Today Google Honoured The Polish Sci-fi

Google paid tribute to Polish sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem with an interesting new doodle.The elaborate animation featured a character that came face to face with a giant robot. By moving the cursor, web users could interact with the robot and what seemed to be a calculator on its front.


Google has introduced one of its most interactive Doodles ever in honor of Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem, whose first book was published 60 years ago today. The Doodle, which can be found at Google. The Google came up with its first doodle in 1998 when it's creators Larry Page and Sergey Brina added a Burning Man from the famous festival in Nevada when they attended the event.

Back then the firm was so small that it was designed to show that the two were not in the office to answer the phone.one of Google’s most interactive Doodles to date.

In New York the peoples all are celebrities the Thanksgiving Day Parade by using lot off big new balloons.


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Microsoft Sets Rival to Google Apps

With a new package of online applications called Office 365 launching Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. is courting customers who have resisted running some of the company's most lucrative products: small- and medium-sized businesses.

If the Redmond, Wash., software maker succeeds with its online applications among those customers, it could tap into a new wave of growth for the venerable Office franchise, which is already used by more than one billion people world-wide, according to Microsoft.

The company also faces competitive issues: Google Inc. has won more converts to a rival set of online applications called Google Apps among small and mid-sized businesses than among large companies, according to analysts.

Office 365 includes the latest versions of Microsoft's familiar suite of productivity applications—Word, Outlook, Excel and others—combined with online versions of related software for server systems that most people never see. That includes Exchange for messaging, SharePoint for collaboration and Lync for conferencing and communication.

For roughly $6 per user a month, Office 365 customers will get the traditional Office applications, either accessing them through a Web browser or by installing them on their PCs. Microsoft will run all of the servers that manage the Office applications in its own data centers.

Even if they run the Office productivity applications, the targeted customers—which usually have 500 or fewer employees—have been especially reluctant to install and run Microsoft's Office server programs, in large part because of the costs associated with maintaining technology support staff and purchasing hardware.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303627104576412223191996248.html#ixzz1QXq4VKl5

Lunar eclipse: Google doodle, photos document the rare red moon

Lunar eclipses are a rarity, but thanks to modern technology, there are a few ways to get in on the red-moon action for those who missed seeing the astronomical event as it happened.

Google.com's home page on Wednesday features a Google Doodle (as the tech giant likes to call the logo on its search engine site) that mimics the eclipse with photos of the actual event itself. A click and a push of the slider under the doodle moves the images from a white moon to red and back to white again, replicating the Earth's shadow passing by.

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/06/lunar-eclipse.html

Google's $700 million entry into air fare search gets green light

Google's entry into the online travel sector was cleared for takeoff on Friday as the US Justice Department gave the green light to its $US700 million purchase of flight data company ITA Software.

The Justice Department's anti-trust division, however, extracted a number of concessions from Google and imposed conditions on the Internet search giant to allow the controversial acquisition to go ahead.

The proposed legal settlement, which will need the approval of a US District Court, requires Google to notably develop and license ITA's travel software to other companies.


Several online travel sites, including Expedia, Kayak and Travelocity, had sought to block the Google-ITA deal, claiming it would give Google too much control over the lucrative online travel market and lead to higher prices.

The Justice Department agreed that unless modified, the acquisition "would have substantially lessened competition among providers of comparative flight search websites in the United States."

But US deputy assistant attorney general Joseph Wayland said the proposed settlement "promotes robust competition for airfare websites by ensuring those websites will continue to have access to ITA's pricing and shopping software.

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http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/googles-700-million-entry-into-air-fare-search-gets-green-light-20110411-1da0j.html

Google Said to Be Possible Target of U.S. FTC Antitrust Probe

Google Inc. (GOOG)’s dominance of the Internet-search industry is being considered for a broad antitrust investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, two people familiar with the matter said.

Before proceeding with any probe, the FTC is awaiting a decision by the Justice Department on whether it will challenge Google’s planned acquisition of ITA Software Inc. as a threat to competition in the travel-information search business, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still confidential.

An FTC investigation of Google, the world’s most popular search engine, “could be on par” with the scope of the Justice Department’s probe of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) a decade ago, said Keith Hylton, an antitrust law professor at Boston University School of Law. Google “could fight the FTC, but that’s going to cost a lot of money and time.”

The FTC and Justice Department share responsibility for oversight of antitrust enforcement, and the outcome of the ITA deal may determine whether the two agencies will vie for control of a broader probe of Google, the people said. The two agencies sometimes negotiate which will handle major antitrust investigations, with the decision turning on their respective expertise.

The Justice Department may soon announce its decision on Google’s purchase of ITA, said the people familiar with the matter.
Commissioner’s Support

FTC Commissioner Thomas Rosch said in an interview last month he supported a probe of the dominant players in the Internet-search industry, without specifying which companies. Rosch, one of two Republicans on the five-member commission, is the only commissioner to say publicly that such an investigation is in order.

The people familiar with the matter said any investigation of the search industry should concentrate on Mountain View, California-based Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine.

If consumers don’t like what the company is doing, they can switch to another search engine, said Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman.

“Since competition is one click away on the Internet, we work hard to put our users’ interests first and give them the best, most relevant answers to their queries,” he said in an e- mail. “We built Google for users, not websites.”

Cecelia Prewett, a spokeswoman at the FTC, and Gina Talamona, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-05/google-said-to-be-possible-target-of-antitrust-probe-after-ita-acquisition.html

Microsoft should make Google the April Fool

Google has given Microsoft a great competitive opening, and it's one the software giant shouldn't let go. Opportunities like this just don't come `round often enough, or so rightly timed.

Twice in about a week, Google has cracked down on Android licensing. From one perspective, the search and information giant is asserting needed leadership. From another, Google is closing the door on so-called openness of its software. Either way, Microsoft has a hook to grab developers and encourage further OEM adoption of Windows Phone 7.

Quick recap: Last week, Google revealed that it wouldn't immediately release Android 3.0 as open source; there was no real time horizon given. My analysis "Honeycomb tests Google's 'Open Principles'" questions whether the search and information giant broke promises made to the open-source community. From the standpoint of controlling fragmentation, withholding Honeycomb makes business sense, however.

Something else: According to a report from Bloomberg Business Week, Google also is cracking down on which handset manufacturers get access to Android. They'll need Android chief Andy Rubin's blessing to get the newest operating system version, according to the report. For a mobile operating system that's supposed to be open, Android suddenly looks closed. Again, there is business justification -- Google trying to diminish Android fragmentation. However, handset manufacturers like HTC or Sony may find Google suddenly resistent to skinning Android with their own custom user interfaces. They use these skins to differentiate the experience between their phones from others running Android; perhaps no longer.

Google is between a rock and a hard place, and Microsoft should put on the squeeze.

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http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Microsoft-should-make-Google-the-April-Fool/1301690774

Google Lets Users Block Websites in Search

Google announced yesterday it will begin letting users block certain websites on its search results. By clicking the “Block” link below a website’s label (see above), users will not see the website appear in any future search queries.

Users can also manage their blocked websites and choose whether to unblock it (see below). Blocked websites are part of a user’s Google account, so it will be transferable across devices.

Previously, this feature was only available as a Chrome extension, but Google has now rolled it out to Internet Explorer and Firefox users.

“We’re adding this feature because we believe giving you control over the results you find will provide an even more personalized and enjoyable experience on Google,” wrote Google’s Amay Champaneria and Beverly Yang

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http://www.designtaxi.com/news/34250/Google-Lets-Users-Block-Websites-in-Search/?page=2

Google Glitch Disables 150,0000 Gmail Accounts

Google, we have a problem. About 150,000 Gmail account holders woke up to a nightmare this morning, with all their e-mail, attachments and Google Chat logs gone. What happened?

Google explains that “less than 0.08%” of all Gmail users were affected by the bug, which completely reset accounts, even down to the detail offering a welcome message to those users when they first logged on today. They, and especially visitors to the Gmail Help Forum, were not amused.

But there’s good news here. The way Google is explaining it on its Apps Status Dashboard, “Google engineers are working to restore full access. Affected users may be temporarily unable to sign in while we repair their accounts.”

In an earlier message, Google wrote, “For those Gmail users reporting missing messages, our engineers are working to restore them as soon as possible.” So maybe this is not so bad after all. As long as Google restores the messages, all we had was a big scare. Will Google restore all the messages? We’ve contacted a Google spokesperson, and will let you know when we hear back.

Meanwhile, I’m going to back up all of my Gmail forthwith. But wait a minute – how do you back up Gmail?


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http://mashable.com/2011/02/27/gmail-glitch/

Google Starts Using Twitter in Search Results

As an update to its Social Search announced yesterday, Google is returning links garnered from Twitter in its search results.

It works something like this: If a friend tweets a link to an article and you search for a related topic, Google “may show that link in your results with a clear annotation”, product management director Mike Cassidy wrote in a blog post.

Social Search results will also be mixed throughout Google’s PageRank results, so users will start seeing more recommended links from friends.

“Relevance isn’t just about pages—it’s also about relationships,” Cassidy wrote. “Today we’re taking another step forward—enabling you to get even more information from the people that matter to you.”

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http://www.designtaxi.com/news/34074/Google-Starts-Using-Twitter-in-Search-Results/?page=2

EGYPT: Released Google executive says he is neither hero nor traitor

A detained Google executive who became a rallying symbol for anti-government protesters in Egypt said he was neither a hero nor a traitor in an emotional television interview just hours after his release Monday.

Wael Ghonim's comments on Dream TV were translated by Sultan Sooud al Qassemi, a columnist for the National, an English-language publication in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and posted on Qassemi's Twitter account. According to the translation, Ghonim said: “I am not a hero. I only used the keyboard. The real heroes are the ones on the ground.”

Ghonim, Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, had traveled to Egypt from his home in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He disappeared Jan. 27 after joining the protests, and his whereabouts were not known until Egyptian television stations reported Sunday that he would be released the next day.

Ghonim was quoted as saying in the interview that he had administered a Facebook page that helped rally protesters. He said he was in a taxi when four people surrounded the car, blindfolded him and transferred him to “state security."

Although he said he was not mistreated in custody, he said that “nothing justifies kidnapping.”

His interrogators wanted to know whether outsiders were involved in organizing the protests, he said. He told them that it was a spontaneous youth movement .

“This is the era where people who have good intentions are considered traitors,” he was quoted as saying. “If I was a traitor, I would have stayed by the swimming pool in my house in the UAE.”

Ghonim said he also spoke with Egypt’s new interior minister, who treated him “like an equal.”

"We are a beautiful people," he said. "Please, everybody, this is not a time to settle scores; this is a time to build our country."

Ghonim said he cried when he found out that people had died during the unrest.

"I want to tell families who lost their sons this is not our fault," he said. "This is the fault of those clinging to power."

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/02/egypt-released-google-executive-says-he-is-neither-hero-nor-traitor.html

Google gives uprising a voice

SAN FRANCISCO - Even before his first day on the job at Google, Ujjwal Singh was trying to figure out how to combine his passion for the spoken word with the company's technological prowess to help Egyptians bypass government efforts to muzzle the massive protests there.

Singh, 38, helped start an online service that lets fans share voice messages with the likes of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.

Google bought the startup Jan. 25, and a team leader trying to figure a way around Egypt's recent Internet blackout asked Singh for help before he reported to work.

A weekend of brainstorming and programming later, Speak2Tweet was born — a service that lets people call a phone number and leave a message, then posts a link to the message to Twitter.

It allowed Egyptians to communicate even as the regime of President Hosni Mubarak cut Internet and cellphone services for days, trying to squelch protests in the streets of Cairo demanding an end to his three decades of authoritarian rule.

By the time Singh started his job Monday, his service already was part of the uprising.

"He designed, built and launched his first product before he started at Google, which is now our all-time record," said Steve Crossan, a Google product manager.

Almost 2,900 spoken tweets had been posted as of Friday afternoon on the Twitter account@speak2tweet.

The alternative method of tweeting has turned into a forum for longer-form expression because the voice recordings aren't confined to Twitter's 140-character limit.

The service has been used to express outrage, indignation, fear, exhilaration and pleas for help in the fight to oust Mubarak.

"This corrupt regime must be eliminated," said one of the translated tweets on AliveInEgypt. Another said: "For all our Arab brothers, for all the men in Tahrir Square. Please help us, stand with us, if you abandon us we will die."

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http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/feb/05/PT2NEWSO5-google-gives-uprising-a-voice/

Google Unveils Chrome 9 And Credits Reddit For Their Help Fixing It

Google has made a big deal recently about not making a big deal about the version numbers of Chrome. “It’s just a number” is the basic take these days. In fact, they can barely be even bothered to announce them at all sometimes. But today, they did actually take some time to acknowledge the latest version — and a funny partner who made it all possible.

Google has officially rolled out Chrome 9, meaning the stable version of the browser has been updated to that iteration. They don’t make any mention of the number in the blog post about the update, but trust me, it’s version 9. Instead, Google focuses on the three new major features available to all in this build: WebGL, Chrome Instant, and the Chrome Web Store.

Many users will already be familiar with all of those as they’ve been on the beta builds of Chrome for a while, and the dev builds longer before that. But still, each is worth noting as all three are now a pretty integral part of the Chrome experience. WebGL brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics support. Chrome Instant brings Google Instant support to the Omnibox. And the Chrome Web Store is part of Google plans to push web apps farther.

But the more humorous part of the release comes from the Google Chrome Releases blog post. This post details the bug fixes that have come in Chrome 9. And in it, Google gives a special shout-out to the Reddit community for pointing out one critical bug. As Google notes:

Special thanks to the Reddit community, for playing so much of the game “Z-Type” that they uncovered a Chromium audio bug — see below!

Below, they detail the bug:

[69195] Critical Race condition in audio handling. Credit to the gamers of Reddit!

So there you go, while it wasn’t an “elite” bug or even a “l33t” one, it’s fun to see Google given credit to another service for pointing out their flaws.

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http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/03/google-chrome-9/

Microsoft says Google used click fraud to orchestrate Bing Sting

Microsoft is now accusing Google of using a form of click fraud to set up its Bing Sting, a stunt unveiled by the search giant at the Farsight 2011 tech conference in Silicon Valley.

Google on Tuesday grabbed headlines in the tech press by disclosing an FBI-like sting operation purporting to produce evidence that Bing is intentially and systematically copying Google search results.

Today, Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president for Microsoft's Online Services Division, fired back. Mehdi says Google's sting, in fact, was "rigged to manipulate Bing search results" through the use of click fraud -- the elaborate trickery scammers use to fake clicks on Web ads in order to get paid by advertisers.

"What does all this cloak and dagger click fraud prove?" asks Mehdi. "Nothing anyone in the industry doesn't already know."

Google senior engineer Amit Singhal told Technology Live that the search giant stands by its original allegations that Bing is a copy cat.

"At Google we strongly believe in innovation," says Singhal. "We look forward to competing with genuinely new search algorithm built on core innovation, and not on recycled search results copied from a competitor."

In an exclusive Technology Live interview, Bing Director Stefan Weitz elaborated on why Microsoft contends Google is the real cheater in this confrontation:

TL: So Google really blindsided you with this?

Weitz: It was a surprise, not so much the stunt itself. I was more surprised by the fact that it isn't intellectually honest. It's just not true.

TL: So what was manipulated?

Weitz: What Google did was clever, I'll give them that. They basically took a bunch of nonsensical words, like xlgr493, and then modified their own algorithm to point the search query for that particular word to a real site. So xlgr493 refers to kittycat.com.

Then about 20 of them went to their houses at night, and, probably over a glass of merlot, started using the Bing toolbar to query Google for that particular nonsensical word. Then the next day they showed that if you searched for that nonsensical word on Bing, the faked site would appear as the first result.

TL: And the first Bing result would be the same as the first Google result for the same nonsensical word?

Weitz: Yes. Google's engineers basically issued a bunch of queries to Google from the Bing toolbar for that nonsensical word. They already had tuned the Google search engine to display a certain link when it saw that nonsensical word. By using the Bing toolbar, and then clicking on that link, the data flowed through normal processes back to Microsoft as it should. From there the data gets analyzed against a thousand different signals, one of which is our ranker. There is no copying here at all.

TL: So the sting was set up knowing only your ranking signal would trigger, not any of the others?

Weitz: There were no other signals, nothing else to look up. They artificially created this association, and there was nothing else we could use to figure out what the user was asking for. So we pulled that one signal, which was the faked one from Google.

TL: Do you take this as evidence that Google will get more down and dirty about defending its turf now that Larry Page has replaced Eric Schmidt as CEO?

Weitz: At the end of the day, we're all a bunch of geeks competing, right. Everyone's competing hard and that's actually good for the users because, in the end, they get a great product.


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http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/02/microsoft-says-google-used-click-fraud-to-pull-of-bing-sting/1

Google exec 'missing' amid Egypt protests

Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa has gone missing after joining protests against the Egyptian government, according to report citing the exec's brother.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Wael Ghonim – who joined Google in late 2008 – has not been heard from since Friday at 6pm.

It should be noted, however, the Egyptian government has restricted internet and cell phone access within the country.

Ghonim attended Cairo University and the American University in Cairo, according to his LinkedIn page. And at Google, the page says, he was charged with "driving the growth of Google B2C/B2B products across MENA" and "evangelizing the Internet in the region, and help growing the Arabic content".

Earlier this month, Ghonim tweeted that he was traveled to Qatar for an "internet freedom forum" hosted by Al Jazeera, and last week, in a post to the microblogging site, he said he was joining the Egyptian protests against the wishes of some close to him. "Despite all the warnings I got from my relative and friends, I'll be there on #Jan25 protests. Anyone going to be in Gam'et Dewal protest?" the post reads.

"The Egyptian government started to take really stupid actions that will result in nothing but encouraging more people to protest," he said on January 26. "A government that is scared from #Facebook and #Twitter should govern a city in Farmville but not a country like #Egypt".

His tweets stopped the next day, just after he urged readers to pray for Egypt. "Very worried as it seems that government is planning a war crime tomorrow against people," he said. "We are all ready to die".

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company told the WSJ: "We care deeply about the safety of our employees."

Separately, with Egypt in mind, the company has unveiled a service that lets people tweet via a voice connection. Anyone can tweet simply by leaving a voice mail at one of these international numbers: +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855. No internet connection is required, and the service will automatically add the hash tag "#egypt".

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/31/google_exec_missing_in_egypt/

Google's Purchase of ITA Software May Be Challenged by U.S.

Google Inc. may face an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department over its $700 million acquisition of ITA Software Inc., according to people familiar with the situation.

Department officials haven’t made a final decision about whether to sue to block the purchase by Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, said the people, who requested anonymity because the agency discussions are confidential. Google announced in July its plans to acquire ITA, which provides online airline flight and ticket information. The next month, government lawyers said they were extending their ITA investigation.

Google triggered preparation for the government’s possible lawsuit last month by invoking a provision of federal law that forces the government to decide within 30 days whether to challenge the deal, the people said. In bringing the matter to a head, they said, Google prompted Justice Department lawyers to cancel Christmas holiday plans and put together a case.

“It could be Google did that because things are not moving forward,” said Andrew Gavil, a law professor at Howard University in Washington, in an interview. “As a business matter, it can be very difficult” to manage an acquisition if there is a probe.

Gavil, who said he has no direct knowledge of the progress of the investigation, received funding from Google for research unrelated to the ITA acquisition.

Opposing the Deal

A group of software and online travel companies including Microsoft Corp., Expedia Inc. and Sabre Holdings Corp.’s Travelocity have been leading opposition to the acquisition. They helped form FairSearch.org to highlight concerns that Google would prevent others from using ITA’s technology.

Expedia rose 47 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $27.12 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading as of 3:50 p.m., and Orbitz Worldwide Inc., which supports the acquisition, gained 7 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $5.53 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Google fell 18 cents to $616.69.

Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman, declined to comment on the deadline or the department’s preparation.

“While we continue to cooperate with the Justice Department’s review, we are ultimately confident that this acquisition will increase competition,” he said in an e-mail.

In an e-mail, Gina Talamona, a department spokeswoman, declined to comment because the matter is pending.

Both parties can negotiate an extension of the 30-day deadline under federal law.

Urging a Challenge

“I believe the Google-ITA deal is uncompetitive and should be challenged,” said Pamela Jones Harbour, a former member of the Federal Trade Commission who dissented in 2007 from its decision to let Google buy DoubleClick Inc., an online advertising company. “It’s a dominant firm expanding in an adjacent market by acquiring ITA, and the effect would be to dominate flight search.”

Harbour is a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski LLP’s antitrust and competition practice, with offices in Washington and New York City.

Google has said it will continue to license the ITA software to third parties after the acquisition is complete.

Google is buying companies to boost its online services, spending about $1.6 billion on more than 20 companies in the first nine months of last year, according to regulatory filings. ITA follows other large acquisitions by Google, including mobile ad service AdMob Inc. last year for about $700 million and online advertising provider DoubleClick in 2008 for $3.2 billion.

AdMob Deal

“The government was going to challenge AdMob, the government was going to challenge DoubleClick, but ultimately it all ends up going through,” said Heath Terry, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity in New York. He has “buy” ratings Google and Priceline and “hold” ratings on Expedia and Orbitz. “The jury is still out on whether ITA being bought by Google is really a negative for Expedia, Priceline and Orbitz.”

Online travel agencies Priceline.com Inc. and Orbitz have been supportive of the deal, which Google said would allow it to display flight times and prices in search results, much as Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine is already doing.

The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research, a Washington-based nonprofit that describes itself on its website as an educational and research group, said in a statement that it is “encouraged” by reports of a possible lawsuit.

“Google’s acquisition of ITA would give it dominant control of online travel search, which would lead to less choice and higher prices for consumers.” Steve Pociask, president of the institute, said in an e-mailed statement.

Prior Plans

The threat of a government lawsuit has thwarted Mountain View, California-based Google’s expansion plans before. The company in 2008 abandoned its agreement to place ads on Yahoo! Inc.’s site after the department threatened to challenge the venture in court.

The National Business Travel Association, which represents more than 13 million business travelers, has urged regulators to carefully review the ITA acquisition out of concern it could result in higher costs to business buyers and endanger access to real-time airfare information.

Read More

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-13/google-s-purchase-of-ita-software-may-be-challenged-by-u-s-.html

Facebook overtakes Google as most-visited in 2010

Facebook Inc.'s social networking site passed Google Inc.'s main site and Yahoo Inc.'s e-mail site as the most visited site on the Web in the U.S. in 2010.

Experian Hitwise published a report that said Facebook was the destination of 8.93 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010. Google.com (Nasdaq: GOOG), which was ranked No. 1 the year before, was No. 2 this year with 7.19 percent of visits, followed by last year's No. 2, Yahoo Mail (Nasdaq: YHOO), with 3.52 percent of visits.

Google's YouTube video site moved up from No. 5 in 2009 to No. 3 this year with 2.65 percent of visits.

When you combine sites owned by companies, Google remained on top with 9.85 percent of all U.S. visits. Facebook's combined sites accounted for 8.93 percent, and Yahoo properties accounted for 8.12 percent.

Experian Hitwise estimated that the top 10 websites accounted for 33 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010, up by 12 percent versus 2009.

The report also said that for the second year in a row, Facebook was the most-searched-for term on the Web in the U.S.


Read more:

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/01/02/facebook-overtakes-google-in-2010-visits.html

Google explores the human body with HTML5

Google has just soft-launched its latest browser experiment, the Google Body Browser, which is basically Google Earth for the human body.

Think of it as a three-dimensional, multi-layered browser version of those Visible Man/Woman model kits. Or a virtualized version of Slim Goodbody, if you will.

Google showed off the app at the WebGL Camp. WebGL is a cross-platform low-level 3D graphics API that is designed to bring plugin-free 3D to the web. It uses the HTML5 Canvas element and does not require Flash, Java or other graphical plugins to run.




If you visit bodybrowser.googlelabs.com in a supported web browser, you'll get a three-dimensional layered model of the human anatomy that you can zoom in on, rotate and search. WebGL support hasn't hit mainstream browsers, but the beta versions of Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox all support it.



Once you've got a compatible browser, visiting the Body Browser home page shows off the human body. You can adjust the various layers of skin, muscles, tissues and the skeletal system. What's really cool is that if you type in an organ or bone or ventricle system, you are taken directly to that area in the anatomy, zoomed in. You can turn labels on or off and the app supports multitouch so users of trackpads (Magic or otherwise) or multi-touch mice can zoom in with ease.

This is a pretty cool display of new web technologies. Presumably the use case is for the healthcare industry, but educators and students can benefit from this kind of demonstration too.

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http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/12/google-explores-the-human-body-with-html5/1

Google launches Chrome OS operating System

Chrome OS is to be launched as a trial programme that users can register for online and will eventually be offered pre-installed on a range of computers made by major manufacturers such as Acer and Samsung.

Although the initial plans are for a trial programme that will only be available on a small scale, in due course Google's new operating system could be offered as a standard option when consumers buy laptops or PCs.

Writing on the Google Blog, Linus Upson and Sundar Pichai wrote that the "The test notebooks exist only to test the software they are black, have no branding, no logos, no stickers, nothing. They do have 12.1 inch screens, full-sized keyboards and touch pads, integrated 3G from Verizon, eight hours of battery life and eight days of standby time. Chrome notebooks are designed to reach the web instantly".

The Google engineers added that "simply by logging in, all of your apps, bookmarks and other browser settings are there. Setting up a new machine takes less than a minute. And even at this early stage, we feel there is no consumer or business operating system that is more secure."

The BBC reported that Google had delayed its own branded laptop, but company sources said that the firm could release a model with Google branding in due course.

Read More

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8187961/Google-launches-Chrome-OS-operating-system.html

Google has designs on you

Not content with involvement in almost every facet of your online life, online search giant Google now wants to get into your wardrobe. The company launched a site called Boutiques.com that attempts to assess your style and automatically find the clothing and accessories that suit your
taste.

The service works by having customers fill out a so-called Stylyser quiz, which analyses taste in styles, dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes and designers. Users are also shown a variety of styles and asked to comment on which they like or hate. Further refining the selection of garments are proprietary Google algorithms that take into account how patterns, silhouettes and colours work together.

The site is an outgrowth of Like.com, a visual search shopping engine, which was acquired by Google in the summer. Boutiques.com is currently only accessible in the US, though Google said it does plan to roll out the site in other countries and add a site for men.

Read More

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Google-has-designs-on-you/Article1-627810.aspx

Googler Offered $3.5M to Turn Down Facebook

It's a common trick of the trade. You're looking for a raise but your employer won't give you one. So, you tell them you're going to go work for a competitor, hoping they'll so scared of losing you to the competition, they'll offer you more money to stay. Well, I don’t know if that was this Googler's plan when he told his employer that he had been offered a job at Facebook, but he definitely got offered a very handsome bonus to stay in Mountain View.

TechCrunch reports that Google recently offered a staff engineer $3.5 million in restricted stock to stop him leaving for Facebook. It's not clear whether or not this person had already received a job offer from the biggest social network in town, but Michael Arrington writes that he was being "heavily romanced" by Facebook.

TC reports that this isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, though the search giant won't make a nice counteroffer for everyone trying to leave, Google will often go to great lengths to stop staff leaving for the likes of Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn. By the sounds of things, this particular deal is bigger than the rest. That $3.5 million in restricted stock will vest over time, so it's not surprising to learn that the engineer reportedly accepted and stayed at Google. Wouldn't you?

Read more about Google's method of retaining engineers and other valuable members of staff on  

http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/01/google-making-extraordinary-counteroffers-to-stop-flow-of-employees-to-facebook/