Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Library access
As a graduate student at Virginia Tech, I spent many an hour reading volumes of Machine Learning Journal on the fourth floor of Newman Library. Libraries are known for their vast print collections, but that's not the end of the story. I often found interesting citations on the web and wished I could read the articles right then on my computer screen, saving a trip to the library.
My wish is now becoming a reality: most academic libraries these days subscribe to electronic versions of journals that authorized patrons can read on their own computers. And today we're launching a feature in Google Scholar that lets people read their academic library's subscriptions directly from their Google Scholar search results. Students at more than 100 participating universities will see links to such library resources as electronic delivery, print catalogs, and interlibrary loan.
We are deeply grateful to libraries and library software vendors who worked with us to define and implement library access in Google Scholar. Thirty organizations have participated in the pilot project that led to this launch, and many more have offered their help. We hope that library access in Google Scholar will help researchers like myself discover relevant information so they can build on the work of others and 'stand on the shoulders of giants.'
One more way to access Local UK
We were on a roll after we launched Google Local UK last month, and went on to build a mobile web browser version of Google Local for our UK users. Users can now access Local on their mobile by going straight to the Local home page (that's http://mobile.google.co.uk/local) or the Google UK home page (a.k.a. http://www.google.co.uk/xhtml). So we say: step away from that computer. Click a few buttons on your keypad and head to that new Thai restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. If you're slightly disoriented once away from the screen, Local gives you Google Maps and driving directions too.
Updated with visible URLs.
Friday, May 6, 2005
They are among us
There's no cause for alarm, but we wish to note that millions of people walking around *right now* are carrying little blogging devices. That's what we on the Blogger team call them, anyway. Others might refer to them as "mobile phones." It's all semantics.
The point is, we've launched Blogger Mobile. It's nothing fancy, really. All you need to do to use it is send an email or MMS from your phone to go@blogger.com - and that's it. We automatically create your blog, and whatever text or photos (or both) you send in the message becomes your post. Continue posting by sending more messages to go@blogger.com and congratulations: you are a blogger.
There's also this part we call "claiming your blog." That means you visit go.blogger.com and enter the token we send to your phone. When you sign in with this token, you get full Blogger access to all of your various settings, plus the ability to switch your posts to an existing blog if you already have one.
You may now use a mobile device to create and update your blog while you're on-the-go. See? Little blogging appliances — they are among us.
Thursday, May 5, 2005
Switch!
To make the Google Blog a bit easier to manage behind the scenes, we're now publishing it to its new home at Blogspot: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
Newsreader users shouldn't have to re-subscribe; the Atom feed is being redirected to its new URL. We've also updated the design a bit, and added a blogroll. Let us know what you think.
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Time waits for no one
My dentist told me I needed to floss more.
That's a big demand for a Googler's busy lifestyle. Where do you find the time to floss - less foosball, shorter lunches, skip out on ultimate frisbee? Hardly!
This calls out loud and clear for a way to optimize time. One mundane time-waster we all contend with, for example, is waiting for web pages to load. The tantalizing promise of a web page is only seconds away. But even on broadband, the wait's too short to do something else - and just long enough to be irritating. Let's face it, those seconds add up.
As you may have noticed, we're slightly obsessed with speed around here. When you search on Google.com, your results are returned to you within fractions of a second. And now comes Google Web Accelerator. After you download it, we hope you'll enjoy that same Google-fast experience across the rest of the web. After all, seconds add up to minutes.
Dentists everywhere will be smiling.
Monday, May 2, 2005
TV treasure hunt
Before a recent trip to Hong Kong and Taipei, I'd heard that a major Taipei attraction is the food at night markets. So I did a search on Google Video for Taipei night markets, and was pleasantly surprised to see that there's a PBS show called "Burt Wolf: Travels & Traditions." And before my trip it aired an episode on Taiwan. The first segment of the show focused on, yes, night markets. Perfect. After watching it, I knew enough to jostle among the locals and eat incredible treats like dou hua, dumplings, squid stew and oyster omelets.
We've been working to bring more video content online since we launched Google Video in late January, and have just added 12 new channels - among them CNN and the Discovery Channel - giving me way more TV info to unearth.
Sunday, May 1, 2005
It's an honor
Dear Sergey and Larry, I want to extend my personal congratulations to you both on your election to the esteemed American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It is a most well-deserved honor that recognizes your accomplishments and vision both technological and societal. I am proud to have you join us in the AAAS, which has among its members the most accomplished individuals since the Academy was formed in 1780 by some of our nation's founding fathers. Welcome, and congratulations again.
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