Google lets people create custom virtual realms: related news

Google lets people create custom virtual realms

Google on Tuesday rolled out a challenge to virtual world giant Second Life with free software that lets people create their own online 3D worlds that can be embedded on websites and melded with other online functions.

Google Chrome, the Google Browser

Philipp Lenssen writes "Google announced their very own browser project called Google Chrome — an announcement in the form of a comic book drawn by Scott McCloud, no less. Google says Google Chrome will be open source, include a new JavaScript virtual machine, include the Google Gears add-on by default, and put the tabs above the address bar (not below), among other things. I've also uploaded Google's comic book with all the details (details given from Google's perspective, anyway... let's see how this holds up). While Google provided the URL www.google.com/chrome there's nothing up there yet."

Google's Big Mistake - Getting Rid of Google Page Creator

Are you kidding me? Google getting rid of Google Page Creator, this must be a joke. No, it's for real. Google says they're going to be transitioning all Google Page Creator websites into their new Google Sites. Excuse me, but Google Sites doesn't come close to being as good as Google Page Creator. Why in the world would Google choose to keep the lesser of the two?

Microsoft Says Google Is Years Behind on Privacy - Draws attention as IE8 enters new beta

Microsoft executive Peter Cullen says that Google might have some great products but that they are about ten years behind Microsoft in terms of protecting people’s privacy online. One cited example is the problem that Google has had with Street Views capturing photos of people that they don’t want online, a problem Google has dismissed by saying that anyone could take those same pictures and put them on the Internet. Cullen says that Microsoft has built privacy into its core design and that Google is going to need to do the same thing as it grows. In fact, Microsoft is trying to use its privacy tools against Google; the latest beta version of Internet Explorer 8 has a privacy mode that has the potential to keep even Google from collecting information to use in ad targeting.

Google unveils lively virtual world

LOS ANGELES—As if Google didn’t have a strong enough hold on the planet, Tuesday it has launched its own world—a virtual world, to be exact. Lively, which Google likes to call a “virtual experience,” allows you to create an avatar, decorate your own virtual room, invite friends to your room and do things you’ve always dreamed of, like blow up oil barrels on a deserted island.

Google Lively is no Second Life killer - and should not want to be

This week Google launched the beta version of a virtual world type application called Google Lively. The service, a project from Google Labs, allows people to create personalised, 3D virtual rooms where they can appear in the shape of an avatar, chat and interact with other users' avatars.

Google's Latest Silly Privacy Problem

Well now that Google's dealt with one ridiculous privacy complaint, it appears it has another to deal with. As Google is preparing to launch its "Street View" offerings in Europe (which let people see photos of the streets they search for on Google Maps), some privacy groups are complaining how its a violation of people's privacy. Apparently the fact that they were photographed out in public hasn't occurred to the privacy group. Even more to the point, as Google has pointed out in response, despite the fact that anyone caught in these photographs was in public, it's recently rolled out a system to automatically blur faces of people who end up in the Street View photos. Overall, the whole complaint seems to be much ado about nothing from privacy advocates who have much more important things to focus on.

Google URL Index Hits 1 Trillion

mytrip points out news that Google's index of unique URLs has reached a milestone: one trillion. Google's blog provides some more information, noting, "The first Google index in 1998 already had 26 million pages, and by 2000 the Google index reached the one billion mark. Over the last eight years, we've seen a lot of big numbers about how much content is really out there. To keep up with this volume of information, our systems have come a long way since the first set of web data Google processed to answer queries. Back then, we did everything in batches: one workstation could compute the PageRank graph on 26 million pages in a couple of hours, and that set of pages would be used as Google's index for a fixed period of time. Today, Google downloads the web continuously, collecting updated page information and re-processing the entire web-l

Google lets advertisers measure ad views

Google developed a system that lets advertisers limit and measure the number of times users view ads on its partners' sites. Clients will be able to better place ads based on the number of views they get and the number of users that visit a Web site after seeing it, Mountain View-based Google said Thursday in an e-mailed statement. The technology will be available within months, Google said. The product comes out of Google's acquisition of online ad company DoubleClick, bought in March to boost sales of promotions with pictures and videos.

Google Tests Custom Highlights, Comments In Search

Ian Lamont writes "Google is testing functionality that lets users tinker with query results by re-ranking them and commenting on them. The reason for the commenting feature: 'We're just curious to see how it will be used,' according to a Google engineer quoted in the article. The company has posted screenshots of some of the experiments, which also involve highlighting certain results as well as stems and synonyms within results. Google declined to answer any questions about the experiments, and it's not known whether Google would factor the rearranging of results by users into the overall computation for ranking results for those specific queries. It's also not clear whether search result comments would be made available to anyone to read.

Verizon and Google Close To Mobile Search Deal - Google is coming to a phone near you

Google and Verizon have often been on opposing sides of deals and issues (like those issues that arose during the 700 Mhz spectrum earlier this year). However it looks like the two companies are about to put the past behind them as they are rumored to be nearing a deal which would make Google the default search engine on all Verizon phones. The two companies would split ad revenue so that both would benefit. The deal has not been commented on by either party but sources say that a major point of contention is that Google seeks to save user search information in order to improve targeted ads and Verizon wants to keep that data to itself. Google is already the default search engine for Sprint phones and has a search partnership with Nokia plus the first Android phone has just gotten FCC approval so this is another step for Google towards do

Ga Not Tracking Google Custom Search Queries

I have installed Google Custom Search on a clients site and it appears to be working properly. The Custom Search account, in the "Statistics" section, shows several queries every day. But in Google Analytics under "Site Search" for any time period it shows zero searches (it shows "0" for all parameters it can measure). I checked in Analytics Settings for the GA account and for "Site Search" it shows "Do Track Site Search". I understand it is necessary to make sure that setting is configured to track Custom Search data, and it appears to be set correctly.

The Design People, Inc. named authorized reseller for Google AdWords

The Design People, Inc. announced today that it is entering into a strategic relationship with Google to become an authorized reseller of the Google AdWords advertising program. The Design People, Inc. is one of the first web design and Internet marketing companies in the Google AdWords Authorized Reseller program.

Google's proprietary approach to software slows down acquisitions, claims TechCrunch

Google buys a lot of software companies -- YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, GrandCentral, Keyhole (Google Earth), Writely (Google Docs), JotSpot (Google Sites), Dodgeball etc -- but there's a tendency for them to stagnate. Nik Cubrilovic at TechCrunch IT reckons this is because of Google's proprietary software stack. In Why Google Slows Down Acquired Companies, he says:

Google Inks Deal to Use Tele Atlas Maps on Android OS

Google has signed a deal with digital-map maker Tele Atlas which allows Google to use the firm's map data on a host of devices including cellphones and gadgets based the much anticipated Android operating system. Under the terms of the 5-year deal Google will also continue to use Tele Atlas mapping data on a host of Google services such as Google Maps and Google Earth.

Google Now Allows You To Pick Your Friends in Reader

Last year, Google caused a bit of a furor when it expanded the sharing capabilities of Google Reader, the company’s service for viewing blogs. The main complaint was that Google assumed that anyone you had exchanged messages with using Google Talk was your friend. If those people were Google Reader users, they would be able to see any item you marked as “shared.�

Google Apps Coming to DSL Extreme

LOS ANGELES, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- DSL Extreme, a leading provider of high-speed DSL and business-related Internet services, announced today that it is bringing Google Apps(TM) to its customers. With Google Apps, DSL Extreme subscribers will now have access to Google's popular email and communications tools such as Gmail with anti-spam and anti-virus protection, Google Docs collaboration, Google Calendar shared calendaring, Google Talk instant messaging, and a new customizable DSL Extreme home page.

"Google Satellite" To Be Launched This Week

Lord Satri writes "Well, almost. Google signed an exclusivity deal with GeoEye regarding GeoEye-1, the most advanced high-resolution, civil, remote-sensing satellite to date. This must be annoying for other high-resolution, remote-sensing data users since Google already has an exclusivity deal in place with DigitalGlobe, the other major civil satellite imagery provider. From the CNet article: 'Under the deal, Google is the exclusive online mapping site that may use the imagery... in its Google Maps and Google Earth product. And as a little icing on the cake, Google's logo is on the side of the rocket set to launch the 4,300-pound satellite in six days from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. GeoEye-1 will orbit 423 miles above Earth, but it will be able to gather imagery with details the size of 4

Verizon, Google close to mobile search deal

NEWYORK (Agencies): US mobile service provider Verizon Communications Inc. is nearing an agreement with Google Inc. on a wide-ranging partnership, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation. The deal under discussion would make Google the default search provider on Verizon devices and give it a share of ad revenue, the paper said. The deal is not yet final and the two sides are still negotiating on key issues, such as Google's desire to save information from user cellphone searches, it added. The online search giant has reportedly been in talks with the number-two US mobile carrier over a possible alliance for almost a year now. Verizon and Google are hoping to conclude the discussions in the next few weeks and the mobile carrier eventually wants to put the Google search bar on the home screen of its phones, t

Notify Technology Joins Google Enterprise Professional Program

today announced it has joined the Google Enterprise Professional program, which extends the power of Google across the enterprise and helps customers get more value out of their Google Premier Apps deployment. Notify will provide Enterprises using Google's email, calendar, and address book applications with secure over-the-air synchronization to their wireless device using its NotifyLink Enterprise Edition for Google. NotifyLink users are free to use any BlackBerry(TM), Palm(TM), Windows Mobile(TM), or Symbian(TM) wireless device to access and manage their Google email, calendar, and contacts. The NotifyLink solution is available in two versions; one being an On-Premise software solution and the other as an On-Demand service solution. Over the past four years, Notify has been recognized by Gartner Group in their annual Wireless Email Magi

Some Developers Leaving Google For Microsoft

recoiledsnake writes "We have heard about lots of talented developers jumping ship from Microsoft to Google, but is the trend beginning to turn? Dare Obasanjo (a Microsoft employee) writes about a few high-profile people picking Microsoft over Google — either making the jump directly, or choosing Microsoft after receiving offers at both. Sergey Solyanik is back to Microsoft and he primarily gripes about the culture and lack of career development at Google. He writes, 'Everything is pretty much run by [engineering] — PMs and testers are conspicuously absent from the process. Google as an organization is not geared — culturally — to delivering enterprise class reliability to its user applications.' Danny Thorpe, who was the key architect of Google Gears, is back at Microsoft for his second stint working on developer technologies rel

Notify Technology Joins Google Enterprise Professional Program

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Notify Technology Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: NTFY - News) today announced it has joined the Google Enterprise Professional program, which extends the power of Google across the enterprise and helps customers get more value out of their Google Premier Apps deployment. Notify will provide Enterprises using Google's email, calendar, and address book applications with secure over-the-air synchronization to their wireless device using its NotifyLink Enterprise Edition for Google. NotifyLink users are free to use any BlackBerry(TM), Palm(TM), Windows Mobile(TM), or Symbian(TM) wireless device to access and manage their Google email, calendar, and contacts. The NotifyLink solution is available in two versions; one being an On-Premise software solution and the other as an On-Demand service

MessageLabs Intelligence July 2008: Spammers Use Google Sites to Host Spam

MessageLabs, the leading provider of messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide, today announced the results of its MessageLabs Intelligence Report for July 2008. Analysis highlights that spammers continued the trend of abusing Google's hosted applications to host spam. Previously abused applications include Google Docs, Google Pages and Google Calendar. Google Sites allows a novice to easily create a web page composed of a string of random letters and numbers resulting in a URL that is more difficult to block using traditional signature-based anti-spam tools.

MessageLabs Intelligence July 2008: Spammers Use Google Sites to Host Spam

NEW YORK, NY and LONDON -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/05/08 -- MessageLabs, the leading provider of messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide, today announced the results of its MessageLabs Intelligence Report for July 2008. Analysis highlights that spammers continued the trend of abusing Google's hosted applications to host spam. Previously abused applications include Google Docs, Google Pages and Google Calendar. Google Sites allows a novice to easily create a web page composed of a string of random letters and numbers resulting in a URL that is more difficult to block using traditional signature-based anti-spam tools.

MessageLabs Intelligence July 2008: Spammers Use Google Sites to Host Spam

NEW YORK, NY and LONDON--(MARKET WIRE)--Aug 5, 2008 -- MessageLabs, the leading provider of messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide, today announced the results of its MessageLabs Intelligence Report for July 2008. Analysis highlights that spammers continued the trend of abusing Google's hosted applications to host spam. Previously abused applications include Google Docs, Google Pages and Google Calendar. Google Sites allows a novice to easily create a web page composed of a string of random letters and numbers resulting in a URL that is more difficult to block using traditional signature-based anti-spam tools.

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