Thursday, February 7, 2008
Going local
One of the strengths of Google News is the diversity we can provide by crawling thousands of sources from around the world. Recently, we've also focused on building on the strength of our local news sources. Today you can do just that: find local news by typing your city name or zip code. As always, we'll bring you results from multiple sources. The biggest change is that top stories in your local area will appear at the top of your results. Our ranking system will take into account the location of the source so we can promote the local sources for each story.
There's more information about this on the Google News Blog and our help pages. We encourage you to try it out yourself as we keep working to bring you a better news experience.
Ciudad de Hombres
Tras el éxito internacional de la película Ciudad de Dios (Cidade de Deus, 2002) sus directores Kátia Lund y Fernando Meirelles decidieron producir junto a TV Globo una serie de televisión que mostrara las dificultades de los habitantes de las favelas brasileñas, utilizando como personajes centrales a un par de amigos, Luis Claudío y Wallace, mejor conocidos como Acerola (Douglas Silva) y Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) respectivamente. La serie tuvo cuatro temporadas (transmitidas entre los años 2002 y 2005) y mostró diversas etapas en la vida de los personajes, con problemas acordes a su edad. En el año 2007 se produjo la película Ciudad de Hombres (Cidade dos Homens), la cual muestra nuevamente a Acerola (Douglas Silva) y Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha), ahora alcanzando su mayoría de edad (18 años) enmedio de una guerra de pandillas ocurrida en su favela entre la banda del capo local Madrugadão (Jonathan Haagensen) y una pandilla invasora encabezada por Nefasto (el rapero Eduardo BR). Acerola es ahora padre de un bebé junto a su mujer Cris (Camila Monteiro), quien trabaja como niñera para sacar adelante a su hijo. Laranjinha finalmente conoce a su padre, Heraldo (Rodrigo dos Santos), quien estuvo quince años en prisión por matar al padre de Acerola. Esto provocará un conflicto temporal entre ambos amigos y pondrá en peligro sus vidas, cuando Acerola se alista en la pandilla de Nefasto mientras Laranjinha busca que su amigo no se involucre en el conflicto y piense en el bienestar de su pequeño hijo.Ciudad de Hombres es la culminación de una exitosa historia que tuvo cautivo a un amplio teleauditorio en Brasil. Quienes vieron la serie de televisión conocen mejor los antecedentes de los personajes centrales, aunque cabe señalar que la película no necesita de información previa para entender su historia. Ciudad de Hombres es una excelente película que, más que un relato de violencia, se trata de una historia de amistad y superación.
Ciudad de Hombres: *** (Buena)
Super Tuesday wrapup
On Super Tuesday, voters couldn't cast their ballots online, but we were excited to see so many people turn to the Internet to participate in the election. Americans and many others from around the world sent a clear message on Tuesday -- and we heard you! Here are some of our favorite highlights:
- "Tweets" from politically-engaged Twitter users spanned a wide range of expressions. You spoke your mind: "In addition to Super Tuesday, today is also Fat Tuesday. Super Fat Tuesday -- finally, a day I can relate to!" (ejacqui, UK); you reported election results: "Can someone please explain why 10% of Californians are voting for Edwards? Don't they read the news?" (paul_irish, Boston, MA); you relayed conditions at the voting booths: "CA Precincts are worried about running out of ballots." (mizlit, Montara, CA).
Of course, we had a favorite:
- Searches for [super tuesday results] hit the top of our Hot Trends list early in the afternoon and stayed number one through much of the night. Related terms like [primary results], [where do i vote] and [super tuesday exit polls] were also in the top ten for significant chunks of time. Senator Obama turned out to be the most widely-searched candidate of the day, and [health care] emerged as the most popular policy issue.
- Voters, news organizations, and candidates submitted hundreds of videos to YouTube's YouChoose08 Super Tuesday site, providing for an interesting integration of unique content all on one platform. Check out some of the top videos uploaded by voters, news organizations, and the candidates themselves. And here's one of the videos we thought captured the moment well:
It's all about teamwork
Raise your hand if you'd have a hard time getting things done without the Internet. Arranging a reunion with school friends? You can figure out schedules, vote on a venue, share a map, post pictures and videos and later share everything with those who couldn't make it, and all without leaving your chair. It's become so easy to coordinate and share with friends and family that we've wondered why the same couldn't apply to teams of co-workers at work or classmates at school.
That's why we're launching Google Apps Team Edition. Now you and your co-workers or classmates have a new way to share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and calendar information online. Just sign up with your work or school email address. After confirming that you belong to that organization, it's easy to invite others from your company or school and start collaborating. There’s no hardware, software or setup involved (and no burden for IT folks).
Of course, organizations need a level of security and control that individuals don't have to worry about. Team Edition enables co-workers and classmates to choose to share information just with each other, and not with outsiders, and it lets IT departments actively manage Google Apps, so admins can customize the Google Apps experience for users, including who should have access and which applications are available. You can learn more about all the administrative capabilities on the admin site for Google Apps.
We've lost a giant
Josh Lederberg, whose pioneering work laid foundation stones for modern genetics and biotech -- and then for space biology and artificial intelligence -- passed away on February 2. His creative and deep thinking on these subjects helped generations of scientists blaze trails in information and bio-sciences. Even more important, his thoughtful approach to new ideas has contributed to dialog on such critical matters as disarmament, genetic engineering, and public health policy.
In technology circles, he'll be remembered among other things for the expansion of the role of computers for scientific research. While at Stanford he and Edward Feigenbaum developed a computer program called DENDRAL, now recognized as the first expert system for use in science. He was also an early proponent of Digital Libraries. I have benefited in many ways from his tutelage. At one point, after briefing him on the possibilities of the idea of a Digital Library, he looked at me and said “Do something!” I could not have had better advice.
As a child, Josh said he wanted to be "like Einstein." His Nobel Prize and National Medal of Freedom attest to just how far he got. We will miss him greatly, but his legacy of thoughtful advice will sustain many friends and colleagues well into the 21st century.
Be a Groovy Groom!
Guys are so tough - very few of them even know where to help when it comes to wedding planning. Here's a web site that "talks their language" Check out Groom Groove and watch some video's that give guys a heads up about talking to their fiancee about the wedding, choosing a best man (they call him the Wing Man - I love that!) and it even has a section that talks about financial responsibility.
The video's are great, and totally down to earth. It's about time there's a guys guy website out there for our men!
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