A great day for 3D

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Brad Schell, Product Management Director, Google SketchUp</span> <br /><br />Last month we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html">told you</a> that @Last Software had joined the Google fold. Today we’re releasing <a href="http://sketchup.google.com/">Google SketchUp</a>, a free version of our 3D modeling software, which makes our long-time vision of making 3D accessible to everyone a reality.<br /><br />We’re still offering <a href="http://www.sketchup.com/?id=106">SketchUp Pro 5</a> for design professionals like architects, designers, builders, art directors and game developers. Both Google SketchUp and SketchUp Pro 5 enable you to place models in <a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a>; Pro users get some additional features.<br /><br />The new Google SketchUp is for the do-it-yourselfer, the hobbyist — really anyone who wants to build 3D models for use in Google Earth. Go ahead and model that new kitchen, or deck, landscape your virtual garden, or impress your teacher with a roller coaster or medieval castle. When you’re finished, place your model in Google Earth. There! The beginning of a virtual world. Warning: don’t start messing with this stuff after dinner because your first experience could be an all-nighter… making an idea come to life in 3D can be <b style="">very</b> addicting.<br /><br />And what could be better than that? Well, sharing your work with everyone else through the <a href="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/">3D Warehouse</a>. Accessible through both versions of SketchUp, 3D Warehouse enables you to upload, search, browse, view, and download SketchUp models. Just as you do with Google search, enter some keywords and the 3D Warehouse shows you all your options. Grab the one you want and import it into your model. (Note that the Warehouse is not stocked up yet — so model something yourself and upload it for all the world to see.)<br /><br />Visionaries, utopians, virtual world builders: your time has come.

A great day for 3D

Posted by Brad Schell, Product Management Director, Google SketchUp Last month we told you that @Last Software had joined the Google fold....

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Google Maps in Europe

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Steven Crossan, Product Manager, Google Maps Europe</span><br /><br />We're excited to announce that we have just launched beta versions of Google Maps for <a href="http://maps.google.fr/">France</a>, <a href="http://maps.google.de/">Germany</a>, <a href="http://maps.google.it/">Italy</a>, and <a href="http://maps.google.es/">Spain</a>. These sites include the full suite of interactive street maps, driving directions, and integrated local business search. This has been a global effort with Google teams in Paris, Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, New York, Mountain View, Kirkland, Sydney, London, Dublin, and Zurich working together for much of the past year to build a truly "local" product.<br /><br />Accompanying this release, we have greatly improved high resolution imagery coverage for Europe in both Google Maps and <a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a>. Check out the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=eiffel+tower&ll=48.858278,2.294442&spn=0.001475,0.002835&t=k&om=0 ">Eiffel Tower</a> in Paris, <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=berlin&ll=52.514722,13.239491&spn=0.002223,0.00375&t=k&om=0">Olympiastadion</a> in Berlin, and the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=venezia&t=k&amp;amp;om=0&ll=45.437023,12.333977&spn=0.004118,0.01123">Grand Canal</a> in Venice.<br /><br />To give you a preview of what's to come, we've also rendered street maps for many other countries in Europe. Developers, you can incorporate these maps and imagery into your own websites using the free <a href="http://www.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/">Google Maps API Version 2</a>. <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>

Google Maps in Europe

Posted by Steven Crossan, Product Manager, Google Maps Europe We're excited to announce that we have just launched beta versions of Goog...

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This is a test. This is only a test.

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Ambar Pansari, Product Manager, Search User Experience, and Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products and User Experience</span><br /><br />From time to time, we run live experiments on Google — tests visible to a relatively few people -- to discover better ways to search. We do this because there’s no good substitute for understanding how real people, in real-world situations, actually operate. Theories are fine, but “improving the user experience” really happens best when we understand what people do online.<br /><br />So to learn more, we sometimes randomly select a group of people to see a possible improvement to search options. Or we may select a group of people and try out a new element while they're searching. If you ever wonder why your Google site looks slightly different from that of the person sitting next to you, this is why.<br /><br />We are currently testing new ways to refine searches so that, for example, a search for jobs might offer a choice of job location or function, rather than forcing you to continually narrow the terms you type in to a standard Google search.<br /><br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/post_search_exps_jobs-703257.JPG" /><br /><br />We’ve run another test to learn more about how people navigate to find the information most relevant to them: how you might find image search or information in Froogle, for example, when that might be just the thing you want. Here’s how that one looks.<br /><br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/post_search_exps_options-775766.JPG" /><br /><br />And we test ways to enrich web results, such as by offering a "Remove Result" option that would omit particular results from future searches if you decide they’re not useful. You'll see this feature if you're already signed in to a Google service when you perform your web search.<br /><br /><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/search_exps_remove_ui-756513.JPG" /><br /><br />There's no set schedule when we'll roll out these sorts of new ideas (if at all), but these tests help us to improve your search experience.<br /><br />p.s.: Google is also active in CHI, the major organization on user experience and usability. We're participating in the annual conference this week in Montreal. <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2006/04/see-you-at-chi.html">More here.</a>

This is a test. This is only a test.

Posted by Ambar Pansari, Product Manager, Search User Experience, and Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products and User Experience From time to ti...

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Celebrating Earth Day

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Cristin Frodella, Product Marketing Manager</span><br /><br />To help spread the word about keeping our planet green this <a href="http://www.earthday.org/">Earth Day</a>, Google has joined forces with Scholastic – the folks who brought us Clifford the Big Red Dog – to distribute lesson plans (and a contest) to middle-schoolers across the U.S. <br /><br />Using <a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a>, teachers can fly their students around the world to talk to them about issues like climate change and how it has affected places like Glacier National Park, the Chesapeake Bay and Los Angeles. And they can introduce students to community initiatives across the country where volunteers are cleaning up their cities, planting trees and beautifying. Using Google Earth, teachers can show their students placemarks of the towns where outreach projects are taking place and students can get involved in cleaning up their own environment.<br /><br />As for the contest, students write their own environmental stories by researching a topic of interest and illustrating it with Google Earth images. Following detailed instructions, they can create their own Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files which they will send to us for review. The top three environmental story creators will win prizes for themselves, their class and their teachers, including a week at Earth Camp, technology grants and Lenovo laptops for the classrooms.<br /><br />This Earth Day project goes to 30,000 middle school teachers across the country in poster form (with placemarks on the front and lesson plan suggestions on the back), and it’s also being emailed to 100,000 more teachers. There’s a Scholastic <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/exploreyourearth">website</a> for teachers and a special <a href="http://earth.google.com/scholastic">Google Earth page</a> too.

Celebrating Earth Day

Posted by Cristin Frodella, Product Marketing Manager To help spread the word about keeping our planet green this Earth Day , Google has joi...

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Avoiding RSI

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Dr. Taraneh Razavi, M.D., Staff Doctor</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">From time to time, a resident physician at Google headquarters weighs in with her thoughts on healthy living. This is not medical advice, and you should check with your own doctor before pursuing any particular course of action. </span><br /><br />There is a Chinese saying that "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short." In other words, how long can you tap on that keyboard or sit in that chair before you hurt yourself. We’re not designed to remain as sedentary or perform the fine motor movements for the long uninterrupted hours that we have to do in so many of our jobs. Evidence suggests that prolonged abnormal posture and repetitive movements contribute to neck, limb and back pain. These conditions are collectively known as overuse syndromes, or repetitive stress injury (RSI).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/post_ergonomic_img-717581.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/post_ergonomic_img-713363.JPG" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>RSI is no small matter. It accounts for 34% of all lost-workday injury and illness — and costs almost $20 billion annually, according to the <a href="http://stats.bls.gov/" title="http://stats.bls.gov/">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>. <a href="http://www.nas.edu/" title="http://www.nas.edu/">The National Academy of Sciences</a> has concluded that an estimated $50 billion is lost by businesses every year from sick leave, decreased productivity and medical costs linked to repetitive stress disorders. The Academy has published two<a href="http://darwin.nap.edu/execsumm_pdf/6431.pdf" title="http://darwin.nap.edu/execsumm_pdf/6431.pdf"> reports</a> since 1998 which directly link repetitive motion to workplace injury.<br /><br />The damage sustained from RSI is due to structural changes in the muscle fiber as well as due to decreased blood flow. Nerves can also be involved. The immobile tissue and surrounding inflammation compress the nerve which can cause numbness or tingling and eventually weakness if the nerve is damaged severely.<br /><br />For those of you who need evidence, see this study on <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2895831&dopt=Citation">"Overuse Syndrome."</a> In this study, biopsies were taken from hand muscles of injured and normal subjects, which demonstrated the structural damage in the muscle fibers and correlated the damage with the severity of the injury. In <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2239160&dopt=Citation">another study</a>, biopsies were taken from neck muscles, and reduced local blood flow was found in the injured areas. The greater the pain difference, the greater the reduction in blood flow.<br /><br />Some of the most common RSI injuries are <a href="http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sportsmedicine/a/tendonitis.htm">tendonitis</a> and <a href="http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/carpal_tunnel/carpal_tunnel.htm">carpal tunnel syndrome</a> (CTS). Work-related carpal tunnel syndrome now accounts for more than 41% of all repetitive motion disorders in the United States, says <a href="http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/158/14/1506">this study</a>. And here's a telling title: <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16162900&dopt=Abstract">"Hard work never hurt anyone: or did it?"</a> -- it's a review of occupational associations with soft tissue musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper limb.<br /><br />So what should you do? The key to treatment is <strong>prevention</strong>. Research shows that injuries decrease and productivity increases when employers encourage stretch breaks and stress the importance of ergonomics. See for example this one at at <a href="http://www.ergonomicsnow.com.au/rsi/stat_usa.htm" title="http://www.ergonomicsnow.com.au/rsi/stat_usa.htm">Ergonomics Now</a>.<br /><br />Here are a few <a href="http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/disabilities/rsi/workstation.html">tips</a>:<p></p> -- <strong>Breaks </strong>should be taken every 30-45 minutes for at least 5 minutes. If you need assistance there are <a href="http://shareware.search.com/search?cat=247&tag=ex.sa.fd.srch.sa_all&q=timer" title="http://shareware.search.com/search?cat=247&tag=ex.sa.fd.srch.sa_all&q=timer">free downloadable timers</a> that will help remind you to do so.<br />-- <strong>Stretch</strong> your arms, hands, neck, and back during breaks. This <a href="http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/rsi.html">yoga site</a> demonstrates some exercises. Other sites are listed below.<br />-- <strong>Maintain posture</strong> <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/0300/0359.asp?index=4485" title="http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/0300/0359.asp?index=4485">alignment</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>. Don't slouch on the couch with the laptop.<br />-- <strong>Work stations </strong>should be reviewed initially and with each office move. Adjust your chair, monitor, keyboard, mouse, laptop. Alternate keyboards and mice periodically.<br />--<strong>Shift your gaze</strong> from the computer screen to the distance. And don't forget to blink!<br />--<strong>Limit</strong> non-essential computer use. This may be heresy -- but do give the surfing, gaming, emailing, and text messaging a rest.<br />-- If pain occurs or persists, <strong>see your doctor, </strong>who may recommend wrist brace, ice packs, anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen, cortisone injections, physical therapy, and most importantly, <span style="font-weight: bold;">rest</span> to allow healing. Don't procrastinate in addressing your symptoms -- the sooner you tend to them, the better off you are.<br /><br />And finally, here are more sites that may be helpful:<br /><a href="http://www.safecomputingtips.com/index.html">Safe Computing Tips</a><br /><a href="http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/tools/mice.html">Alternative Pointing Devices</a><br /><a href="http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/tools/keyboards.html">Alternative and Ergonomic Keyboards</a><br /><a href="http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/">Harvard RSI Action</a><br /><a href="http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/rsi.html">RSI exercises</a><br /><a href="http://eeshop.unl.edu/rsi.html" title="http://eeshop.unl.edu/rsi.html">RSI Page</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Update:</span> One more: Boston U.'s <a href="http://www.bu.edu/ehs/flash/ergonomics%20selfhelp%20guide.swf">Ergonomics Self-Help Guide</a> (Flash)

Avoiding RSI

Posted by Dr. Taraneh Razavi, M.D., Staff Doctor From time to time, a resident physician at Google headquarters weighs in with her thoughts ...

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This year's India Code Jam

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Posted by Arvind Jain, Google Bangalore</span><br /><br />On April 6 and 7, Google India celebrated the coding community in Southeast Asia by hosting the second <a href="http://www.google.com/indiacodejam/">Code Jam</a> competition. At nearly 15,000 entrants, this year’s registrations topped last year’s. The annual software coding fest consists of two online rounds, in which participants competed to solve three coding problems more quickly and accurately than their competitors. The top 50, who came from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Singapore (and included one female finalist, by the way), were invited to compete in the onsite finals. (We made a <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6756821813540907008">video</a> about the finals.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/India_Codejam-728590.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/India_Codejam-714389.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>Though it was incredibly close, last year's winner, Ardian Kristanto Poernomo, from Indonesia, snagged the grand prize once again. Abishek Kumarasubramanian from Chennai, India was less than 3/100ths of a point behind him.<br /><br />The two-day event also featured of team building activities and Google engineering presentations. We’re especially delighted that over half of the finalists expressed their interest in working for Google. And if you’re one of those, go <a href="http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/jobs/index.html">here</a>.

This year's India Code Jam

Posted by Posted by Arvind Jain, Google Bangalore On April 6 and 7, Google India celebrated the coding community in Southeast Asia by hostin...

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Back on the map

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Thai Tran, Product Manager, Google Maps and Local Search</span><br /><br />Last October, we merged our local search site with Google Maps. At that time, we thought it was most appropriate to name the integrated product "Google Local" to emphasize the broad searching capabilities of the site and that it was much more than an ordinary mapping site. But we underestimated how much people <i>loved</i> Google Maps. Many have continued to refer to the site by the previous name, and many have explicitly asked us to "bring back Google Maps." Since it's most important to us to give our users what they want, we've decided to change the name officially to <a href="http://maps.google.com">Google Maps</a>.<br /><br />Does this mean that local search is no longer important to Google? Absolutely not! Google Maps continues to have the killer combination of maps, driving directions, <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> local business search. And local search has become a fundamental part of the Google search experience; it's now embedded within a number of our products, including Google web search, Google Earth, Google SMS, and Google Mobile.

Back on the map

Posted by Thai Tran, Product Manager, Google Maps and Local Search Last October, we merged our local search site with Google Maps. At that t...

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