[G] YouTube Mobile Gets a Kick Start

Official Google Mobile Blog: YouTube Mobile Gets a Kick Start

(Cross-posted with the YouTube Blog)

It’s well known that the mobile internet is huge and growing fast; what’s surprising is exactly how fast. According to a recent report, within 5 years more users will connect to the internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. YouTube consumption on mobile devices has also grown considerably -- playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. And we’re excited to announce that YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day. This is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006.

We launched YouTube on mobile devices in 2007 with about 1,000 videos available on the mobile site (m.youtube.com). While this suddenly opened up the possibility to access videos on the go, our site, mobile browsers and the hardware had limitations that prevented the mobile experience from keeping up with YouTube on the desktop. Today, more than ever, we know that you want to be able to find and access your favorite videos wherever you are. That’s why we’ve been working hard to roll out an updated version of the mobile site.

Here's what's new about the new mobile site:

• It's really fast.
• The new user interface incorporates larger, more touch friendly elements, making it easier to access videos on the go.
• It incorporates the features and functionality you’ve come to expect from the .com site, like search query suggestions, the options to create playlists,the ability to designate “favorite,” “like,” or “unlike” videos directly from your device.
• As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.

As the world continues to go mobile, we think this is a great improvement for users who want a more consistent YouTube across many devices, no matter where they are. We're launching in English only today, but will be rolling it out in other languages in the coming months. You can access the latest YouTube mobile site from your iPhone or Android browser. To learn more, visit m.youtube.com to check out the latest improvements and take a minute to watch this demo video:



Posted by Andrey Doronichev, Product Manager recently watched "Insane street football"

URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/07/youtube-mobile-gets-kick-start.html

[G] Growing our appetite for geeky girl dinners

Official Google Blog: Growing our appetite for geeky girl dinners

(Cross-posted from the European Public Policy Blog)

We’re always looking for opportunities to partner up with organizations that promote diversity and encourage women to excel in technology. Girl Geek Dinners is a world-wide initiative that does exactly that—it helps build communities of women who have a passion and interest in science, technology and other traditionally male-dominated fields by hosting social events around the world.

We recently sponsored the Amsterdam Girl Geek Dinner and I attended the event with my colleague Noha, who, like me, is a software engineer for Google in Zurich. At the dinner, we had the opportunity to meet and mingle with other women in the tech community and talk about what it’s like being a woman in the field of computer science. The keynote speaker at the event was renowned mathematician Ionica Smeets and I can’t imagine a woman more inspiring.

Google shares a similar goal to Girl Geeks—we want to make it possible for everyone to pursue careers in technology, regardless of gender. And, in our presentation at the event, we outlined our numerous initiatives to promote and support diversity in technology. We have various scholarship programs to help students to pursue their interests, excel in their studies and become leaders. And to encourage more female computer scientists to attend and participate in research conferences around the world, we also offer travel and conference grants in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. You can learn more about our diversity programs, here.

Posted by Alexandra Alecu, Software Engineer

URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/growing-our-appetite-for-geeky-girl.html

[G] Because Time is Money: Leveraging Google Apps Open Standards and Google Calendar

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Because Time is Money: Leveraging Google Apps Open Standards and Google Calendar

Editor's note: Continuing our “Going Google Everywhere” series, we’ve invited Stijn Van Vreckem, Founder and Managing Director of XAOP, a small Belgium-based software development company specializing in content integration, to talk about a quick and easy way his company has utilized APIs with Google Apps Premier Edition. XAOP builds software solutions, information integration products and related services for the life sciences industry.

Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our community map.

Filling in timesheets is a task that needs to be performed monthly or weekly in most service-oriented organizations. For years, I used to write everything down in my notebook to keep track of things.

Because the XAOP team has grown to seven people in the last year – who are usually working in small teams of two or three developers – it became more and more difficult to manage the billing for different projects. It was time to look for a better, more transparent solution to keep track of everyone's time.

After some internal discussions, we introduced a timesheet process based on Google Calendar. We created a calendar in our Google Apps Premier environment for each billable project we want to track. These calendars are shared with the team members working on the project.

Each team member registers his or her activities by simply putting them on the correct project calendar. As a result, everybody on the team can see who is working on which task in the project. At the end of the month, all invoices are created based on the activities of the project calendar.

Users track their time using project calendars in Google Apps.

Now, generating timesheet reports and invoices for clients is easy. Here’s how it works:

• A background Ruby application connects each Google Calendar with the Google Data API to collect the activities.

• The Ruby application then generates a monthly PDF report of the project calendars.

• These reports provide a detailed overview of the activities for each person in the project.

The main disadvantage is that we need a lot of calendars, so cleanup is sometimes necessary. We also wish we could see who created which event so we could more easily manage larger projects. For example, you can see who created an event via the tooltip when you rollover it with the mouse, but this becomes difficult to read easily when more than 3 users fill in the timeslot on the same calendar. Therefore we implemented a convention on some projects to start the title with a person's initials.

But there are many advantages. We now have a lightweight timesheet application that lets everyone fill in their calendars when they have the time. The Google Calendar user interface is very simple and accessible for everybody. Freelancers or other external people working on XAOP projects can be added to the calendar of the project without complexity. This is a web-based solution that can be used via a PC or a mobile phone.

Today, XAOP team members don’t need to keep track of the projects. They only need to keep their calendars up to date. Invoices are now generated automatically and we can provide transparent reporting on each hour of work.

XAOP recently invested in new mobile phones and our time management solution worked without any changes. Because these HTC devices (Hero and Magic) integrate seamlessly with Google Apps, we can fill in our timesheets from anywhere.

Posted by Serena Satyasai, the Google Apps team

Do you have an informative and fun Google Apps story to share? Please submit it here.

URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/because-time-is-money-leveraging-google.html

[G] Google D.C. Talk July 14 - Chef José Andrés: What does light taste like?

Google Public Policy Blog: Google D.C. Talk July 14 - Chef José Andrés: What does light taste like?

Posted by Mistique Cano, public policy communications

Liquid nitrogen. Deconstruction. Physics. Three terms not typically associated with cooking. Unless, of course, you’re talking about Chef José Andrés, of Jaleo, Oyamel, Zaytinya, Café Atlantico and Minibar fame.

Our next D.C. Talk is this coming Wednesday, July 14th, and we promise it will be memorable. Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf will join Chef Andrés to ask you to re-imagine innovation and how it can transform the way we eat.

Driven by science and the desire to embody elements like air or light, food critic Ruth Reichl describes Chef Andrés’ culinary approach - known as molecular gastronomy - as “a kind of magic, it’s like a circus of the mouth.”

If you have burning questions for Chef Andrés, submit them and vote for other good questions via Google Moderator.

Google D.C. Talks presents

Chef José Andrés:

What does light taste like?

Wednesday, July 14th

5:30 PM - 7 PM ET

Google Washington Office

1101 New York Avenue, NW, Second Floor

Washington, D.C. 20005

Please RSVP

URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/07/google-dc-talk-july-14-chef-jose-andres.html

[G] YouTube Leanback offers effortless viewing

YouTube Blog: YouTube Leanback offers effortless viewing

A click here, a search there, a browse on this page -- sometimes it can take more than a few flicks of the wrist and finger taps to get your daily dose of video. Luckily, YouTube Leanback wants you to conserve your energy for actually watching more videos. Mmm...more videos...

Just as its name implies, YouTube Leanback is all about letting you sit back, relax and be entertained. Videos tailored to your interests play as soon as you visit the site and they play in full screen and high definition, continuously. There’s no need to click, search, or browse, unless you want to, of course. Watching YouTube becomes as easy as watching TV.

To see what we mean, go to youtube.com/leanback, and you’ll note that a selection of videos -- your “feed” -- plays immediately. This feed is based on your YouTube settings and preferences, including content from your subscriptions and videos your friends are sharing on Facebook (assuming you’ve connected your YouTube account to your Facebook account). You can also watch the most popular comedy, entertainment, news, or more. And if you don’t care for the video that’s playing, use the right arrow key on your keyboard to skip ahead to the next video, or try the up/down arrows to search, access player controls, and browse channels and videos. You won’t need your mouse for this experience.

Here’s more about how YouTube Leanback works (we’ll also show you how to hook up your Facebook account):









YouTube Leanback is currently in beta, but we’d love for you to try it out at youtube.com/leanback and let us know what it’s like to kick back and revel in the endless stream of YouTube entertainment!

Kuan Yong, Senior Product Manager, recently watched “Life in a day.”

URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/F3J5RzCiQ1w/youtube-leanback-offers-effortless.html

[G] YouTube Mobile gets a kick start

YouTube Blog: YouTube Mobile gets a kick start

It’s well known that the mobile Internet is huge and growing fast; what’s surprising is exactly how fast. According to a recent report, within five years more users will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. YouTube consumption on mobile devices has also grown considerably: playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. And we’re excited to announce that YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day. This is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006.



We launched YouTube on mobile devices in 2007 with about 1,000 videos available on the mobile site (m.youtube.com). While this suddenly opened up the possibility to access videos on the go, our site, mobile browsers and the hardware had limitations that prevented the mobile experience from keeping up with YouTube on the desktop. Today, more than ever, we know that you want to be able to find and access your favorite videos wherever you are. That’s why we’re rolling out an updated version of the mobile site. Here's what's new about it:

• It's really fast. 


• The user interface incorporates larger, more touch-friendly elements, making it easier to access videos on the go. 


• It incorporates the features and functionality you’ve come to expect from the .com site, like search query suggestions, the options to create playlists, the ability to designate “favorite,” “like” or “unlike” videos directly from your device.


• As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.

As the world continues to go mobile, we think this is a great improvement for users who want a more consistent YouTube across many devices, no matter where they are. We're launching in English only today, but will be rolling it out in other languages in the coming months. You can access the latest YouTube mobile site from your iPhone or Android browser. To learn more, visit m.youtube.com to check out the latest improvements and take a minute to watch this demo video:
















Andrey Doronichev, Product Manager, recently watched "Insane street football."

URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/Iuwk4P7nIKk/youtube-mobile-gets-kick-start.html

[G] Opera 10.60 Released with WebM Support

The WebM Open Media Project Blog: Opera 10.60 Released with WebM Support

Congratulations to everyone at Opera Software for releasing version 10.60 of their browser, which supports WebM video playback. Downloads for Windows, Mac OS and Linux are available on the Opera download page.

URL: http://webmproject.blogspot.com/2010/07/opera-1060-released-with-webm-support.html

[G] Life in a Day

YouTube Blog: Life in a Day

Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.



Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment that will attempt to do just that: document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera. You can film the ordinary -- a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary -- a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.



Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director of films such as The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void and One Day in September, will then edit the most compelling footage into a feature documentary film, to be executive produced by Ridley Scott, the director behind films like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner and Robin Hood.  LG Electronics is supporting “Life in a Day” as a key part of its long-standing Life’s Good campaign and to support the creation of quality online content that can be shared and enjoyed by all.



The film will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and if your footage makes it into the final cut, you’ll be credited as a co-director and may be one of 20 contributors selected to attend the premiere.







Want to take part? Here’s what to do.



1. Visit the “Life in a Day” channel and learn more about the project. Be sure to read through the steps you need to take to participate and the guidelines for creating your video(s). Also check out some of the sample videos for inspirational ideas.



2. On July 24, capture your day on camera.



3. Upload your footage to the “Life in a Day” channel any time before July 31.



Regardless of whether your footage makes it into the final film, your video(s) will live on on the “Life in a Day” channel as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.



Be a part of history.



Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “Life in a Day trailer.”

URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/PrWwtPPO1AI/life-in-day.html

[G] Life in a Day

Official Google Blog: Life in a Day

Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment that will attempt to do just that: document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera. You can film the ordinary -- a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary -- a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.

Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director of films such as The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void and One Day in September, will then edit the most compelling footage into a feature documentary film, to be executive-produced by Ridley Scott, the director behind films like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner and Robin Hood. LG Electronics is supporting "Life in a Day" as a key part of its long-standing "Life’s Good" campaign and to support the creation of quality online content that can be shared and enjoyed by all.

The film will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and if your footage makes it into the final cut, you’ll be credited as a co-director and may be one of 20 contributors selected to attend the premiere.



Want to take part? Here’s what to do.

1. Visit the “Life in a Day” channel and learn more about the project. Be sure to read through the steps you need to take to participate and the guidelines for creating your video(s). Also check out some of the sample videos for inspirational ideas.

2. On July 24, capture your day on camera.

3. Upload your footage to the “Life in a Day” channel any time before July 31.

Regardless of whether your footage makes it into the final film, your video(s) will live on on the “Life in a Day” channel as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.

Posted by Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, watching "Life in a Day" trailer

URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/life-in-day.html

[G] AdSense Facts & Fiction Part IV: Program policies

Inside AdSense: AdSense Facts & Fiction Part IV: Program policies

Fiction: AdSense disables accounts and issues warnings at random.

Fact: We rely upon a detailed set of guidelines when looking at policy violations, and these policies are published in our Help Center. Our intent is to keep Google's content and search networks safe and clean for our advertisers, users and publishers. We seek to be as transparent and consistent with our decision making.

Part of our job of monitoring the AdSense network involves working with publishers to identify and address potential issues. We understand that there are a lot of policies to take into account, and so for minor policy violations our first step will be to issue a warning. The reasons a publisher might receive a warning will vary, but in general they tend to be for violations that can be fixed fairly easily. Examples of these violations range from deceptively labeling ads “Today’s hot deals” to having a minimal amount of adult-content comment spam in a forum. Publishers, after receiving a warning, are given three days to fix their violations. If changes are not made in that time, ad serving will be disabled to the violating site.

There are some situations when we would need to disable ad serving to a site without first sending a warning. We usually reserve this action for egregious violations like adult content, copyright infringement, as well as cases of extreme violence and gore. We may also disable ads to a site when we find a violation that we’ve already contacted a publisher about in the past.

The final and most severe action that our teams can take is to close down an account completely. This normally only happens when we find that a publisher’s entire network consists of violating sites or for repeat policy offenders. If you have received a policy notification from the AdSense team, please visit this help center entry for additional information.

We want to point out that notifications that result from the previously mentioned policy violations are different from notifications sent because of issues with invalid click activity, which are monitored by Google's Ad Traffic Quality Team. Invalid click activity consists of any clicks or impressions that may artificially inflate an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings, and for which we decide not to charge the advertiser. For more information about invalid clicks and impressions, please refer to this page, which includes a link to our FAQ page for accounts disabled due to invalid activity.

Lastly, we highly recommend reviewing these guidelines to help avoid policy violations, and to help keep your AdSense account in good standing.

Posted by Andres Schabelman - AdSense Policy team

URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/07/adsense-facts-fiction-part-iv-program.html

[G] Google Commerce Search lands in Oz

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Commerce Search lands in Oz

As we just announced on the Google Australia blog, Google Commerce Search is extending its availability beyond the U.S. and U.K. to include Aussie retailers. With this launch, Australian e-commerce sites will be able to respond to the growing proportion of shoppers who turn to the web to research and purchase products – and unfortunately often have a hard time finding what they’re looking for.

Launching today at the Online Retailer Conference & Expo in Sydney, Google Commerce Search can now bring the same speed, relevancy, and ease of use that retailers like Smart Furniture in the U.S. and Chemist Direct in the U.K. have chosen for their sites.

If you’re an e-commerce company in Australia and won’t be attending the conference in Sydney this week, you can learn more by visiting the website or contacting us here.

Posted by Anna Bishop, Google Commerce Search team

URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/google-commerce-search-lands-in-oz.html

[G] Follow Team HTC-Columbia on Google Maps

Google LatLong: Follow Team HTC-Columbia on Google Maps

As a former professional cyclist, nothing beats the thrill of being in the peloton and racing towards the finish line. Although I’ve traded in my cycling career for life as a Googler, I’m still a fan and enjoy watching my former teammates and friends battle in races like the Tour de France, which started on Saturday. While the cyclists were preparing to tackle the pave of Arrenberg and the Cols in the Alps, I got to thinking about ways that we can bring that experience to the hundreds of millions of fans who will be following the Tour de France over the next few weeks. Google is home to many other cycling enthusiasts, so we got together to work on ways to build a My Tracks-based gadget that will allow all the other fans to follow the action like never before.

The My Tracks application for Android phones lets you record and share your own outdoor activities, and now Team HTC-Columbia will use a special version of the app with SRM to transmit their telemetry and location in real-time as they make their way through the 3,642 kilometers of the Tour de France. The nine riders (sadly, now eight, as Adam Hanson was injured on Sunday) on Team HTC-Columbia are carrying HTC Legend phones with ANT+ that use My Tracks to capture their location along with their power, heart rate, cadence and speed. On www.google.com/mytrackstour, you’ll see a Google Map showing the team members’ location on the course and a detailed telemetry report. You can observe how Michael Rogers’ heart rate spikes as he attacks the climbs in the Alps on Stage 9, see how many watts Mark Cavendish puts out in the sprint on the famous sprinters’ stage into Bordeaux, and see just how fast riders climb the famous Col du Tourmalet.


From the image above, you can see how Maxime Monfort took the lead during Stage 2 between Bruxelles and Spa yesterday. Right now, the riders are racing in Stage 3, which takes them across the border into France and you can follow all the latest action on our website or directly on your own iGoogle page.

The team also built a map gadget that is available for you to embed on your own website or blog. We’re also publishing an API that any web developer or broadcaster can use to build their own custom application or use to enhance the live television coverage. I'm excited about the potential for web developers and broadcasters to make use of the API and data in creative ways to help all the Tour de France followers (myself included!) get even closer to the action.

This project was the work of many Googlers in their 20% time, and as cycling fans ourselves, we’re happy to be able to share it with the world. We hope you enjoy this unique way of following Team HTC-Columbia over the next few weeks.

Posted by Dylan Casey, Product Manager

URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/07/follow-team-htc-columbia-on-google-maps.html

[G] Follow Team HTC-Columbia on Google Maps

Official Google Blog: Follow Team HTC-Columbia on Google Maps

As a former professional cyclist, nothing beats the thrill of being in the peloton and racing towards the finish line. Although I’ve traded in my cycling career for life as a Googler, I’m still a fan and enjoy watching my former teammates and friends battle in races like the Tour de France, which started on Saturday. While the cyclists were preparing to tackle the pave of Arrenberg and the Cols in the Alps, I got to thinking about ways that we can bring that experience to the hundreds of millions of fans who will be following the Tour de France over the next few weeks. Google is home to many other cycling enthusiasts, so we got together to work on ways to build a My Tracks-based gadget that will allow all the other fans to follow the action like never before.

The My Tracks application for Android phones lets you record and share your own outdoor activities, and now Team HTC-Columbia will use a special version of the app with SRM to transmit their telemetry and location in real-time as they make their way through the 3,642 kilometers of the Tour de France. The nine riders (sadly, now eight, as Adam Hanson was injured on Sunday) on Team HTC-Columbia are carrying HTC Legend phones with ANT+ that use My Tracks to capture their location along with their power, heart rate, cadence and speed. On www.google.com/mytrackstour, you’ll see a Google Map showing the team members’ location on the course and a detailed telemetry report. You can observe how Michael Rogers’ heart rate spikes as he attacks the climbs in the Alps on Stage 9, see how many watts Mark Cavendish puts out in the sprint on the famous sprinters’ stage into Bordeaux, and see just how fast riders climb the famous Col du Tourmalet.


From the image above, you can see how Maxime Monfort took the lead during Stage 2 between Bruxelles and Spa yesterday. Right now, the riders are racing in Stage 3, which takes them across the border into France and you can follow all the latest action on our website or directly on your own iGoogle page.

The team also built a map gadget that is available for you to embed on your own website or blog. We’re also publishing an API that any web developer or broadcaster can use to build their own custom application or use to enhance the live television coverage. I'm excited about the potential for web developers and broadcasters to make use of the API and data in creative ways to help all the Tour de France followers (myself included!) get even closer to the action.

This project was the work of many Googlers in their 20% time, and as cycling fans ourselves, we’re happy to be able to share it with the world. We hope you enjoy this unique way of following Team HTC-Columbia over the next few weeks.

Posted by Dylan Casey, Product Manager

URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/follow-team-htc-columbia-on-google-maps.html

[G] Celebrate the 4th with fireworks, BBQs, and new imagery

Google LatLong: Celebrate the 4th with fireworks, BBQs, and new imagery

We’re happy to announce our latest imagery update, and with America’s 234th birthday today, it’s fitting that we’ve got some great updates for over a dozen cities in the US. Maybe I just have summer travel on the brain, but much of what caught my eye relates to transportation. From left to right, enjoy an airshow in Everett, WA north of Seattle, the battleship New Jersey docked in Camden, NJ near Philadephia, and the Goodyear Blimp off the coast of Miami:


There’s also beautiful imagery of some of the places your family might be interested in visiting, such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Epcot Center in Orlando, or a tailgate before a baseball game in Philadelphia:


You’ll also find updates in several countries around the globe. One that we found notable is the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China:


This imagery is now live in Google Earth and will be available in Google Maps shortly. Of course, if you’re looking at it in Google Earth, don’t forget to use the Historical Imagery feature to compare the newest imagery to what we had before.

Whether today is just another Sunday for you, or you'll be taking in fireworks to celebrate your country’s national holiday, have a happy Fourth of July!

Posted by Jesse Friedman, Product Marketing Manager

URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/07/celebrate-4th-with-fireworks-bbqs-and.html

[G] 109-year-old mechanical contracting company "goes Google"

Official Google Enterprise Blog: 109-year-old mechanical contracting company "goes Google"

Editor’s note: Today’s guest bloggers are Aaron McCarthy, IT Director for Limbach Facility Services, Cristine Leifheit, Team Lead. McCarthy and Leifheit recently spearheaded the move to Google Apps for Limbach’s 500 employees. A mechanical contractor founded in 1901, Limbach Facility Services switched from Lotus Notes®/Domino® to "Go Google" and gain 25GB mailboxes and built-in disaster recovery capabilities at no extra charge.

Aaron McCarthy holds 13 years of IT experience, 7 of which are with Limbach Facility Services. Aaron holds a Bachelor in MIS from Oakland University (Rochester, MI) and a Master in Business Information Technology from Walsh College (Troy, MI). Cristine Leifheit, PHR has worked with the Human Resources Department of Limbach for the past 11 years. She served as the Communications Team Leader throughout the selection and implementation of Google Apps alongside the Limbach Corporate IT Department.

Aaron and Cristine will be joined by Google Apps partner Cloud Sherpas on a live webcast on Thursday July 8, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. EDT / 11:00 a.m. PDT / 6:00 p.m. GMT. Register today

At Limbach, we had a Lotus Notes/Domino system and, despite it being a recent version, the Notes system was hampering the innovation of our 500 employees. As a construction company, we have a workforce that is typically non-tech savvy. We are constantly learning what is required to bridge their needs while providing the advanced tools required to improve the way we do business.

We formed a “2012 Committee” comprised of non-technical staff from nine branches to better set up the company for the future. Part of their job was to re-evaluate our email system. When a new hire and recent college graduate on the committee suggested moving to Google Apps, management initially scoffed.

We did a line-by-line comparison of Google Apps, Microsoft® Exchange, and Lotus Notes and were quickly convinced of the value of Google Apps. We could get 25GB mailboxes—eliminating the constant strain on our small IT staff of four to meet ongoing requests for larger mailboxes. We also got built-in disaster recovery capabilities at no additional charge. Google’s mail capabilities were unmatched, but then we considered that Google Apps also provides great collaboration tools.

We did a small pilot with committee members and then a broader one with 50 users that helped us understand our full deployment requirements. The pilots were a wise move, and they helped us transition to Google Apps smoothly. Things moved quickly; we were able to decommission two servers just two months after deployment.

Today, we use the full suite of Google Apps tools, including Google Sites for our intranet. Google Apps has also become a platform for innovation. One safety manager used Google video chat to broadcast a helicopter lift of an HVAC system onto a roof to staff members at a branch office. We also added a cloud-based workflow tool from the Google Apps Marketplace.

It’s been a positive experience for us and we’d be happy to share out insights. Please join us for an interactive webinar!

Getting 25GB Inboxes and Built-in Disaster Recovery with Google Apps
Thursday, July 8, 2010
2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT / 6:00 PM GMT



Posted by Serena Satyasai, The Google Apps Team

URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/109-year-old-mechanical-contracting.html

[G] Riley Chartered Accountants "goes Google"

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Riley Chartered Accountants "goes Google"

Editor’s note: For this week’s guest blog post, we head to Plymouth, England to hear from Jon Stacey, a partner at Riley Chartered Accountants, an eighteen strong firm of Chartered Accountants. Riley offers accounting, tax and business development services to clients throughout the UK.

Riley have been enthusiastic adopters of cloud computing for a couple of years now. As a UK firm of Chartered Accountants based in Plymouth, England we have been technology driven since the business started in 1981. Our ability to communicate as a team and with our customers is paramount and the recording and storing of what we do in the most efficient and accessible format is critical.

Our office systems were previously almost totally reliant on Lotus Notes, which we’d started using in 1998. However, over the years we started to see deficiencies that began to hinder business -- challenging technical management issues, the clunkiness of the user-interface even after major updates, and access issues. These problems were especially noticeable because the quality of the personal email systems we had all started to use at home had surpassed that of the system we were using at work.

Finally, changes in our key team forced us to look properly at other solutions and we settled on migrating our e-mail, calendars and instant messaging to Google in August 2009. The migration was handled painlessly by Glo-Networks and we moved the majority of our communication IT to web-browser access without a hitch.

That first step was a revelation. Not only was our information now accessible from anywhere in the world, from any computer or device with an Internet connection, the move massively freed up resources of people (and cash) and removed the restrictions on our thinking about IT. We still have certain legacy databases on Lotus Notes but have started to wind these down as more content is now cloud based. We found that Google Apps allowed us to store all of our templates for letters, spreadsheets and many of our management tools too.

Google Docs has become our go-to source for new files, collaboration and systems development. This morning I spent half an hour collaborating on an internal project with two of my partners - one of them was in another office, another at home while I was at my desk talking to them both on the phone. The speed of decision making is enhanced by the ability to see what others are doing as they amend and delete cells within a spreadsheet or words in a proposal letter. And then there’s Chat with video chat - something which we didn’t take much notice of while we were assessing Apps, but which is becoming more and more useful as we build our team.

Using Google Sites, we have developed a dashboard for the Riley team and easy-to-create websites within minutes. The simple interface, clean design and ability to pick up on templates designed by both the Google team and other businesses mean that someone, somewhere has often done some of the hard work for you.

More recently, we’ve started to use Google Apps Marketplace to drive the development and integration of our CRM requirements, mail and contacts. This is an on-going process and we are currently evaluating a number of solutions for this need - something which all the providers have made extremely easy.

We have also been able to dispense with the office-based back-up solution which was the bane of many of our lives. There have also been no problems with software updates – I’m sure that they exist but they happen painlessly when we don’t notice or incrementally as the developers finish a feature. We don’t have to buy an upgrade path or worry about compatibility – it just happens.

Posted by Ashley Chandler, The Google Enterprise Team

URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/riley-chartered-accountants-go-google.html

[G] Shakira talks World Cup upsets, Waka Waka and education in YouTube interview

YouTube Blog: Shakira talks World Cup upsets, Waka Waka and education in YouTube interview

The most difficult moment in Shakira’s musical career? Her thoughts on her song being picked as the official World Cup song instead of an African artist? The one question she’s always wanted to answer? You asked, and today, Shakira answers.

Last week, we gave you 48 hours to submit questions for the Colombian songstress and promised that the top-voted questions would be posed in a special YouTube interview with her. Proving that Shakira truly is a global sensation, fans from over 40 countries -- from Egypt to Venezuela, the Netherlands to South Africa -- submitted 2,500 questions, put forth several impressive Waka Waka dance renditions, and cast 40,000 votes on which questions should be asked.

In the final interview, which is featured on today’s homepage, Shakira fills you in on whom she’s rooting for in the World Cup (she’s absolutely hooked on football, she says), which of her own songs are her favorite (her new album holds a few of them), and the experiences she had as a child that led her to become a steadfast champion for universal education. Watch the full interview here:



Can’t get enough Shakira? Visit her official YouTube channel here for more music and dance exclusives, or go to www.1goal.org to join Shakira in her quest to provide education for all children.

URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/xb9zhQgs-d0/shakira-talks-world-cup-upsets-waka.html

[G] Google Summer of Code 2010: Meet The Students and Mentors!

Google Open Source Blog: Google Summer of Code 2010: Meet The Students and Mentors!

Following up on my post from a few weeks ago, I’d like to give you all some more statistics about our Google Summer of Code™ program participants this year.

• We have 69 student countries represented this year. New countries represented by students include Jamaica, Morocco, and Cambodia.
• For the first time we have mentors from Chile, South Africa, Taiwan, and Peru.
• We have mentors from 52 different countries this year.
• We had 3,464 students submit a total of 5,539 proposals in all. Last year we had 5,885 proposals submitted by 3,496 students.
• The open source organizations participating this year received an average of 36 proposals to review. We have 150 participating organizations this year.

We accepted 1,026 of those proposals to become full Google Summer of Code participant projects this year. This is 26 more than we had planned for but there were so many great applications this time that we just couldn't stop at 1000. We have 943 mentors for the students’ projects this year, which means we don’t have quite a 1:1 ratio of students to mentors; some organizations choose to co-mentor students or have the whole organization mentor all the students who participate.

Midterm evaluations are almost upon us. Check out the timeline to see what’s coming up for Google Summer of Code!

By Carol Smith, Open Source Team

URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/07/google-summer-of-code-2010-meet.html

[G] Google Apps highlights – 7/2/2010

Official Google Blog: Google Apps highlights – 7/2/2010

This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

In the last couple of weeks, we added a set of new features to help you handle various file types more efficiently in Google Docs and Gmail, and new capabilities to help large complex organizations manage Google Apps. We also have some exciting news about new customers in the education sector.

Google Voice available for more users
Last week we were happy to open up Google Voice for everyone in the U.S. Now millions more people can get a phone number that rings all their phones, voicemail that works like email, free calls and text messages to the U.S. and Canada, low-priced international calls and more. Google Voice isn’t ready for businesses and schools quite yet, but we’re exploring additional functionality for organizations.



View more file types right in your browser
Gmail already lets you view .pdf, .ppt and .tiff attachments in your browser without downloading these files to your computer, and last week we added support for viewing .doc and .docx files. Just click the “View” link next to the attachment in Gmail to see the file.


On Monday we also added the ability to view .pdf, .ppt, .doc and .docx files that you have in Google Docs on mobile devices. From your iPhone, iPad or Android device, you can quickly flip from page to page and pan/zoom within a page.


Optical character recognition (OCR) in Google Docs
You were already able to upload and share images and PDF files with Google Docs, and last week we launched a feature that converts images of text into editable text. JPEG, GIF, PNG and PDF files can be uploaded as editable Google documents with this feature. Supported languages include English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with more languages and character sets on their way.


Support for Google Apps customers with multiple domains
Until last Wednesday, Google Apps customers with users at more than one domain (like bob@domain1.com and sue@domain2.com) had to manage Google Apps separately for each domain. Last week we added the ability for customers to administer two or more domains together. This feature also makes it much easier for employees to share information through Google Docs, Calendar and Sites with their counterparts in different divisions. For example, Brady Corporation is using this feature to streamline the use and administration of Google Apps across 88 domains!

Google Apps Innovation in the first half of 2010
Businesses using Google Apps not only save money, but also their employees get access to new features and functionality at a much faster pace than with conventional business technologies. We've launched over 50 improvements to Google Apps in the last six months, and last week we hosted a webcast to recap noteworthy recent updates for businesses, including more powerful search in Gmail, next-generation editors in Google Docs, Google Wave, the Apps Marketplace and more. If you missed the webcast, you can watch it on YouTube.

Who’s gone Google?
We’re thrilled about the news from Colorado and Iowa, both of which have opened the doors to Google Apps for teachers and students at schools state-wide, right on the heels of Oregon’s decision to use Google Apps at their schools, too.

We also wanted to shine the spotlight on a couple other new customers: Brown University and Imagination, an 800-employee marketing and communications agency based in the U.K. You can watch their stories here:





I hope you're making the most of these new features, whether you're using Google Apps with friends, family, coworkers or classmates. For more details and updates from the Apps team, head on over to the Google Apps Blog.

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager

URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/google-apps-highlights-722010.html

[G] CS4HS: helping high school teachers reach their potential

Official Google Blog: CS4HS: helping high school teachers reach their potential

Computer science is a tough field to teach, especially at the high school level. Not only do you need to persuade teenagers that coding isn’t too geeky to attempt, but since CS is a growing field, it’s hard for teachers to keep up with all the latest techniques and computing tools. To help teachers face these challenges, we’re funding a program called Computer Science for High School (CS4HS). CS4HS is a workshop for high school and middle school computer science teachers that introduces new and exciting concepts in computing and how to teach them. The ultimate goals are to “train the trainer,” develop a thriving community of high school CS teachers, and spread the word about the awe and beauty of computing.

This summer, we’re funding 20 workshops at colleges across the U.S. and will sponsor another 14 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. If each workshop in the U.S. has an average of 20 teachers in attendance, and each of them teaches 90 students in a year*, that means that the workshops have the potential to make a difference for 36,000 students—an important start.

We had the chance to attend a CS4HS workshop in our own backyard this week. UC Berkeley’s CS4HS highlighted hands-on skills that teachers can take directly back to the classroom. Twenty local math and CS teachers had a chance to share tips and best practices around teaching CS, and created a solid foundation for a community. One of the most popular sessions over the two days was a demo of Scratch, a popular programming language geared towards K-12 students that makes it easy to create interactive stories, animations, games, music and art. Attendees also had the opportunity to form the Golden Gate chapter of the Computer Science Teacher Association (CSTA).

Although the summer workshops are just getting started, they're already making a difference for teachers. Emmanuel Onyeador, who teaches AP CS at Oakland Technical High School, told us: “CS4HS is the missing link—as computer science teachers, you find yourself isolated in your classroom. When I sit here I find that we’re all talking about the same issues and the same type of students. What I bring back to my classroom will make a big difference.”

You can view a list of all 20 U.S. CS4HS workshops and find more information about the program at www.cs4hs.com.

UC Berkeley CS4HS participants

*according to the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education

Posted by Mary Radomile, Education Program Manager

URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/cs4hs-helping-high-school-teachers.html

[G] Release Notes: processing status, share to Buzz, and more

YouTube Blog: Release Notes: processing status, share to Buzz, and more

Before we head into the holiday weekend, wanted to update you on a couple of things that went down in sunny San Bruno recently:



Processing progress status: Those of you who upload know that there's a short period of time between uploading a video and it being visible on the site. The new processing percentage under the video preview lets you know when your video is ready for the world to see.

AutoShare to Buzz: Over four million people are already AutoSharing to Facebook, Twitter, Orkut or Google Reader, and now you can automatically share your YouTube likes, favorites, comments, subscriptions and uploads to your Buzz network, too. You can still keep YouTube as a connected site in Buzz if you hooked it up previously, but that only automatically posts your uploads for now. For more about AutoShare, click here.

Results badging: Our search results page has had a light makeover. Instead of bold headers separating channels, videos and playlist results, we've introduced new, compact badges to more clearly indicate the content type, as so:

New captions feature: The interactive captions viewer allows people to read ahead in the caption stream and jump to a specific segment within a video with captions. Captions are a key part of making YouTube accessible to all.

Have a great one!



The YouTube Team

URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/kPRXVUEgnAk/release-notes-processing-status-share.html