Official Google Blog |
- Find more while you browse with Google Related
- Shop your favorite catalogs with Google Catalogs
- Fast-tracking young web developers at CSSI
- Scholarships for aspiring journalists from Google, the AP and ONA
| Find more while you browse with Google Related Posted: 16 Aug 2011 09:15 AM PDT (Cross-posted on the Inside Search blog and the Chrome blog) Almost every time I go online, I come across some new topic or item that I'd like to learn more about. Sometimes it's as simple as the latest buzz on the new shop down the street. Other times it's something more significant, like a counterpoint to an opinion piece I'm reading. While the answer can be just a simple search away, we wanted to find a way to get some of those answers to you even faster. Now with Google Related, a new Chrome Extension and Google Toolbar feature, you'll automatically see interesting content relevant to what's on the page you're viewing, right where you're viewing it. Whether you're reading a news article, shopping for a new pair of shoes or visiting your favorite musician's website, Google Related works in the background to find you the most interesting and relevant content on the topics you're currently viewing. For example, if you visit a restaurant's website, Related can show you a map, reviews from Google Places, mentions from across the web and other similar eateries that you might want to try.  Results will display in a thin bar at the bottom of your screen, and will remain minimized until you hover over them with your mouse. Once selected, they'll open up immediately in your browser window, saving you the trouble of having to open multiple new windows or tabs. If Google Related shows you something you're interested in, you can let others know using the built-in +1 button. In order to offer you relevant suggestions, Related sends the URL and other available information about the pages you visit back to Google. If you're interested in how that data is used and stored, you can learn more here and here. If you decide you'd rather not see the Related bar, you can easily hide it for specific pages and sites through the Options menu. If you use Related as part of Google Toolbar, you can disable Related entirely through the Options menu as well. Google Related is available both as a Chrome Extension in the Chrome Web Store and as a new feature in Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer. Visit www.google.com/related to learn more and to get Google Related today.      |
| Shop your favorite catalogs with Google Catalogs Posted: 16 Aug 2011 06:21 AM PDT (Cross-posted on the Commerce and Mobile blogs) For years, shoppers have enjoyed flipping through glossy print catalogs to be inspired, discover new trends and find great products. Today, mobile technologies can make catalog shopping more engaging, social and creative. With that in mind, we've created Google Catalogs—a free app for tablet devices that enables you to browse all of your favorite catalogs and interact with new layers of rich-media content. The Google Catalogs app features digital versions of catalogs across many popular categories, including fashion and apparel, beauty, jewelry, home, kids and gifts. We've partnered with a variety of top brands including Anthropologie, Bare Escentuals, Bergdorf Goodman, Crate and Barrel, L.L. Bean, Lands' End, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Sundance, Tea Collection, Urban Outfitters and Williams-Sonoma, just to name a few. With Google Catalogs, you can:
To download the app on your iPad, visit the App Store. Visit www.google.com/catalogs/about/ to learn more, and stay tuned for Google Catalogs for Android tablets, coming soon! If you're a merchant and would like to participate in Google Catalogs, tell us about your catalog by filling out this form on our website. Happy shopping!     |
| Fast-tracking young web developers at CSSI Posted: 15 Aug 2011 01:27 PM PDT Every summer, we run a range of educational outreach programs designed to get students of all ages excited about technology. Our Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) is focused around incoming college freshmen who are considering a computer science major, particularly those groups traditionally underrepresented in the field. Last year the program was so successful that 24 of 29 students declared a major in Computer Science. So this year we decided to run CSSI twice. For each session, we invited nearly 30 young developers with little to no prior programming experience to the Googleplex for an intense three-week course in web application development. Unlike traditional introductory computer science programs, which are largely theoretical, CSSI enables students to gain a better understanding of software engineering through immediate participation. The goal is to give the students the tools they need to create exciting technical solutions now, which in turn gives them the confidence to take their ideas and turn them into reality. We wanted to equip students with a comprehensive toolset to tackle the world of web and mobile applications. In the first two weeks of the program we introduced students to App Inventor for Android, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, Django and App Engine. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but the students far surpassed our expectations and demanded more. In the final week of the program, they built some spectacular web applications, inspiring us with their passion and their enthusiasm for experimentation. They wrote online games, embedded Google Calendar's self-scheduler onto their websites and built blogging services. Some even began exploring the nitty-gritty details of computer graphics. Every one of our 56 students had the satisfaction of developing a publicly-available service on the web, hosted on Google's servers. Moreover, the development process was deeply social: we emphasized and facilitated group work, helping students build a network of peers with a shared passion for technology. Google engineers served as mentors, and when we discovered that the students were so excited about their lessons that they continued to work on their projects in the evenings, mentors teamed up with them on Google+ Hangouts, using video conferencing and Google Docs to debug programs collaboratively online. While both sessions of CSSI 2011 are now over, we'll be accepting applications for the 2012 sessions early next year, so stay tuned! Our goal with our education programs isn't just to strengthen the study of computer science—we also want to enable rewarding collaboration among Google's engineers and usability researchers, educators and the community at large. CSSI is one way to show young people how valuable teamwork can be and encourage them to take that spirit of cooperation back with them to their personal and academic lives. How do we know we're on the right track? Not even three days after the end of the first session, a student posted the following message on Google+: "Five weeks before school starts, anyone interested in starting up a new web project?" She had six eager recruits within the hour.     |
| Scholarships for aspiring journalists from Google, the AP and ONA Posted: 15 Aug 2011 12:46 PM PDT (Cross-posted on the Google Student Blog) Consider the following:
To further encourage and enable innovation from classrooms and dorm rooms alike, we're announcing a new scholarship program with the Associated Press that will provide $20,000 scholarships for the 2012-2013 academic year to six promising students pursuing or planning to pursue degrees at the intersection of journalism and technology. While we're underwriting the scholarships in partnership with the AP, the Online News Association will be responsible for administering the program and managing the selection process. We support a variety of scholarships aimed at giving students from historically underrepresented groups experience in the technology industry, and a key goal of this program will be to promote geographic, gender and ethnic diversity, with an emphasis on rural and urban areas. Whether you're exploring data visualizations, 3D storytelling, digital ethics or something else entirely, as ONA's executive director Jane McDonnell says, "our hope is to shine a light on the hidden treasures in schools across the country—the digital-minded journalists who will be the future of our industry." Help us shine a light in your direction—applications are open until January 27, 2012. We hope this program inspires today's students as they become leaders showcasing what's possible through digital journalism, and we look forward to celebrating the scholarship winners at the 2012 ONA conference in San Francisco.     |
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