Standing on the shoulders of this giant

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Alan Eustace, VP of Engineering</span><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.medaloffreedom.com/">Presidential Medal of Freedom</a> is the highest civilian award given in the United States, and our own <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/execs.html#vint">Vint Cerf</a> has been recognized with this honor. He and <a href="http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/bios/kahn.html">Robert Kahn</a> will be recognized in a White House ceremony next Wednesday.<br /><br />Together, Vint and Bob designed the architecture and protocols 30+ years ago that are used today to implement and operate the Internet. The White House statement puts it succinctly: "Dr. Cerf and Dr. Kahn have been at the forefront of a digital revolution that has transformed global commerce, communication, and entertainment."<br /><br />Vint and Bob join an impressive list of winners, including Alan Greenspan, Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, Frank Robinson and Paul Rusesabagina. The official release is <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051103-5.html">here</a>.<br /><br />We couldn't be more pleased for this recognition Vint is receiving on behalf of the vast Internet community that has realized the aspirations that he and Bob had so long ago.

Standing on the shoulders of this giant

Posted by Alan Eustace, VP of Engineering The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award given in the United States, and o...

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Desktop grows up

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Satish Sampath, Google Desktop Team</span><br /><br />We always get a bit misty-eyed when a youngster graduates, so today we're dabbing back a few tears for <a href="http://desktop.google.com/">Google Desktop</a>, which leaves beta status behind with several powerful new features under its belt.<br /><br />Fans of <a href="http://maps.google.com/">Google Maps</a> will want to check out Sidebar's new maps panel, which lets you do all the usual cool maps stuff -- local business info, directions, sightseeing -- plus a new one: finding new locations relevant to the web pages and emails you're reading and showing them in your maps panel.<br /><br />Like this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/GDS2_MapsPanelBothScrSht2-743805.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/GDS2_MapsPanelBothScrSht2-741645.JPG" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a> Geeks, meanwhile, are invited to pore over our <a href="http://desktop.google.com/plugins">script support</a> for writing plug-ins, which makes it far easier to create home-brewed Sidebar panels. And Sidebar has a bunch of new <a href="http://desktop.google.com/plugins/c/sidebar.html">third- party panels</a>, most notably GDTunes, which cycles through your iTunes collection (and even shows album covers).<br /><br />Finally, let me invite developers and anyone else who's interested to check out our new <a href="http://googledesktop.blogspot.com/">Google Desktop blog</a> for the latest news and info.<br /><br />We've worked hard raising Desktop over the past two years. It's great to see it growing up so nicely.

Desktop grows up

Posted by Satish Sampath, Google Desktop Team We always get a bit misty-eyed when a youngster graduates, so today we're dabbing back a f...

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Preserving public domain books

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Adam Mathes, Associate Product Manager</span><br /><br />The world's libraries are a tremendous source of knowledge, much of which has never been available online. One of our goals for Google Print is to change that, and today we've taken an exciting step toward meeting it: making available a number of public domain books that were never subject to copyright or whose copyright has expired. We can show every page because these books are in the public domain. (For books not in the public domain we only show <a href="http://print.google.com/googleprint/screenshots.html#excerpt">small snippets of the work</a> unless the publisher or copyright holder has given us permission to show more.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/DaisyMiller_part1-706014.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/DaisyMiller_part1-701073.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br /><br />Our partner libraries –- the University of Michigan, Stanford, Harvard, the New York Public Library, and Oxford –- have preserved and nurtured these books through decades of wear and tear, and we're excited to play a part in ensuring that they, and the knowledge they contain, will be more accessible than ever for decades to come.<br /><br />Every page of these books is fully available online, so you can study, for instance, an illustrated version of Henry James' <a href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=I2y-phalL2MC&lpg=PP13&pg=PA3"><span style="font-style: italic;">Daisy Miller</span></a> (the opening illustration on page one is pictured here) from Harvard's Henry James collection, or read <a href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=eml9U2RZArQC&pg=PA212&lpg=PA212">how Private Joseph Taylor got his medal of honor</a> in style, in <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=eml9U2RZArQC&pg=PR1&printsec=2lpg=PR1">The Seventh Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers in the Civil War, 1862-1865</a>, from the University of Michigan.<br /><br />And since every word is searchable, as you are browsing <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=QlEra5anYEsC&pg=PA1">The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York</a> -- from the New York Public Library's collection -- you can find that there were more <a href="http://print.google.com/print?q=grocer&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&id=QlEra5anYEsC">grocers</a> than <a href="http://print.google.com/print?q=banker&amp;amp;hl=en&ie=UTF-8&id=QlEra5anYEsC"> bankers</a> listed in 1855.<br /><br />From Stanford's collection, there are government documents detailing what the Fiftieth <a href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=YIwk9HTsxkkC&pg=PP13">U.S. Congress spent money on in 1888</a>, or the results of investigations into the <a href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=TJHEK5Ea8cgC&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lpg=PP5&pg=PR1">fur-seal and other fisheries in Alaska</a>.<br /><br />See for yourself what some of these libraries have -- using the date operator, and searching for the phrase [steam engine], you'll find different results in <a href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=steam+engine+date%3A1500-1923">books no longer under copyright in the U.S.</a> and <a href="http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&q=steam+engine+date%3A1500-1846">books in the public domain internationally</a>. And all that you can find today is still just a small taste -- call it part 1 -- of what you'll be able to find tomorrow, as Google Print helps users discover, search and access the world's rich literary history in ways that were previously impossible.<br /><br />p.s. If you're interested in other projects that make public domain books available, check out the Million Book Project's The Universal Library <a href="http://www.ulib.org">in the U.S.</a> and <a href="http://www.ulib.org.cn">in China</a><span style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;"></span>, and their <a href="http://dli.iiit.ac.in">Digital Library of India</a> as well as <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/">Project Gutenberg</a>'s public domain catalog of books.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Updated with p.s.</span>

Preserving public domain books

Posted by Adam Mathes, Associate Product Manager The world's libraries are a tremendous source of knowledge, much of which has never bee...

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O, Canada (among others)

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Dylan Parker, Software Engineer</span><br /><br />I've been working on the personalized homepage from Victoria, B.C., and I've never been psyched to have to sign in to the U.S. version every morning. While Seattle's pretty close, I'd prefer to have the actual weather for Victoria -- and have it in Celsius. Now I can, because today we expanded the personalized homepage to 16 new regions: <a href="http://www.google.com.au/ig">Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com.br/ig">Brazil</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/ig?hl=zh-CN">China</a>, <a href="http://www.google.fr/ig">France</a>, <a href="http://www.google.de/ig">Germany</a>, <a href="http://www.google.co.in/ig">India</a>, <a href="http://www.google.it/ig">Italy</a>, <a href="http://www.google.co.jp/ig">Japan</a>, <a href="http://www.google.co.kr/ig">Korea</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com.mx/ig">Mexico</a>, <a href="http://www.google.nl/ig">Netherlands</a>, <a href="http://www.google.ru/ig">Russia</a>, <a href="http://www.google.es/ig">Spain</a>, <a href="http://www.google.ch/ig">Switzerland</a>, <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/ig">UK</a>, and ahem, <a href="http://www.google.ca/ig">Canada</a>.<br /><br />Now I can enjoy my morning <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbits">Timbits</a> with a Google homepage -- Canadian-style.

O, Canada (among others)

Posted by Dylan Parker, Software Engineer I've been working on the personalized homepage from Victoria, B.C., and I've never been ps...

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Flu season is upon us

<span class="byline-author">Dr. Taraneh Ravazi, M.D., Staff Doctor</span><br /><br />It's official: flu season -- in the northern hemisphere, where flu hits between October to May -- has begun. (In the southern hemisphere, of course, it's the other half of the year, and in the tropics, one can catch the flu year-round.) Today I'll focus on the northern hemisphere, but the same ideas apply at different times in other locales.<br /><br />Please note that this is general information, and not a substitute for medical advice; contact your own doctor with questions about your health.<br /><br />The sources for the information below are: <a href="www.medicalletter.org">Medical Letter</a>, <a href="www.uptodate.com">Up To Date</a>, the <a href="www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/">NIH's MedLine Plus</a>, the <a href="www.cdc.gov/epi/mmwr/mmwr.html">Centers for Disease Control</a>, and <a href="www.lungusa.org">Lung USA</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Who should get a flu shot?</span><br />Generally, those wanting to reduce their chance of getting sick. It's especially recommended for the following high-risk groups:<br /><br />- People aged 50 and older<br />- Women who are or will be pregnant during the flu season<br />- Adults and children 6 months and older with chronic heart, or lung conditions including asthma, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system such as with HIV or with medications, and any kind of brain or spinal cord disorders<br />- Children 6 months to 18 years who are on long term aspirin therapy<br />- All children 6-23 months of age<br />- All the contacts of people in these high-risk groups<br /><br />Other than your doctor's office, try <a href="http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=aqKGLXOAIlH&b=1015035">Flu Clinic Locator</a> to see where you might be able to get a shot.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Who shouldn't get one?</span><br />- People with severe allergy to eggs<br />- People who currently have a fever<br />- Children less than 6 months old<br />- People who have had Guillane Barre syndrome (a paralytic condition) within 6 weeks of getting a flu shot in the past<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">When's best to get one?</span><br />It's optimal to get a shot in October or November (especially for the high-risk groups noted above), but you can also benefit in December or later.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Types of vaccines</span><br />- A flu shot, made from an inactivated vaccine, which contrary to popular belief cannot give you the flu.<br />- A flu nasal spray, an attenuated live vaccine. Because this can at least theoretically cause transmission, it should only be given to healthy people ages 5-49 who are not pregnant, not healthcare workers, or contacts of anyone who is immuno-suppressed.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Effectiveness</span><br />Within about 2 weeks, the shot is fully effective, and usually the effect lasts for 6 months or longer. A protection rate of 50-80 percent is the norm.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Recognizable flu symptoms</span><br />These are usually more severe than cold symptoms, and include sudden onset of high fever (101 or higher), severe muscle aches, headache, cough, sore throat, and a general miserable feeling. Symptoms may last 2-7 days, but if complications such as pnuemonia occur, the course may be longer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How to treat the flu</span><br />Treatment is mainly designed to reduce the symptoms with<br />- rest<br />- fluids<br />- acetominophen (like Tylenol) -- not aspirin, especially in those under 18, to avoid Reyes Syndrome, which is a serious neurological disease<br />- antiviral medications (most effective if started within the first 2 days of onset of symptoms)<br /><br />Unless there is a secondary complication (e.g. ear infection, sinusitis), antibiotics are not typically prescribed. And the jury is out on alternatives such as Vitamin C or herbal products. (Recently, echinacea was shown to be ineffective for cold treatment.)<br /><br />Here's hoping you can stay healthy this winter!

Flu season is upon us

Dr. Taraneh Ravazi, M.D., Staff Doctor It's official: flu season -- in the northern hemisphere, where flu hits between October to May --...

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Discovering hard-to-find books

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Adam Smith, Senior Business Product Manager, Google Print</span><br /><br />Tomorrow is the day we said we'd resume scanning in-copyright works with our library partners as part of our initiative to build a card catalog of books with <a href="http://print.google.com/">Google Print</a>. We are in the process of resuming scanning (it may take a little time), so you should soon be able to search across more books from our partner libraries at <a href="http://print.google.com/">print.google.com</a>. We've already had great success working with publishers directly to add their works to our index through our <a href="http://print.google.com/intl/en/googleprint/publisher.html">Publisher Program</a>, and when we add books with publisher permission, we can offer more information and a much richer user experience.<br /><br />As always, the focus of our library effort is on scanning books that are unique to libraries including many public domain books, orphaned works and out-of-print titles. We're starting with library stacks that mostly contain older and out-of-circulation books, but also some newer books. That said, we want to make all books easier to find, and as we get through the older parts of the libraries we'll start scanning the stacks that house newer books.<br /><br />These older books are the ones most inaccessible to users, and make up the vast majority of books – a conservative estimate would be 80 percent. Our digital card catalog will let people discover these books through Google search, see their bibliographic information, view <a href="http://print.google.com/print?q=pioneer&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&pgis=1&id=hjhu2OaXKw4C">short snippets</a> related to their queries (never the full text), and offer them links to places where they can buy the book or find it in a local library.<br /><br />We think that making books easier to find will be good for authors, publishers, and our users. We're excited to get back to work making a comprehensive, free, full-text card catalog of the world's books a reality. Happy searching!

Discovering hard-to-find books

Posted by Adam Smith, Senior Business Product Manager, Google Print Tomorrow is the day we said we'd resume scanning in-copyright works ...

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More video to watch!

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Eva Ho, Product Marketing Manager</span><br /><br />You may have seen <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648&q=bsb">this funny bit</a> on <a href="http://video.google.com/">Google Video</a>, or <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4505462782975458603&q=football+dribble">this one</a>. But hey, we're not only about funny. We've just added a ton more work from sources you might already know, including the list below. (To join this prestigious roster, add your own video through our <a href="https://upload.video.google.com/">Upload Program</a>.)<br /><br />Also starting today, check out new work presented each week by theme on the <a href="http://googlevideo.blogspot.com/">Google Video Blog</a> - and remember to add the feed from this blog to your <a href="http://reader.google.com/">Google Reader</a>. Finally, special thanks to all those who provided their work to help make Google Video one of the largest archives of videos on the Web.<br /><br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22Academy+of+Television%22+playable%3Atrue">The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences</a></li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22bikemag.com%22">Bikemag </a>- Published by Primedia, one of the leading media companies publishing over 120 consumer magazines</li><br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22hippy+gourmet%22">The Hippy Gourmet</a> - Bruce Brennan provides wholesome ingredients and earth-laden consciousness to meals<br /></li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=campus+movie+fest">Campus Movie Fest</a> - Maybe the best way to challenge our nation’s top college students is to arm them with cameras and laptops, and ask them to share their life stories</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=kqed+playable%3Atrue&page=1&lv=0">KQED</a> - Community-supported public broadcaster KQED provides Northern California with content that makes people think </li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=unicef+playable%3Atrue">UNICEF</a> - Since 1946, UNICEF has worked with over 157 countries around the world to secure children’s rights around the globe</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Metropole+Filmworx++playable%3Atrue">Metropole Filmworx </a>- A documentary film company aiming to record real voices of U.S. soldiers in Iraq</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22the+photography+channel%22++playable%3Atrue">The Photography Channel</a> - The inside story from some of the nation’s top photographers</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22witness.org%22++playable%3Atrue">Witness.org</a> - Explore human rights issues through moving pictures</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22insight+news%22++playable%3Atrue">Insight News TV</a>- Click through news features from around the globe affecting real people</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22altrec%22++playable%3Atrue">Altrec.com</a> - An online commerce site dedicated to the outdoors</li><br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22patagonia%22++playable%3Atrue">Patagonia</a> - Innovative design for outdoor adventure</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22petzl%22++playable%3Atrue">Petzl</a> - Feel secure as you climb the world’s highest peaks</li> <br /><br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22+Educational+Technology+Services%22++playable%3Atrue">UC Berkeley</a> - Webcasts from UC Berkeley’s Educational Technology Services</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2782778041292157362&q=%22national+science+foundation%22">National Science Foundation</a> - NSF helps promote scientific discoveries and technological advancements through rigorous research and development</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22howstuffworks%22++playable%3Atrue">howstuffwork</a><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22howstuffworks%22++playable%3Atrue">s</a> - Demystifies the questions of everyday life</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22fastfocus%22++playable%3Atrue">FastFocus</a> - Produces “short form” programming for more than 100 public television stations, from music, health, cooking, to sports, business, and travel</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22slp3d%22++playable%3Atrue">OR-live.com</a> - Get a bird's-eye view in the operating room through this new live surgery portal</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22blanktv%22++playable%3Atrue">BlankTV</a> - Mosh online with a large repertoire of punk rock videos</li><br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22K2+Communications%22++playable%3Atrue">K2 Communications</a> - Specializes in media programming for large-format and digital theaters</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22itu%22++playable%3Atrue">ITU</a> - The official international governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22world+affairs+council%22+playable%3Atrue">World Affairs Council</a> - Bringing together the top leaders in business, politics, academics, and journalism</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=army+air+force+news+service">Army & Air Force News Service</a> - Highlighting Army and Air Force troops from the front lines</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=nyctv">NYCTV </a>- Familiarize yourself with the four corners of New York City</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=filmbaby.com">Filmbaby</a> - Puts money back into filmmakers' hands by contributing 80% of the purchase into their pockets </li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=asiamoviechannel">Asia Movie Channel</a> - Expand your film horizons with movies from across the globe</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=artisan+news+service">Artisan News Service</a> - Timely music news service keeping you “in” with what's in</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22computer+history+museum%22">Computer History Museum</a> - Celebrate tech history through the years</li> <br /><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22moan.tv%22">MOAN.tv</a> - How do diehard fans of "The Daily Show” pay homage?</li>

More video to watch!

Posted by Eva Ho, Product Marketing Manager You may have seen this funny bit on Google Video , or this one . But hey, we're not only ab...

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