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Towards a more efficient computing infrastructure

Posted by Luiz Barroso, Distinguished Engineer Intel CTO Justin Rattner was kind enough to invite me on stage today during his R&D keynote at the <a href="http://www.intel.com/idf/us/fall2006/index.htm">Intel Developers' Forum</a> to talk about some of the computing platform challenges we face in building large-scale Internet services. Talking to industrial colleagues and the academic community about some of our most important platform-level requirements is something I always make time for. If you're trying to build interesting systems, life is easier when hardware vendors are aware of what works for you and what doesn't. Chip multiprocessing -- the idea that multiple simpler processing units in one chip can be a better choice than a single hulking one -- is an example of a technology we've been vocal supporters of for quite a while. See for example "<a href="http://labs.google.com/papers/googlecluster.html">Web Search for a Planet</a>" and "<a href="http://labs.google.com/papers/priceofperformance.html">Price of Performance</a>." We're happy to see this thinking being embraced by several vendors. The focus of our message at IDF today was efficiency: power efficiency and programming efficiency. There are several hard technical problems surrounding power efficiency of computers, but we've found one that is actually not particularly challenging and could have a huge impact on the energy used by home computers and low-end servers: increasing power supply efficiency. All computers, including personal computers and servers, have power supplies to convert the alternating current (AC) from the outlet to the direct current (DC) needed by the machine. Typical power supplies waste 30-45% of their input power, and relatively simple modifications can bring this waste down to 10%. Others, like <a href="http://www.80plus.org/">80 PLUS</a>, have also identified and targeted these inefficiencies. We believe that the development of a new open standard is necessary to achieve very high efficiencies at low costs, so we have begun discussions with Intel and other vendors that we hope might lead to significantly more efficient power supplies. Here's a short <a href="http://services.google.com/blog_resources/PSU_white_paper.pdf">white paper</a> describing this in more detail (PDF). If you'd like us to keep you posted on our progress, please send us a note at <a href="mailto:efficient-psu@google.com">efficient-psu@google.com</a>. Programming for systems with many computers can be a daunting task, but one that our engineers have to face every day. Simplifying this task has a direct impact on programmer productivity, and consequently the rate of innovation. Software tools such as <a href="http://labs.google.com/papers/mapreduce.html">MapReduce</a> have been very successful at Google by making it easier to process huge amounts of data quickly by spreading it over many computers. However, the efficiency of the computation can still suffer because of the limitations of the underlying computer platform. For example, programmers only have two major storage options that are widely available: memory (DRAM, specifically) and disk drives. Latency of disk accesses is about 100,000 times slower than memory, while memory is approximately 200 times more expensive (per gigabyte) than disks. These two alternatives are so far apart that programmers are forced to choose from two extremes, making some computations very difficult. I suggested to the IDF audience that there might be an opportunity for intermediate solutions in this space, faster than disks but cheaper than memory. Some forms of FLASH memory might soon be possible solutions, for example. It's always rewarding to exchange notes with our friends in industry and academia, whether through participation in events or by publishing papers. I expect we'll continue to do that.

Towards a more efficient computing infrastructure

Posted by Luiz Barroso, Distinguished Engineer Intel CTO Justin Rattner was kind enough to invite me on stage today during his R&D keyno...

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Google Notebook improvements

Posted by Varun Kacholia, Software Engineer Four months back <a href="http://www.google.com/notebook/">Google Notebook</a> launched, enabling you to collect and organize information as you find your way through the Wild West. Since then, we've gotten a ton of great feedback and learned what features you'd love to have -- and we've put that feedback into action. For starters, you can now collaborate on a notebook with fellow notebookers (of course, you can still share your published version with the entire world if you want to). There are many <a href="http://www.google.com/googlenotebook/newfeatures.html">other great features</a>, like a much slicker drag-and-drop UI to let you organize better, a trash bin for all your deleted items, and the ability to undo your last action. And we realize a lot of you wanted to see your notebooks on your personalized homepage. Now you can, through the <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/directory?url=notebook.xml">Google Notebook module</a> for your Personalized Homepage. Add it to get quick access to your notebook, either for that upcoming trip to Bora Bora or your "to-do" list. If you haven't tried Google Notebook yet, we bet you'll love it. And as always, we would love to hear <a href="http://www.google.com/support/notebook">your comments</a>, because that helps us make it even better.

Google Notebook improvements

Posted by Varun Kacholia, Software Engineer Four months back Google Notebook launched, enabling you to collect and organize information as ...

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About the Google News case in Belgium

Posted by Rachel Whetstone, European Director of Communications and Public Affairs You may have read recently about Google being taken to court in Belgium. Whilst we aren't allowed to comment on the judgment itself, we thought you may want to know the facts of the case -- what actually happened, and when -- and the issues it raises. In August Google was sued by an organization called Copiepresse, which represents a number of newspapers in Belgium. It argued that our search engine and news site breached these publications’ copyright. In September a court ruled in favor of Copiepresse and ordered us to remove these publishers’ content from both Google. be and Google News. We did this within the time specified. The court also required Google to post its ruling to the home pages of Google.be and Google News Belgium. Last week we asked the court to reconsider its decision and requested that the requirement to post the ruling on our home pages be suspended. The court on Friday 22nd September agreed to reconsider its ruling in November this year, but maintained the requirement that we must post the initial judgment to our home pages for five days or face a fine of 500,000 Euros a day. As the case will be heard in November, we can only offer general comments on the larger issues it raises at the moment. Any legal discussion must be pursued in court. Nevertheless we do feel that this case raises important and complex issues. It goes to the heart of how search engines work: showing snippets of text and linking users to the websites where the information resides is what makes them so useful. And after all, it’s not just users that benefit from these links but publishers do too -- because we drive huge amounts of web traffic to their sites. Of course, if publishers don’t want their websites to appear in search results (most do) the robots.txt standard (something that webmasters understand) enables them to prevent automatically the indexing of their content. It's nearly universally accepted and honoured by all reputable search engines. Google News is no different than Google web search in this regard: We only ever show the headlines and a bit of text. If people want to read the entire story they have to click through to the newspaper’s website. And if a newspaper does not want to be part of Google News we remove their content from our index –- all they have to do is ask. We hope that this explanation helps, and will keep you posted about any developments.

About the Google News case in Belgium

Posted by Rachel Whetstone, European Director of Communications and Public Affairs You may have read recently about Google being taken to co...

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Our call from space

Posted by Betsy Hanes Perry, Technical Writer Today <a href="http://anoushehansari.com/">Anousheh Ansari</a>, the first female private space explorer, called the Googleplex from the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a>. (We're nervously awaiting the long-distance bill.) Larry Page took the call. The topics ranged from what Anousheh forgot to pack (her husband!) to her hopes for the future of space exploration. I took notes. Here are some highlights: What was the most fun in space? Flying from one end of the Space Station to the other. She's gotten so good that she can nearly make it all the way without hitting any walls. What was the biggest surprise? Seeing the Earth rotate for the first time. Every time Anousheh wants to remind herself that she's really in space, she looks out the window, watches the Earth rotating, and pinches herself to make sure she's still awake. Larry (wistfully): When can we come up to join you? You'll have to come up one at a time. In any case, construction is speeding up on the International Space Station, so tourists will probably be fewer for the time being. She hopes Larry can improve the food; although the cheese pasta is fun to chase, it's not much fun to eat. At least there are M&Ms. What would you change about the space station? (Fast reply): "Add another shower!" And then - "Add Internet access!" (Wild cheering from Googlers.) Right now email is batched. Larry suggested that Anousheh plan that for her next trip -- and she shot back, "Actually, I'm planning my next trip!" Do you have anything inspirational to say? "Explore the boundaries. <a href="http://www.xprize.org/xprizes/anousheh_ansari.html">Try new things</a>. Be free-thinkers and use your imaginations. Learn from your environment, your teachers, your books -- but then go beyond your knowledge. I always wanted to go to space, although I didn't wind up working for NASA. I detoured to different areas, but finally I found a way to make it happen." After the call ended, Larry commented that Anousheh had been a visionary and an inspiration from the earliest days of the <a href="http://www.xprize.org">Ansari X Prize</a>. To be inspired yourself, check out <a href="http://spaceblog.xprize.org/">her blog</a>.

Our call from space

Posted by Betsy Hanes Perry, Technical Writer Today Anousheh Ansari , the first female private space explorer, called the Googleplex from th...

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TechnoServe announces entrepreneur development program winners in Ghana

Posted by Nick Railston-Brown, Ghana Country Director, TechnoServe <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://google.org/">Google.org</a> and the Google Foundation support select organizations whose work addresses the challenges of global poverty in ways that are effective, sustainable and scalable. We invited TechnoServe, a 2006 Google Foundation grant recipient, to tell us more about the winners of its business plan competition and entrepreneurship development program in Ghana. The Google Foundation joins TechnoServe in sending heartfelt congratulations to all of the winners, finalists and participants in Believe Begin Become. With financial support from the Google Foundation, <a href="http://www.technoserve.org">TechnoServe</a> (an economic development organization that applies business solutions to rural poverty) launched <a href="http://www.believe-begin-become.com">Believe Begin Become</a> in Ghana in <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/technoserve-update-new-program-in.html">March</a>. It's a program that identifies entrepreneurs whose businesses can create jobs and increase incomes. Ghana’s competition marks the beginning of TechnoServe’s multi-country rollout of these business plan competitions across Africa. More than 300 of Ghana’s most promising entrepreneurs applied to the program, and 60 participated in the rigorous training and business plan development for this year’s competition. With strong support from over 70 local partners and 23 business development service providers, participants receive individual support from technical consultants and access to a business network that included more than 15 financial institutions. The 20 finalists came from seven of Ghana's 10 regions and represent a diverse cross-section of the Ghanaian population. One-third of the finalists are women, and more than a third are from rural areas. They range in age from 20 to 55, and their business concepts are varied, from a web-based tour company to a high-tech environmentally friendly carwash. Each of the 20 finalists receive between $10,000 and $15,000 of individualized local business services. Each of the top 10 winners received $15,000 in seed capital to start or expand their businesses. To the delight of Ghanaians, the <a href="http://www.believe-begin-become.com/Ghana/morenews.asp?NewsID=27">top winners were announced</a> at today’s awards ceremony in Accra. They include: Nicholas Vordzogbe, Isaac Bohulu, Maxwell Hammond, Paul Tetteh, Daniel Tamatey and Prince Yakubu. There are also three winners who presented the best business plans in three sectors: light manufacturing, services and agriculture. These sector winners, all women, are: Agnes Frimpong (Mixline Ventures – disposable baby diaper packaging and retailing), Joyce Opon (Adekyee Lodging and Conferencing – hospitality business) and Rita Asamoah (Kasdar Company Ltd – dried fruit processing). The top winner of the overall business plan competition went to the impressive Joseph Tackie, who is revolutionizing the meat processing business in Accra by introducing the highest standards of quality and new sales and distribution models. Google.org provided support by sending Google employees to Ghana to serve as judges, guest lecturers and supporters of the participating entrepreneurs. Here are three reflections on their experience: <ul><li>"When I originally agreed to volunteer, I wasn't sure what contribution I was going to be able to make, trying to teach finance in a place where having access to electricity is as big a concern as running out of capital. But during my lecture, I could see how introducing some of the lessons we've learned at Google to these budding entrepreneurs in Ghana was really making a difference. It was definitely the best week of work I've ever had." – Albert Ching</li></ul><ul><li>“It was refreshing to see the impact of TechnoServe’s results-driven approach to development. This approach seems more successful for generating skilled and unskilled jobs, income for the community, and in the long run, sustainable economic growth for developing nations. It can instill a sense of pride and achievement in people that can have tremendous effects - successful entrepreneurs can contribute to their communities and inspire others to achieve more.” – Jackie Bona</li></ul><ul><li>“The highlight of my trip was the event celebrating the graduation from the core training of the business plan competition: the best 20 business plans that would receive some level of funding. I realized that the aim of supporting sustainable businesses and creating a local ecosystem to spur innovation and entrepreneurship was really happening.” – Marco Marinucci</li></ul>

TechnoServe announces entrepreneur development program winners in Ghana

Posted by Nick Railston-Brown, Ghana Country Director, TechnoServe Google.org and the Google Foundation support select organizations whose...

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New Spreadsheets fun

Posted by Fuzzy Khosrowshahi, Tech Lead, Google Spreadsheets The day after we launched Google Spreadsheets, one of the team said, "I can't believe you're already on the (Google) Groups page answering questions." After a late night-launch night? No way. "I'm definitely not posting, and I don't have the time even if I wanted to," I told him. Strangely, someone going by "Fuzzy" and/or "Fuzzy wuzzy" was answering everyone's questions! This unlikely-named person seemed to be very knowledgeable about Google Spreadsheets and spreadsheets in general. Well, the identity of that Fuzzy is still a mystery, but here's my chance to weigh in as myself. I've been carefully watching the feedback we get on <a title="Google Spreadsheets" href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/">Google Spreadsheets</a>, looking for people who may have discovered a bug or just need help using it. I'm also trying to judge our success in offering the right features. In a recent perusal of our <a title="Google Group" href="http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Labs-Spreadsheets">Google Group</a> (where interested people can discuss the product, help each other, and suggest improvements), it occurred to me that our growing body of users is about as diverse as a group can get, in terms of spreadsheet desires (if we can call them that!). Here's a sampling of what people have been asking for: <ul><li>support for Open Document Format (handy for those who use linux-based machines and Open Office products) </li><li>a way to force multiple line text in a single cell (like a street address in, say, a spreadsheet for planning a wedding) </li><li>currency symbols in addition to $ </li><li>an option to create PDF files that will print nicely</li><li>the ability to share a spreadsheet with anyone who receives the URL (without having to specify their email address).</li></ul> This latest release of Google Spreadsheets that we just rolled out does all of these things and more. Here's a <a href="http://www.google.com/googlespreadsheets/whatsnew.html">list of all the new features</a>. I'm still watching the list of requests grow – and will keep trying to meet those needs -- unless of course the mysterious "Fuzzy wuzzy" beats me to it.

New Spreadsheets fun

Posted by Fuzzy Khosrowshahi, Tech Lead, Google Spreadsheets The day after we launched Google Spreadsheets, one of the team said, "I ca...

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Students: Get your gadget on

Posted by Samantha Crow, Product Marketing, Google Gadgets When was the last time you tried to write HTML, build your resume and strut your stuff all at once? Well, now's your chance. We recently launched the <a href="http://www.google.com/gadgetawards">Google Gadget Awards</a>, a program designed to challenge U.S. college students to create clever Google Gadgets. It's easy for anyone with even a little bit of web design experience to create one. They can be fun (like one of my personal favorites, this <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/directory?hl=en&num=24&url=http://www.labpixies.com/campaigns/radio/radio.xml&q=labpixies+radio&start=0">radio gadget</a>), useful (like this <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/directory?hl=en&num=24&url=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/todo.xml&q=&start=0">to-do gadget</a>), or just really, really simple (like this <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/directory?hl=en&num=24&url=http://www.factacular.com/googlemodule.xml&q=&start=144">facts and trivia gadget</a>). And anyone can add the gadgets to their <a href="http://www.google.com/ig">Google personalized homepage</a> or to <a href="http://desktop.google.com/plugins/">Google Desktop</a>. If you're not a university student in the U.S., you can still create <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/gadgets/">Google Gadgets</a>. Although they won't be entered in the Awards, if they're clever enough you just might find them on Google homepages around the world.

Students: Get your gadget on

Posted by Samantha Crow, Product Marketing, Google Gadgets When was the last time you tried to write HTML, build your resume and strut your ...

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