The De Niro Report

Read Google eBooks Offline!

2011-12-21T02:51:00.000-05:00

Read Google eBooks Offline!: Posted by Xinxing Gu, Google Books Product Manager

We’ve all been there: the Internet is suddenly down, and you can’t keep on reading your ebook to see what the character decides to do next. Or you’re about to head to the airport and want to be able to dive into a newly-purchased ebook during a long flight.

Well, here’s some much-awaited good news! Google eBooks now supports offline reading in Google Chrome. Whether you are flying through the air, backpacking through the European countryside, or simply facing intermittent network connections, you can always read your Google eBooks in your Chrome browser or on your Chromebook.

To read your Google eBooks offline, you’ll need to install the Google Books app from our Chrome Web Store and ensure your Google eBooks are available to read offline. Please see this article in our Help Center and follow the simple step-by-step process to enable offline reading for your ebooks.

We’re excited to make it easier for readers to access their Google eBooks on the go -- whether you're online or offline!

Launching Google Wallet on Sprint and working with Visa, American Express and Discover

2011-09-19T17:01:00.000-04:00

Launching Google Wallet on Sprint and working with Visa, American Express and Discover: In May we announced Google Wallet—an app that makes your phone your wallet—with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint and First Data. With Google Wallet, you can tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC).

We’ve been testing it extensively, and today we’re releasing the first version of the app to Sprint. That means we’re beginning to roll out Google Wallet to all Sprint Nexus S 4G phones through an over-the-air update—just look for the “Wallet” app. Here’s a demo of Google Wallet in action:

Google Wallet enables you to pay with your Citi MasterCard credit card and the Google Prepaid Card, which can be funded with any of your existing plastic credit cards. As a thanks to early adopters, we’re adding a $10 free bonus to the Google Prepaid Card if you set it up in Google Wallet before the end of the year.

When we announced Google Wallet, we pledged a commitment to an open commerce ecosystem. We appreciate Citi and MasterCard for being our launch partners. And today, Visa, Discover and American Express have made available their NFC specifications that could enable their cards to be added to future versions of Google Wallet.

Our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional wallets. In fact, we’ve got a video of our first customer, someone who is ready to replace his famously over-stuffed wallet. We hope Google Wallet gives him “serenity now.”

This is still just the beginning, and while we’re excited about this first step, we look forward to bringing Google Wallet to more phones in the future. You can learn more about Google Wallet at google.com/wallet.

Posted by Osama Bedier, Vice President of Payments

Your smartphone camera is now smarter with Goggles 1.6

2011-09-15T03:36:00.000-04:00

Your smartphone camera is now smarter with Goggles 1.6: Today, we launched a new version of Google Goggles that enhances the camera on your Android-powered phone. With this new opt-in feature in Goggles, you can simply photograph an image using your phone’s camera, and Goggles will work in the background to analyze your image. If your photo contains items that Goggles can recognize, the app will notify you.

Let’s say that I’m going on vacation, and I decide to use my Android-powered phone as my primary camera. Goggles would identify landmarks, paintings and other interesting objects in my photos. I can share these facts about my vacation with my friends right from my Goggles search history.

(l-r) Goggles has found a search result for this popular landmark; Find out more about this item in your photo within Google Goggles

Photos you take with your phone’s camera will only be seen by Goggles if you enable the Search from Camera feature. Here’s how:

launch Google Goggles

tap Menu > Settings > Search from Camera

Manage your opt-in status from the settings menu

Google Goggles 1.6 is available for Android 2.1 and newer devices. Download by clicking here or by scanning the QR code below:

Posted by Pavel Vodenski, Software Engineer

Comment-only access in Google documents

2011-09-15T03:35:00.000-04:00

Comment-only access in Google documents: In the past several months, we’ve added new discussion and commenting features to improve collaboration in Google documents. As an engineer, I often create docs with design concepts and send them to my team to review and provide feedback, and we use the commenting features to facilitate these discussions. Sometimes, I want to let team members view and make comments without allowing them to directly edit my document.

Over the next several days, we're releasing a new sharing option so that you can let people view and add comments to your documents without giving them edit access. To give comment-only access to your document, click on the Share button. From there, add in the contact you’d like to share your document with, and select Can comment.

You can also choose to give comment-only access to anyone with the link or anyone on the web by changing the sharing settings within the document. To do this, click Change in the sharing settings window and change visibility options to Public on the web or Anyone with the link, then change the access options to Can comment.

Similarly, if you’re using a Google Apps account, click Change in the sharing settings and select either “People at [your domain] who have the link can access” or “People at [your domain] can find and access.” Then change access option to Can comment.

Users that have comment-only access can view your document and add comments throughout -- without being able to change the content of the document directly.

We hope this latest feature in discussions helps you get the feedback you need while providing you with more control over the content in your docs. So comment away and tell us what you think -- below or in the forum.

Posted by: Sarah Wu, Software Engineer

This week in Docs: Format painter, Google Fusion Tables, and drag & drop images

2011-09-15T03:34:00.000-04:00

This week in Docs: Format painter, Google Fusion Tables, and drag & drop images: This week in Docs, we’re introducing three new tools that put the fun in functional.

Format painter in Google documents

First, we’ve added a format painter to help you copy formatting within Google documents. The new format painter allows you to copy the style of your text, including font, size, color and other formatting options and apply it somewhere else in your document. To use the format painter, select the text for the formatting you want to copy, press the paintbrush button in your toolbar, and then select the text where you want to apply that formatting.

If you double-click on the format painter icon, you’ll enter a mode that lets you select multiple sections of text so you can apply the same formatting to each section.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts for format painting. To copy the style of your selected text, press Ctrl+Option+C for Mac or Ctrl+Alt+C for Windows. To apply any copied styles to whatever text you have selected, press Ctrl+Option+V for Mac or Ctrl+Alt+V for Windows.

Google Fusion Tables in documents list

With this week’s update, we’re also integrating Google Fusion Tables into your documents list. Google Fusion Tables is a data management web application that makes it easy to gather, visualize and collaborate on data online. Now you’ll be able to store and share your Fusion Tables with the rest of the files in your documents list.

Recently, people have used Google Fusion Tables to:

Visualize evacuation zones for New York City during Hurricane Irene
Host data sets

Gather data from local flu shot clinics for Google Flu Vaccine Finder
Map shelters and road status during the tsunami crisis in Japan

Go to Create new > Table from your documents list menu to get started visualizing or sharing tables of data in .csv, .xls or .kml files.

We're working on making Google Fusion Tables available to Google Apps customers and will let you know as soon as they are. Take a tour to learn more about Google Fusion Tables.

Drag & drop images in Google drawings

We also made it easier to add images from your desktop to Google drawings. If you’re using the latest version of Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, you can now drag an image from your desktop and drop it directly in the drawing canvas.

Give these tools a try and let us know what you think in the comments.

Posted by: Micah Lemonick, Software Engineer

Updated 9/13 to add shortcuts for Windows

How to Force Install Incompatible Addons in Firefox

2011-09-09T16:11:00.000-04:00

How to Force Install Incompatible Addons in Firefox:

Oftentimes you may update Firefox only to find that your favorite addon is incompatible. Since downgrading isn't a viable option, you may be at a loss for options. However, often the addon itself is actually compatible, but the version in the addon needs updating. This article will demonstrate how to override this in Firefox.

Edit Steps

Navigate to Help->About Firefox. Make note of the version number listed here, you will need it later on. In this example, it is Firefox 6 (6.0).
Navigate to the Firefox preferences editor. You can do this by typing "about:config" in the address bar and hitting Enter. You will be prompted with a warning about being careful. Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
Create a new key. To do this, right click in the body of the preferences. A menu will be displayed. Click New->Boolean. A boolean value just means one that is either true or false.
- Note: If this key already exists, you can right-click on it and click "Toggle" so that it says "false" under "Value".
Enter the preference name. This follows the format of "extensions.checkCompatibility" followed by the version number. In Firefox 6, for example, the preference name would be "extensions.checkCompatibility.6.0". Enter it and click OK.
Select 'false' in the list box to set this setting to false. This will disable the Firefox compatibility checking.
Restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.

Edit Video

Edit Tips

You could also use the Nightly Tester Tools extension available at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nightly-tester-tools/ to override compatibility checking.

Edit Warnings

Forcing addons to install can risk data loss or broken features if the addons aren't designed to be run on the newer version of Firefox. Be especially cautious with themes and skins.

Edit Things You'll Need

Firefox

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How to Start a Postcard Collection

2011-08-09T16:18:00.000-04:00

How to Start a Postcard Collection: "

Deltiology is the official term for collecting (and studying) postcards.^[1] The third largest hobby after collecting stamps and money,^[2] collecting postcards can be a very rewarding pastime that can be as broad or as narrow as you'd like, and can be undertaken absolutely anywhere in the world. Even Queen Victoria is thought to have had her own postcard collection,^[3] so it's certainly a hobby that has both pedigree and time behind it.

If you're keen to do something with the postcards you've got stashed at home or you're wondering whether or not to indulge in buying them every time you're traveling or sightseeing, perhaps deltiology will open up a new world of collecting for you.

Edit Steps

1930s postcard collection
Decide how you will approach collecting postcards. The breadth of postcards is so wide that it's probably a good idea to develop your focus early on to avoid having box loads of unsorted postcards and not knowing what to do with them all. Postcards can be collected in many ways but some of the most common approaches are as follows:
- Postcards by a particular artist.
- Postcards from a particular location or country.
- Postcards dating from a particular time.
- Postcards with a particular theme such as a specific animal like a cat or wildlife, structures such as tall buildings or bridges, natural wonders such as waterfalls or canyons, household items such as teapots, artwork from museum collections, transport such as trains, trams or planes, beach scenes, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Star Trek, etc. (the possibilities are endless).
- Postcards that are humorous, cheeky (risque) or have cartoons on them.
1950s postcard
If you have a particular interest, consider collecting postcards related to that interest. For example, if you love horses, then postcards of horses will always appeal to you. All sorts of interests like ballet, rugby, board games, aircraft spotting, museums, dinosaurs, weapons, food, alcohol, etc., are likely to be found on postcards in one way of another. This can add a very interesting dimension to postcard collecting that will bolster your love of your other interest in a unique way.
- Some people only collect postcards when they travel. Given the great photos that professional photographers can take of a place you're visiting, it can be a good way to ensure that you have at least one really good photo of the place you've visited! It's also helpful to get postcards that depict different seasons or weather than what you're experiencing on your visit.
An old time postcard
Know the general postcard eras. While it's incredibly hard to date many postcards because anyone can print them anywhere and that's precisely how it's always been, there are some factors that can help you determine the era of postcards:^[4]
- 1898-1919 is known as the 'Golden Age of Postcards', when picture postcards were popular
  - 1901-1906 – undivided backs on picture postcards
  - 1907-1915 – divided backs on picture postcards
  - 1915-1930 – white border postcards were common
- 1930-1950 – linen collectible postcards^[5]
- Post 1940 postcards were produced as modern chromes, namely color photographs instead of the photochromes generated from black and white photos in earlier postcards – early chromes date from the 1940s to the 1960s.
- Given that postcards are usually sent within a few years of production, the postmark can be an indicator. Then again, everyone has seen very dusty old postcards that haven't sold for years in some stores, and there is nothing to stop anyone from posting a very old postcard 50 to 100 years later if they feel like it, so the postmark isn't always a good indicator!
- If the postcard presents a city, street or other view that can be matched to photos of a certain time, that can help to date the postcard.
Learn the collector's terminology and focus.
Learn the collector's terminology and focus. Once you start getting quite serious about collecting postcards, you'll learn that there are quite a few things to take into account when collecting them. As a beginner aiming to have fun with your hobby, simply be aware of these initially and over time, you may want to direct your attention more to the collectible indicators to ensure that you have a postcard collection of the highest quality should you wish to show it at a special event or sell it for good value. Things of importance when collecting any paper collectible such as postcards include condition, age, anything interesting about the postcard such as its age, the artist/photographer, the image, sometimes the printer, and the postcard's rarity. Other things that might be notable include the author of the writing on it, the content of the writing, the address, the stamp/postmark, and any other elements such as the post office marking the postcard as 'prohibited/censored' due to censorship or war, etc. Any one of these elements alone could cause a particular postcard to be very special and any of these elements could also form the basis of your collection. For example, you might want to collect postcards by famous people or by women from a certain era or that have never been posted and are in perfect condition. In terms of condition, postcards are rated as follows (the first three ratings being for serious vintage postcard collectors):^[6]
- Mint: This means that the vintage postcard appears as it would have fresh off the printing press. There cannot be any writing, postage marks, creases, bends, etc. on the postcard for it to be in mint condition. They should be stored in acid-free, archival covers and kept safe from being bent.
- Near mint: This is almost like mint except for a very minor flaw such as a little yellowing at the edge. There cannot be much of a flaw though or it starts to fall down the list. Again, this should be stored in acid-free, archival covers to protect it for the long term.
- Excellent: This is a vintage postcard that is in excellent condition, so no tears or wear. It can be postmarked or written on, provided the postcard itself is still in perfect shape. As above, keep this in acid-free, archival covers.
- Very good: This postcard is often mailed, postmarked and written upon but it has very few signs of wear and is definitely one to be proud of in a collection.
- Good: By this stage, the postcard has lived a little and shows signs of its journey. There may be bent corners, a fold, creases, faded colors, etc. This one is unlikely to be worth much unless it's particularly unusual, rare or was written by something famous.
- Fair to poor: The rest of the postcards in their grimy, beaten up, bent, crushed, creased and other states. The reason you keep them? Mostly because they're sentimental, because they complete a set, because you like them anyway, and so forth. Just don't expect to make a fortune from them any day soon!
Probably fair to good condition
Spend some time researching the values of postcards. It's a good use of time to browse through postcards for sale on auction sites such as eBay. Doing this will give you an idea of what's available as well as giving you an idea of the prices the postcards are worth and what you can expect to pay for them. However, at this stage don't get hung up on high values or you won't develop your own style and taste. Instead, focus on buying what you like for now and developing your own theme. Once you feel more confident that this is the hobby of choice for you and that you want to spend more money on it, then you can get serious about spending more money on particular types of postcards. Until then, just enjoy the thrill of adding to your collection for very low prices!
Find postcards.
Find postcards. The places for finding postcards are many and varied but the sources will be determined by how you have narrowed down your collection criteria. For example, if you're not fussed about the age, quality or provenance of the postcard, you'll find postcards literally everywhere you go from newspaper stands on the street to your grandma's attic. It gets more complicated the more you narrow down your interests and the more you seek older, antique postcards but there are still many avenues for finding them even then. In particular, the places you're likely to find postcards include:
- Stores that sell magazines, newspapers, stationery, candies, etc. will often carry modern, current postcards. These will usually be souvenir postcards aimed at tourists but you never know what you mind find, so be sure to look wherever you are.
- Check out truck stops, gas stations, department stores, souvenir stores, motel lobbies, anywhere that is heavily touristed. Any place associated with tourists, travelers, traveling etc. will probably have current, modern postcards.
- Many museums, art galleries, zoos, national parks, theme parks, science centers, aquariums, space observatories, and other display, learning and entertainment areas often carry modern, current postcards.
- Look online for a very wide variety of postcards both new and old to antique. Auction sites, antique sites and postcard seller sites will provide you with a wide array of choices.
- Visit a postcard trade show. Here you'll find nothing but postcards!
- Visit antique stores, flea markets, garage and yard sales, secondhand bookstores and other similar stores for older postcards. Auction houses may also sell postcards, and if you're after someone's existing collection, an auction house or an art or vintage collectibles auction are good places to start.
- Ask family members for old, unwanted postcards and go through boxes of stored papers in the attic to see if anyone has stored any over the years that have been sent to them or that they've collected on trips away.
- Ask anyone you know who travels or is going on vacation to send you home at least one postcard. This can be a lovely way to treasure their words as well as the postcard.
- For a beginner collector, bulk lot purchases of postcards can be a lot of fun. You never know what you might get in such a mix but it'll be fun rummaging through it and it might spark more creative ideas for how to put together your postcard collection.
Know what to check for when buying postcards.
Know what to check for when buying postcards. It's easier to check the condition of a postcard in a store than online and yet it's likely that many of your cards will be internet purchases. In this case, be sure to seek as thorough a photo as possible of the card's condition before buying. If you can't see all of the condition or the description is very poor, either don't purchase it or only purchase it if it's exceptionally cheap. Some of the things to be aware of when purchasing cards include:^[7]
- Cleanliness of the card: This is not about whether or not it has been written on. It's about the splotches, marks, grime and grease that builds up on old paper items over time. Look for postcards that are clean and free of age or grime marks where possible. It won't always be possible but it's worth aiming high where you can.
- Edges: Try to find postcards that have even and unbent edges and haven't been torn or dog eared.
- Content: It's always preferable if you can actually read what has been written on the postcard if it has writing. That makes it a lot more enjoyable and gives a sense of history behind the postcard.
- Markings: Mostly this is about the postmark. The more legible, the better and if it has a date and location that can be read, a lot can be learned about the postcard.
- Avoid: Things to avoid include moldy postcards (they will never become un-moldy), really badly battered about unless there is a sentimental or content reason for getting the postcard, foxing (spots and age marks) and grease marks (these detract from the overall look), stains such as blood, grime or water, too many folds or creases, tears, etc. If it looks tattered, the only reason to get it is because it's rare, what is written on it is worth keeping or you've fallen in love with it (but not if it's moldy).
Display and store the postcards.
Display and store the postcards. The manner in which you keep the postcards is important for safeguarding their quality over the coming years. For the really old and the valuable postcards, store in archival, acid-free covers available from hobby stores, stamp and postcard retailers and online. These will keep dust, grime and stains off the postcards and the paper will be safe from acidity. Keep the cards stored flat and in a place where they cannot be crushed, bent or warped. Ensure that the environment is dry and cool and not humid and that there is no possibility of insect damage. If you have children (and/or pets), store the postcards out of reach, at least until the children are old enough to know how to handle them properly. Most of all, try to find a way that makes it easy to see and enjoy your postcard collection as often as you like. Some ideas include:
- Scrapbooks are ideal for creating themed collections and can be the perfect vehicle for protecting, displaying and explaining your postcard collection. Indeed, people have kept postcards in albums since Victorian times, so this will be carrying on a fine old tradition.
- Another great way to keep a record of your postcard collection is to take digital images and post them into an online collection for all to see. It will help you to keep track of the postcards and many other people can enjoy your collection too!
Keep learning more about collecting postcards.
Keep learning more about collecting postcards. This article has been intended to aid the beginning hobbyist or sentimental collector to get started on honing choices, organizing the collection and learning the basics. More in-depth knowledge should be pursued through talking to other collectors and reading widely in the field of deltiology and about collecting in general.

Edit Tips

Popular postcard artists include Beaulieu, F Earle Christie, D McGill, Lucy Atwell, and so forth. The names will vary depending on which culture you're deriving the postcards from and which era you're focusing on but it never hurts to start with artists or photographers that grab your interest most.
Santa Claus and Halloween are popular holiday card collectibles.^[8] Due to the high numbers of other holiday cards though, few of the holiday themes are very valuable. Still, they make for great sentimental keeping.
Long sets that show an entire scene as it unfolds, such as a street theme, a circus or a carnival can be worth a lot of money in good condition.^[9]
Consider choosing postcards that depict how your local area, city or town has changed over the past 100 years or so. These postcards can be both nostalgic and historically informative. They also make great conversation pieces to pull out when you're hosting a dinner party; people love seeing how their own area has changed over time.
Many people have postcards stashed somewhere; have a good look through your things when getting started!

Edit Warnings

Light and insect damage can be a major issue for paper products in storage. Be sure to prevent damage from both.
When purchasing postcards at high prices be sure you know their quality and true value. You need to keep resale value in mind at all times in case you need to resell your more valuable collection at any stage.

Edit Things You'll Need

Postcards
Display folders or other methods for keeping postcards (you might like to frame or pin up some) – if conserving top quality postcards, always use archival quality storage methods

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Introducing Google Scribe in Blogger

2011-08-09T11:35:00.000-04:00

Introducing Google Scribe in Blogger: "Posted by Kuntal Loya, Software Engineer

Hello Bloggers! Do you ever find yourself writing slowly, staring at a blinking cursor or looking for words to express yourself? Today we are happy to announce the availability of the text suggestions and autocomplete feature of Google Scribe, which is graduating from Google Labs and can now be found in Blogger in Draft.

Google Scribe helps you write more efficiently by suggesting common words and phrases as you type. Google Scribe supports Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. The language is automatically detected using the text in the post.

Enabling Google Scribe is easy. Simply click the pencil icon the the toolbar within the Post Editor.

After Google Scribe is turned on, suggestions will appear in gray as you type, and you can accept them by hitting the spacebar or by typing a punctuation mark, such as a comma, period or question mark.

If you would like to receive more than one suggestion at a time, select 'Show Multiple Suggestions' from the drop-down menu next to the pencil icon. You will then be able to see several options in a drop-down menu as you type.

Here are some keyboard shortcuts you may find handy. If you use a Mac, you can use the shortcuts below by replacing Ctrl with Command key (or 'Apple' key)

Ctrl-j to enable and disable Scribe
Ctrl-Shift-j to select and deselect multiple suggestions
ESC to temporarily remove a suggestion
TAB to restore a suggestion

We hope you like this new feature. We would love to hear from you, so let us know your feedback on our Product Ideas page.

Happy blogging!

Google Maps 5.7 for Android introduces Transit Navigation (Beta) and more

2011-07-07T02:24:00.000-04:00

Google Maps 5.7 for Android introduces Transit Navigation (Beta) and more: "
(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

Today we’re releasing Google Maps 5.7 for Android. From Bangkok to Baltimore, we’ve added Transit Navigation (Beta), updated access to directions, better suggested search results, and a photo viewer to Place pages—all of which can help you whether you’re traveling to an unfamiliar part of town or visiting a city across the world.

Transit Navigation (Beta)
Google Maps Navigation (Beta) currently provides over 12 billion miles of GPS-guided driving and walking directions per year. Now, GPS turn-by-turn (or in this case, stop-by-stop) navigation is available for public transit directions in 400+ cities around the globe with Transit Navigation.

Transit Navigation uses GPS to determine your current location along your route and alerts you when it’s time to get off or make a transfer. This is particularly helpful if you’re in a city where you don’t speak the language and can’t read the route maps or understand the announcements. After starting your trip with Transit Navigation, you can open another application or put your phone away entirely and Google Maps will still display an alert in your notification bar and vibrate your phone when your stop is coming up.

Left: Transit directions without Navigation. Right: with Navigation

Navigation alerts appear even if you switch to another app
Now you can spend more time enjoying the sights out the window and less time worrying about how many stops are left, where you are along the route or whether you missed your stop. Since Transit Navigation relies on GPS signals, we recommend using this feature for above-ground transit.

Updated Directions
Now that we’ve improved our directions services, we wanted them to be incredibly easy to pull up on your screen. If you select the driving or walking icon and your route is supported by Google Maps Navigation, the Navigation icon will automatically appear so you can get access to step-by-step directions in one click. Note: this change is currently only in place for driving and walking and does not appear for public transit.

One-click access to Navigation from directions
We’ve also streamlined how you access directions from within a Place page. Before, clicking directions in a Place page would bring up options for “Driving Navigation,” “Walking Navigation” and “Directions.” Now, you’ll be taken straight to the map and see the new directions box shown above.

Improved Search Suggest
We’ve made two changes to search suggestions that improve their quality and speed. First, we’ve added category icons, so instead of all search suggestions displaying the same icon, the icon next to the listing will reflect the type of result. You’ll see a pin for a Google Places listing, a star for a starred Place or location, a clock for a previously used search term, a person for contacts and a magnifying glass for “anything else.”

Two examples of search suggest with new icons
Also, any place you got directions to or called directly from its Places page will be included as a suggestion for a relevant search. For example, if you recently received directions to the U.S. Post Office on Wilshire Boulevard, afterward, when you begin a search with [p] or [bou], that U.S. Post Office would appear as a search suggestion.

Photo viewer for Place pages
Since we released business photos for Place pages last October, millions of photos have been added to Place pages around the world. To enable you to view these photos on the run, a slick new photo viewer has been added so you can browse photos while deciding where to go.

Left: Business photos in Place pages. Right: New photo viewer
To start using Google Maps 5.7 for Android, download the update here. This update requires an Android OS 2.1+ device and works anywhere Google Maps is currently available. Learn more at our help center and have fun exploring, whether it be by car, transit, bike or foot.

Posted by Chris Van Der Westhuizen, Software Engineer

The Data Liberation Front Delivers Google Takeout

2011-07-01T16:52:00.000-04:00

The Data Liberation Front Delivers Google Takeout: "Since we began in 2007, the Data Liberation Front has been focused on one thing: making it easier for you to take your data in and out of Google. Our first step was to make it easier to get your data out of our products, one product at a time. While we’ve made great progress on this front, we’ve been on the lookout for even better ways to let you take your data out of Google.

Today we’re pleased to announce the Data Liberation Front’s first revolutionary product: Google Takeout.

Google Takeout lets you take your data out of multiple Google products in one fell swoop. Moreover, you’ll find that all your data is in portable and open formats‚ so it’s easy to import to other services quickly.

Today, we’re launching with five products:

These are just the beginning: we will be adding more Google products as time goes on, so stay tuned. For now, check out the settings menu in Google+ or visit google.com/takeout to give Takeout a try.

Posted by Brian Fitzpatrick, The Data Liberation Front

Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web

2011-07-01T16:49:00.000-04:00

Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web: "Update: For our international readers, this post is also available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. - Ed.

Among the most basic of human needs is the need to connect with others. With a smile, a laugh, a whisper or a cheer, we connect with others every single day.

Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools.

In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it.

We’d like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project:

+Circles: share what matters, with the people who matter most

Not all relationships are created equal. So in life we share one thing with college buddies, another with parents, and almost nothing with our boss. The problem is that today’s online services turn friendship into fast food—wrapping everyone in “friend” paper—and sharing really suffers:

It’s sloppy. We only want to connect with certain people at certain times, but online we hear from everyone all the time.

It’s scary. Every online conversation (with over 100 “friends”) is a public performance, so we often share less because of stage fright.

It’s insensitive. We all define “friend” and “family” differently—in our own way, on our own terms—but we lose this nuance online.

In light of these shortcomings we asked ourselves, “What do people actually do?” And we didn’t have to search far for the answer. People in fact share selectively all the time—with their circles.

From close family to foodies, we found that people already use real-life circles to express themselves, and to share with precisely the right folks. So we did the only thing that made sense: we brought Circles to software. Just make a circle, add your people, and share what’s new—just like any other day:

+Sparks: strike up a conversation, about pretty much anything

Healthy obsessions inspire sharing, and we’ve all got one (or two, or three...). Maybe it’s muscle cars, or comic books, or fashion, but the attraction is always the same: it comes up in conversation, we immediately jump in, and we share back and forth with other fans. Often for hours. The trick is getting things started, and getting over that initial hump. Fortunately, the web is the ultimate icebreaker.

The web, of course, is filled with great content—from timely articles to vibrant photos to funny videos. And great content can lead to great conversations. We noticed, however, that it’s still too hard to find and share the things we care about—not without lots of work, and lots of noise. So, we built an online sharing engine called Sparks.

Thanks to Google’s web expertise, Sparks delivers a feed of highly contagious content from across the Internet. On any topic you want, in over 40 languages. Simply add your interests, and you’ll always have something to watch, read and share—with just the right circle of friends:

+Hangouts: stop by and say hello, face-to-face-to-face

Whether it's inside a pub or on a front porch, human beings have always enjoyed hanging out. And why not? It's how we unwind, recharge, and spend unscheduled time with old and new friends alike. Hanging out is deceptively simple though, and the nuance gets lost online.

Just think: when you walk into the pub or step onto your front porch, you're in fact signaling to everyone around, “Hey, I've got some time, so feel free to stop by.' Further, it’s this unspoken understanding that puts people at ease, and encourages conversation. But today’s online communication tools (like instant messaging and video-calling) don’t understand this subtlety:

They’re annoying, for starters. You can ping everyone that’s “available,” but you’re bound to interrupt someone’s plans.

They’re also really awkward. When someone doesn't respond, you don't know if they’re just not there, or just not interested.

With Google+ we wanted to make on-screen gatherings fun, fluid and serendipitous, so we created Hangouts. By combining the casual meetup with live multi-person video, Hangouts lets you stop by when you're free, and spend time with your Circles. Face-to-face-to-face:

+Mobile: share what’s around, right now, without any hassle

These days a phone is the perfect sharing accessory: it's always with you, it's always online, and it's how we stay close with our closest friends. We didn’t want “just” a mobile experience, however, so with Google+ we focused on things (like GPS, cameras, and messaging) to make your pocket computer even more personal.

+Location, location, location

In life, the places we visit shape conversations in lots of meaningful ways. If we call John from the airport, he’ll likely ask about our trip. Or if Jane texts from a nearby restaurant, we might join her for dessert. With Google+ you can add your location to every post. (Or not. It’s always up to you.)

+Instant Upload

Getting photos off your phone is a huge pain, so most of us don't even bother. Of course pictures are meant to be shared, not stranded, so we created Instant Upload to help you never leave a photo behind. While you're snapping pictures, and with your permission, Google+ adds your photos to a private album in the cloud. This way they're always available across your devices—ready to share as you see fit.

+Huddle

Coordinating with friends and family in real-time is really hard in real life. After all, everyone's on different schedules, in different places, and plans can change at any moment. Phone calls and text messages can work in a pinch, but they're not quite right for getting the gang together. So Google+ includes Huddle, a group messaging experience that lets everyone inside the circle know what's going on, right this second.

Starting today Google+ is available on Android Market and the mobile web, and it’s coming soon to the App Store.

+You: putting you first, all across Google

That’s the Google+ project so far: Circles, Sparks, Hangouts and mobile. We’re beginning in Field Trial, so you may find some rough edges, and the project is by invitation only. But online sharing needs a serious re-think, so it’s time we got started. There’s just one more thing—really the only thing: You.

You and over a billion others trust Google, and we don’t take this lightly. In fact we’ve focused on the user for over a decade: liberating data, working for an open Internet, and respecting people’s freedom to be who they want to be. We realize, however, that Google+ is a different kind of project, requiring a different kind of focus—on you. That’s why we’re giving you more ways to stay private or go public; more meaningful choices around your friends and your data; and more ways to let us know how we’re doing. All across Google.

When your invite arrives we hope you’ll join the project. But it’s entirely up to +You.

Posted by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President, Engineering

A preview of Gmail’s new look

2011-07-01T16:45:00.000-04:00

A preview of Gmail’s new look: "Posted by Jason Cornwell, User Experience Designer

We get a lot of great feedback about how Gmail helps you be more efficient, keep in touch with family and friends, and get work done. We’ve saved you from forgetting attachments and made sure that you got the right Bob. Over the years, adding countless features to Gmail has made it an increasingly powerful communication hub, but along the way the interface has also become more cluttered and complex.

That’s one of the reasons we’re embarking on a series of interface updates to help strip out unnecessary clutter and make Gmail as beautiful as it is powerful. This is part of a Google-wide effort to bring you an experience that’s more focused, elastic, and effortless across all of our products. The changes are not going to happen all at once. We know that you love and care about Gmail as much as we do, and we’ll be working on these upgrades gradually over the next few months to allow plenty of time to understand and incorporate your feedback into the evolving design.

We’re kicking things off with two new themes for you to try out as a sort of sneak peek at what we’re up to. Starting today, you’ll see the “Preview” and “Preview (Dense)” themes in the Themes tab in Gmail Settings. Why two themes? Our new interface will eventually expand dynamically to accommodate different screen sizes and user preferences, but until then you can pick the information density that you prefer.

Here’s what one of the new themes currently looks like:

And in conversation view:

Click the images above to see larger versions.

If you poke around you’ll hopefully find a lot to like and a much cleaner, modern look but also few rough edges. In particular, some Labs features may look a little strange in the new themes. We plan to fix these issues as we roll out changes in the coming months. You can also expect some updated themes that embody the same design principles but are better suited to working in a dark environment, use a different color palette, or include the illustrations that we know many of you love to see around your inbox.

Look out for these and other new features over the next few months. In the meantime, try out the new themes as a preview of the future of Gmail and let us know what you think.

P.S. Like Gmail, Google Calendar is also getting a new look. You’ll see it automatically within the next few days so there’s no need to turn it on, and we’ll also continue to make improvements there in the coming months. Details about the current changes to Calendar can be found in the Calendar help center.

The New Face of Google Web Fonts

2011-07-01T16:43:00.000-04:00

The New Face of Google Web Fonts: "

As we talked about at our Google IO session, the Google Web Fonts team has been hard at work designing a new font browsing experience for www.google.com/webfonts. Today, this new interface is available for you to try! Just click here, or you can click the New Version link at the top of our current product. The interface has a lot of the features you've requested, including the ability to preview your own custom text, the ability to compare fonts side-by-side, as well as an indication of page load times.

To arrive at the final design, our team spent significant time researching how users pick which fonts to use on your web pages, blogs and projects. Based on our findings, we sketched out dozens of possible ways to design our font browsing experience. After many iterations of testing with our test users, we believe we've arrived at a font browsing experience you'll really like.

Our primary goal with this new interface is to ensure that as the library of free, open source web fonts grows, you can still browse the library quickly and easily. To accomplish this goal, we've introduced the concept of a collection, which is similar to the concept of a shopping cart on your favorite ecommerce website. Just add fonts to your collection, and then proceed through the Choose, Review and Use steps. During this process, you can compare them side by side, experience with them in sample layouts using the new Test Drive feature, and finally copy and paste the HTML snippet to use these fonts in your pages.

During our user studies, we noticed that when users proceeded to select a font, they have a certain use case in mind. In other words, they knew they were looking for a font for a logo, for a heading or for body text. So we designed 3 different viewing modes - Word, Sentence and Paragraph - to facilitate font browsing in each of these cases. By default, you are in Sentence mode, which shows about a sentence length of preview text. But when you switch to Word mode, the font preview size increases, and the font cards shrink so you can see more fonts on the screen. When you switch to Paragraph mode, the text size will shrink significantly, and you'll see the fonts used in sample paragraphs instead.

Second, the new interface allows for easy font browsing by weight. Just use the thickness filter in the left hand panel. Looking for an Ultra black font? How about Ultra Light? Look no further. This feature relies on the font technology of TypeDNA. The Google Web Fonts are analyzed to determine each font's specific boldness characteristic. In this way, you see a consistent level of boldness across the fonts in your filter, regardless of how the font designer originally categorized them.

The new interface introduces the Test Drive module, which allows users to visualize their font collection in a sample layout. In this way, you can see what your fonts look like in practice, before embedding them in the final product. To take your fonts for a test drive, click on the Test Drive tab from within the Review step.

And finally, the new interface has a final step, Use. Here you'll find an indication of page load time based on your font selections. It's important to remember that the more fonts you use on your page, the more font data needs to be downloaded before your users can use your pages. Although Google Web Fonts is highly optimized to serve web fonts quickly to any user in the world, it's always important to request only the font families and styles you intend to use on your pages.

Sometime in the next few weeks, this interface will replace the current homepage at www.google.com/webfonts. But until then you can give it a spin and let us know what you think.

Posted by Jeremie Lenfant-Engelmann, Engineer, Google Web Fonts

10 Gmail gadgets to try

2011-06-23T03:35:00.000-04:00

10 Gmail gadgets to try: "Posted by Martin Gruau, Consumer Operations

There is a powerful but little known Gmail feature that lives in Labs called “Add any gadget by URL.” Once you turn it on, you can add iGoogle gadgets (or any gadget specified by an .xml file) to the side of your Gmail account. While most of these gadgets are built by third-parties and not owned or maintained by Google, they can be super handy.

To install any of these gadgets, follow those steps:

1) From your Gmail account, go to the Labs tab of Gmail Settings.

2) Look for the Lab “Add any gadget by URL.” Enable it, then click “Save changes.”

3) Go to the new “Gadgets” tab under “Settings” and add the relevant .xml address.

Here’s a list of a ten I’ve found worth trying out:

Wikipedia

Look for a specific query right from Gmail.

http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml

Google Calculator

Make some quick calculations while typing an email.

http://calebegg.com/calc.xml

Note

Add a sticky note to the corner of your Gmail account.

http://www.google.com/ig/modules/sticky.xml

Remember the Milk

If you’re a fan of this task management system, accessing all your “Remember the milk” notes from right within Gmail can be super handy.

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/gmail/rtm.xml

PolyClock

Gives you the time of day for any place in the world.

http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml

Currency Converter

A real time currency converter.

http://helloworld123---.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/currency-converter.xml

bit.ly URL shortener

Lets you shorten URLs in a single click.

http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml

Chuck Norris fact generator

Displays a different “Chuck Norris fact” every day of the year. http://marsupialmusic.net/stu/scripts/chucknorris.xml

Finally, you might be familiar with the last two gadgets, since they are also available as individual Gmail Labs:

Google Calendar

Displays your Google Calendar agenda right from Gmail.

http://www.google.com/ig/modules/calendar.xml

Google Docs

Gives you quick access to your most recent documents.

www.google.com/ig/modules/docs.xml

You can find lots of other gadgets optimized for iGoogle on this page, and many of them work well in Gmail, too.

Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar

2011-06-07T06:01:00.000-04:00

Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar: "Posted by Irene Chung, Software Engineer

(Cross-posted on the Gmail Blog.)

Google Calendar is an essential tool for organizing your time and sharing your schedule with friends and coworkers. But what about letting others know about your preferred availability? Likewise, when you look at a business's online calendar, do you wonder why you can't just book an open slot instead of remembering to call during regular business hours? Now, with appointment slots in Google Calendar, any individual or business can manage appointment availability online 24/7.

Creating appointment slots

To get started, set up blocks of time you’d like to offer as appointment slots. Simply click anywhere on your calendar and then on 'Appointment slots.” From there, create a single block of time or automatically split a larger block of time into smaller appointment slots.

Every Google Calendar has its own personal appointments sign up page; you can embed it on your website or give the URL directly to friends and clients. You can find the URL for your appointment page at the top of the set-up page, which you can access via the Edit details link.

Signing up for an appointment slot

When someone visits your sign up page, their calendar is overlaid for convenience and they can sign up directly for any available appointment slot. When they sign up, Google Calendar conveniently creates a new shared event on both of your calendars.

At Google, many people are already using appointment slots to manage their office hours. We’re starting to roll it out widely today, and appointment slots should be available for everyone within the next few days.

Define, translate and search for words in Google eBooks

2011-05-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

Define, translate and search for words in Google eBooks: "Posted by Derek Lei, Software Engineer, Google Books

When bookworms stumble across a word we don't know, we face the classic dilemma of whether to put the book down to look up the word or forge ahead in ignorance to avoid interrupting the reading experience. Well, fret no more, readers, because today you can select words in Google eBooks and look up their definitions, translate them or search for them elsewhere in the book from within the Google eBooks Web Reader—without losing your page or even looking away.

The Web Reader works in all modern browsers and lets you read Google eBooks without having to download them. To select text in a Google eBook within the Web Reader, double-click or highlight it with your mouse and a pop-up menu opens with the following options: Define, Translate, Search Book, Search Google and Search Wikipedia. (Note: these features work in 'Flowing Text' mode not 'Scanned Pages' mode. Switch to 'Flowing Text' in the Web Reader by clicking on the Settings menu labeled 'Aa' and select it under the 'Show' drop-down menu. Not all Google eBooks are available in 'Flowing Text.')

Define
Click “Define” and the pop-up now displays a definition of the word via Google Dictionary, without leaving the page you’re on in the Google eBook. Click on the audio icon to the left of the word you want defined to hear the definition pronounced aloud. If you decide you do want to leave the page, select “More” to go to the Google Dictionary page for the word, which provides additional information like usage examples and web definitions.

Translate
You can also translate a single word or several sentences of content into dozens of languages, from Afrikaans to Yiddish, by selecting the 'Translate' option. As with definitions, you'll see the translated text displayed in the pop-up window.

Search
By selecting one of the search options, you can search for the selected text in other places within the ebook itself or across the entire web.

“Search Book” brings up all the instances in which the selected text appears in the ebook. You can also access the search options by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Web Reader. Click on a search result to jump to that section.

“Search Google” and “Search Wikipedia” open up a new browser tab displaying the search results for that text on Google and Wikipedia, respectively.

Go ahead and give these new features a spin by reading a Google eBook.

Update 5:54pm: Included details about 'Flowing text' vs. 'Scanned pages.'

Hundreds of ways to work smarter with Google Apps

2011-05-18T18:48:00.001-04:00

Hundreds of ways to work smarter with Google Apps: "Posted by Michelle Lisowski, Google Apps Team

Talking to our small businesses customers, we see they have a passion for what they do and a drive to succeed. On the Google Apps team, we have a passion for helping small businesses succeed by providing them with access to the same technology that large enterprises often have at their disposal. Google Apps offers small businesses hundreds of ways to leverage the power of the web to work more efficiently and focus scarce time and resources on getting ahead of the competition.

To celebrate National Small Business Week, we’d like to share a few of the ways that Google Apps is being used every day (we’ll spare you the time of wading through hundreds). And to make it even easier to get started on tasks such as invoicing and project planning, all examples provided are based on templates from the Google Docs and Google Sites template galleries.

Google Docs template gallery:

#1: Letterhead - Create a professional looking template for your outgoing letters and share it with others in the company. Print letters directly from your browser with Chrome.
#2: Budget planner - Easily build a 12-month budget spreadsheet that you can edit from anywhere throughout the year – no matter where your spending takes you.
#3: Invoice - Save time by creating invoices in a spreadsheet – totals are automatically calculated, and you can share them with co-workers to ensure accuracy and speedy payments.

#4: Customer satisfaction survey - Get feedback from customers and visitors about your product or service with a form. Easily analyze and graph the data.
#5: Business plan - Put your vision down in a doc. Share it with family, investors, banks, and others to get input and spread your ideas.
#6: Project timeline - Give others in your company insight into key milestones, completion dates, and other project details.

Google Sites template gallery:

#7: Intranet - Build an internal website where employees can access company news, employee training information, company policies, holiday schedules, and more.

#8: Project site - Centralize project information in one place. Display a team profile and key dates, and embed project docs and spreadsheets directly in the site.
#9: Team site - Create team rosters, schedule team meetings, and track progress of action items all in one place.
#10: Employee profiles - Build a community by creating profile pages where your employees can post their goals, internal resume, and internal blog.

The list continues but we hope this gives some idea of the range of use cases where Google Apps can help improve productivity for any small business. To learn more, check out some of our new resources including product videos and additional templates at www.google.com/apps/smb.

Books from 16th and 17th centuries now in full-color view

2011-05-18T18:41:00.000-04:00

Books from 16th and 17th centuries now in full-color view: "Posted by Dan Bloomberg and Kurt Groetsch, Google Books team

Google has formed partnerships with many of the great libraries of Europe, including the Czech National Library, the National Library of the Netherlands, the Austrian National Library, the National Libraries of Florence and Rome, the Municipal Library of Lyon, Ghent University, the Bavarian State Library, the National Library of Catalonia, the University Complutense of Madrid, the University Library of Lausanne and the Oxford University Library.

To date, we’ve scanned about 150,000 books worldwide from the 16th and 17th centuries, and another 450,000 from the 18th century. With our growing list of partners, we expect to scan many hundreds of thousands more pre-1800 titles.

In digitizing books from any century, we try to create clean images with black text and color illustrations on white backgrounds. This helps enhance readability, save storage spaces and serve illustrated pages faster to readers. However, partners, researchers and other readers have frequently asked us to show the older books as they actually appear, for a couple of reasons: First, these books are interesting artifacts. They have changed their appearance over the centuries, and there is a cultural value in viewing them. Second, because of aging and bleed-through, it can be very difficult to display the images as clean text over a white background; in many cases it’s actually easier to read the text from the original (what we call 'full-color') images.

Printing was introduced in the 15th century, but a great flowering of experimentation in typography took place in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Secunda centuria, das ist das ander Hundert der Evangelischen Wahrheit
Johann Nass, 1568

Thargum, hoc est, Paraphrasis Onkeli Chaldaica in sacra Biblia : ex Chaldaeo
Paul Fagius, 1546

Some have great historical significance. Others have interesting typography and wood block illustrations. The links open thumbnail versions of each book (icons with 4 little squares). You get other views by clicking on nearby icons; from the thumbnail view, you can click on a page to expand it.

Below are links to a few more of these 16th and 17th century books now available in full-color view in Google Books:

Prognostication nouvelle et prediction portenteuse, pour l'an M. D. L. V.
Nostradamus, 1554
The first year of his prophecies, provided for scanning by the Municipal Library of Lyon.

Description de l'abbaye de la Trappe
André Félibien, 1689
A description of La Trappe Abbey in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France. Authored by André Félibien, a French chronicler of the arts and official court historian to Louis XIV of France.

Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae: Usitata forma Quaestionum ..., Volumes 1-3
Johannes Kepler, 1635
The German astronomer’s textbook on astronomy (translated as Epitome of Copernican Astronomy); his most influential work.

Systema cosmicum : in quo dialogis IV. de duobus maximis mundi systematibus, Ptolemaico & Copernicano, rationibus vtrinque propositis indefinitè disseritur : accessit locorum S. Scripturae cum Terra mobilitate conciliatio
Galileo Galilei, 1641
Galileo's landmark work comparing Copernican heliocentrism with the geocentric Ptolemaic system. Engraved frontspiece of Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus.

La operazione del compasso geometrico e militare
Galileo Galilei, 1640
Description of and manual on the operation of Galileo’s geometrical and military compass.

Tractatus de proportionum instrumento : quod merito compendium vniuersae geometriae dixeris
Galileo Galilei, 1635

Ioannis Kepleri ... Dioptrice seu Demonstratio eorum quae visui & visibilibus propter conspicilla non ita pridem inventa accidunt. Praemissae Epistolae Galilaei de iis, quae post editionem Nuncii siderii ope Perspicilli, nova & admiranda in coelo deprehensa sunt. Item Examen praefationis Ioannis Penae Galli in Optica Euclidis, de usu Optices in philosophia.
Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Jean Pena, 1611

Patris Gabrielis Vazquez ... Disputationes Metaphysicae …
Gabriel Vázquez, 1617

Relaciones universales del mundo ... : Primera y segunda parte
Giovanni Botero, 1603

La rhétorique ou l'art de parler
Bernard Lamy, 1699

Idea de vn principe politico christiano, representada en cien empressas …
Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, 1675

Idea de un principe politico christiano, representada en cien empresas, dedicada al principe de las Españas nuestro Señor …
Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, 1655

Pia desideria emblematis elegiis & affectibus S.S. Patrum illustrata
Herman Hugonus, 1624

Obsidio bredana armis Philippi IIII, auspiciis Isabellae ductu Ambr. Spinolae perfecta
Herman Hugo, 1626

Emblémes Ou Devises Chrétiennes
1697

Store up to 25,000 contacts

2011-05-05T01:10:00.000-04:00

Store up to 25,000 contacts: "Posted by Mike Helmick, Software Engineer

Gmail used to have a limit of 10,000 contacts. For most of us, this was way more than enough, but we heard from some of you who use Gmail to communicate with more than 10,000 people. We want you to be able to store all of your contacts in a single place, so starting today, we’ve increased the limit for all Gmail users, including all those of you who use Google Apps, to 25,000 contacts.

Also, previously an individual contact could be no larger than 32KB — big enough for most people, but not always sufficient for those who like to keep a lot of notes on individual contacts. Now, each contact may be up to 128KB in size, allowing you to store more information in the notes field.

Klingon and Elvish 101, with Google Books

2011-05-05T01:04:00.000-04:00

Klingon and Elvish 101, with Google Books: "Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Support Team

Tlhlngan Hol Dajatlh’a’? Or as the French would say, Parlez-vous Klingon? Google Books empowers you to learn new languages -- even fictional ones, like the Klingon alien language from Star Trek, or the Elvish dialects found in The Lord of the Rings.

There is no longer any excuse to get tongue-tied at your next Klingon mixer -- unable to even summon up a simple nuqneH (what’s up) or a jIyajbe’ (I don’t understand). After reading through The Klingon Dictionary, you'll be fluently pulling off phrases like, HIjol, Scotty! (Beam me up, Scotty!) in no time.

More advanced Klingon speakers will want to put their skills to the test with The Klingon Hamlet. That's right, taH pagh taHbe’ (to be or not to be). You haven't fully experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in Klingon.

If you've read J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic series, The Lord of the Rings, or have seen the movies, you may remember that different races (i.e. elves, orcs and dwarves) each had their own languages. To say that Tolkien loved languages is an understatement. In real life, he spoke or studied dozens of different tongues, from French to Old Norse.

J.R.R. Tolkien

He was nearly as prolific at inventing new languages. The world of The Lord of the Rings was in large part created out of the many languages Tolkien invented for it.

A couple of the most developed languages Tolkien created were two Elvish tongues, Quenya and Sindarin. While Tolkien himself left extensive writings and notes about these languages -- see for instance Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names in his work The Silmarillion -- others have also created resources to help you polish your Elvish.

Make sure to check out Ambar Eldon’s Elvish dictionaries for both tongues: Quenya-English and Sindarin-English. Are you francophone? They've got you covered there too, with Dictionnaire Elfique Quenya-Français and Sindarin-Français. David Salo's A Gateway to Sindarin is a comprehensive book about the history, sounds and grammar behind the fictional language.

If you want to start with the Elvish ABC's, check out The Lord of the Rings Comprehension Guide's section on how to write words using the Quenya alphabet. For instance, my name in Elvish writing is:

'Oliver' in Elvish

Or maybe you just want to woo an Elvish maiden or an Orlando 'Legolas' Bloom. You can send along this little love letter:

Come see the night sky with me, fair maiden/knight.

You’ll be star-gazing in no time.

Video Chat on Your Android Phone

2011-05-01T00:22:00.000-04:00

Video Chat on Your Android Phone: "Sometimes, the expressions on a person's face can mean much more than what they say. To help you stay in touch with your friends and family, we’re launching Google Talk with video and voice chat for Android phones.

You can now video or voice chat with your friends, family and colleagues right from your Android phone, whether they’re on their compatible Android tablet or phone, or using Gmail with Google Talk on their computer. You can make calls over a 3G or 4G data network (if your carrier supports it) or over Wi-Fi.

In your Google Talk friends list, a video or voice chat button will appear next to your contacts and you can simply touch the button to connect with them. Any text chats from the person you’re talking with will be overlaid on your phone’s screen so you can read them without having to leave the video. And, if you need to check something else, the video pauses automatically so you can go back to your phone’s home screen or another app. The audio will keep going even though the video has paused. Check out how this works:

Google Talk with video and voice chat will gradually roll out to Nexus S devices in the next few weeks as part of the Android 2.3.4 over-the-air update and will launch on other Android 2.3+ devices in the future. To learn more about using video and voice chat, check out our Help Center.

Post content Posted by Colin Gibbs, Product Manager and Wei Huang, Tech Lead

How to Scan a Book

2011-03-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

How to Scan a Book

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

There are numerous reasons why you might wish to scan a book. For instance, if a beloved book falls apart on you, scanning its pages will enable you to keep a permanent copy of the book in digital form. Scanned books are weightless, making them easy to carry around and there will be less clutter and less need for bookshelves. Scanned books are easier to transmit and propagate. A scanned book can also be adjusted to make the font into an easily readable size, and with a multi-monitor set up, you can word process on one monitor and read the textbook from the other monitor.
Note: This article assumes that you are using Windows and a scanner compatible with Windows.

Steps

Choose a scanner, preferably a sheet feed scanner. You'll need to make a choice between a flatbed scanner and a sheet feed scanner, depending on what you can afford and what you're looking for:
- The flatbed costs less and your scans will be precise. The benefit of this scanner is that it leaves the book intact.
- A sheet feed scanner is able to scan both sides of the page and is much faster than a flatbed. A sheet feed scanner requires the same amount of space, as a flatbed, when storing it.
- Look for an extended warranty offer when purchasing it. A good sheet feed scanner, even at the low end in price, is an investment, so consider getting an extended warranty from a third party. And if you'll be using your scanner a lot, get an extended warranty.
  - The well known third party warranty users like "Square Trade" cost more compared to other warranty issuers, but because such companies tend to be affiliated with well known companies, you can have more confidence in them.
  - The warranty price and length will be a bargain compared to getting an extended warranty bought locally. Weigh the costs by factoring in the costs of shipping, if any, insurance, your confidence in the warranty issuer, and your estimate of the frequency of repair.
Separate the book into individual pages. This is an absolute necessity with a sheet feed scanner. With a flatbed scanner, it is a good idea to separate the pages to achieve an excellent scan and to avoid damaging your scanner because scanning a bound book requires pressing the cover on the book with some force.
If there is a print shop nearby, you may be able to take the book to them and ask them to cut off the binding with the large powerful paper cutters they usually have. A box of bagels or doughnuts is often all it costs and this will save a great deal of time as it pretty much eliminates the next few steps and all your pages will be square and devoid of binding glue or stitching.
Peel off the binding glue, on each page, to protect your scanner. There might be an adhesive type of glue also, remove this too - you want to avoid paper jams. When you have streaks on your scanned images you probably have some glue on the glass lens. Wipe the sticky, rubber cement glue off of the glass lens with a soft cotten cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol or glass cleaner.
Pages will tear when separating them, so peel or carve off the binding glue with a sharp knife first. Clamp the book in a vise to be safe.
because it can trim thin strips of paper.]]A paper cutter is not essential but if you decide to purchase one, choose the old style cutter because it can cut thin strips easily. When cutting with a rotary cutter, overlap the paper, on the cutting platform, or else the paper will sink into the groove and the ends will not cut thoroughly. Additionally, to minimize uneven cutting, when using a rotary blade cutter, reduce the amount of sheets you cut. With a rotary cutter, your margins will be narrower on one side (cropping can adjust the margin width). A good scissors and a photo editing program like Windows Live is all that you need.
Keep your work area neat and organize your project to give it order. Separate your book scanning project into several parts. By doing this, you will think of ways to do each part more efficiently and faster. For example, the first phase could be going through the entire book and straightening folded page corners, mending missing corners and numbering blank pages, the second phase is separating the book into individual pages, the third phase could be going through each page and removing the glue from each page, etc.
- Organize your work with many folders - each serving a purpose for every step of the scanning process. Do not delete these files until the final product is completed and backed-up. As a last resort, go to the Recycle Bin and retrieve your deleted files.
- Experiment as you proceed and try to improve your scanning method. Explore the different features of your scanner to optimize the scanning methods that work for your needs.
Do not change the layout of the pages, especially the margins. A book that has small fonts is a good candidate for scanning, but do not crop your scans and reduce the margins (for example, because you want to make the book more readable) because margins serve a purpose. Basically, margins are like a frame on a picture, and a page looks better with margins. When reading that book, with the small fonts, later on your computer, you can easily make the fonts bigger by using the "zoom" feature. When working with books with very small print, you could crop each page a bit to make the final product a few percentage points larger and more readable.
If you do not have Paper Port, purchase this software or software similar to it. Paper Port connects the scanned pages together and it also converts your scans to various file types such as PDF, tiff, JPEG, BNG, etc. PDF files are good because they cannot accidentally be altered later when reading your book on your computer. For basic scanning, PDF and tiff files are enough.
Scan the book completely including the blank pages. The blank pages have a purpose – they stop the flow of thought. If you do not include blank pages, include a note of this. For example, if blank pages 95 and 96 were omitted, put a note on page 94 (write: "page 95 and 96 were blank"), because in the future it might be temporarily confusing to find those two pages missing.
Use color scans for the front and back covers and for the pages with color photos. Do a few color scans with different DPI setting and check the size of each page when scanning a book totally in color. Multiply the scanned page size with the number of pages to calculate the total size of whole file. Choose the DPI considering the readability and size of the scan. Color scans use a lot of space.
Use grayscale for black and white pictures. For each grayscale and color scan with picture (or photos) and text, edit the exposure so the text will be readable. Editing, here, is an absolute necessity - will be pale and editing the exposure, to make the text readable, will not affect the photo or picture.
Use black and white for scanning just words.
Protect your home scanner by feeding it just one page at a time. Paper jams from feeding more than a page will wear out the scanner roller area faster. Pages that were joined (stacked) by Paper Port can be separated into individual pages by Paper Port, but if you have have a batch of pages, all on one page, and made by your scanner -this file cannot be altered. If you scan your pages separately, any mistake can be deleted and replaced with a rescan of that page.
Review your scanned images. Always save the scanned images as tiff files because tiff files are easy to navigate and edit. Although your ultimate file type will be PDF (Paper Port can only join PDF files), PDF files in separate pages are difficult to navigate through. For example, if you are reviewing 100 pages of tiff files, you could scroll through them, but with PDF files you have to open (and close) each file one at a time. Furthermore, PDF files cannot be edited, so if you have a PDF file of 100 pages all connected from the beginning, and there are several pages that are unsatisfactory, you cannot do anything about it. So, save your scans initially in a tiff format or some other format that can be edited, and change to PDF later.
After reviewing your scanned images in the tiff format, and you are satisfied with them, save your images in the PDF form. Next, using Paper Port, join (stack) the pages into one big file. Stacked files can be unstacked, in case you find an error later. A stacked PDF file will be easy to navigate through.
Take note of how your scanner assigns scan numbers:
- If your scanner assigns each scan a counter number, then do nothing. This is ideal for inserting a missing page or a page that had to be rescanned.
- If your scanner automatically has the date and time for a scan number, configure your job to be on a counter - which is much easier to work with.
- When working with scans that were assigned time or date scan numbers, an option (tedious) is to change those numbers to sequential numbers. A better option, when working with time or date scan numbers is to divide your scanned pages into small batches. The pages tend to stay in sequence when working with small batches.
- When using Paper Port, divide your work in batches. Paper Port works much faster when working with a small amount of pages versus a large amount. Instead of stacking 350 pages in one step, do it in several steps, of 60 pages per batch, and it will be much faster and less of a burden on your computer's memory.
Download Windows Live image editing program - it is free. Use Windows Live to fix the irregular edges of the pages by cropping them. These irregular edges were caused from separating the book into individual pages and they could be distracting to view. Use the "straighten image" and "cropping" features in Live.
- If you so desire, make your scanning projects technically correct. Live works well because the final product will be uniform in size without configuring (for example, with Windows Paint the images later will be uneven).
Have a good backup system on your hard drive, and on an external drive, as a precaution against computer failure, mistakes and accidental deletion. If your backup system fails, restore your deleted items from the recycle bin. Scanning can get confusing and mistakes happen. Ideally, do your scanning when your mind is rested and clear, but as this might not always be the case, so use a double backup system, at the very least.

Video

This video shows how to chop a book in readiness for scanning and gives a brief view of actual scanning as well.

Tips

Know the rules of alphabetizing for your computer programs, scanner and Paper Port.
Decide up front what you want to end up with: a PDF, a word processing document or image files. It is very time and disc space consuming to scan a book for use in all of these if you really only want to end up with one.
If you can get a copy of Acrobat Pro, you can often scan it directly to PDF without the interim steps of Paper Port or image files.
If there are only a few figures or illustrations in the book, scan it all in black & white only (not grayscale)then scan the figures alone as images and insert them into the page images. Black & white only text will read much clearer on the screen, be easier to accurately OCR and will make a much smaller file size. However, with Windows Live Photo Gallery free editing program, the text on grayscale scans can be made darker and comparable in readability to black and white scans.
Always be thinking of ways to improve each phase of scanning and act on it. Improve the speed and ease of scanning.
When the binding glue is thick, the book tends to come apart easier. So when buying a book (not for scanning purposes) choose one that has a moderate (and thus flexible) amount of binding glue. By opening a book at various pages, you will be able to know how thick the binding glue is.
Listen to music, the radio, or turn on the TV while scanning to make the experience more enjoyable.
Read the owner's manual for Paper Port and your scanner. Read a book on scanning. Get ideas and help online. Ask questions of people who work in copy shops.
Unplug the scanner power cord between jobs to extend the life of the ac adapter (which can be very expensive to replace). Check Ebay for ac adapters.
Clean the inside of your scanner of paper particles, if you scanned a few books, your scanner will be filled with paper particles. Use canned air, a blower, a mini vacuum cleaner, a duster or a damp rag.
Always close your scanner when it is not in use and be careful when using you scanner. Close the sheet feed and retract the holder that receives the scanned pages. All this is not just to reduce dust but to keep these fragile parts from accidentally breaking - a non-commercial scanner is not as sturdy as a commercial scanner. When using your scanner, be careful not to break those parts that retract and protrude or any part of your scanner that looks easy to break.

Warnings

Read your individual scanner's instructions! While this article provides an overview, every scanner will have its own procedures that you must be aware of before proceeding. Reading the instructions will not only help you to use the product better but will speed up your scanning experience and reduce the potential for errors.
Be sure to follow all copyright laws regarding printing and distribution. Look on the inside of the front cover of a book for the rules about reproducing its content. It may only be allowed for educational or for non-commercial purposes.
If you must destroy a book by cutting its binding and separating it into individual pages in order to scan, you must weigh the value of the book against the valued of the scanned book, making sure the latter outweighs the former before proceeding.

Things You'll Need

Scanner of choice
Books for scanning
Paper cutter, cutting mat or board, and craft knife (if chopping book)

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Scan a Book. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Google search now supports Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ)

2011-03-25T15:08:00.000-04:00

Google search now supports Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ): "With the help of Cherokee Nation staff and community members, we’ve added Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ) as an interface language on Google, making a small contribution towards preserving one of the world’s endangered languages.

You can now select Cherokee as your default from the Language Tools page (available from the right of the search box), and the entire Google interface will transform into Cherokee:

We’ve also included an on-screen Cherokee keyboard on the search page through the Google Virtual Keyboard API. This makes it easier for people to search web content in Cherokee without a physical Cherokee keyboard. To access the keyboard, simply click the icon at the right side of the search box.

Cherokee is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people. The Cherokee syllabary writing system was developed by Sequoyah in the early 19th century. He realized the power of writing systems, and wanted his people to benefit from that power. Some of the 85 characters he developed for his syllabary were modified from his original handwritten script for a printing press in the 1820s, resulting in characters that resemble Latin and Greek letters. Despite the resemblance, they are pronounced differently. The modified script was quickly adapted for printing Cherokee newspapers, books and pamphlets. The adoption and use of the script enabled the Cherokee people to maintain their language and culture. Today, Cherokee is spoken mostly in the states of Oklahoma and North Carolina. (The Cherokee Nation is the sovereign operating government of the Cherokee people. It is a federally recognized tribe of more than 300,000 Cherokee citizens, with its capital located in Tahlequah, Okla. To learn more, please visit www.cherokee.org.)

We’re honored to have the opportunity to continue this tradition, and we’d like to thank the Cherokee Nation for working with us to translate the interface for Google search into Cherokee.

Search is now available in 146 interface languages—and the list is growing. If you speak an endangered language that you would like us to support, please sign up for Google in Your Language and submit community translations.

Update 10:26 AM: You can find the press release from the Cherokee Nation here.

Posted by ᏇᎩ (Craig Cornelius), Software Engineer, Internationalization

Sprint integrates Google Voice

2011-03-21T12:03:00.000-04:00

Sprint integrates Google Voice: "(Cross-posted from the Google Voice Blog)

Over time, we've worked to bring an integrated Google Voice experience to your mobile device by building mobile apps, introducing Google Voice Lite, and most recently Number Porting. But we felt that ultimately, the most simple solution would be to partner with carriers to seamlessly integrate Google Voice with your mobile phone.

Today, we’d like to share that we’ve teamed up with Sprint to do just that.

First, Sprint customers will be able to use their existing Sprint mobile number as their Google Voice number and have it ring multiple other phones simultaneously. So now, calls to your Sprint mobile number can easily be answered from your office or your home phone, or even your computer through Gmail. Calls from Gmail and text messages sent from google.com/voice will also display your Sprint number. This basically gives Sprint customers all the benefits of Google Voice without the need to change or port their number.

Alternatively, Google Voice users can choose to replace their Sprint number with their Google Voice number when placing calls or sending text messages from their Sprint handset. This feature works on all Sprint phones and gives Sprint users all the benefits of Google Voice without the need for an app.

In both cases, Google Voice replaces Sprint voicemail, giving Sprint customers transcribed voicemail messages available online and sent via email and/or text message. International calls made from Google Voice users’ Sprint phones will be connected by Google Voice at our very low rates, and Sprint customers will also have access to the rest of Google Voice’s features, like creating personalized voicemail greetings based on who’s calling, call recording, blocking unwanted callers and more.

To learn more, watch the video below and visit google.com/voice/sprint.

This feature will be available soon to Sprint customers in the United States. Once it is launched, it will be rolled out gradually to all Google Voice users, and can be enabled through the Google Voice website. If you don’t see it right away, don’t worry—you can leave your email address at google.com/voice/sprint and we’ll notify you as soon as this becomes available.

In addition, today we’re introducing the Nexus S 4G for Sprint—which takes advantage of Sprint’s high-speed 4G data network and lets you enable Google Voice directly from the mobile app. Learn more on the Google Mobile Blog.

Posted by Jacob Hesch, Software Engineer

2 hidden ways to get more from your Gmail address - Official Gmail Blog

2011-03-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

2 hidden ways to get more from your Gmail address - Official Gmail Blog

Teach your old docs new tricks with Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

2011-02-25T03:43:00.000-05:00

Teach your old docs new tricks with Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office: "
Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office is now available to download for all Google Apps domains. With this plugin, you can now share, backup and simultaneously edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint®, and Excel® documents with co-workers without the need for sending attachments back and forth.

Features:

- Simultaneous editing for Word, PowerPoint and Excel files when using Microsoft Office.

- Google Docs sharing URLs for each Microsoft Office file.

- Revision history for Microsoft Office files, stored in Google Docs.

- Offline editing with smart synchronization of offline changes.

- No Microsoft Office upgrade or SharePoint® deployment required.

Editions included:

Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

Languages included:

English only but the plugin will work with whatever language is installed on the user’s system

How to access what's new:

- Make sure your system meets the system requirements for the plugin. Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office supports Microsoft Office 2003, Office 2007, or Office 2010.

- Ensure that Google Docs is an activated service in your Google Apps control panel.

- Allow users to install the plugin themselves or distribute it on your network using an .msi file.

Download page

Deploy Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Note: Google Cloud Connect is not available for Macs. Unfortunately due to the lack of support for open APIs on Microsoft Office for Mac, we are unable to make Google Cloud Connect available on Macs at this time. We look forward to when that time comes so we can provide this feature to our Mac customers as well.

For more information:

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/02/teach-your-old-docs-new-tricks-with.html

Admin Help Center and supported features.

End User Help Center

Join us for a live webinar on March 3rd, 2011 at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT to learn more about Google Cloud Connect. Register to attend the live event.

Get these product update alerts by email

Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Easier uploads to Picasa Web Albums

2011-02-25T03:36:00.000-05:00

Easier uploads to Picasa Web Albums: "Posted by Shuangfeng Li, Software Engineer

We’ve made sharing and storing your images in Picasa Web Albums even easier by improving the image upload process. Now you’ll find a smoother upload flow, the five-at-a-time limitation has been removed, and you can upload HD video, too.

To get started from Chrome, Firefox or Safari click the Upload button, select an album and then choose the images and videos you want to upload. After your images have uploaded, you will see large thumbnails where you can easily add a caption, zoom in or delete right from the upload screen.

If you use Internet Explorer, you can continue to use the basic uploader or use the plug-in for drag-and-drop bulk uploading.

Another easy way to upload to Picasa Web Albums is from Gallery on an Android device. For example, with Android 3.0, Honeycomb, you can capture an image or video with your tablet's camera and upload directly to Picasa Web Albums to share with friends.

We’re always working to improve Picasa Web Albums, please share your feedback in our forum. Happy uploading!

How to Set up a Computer Centered Workspace

2011-02-12T03:36:00.000-05:00

How to Set up a Computer Centered Workspace: "

An ergonomic workstation

Want to enjoy working at your computer, thinking better, and getting your work finished faster? Take a hint from activities that require much more sitting (like watching TV), endurance (like trucking), and sustained maximum performance (like car racing). Don't slump over your work – recline and look up into it! Unless your job requires it, there's no need to look attentive like a receptionist (an activity of interruption and stress). Instead, focus on setting up a computer centered workspace that helps you to work in a comfortable way.

Steps

In space, you can work in the fetal position. On Earth, you'll need a few adjustments.
Adopt a neutral posture.^[1] Arrange your body in its natural relaxed geometry. Unfortunately, since that is the fetal position, you'll have to make a few changes to be able to do anything. Sit up to free your arms for work. Since doing this puts weight on your back, straighten out so that the weight not supported by the back of the chair transfers neatly down your spine without strain on the back muscles and connective tissues. And balance your arms and legs so that they don't pull on your back or put stress on the more delicate extremities. This will free your full attention for work.
- Use what you have. You might not have a particular kind of equipment, your equipment might not have a particular adjustment, or a particular adjustment might be incompatible with your work (perhaps you're a receptionist required to sit erect). Go through all these steps and get as close as you can to the suggestions outlined here. Adjustments to one part of your setup can often mitigate deficient adjustments to others. Then consider where money might well be spent on additional equipment to fix remaining problems.
Manager's chair
Select a chair. Look for:
- Surface:
  - Vinyl^[2] or similar smooth plastic requires little care. ('Bonded leather' is essentially vinyl, not leather: don't pay extra for it.)
  - Leather^[3] is stylish and also tends to stay clean. 'Full grain' leather is best; 'top grain' is a middle grade; 'split grain' is cheaper but can still be fine.
  - Cloth is grippy, breathable to prevent sweat accumulation, and can stay cleaner if treated with fabric protectant such as Scotchgard^[4] by the manufacturer or after purchase, preferably when brand new to protect as clean fabric as possible and not seal in dirt.
  - If you're buying used, you may prefer an impermeable surface such as vinyl, shiny leather in good condition, or wood or hard plastic (for which you'll need an exact fit) because it can easily be made about as clean as new. Natural materials often require more careful cleaning than synthetics.
- Support: Mesh is a surface and a support. It allows air to circulate for coolness. But since each part is supported only by adjacent parts, it tends to sag like a hammock or waterbed, and ramp up toward a relatively immovable edge supports. Adjustments within the middle of large padded areas, such as for the lower back, and clever design of edges which the body will contact, such as a rolled-over or foam-padded seat front, can help. Foam supports better, lifting each small area discretely from underneath, like a mattress. Avoid thin, soft-when-new foam (or, with used furniture, foam with softened or compacted spots): it will rapidly 'bottom out' under heavier areas.
- Style: The chair should support the back and the shoulders. This style is often known as a 'manager's' chair. Your neck should be straight so your head will balance itself and not need the headrest characteristic of an 'executive' chair. While an executive chair can work, be sure to check that it has the full range of adjustments. Some are more ostentatious than practical.
- Fit: There are many different kinds of chairs carefully designed many different ways. Most of them probably fit someone very well before the manufacturer decided to make many, many copies. More expensive ones often adjust more to fit more people in more positions. It's generally best to try out and buy a chair in person to make sure it can fit you, and well worth paying a reasonable premium for having the facility to try it and the salesperson to explain it. Sit in it at a desk as if typing, not just relaxing or hunching attentively forward. Look for one that fits well with each of its major adjustments somewhere in the middle of its range, not all the way at one end: you might decide you'd like your chair a little different later.
- An old-fashioned highly adjustable wooden chair looks great, but make sure the contours fit you perfectly and the armrests (which are typically not adjustable) are at a proper height and will not interfere with keyboard placement. If they do, they'll support you just as well as a foam chair your body would mesh to that shape. These chairs tend not to have upper-back support, though.
- You can even Make a desk chair from a car seat.
Adjust the chair. You may need to fine-tune some settings once the others are about right.
- Adjust the back tilt. The further you recline, the more the weight of your torso rests on the chair back and the less it presses down on the backbone. Try 20 to 30 degrees back.^[5] This substantial tilt will also gently pull you back into the better-supported reclined position rather than letting you slump forward into a slouch after you lean forward out of, or to show, interest in something.^[6]
  - Lock the back in place at the proper tilt.
  - If the back can't be locked, see if you can set the maximum amount of recline and reduce the tension so it readily flops into place.
  - If the amount of recline can't be adjusted (on some chairs it may lock at each end of a range, neither of which is desirable), adjust the tilt tension so that the chair tends to balance at the proper angle when you relax in it.
  - Reclining more would reduce the stress on your back even more, but would require odd placement and angles for the monitor, keyboard and other office equipment.
- Adjust the seat tilt. The seat should be tilted back a little so that your hips are not extended unnaturally and the angled downward force from your back doesn't tend to slide you out of the seat. Some chairs tilt the back and seat as a unit; others tilt the seat with the back, but not as much, through a more complicated mechanism often called 'synchro-tilt'. Some might allow tilting the seat separately. See which you prefer.
- Adjust the back height. Chair backs often have a more protrusive part to go under the mid-back and a hollower part for the shoulders. Adjust the back (or, on some chairs, different parts of the back) to put these in the right places.
- Adjust the seat extension. Chair seats often have a hollower part to go under the upper thighs and a fatter part to go under the lower thighs. Slide the seat forward so that the lower thighs are well-supported, but not so far forward that there is pressure on the inside part of the knees or associated tendons. The tailbone should go all the way against the back of the chair.
- Adjust the feet. The feet should be supported at a neutral angle (extended a little), and at a height such that the legs neither dangle and pull on the knees and themselves, nor push up the knees allowing the hips to twist forward and not support the lower back as well. There should be a moderate amount of pressure on the lower thighs.
  - The best way is an angled footrest. Some are adjustable.
  - Don't wear high-heeled shoes; if you must, prop the balls of the feet on something for a comfortable angle in them.
- Adjust the arms. The armrests should be close to the body, so the arms don't tend to slide out from supporting the shoulders. The armrests should be at a height just a little lower than that to which the arms would dangle naturally on their own, so as not to allow the arms to pull on the shoulders or push them up. The wide part of the forearm muscles, the central outside surface of the forearm bones, or both, not the point of the elbow or the wrist, should rest on the armrests. The forearms should balance in such a way that the wrists extend straight from them (as viewed from the back surface of the hand) to a point an inch or so over the keyboard, propped up gently by the natural relaxed curl in the fingers which are resting on rather than striking keys at any given time. This will balance the arms so there is no weight continually to be supported by the wrists, except a tiny amount supported by the fingers in their naturally curved positions, or hanging continually on the shoulders. Allow the upper part of the upper arms to rest against the chair back, in plane with the torso (but elbows out a little so the arm muscles can all move freely). The elbows can rest on the arm rests too, but much of the weight should be on the fat part of the forearms.
  - Broad, convex, padded armrests are best.
  - The armrests and their supports should not extend forward much lest they interfere with the keyboard drawer extension. The armrests normally extending forward from a post on some chairs can be reversed side to side to extend backwards. The then-backward-extending part is ignored, and the forward-extending part is just long enough to set the forearm muscles on. The armrest for the non-dominant arm may need to be a little higher because the muscle leaning on it may not be so large.
  - The distance from the armrests to the body is often nonadjustable. Avoid a chair that is very wide, unless you are too.
  - The wrists should not be supported directly, only by leverage from a well-balanced forearm and weakly by the relaxed and key-striking fingers. They have many tendons running across the inside surface that control the hand and wrist with muscles in the arm.^[7] They tend to bob outwards with use and are much more sensitive to tangential pressure than the arm muscles. Wrist pads can actually make them sore.
  - Don't support the palms directly, either. Without an unusual-shaped support, this would require bending the wrist, stressing the tendons running through it, and twisting it, making finger-control awkward; impede swinging the whole forearm slightly reach out-of-the-way keys quickly and without finger strain, and require more key striking force to come from the weaker fingers than from the stronger wrist, hand and arm, which otherwise shift about a little as you type.
- You don't need a headrest. The head and neck should be perfectly vertical so they tend to put all their weight neatly onto the bones, requiring only small weak muscle movements to maintain the position.
Microsoft Natural Elite ergonomic keyboard
Select a keyboard. An 'ergonomic' style, curved outward and preferably raised at the center, is best, but takes a while to get used to. It keeps the wrists straight and at their relaxed state of rotation when the elbows are at the user's side or out just a little, so that the shoulders are supported, and the arms turned inward toward the center of the keyboard.
- The keys should have a snappy feel for feedback when they are pressed. Don't push them so hard they 'hit bottom' firmly; the shock is very wearing to the body. If you can't stop doing that, get a buckling-spring type keyboard like an IBM Model M^[8], which can be tapped harder. Those are very loud, though.
- Unless you spend much time entering numbers, look for the absence of a numeric keypad so that the mouse can be closer to the keyboard.
- You might like to try a keyboard like the Microsoft Natural Elite keyboard. Microsoft keyboards and mice work well with most operating systems and programs, including free software.
Adjust the keyboard. Make it close to flat (retract any rear props). Place it so the typing 'home keys' are directly in front of you, close to your body, and low enough that your forearms stay straight, with your wrists straight and fingers curving gently down onto the keys. That will probably require a keyboard drawer.
- Remember not to rest your wrists on or in front of the keyboard, even if it has an extended area there.
Optical scroll mouse
Select a mouse. If you mostly type, the mouse is not very important. Ideally, it should be an optical mouse, which works more consistently than a ball-containing mouse, and on a cloth-covered neoprene mouse pad for smooth movement. If you're left-handed, get a left-handed or symmetrical mouse. Some users like trackballs, which require less wrist movement, but they're less precise and, because sensitivity thus can't feasibly be increased as much, slower. A mouse with buttons discrete from a fat rear part upon which the front part of the palm simply rests (namely, most mice aside from some Apple ones) allows the hand and arm to stay relaxed.
- A mouse with a cord is lighter and easier to move than one without a cord. The cord will also keep it from falling off a small surface like a keyboard tray and getting lost. Secure the cord loosely to something near the mouse, leaving some slack, so the weight of most of the cord has no effect on moving the mouse.
- Avoid some more-complicated keystrokes by using a mouse that has the full range of common buttons, including at least a left button, right button, and clickable scroll wheel. Five buttons are the most that is commonly used. A scroll wheel that clicks as it scrolls is less smooth but more precise and much better for games, in which each click performs a discrete act such as making a new selection.
- Some trackballs and touchpads are integrated into keyboards. The best place for these devices is generally a spot on the keyboard easily reachable from the typing 'home' position, such as in the plastic flange 'wrist-rest' (use thumbs).
Adjust the mouse. It should be near the keyboard to reduce arm motion and the need to extend the arm to a less-than-optimal position.
- If you're left-handed, consider switching the left and right buttons' function in the operating system.
- Increase mouse sensitivity, preferably with acceleration, to reduce the total distance you need to move the mouse. Gentle wrist or even finger motion should be all that is needed.
Select other input devices as necessary. Try to keep them near and at the same level at the keyboard.
Keyboard drawer with mouse tray
Try a keyboard 'tray' or 'drawer'. The arms and tops of the hands, which contain tendons extending into the arms by which the fingers are controlled, should extend straight forward. The easiest way is with a keyboard 'tray' or 'drawer'. It should be just about on your lap – the precise height will depend on your arms, their supports, and the keyboard itself.
- A big wide tray is usually best because a mouse can go next to it and things will not tend to slide off, but sometimes interferes with armrests.
- The elbows should be slightly outward so the hands need not themselves turn inward to reach the keys. This will mean the keyboard needs to be close to the stomach. Pull the tray out, and pull the chair up to it.
Wraparound LCD monitor array
Select one or more monitors. LCD monitors are pretty much universal now and tend to cause less eyestrain than CRTs. Use digital connections such as DVI (no need for expensive cables; a major benefit of digital transmission is that a problem not large enough to turn 'zeros' into 'ones' has no effect whatsoever). Some monitors do not support digital connections; some video cards do not support digital connections or resolutions over 1920x1200, many do not support two monitors, and few support three. Getting these features is more a matter of looking for them than paying much of a premium, except perhaps for triple-head video cards.
- If you have a CRT monitor, turn up the refresh rate (60 Hz or slower is badly noticeable as flicker; 70 Hz is better; 85 Hz or higher is good) and consider a glare filter. If you're choosing a CRT monitor, look for one that is vertically or entirely flat, so that its entire surface faces the same way (with respect to at least one axis) and by tilting slightly can reflect glare from a given direction unnoticeably away from you across its entire surface.
- The monitors should cover a wide enough area that you can have all of the documents you would work with at once open simultaneously and showing enough data that you don't have to regularly click or scroll back and forth, wasting time and struggling to remember their contents.
- Place multiple monitors side by side. The neck unbalances when tilted up and down, and the eyes do not move very far up and down on their own, so there is little to gain from stacking monitors.
- Bezels can be distracting, particularly between multiple monitors. Choose a monitor with a narrow, unobtrusive, non-glare bezel, preferably matte black or gray. Huge monitors are more expensive per unit area than medium size ones, though. One or more 2560x1600 30 inch (76cm) monitors are great, but 1920x1200 24 inch (61cm) monitors would be a better bargain for most.
- The higher the resolution, the better (generally). If text is too small, you can scale it up to be bigger but very sharp.
- Covering an area wider than your forward field of view with monitors brings diminishing returns.
- Avoid glossy monitors. They look better when turned off, but not much different when turned on, and create glare by reflecting bright lights behind the monitor.
Comfortable monitor placement
Adjust the monitors.
- Place them toward the back of the desk to reduce too-close focusing. This will reduce eyestrain and possibly nearsightedness.
- The most-used monitor should be directly in front of you to facilitate keeping the body straight. Others should be on one or both sides.
  - Identify the most-used monitor to the operating system as the primary monitor so items such as program menus can be placed on it automatically. If your monitors are different sizes, use the biggest one.
- With your head straight, raise the monitors so their centers, height-wise, are roughly directly in front of your eyes or even a little above. This will prompt you not to slump.
- Tilt them so that they are perpendicular in both axes (i.e., normal) to your field of view. Multiple monitors should be in an arc, with their centers equidistant from your head. This keeps as much of them in focus at once as possible; your eyes won't have to refocus as you glance around.
- Match monitor illumination to ambient light. Don't work in the dark. Keep ambient light as diffused as possible and adjust its intensity to keep white objects in the room not much dimmer than white areas on the monitor – which is pretty bright. You can also adjust the monitor brightness, but with most monitors will likely prefer that turned down most of the way. Match the white balance on the monitor roughly to the ambient light, generally with a setting on the monitor or in the operating system.
Make your papers an extension of your monitors. Just as it's easiest to switch attention between computer documents by having them near one another across a wide monitor area, it's easiest to switch attention between paper documents and a computer by keeping the paper documents near the computer and a similar distance from your eyes. Prop a paper document up on a stand next to the computer if you'll just read from it, or on a sturdy stand in front of and tilted up toward the monitor if you'll write on it too. Make sure the stand can't bump or scrape the screen.
Adjust your work environment.
- Galileo thermometer showing a comfortable 76 degrees
  Temperature. Keep warm. Cold numbs, stiffens and slows the fingers. Excessive heat or cold numbs, stiffens and slows the mind. 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees centigrade) is best for most people.^[9] If the office is too cold, wear something that is warm and, particularly around the wrists, loose-fitting. If too warm, wear less-covering, thin, loose, and porous clothes, and cool off with a fan, preferably quiet, or a natural breeze.
  - Heat doesn't flow well from the heat-producing, contiguous, insulated body core to the fingers when one is just sitting at a desk, so insulating yourself with heavy clothes to conserve enough heat to keep the fingers supple in a cold environment may overheat your core (and head) a little and make you sleepy. A sufficiently warm environment makes this trade-off unnecessary.
  - Feet don't usually need to do much at the computer, but can distract you relentlessly if they get cold. You can heat them selectively with a heated footrest, or with a heater under the desk – preferably the forced-air type so it can't set fire by radiation, and with all modern safety features – which will consume much more energy and heat the legs and torso significantly too.
- Window open for fresh air
  Air quality. Keep it clean. Perhaps scented if you're good with aromatherapy.
  - Stenches, excessive dust, or other pollution will be distracting, and will have to be dealt with according to individual circumstances.
  - Carbon dioxide can build up in densely populated areas and cause lethargy and a distracting general sense of 'stale air'.^[10] Houses generally leak in more than enough fresh air for their limited number of occupants, but one can use a carbon dioxide meter to adjust ventilation equipment for adequate air replacement in a big building. (Too rapid air replacement wastes heating energy in winter and cooling energy in summer.)
  - Too-low humidity commonly causes dry skin and sinuses in winter. Correct it with a portable or automatic permanently-installed humidifier. Too-high humidity can, most often in summer, cause mold, leading to bad smells and illness. Air conditioning will generally correct excessive humidity: it chills the air and the condensate is drained away or evaporated outdoors. (A dehumidifier is essentially an air conditioner whose warm coils are indoors too; it's generally better to use an air conditioner and keep the cooling.)
  - Pleasant aromas can improve mood and attentiveness. For instance, citrus may increase alertness, flowers may calm and improve concentration, and forest scent may relax.^[11] You can tend to become acclimated to and not notice scents after a while. It's therefore a good idea to alternate them with scent generators on timers: buy an integrated unit, or simply plug an electric vaporizer into a timer.
- Bright, soft office lighting
  Lighting. Darkness probably makes you sleepy. It strains your eyes to focus precisely, and your mind as, having shallow depth-of-field from dilation, a lag for focusing precedes seeing much when you shift your field of view.^[12] It may come as no surprise that dark winters can even depress you.^[13].
  - Bright, even light is best. Aim for at least two 27-watt-plus compact fluorescent light bulbs (or four-foot fluorescent tubes) to light a small room; four for for a big one.
    - Incandescent bulbs require wasteful or even dangerously-hot-running wattages for this kind of light. And the color temperature is wrong.
    - Fluorescent troffers with diffusers, shop-lights inverted atop shelves to reflect off the ceiling, or multi-bulb torchieres are best.
    - You may prefer the look of a table lamp, but high-wattage compact-style fluorescent bulbs are hard to fit in them. Use a plain white synthetic fabric, namely, largely translucent, shade to diffuse the light while blocking as little as possible. A Sylvania 65W Dulux-EL bulb is particularly small for a high-wattage bulb and a 12 inch (30cm) lamp harp can be bent wider (at the top and back again at the bottom) to fit around it.
    - Even relatively diffuse light has 'hot spots', typically the fixtures themselves or the ceiling spots above them, specular reflections (glare) from which can distract. A dark, matte desk surface is best. If yours is light or shiny, try a plastic desk pad. Look for one with a soft-looking, leather-like surface, not just a texture in a shiny surface. A visor or baseball cap keeps overhead light out of the field of view from entering the eyes directly or off the cheeks to produce subtly distracting and tiring veiling flare.^[14]
    - Fluorescent lights should have 'electronic' ballasts which flicker unnoticeably thousands of times per second, not 'magnetic' ballasts that flicker noticeably, especially in peripheral vision, or at least annoy subconsciously. Cheap compact fluorescent bulbs and fluorescent fixtures often have the magnetic type.
  - Color temperature (tint).^[15] Incandescent and 'warm white' fluorescent bulbs (2800-3400 K color temperature) are orange, like early-morning and late-evening light. 'Daylight' (5000-6500K) bulbs are blue-white, like noon sun and sky light. 'Bright white' or 'cool white' (4000 K) bulbs are in-between, common in kitchens and commercial buildings. Daylight bulbs look distinctly blue next to the other kinds, but you'll probably get used to them over time. And, because the tint suggests to the body that the time is mid-day, they increase alertness.^[16] Bright white provides a partial benefit.
  - Balance brightness and color temperature. Bright light and blue-white high color temperature are best, but they need to go together.^[17] Just as a blue sunset rather than an orange one would make the world look very strange, a daylight-type bulb's blue-white light looks odd if there isn't very much of it. Conversely, intense warm-white light looks dingy. If you find bright light distracting, or don't have enough light fixtures for the intensity needed to make daylight bulbs' light look right, use bright-white.
  - Eventually you'll need sleep, even if only a little. Constant bright, blue-white light can make you lose track of time and extend your energy past your bedtime and past your intelligence. You may not want too much of it at home. Notice the light outside if possible and glance at the clock occasionally to leave work on time and leave your home computer at a reasonable time.
    - You could put a daylight bulb on a timer to turn off on a schedule leaving a dimmer, yellower bulb behind as a gentle reminder to finish each day. There is even a program available, Redshift, that will automatically adjust your monitor color balance to mimic nature as the hours go by.^[18]
- Sound. Quiet is usually best. White noise is better than distinct, distracting sounds.
  - Reduce noise, including computer noises, as much as possible.
    - Keep noisy office equipment above or below you, shielded by furniture, and with noise-emitting orifices directed away if you can't move it elsewhere entirely. But don't block its vents. High-speed printers can sometimes be set to run a little slower and much quieter.
  - Noisy office driving worker to distraction
    Earplugs or noise-blocking or canceling headphones can calm excess noise. A white-noise generator can mask more-distracting noise, but keep it near you so its volume can stay low and contribute little to the overall noise level for everyone.
  - Fast, cheerful music (try Internet radio) can help keep your mind semi-occupied rather than frustrated and pace you through simple, repetitive tasks requiring little concentration. But don't distract others: consider headphones.
- Shift and stretch. Even with the best workspace, you'll be more comfortable if you shift about in your chair occasionally. Stretch or walk every couple of hours to relieve and redistribute pressure, stress and strain, and see and hear a few new things. Maybe even humans.

Tips

Receptionist's ergonomic workspace
If you have to look attentive:
- Recline less, but not so much that you tend to slump forward when relaxed.
- See and be seen past your monitor (or two little monitors). If you are short, raise your seat and footrest higher. Lower your monitor so you can see and be seen over it, but not so much that you have to lean your head down into it and strain your neck to keep it from slumping further. Maintaining sufficient distance will reduce the angle by which you have to look down. Consider a desk with a beveled corner in which to arrange the computer for comfort but see people in your peripheral vision.
- Readjust your monitor angle perpendicular to your line of sight toward its center, and your footrest angle to prop your feet slightly extended.
Laptops present a few options, depending on how much extra equipment you want to have at the place of use:
- Connect an external monitor, keyboard and mouse, directly or through a docking station, to use a laptop almost exactly as a desktop.
  - A laptop as a desktop does introduce a few compromises. The fan is often loud and high-pitched compared to a desktop's fans, and the laptop often can't practically be placed on the floor to distance its noise from you. Often carpet would cover the air inlet. Laptops rarely support dual monitors or resolutions over 1920x1200 externally, or ECC RAM for improved stability in extended operation.^[19]
  - Connecting accessories with radio links built into the computer such as Bluetooth, or with small wireless adapters that sit almost flush with the edges of USB ports and can be left in place, reduces the chance of dropping the computer or breaking connectors by accidentally pulling on the accessories or pushing on their plugs.
- Elevate a laptop on a less-slippery rubber-footed stand, or, in a pinch, a more-slippery box or books to put its screen at a correct height, and connect an external keyboard and mouse to optimize everything but monitor size.
- If you're just using a laptop by itself, try putting it in a keyboard drawer (a big one with a rim, to avoid dropping the laptop).
- Or simply recline in a chair with it in your lap. Rest your arms on the armrests or simply in your lap. While resting your forearms on your lap or resting your palms in front of the keyboard and angling your hands up into the keyboard area isn't ideal, it's not nearly as bad with a laptop as with a regular keyboard because a laptop is typically thin and the keyboard is slightly recessed. Check that your leg isn't blocking any bottom air intake; a laptop with air intakes and exhausts on the edge rather than the bottom is best.
Try the Dvorak keyboard layout to reduce finger motion by assigning more-common letters under more-easily reached and pushed keys. You simply tell the operating system to 'remap' (recognize different symbols for) the keys, and re-label them if you like; you don't need a new keyboard and can switch back easily. Your finger dexterity won't go away, but the new key positions will take some time to learn.
Lose Weight so there's less of you to support, and Build Muscle so you can support it better.
Wear lower-body garments, including underwear, that when you stand are loose around your waist. Sitting will tighten them as it pulls the back down and pushes the front up so they fit around you obliquely. When you sit for hours, they should still be somewhat loose and comfortable. If you relieve the pressure by slouching to widen the angle your abdomen and legs form by curving your lower back, you'll trade the gentle support of your chair and strength of a straight spine for straining a bent spine. So, instead, eliminate the pressure.
- A garment suspended from the shoulders, like a pair of pants with suspenders or a dress, is best because it doesn't need to hold onto the waist to not fall down.
- A garment that doesn't fit tightly around the legs, such as a loose skirt, shouldn't pull itself crooked as much. But it might tighten as you sit as some body areas push upward. Look for one just snug enough in areas that tighten little or not at all to hold it up, and loose in the areas that do constrict.
- A garment suspended from the hips only, like pants without suspenders, can if necessary for moving about be tightened temporarily with a belt. Or it can snug itself gently with elastic or an elastic-bearing belt.
- Compare elastic-bearing garments carefully. Look for ones with plenty of extra length in the pleated and interwoven non-stretchy cloth associated with the elastic so it stretches with tension that is not high and increases only modestly over the range it will stretch as you sit, stand, and move about.
Leaning back in the chair with your feet forward a little but supporting your knees pushes the chair backward. If it tends to roll away from its most comfortable position, avoid a slick plastic chair mat or even add a rug with a non-slip pad to keep it from rolling too easily.
Keep these principles in mind as you adjust other kinds of seats and controls, such as those on a car.
- Sometimes there's a tradeoff between relaxation and leverage. In a power-everything, cruise-controlled car, keep your seat low and rest your heel on the floor so you need only extend rest and extend your foot periodically to stop or go. Keep your elbows rested to the sides, preferably on level armrests, and hands rested in a self-leveling fashion around the eight and four-o-clock positions on the wheel--not an unstable position near the top. You may need to offset your hands a little so the car tracks straight (or very slightly away from oncoming traffic) without constant strain if your arm rests aren't level, or something isn't entirely symmetrical. For a vehicle or driving style requiring greater or more frequent effort, you might prefer to sit up over or closer to the controls to bear down on them. No matter what's most comfortable, make sure you have enough reach and range of motion to manhandle the controls in an emergency.
The most expensive part of most computing systems is not anything in the computer, but the operator in front of it.^[20] So, removing bottlenecks in the operator's sustained focus, clarity of thought and data-entry speed and accuracy is a great place to start efforts to improve productivity.^[21] Soft armrests might save much more time in transferring data to the fingers than a fast CPU would save in shuffling it around once it's reached the keyboard.
- Keeping the space around a computer well-lit and at proper temperature will pay for itself many times over through increased productivity.^[22]
- To save energy on climate-control of a big, mostly-empty house, choose a cool area in summer, and a warm area, space heater, or electric blanket in winter.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Cornell University Ergonomics Web, http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ - research source

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Event 2 FEB 11

2011-02-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

The next generation of mobile maps

2010-12-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

The next generation of mobile maps: "(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog and the Google Lat Long Blog)

I’m excited to announce Google Maps 5.0 for Android, with two significant new features: 3D interaction and offline reliability.

We launched Google Maps for mobile a little more than five years ago. Since then, we’ve added dozens of features, and we’ve grown from a few thousand to more than 100 million users. Still, a couple of things have remained the same: a flat, north-up map and the need for a strong Internet connection. Today, we’re changing that for the first time.

Tilt while zoomed in (left) or use compass mode (right) to orient yourself with 3D buildings.

Explore maps in 3D
Until now, Google Maps has always downloaded the map as a set of small, square images that we stitch together to form the map you see. (You’ve probably seen those gray squares getting filled in, block-by-block, as the images load over the network.) Starting today, we’ll use vector graphics to dynamically draw the map on your device as you use it, allowing you to interact with it in new ways:

Tilting: Drag down with two fingers to tilt the map. Tilt while zoomed in on one of the 100+ cities around the world with 3D buildings to see a skyline spring to life.
Rotating: Twist with two fingers to rotate the map. After tilting to see 3D buildings, rotate around them to gain a new perspective from any direction.
Smooth zooming: Slide two fingers together or apart, and see the map and labels continuously scale to any zoom level, stopping when your fingers stop.
Compass mode: Center the map on your location, and then tap the compass button in the top right corner. The map will flip into 3D mode and start rotating to match your perspective, while still keeping all the labels upright and readable.

I found 3D buildings especially useful on a recent trip to New York. From my hotel to the Google office in Chelsea and bars on the Lower East Side, this richer representation of the real world made the map much more helpful. And whenever I walked out of a building or subway station, I used compass mode to get myself quickly oriented and on my way. Check out the video below to see tilt, rotation, zoom and compass mode in action, or see more pictures.

Offline reliability
Google Maps has always been, and continues to be, a fundamentally Internet-connected experience, meaning you always get the freshest map and place data, search and voice search, live traffic conditions, satellite and Street View imagery, and much more. Still, we understand that mobile Internet connections aren’t 100% reliable. So today we’re happy to take the first steps toward greater offline reliability, so you can find your way even if you lose your connection.

In the past, you’ve probably had frustrating moments when you get stranded without a map, whether ducking into the subway, sitting at the back of a restaurant or traveling anywhere with a flaky Internet connection. But dynamically drawing maps requires 100 times less data to get maps across all zoom levels, so now we’re able to proactively cache (or store) large areas on your device based on where you use Maps the most. This way, you can rely on having fast, robust maps available to you where you’re most likely to need them.

For example, I live in San Francisco and work in Mountain View, so Maps makes sure I can always pull up detailed street maps of each city and area maps for the whole San Francisco Bay Area. When I do have an Internet connection, I still get live traffic, imagery, richer map details and all the other features I’m used to with Google Maps.

Rather than having a static set of maps when installed, Maps will automatically start caching the areas you visit the most when your device is plugged in and connected to WiFi (e.g., the nightly charge). We’re already hard at work improving the algorithms and technology behind these features, so over time you can expect to see maps work better in more offline situations.

Offline rerouting
If you’re one of the more than 10 million people relying on Google Maps Navigation (Beta), our free turn-by-turn GPS navigation feature, losing your Internet connection can be particularly painful. (This happened to me on a recent ski trip to Tahoe, and I was left trying to manually find my way back to my route.) So we’re also introducing offline rerouting. You’ll still need a connection to start a route, but if you miss a turn along the way, we’ll quickly get you back on track, even if you don’t have an Internet connection. We’ll be rolling this feature out gradually over the next few weeks.

Google Maps Navigation now automatically reroutes you, even if you lose your connection.

These new features are just the first steps in maximizing dynamic map drawing technology to create a faster, more interactive experience where efficiency really matters: mobile devices. For example, we estimate that viewing maps now requires almost 70% less mobile network data overall than before. We can’t wait to take the next steps in making Google Maps faster, more reliable and even more useful no matter where you take it.

Get Google Maps for mobile 5.0 by searching for Google Maps in Android Market (or tap on this link if you’re on your phone). Android 1.6+ devices can get Maps 5.0, but 3D and offline features require Android 2.0+, and some features may not be supported for all devices or countries.

So try it out. Wander around in compass mode, explore 3D buildings—even dare to open Maps on the subway! I hope you enjoy all the new features as much as we do.

Posted by Michael Siliski, Product Manager

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

2010-12-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

Update: Evernote 4.1 for Windows

2010-12-08T03:25:00.000-05:00

Update: Evernote 4.1 for Windows: "

Evernote 4 for Windows got a few nice improvements this morning. If you are using Evernote 4 already, then check for updates. If you are currently using Evernote 3.5, then please download version 4 here. The auto-update from 3.5 to 4 is coming soon.

Here are the new features.

Notebooks Stacks

Visually organizing your notebooks just got easier. Notebook Stacks allow you to group related notebooks together. For example, you can create a ‘Work’ Stack and a ‘Personal’ Stack. Put all of your work projects into one and all your personal notebooks into the other.

Creating a Stack

To create a Stack, drag and drop one notebook onto another or right click on a notebook to add it to a new or existing Stack.

Search in Stacks

Say you’re looking for something that you know is in a particular Stack, but you’re not sure in which notebook. No problem. You can search across all the notebooks contained within a Stack by opening the Search Explanation and choosing the Stack you’re interested in.

The great thing about Stacks is that they will be visible across all Windows and Mac computers where you have Evernote installed. So, you can have your ‘Work’ Stack open in the office and your ‘Personal’ Stack open at home.

Create more notebooks

We’ve increased the total number of synchronized notebooks that you can have in your account from 100 to 250. This increase is very useful for educators that organize student work in Evernote, teams that collaborate on projects using Evernote’s sharing capabilities, and anyone else that uses notebooks to organize their work.

Improved Note Info panel

The Note Info panel now has three possible states, so you can choose how much information you want to see.

Completely open: displaying tags, source URL, geo-location, created and updates dates, and more.

Partially open: displaying only tags and source URL

Closed

Other improvements

Installation is now possible even if you do not have administrative access to your machine

Improved search for to do and notes with encryption

New languages: We now support Korean and Traditional Chinese

Updated the Note Info panel

Download Evernote 4.1 now »

Introducing Google Earth 6—the next generation of realism

2010-11-30T04:56:00.000-05:00

Introducing Google Earth 6—the next generation of realism: "(Cross-posted on the Google LatLong Blog)

Today we’re introducing the latest version of Google Earth, our interactive digital atlas. Now you can explore your childhood home, visit distant lands or scope out your next vacation spot with even more realistic tools.

In Google Earth 6, we’re taking realism in the virtual globe to the next level with two new features: a truly integrated Street View experience and 3D trees. We’ve also made it even easier to browse historical imagery. Over the next several days on our LatLong blog, we’ll be digging deeper into these great new features, but here’s an overview to whet your appetite.

Integrated Street View
When Google Earth was first introduced, people were wowed by the ability to virtually fly from outer space right down to the roof of their house. While flying over rooftops gives you a super-human view of our world, the ground level is where we experience our daily lives. We took our first baby steps toward bringing the Google Earth experience to street level with our implementation of Street View in Google Earth in 2008, which enabled flying into Street View panoramas. In Google Earth 6, the Street View experience is now fully integrated, so you can journey from outer space right to your doorstep in one seamless flight.

Now, you’ll notice that Pegman is docked right alongside the navigation controls—an ever-present travel companion ready whenever you want to get your feet on the street and take a virtual walk around. Just pick up Pegman and drop him wherever you see a highlighted blue road to fly right down to the ground. Once there, you can use the navigation controls or your mouse to look around. And unlike our earlier Street View layer, you can now move seamlessly from one location to another as if you’re walking down the street by using the scroll-wheel on your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard. If you want to visit somewhere farther away, simply click the “exit” button and you’ll immediately return to an aerial view where you can easily fly to your next destination.

Drag and drop Pegman to enter Street View. The blue lines indicate where Street View imagery is available.

3D trees
I think we can all agree that our planet without trees would be a pretty desolate place. Besides the ever-important task of providing us with the oxygen we breathe, trees are an integral part of the landscape around us. In Google Earth, while we and our users have been busy populating the globe with many thousands of 3D building models, trees have been rather hard to come by. All that is changing with Google Earth 6, which includes beautifully detailed, 3D models for dozens of species of trees, from the Japanese Maple to the East African Cordia to my personal favorite, the cacao tree. While we’ve just gotten started planting trees in Google Earth, we already have more than 80 million trees in places such as Athens, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Tokyo. Through our Google Earth Outreach program, we’ve also been working with organizations including the Green Belt Movement in Africa, the Amazon Conservation Team in Brazil and CONABIO in Mexico to model our planet’s threatened forests.

To enjoy these leafy additions to Google Earth, make sure you turn on the 3D buildings layer on the left side panel. As a starting point, try a search for “Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco.” Once you arrive at your destination, click the zoom slider. You’ll then be taken down to the ground where you can use our new ground-level navigation to walk among the trees.

3D trees in San Francisco, California

Easy-to-use historical imagery
One of the features people told us they liked best in Google Earth 5 was the availability of historical imagery, which enables you to visually go back in time to see such things as Warsaw in 1935, London in 1945, and Port-au-Prince Haiti before and after the devastating earthquake of January 2010. But it wasn’t always obvious when historical imagery was available for a particular place, making this feature one of Google Earth’s lesser-known gems.

So with this new version, we’ve made it very easy to discover historical imagery. When you fly to an area where historical imagery is available, the date of the oldest imagery will appear in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. If you click on this date, you’ll instantly be taken back in time to view imagery from that time period. You can then browse through all the historical imagery available for that location, or simply close the time control and return to the default view.

The site of Google's Mountain View campus in 1948

To download Google Earth 6, or to see videos of our newest features, visit http://earth.google.com.

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager

Now available with Google Apps: Google Voice

2010-11-24T14:33:00.000-05:00

Now available with Google Apps: Google Voice: "

Editor’s note: We recently launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what’s new and how your organization can benefit.

Welcome to Google Voice
Telephones make our lives easier every day, but we’ve all met with the limitations of what the existing technology can do for us. Maybe it’s missing an important call because you were away from your office. Maybe it’s juggling multiple voicemail inboxes or struggling to listen to voicemail in a crowded conference room or on a noisy train. Maybe its wishing you could set up a conference call right from your mobile phone and connect with colleagues instantly.

Now, Google Apps users can move beyond these limitation and use their telephones in new and more flexible ways by using Google Voice with their Google Apps accounts.

Google Voice is about giving you more control over your communications, regardless of which phone or carrier you use. Here’s a little bit about how it works:

A Google Voice number is tied to you (not to a single device) and can ring all of your phones. This means when someone calls your Google Voice number, you can choose to have it ring your work phone, home phone, mobile phone, or all of them at once, so you’ll never miss a call again.

Google Voice makes voicemail as easy as email by transcribing your voicemail messages and storing them all in one place, along with your SMS messages, for as long as you like. You’ve long had the ability to quickly scan email messages as they arrive, and Google Voice now brings this same flexibility to voicemail.

With Google Voice you can switch phones in the middle of a call, so you can continue a conversation that you started on your desk phone from your mobile when you need to get going.

You can also customize call settings based on who’s calling. Google Voice lets you choose which phones ring based on the caller, which voicemail greeting is played if you don’t answer, and allows you to block certain numbers or send them straight to voicemail. For example, with this functionality you could direct most calls to your desk phone, but also ring your mobile when an important customer calls, as well as serve different voicemail greetings to that customer than you do to your coworkers or suppliers.

Just like Google Apps, Google Voice runs in Google’s cloud so it can be accessed online, even when you are away from your phone.

Learn more and get started
Google Voice can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com] (replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). If your organization isn’t using Google Apps yet, you can learn more and sign up today at http://www.google.com/apps/more.

For more information, you can visit the Google Voice overview page to see video explanations of the key features or take a look at our Help Center for details instructions. You can also follow the latest product news and features on the Google Voice Blog.

Share your story
Have you already started using Google Voice at your organization, or plan to now that it’s available? Please share your story and your organization could be featured in the next Gone Google ad campaign!

Posted by Vincent Paquet, Product Manager, Google Voice

Note: Google Voice is only available in the U.S.

Editing your Google Docs on the go

2010-11-18T02:41:00.000-05:00

Editing your Google Docs on the go: "Cross posted on the Official Google Blog, Google Enterprise Blog and the Google Mobile Blog

With Google Docs, we’re always trying to make you more productive—and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime. That’s why we’re excited that the new documents editor now supports editing on your mobile browser. We’re rolling this out over the next few days.

That means that...

You can work on that important memo...while on the bus or train to work.
If you’re behind on a group proposal, but really want to make it to the ball game tonight, your whole team can work on it from the bleacher seats.
You can take minute-by-minute notes at a concert so you’ll always remember the setlist. And your friends can jealously follow in real-time at home.
...and the list goes on!

Take a look at this video to see mobile editing in action:

It’s easy to get started: visit docs.google.com in a browser on a supported device, and select the document you want to edit. Then, when you’re viewing it, press the Edit button to switch to the mobile editor.

In the next few days, we’re rolling this out to English-language users around the world on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad. We’ll be adding support for other languages soon. And as before, we also support editing of spreadsheets from your mobile device’s browser.

We hope you enjoy editing your documents on the go—especially when you’re at the game with a hot dog in your other hand.

Posted by: Andrew Grieve, Software Engineer

HD quality videos in Picasa Web Albums

2010-11-10T18:13:00.000-05:00

HD quality videos in Picasa Web Albums: "Posted by Detlev Schwabe, Software Engineer - Photos

More and more, people are capturing videos (and increasingly high-definition videos) with their cameras and phones. Understandably, we’ve been hearing from a number of you who want to upload high quality videos to your Picasa Web Albums, so your photos and videos are organized in one convenient place. We’re happy to now support uploading high-definition (HD) videos, up to 720p, from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums. Whereas before you could upload, store, and share videos shot in 240 or 360p, now you can do the same for your 480p and 720p (HD) videos too.

Just like with photos, more pixels means a sharper video picture and a better viewing experience. Clarity and sharpness continue to improve as you move from 240p up to 720p.

Now your photos and HD videos can all be stored, organized and shared in one convenient place. To upload your videos make sure to use Picasa, if you don’t have Picasa you can download it from here. We’d love to hear what you think.

Beyond Instant results: Instant Previews

2010-11-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

Beyond Instant results: Instant Previews: "With Google Instant you get results as fast as you type, but your search doesn’t stop there. Once you get results back, you choose a site to visit based on the information in each result—like the title, a snippet of text and the URL. Over time we’ve made steady improvements to our search results and snippets to help you pick a great page. Now we’re making a leap to image-based snapshots—a new kind of visual search result we call “Instant Previews” which makes it even faster to choose the right result.

Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine. To use it, click once on the magnifying glass next to the title of any search result and a visual overview of the page will appear on the right. From there, hover your cursor over any other result to see a preview. For those of you who’ve recently stopped using your mouse to search, now you can navigate to a result, hit the right arrow key to see the preview, and hit the down arrow key to keep browsing. Here’s a video showing Instant Previews in action:

In our testing, we’ve found that people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click. The previews provide new ways to evaluate search results, making you more likely to find what you’re looking for on the pages you visit. Here are some of the things you can do to get the most out of Instant Previews:

Quickly compare results - A visual comparison of search results helps you pick the one that’s right for you. Quickly flip through previews to see which page looks best.
Pinpoint relevant content - Text call outs, in orange, will sometimes highlight where your search terms appear on the webpage so you can evaluate if it’s what you're looking for.
Interact with the results page - Page previews let you see the layout of a webpage before clicking the search result. Looking for a chart, picture, map or list? See if you can spot one in the preview.

Instant Previews can be helpful for many kinds of tasks. For example, say you looked at a page before and need to find it again—with a preview, you can tell if any of the results look familiar. Or perhaps you’re looking for an official website—look for a logo and formal style and you’ll probably be able to identify it. Or maybe you’re looking for a how-to guide—it’s easy to spot a page with clear illustrations and step-by-step instructions.

We realized early on that this kind of experience would only make sense if it was lightning fast. Not long ago simply downloading an image could take 20 or 30 seconds, and even today many websites take four or five seconds to load. With Instant Previews, we match your query with an index of the entire web, identify the relevant parts of each webpage, stitch them together and serve the resulting preview completely customized to your search—usually in under one-tenth of a second. Once you click the magnifying glass, we load previews for the other results in the background so you can flip through them without waiting.

Well, I think that’s enough of a preview—soon you can try out the real thing for yourself! The new feature is rolling out now and should be available in more than 40 languages in the next few days.

Posted by Raj Krishnan, Product Manager

Enhancements to Google News for smartphones

2010-11-09T10:18:00.000-05:00

Enhancements to Google News for smartphones: "

(Cross-posted from the Google News Blog)

Last November, we redesigned Google News for mobile access on smartphones including Android, iPhone and Palm Pre. Today, we’re globally rolling out new usability and visual enhancements that we hope will make browsing news on your smartphone easier.

We expanded the story space to make tapping on articles easier and more accurate. Tapping anywhere on an article headline or snippet opens it up, and clicking on a section heading opens up that topic section on your screen.

In addition, the default view of stories is now collapsed, to reduce scrolling time. You can ‘expand’ a story by tapping ‘More sources’, which brings you to related stories from other sources. The screenshots below show the collapsed and expanded view of a story.

So, pick up your smartphone, point your browser to http://news.google.com, and catch up on news on the go.

Posted by Arun Prasath, Tech Lead, Google Mobile News

Five new themes

2010-11-05T17:39:00.000-04:00

Five new themes: "Posted by Manu Cornet, Software Engineer

Manu: Hey, how would you fancy some new Gmail themes?
Jake: Sure, I would love that! How usable are they?
Manu: Huh, usable? Well, there’s a flishy-flashy theme that blinks every...
Jake: What? I don’t want things to flash, I want to read my email.
Manu: No? Well then, what about this fluorescent pink theme that will make your screen look very special when your friends are looking at...
Jake: No pink please!
Manu: Oh. Then maybe this hyper dynamic and playful theme that makes all links on the page jump away each time you try to click on...
Jake: Are you insane? Please, just give me something usable. If I want flashy game-like graphics, I can use High Score. If I want something dapper for my friends to look at, I can use Shiny. If I want cartoon characters hanging out here and there in my Gmail, I can use Zoozimps. I just want something dead simple.
Manu: What about stripping the Gmail interface to the bare bones, like these two new themes, Basic Black and Basic White?

Jake: That’s better. The dark one may be good for my eyes.
Manu: Great! Do you have an Android phone?
Jake: Yes.
Manu: Then you may like this Android theme too. How about that?

Jake: Nice! Some graphics but still subtle. Give me more.
Manu: Relaxing tree tops? This one ain’t blinking.

Jake: Not bad! What about something that would feel more handmade?
Manu: You’re in luck, sir. I have this cool Marker theme in store for you. Very unprofessional.

Jake: Nice — I’m gonna stick with this one for now.
Manu: Good choice! See you next time for some more.

Evernote 4 for Windows is here!

2010-10-26T20:43:00.000-04:00

Evernote 4 for Windows is here!: "

Evernote for Windows is our most popular version, used by hundreds of thousands of people everyday. Today, we’re excited to announce a major evolution in our Windows client: Evernote 4. Here’s why we think this is the best version of Evernote yet.

Get Evernote 4 now »

Starting from scratch

Evernote 4 is a major departure from Evernote 3.5 in every way. While 3.5 added tons of great new features, there were some problems we simply couldn’t fix: the blurry fonts, slow startup times, large memory footprint, and poor support for certain graphics cards were all issues that the technology behind 3.5 (Windows .net and WPF) was incapable of resolving. As a result, we ended up chasing down platform bugs rather than adding the great features our users wanted.

So we decided to start over from scratch, with fast, native C++ that we knew we could rely on. As you’ll see, the results are amazing. This new version will set a foundation for rapid improvement.

Blazingly fast

Evernote 4 is designed to give you a great experience on any computer that you use, whether you’re on a netbook, a five year old Windows XP machine or a super fast top-of-the-line Windows 7 computer.

On our test hardware, Evernote 4 starts five times faster, and uses half the memory of Evernote 3.5.

Simply beautiful

We redesigned every aspect of the user interface to be faster, simpler and more attractive. The new layout gets out of your way, so you can focus more of your attention on your notes and less on buttons and scrollbars. It also works better on various types of displays, aspect ratios and control devices. So, whether you use a mouse, keyboard or touchscreen to interact with your computer, you’ll have a great experience with Evernote 4.

Here are a few of our favorite user interface improvements:

Space saving layout: The toolbar and menu bar are merged to take up less screen space. You can always switch to the old school layout in the Option menu.

More responsive interface: Switching between notes, displaying searches, bringing Evernote into the foreground, and virtually all other interactions are much faster.
Easier new note creation: We’ve added a New Note split button, which lets you pick the type of note you wish to create (text, ink or webcam). It will remember your selection for next time.

Relocated Search Bar: Note search and the search description now reside directly over the note list—a more intuitive location. You can click the small arrow to open and close the search description. Closing the description gives you more room to view your notes list, opening it makes it easy to modify your search.

Clearer note info: The note information panel is more crisp and clear with the title, notebook and source links right up top. Just like the search panel, you can open the note information panel to access the details. Navigating through the note info panel and tagging notes using your keyboard is fast and efficient.

More ways to interact: Evernote 4 supports multitouch gestures and many keyboard shortcuts.

And much much more…

Much of Evernote 4 is focused on creating a great user experience and a powerful platform for huge new features in the coming months. Of course, we couldn’t launch something this big without adding a few gems:

Improved clipping

Clips are the most popular note-type in Evernote. So, for Evernote 4, we decided to give clipping a big upgrade. When clipping from Internet Explorer, Outlook and Firefox, you will now see a New Clip popup that lets you add tags and assign notebooks without leaving your current application. You can skip the dialog by holding down the Shift key.

Microsoft Outlook users will love the support for clipping messages, attachments and even multiple emails. Clipping from Internet Explorer and Firefox now preserves more styles, works more reliability and also takes advantage of the New Clip window.

Better editing

We spent the last 9 months improving note editing, and this baby has some great new additions. We’ve got:

Improved support for tables (including adding columns and rows).

Better support for bulleted and numbered lists.

Better copy-paste support to and from Internet Explorer, Office and other applications.

The note editor toolbar gives access to more colors and just looks sharp.

Smarter titles

Evernote is now smarter about how it handles note titles. The app will make a guess based on the type of information you have in your note. For example, it may use the first line of a note or the title of a web clip. You can always go in and edit the titles to be whatever you like.

Flexible printing

When you’re printing one or more notes you can click “Options” and check off which parts of the note information you want to include in the printout.

Windows 7: Jump Lists

In addition to adopting a Windows 7 look and feel, we’ve incorporated new Windows 7 features including Jump Lists that allow you to pin Evernote into your task bar and quickly access Evernote, sync, find or add notes even when Evernote isn’t running.

Windows 7: Auto-location

Evernote 4 also makes the most of the new geo-location capabilities of Windows 7. You will now be able to easily set the location of your notes. Tap on “Click to set location…” in the note info panel and your computer will figure out where it is and set the location of the note.

Hiding what you don’t need

To make the most efficient use of your screen, certain elements are hidden until you need them:

Note info: Click the chevron near your note title to display note info.

Search description: Click the chevron near the search bar to view and edit your search description.

Zoom level: To adjust the size of thumbnails in Thumbnail view, bring your mouse near the bottom of the Note List. This displays the zoom control.

Sync status: Whenever Evernote 4 synchronizes changes, a sync dialog appears along the lower right edge of the window.

Getting Evernote 4

Evernote 4 is available now for download!

Please note, installing Evernote 4 will replace your existing Evernote 3.5 installation.

We will publish an auto-update in the coming weeks for current Evernote 3.5 users who choose not to manually download Evernote 4.

Firefox users: Check for updates to get the latest Evernote 4-compatible version of the Evernote Firefox Extension.

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (trailer)

2010-10-23T06:53:00.000-04:00

One of my favourite cinemas of all time. A very cool space film. Roy Thinnes is a cool guy too!!!

http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/deta...
Doppelgänger is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Robert Parrish. The film was released in the US as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, a title by which it is now better known. The crew of a spacecraft journey to a previously unknown planet on the far side of the Sun, only to seemingly find themselves returning back to the Earth. The storyline is similar to an hour-long episode of the Twilight Zone entitled, "The Parallel".

Directed by Robert Parrish
Produced by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson
Written by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson
Music by Barry Gray

Starring:
Roy Thinnes
Ian Hendry
Patrick Wymark
Ed Bishop
Lynn Loring

Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

2010-10-11T00:12:00.000-04:00

Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411: "Back in 2007 we launched 1-800-GOOG-411, a voice-powered directory assistance service that connects you quickly to businesses across the U.S. and Canada. On November 12, 2010, we will shut down the service.

GOOG-411 was the first speech recognition service from Google and helped provide a foundation for more ambitious services now available on smartphones, such as:

Voice Search - search Google by speaking instead of typing.
Voice Input - fill in any text field on Android by speaking instead of typing.
Voice Actions - control your Android phone with voice commands. For example, you can call any business quickly and easily just by saying its name.

Our success encouraged us to aim for more innovation. Thus, we’re putting all of our resources into speech-enabling the next generation of Google products and services across a multitude of languages.

If you don’t use a smartphone, and you’re trying to call a business, you can send a text message with the name and location of the business to 466453 ('GOOGLE') and we’ll text you the information, or on Gmail you can use the new phone-calling features to call any U.S. business free of charge. Also, if you don’t have the free voice search app pre-installed on your phone, you can download it here.

Thanks for all the calls, and keep an eye out for all the innovation to come.

Posted by The GOOG-411 Team

Here comes Google TV

2010-10-06T11:30:00.000-04:00

Here comes Google TV: "

(Cross-posted from the Google TV Blog)

It’s been almost five months since we introduced Google TV to the world at Google I/O, and today we’re happy to give you an update on our progress. For those who haven’t yet heard of it, Google TV is a new way to think about TV: it’s a platform that combines your current TV programming and the open web into a single, seamless entertainment experience.

One of our goals with Google TV is to finally open up the living room and enable new innovation from content creators, programmers, developers and advertisers. By bringing Google Chrome and access to the entire Internet, you can easily navigate to thousands of websites to watch your favorite web videos, play Flash games, view photos, read movie reviews or chat with friends—all on the big screen.

Since our announcement, we’ve been overwhelmed by interest from partners on how they can use the Google TV platform to personalize, monetize and distribute their content in new ways. Most of these partner sites already work with Google TV, but many are choosing to further enhance their premium web content for viewing on the television. Today, we’re excited to announce several of these content partners.

Turner Broadcasting has been hard at work optimizing some of their most popular websites for viewing on Google TV, including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, available anytime through Google TV.
NBC Universal has collaborated with Google TV to bring CNBC Real-Time, an application that allows you to track your favorite stocks and access news feeds while enjoying the best financial news from CNBC directly on the TV screen.
HBO will bring access to hundreds of hours of programming to Google TV with HBO GO. Authenticated subscribers will soon be able to access all of their favorite HBO content on-demand in an enhanced website for Google TV.
NBA has built NBA Game Time, an application that lets you follow game scores in real-time and catch up on the latest highlights from your favorite team in HD.

In addition, we’ve partnered with some of the leading premium content providers to bring thousands of movie and TV titles, on-demand, directly to your television. Amazon Video On Demand offers access to over 75,000 titles for rental or purchase, and Netflix will offer the ability to instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows, anytime, streaming directly to the TV.

We have also been working with some leading technology and media companies to optimize their content for Google TV, including news sites like The New York Times and USA Today; music sites like VEVO, Pandora and Napster; information networks like Twitter; and online networks like blip.tv. And with YouTube Leanback, we can offer the best experience for you to watch your favorite viral videos and personalized channels on the television.

You can get a sneak peek of some of these apps in the video below:

This is just the beginning. Over the next few weeks, you can expect to hear from more sites that are enhancing their web content for the television. If you’re interested in learning more about how to optimize your website for viewing on Google TV, please visit our developer page.

Today we also launched a new website that provides more information about these apps and all of the other great features of Google TV. And if you want to stay up to speed on the latest developments from the Google TV team, check out our new blog.

We’re really excited about the enthusiasm surrounding the platform and can’t wait for it to reach your living room. Devices powered by Google TV will launch this month, so look out for more information in the next few weeks from Sony on its Internet TV and Blu-Ray player, and Logitech on its companion box.

Update: Added links to partner announcements.

Posted by Ambarish Kenghe (AK), Developer Product Manager, Google TV

Yabba Dabba doodle!

2010-09-30T00:35:00.000-04:00

Yabba Dabba doodle!: "As a young kid, I drew a lot of dinosaurs. My dad would bring home reams of dot matrix printer paper from work, which I'd take, fold into stapled booklets, and then fill with dinosaurs doing what dinosaurs did—eating, leaping about, facing off in epic combat on top of spewing volcanoes. What I didn't know was that dinosaurs were also quite handy. A brontosaurus tail made an excellent water slide, you could walk up a row of plates on a stegosaurus' back like a flight of stairs and the triceratops’ horns were actually cutting-edge can openers. For these paleontological insights into Stone Aged innovation, I have the Flintstones to thank.

The Flintstones may have lived in the prehistoric town of Bedrock, but their technology was on par with much of what we use today. Everyone drove human-powered vehicles (zero emissions!), composted scraps in a dinosaur under the kitchen sink, and even wore solar powered watches—that is, if you count sundials. In short, Bedrock was the modern city of the past... and I wanted to live in it! Unfortunately, that didn’t quite pan out, but to be able to pay tribute to one of my favorite childhood TV shows in the form of a Google doodle is easily the next best thing.

On the 50th anniversary of its first airing, we gladly salute “The Flintstones” for inspiring our imaginations and encouraging us to think outside of the box, even if it means taking a look back now and then. I hope you’ll join the rest of us here at Google in a little nostalgia to mark this fun occasion!

Oh, and if you know any saber-toothed tigers looking for an internship as a hole puncher, give me a buzz.

Posted by Mike Dutton, Google Doodler

Turn off Gmail’s conversation view

2010-09-30T00:29:00.000-04:00

Turn off Gmail’s conversation view: "Posted by Wiltse Carpenter, Technical Lead

The way Gmail organizes mail into conversations is like cilantro. You either love it -- and, like me, enjoy the nice citrusy, herbal finish it gives to everything from salsa to curry -- or you hate it. And those of you who hate it hate it enough to launch sites like nocilantro.com and ihatecilantro.com (“an anti cilantro community”), where you can hate it together.

But my fondness for cilantro pales in comparison to my love for Gmail’s conversation view, or message threading. I haven’t had to wade through multiple messages to follow a conversation in years. A centithread hasn’t filled up the entire first page of my inbox in almost as long as I can remember. Having all the replies to an email (and replies to those replies) grouped with the original message simply makes communicating so much easier.

It turns out not everyone feels the same way. And just as an outspoken minority has banded together in unison to declare their distaste of one of nature’s most delicious herbs, some of you have been very vocal about your dislike of conversation threading. So just like you can order your baja fish tacos without cilantro, you can now get Gmail served up sans conversation view. Go to the main Settings page, look for the “Conversation View” section, select the option to turn it off, and save changes. If you change your mind, you can always go back.

This feature will be rolling out over the next few days so if you don’t see it immediately, check back in a bit. And once you try it out, let us know what you think.

Introducing the Google Phone Gallery

2010-09-30T00:28:00.000-04:00

Introducing the Google Phone Gallery: "

Here at Google, we’re thrilled with the global adoption of Android and with the high quality of devices that are coming to market around the world. Since there are so many great phones, we wanted to make the selection process a little easier for people who are in the market for a new one. Today we’re rolling out the Google Phone Gallery -- a showcase of Android-powered devices that deliver the best Google experience today. Check it out at http://www.google.com/phone.

All the phones in the gallery include Android Market, Google Search, and other Google Mobile services such as Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. There are tools that make it easy to compare phones side by side: you can filter phones by country, manufacturer, and carrier; view and compare technical specifications and features; and find where each phone is available for sale.

We’ll continue adding phones and countries over time, both to round out the gallery and as new phones come to market.

Posted by Ben Serridge, Product Manager, Android

One place to find everything new from Google

2010-09-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

One place to find everything new from Google: "If it seems to you like every day Google releases a new product or feature, well, it seems like that to us too. The central place we tell you about most of these is through the official Google Blog Network, where you’ll find more than 100 blogs covering all kinds of products, policy issues, technical projects and much more.

But if you want to keep up just with what’s new (or even just what Google does besides search), you’ll want to know about Google New. A few of us had a 20 percent project idea: create a single destination called Google New where people could find the latest product and feature launches from Google. It’s designed to pull in just those posts from various blogs. We hope it helps you find something useful you’ve never tried before.

Posted by Ji Lee, Google Creative Lab

Back to School with Google forms

2010-09-11T06:57:00.000-04:00

Back to School with Google forms: "Cross posted on the Google Student Blog

Guest Post: Emily is a senior at Emory University, majoring in Business and Biology. This summer, she worked as an intern on the Google Apps for Education team and here she shares her thoughts on using Google forms on campus.

During the hectic first few weeks back at school – which can be the busiest time of year for a college student – one of the things that helps me get things done and stay organized is Google forms. I started using this functionality a lot during my summer internship to survey the intern community and other groups across the company. It’s an easy and efficient way to obtain and interpret information from many people and that’s why I’m excited to use it now that I’m back at school.

Google forms allows me to quickly create a survey with various information gathering formats (multiple choice, free answer, check box, and more). Then I can simply send a link for the published form to the desired respondents and their answers automatically feed into a spreadsheet in Google Docs.

For example, I recently used Google forms for a club I’m involved in called Goizueta International Network, an organization that helps incoming and outgoing exchange students make the most of their abroad experiences. Google forms allowed me to survey the international exchange students about what activities they would be interested in for the upcoming year.

All the international students are from different countries and live all across campus, so creating a survey using Forms was a convenient and universally understandable way to get information. Plus I was able to spice up the appearance of the survey with a new Google form theme.

After collecting all of the responses, I could easily view the results of my data. All I had to do was go to the “Form” tab in the spreadsheet housing all of the survey information and select “Show summary of responses.” This produced the data in a simple, clear graphical format making the data easy to use.

Check out the responses to the question “I am interested in the Goizueta International Network organizing the following...”

We’ve decided to focus on the ideas that had the most support. We know they will benefit and excite both local and foreign students because they all participated in the decision process.

Google forms can be useful in any area of a college student’s life. It can classify and coordinate information for classes, clubs, athletic teams, fraternities or sororities, friends, family, or any group or organization. As a Google Student Ambassador I plan to educate more people on my campus about how Google forms (along with the rest of the Docs and Apps suite) can make all their activities run more quickly and easily.

Without putting in too much effort, we got a solid response rate and now have some great ideas for next year.

Posted by: Emily Rubin, Emory University

5 tips for using Priority Inbox

2010-09-10T08:50:00.000-04:00

5 tips for using Priority Inbox: "Posted by Kristen Lemons, Gmail Support Team

It’s been a week since we launched Priority Inbox, and now that you've hopefully had a chance to try it out, we wanted to share some tips to help you manage your email more efficiently. Here are five ways you can make Priority Inbox work even better for you:

1. Customize your sections
By default, Priority Inbox has three sections: 'Important and Unread,' 'Starred' and 'Everything Else.” But that doesn't mean you have to leave them that way. You can make a section show messages from a particular label (like your “Action” or “To-do” label), add a fourth section, or change the maximum size of any section. Visit the Priority Inbox tab under Settings to customize your sections, or do it right from the inline menus.

2. Train the system
If Gmail makes a mistake, you can help it learn to better categorize your messages. Select the misclassified message, then use the importance buttons at the top of your inbox to correctly mark it as important or not important.

For those of you who can't live without keyboard shortcuts, don’t worry, you can use the '+' and '-' keys to adjust importance as well.

3. See the best of your filtered messages
You can set up Priority Inbox to show you not just the best of your inbox, but also the best of messages you filter out of your inbox and might otherwise miss. Just change your Priority Inbox settings to “Override filters” and Gmail will surface any important messages that would otherwise skip your inbox.

With this option turned on, you can use filters to archive more aggressively and worry less about missing an important message.

4. Use filters to guarantee certain messages get marked important (or not)
If you read and reply to a lot of messages from your mom, Gmail should automatically put incoming messages from her in the “Important and unread” section. But if you want to be 100% sure that all messages from your mom (or your boss, boyfriend, client, landlord, etc.) are marked important, you can create a filter for messages from that sender and select “Always mark as important.” Similarly, if you regularly read messages from your favorite magazine, they should automatically get marked as important. If you’d rather they end up in the “Everything else” section, you can create a filter to never mark them as important.

5. Archive unimportant messages quickly
One of the features that can help make you more efficient is the ability to archive all of the visible messages in the 'Everything Else' section at once. Just click on the down arrow next to 'Everything Else' and select the 'Archive all visible items' option. If you want to be able to archive even more messages at once, you can increase the maximum number of messages that show in that section from the same drop-down.

Walk this way

2010-09-10T08:41:00.000-04:00

Walk this way: "Whether you’re going for an urban hike or wandering from your hotel to find that restaurant you passed earlier, you won’t have to flag down a local if you’ve got Google Maps for mobile 4.5 on Android. Maps already had Navigation and walking directions, and today we’re happy to share the perfect marriage of the two: Walking Navigation (Beta). If you need help deciding where to walk (or drive), you can now also use Street View smart navigation or the new Google Maps search bar to guide your choice.

Walking Navigation
Walking Navigation lets you use GPS navigation with walking directions that are more direct and use pedestrian pathways when we know about them. To try it now, choose the “Walking” option from the Navigation icon. Walking Navigation has a few changes that help when you’re on your feet. For example, your phone will vibrate when you need to make a turn. You can even turn off voice guidance and just use these notifications while soaking in the sights and sounds around you. To help you orient yourself with your surroundings, the map will rotate with you as you turn the phone, and walking mode uses satellite view by default. Use it like a virtual compass with satellite imagery to look ahead or help pick out landmarks along the way.

Choose the “Walking” option after selecting the Navigation icon (left) to use Walking Navigation (right).

Keep in mind that Walking Navigation is still in beta, and Google Maps may not always have up-to-date information or optimal walking routes. Whether you’re walking or driving with Google Maps Navigation, you should always be safe and pay attention to road signs, follow signals, and use good judgment about routes that can’t be walked.

Street View smart navigation
If you want a sneak preview of where you’re going, use the new Street View on Google Maps with smart navigation and updated imagery. Just like with Street View smart navigation on your computer, you no longer have to slowly move down a street by tapping arrows along roads repeatedly. Now you can quickly navigate Street View by dragging Pegman from the corner and highlighting where you want to go with a lightly shaded “pancake” on roads or a rectangle on buildings. Let go of the screen when highlighting the front of a building, and you’ll fly there and turn to face it. With a swipe of your finger, you can hop rivers and scale buildings.

You’ll need to download an update for the “Street View on Google Maps” app in Android Market separately from Google Maps. Once you update, access Street View just like before: open Maps, search for a place or long-press the map, and choose the Street View option if available.

New Google Maps search bar
At the top of the map, you’ll find the new Google Maps search bar always available for easy access. Tap it to quickly start searching, open Places, use the Layers menu, or find yourself on the map with My Location. Here are more new features that may be helpful when you’re looking for nearby places:

Filter search results by distance or ratings
View prices categorized with dollar signs
See cross streets for places.

Google Maps for mobile 4.5 and Street View smart navigation are available now for Android 1.6+ everywhere they’re currently available. Search for Google Maps (tap here on your phone) and then Street View on Google Maps (tap here) in Android Market to update both.

Visit our Help Center to learn more or tell us your feedback and questions in our Help Forum. Give us suggestions and vote on other people’s on the Mobile Product Ideas page.

Posted by Andrey Ulanov and Kevin Law, Software Engineers

The Evernote Site Memory Button

2010-09-10T04:35:00.000-04:00

The Evernote Site Memory Button: "

Since the beginning we’ve been focused on one thing: making it trivially easy for you to remember all the stuff you love. It turns out that you really love saving webpages—it’s the most popular note type in Evernote. So, today we’re announcing something that makes saving webpages an integrated part of your browsing experience.

For the first time ever, we’re releasing a feature designed exclusively for site owners and publishers. It’s called Evernote Site Memory and it’s really cool.

What is the Site Memory button?

The Evernote Site Memory button embeds a mini version of Evernote onto your pages. As the name suggests, the button gives your website a memory—like getting an incredibly powerful favorite function, without the implementation headaches. Whether you run a blog, news outlet, storefront, or corporate site, here’s what Site Memory can do for you:

1. Total clipping control

By placing the Site Memory button on your site, you will control precisely what is saved into your visitors’ Evernote accounts. As part of the button customization, you define what region of a page is clipped and the title of the resulting note. You can suggest tags to accompany the note, as well as the destination notebook for the clip. You can even have your clips include automatic headers, footers, links, and attributions. In other words, you can make pages clipped from your site look great.

For an advanced description of what you can define, please read our Site Memory developer documentation.

2. Entire clipping history without leaving your site

When a visitor click the Site Memory button, a popup opens. That popup serves two functions. First, it lets them save the page, as described above. Second, and maybe more interestingly, it shows visitors everything they have ever clipped from your domain. Ever. Right inside the popup. Visitors just click on the green tab. They can browse through a thumbnailed list of their favorite content from your site—just like an automatic Best Of list. Even notes that were made using our browser extensions prior to you placing the Site Memory button on the page will show up in the results. Once they find the note they’re looking for, your visitors click and jump to the original page.

3. You can make some money

The first thing that a user must do when they initially click on the Site Memory button is sign into their Evernote account. If they don’t have one, they can create one from within the popup (no confirmation email required).

As you know, Evernote is a free service and we’re happy if people use us for free forever. However, many of our most engaged users choose to upgrade to a Premium subscription. If anyone that signs up from the Site Memory button on your site becomes Premium at some point in the future, we’ll give you the first $10 that we collect. That’s only fair. You must join our affiliate program to take advantage of this.

Please note, you don’t need to become an affiliate in order to use Site Memory.

4. We’ll promote you

Every few weeks we will promote the most popular sites that have Site Memory installed to our millions of users through the various social media channels that we use. This way, your site will get a constant flow of new Evernote users looking to find out what all the fuss is about.

Clipping = loyalty

Take a look at your web clips and you’ll probably discover that the vast majority are from a small handful of sites. Saving webpages is akin to placing a personal seal of approval on the content. You like it. You want to refer to it later. You save it. You’ll come back to the site for more. Evernote Site Memory is the perfect complement to sharing buttons (Facebook Like, Tweet Button). Those bring more readers to your content, while Evernote helps foster lasting relationships with readers.

Get Site Memory!

Ok, now that you know what Site Memory is all about, go get it. Get Site Memory for your site here. There are also instructions on how to install it into WordPress and Tumblr.

If you’d like to try it out, click on the button at the top of this post.

We’re interested in hearing your thoughts on Site Memory. Also, please tell us if you put Site Memory up on your website with a link in the comments.

Get more out of calling in Gmail

2010-09-01T22:58:00.000-04:00

Get more out of calling in Gmail: "Last week, we launched Google Voice in Gmail to let you make calls right from your computer. The uptake has been amazing and 10,000,000 calls later, we wanted to offer some tips and tricks on how you, as a loyal Google Voice user, can unlock additional features when you setup Gmail to receive calls with your Google Voice number. If you haven’t already hooked it up, go to Google Voice, click on settings and check the box next to Google Chat in your list of forwarding phones.

Now, you’ll be able to make and receive calls to your Google Voice number right in Gmail. Plus, you’ll have access to a bunch of handy features, like:

Call screening
Not sure who’s calling you? Instead of hitting “Answer” or “Ignore” when you get a call in Gmail, click the “Screen” button. The caller will be sent to your voicemail and you can listen in while they leave you a message. If you decide you want to take the call, just click “Join” at any time to pick up.

Switching calls between Gmail and other phones
Let’s say you picked up a call on your Gmail, but you need to head out the door. It’s a pain to hang up and call the person back from your cell, especially for those important calls. Hit the asterisk (*) on the Gmail dial pad at any time during the call and your other Google Voice forwarding phones will ring. Just pick up the call from one of your other phones and continue the conversation without ever having to disconnect the call.

Recording incoming calls
Is your conversation too good to forget? Press 4 on the dial pad at any time and both parties will be notified that the call is being recorded. To stop the recording, press 4 again or hang up. Call recordings will be saved in your Google Voice inbox.

Click to dial with the Chrome Extension
Searching for your favorite restaurant or bar on Google Maps? Friend email you their phone number? The Google Voice extension for Google Chrome allows you to just click on any phone number on any website or in any email, and it will dial the number for you.

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Google Voice Product Marketing Manager

Google Realtime Search: a new home with new tools

2010-08-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

Google Realtime Search: a new home with new tools: "When we first introduced our real-time search features last December, we focused on bringing relevance to the freshest information on the web. Our goal was to provide real-time content from a comprehensive set of sources, integrated right into your usual search results. Today we’re making our most significant enhancements to date, giving real-time information its own home and more powerful tools to help you find what you need. Now you can access Google Realtime Search at its own address, www.google.com/realtime (the page is rolling out now and should be available soon. Use this link if you want to try out the new features right away).

On the new homepage you’ll find some great tools to help you refine and understand your results. First, you can use geographic refinements to find updates and news near you, or in a region you specify. So if you’re traveling to Los Angeles this summer, you can check out tweets from Angelenos to get ideas for activities happening right where you are.

In addition, we’ve added a conversations view, making it easy to follow a discussion on the real-time web. Often a single tweet sparks a larger conversation of re-tweets and other replies, but to put it together you have to click through a bunch of links and figure it out yourself. With the new “full conversation” feature, you can browse the entire conversation in a single glance. We organize the tweets from oldest to newest and indent so you quickly see how the conversation developed.

Finally, we’ve also added updates content to Google Alerts, making it easy to stay informed about a topic of your choosing. Now you can create an alert specifically for “updates” to get an email the moment your topic appears on Twitter or other short-form services. Or, if you want to manage your email volume, you can set alerts to email you once per day or week.

Check out our demo video of the new features and quick tips on how to use them:

You can access Realtime Search by typing www.google.com/realtime directly into your browser, or clicking the “Updates” link in the left-hand panel of your search results. Set up your Google Alerts at www.google.com/alerts. Realtime Search and updates in Google Alerts are available globally in 40 languages, and the geographic refinements and conversations views are available in English, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. The features are rolling out now, but you can use this link to see them right away.

Posted by Dylan Casey, Product Manager

Picasa 3.8: Face movies, Picnik integration, batch upload, and more

2010-08-18T15:18:00.000-04:00

Picasa 3.8: Face movies, Picnik integration, batch upload, and more: "Posted by Jonathan Sposato, Product Management

Today, we released the latest version of Picasa with lots of cool new features but there’s one item that we’re particularly excited about.

Face movies create a movie based around one person both figuratively and literally. Instead of the usual transition from one photo to the next, the images align themselves to the face in the photo. This creates an extremely smooth viewing experience which allows the person in the photos to remain the focus rather than the transition effects themselves.

Words cannot adequately describe this feature, it’s better to see it for yourself:

Some more items in this release:

Picnik integration

A few weeks ago we announced the integration of Picnik, the powerful online photo editor, into Picasa Web Albums. We’re now excited to bring this same functionality to Picasa. You can now use Picnik’s rich editing tools and effects from right inside of Picasa and see where your creativity takes you.

Batch upload from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums

With this new version of Picasa we’re also fulfilling a popular request: batch upload from Picasa right to your Picasa Web Albums account. In addition to uploading multiple photos, you can now upload entire albums, all at the same time, plus remove albums from your Picasa Web account, change the upload size, visibility and sync state of photos that are already online.

Metadata updates

For those of us who enjoy the technical side of photography, we have some nice metadata (information stored inside of your image file) updates too, including support of Color Management. Picasa will now read the metadata from your photo and present the photo in the correct color space, thus improving the way your photo displays on your monitor or TV screen.

Picasa also has expanded support of XMP, which will be presented in an easy and accessible way alongside your image in the Properties panel. You can find people, places and tags in this space as well.

We’re also adding a few other under-the-hood updates such as improved support of external drives, increased efficiency of CPU usage, and improved settings when sharing with your Gmail contact groups.

This latest release is in English only for now, but we plan to roll out additional languages soon. Download Picasa today and, as always, feedback and questions are welcome in our forums.

Renaming Folders and Tags in Google Reader

2010-08-08T03:25:00.000-04:00

Renaming Folders and Tags in Google Reader: "

If you have a lot of RSS feeds, an ability to categorize them is a must. Google Reader allows for a fair amount of customization when sorting your RSS feeds by category or topic. This is mostly done with folders/tags to sort the feeds you subscribe to: work, hobby, sports, news, etc. The ability to create and delete folders has been around for a while now with Reader, but the developers have recently added the ability to change the names of the folders you file your subscribed feeds into. There are two ways to change the name of a folder in Google Reader:

1. On the main interface

On the main Reader screen, click on the little box with the downwards-pointing arrow to the right of the folder you want to change the name of. This box appears when you move the mouse pointer over the folder.

From the drop-down menu, select ‘Rename folder’.

Enter a new name and click the ‘OK’ button.

2. Through the Settings page

Get to the Settings page by clicking the link in the upper right corner of the main screen.

Select ‘Reader settings’ from the drop-down menu.

Click on the ‘Folders and Tags’ link on the Settings screen.

For the folders you wish to rename, click the ‘Rename’ link to the right of the name.

Enter a new name and click the ‘Save’ button.

As you go through these steps, you will note that the processes to delete or create a folder are very similar. To create a new folder, go to the downwards arrow icon for any particular feed and select ‘New folder…’. The feed you selected will then be put into this new folder separate from the others. One thing I am still waiting on for Google to add are a subfolders option for greater sorting.

Do you have a lot of feeds you need to sort? Is Google Reader one of the better RSS readers? Let us know in the comments section.

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Google pulls 'Easy Root' off Market [updated]

2010-08-08T03:22:00.000-04:00

Google pulls 'Easy Root' off Market [updated]: "

Developer Unstable Apps just released their latest update to their 'Easy Root' application yesterday. Though, just as soon as it went up, Google quickly yanked it off the Android Market. The latest 'Easy Root' update (1.2.2), allowed owners running Froyo on the Motorola Droid, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Milestone to easily root their phones by a single touch of a button.

We got in contact of the developer of Easy Root, as we're trying to get to the bottom of why the application was pulled from the Market. That's what we do. He was kind enough to give us a statement. You can read it, as well as see a walkthrough video of the app after the break. [AndroidPhonesBlog via AndroidSPIN]

Update: The developer of Easy Root has again contacted us, this time with news that the application is once again live and available for download from his site HERE. Want some even better news? Emails are already going out to those that purchased from the Market with a new product key and download instruction. Our own Jared has already received his. It's really nice to see this level of support for a $0.99 application. Keep doing what you do Nathan!

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.

2010-08-06T14:58:00.000-04:00

Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.: "

Posted by Leonid Taycher, software engineer

When you are part of a company that is trying to digitize all the books in the world, the first question you often get is: “Just how many books are out there?”

Well, it all depends on what exactly you mean by a “book.” We’re not going to count what library scientists call “works,” those elusive 'distinct intellectual or artistic creations.” It makes sense to consider all editions of “Hamlet” separately, as we would like to distinguish between -- and scan -- books containing, for example, different forewords and commentaries.

One definition of a book we find helpful inside Google when handling book metadata is a “tome,” an idealized bound volume. A tome can have millions of copies (e.g. a particular edition of “Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown) or can exist in just one or two copies (such as an obscure master’s thesis languishing in a university library). This is a convenient definition to work with, but it has drawbacks. For example, we count hardcover and paperback books produced from the same text twice, but treat several pamphlets bound together by a library as a single book.

Our definition is very close to what ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) are supposed to represent, so why can’t we just count those? First, ISBNs (and their SBN precursors) have been around only since the mid 1960s, and were not widely adopted until the early-to-mid seventies. They also remain a mostly western phenomenon. So most books printed earlier, and those not intended for commercial distribution or printed in other regions of the world, have never been assigned an ISBN.

The other reason we can’t rely on ISBNs alone is that ever since they became an accepted standard, they have been used in non-standard ways. They have sometimes been assigned to multiple books: we’ve seen anywhere from two to 1,500 books assigned the same ISBN. They are also often assigned to things other than books. Even though they are intended to represent “books and book-like products,” unique ISBNs have been assigned to anything from CDs to bookmarks to t-shirts.

What about other well-known identifiers, for example those assigned by Library of Congress (Library of Congress Control Numbers) or OCLC (WorldCat accession numbers)? Rather than identifying books, these identify records that describe bibliographic entities. For example the bibliographic record for Lecture Notes in Mathematics (a monographic series with thousands of volumes) is assigned a single OCLC number. This makes sense when organizing library catalogs, but does not help us to count individual volumes. This practice also causes duplication: a particular book can be assigned one number when cataloged as part of a series or a set and another when cataloged alone. The duplication is further exacerbated by the difficulty of aggregating multiple library catalogs that use different cataloging rules. For example, a single Italian edition of “Angels and Demons” has been assigned no fewer than 5 OCLC numbers.

So what does Google do? We collect metadata from many providers (more than 150 and counting) that include libraries, WorldCat, national union catalogs and commercial providers. At the moment we have close to a billion unique raw records. We then further analyze these records to reduce the level of duplication within each provider, bringing us down to close to 600 million records.

Does this mean that there are 600 million unique books in the world? Hardly. There is still a lot of duplication within a single provider (e.g. libraries holding multiple distinct copies of a book) and among providers -- for example, we have 96 records from 46 providers for “Programming Perl, 3rd Edition”. Twice every week we group all those records into “tome” clusters, taking into account nearly all attributes of each record.

When evaluating record similarity, not all attributes are created equal. For example, when two records contain the same ISBN this is a very strong (but not absolute) signal that they describe the same book, but if they contain different ISBNs, then they definitely describe different books. We trust OCLC and LCCN number similarity slightly less, both because of the inconsistencies noted above and because these numbers do not have checksums, so catalogers have a tendency to mistype them.

We put even less trust in the “free-form” attributes such as titles, author names and publisher names. For example, are “Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1234” and “Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on Logical Foundations of Computer Science” the same book? They are indeed, but there’s no way for a computer to know that from titles alone. We have to deal with these differences between cataloging practices all the time.

We tend to rely on publisher names, as they are cataloged, even less. While publishers are very protective of their names, catalogers are much less so. Consider two records for “At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror” by H.P. Lovecraft, published in 1971. One claims that the book it describes has been published by Ballantine Books, another that the publisher is Beagle Books. Is this one book or two? This is a mystery, since Beagle Books is not a known publisher. Only looking at the actual cover of the book will clear this up. The book is published by Ballantine as part of “A Beagle Horror Collection”, which appears to have been mistakenly cataloged as a publisher name by a harried librarian. We also use publication years, volume numbers, and other information.

So after all is said and done, how many clusters does our algorithm come up with? The answer changes every time the computation is performed, as we accumulate more data and fine-tune the algorithm. The current number is around 210 million.

Is that a final number of books in the world? Not quite. We still have to exclude non-books such as microforms (8 million), audio recordings (4.5 million), videos (2 million), maps (another 2 million), t-shirts with ISBNs (about one thousand), turkey probes (1, added to a library catalog as an April Fools joke), and other items for which we receive catalog entries.

Counting only things that are printed and bound, we arrive at about 146 million. This is our best answer today. It will change as we get more data and become more adept at interpreting what we already have.

Our handling of serials is still imperfect. Serials cataloging practices vary widely across institutions. The volume descriptions are free-form and are often entered as an afterthought. For example, “volume 325, number 6”, “no. 325 sec. 6”, and “V325NO6” all describe the same bound volume. The same can be said for the vast holdings of the government documents in US libraries. At the moment we estimate that we know of 16 million bound serial and government document volumes. This number is likely to rise as our disambiguating algorithms become smarter.

After we exclude serials, we can finally count all the books in the world. There are 129,864,880 of them. At least until Sunday.

Evernote for Windows gets WebCam notes

2010-08-06T14:38:00.000-04:00

Evernote for Windows gets WebCam notes: "

Today, we released an update to Evernote for Windows (version 3.5.5) This update is full of behind the scenes improvements to speed and stability. There is one notable new feature: WebCam Notes!

Download Evernote for Windows now or check for updates

WebCam Notes

If you use a webcam with your Windows computer, you may see a new note type in your Evernote toolbar: WebCam note. Clicking the WebCam note button turns on your camera and pops open a snapshot window. Once you take the snapshot, a new note is created in Evernote containing the image.

This feature is great for taking quick snapshots of business cards and wine labels. You can even turn your computer around and snap a photo of a whiteboard after your next brainstorming session. Once in Evernote, those images will be synchronized and processed so that you’ll be able to find your notes from anywhere.

Please note that there are a lot of different Windows webcams on the market. We were able to test compatibility with some, but certainly not all. If your webcam is supported, then you will see the WebCam note option. If it is not supported, then the option may not appear or may not capture the image correctly. Be sure to restart Evernote whenever you attach a new webcam to your computer.

Download Evernote for Windows now or check for updates

Android 101: How to change keyboards

2010-07-17T21:34:00.000-04:00

Android 101: How to change keyboards: "

Looking to change Android keyboards? Maybe you want to try Swype, or the new Swiftkey, or any one of the other great keyboards available on our fair smartphone operating system. (And a lot of new phones, like the AT&T Captivate and Droid X seen above, come with more than one keyboard installed.) After the break, we'll walk you through downloading, installing and switching to a new keyboard and, just maybe, a new way of life. (OK, probably not.)

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

Evernote for Windows update

2010-07-17T03:48:00.000-04:00

Evernote for Windows update: "

On Wednesday, we released an update to Evernote for Windows, which included a bunch of nice improvements in addition to the new Trunk features. Here are some details on what’s new.

Download Evernote for Windows (version 3.5.5) or check for updates

Multi-tagging

In this update, we added the ability to assign multiple tags to multiple notes at once. Here’s how it works. Select the notes that you want to tag (hold down CTRL while clicking to do a multi-select) then right click and choose “Tags…” from the menu. Next, select the tags that you want to assign.

By default, Evernote first shows only tags assigned to the selected notes. This is useful if one of the selected notes is already tagged in the way that you would like to tag the others. To view all tags in your tag list, uncheck the Hide Assigned Tags checkbox. You can also create a new tag right from this window.

Improved table editing

For those that love to make tables in their Evernote notes, we’ve got a nice update. Evernote for Windows now lets you add and remove columns and rows. May not seem like a big deal, but if you’re in the habit of making tables, then this is quite nice.

Lots more

Improved copying and pasting content from Microsoft Office applications

Improved multi-monitor support

Improved handling of default fonts

Improved design of Hide Unassigned Tags

Numerous stability improvements

Download Evernote for Windows (version 3.5.5) or check for updates