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Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Shelter from the storm
September 17, 2008
Following last week's landfall of Hurricane Ike, thousands of Gulf Coast residents remain without shelter, and
millions more are without electricity
. As the Gulf slowly recovers from the
powerful Category 2 storm
, organizations such as the
American Red Cross
have stepped up efforts to provide relief for those most affected by the storm. For these individuals, the Red Cross has set up a number of shelters, providing food, safety, shelter, and above all, hope. Working with the Red Cross, we've mapped the open American Red Cross Shelters in the states of Texas and Louisiana. These locations, updated every ten minutes, are available to
view in Google Earth
, or via Google Maps:
View Larger Map
Previous
Google Lat Long Blog
posts:
KML of
Updated Imagery
Track the Hurricanes in
Google Earth's Weather Layer
Posted by Jessica Pfund and Pete Giencke, Google Earth Team
Google Maps for mobile now with Street View and walking directions
September 17, 2008
Today we added new features to
Google Maps for Mobile
that will help you see a location, find out what people are saying about it, and learn how to get there on foot -- all from the convenience of your phone. Street View imagery, walking directions and business reviews are now available for BlackBerry and many Java-enabled phones. Read more on the
Google Mobile Blog
, and check out this video.
Posted by Michael Siliski, Product Manager
Partnering with GE on clean energy
September 17, 2008
Today we announced that we're
joining forces
(PDF file) with
GE
to use technology, information and corporate resources to drive the changes necessary to empower consumers with better energy choices. We will focus on improving power generation, transmission and distribution – a combination of technologies that could be known as the "
smart grid
." (It would be fair to refer to electricity technologies in common use today as a "grid of only average intelligence.")
The existing U.S. infrastructure has not kept pace with the digital economy and the hundreds of technology opportunities that are ready for market. In fact, the way we generate and distribute electricity today is essentially the same as when Thomas Edison built the first
power plant
well over one hundred years ago. Americans should have the choice to drive more fuel efficient cars – or even electric cars - and manage their home energy use to reduce costs, and buy power from cleaner sources, or even generate their own power for sale to the grid.
We all receive an electricity bill once a month that encourages little except prompt payment. What if, instead, we had access to real-time information about home energy use? What if our flat screen TVs, electronic equipment, lights and appliances were programmed to automatically adjust to save money and cut energy use? What if we could push a button and switch the source of our homes' electricity from fossil fuels to renewable energy? What if the car sitting in our garage ran on electricity – the equivalent of $1 per gallon gasoline – and was programmed to charge at night when electricity is cheapest?
This vision is what unites Google and GE. We’ll start by working together in Washington, D.C. to mount a major policy effort to enable large-scale deployment of renewable energy generation in the United States. We’ll also work on development and deployment of the “smart” electricity grid that will empower consumers, utilities, and technology innovators to manage electricity more efficiently and lower their carbon footprint. Finally, we'll collaborate on advanced energy technologies, including technologies to enable the large-scale integration of
plug-in vehicles
into the grid and new geothermal energy technologies known as
enhanced geothermal systems
(EGS).
Eric Schmidt with GE's CEO Jeff Immelt at Google's Zeitgeist conference
Update:
Here's
the video
of Eric Schmidt and Jeff Immelt's talk at Zeitgeist '08. Also, clarified the last sentence in the second paragraph.
Posted by Michael Terrell, Google.org
What to do if you can't access your webmail
September 17, 2008
This post is the latest in an ongoing
series
on how to stay safe online. - Ed.
We know how important webmail is to the people who use it regularly, since (of course) we use it ourselves at Google. So we know that not being able to access a webmail account -- no matter what the reason, or how long it lasts -- can be frustrating at the very least. Sometimes interruptions are caused by technical issues with your mail program or your Internet connection. More often, they're account-related.
When it comes to Gmail specifically, there are a couple of things that might cause account-related interruptions in access: a lost or forgotten password,
unusual activity
that triggers the safety measures designed to keep accounts from being compromised, or, in the worst case, someone has stolen your login info and changed it.
Most of the questions we get about account interruptions are the result of lost or forgotten passwords and as such are relatively easy to fix (more below). But no matter what their origin, we take these issues very seriously. Of course, there are certain cases where our options are limited -- we don't ask for much personal information when you sign up for Gmail, which can sometimes make it difficult to prove ownership of an account and trigger the recovery process.
Still, there are some simple steps you can take to ensure that your account stays in your hands, and to greatly improve the chances of
regaining access
if you have any problems:
Don't share your Gmail password with anyone.
Not friends, not family, not anyone. And if you need to write down your password, be sure to keep it in a safe place, away from your computer. (For info on how to choose a good password and keep it safe, check out this
post
.)
Don't respond to messages asking for your login info.
As you may already know, there are people out there who will try to
steal your login info
. Google will never send you an email, IM, or any other communication asking for your Gmail login info, so don't respond to any messages asking for it.
Always keep the verification number you get when you sign up for Gmail.
When you sign up for Gmail, we'll ask you for a secondary email address and then email a verification number to that account. This number is the best way to prove ownership of your account, so be sure to hang on to it.
If you aren't able to access your account, try
resetting your password
. As mentioned above, most of the support requests we get turn out to be lost or forgotten passwords, rather than something more serious. Resetting your password usually gets the job done.
If resetting your password doesn't work, try our
account-recovery process
. We recently launched an account-recovery form in our help center that can drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to verify ownership of an account and restore access. If you have the information necessary to prove ownership -- such as the verification code for the account -- this new process can help our support team restore access within a matter of hours.
Again, we're always working on ways to help you keep your account secure and to stay safe online. Some of that work is
educational
, and some of it is technical, like the
feature
we recently launched for Gmail that lets you see when your account was last logged into and whether your account is currently open on another computer. Head over to our
Gmail blog
for more info.
Posted by Colin Bogart, Gmail user support team
Let's hear it for Google scholarship winners
September 16, 2008
Across the world, the participation of women and minorities in computer science is at an all-time low. According to studies conducted by the National Science Foundation, the annual graduation rate for women in computer science is just 22%, just 6.5% for Hispanic students, 4.8% for African American students, and under 1% for American Indian students. As part of our global effort to increase diversity in our industry, we have created scholarship programs with the
United Negro College Fund
, the
Hispanic College Fund
and the
American Indian Science & Engineering Society
. Each of these programs is meant to encourage students to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders. It's our hope that these programs also help dismantle barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields. (
Read more
about Google's scholarship programs.)
Now comes the really fun part: announcing the 2008 winners. Please join us in congratulating the 42 students who have been recognized for their outstanding academic and leadership accomplishments in the computer science field. Each of these students will receive a $10,000 academic scholarship from Google, as well as an invitation to attend the all-expenses-paid
Annual Google Scholars' Retreat
held each Spring at the
Googleplex
in Mountain View.
Earlier this year, we also had the great pleasure of announcing the winners of the
2008 Google Anita Borg Scholarship
in the
U.S. and Canada
as well as in
Europe
. (This scholarship is also offered to women in Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.)
Congrats to all!
2008 Google United Negro College Fund Scholars
Brian Beecham -
Alabama A&M University
Clinton Buie -
Stanford University
Dorian Perkins -
University of California, Riverside
John Mosby -
Clark Atlanta University
Katherine Trushkowsky -
University of California, Berkeley
Lateef Yusuf -
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mamadou Diallo -
University of California, Irvine
Mcdavis Fasugba -
University of Miami
Pascal Carole -
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Rashida Davis -
University of Delaware
Remy Carole -
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Sheronda Nash -
Georgia Institute of Technology
Souma Badombena-Wanta -
George Mason University
Yolanda McMillian -
Auburn University
2008 Google Hispanic College Fund Scholars
Miguel Rios -
University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Milton Villeda -
University of Texas, Austin
Ricardo Rodríguez -
University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Marco Medina -
Eastern Washington University
Abel Licon -
University of Deleware
Maximiliano Ramirez Luna -
University of California, Berkeley
Juan Herrera -
University of Oklahoma
Kenneth Faller Ii -
Florida International University
Heriberto Reynoso -
University of Texas, Brownsville
Jose Martinez -
California State Polytechnic University
Otoniel Ortega -
University of Illinois, Chicago
Antonio Rodríguez-soto -
Universidad Del Turabo
Tina Ziemek -
University of Utah
Diana Flores -
University of Florida
Matthew Martinez -
University of New Mexico
Frank Blandon -
University of Florida
Felipe Carmona -
Roosevelt University
Pamela Gutierrez -
Oklahoma Panhandle State University
Daniel Hernandez -
Tennessee Technological University
2008 Google American Indian Science & Engineering Society Scholars
Erik Bennett -
New Mexico Tech
Kaylei Burke -
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Cory Cornelius -
Dartmouth College
Daniel Jachowski -
Stanford University
Denise Martin -
Capella University
Mitchell Martin -
University of Texas, San Antonio
Melanie Prevett -
Oklahoma State University
Thomas Reed -
University of California, Santa Barbara
Delbert Willie -
Colorado State University
Posted by Meredith Carroll, Global Diversity and Talent Inclusion Team
Google Audio Indexing now on Google Labs
September 16, 2008
Nearly two months ago, we
introduced
the Google Elections Video Search
gadget
on iGoogle, a tool that transcribes and indexes the spoken content on YouTube's
Politicians channels
. It didn't take long for folks to find some
creative ways
to use it! Now it's possible to enjoy this technology in a bigger way: We just launched
Google Audio Indexing
(aka GAudi) in Google Labs. The dedicated site offers more features, such as "search within video" and "sharing," and a more robust user interface.
As with all things in
Labs
, we will continue to experiment with new features. So whether you care about
flip-flopping
,
the glass ceiling
,
change
or
taxes
, we'll keep working to provide the most relevant results for you.
Posted by Arnaud Sahuguet, Product Manager
The future of online video
September 16, 2008
The Internet has had an enormous impact on people's lives around the world in the ten years since Google's founding. It has changed politics, entertainment, culture, business, health care, the environment and just about every other topic you can think of. Which got us to thinking, what's going to happen in the next ten years? How will this phenomenal technology evolve, how will we adapt, and (more importantly) how will it adapt to us? We asked ten of our top experts this very question, and during September (our 10th anniversary month) we are presenting
their responses
. As computer scientist Alan Kay has famously observed, the best way to predict the future is to invent it, so we will be doing our best to make good on our experts' words every day. - Karen Wickre and Alan Eagle, series editors
Ten years ago the world of online video was little more than an idea. It was used mostly by professionals like doctors or lawyers in limited and closed settings. Connections were slow, bandwidth was limited, and video gear was expensive and bulky. There were many false starts and outlandish promises over the years about the emergence of online video. It was really the dynamic growth of the Internet (in terms of adoption, speed and ubiquity) that helped to spur the idea that online video - millions of people around the world shooting it, uploading it, viewing it via broadband - was even possible.
Today, there are thousands of different video sites and services. In fact it's getting to be unusual not to find a video component on a news, entertainment or information website. And in less than three years, YouTube has united hundreds of millions of people who create, share, and watch video online. What used to be a gap between "professional" entertainment companies and home movie buffs has disappeared. Everyone from major broadcasters and networks to vloggers and grandmas are taking to video to capture events, memories, stories, and much more in real time.
Today, 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and we believe the volume will continue to grow exponentially. Our goal is to allow every person on the planet to participate by making the upload process as simple as placing a phone call. This new video content will be available on any screen - in your living room, or on your device in your pocket. YouTube and other sites will bring together all the diverse media which matters to you, from videos of family and friends to news, music, sports, cooking and much, much more.
In ten years, we believe that online video broadcasting will be the most ubiquitous and accessible form of communication. The tools for video recording will continue to become smaller and more affordable. Personal media devices will be universal and interconnected. Even more people will have the opportunity to record and share even more video with a small group of friends or everyone around the world.
Over the next decade, people will be at the center of their video and media experience. More and more consumers will become creators. We will continue to help give people unlimited options and access to information, and the world will be a smaller place.
Posted by Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder, YouTube
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