 3d graphics.
A very simple and easy search on the internet can find a lot of 3d racing games and other simple 3d games which are very easy to download or play online also. A lot of these online 3d games have very creative kind of racing games which include racing in a huge barrel down a road, running into numerous cars at a time. A game which is very popular among the online games lovers is where your pals and you race without any means of transportation. You need to run though a different terrain along with a guideline or map. The person who successfully reach the place is announced the winner.
Thus, enjoy the superb online 3d racing games now and support the grass roots online games makers or the designers. Numerous novice online game makers get a lot of great experience via creating their personal online playoff. In fact, a lot of games which are very well known than the racing games are sold with the much known video games consoles.
A very simple and easy search on the internet can find a lot of 3d racing games and other simple 3d games which are very easy to download or play online also. A lot of these online 3d games have very creative kind of racing games which include racing in a huge barrel down a road, running into numerous cars at a time. A game which is very popular among the online games lovers is where your pals and you race without any means of transportation. You need to run though a different terrain along with a guideline or map. The person who successfully reach the place is announced the winner.
Thus, enjoy the superb online 3d racing games now and support the grass roots online games makers or the designers. Numerous novice online game makers get a lot of great experience via creating their personal online playoff. In fact, a lot of games which are very well known than the racing games are sold with the much known video games consoles.
Play Adventurous Free Flash Games
The world of gaming is essentially always doing something scintillating and very unique. The industry of entertainment is making an effort to make some advanced and innovative playoffs which would allure the people within fraction of second. In order to make this a complete fun and very cost effective, a lot of numerous and different kinds of websites have come up which offer great free online flash games which increase the overall level of the excitement among the people who plays it. The different online games including the free flash games are proving to be a great platform for the sharpness of the mind and overall stimulation.
The most recent rage is the Macro media free flash player which is software that is used for the development of the scintillating playoffs. The flash games offers complete adventure and fun to the players and the time when you play looks to be flying at a very fast speed. Furthermore, all the portals which offer the free flash games also support the links to a lot of dissimilar services like a free travel company downloads or a list of good hotels. The flash has a very different coding language that is called as the Action script designed by Macro media. Therefore, if you wish to design or develop your unique and own flash game, then he mush know the Action script.
Friday, January 23, 2009
How to become a Dummies.com author
I am excited to announce the Knol for Dummies.com competition. I'm particularly excited about this contest because I'm an avid fan of "For Dummies" books and Dummies.com. For instance, as a product marketing manager, I had no experience programming when I first joined Google. And, while coding isn't part of my official job description, it quickly became apparent that knowing some basic CSS/HTML could really go a long way. So, I ordered "CSS Web Design for Dummies" and quickly learned the basics of web design. Now, on the new Dummies.com site, that same expert how-to content is available in video, photo step-by-steps, articles, and author blogs.
Knol is a great place for individuals to share this type of how-to content. (Full disclosure: I am the product's marketing manager :-) Knols are articles written by people who are knowledgeable about specific subjects. Anyone can write one; there are templates to show you how to easily get started. You can embed media to better illustrate a topic, provide information about yourself to build your credibility, and collaborate with others to improve your knol over time.
And now we're offering an opportunity to have your knol featured on Dummies.com.* Simply go to the official contest page, create your own knol about a subject you know well, and the contest judges will select five finalists who will be eligible to have their knols featured on the Dummies.com site. In addition, the best entry overall will be awarded a $1,000 grand prize.
Check out our contest microsite for the Official Rules and more details. Submissions are open through March 23, 2009.
So start racking your brain and show what you know. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.
* Subject to Official Rules, see site for details.
Knol is a great place for individuals to share this type of how-to content. (Full disclosure: I am the product's marketing manager :-) Knols are articles written by people who are knowledgeable about specific subjects. Anyone can write one; there are templates to show you how to easily get started. You can embed media to better illustrate a topic, provide information about yourself to build your credibility, and collaborate with others to improve your knol over time.
And now we're offering an opportunity to have your knol featured on Dummies.com.* Simply go to the official contest page, create your own knol about a subject you know well, and the contest judges will select five finalists who will be eligible to have their knols featured on the Dummies.com site. In addition, the best entry overall will be awarded a $1,000 grand prize.
Check out our contest microsite for the Official Rules and more details. Submissions are open through March 23, 2009.
So start racking your brain and show what you know. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.
* Subject to Official Rules, see site for details.
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien- No Need For Alarm
Lately I've been bumpin Deltron 3030 like none other. Believe me when I tell you this: Only Soul On Ice Ras Kass can compare to Tha Funkee Homosapien on a lyrical level. After wearing out the speakers in the car listening to Things You Can Do, I finally moved onto Del's short-lived solo discography. I have to say this guy gets slept on like narcolepsy. One of my favorite things about Del is his ability to wreck any beat with his chameleonic flow. Another is the wide variety of incredibly ill instrumentals he spits over. At this point in time in Del's career he was just beginning to craft his uniquely patented style of trite braggadocio hip-hop mixed with insane wordplay that gives you authentic goosebumps. Enough talk though...1. You're In Shambles
The soft jazz in the back-end of the instrumental has always put me in a different mindstate. Something so ethereal about this instrumental. And Del's other-worldly flow and lyricism leave this song in shambles.
2. Catch A Bad One
If anyone can make meandering violin sound like a traditional hip hop instrument it's definitely Del. This song is dope, but not comparable to You're In Shambles.
3. Wack M.C.'s
Ahh, the ever-popular early 90's ode to the wack MC or wack crew. I've got a theory that you can find a song like this on almost every hip hop album made in the late 80's and 90's. Del puts his personal spin on it, but it's still really predictable, especially the hook.
4. No Need For Alarm
It took me a little while to warm up to this track, but I'm really feelin' it as I type. The flow still makes my jaw drop. Whose fucking with Del?
5. Boo Boo Heads
The hook is funny in a 90's sort of way. Like when kids my age watch Friday and understand the jokes in a "I feel it even though I didn't live it" sense. The flow and insane battle raps are killing me at this point.
6. Treats For The Kiddies
Title says it all. My only complaint for now is that the last six songs sound like the same thing with a minor beat change. Minor meaning a slight change in the bassline or adding a scratched vocal here and there...
7. Worldwide
I guess I planned that above statement perfectly as Del lines up some top quality lyricism over this East-Coast instrumental. The guest verse sounds ominously just like Del; the flow, the rhyme scheme... sounds like it might have been *gasp* ghostwritten? Or Del knows how to throw his voice... either way this song is dope.
8. No More Worries
Let's get this straight. This is the best instrumental on the whole album. Maybe the best instrumental of it's respective year. But Del's guest features sound somewhat awkward over this instrumental. Still an amazing song...
9. Wrong Place
I can't place my hand on the sample and it's bugging me! Also amazing, is the direction that Del took over this instrumental. Just flipped it completely on it's ass... much props given Mr. Homosapien.
10. In And Out
Compared to all the previous songs, this one is a snoozer. The instrumental is not engaging at all, so it neglects whatever Del is spitting.
11. Don't Forget
Another fairly weak beat, but Del rides this one much better. Still a sub-par song when compared to the rest of the album.
12. Miles To Go
If you look through Del's entire discography you will notice that he does a few songs like this per album. This doesn't sound like it belongs on this album, but it still kicks something crazy...
13. Check It Ooout
Del slows his flow down, and kills this track. Best song off this classic album, hands down! You'll have to Check It Ooout...
14. Thank Youse
Very weak ending, but it is an outro, so if you take it into perspective, this song serves it's purpose.
Very solid album. Del comes with his own style and keeps it consistent throughout the whole album. Heavy funk and Del's flow just work together, and this album is a joy to listen to.
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 songs
I give this album an 86.
You can find a link here.
The Pope on YouTube
(Cross-posted from the YouTube blog)
Today we're delighted to announce that the Vatican has launched a dedicated YouTube channel.
To find out more about why the Pope has taken the decision to interact with YouTube on a regular basis, here is a short introduction from Father Federico Lombardi, S.I., Director of Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre and the Holy See Press Office.
So, for regular updates on the Pope and the Catholic Church's take on the major problems facing the world today, subscribe to the Vatican on YouTube.
Today we're delighted to announce that the Vatican has launched a dedicated YouTube channel.
To find out more about why the Pope has taken the decision to interact with YouTube on a regular basis, here is a short introduction from Father Federico Lombardi, S.I., Director of Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre and the Holy See Press Office.
So, for regular updates on the Pope and the Catholic Church's take on the major problems facing the world today, subscribe to the Vatican on YouTube.
Losing Weight and getting in Shape for 2009
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
WASSPOKER get in on the ACTION and Play ONLINE
WassPoker $6,000 Competition 
Enjoy playing Wasspoker from the comfort of your home online and win a Massive Jackpot its fun just playing...
We’ve got a very exciting promotion for players this month on WassPoker, giving them the opportunity to win an extra $6000 in prizes! Player’s will earn comp points through regular play on ring tables and in tournaments to unlock the Luck Boxes for that comp point level.
They will then choose one of the three boxes. Boxes will contain either a small, medium, or large prize. The first level players unlock $2.50, $5.00, and $10.00 prizes and range all the way to the last level with boxes containing $1000, $1500, so click on this link and go and start playing and have some fun.http://banners.moreniche.com/go.php?id=7257&w=115744&s=60"
and Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
Enjoy playing Wasspoker from the comfort of your home online and win a Massive Jackpot its fun just playing...
We’ve got a very exciting promotion for players this month on WassPoker, giving them the opportunity to win an extra $6000 in prizes! Player’s will earn comp points through regular play on ring tables and in tournaments to unlock the Luck Boxes for that comp point level.
They will then choose one of the three boxes. Boxes will contain either a small, medium, or large prize. The first level players unlock $2.50, $5.00, and $10.00 prizes and range all the way to the last level with boxes containing $1000, $1500, so click on this link and go and start playing and have some fun.http://banners.moreniche.com/go.php?id=7257&w=115744&s=60"
Top 9 Methods to increase your Alexa Ranking
In order to increase your Alexa ranking you must be proactive in your strategies and plan your steps carefully to succeed. With the right Alexa ranking you can demand higher prices from current advertisers and attract new advertisers just the same.If you want to increase your Alexa ranking, there are a few things you can do right now to get there. Remember in order to move up in your Alexa rank, you have to bump someone out. You are competing for someone else's ranking and you better be willing to do what it takes to achieve a higher ranking.
Below is the Top 9 methods to increase your blog Alexa ranking:1. Sign up for an Alexa traffic exchange program such as http://www.upmyrank.com , the large numbers of users can boost your Alexa ranking dramatically.2. Be sure to install the Alexa toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox. Additionally be sure to set your website as the default homepage for both browsers. Be sure to use each browser when you are online as each will have a different toolbar id and may be seen as 2 different users.3. Put up the Alexa rank widget on your website. While the exact effects are unknown, it seems to help give the site a slight boost.4. Encourage others to use the Alexa toolbar. This includes friends, fellow webmasters as well as site visitors. Be sure to link to Alexa's full explanation of their toolbar and tracking system so your readers know what installing the toolbar or extension entails. Additionally you may want to ask your close relatives to install the toolbar and set your homepage as their main site.5. Have co-workers or own a company? Get the Alexa toolbar and SS Firefox extension installed on all computers and set your website as the homepage for all browsers. Perhaps it will be useful to note that this may work only when dynamic or different IPs are used.6. Write or host content about Alexa. Webmaster and bloggers love to hear about ways to increase their Alexa rank. They'll link to you and send you targeted traffic (i.e. visitors with the toolbar already installed). This gradually has effects on your Alexa ranking.7. Publicized your URL in webmaster forums. Webmasters usually have the toolbar installed. You'll get webmasters to visit your website and offer useful feedback. It's also a good way to give back to the community if you have useful articles to share with others. Be careful not to spam boards as you could be banned from the forum or worse have your site terminated by your host.8. Write content that is related to webmasters. This can fall in the category of domain and SEO, two fields in which most webmasters will have the Alexa toolbar installed. Promote your content on social networking websites and webmaster forums. Feel free to place the article on your website!9. Create a webmaster tools section on your website. This is a magnet for webmasters who will often revisit your website to gain access to the tools.Note:* Alexa redirects option is no longer supported by Alexa........ by BlogTactic
Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
Below is the Top 9 methods to increase your blog Alexa ranking:1. Sign up for an Alexa traffic exchange program such as http://www.upmyrank.com , the large numbers of users can boost your Alexa ranking dramatically.2. Be sure to install the Alexa toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox. Additionally be sure to set your website as the default homepage for both browsers. Be sure to use each browser when you are online as each will have a different toolbar id and may be seen as 2 different users.3. Put up the Alexa rank widget on your website. While the exact effects are unknown, it seems to help give the site a slight boost.4. Encourage others to use the Alexa toolbar. This includes friends, fellow webmasters as well as site visitors. Be sure to link to Alexa's full explanation of their toolbar and tracking system so your readers know what installing the toolbar or extension entails. Additionally you may want to ask your close relatives to install the toolbar and set your homepage as their main site.5. Have co-workers or own a company? Get the Alexa toolbar and SS Firefox extension installed on all computers and set your website as the homepage for all browsers. Perhaps it will be useful to note that this may work only when dynamic or different IPs are used.6. Write or host content about Alexa. Webmaster and bloggers love to hear about ways to increase their Alexa rank. They'll link to you and send you targeted traffic (i.e. visitors with the toolbar already installed). This gradually has effects on your Alexa ranking.7. Publicized your URL in webmaster forums. Webmasters usually have the toolbar installed. You'll get webmasters to visit your website and offer useful feedback. It's also a good way to give back to the community if you have useful articles to share with others. Be careful not to spam boards as you could be banned from the forum or worse have your site terminated by your host.8. Write content that is related to webmasters. This can fall in the category of domain and SEO, two fields in which most webmasters will have the Alexa toolbar installed. Promote your content on social networking websites and webmaster forums. Feel free to place the article on your website!9. Create a webmaster tools section on your website. This is a magnet for webmasters who will often revisit your website to gain access to the tools.Note:* Alexa redirects option is no longer supported by Alexa........ by BlogTactic
Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!
Announcing Google's Employee Option Exchange Program
Today we announced our plans to do something more for the people who are responsible for Google's success — our employees. Recognizing that about 85% of our employees have at least some stock options that are underwater (i.e., have an exercise price higher than the current market price of our common stock), we plan to offer our employees the opportunity to exchange those options. Our goal is to continue to reward our employees for their contributions and do everything we can to keep them engaged and focused on serving our users.
Here's how the employee option exchange program would work:
We expect to take a modification charge estimated to be $460 million over the vesting periods of the new options. These vesting periods range from six months to approximately five years. This modification charge will be recorded as additional stock based compensation beginning in the first quarter of 2009. This estimate assumes an exchange price of approximately $300 per share and that all eligible underwater options will be exchanged under this program. As a result, this estimate is subject to change.
If you're interested in learning more about this employee-only stock option exchange, we encourage you to read our related SEC filings when they become available.
The option exchange described in this post has not launched. When the option exchange begins, Google will provide employees with written materials explaining the terms and timing. Eligible optionholders should read these materials carefully when they become available because they will contain important information about the option exchange. When the offer period begins, Google will file these materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of a tender offer statement. You will be able to obtain these written materials and other documents filed by Google with the SEC free of charge from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The $300 exchange price provided above is intended as an example only. We expect that the actual modification charge we take as a result of the option exchange will be determined based on the exercise price and number of options exchanged as well as the closing price of our stock on March 2, 2009, unless Google is required or opts to extend the offer period.
Update @ 6:41 PM: Our FAQ on the option exchange program is now available.
Update on 2/5: On February 3, 2009, Google launched the option exchange program. Please note that the dates in this post are no longer valid. Written materials explaining the terms and updated timing of the option exchange are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.
Here's how the employee option exchange program would work:
- This will be a one-for-one, voluntary exchange. Employees will be able to exchange part or all of an existing option grant for the same number of new options.
- The offer period will begin on January 29, 2009 and end at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 3, 2009, unless Google is required or opts to extend the offer period.
- Based on this expected timeline, employees will be able to exchange their underwater options for new options with a strike price equal to the closing price of our stock on March 2, 2009.
- The new options will have a new vesting schedule that adds 12 months to the original vesting schedule. In addition, new options will vest no sooner than 6 months after the close of the offer period.
- Generally, all Googlers with options are eligible to participate (Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page do not hold options) except where precluded by legal and tax issues in certain countries. We are working to address these issues and the final offer documentation will specify any countries in which we are not able to offer the program.
- This option exchange program has been approved by our Board of Directors.
We expect to take a modification charge estimated to be $460 million over the vesting periods of the new options. These vesting periods range from six months to approximately five years. This modification charge will be recorded as additional stock based compensation beginning in the first quarter of 2009. This estimate assumes an exchange price of approximately $300 per share and that all eligible underwater options will be exchanged under this program. As a result, this estimate is subject to change.
If you're interested in learning more about this employee-only stock option exchange, we encourage you to read our related SEC filings when they become available.
The option exchange described in this post has not launched. When the option exchange begins, Google will provide employees with written materials explaining the terms and timing. Eligible optionholders should read these materials carefully when they become available because they will contain important information about the option exchange. When the offer period begins, Google will file these materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of a tender offer statement. You will be able to obtain these written materials and other documents filed by Google with the SEC free of charge from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The $300 exchange price provided above is intended as an example only. We expect that the actual modification charge we take as a result of the option exchange will be determined based on the exercise price and number of options exchanged as well as the closing price of our stock on March 2, 2009, unless Google is required or opts to extend the offer period.
Update @ 6:41 PM: Our FAQ on the option exchange program is now available.
Update on 2/5: On February 3, 2009, Google launched the option exchange program. Please note that the dates in this post are no longer valid. Written materials explaining the terms and updated timing of the option exchange are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.
OverDose on Free Software
OverDose is pretty
What is OverDose? Edit: correct link
OverDose is a Multiplayer team objective based game with online and offline play. Two sides, Earths Confederate Marine Corps. and the evil alien Marauders, battle for control of locations on Earth. Based in a first person, the two conflicting teams must battle not only each other, but large open terrain areas. Every class has his own strong and weak points, but every class is a vital role to the game.
On a technical front, it uses a highly evolved Quake II iD tech 2 engine which renders better than Doom 3 iD tech 4, as evidenced by this video and that video. The gameplay sounds quite good too.
FlightGear
FlightGear 1.9.0 got released. The actual announcement is buried in the mailing list. (For those fortunate enough to have never experienced it, the Sourceforge list archives are about as user unfriendly as you'll find, so you should appreciate me having found it! This release is a major overhaul of the graphics code, FlightGear now makes use of the
OpenSceneGraph library, and work on this has been going on for 2 years, since well before the FlightGear 1.0 release. Some highlights include dynamically configurable 3D Clouds, wingmen AI, particle-based rain, read the announcement for more.
SuperTuxKart 0.6 is out, hot on the heels of 0.6rc1. Here's a video showing some STK gameplay and some of the new levels. Given the level of activity, I'm optimistic that we'll see STK 0.7 this year (prettier graphics, better features with Irrlicht replacing PLIB) and that it'll be really impressive. There's still some level design work to be done though - the new levels are significantly nicer looking compared to the old ones you, the contrast stands out to me in this video.
Generally pygame entries are a bit naff. There are, however, a few nuggets. Like this World-of-Goo-inspired sandbox, the Gauntlet-style zombiefest Plague-like (pygame entry) or this interesting looking RPG engine Dead Creatures Rising (pygame entry). Still, it really needs a rating system to sort out the wheat from the chaff because there is far too much chaff to wade through these days.
L-echo, an open source implementation of the popular game Echochrome, seems to be coming along nicely. Version 0.4.1 released recently. Here's a video of l-echo in action:
Did I mention Naev before? Doesn't seem like it. Anyhow, it's a 2D space RPG in the mould of Solar Winds (like anybody actually knew what that was, other than me). It looks nice, but the controls take a bit of getting used to. You'll need to have a longer attention span than me if you're going to be able...
I wonder if we'll see an executive order closing down Windows. It's like a virtual detention centre where open source [game] developers are subjected to unspeakable things when forced to support it. On another note, I got to OverDose via the Haiku website. Perhaps Haiku can be a future gaming platform? I wonder if that skinny guy with a funny name even knows what Haiku is?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Back to the energy future
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar hot water panels on the roof of the White House. Recently a Googler from our Washington D.C. office asked the question, "What ever happened to the Carter panels?" After a little digging, we were able to track down the original panels to Unity College, an environmental college in Maine, and bring one of them back to Washington D.C.
So what ever happened to the panels? It turns out that during President Reagan's administration the solar hot water panels were removed from the White House in 1986 and placed in storage. In 1992, Unity College located the panels and transferred them from a General Services Administration warehouse to their campus in Maine. After restoration,16 panels provided their cafeteria with hot water for the next 12 years. In cooperation with Unity College, Google was able to bring one of these panels down to our Washington DC office for display throughout the next year.
At the panels' dedication in 1979, Jimmy Carter stated:
"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." (To watch video of the dedication, check out this trailer for a movie about the panels).
As we welcome our new U.S. president to office this week, we wanted to share this piece of this history with you. Google is committed to a clean energy future and we hope that you will join us in supporting the creation and adoption of renewable energy technology — what could still be one of the greatest and most exciting adventures for all of us.
Check out these photos of the panels at Unity College and at Google's Washington DC office.
So what ever happened to the panels? It turns out that during President Reagan's administration the solar hot water panels were removed from the White House in 1986 and placed in storage. In 1992, Unity College located the panels and transferred them from a General Services Administration warehouse to their campus in Maine. After restoration,16 panels provided their cafeteria with hot water for the next 12 years. In cooperation with Unity College, Google was able to bring one of these panels down to our Washington DC office for display throughout the next year.
At the panels' dedication in 1979, Jimmy Carter stated:
"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." (To watch video of the dedication, check out this trailer for a movie about the panels).
As we welcome our new U.S. president to office this week, we wanted to share this piece of this history with you. Google is committed to a clean energy future and we hope that you will join us in supporting the creation and adoption of renewable energy technology — what could still be one of the greatest and most exciting adventures for all of us.
Check out these photos of the panels at Unity College and at Google's Washington DC office.
Explore New York City with Google -- from your home, phone, and in person
[From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are very pleased to have Mayor Bloomberg join us here. – Ed.]
This is New York City: the ultimate destination and home to world-class hotels, dining, shopping, arts, entertainment and more.
In partnership with Google, we are launching a new website and Information Center to help make it easier for both visitors and residents to explore all the energy, excitement and diversity of New York City's five boroughs. nycgo.com is the official resource on the web for all there is to see, do and experience in the City. This dynamic site uses Google Maps to help you plan your New York experience and find hotels, restaurants and entertainment, in addition to exclusive citywide savings and promotions. With nycgo.com you can use Google Maps to get directions to attractions throughout the City, and even send the info to your phone with Google Maps for mobile.
While you're in New York, stop by the brand new Official New York City Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets. The Information Center features interactive map tables, powered by the Google Maps API for Flash, that let you navigate venues and attractions as well as create personalized itineraries, which can be printed, emailed or sent to mobile devices. Additionally, there's a gigantic video wall that utilizes Google Earth to display a 3D model of New York City on which you can map out personalized itineraries.
So whether you are a visitor or a resident, we invite you to explore New York City from your home computer, your mobile phone—and of course, in person.
Get started by taking a look at this video:
This is New York City: the ultimate destination and home to world-class hotels, dining, shopping, arts, entertainment and more.
In partnership with Google, we are launching a new website and Information Center to help make it easier for both visitors and residents to explore all the energy, excitement and diversity of New York City's five boroughs. nycgo.com is the official resource on the web for all there is to see, do and experience in the City. This dynamic site uses Google Maps to help you plan your New York experience and find hotels, restaurants and entertainment, in addition to exclusive citywide savings and promotions. With nycgo.com you can use Google Maps to get directions to attractions throughout the City, and even send the info to your phone with Google Maps for mobile.
While you're in New York, stop by the brand new Official New York City Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets. The Information Center features interactive map tables, powered by the Google Maps API for Flash, that let you navigate venues and attractions as well as create personalized itineraries, which can be printed, emailed or sent to mobile devices. Additionally, there's a gigantic video wall that utilizes Google Earth to display a 3D model of New York City on which you can map out personalized itineraries.
So whether you are a visitor or a resident, we invite you to explore New York City from your home computer, your mobile phone—and of course, in person.
Get started by taking a look at this video:
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Search findings from the U.S. presidential inauguration
Today, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. As we observed throughout the presidential campaign, many people in the U.S. turned to Google Search to find information. During the inauguration, top queries included live inauguration coverage, inauguration day 2009 streaming, listen to inauguration live, and many others.
However, interest in the inauguration was not only confined to the United States. Twelve percent of inauguration-related queries came from outside the United States as thousands worldwide used Google to find ways to watch the event. From Latin America, we received queries like toma de posesion de Barack Obama en vivo (inauguration of Barack Obama live -- Spanish) and posse de Obama (inauguration of Obama -- Portuguese). Similarly in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, people interested in the inauguration searched for amtseinführung (inauguration -- German), inauguratie (inauguration -- Dutch), investidura (inauguration -- Spanish), ברק אובמה (Barack introduction -- Hebrew), اوباما (Obama -- Arabic), and investiture (inauguration -- French). And even though it was very early in their day, users in Asia and Australia were still interested in watching the festivities, with queries like 奥巴马就职典礼直播 (Obama inauguration broadcast -- Chinese) and inauguration timetable.
While President Obama was certainly the central player in today's events, searchers were also interested in the other people who took part in the ceremony. In particular, people wanted more information on the religious leaders who spoke: Dr. Rick Warren, who gave the invocation, and Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who gave the benediction. Additionally, there was a lot of interest in some of the artists who performed: Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth Alexander, and Yo-Yo Ma. They also sought to know more about Senator Dianne Feinstein, who presided over the ceremony as chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., who swore in President Obama. (Click on the images to see a larger version.)
During the last nine years, the growth of the Internet has changed the way the world seeks information. From President Bush's first inaugural address in 2001 to his second in 2005, the number of inauguration-related searches increased by more than a factor of ten. From 2005 to today's address, the number grew even more. Few of the 2001 queries requested "video," and none requested streaming. By 2005, a few queries such as inauguration audio and streaming video of inauguration appeared. Today, technology has become so prevalant that queries such as YouTube live inauguration, live blogging inauguration, inaugural podcast, and Obama inaugural speech mp3 formed one-third of all inauguration-related queries.
Finally, this graph demonstrates one other interesting search pattern that we saw: the overall query volume of Google searches dropped in the U.S. from the time President Obama took the oath of office until the end of his inaugural speech, demonstrating that all eyes were on today's festivities.
However, interest in the inauguration was not only confined to the United States. Twelve percent of inauguration-related queries came from outside the United States as thousands worldwide used Google to find ways to watch the event. From Latin America, we received queries like toma de posesion de Barack Obama en vivo (inauguration of Barack Obama live -- Spanish) and posse de Obama (inauguration of Obama -- Portuguese). Similarly in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, people interested in the inauguration searched for amtseinführung (inauguration -- German), inauguratie (inauguration -- Dutch), investidura (inauguration -- Spanish), ברק אובמה (Barack introduction -- Hebrew), اوباما (Obama -- Arabic), and investiture (inauguration -- French). And even though it was very early in their day, users in Asia and Australia were still interested in watching the festivities, with queries like 奥巴马就职典礼直播 (Obama inauguration broadcast -- Chinese) and inauguration timetable.
While President Obama was certainly the central player in today's events, searchers were also interested in the other people who took part in the ceremony. In particular, people wanted more information on the religious leaders who spoke: Dr. Rick Warren, who gave the invocation, and Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who gave the benediction. Additionally, there was a lot of interest in some of the artists who performed: Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth Alexander, and Yo-Yo Ma. They also sought to know more about Senator Dianne Feinstein, who presided over the ceremony as chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., who swore in President Obama. (Click on the images to see a larger version.)
During the last nine years, the growth of the Internet has changed the way the world seeks information. From President Bush's first inaugural address in 2001 to his second in 2005, the number of inauguration-related searches increased by more than a factor of ten. From 2005 to today's address, the number grew even more. Few of the 2001 queries requested "video," and none requested streaming. By 2005, a few queries such as inauguration audio and streaming video of inauguration appeared. Today, technology has become so prevalant that queries such as YouTube live inauguration, live blogging inauguration, inaugural podcast, and Obama inaugural speech mp3 formed one-third of all inauguration-related queries.
Finally, this graph demonstrates one other interesting search pattern that we saw: the overall query volume of Google searches dropped in the U.S. from the time President Obama took the oath of office until the end of his inaugural speech, demonstrating that all eyes were on today's festivities.
Learn While Playing Puzzle Game
The puzzle games which are played online involve a lot of logical sequence and numbers like the very well known Sudoku are the best brain shapers for the adults and also for the children. All the puzzle games have various stages with a lot of difficulties which help the children to gradually mount the scale of intelligence and rationale.
In the same way, the online puzzle game, Jigsaw puzzle games can make you apply your brain to solve it for several hours along with a lot of exhilaration. At times, the children get so much involved in this game that they do not like to leave their place without solving the puzzle. The memory games and the numerical mazes does not only strengthen the minds but they also increase the determination and concentration powers of the players.
The games like Hitori include a lot of analytical tangles and mathematical tangles which make you child to solve the toughest and comprehensive problems. They get very quick in calculation and become very well acquainted with all the tips and tricks in order to crack the hardest problems. The word games like cryptography, scrabble, atlas, crosswords, dictionary evil and the spelling bee hive are some of the best puzzle games which are fun to play and the same time it helps in learning things while you enjoy too.
In the same way, the online puzzle game, Jigsaw puzzle games can make you apply your brain to solve it for several hours along with a lot of exhilaration. At times, the children get so much involved in this game that they do not like to leave their place without solving the puzzle. The memory games and the numerical mazes does not only strengthen the minds but they also increase the determination and concentration powers of the players.
The games like Hitori include a lot of analytical tangles and mathematical tangles which make you child to solve the toughest and comprehensive problems. They get very quick in calculation and become very well acquainted with all the tips and tricks in order to crack the hardest problems. The word games like cryptography, scrabble, atlas, crosswords, dictionary evil and the spelling bee hive are some of the best puzzle games which are fun to play and the same time it helps in learning things while you enjoy too.
Free Addicting Super Mario Games
The world of internet has changed the entire world on online games. With the help of this, the well known “Super Mario” games have been transformed to a lot of versions which you might not have heard till now. But playing such games are complete fun and thrill. Some of the games which have been transferred are as follows:
Mario Overrun: This is a very different version as compared to the other Mario Games. In this game, you have tear down the duppas which attracts the castle. You can use numerous superb weapons in order to attain your goal. You get shot guns, plasma guns, bombs and the uzzy in order to save the castle from enemies.
Super Flash Mario: This is yet another superb game amid the Super Mario circle. This game uses the technology of flash which gives it a very original look or version. In fact, a lot of people consider it to be the best version which is available on the internet in the present day.
Some other new versions of the Super Mario games include spug shock, rampage, infinite Mario, star catcher and the sunshine 64. You would love to play all these new versions of Super Mario games if you have not played these games before but playing these new versions of games includes a lot of time for you to spare.
Mario Overrun: This is a very different version as compared to the other Mario Games. In this game, you have tear down the duppas which attracts the castle. You can use numerous superb weapons in order to attain your goal. You get shot guns, plasma guns, bombs and the uzzy in order to save the castle from enemies.
Super Flash Mario: This is yet another superb game amid the Super Mario circle. This game uses the technology of flash which gives it a very original look or version. In fact, a lot of people consider it to be the best version which is available on the internet in the present day.
Some other new versions of the Super Mario games include spug shock, rampage, infinite Mario, star catcher and the sunshine 64. You would love to play all these new versions of Super Mario games if you have not played these games before but playing these new versions of games includes a lot of time for you to spare.
Monday, January 19, 2009
A day on, not a day off
Today, Americans celebrate the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the chief elements of the day, as expressed by Dr. King and manifested in recent years, is marking the day as a National Day of Service. The credo of a national service day is "a day on, not a day off," and citizens are encouraged to contribute their time and talents to community organizations in some way. A website USAService.org offers a Google gadget, from which you can find a service event near you that needs your help, or create your own. Inform others of your activities with text messages, and share your photos and feedback.
Remember, too, that the need for your skills and energy is great, and extends well beyond today. Please consider these organizations for future volunteer opportunities.
Remember, too, that the need for your skills and energy is great, and extends well beyond today. Please consider these organizations for future volunteer opportunities.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Easy to find Good Keywords that you can use
We can always use good keywords and here I found a site that you can download and find alot of good keywords you can use for your webpage so check it out and see what words you can use.
Good Keywords v2 - The original classic software for finding good keywords
Good Keywords is a free Windows software for finding the perfect set of keywords for your web pages. Knowing the right keywords to target is very important because your site should provide what people are searching for.
Good Keywords is completely free. No registration, no payments, no nag screens! It is a small 500Kb download, digitally signed and safe to install. We don't even ask for your email address. Be Sure to
Download Good Keywords
More About Good Keywords Leave Your Comments!
Good Keywords is a free Windows software for finding the perfect set of keywords for your web pages. Knowing the right keywords to target is very important because your site should provide what people are searching for.
Good Keywords is completely free. No registration, no payments, no nag screens! It is a small 500Kb download, digitally signed and safe to install. We don't even ask for your email address. Be Sure to
Download Good Keywords
More About Good Keywords Leave Your Comments!
Friday, January 16, 2009
100,000th knol published
A few weeks ago the 100,000th knol was published, and we figured now is an excellent time to reflect on the first five months of Knol's existence.
Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. Since the start of the project, we've seen articles written on everything from sinus infections and Arctic exploration to long distance motorcycle riding and the Amphilinidea.
The Knol interface is now available in eight languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish) and we are excited that our users are helping us translate it into many more languages using the Google in Your Language console. Encouraging people to contribute their knowledge online is particularly important for languages with limited web content, and we are glad to see that knols have been written in 59 different languages to date. It has been very exciting to have people all over the world come forward to help improve online content in their language.
We have worked quickly to incorporate the features most requested by our early authors, such as usage stats showing reader activity on knols and rich media embedding (videos, spreadsheets, forms, slideshows, etc.). All of these improvements are tracked in our Announcement and Release Notes.
We are happy to see that most authors choose to accept moderated edits from their audience and that the volume of suggested edits from readers is steadily growing. So if you find yourself reading a knol and want to suggest an improvement, go ahead and press that edit button! You will be able to make the desired changes directly in the knol, and the author(s) will be able to review and act upon your suggestions. We look forward to seeing this new mode of online collaboration used more widely.
People visit Knol from 197 countries and territories on an average day, from the Aland Islands and Antarctica to Zambia and Zimbabwe. We welcome you to share your knowledge with the world and write a knol.
Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. Since the start of the project, we've seen articles written on everything from sinus infections and Arctic exploration to long distance motorcycle riding and the Amphilinidea.
The Knol interface is now available in eight languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish) and we are excited that our users are helping us translate it into many more languages using the Google in Your Language console. Encouraging people to contribute their knowledge online is particularly important for languages with limited web content, and we are glad to see that knols have been written in 59 different languages to date. It has been very exciting to have people all over the world come forward to help improve online content in their language.
We have worked quickly to incorporate the features most requested by our early authors, such as usage stats showing reader activity on knols and rich media embedding (videos, spreadsheets, forms, slideshows, etc.). All of these improvements are tracked in our Announcement and Release Notes.
We are happy to see that most authors choose to accept moderated edits from their audience and that the volume of suggested edits from readers is steadily growing. So if you find yourself reading a knol and want to suggest an improvement, go ahead and press that edit button! You will be able to make the desired changes directly in the knol, and the author(s) will be able to review and act upon your suggestions. We look forward to seeing this new mode of online collaboration used more widely.
People visit Knol from 197 countries and territories on an average day, from the Aland Islands and Antarctica to Zambia and Zimbabwe. We welcome you to share your knowledge with the world and write a knol.
Building engineers
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.
As someone who has been building technology for more than 15 years, I know firsthand what a positive impact building hardware or software with a small team in an agile environment can have. I was only exposed to this type of work during grad school, and have since been actively involved in getting young people interested in science and technology. This year Google has enthusiastically supported my initiative to bring a local group of girls closer to technology through the FIRST Robotics Competition.
"People claim that only with the perspective of years can you know how much influence a particular event has had on you," Tal Tzangen says and proceeds to explain how she is convinced her participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition last year has significantly changed the course of her life. Tal, a 17 year old girl from a rural part of Israel, was taking technology courses at her school, not because she was particularly interested in technology but because the other options seemed even less appealing to her. Although Israel is also known as "Silicon Wadi," Tal thought technology was "just for geeks." Last year she agreed to be a member of a newly forming FIRST team, not knowing what she was letting herself in for.
The competition involves 1,686 teams from more than 42,000 high schools spanning the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K. Each team has six weeks to build a robot from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST. Then, they compete with other robots in a new game devised each year.
Before Tal knew it, she was "bit by the bug." During the weeks of preparation, she spent days and nights at school learning about robotics and teamwork with her peers and mentors. Her team had won the regional competitions and were seeking funding for the finals in Atlanta when I met her.
This year Tal is the captain of the Google-sponsored Thunderbolts team, and one of her goals has been to get as many girls involved as possible. As she puts it, "I certainly don't mind the company of my male peers, but I know that girls also have a lot to contribute in this domain." The current team includes 24 students, eight of them girls (last year there were only two). Recruiting girls has been challenging since there are very few in the technical track in high school. She has enlisted some pre-high school girls with the hope of serving as a role model to them. Likewise, she has encouraged the forming of a FIRST LEGO team (9-14 year olds) to ensure the "next generation" for the Robotics Competition.
The world kickoff for this year's competition took place on January 3rd, followed by the Israeli kickoff the following day. Regardless of how far they get in the competition this year, Israel is a country where high tech, engineering, science and entrepreneurship thrive, and Tal and her Thunderbolts are a growing part of this culture.
As someone who has been building technology for more than 15 years, I know firsthand what a positive impact building hardware or software with a small team in an agile environment can have. I was only exposed to this type of work during grad school, and have since been actively involved in getting young people interested in science and technology. This year Google has enthusiastically supported my initiative to bring a local group of girls closer to technology through the FIRST Robotics Competition.
"People claim that only with the perspective of years can you know how much influence a particular event has had on you," Tal Tzangen says and proceeds to explain how she is convinced her participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition last year has significantly changed the course of her life. Tal, a 17 year old girl from a rural part of Israel, was taking technology courses at her school, not because she was particularly interested in technology but because the other options seemed even less appealing to her. Although Israel is also known as "Silicon Wadi," Tal thought technology was "just for geeks." Last year she agreed to be a member of a newly forming FIRST team, not knowing what she was letting herself in for.
The competition involves 1,686 teams from more than 42,000 high schools spanning the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K. Each team has six weeks to build a robot from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST. Then, they compete with other robots in a new game devised each year.
Before Tal knew it, she was "bit by the bug." During the weeks of preparation, she spent days and nights at school learning about robotics and teamwork with her peers and mentors. Her team had won the regional competitions and were seeking funding for the finals in Atlanta when I met her.
Tal, center, and her team members work on their robot's transmission system.
This year Tal is the captain of the Google-sponsored Thunderbolts team, and one of her goals has been to get as many girls involved as possible. As she puts it, "I certainly don't mind the company of my male peers, but I know that girls also have a lot to contribute in this domain." The current team includes 24 students, eight of them girls (last year there were only two). Recruiting girls has been challenging since there are very few in the technical track in high school. She has enlisted some pre-high school girls with the hope of serving as a role model to them. Likewise, she has encouraged the forming of a FIRST LEGO team (9-14 year olds) to ensure the "next generation" for the Robotics Competition.
The Thunderbolt team.
The world kickoff for this year's competition took place on January 3rd, followed by the Israeli kickoff the following day. Regardless of how far they get in the competition this year, Israel is a country where high tech, engineering, science and entrepreneurship thrive, and Tal and her Thunderbolts are a growing part of this culture.
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