Posts tagged Google at Switched

Posts with tag Google

Hybrid 'Googlemobile' Ticketed!

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 17th 2008 at 12:23PM

We've seen the Googlemobile before, captured in a window's reflection as it wove its way through the streets capturing images for Google's Street View feature on Google Maps. Since that earlier photo was taken, it seems Google's gone a bit green, ditching that big ugly van and choosing a Prius with a silly tall camera mounted on the roof. Being green doesn't mean necessarily being lawful, however, as this hybrid Googlemobile apparently broke some traffic violation and is about to be on the receiving end of a ticket from a California motorcycle policeman.

CHiPs it ain't, as we're guessing there wasn't a high-speed chase before this picture was taken, but it's an interesting look at the tech that makes Street View possible. [Source: The San Francisco Citizen]

Internet Access = Increasing Stupidity?

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 14th 2008 at 12:15PM

The Internet has truly become the greatest repository of human knowledge in the history of mankind -- and that's despite the flood of smut and fluff that quite successfully overshadows educational sites such as Wikipedia. The Internet is, in fact, so impressively powerful a repository of information that many fear it's making them more stupid, a topic columnist Nicholas Carr explores in his latest piece for The Atlantic.

Carr talks about his shortened attention span as a side-effect of his increasingly wired life; he believes the spread of the blog post has re-tuned his brain to skim anything that isn't finished in two paragraphs or less, and cites plenty of others struggling with the same issue.

Ironically enough, his article is four pages long, exploring the origin of the issue and tracing it back to the splintering of people's jobs during the Industrial Revolution, then speculating forward to a time when we'll have Google access wired into our brains. It's an interesting read, but don't tackle it all in one sitting -- that's an awful lot of words. [Source: The Atlantic]

Hands On: Google Earth Released as Browser Plugin

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 2nd 2008 at 12:15PM

As we've said before, Google Maps is the king of online mapping software. And, for those looking for a bit more power, sweeping 3-D views of the globe and the like, there's also the downloadable Google Earth. But, that app has always required you to run a separate desktop program, making it less convenient to use than the browser-based Google Maps. That's beginning to change. Google has released a browser plugin version of Earth, and while it's not nearly as functional as the full app, it surely will be before long. Check out our hands-on review after the break.

Continue reading Hands On: Google Earth Released as Browser Plugin

Google Maps Gets Enhanced

by Tim Stevens, posted May 29th 2008 at 8:51AM

Google Maps has well and truly established itself as the king of online mapping tools, and it's obvious its host, the king of search engines, isn't content to let the site rest on its laurels. The site has just added some new features, enabling you to view photos, videos, and Wikipedia entries of whatever location you're looking at. This is functionality they added to their Google Earth application last year, but that requires a desktop installation and isn't quite as quick to use as their web-based tool.

Now, by clicking the "More" button on Google Maps, you can select to look at photos (which includes videos), and Wikipedia entries as well. They appear as thumbnails or little 'W' logos on the map. A click brings up the photo or an excerpt from the Wiki right there in the page, with of course links outward to view the full image or article. Finding videos is somewhat hit-or-miss, since they just look like photos, but the pictures at least are very useful -- if only for finding what that hotel you booked for your trip actually looks like. [Source: Google Maps via makeuseof.com]

SpotCrime Tells You Just How Dangerous Your Neighborhood Is

by Will Safer, posted May 26th 2008 at 9:02AM

Online maps are great for more than just plotting a trip or looking up addresses. The folks at Google make it relatively easy for programmers and even novice users to add all kinds of overlays to maps, detailing points of interest, favorite routes and even data points that show the locations of criminal acts.

This brings us to SpotCrime, a Web site that uses Google Maps to show where assaults, shootings, robberies, and other bad deeds have taken place. This is similar to a Brazilian Web site called WikiCrimes we wrote about last month. That site, however, lets users input their own information on alleged criminal acts. SpotCrime marks its map by taking information from police reports, so there's no user input. CrimeReports.com, which we wrote about in February, also maps criminal activity and actually gets paid by participating police departments to review their logs and upload the map stats.

Neither SpotCrime nor CrimeReports offers complete coverage of the United States -- just major cities. CrimeReports does have plans to continue expanding its roster of participating police departments.

While SpotCrime gets most of its information from police reports, it also monitors local news coverage of crime, so like the Brazilian site it goes beyond the official record to at least enhance its data.

Bad acts are represented by icons on the map, which are pretty easy to interpret: A small flame means arson, bull's-eye means a shooting, a dark ski mask (adorable?) means a robbery has taken place.

Do you live on the wrong side of the tracks or in a safe neighborhood? Take a look at SpotCrime. You may be surprised by what you find. [Source: TechCrunch.]

Google to Map Oceans In 3-D

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted May 2nd 2008 at 10:27AM

Google likes to map things. Big things. Like the earth. And the sky.

It's completely logical then that it would want to map the ocean, which is also quite large. Which brings us to Google Ocean, the probable name for Google's hypothetical nautical juggernaut.

Google is collaborating with a myriad of oceanography experts to plan the eventual creation of a 3-D oceanographic map that would provide a view of the deep blue sea unlike any other. Though similar in many ways to typical topographical maps, Google's would incorporate much more data, from specific shipwreck sites to zooming and panning tools that would allow people to navigate formerly unexplored areas of the ocean. Grids and information from various oceanographic institutes would also be included, lending even more scientific and academic clout.

As with any technology as expansive as this, there are issues that affect both security and privacy. However, the potential benefits that may come from such an ambitious project leave us, quite honestly, drooling. [Source: Cnet]

Facebook Trumps Media and Emergency Services During Disasters

by Tim Stevens, posted May 1st 2008 at 12:19PM

Facebook Trumps Media, Emergency Services During Disasters

There's a disaster somewhere; homes are burning, tornadoes are spinning, a shooter is on the loose, flooding is rampant -- something like that. Where do you turn? Most would click on the local news and sit through the commercials hoping for an update. Others would turn on the radio and wait for an emergency broadcast to tell them what they need to know. More and more people, however, are turning to online services like Facebook, and according to researchers they are the ones who are keeping most informed.

The report found that, in the wake of disasters like last October's fires in Southern California and the Virginia Tech Shootings, which happened a year ago last month, bloggers, Twitterers, and Facebookers are reporting information about the emergencies more quickly and more efficiently than the local media. And, it's without the "lowest common denominator" spin that most media can fall into, zooming in on celebrity homes ablaze during the fires rather than discussing evacuation information, or endlessly repeating information about the shooter in the VT massacre instead of helping victims recover.

But, it seems, emergency services are starting to get the hang of things. The Red Cross took a hint from some amateur wildfire reporters and is now using Twitter to post information about emergencies. We're hoping FEMA maybe thinks about using Google Maps during the next emergency, which might just enable faster routing of emergency supplies to where they're needed.

Of course, none of these claims take into account power failures and Internet outages that occur as a result of these disasters. [Source: Daily Telegraph]

Google StreetView Captures Kid Wiping Out On Bike

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 24th 2008 at 1:51PM

Google StreetView Invades Privacy, Also Spreads Humiliation

There are many defining moments in our lives; getting a driver's license, going to college, having your first (legal) drink, etc. etc. One of those moments is riding a bicycle without training wheels -- a shaky period that quite often results in some skinned knees and shame. Learning to ride with just your parents watching is tough, but imagine if your youthful bicycle failings were posted permanently for the entire world to see. That's just what Google's StreetView has done, capturing a poor kid having a massive crash on his bike in frame-by-frame agony.

Okay, so maybe it's not as bad as getting caught walking out of a strip club or breaking into a building, and you can't see the kid's face so there's a bit of anonymity here, but just the same, we're glad our childhood bicycle failures were completed in the pre-StreetView era. [Source: GoogleMaps, via Kensington, Victoria]

Couple Sues Google Over Street View of Its House

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 8th 2008 at 9:12AM

Couple Sues Google Over Street View of Their House

We are all in agreement, Google Street View is freaking creepy, but is it lawsuit worthy? Aaron C. and Christine A. Boring (yes, their real names) are suing Google because images of their home appear on Google Maps' Street View. According to the Boring suit filed in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Oakridge Lane is a private road and the "reckless conduct" of Google has "exposed plaintiff's private information to the public."

Never mind that there is clearly no Private Road sign at the beginning of Oakridge Lane when viewing it in Google Maps Street View, or that photos of the Boring home, its approximate value, taxes paid, and details of the internal structure are all available on the Allegheny County Web site.

All of that is even completely irrelevant, since taking photographs of homes from public streets is clearly protected by the First Amendment. Just ask Barbara Streisand who sued an aerial mapping company for including photographs of her home in its products. Streisand lost that suit and was forced to pay the companies legal fees.

From Newsvine

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How to Work On Google Docs While Offline

by Thomas Houston, posted Apr 2nd 2008 at 4:03PM

Google has started giving users the ability to edit their Google Documents in an offline mode. Google Documents, part of Google's free online suite of office software, is a word processing application that allows you to create, view and edit documents as well as import Microsoft Word files, .txt and other popular document formats. The rest of the suite, accessible from within your browser, includes presentation (similar to PowerPoint and Apple's Keynote) and spreadsheet software.

What does the new offline mode mean? After you enable the feature, your documents will automatically be downloaded to your desktop. Now, you'll still be able to make edits and changes to your documents within your browser even if you disconnect from the Web.

It sounds complex, but the basic idea is pretty simple. As soon as you reconnect to the Web, the two versions of the Google Document -- the one on Google's server and the one on your computer -- will automatically sync. Previously, you were only able to access your Google Documents when connected to the Internet. For more information and an additional explanation, check out Google's video.

Google began rolling out access to a small group of users yesterday, but everyone with a Google account should have access within the next few weeks. Initially, users will only be able to use offline features with Google Documents, Google's free word-processor, but we expect Spreadsheet and Presentation to have it soon enough. To see if you have access to the offline mode, go to docs.google.com and search for an "offline" link in the top-right of the screen. We think it's a pretty cool feature that will come in handy, particularly for anyone who frequently finds themselves outside of Wi-Fi hotspots (like on a plane).

From Wired and Ars Technica

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ChaCha Does Web Search By Voice, Answers By Text

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 1st 2008 at 5:15PM

Of all the numerous choices you have available to you for your Internet searching, names like Google and Yahoo! stand out. There are some worthy alternatives out there, though, most notably one called ChaCha, which has an interesting alternative angle: All its searches are human-powered. Yes, Google has made jokes about having monkeys power their searches, but ChaCha has real people producing and verifying every search result. Until now, the site has received searches via text message and sent the responses in kind, but now a new feature lets you phone it in, literally.

You can now call 800-224-2242 and speak your question into a recording. Within a few minutes, you'll get a text message containing the answer. Well, you'll actually get three text messages in response: one thanking you for using the service, one saying your answer is coming, and then, finally, the answer itself. That's perhaps not exactly appreciated for someone paying $.10 or more per text message, but at least there are no additional charges.

Anything is game as far as questions go. We asked for the phone number for our favorite local pizza joint and got that, plus the street address, in a text message in about three minutes. Not all search results were so good, though. We also asked what a good DVD burning choice would be for archiving some of our DivX/XviD vids, and unfortunately the response sounded like a marketing pitch for the software, saying: "DivX for Windows gives you everything you need to create and play high-quality DivX videos on your PC." We don't disagree, but that didn't really answer the question.

Overall, though, it works quite well, and if you're in a situation where you can't text your question in this is worth checking out.

From textually.org

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Google Job Applicants Post Tales of Rejection

by Tim Stevens, posted Mar 25th 2008 at 12:04PM

Google is hot right now. Its stock price may have taken a bit of a hit lately, but new offerings like GrandCentral continue to revolutionize the Internet, and with its Android phone operating system poised to conquer the mobile world, things are looking good for the company.

Naturally, then, the brightest tech employees want to get in the door, and Google's interview process is notorious for being lengthy and arduous. It's no surprise, of course, that not all applicants are welcomed with open arms. Some of those who got the cold shoulder treatment are posting their experiences online for the benefit of those who might interview with the Big G in the future.

The stories range from the mundane, like an interviewer with a thick, "Chewbacca-like" accent that was hard for the job candidate to understand ("I'm obviously partially retarded," says "Rod"), to tales of wonderment, such as one applicant who was too dazed by the lunch offerings to put together a comprehensive interview. Then there are the truly disturbing stories, such as that of one applicant whose military background wasn't taken too kindly:

"The interview was going swimmingly until I met up with one interviewer who was apparently anti-military. Using the Google "Do No Evil" mantra as a pretense, he asked me how many people I'd killed when I served. When I explained to him that I was MI, he then asked if I could estimate how many people were killed because of the intelligence I'd gathered. The implication was I was either an evil, efficient killer or an incompetent one - a real no-win situation."

Good luck, job seekers of the future!

From Silicon Alley Insider

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Verizon Reveals More Open Access Details

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 21st 2008 at 7:51AM

As promised Verizon offered up some more details about its open access plans, though some questions were still left unanswered, such as the specific requirements for certification and the price of getting devices certified.

By the second half of the year, the program should be in full swing. All retailers and handset makers will have to do is get their devices certified by Verizon, which claims the requirements are only slightly stronger than industry standards. There will be no limitations on the phones or software that can be run, which means by the end of the year we're sure to see Android and other platforms working on Verizon's high-speed EV-DO cellular data system.

There were two very exciting revelations about Verizon's plans. One, that the open access system will be extended to the company's 4G LTE ultra-high-speed data network, which should enter testing phases by the end of the decade. And two, that Verizon is considering a multi-device flat-rate subscription, which would allow you to use multiple devices on the network for the price of one.

From Engadget and Reuters

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Google Layoffs May Come Following Ad Firm Aquisition

by Will Safer, posted Mar 12th 2008 at 4:16PM

Google, the Internet company that seemingly can do no wrong nor make any missteps, is preparing to engage in one of the most time-honored and well-practiced activities of the Web era: the layoff.

With its acquisition of Internet ad firm DoubleClick now approved by European regulators, Google is set to commence the full integration of this early Web success into its strategic and administrative system, which will likely include reducing the company's size, at least where positions are redundant or deemed outside the Web giant's new goals for serving up ads online. According to a memo by Google CEO Eric Schmidt posted yesterday on the Google blog, "there will be reductions in headcount." Most of the layoffs will take place in the U.S., according to the memo.

While the culture of Google is one of continual, almost unabated growth, the culture of DoubleClick is storied with the looming threat of layoffs, at least from its expand-and-contract days through the early Internet boom, bubble and burst phenomenon. This is not to say that all of the possible layoffs will come from the DoubleClick side, as Google will have to determine who among its combined workforce is most valuable to the venture.

The integration of DoubleClick's ad serving technology and reach will have a significant impact on Google's repertoire of online advertising tools, which let people submit ad campaigns online without the help of a salesperson.

Google's goal with this acquisition is to better compete with companies like Yahoo! which have much stronger capabilities with banner and multimedia ads. Google's strength has been with highly personalized and targeted text ads, which Web users seem to appreciate because they are unobtrusive and contextual.

From Official Google Blog (via Infectious Greed by Paul Kedrosky)

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10 More Scary Google StreetView Finds

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 11th 2008 at 12:52PM

10 More of the Strangest Google Street View Finds

It's no secret that Google Maps is cool, but it's also a bit creepy. If super close zooms of camels and a well in Chad weren't disturbing enough, the people spending hours on Google StreetView tracking down disturbing images and deeply personal glances into people's lives and living rooms.

We put together our own round up of scary street views last June, but new ones pop up every day. Times Online has collected 10 more confounding images and we feel obligated to share this new collection of frightening Street Views.

Gallery: 10 More Google Street Views

From Valleywag

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Hybrid 'Googlemobile' Ticketed!

Internet Access = Increasing Stupidity?

Hands On: Google Earth Released as Browser Plugin

Google Maps Gets Enhanced

SpotCrime Tells You Just How Dangerous Your Neighborhood Is

Google to Map Oceans In 3-D

Facebook Trumps Media and Emergency Services During Disasters

Google StreetView Captures Kid Wiping Out On Bike

Couple Sues Google Over Street View of Its House

How to Work On Google Docs While Offline

ChaCha Does Web Search By Voice, Answers By Text

Google Job Applicants Post Tales of Rejection

Verizon Reveals More Open Access Details

Google Layoffs May Come Following Ad Firm Aquisition

10 More Scary Google StreetView Finds

Gallery: 10 More Google Street Views

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