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Now you can search for U.S. patents

Posted by Doug Banks, Software Engineer We've all heard about the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell -- famous inventors whose creative minds changed the course of history. But there are many more like them, and millions of inventions that have been patented in the U.S. alone -- from useful everyday items such as <a href="http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPATRE19128&id=ZBMoAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#PPP1,M1">adhesive tape</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT2196066&id=EvtGAAAAEBAJ&pg=PP1">contact lenses</a> to, er, things useful in specific situations, like this <a href="http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT4833729&id=KBE3AAAAEBAJ&pg=RA1-PA4-IA1">shark protector suit</a> or this <a href="http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT4076251&id=N-c5AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#PPA2,M1">amusement device incorporating simulated cheese and mice</a>. Today, we're excited to be releasing the beta version of <a href="http://www.google.com/patents">Google Patent Search</a>, which makes it easy to search the full text of the U.S. patent corpus and find patents that interest you. Start your exploration at www.google.com/patents or visit the <a href="http://www.google.com/advanced_patent_search">Advanced Patent Search page</a> to search by criteria, including patent number, inventor, and filing date. You can view images of original patents online. Google Patent Search uses much of the same technology that powers <a href="http://books.google.com">Google Book Search</a>, so you can <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/new-way-to-browse-books.html">scroll through pages and zoom in</a> on text and illustrations just like you can with books. It's a natural extension of our mission to make this public domain government information more easily accessible using Google’s search technology. We’re pleased to have started with over 7 million patents granted by the <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/">United States Patent and Trademark Office</a> (USPTO) and look forward to expanding our coverage over time. Update: Removed mention of saving and printing as we're still working on that.

Now you can search for U.S. patents

Posted by Doug Banks, Software Engineer We've all heard about the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell -- famous in...

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Tis (almost) the season

Posted by Melissa Crounse, Chief Elf This year, good old St. Nick has learned a new trick: he has dispatched a few of his most experienced elves to squirrel away some toys in the farthest corners of Google Earth. Every day from now until Christmas Eve, a clue will appear outside Santa's workshop leading to another toy -- and every day, the location of the previous day's toy will be revealed. Ready to scour the earth and find your first toy? Once you've got the newest version of <a href="http://earth.google.com">Google Earth</a> installed, <a href="http://earth.google.com/santa/">let's get started.</a> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7609/900/1600/459932/Earth_SantaTracker_06.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7609/900/320/379044/Earth_SantaTracker_06.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a> </div>

Tis (almost) the season

Posted by Melissa Crounse, Chief Elf This year, good old St. Nick has learned a new trick: he has dispatched a few of his most experienced e...

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Nifty Toolbar upgrades for Firefox

Posted by Annie Sullivan, Software Engineer Ever since the latest version of the Google Toolbar for IE came out, Firefox users have been asking when they'll see the same new features in their favorite browser. Well, we've been hard at work on a new version of the Toolbar for Firefox -- <a href="http://tools.google.com/firefox/toolbar/FT3/intl/en/" title="Google Toolbar 3 Beta">Google Toolbar 3 Beta</a> -- that lets you access your bookmarks from any computer, add custom buttons to your Toolbar, and share web pages via Blogger, Gmail, and SMS. In addition to adding all the features from the Google Toolbar for IE, there's another one just for Firefox users. When I surf the web, I want to be able to look at all the files I come across right in my browser. But a lot of times, I have to download files and view them with a separate application instead. Since <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs & Spreadsheets</a> launched, I've been able to look at those files right in my browser. Except the process is kind of clunky right now: I have to right-click on a link, download the file to my machine, and then upload it to Google Docs & Spreadsheets. I want to be able to just click on a link to a document or spreadsheet and have it show up in my browser. So I added a feature to the Google Toolbar for Firefox to do that. Now you can surf the web a little bit faster. I hope you enjoy this feature as much as I do!

Nifty Toolbar upgrades for Firefox

Posted by Annie Sullivan, Software Engineer Ever since the latest version of the Google Toolbar for IE came out, Firefox users have been ask...

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About Transferable Stock Options

Posted by Allan Brown, Director, Recognition & HR Systems We work hard to attract and retain the world's best talent in a number of ways, and a part of that is offering competitive compensation packages. We offer standard things such as competitive salary, cash incentives, restricted stock units and stock options. But we also aim to be innovative. So today we're announcing a new compensation program called Transferable Stock Options (TSOs). As with most employee stock option programs, Google's program to date has allowed employees to do two things with their options. Upon vesting they can (1) hold them or (2) exercise them and then hold or sell the stock. With the new TSO program, employees will have an additional alternative: they can transfer (sell) their options to a financial institution through a competitive bidding process. The ability to sell options is not a novel concept -- today people can buy and sell options to purchase GOOG stock and the stock of many other companies on the public markets. What is novel is that we are extending this ability to trade options to employee stock options. Typically, employees get value from stock options by exercising them after vesting, and then selling the stock they get from the exercise at a higher price, provided the company's stock price has appreciated since the time of grant. With the TSO program, employees will also be able to sell vested options to the highest-bidding financial institution, which may be willing to pay a premium above the difference between the exercise price and the market price for Google stock (even when the exercise price is higher than the market price). The premium paid is for the time value of the options. More on that and how institutions would do this, and why, is <a href="http://services.google.com/blog_resources/TSO_Mkt_Mech_doc.pdf">here</a>. Employees will still have the choice of simply exercising and then holding or selling the stock too. But if they choose to sell the options, they can use a simple online tool that will show them the best price a participating financial institution is willing to pay for their vested options in real time. With that tool, they'll be able to sell their vested options to the highest bidder. In addition to increasing the value of every option employees receive, the TSO program makes the value of their options much more tangible. In the past, employees typically valued Google stock options based simply on the difference between their option exercise price and the current market stock price (called the intrinsic value). Since Google grants options with exercise prices that are at, or above, the market price of Google stock, many employees do not value options on the day they are granted. By showing employees what financial institutions are willing to pay for their options, it is made clear that the value of their options is greater than just the intrinsic value. We aren't offering this program for everyone or for all stock options. <a href="http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html">Google Executive Management Group</a> (EMG) may not participate, and only employee stock options granted after our IPO are eligible. We should also note that we've discussed this program with the SEC and we'll ensure it complies with applicable securities laws. We've chosen Morgan Stanley to manage the auction of these TSOs between our employees and the multiple bidders, and we are working with multiple financial institutions to participate as bidders in the auction. We expect to have this program up and running in the second quarter of 2007. If you're wondering how this would work for employees, here is <a href="http://services.google.com/blog_resources/TSO_Scenario.pdf">an example scenario</a>. There's more about the <a href="http://services.google.com/blog_resources/TSO_Accounting.pdf">related accounting here</a>. And for answers to other questions, we've put together <a href="http://services.google.com/blog_resources/TSO_FAQ.pdf">an extensive Q and A</a>. (You'll notice some legal language below, and at the bottom of all the related information we link to. We're including that because we will file a registration statement with the SEC as a requirement of offering this program, and we want to help you find all of the information related to this registration statement.) Google may file a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents Google has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Google and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Google will arrange to send you the prospectus after filing if you request it by calling toll-free 1-866-468-4664 or sending an e-mail to <a href="mailto://investors@google.com/">investors@google.com</a>.

About Transferable Stock Options

Posted by Allan Brown, Director, Recognition & HR Systems We work hard to attract and retain the world's best talent in a number of ...

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Opening up the Google Web Toolkit

Posted by Dan Peterson, Product Manager <a href="http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/"> Google Web Toolkit</a> (GWT) is all about making the web a better place by making it easier to create web apps like Gmail or Google Maps. So today, we're excited to <a href="http://googlewebtoolkit.blogspot.com/2006/12/gwt-13-release-candidate-is-100-open_12.html">tell you</a> that we're releasing all the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/google-web-toolkit">source code for GWT</a> under an <a href="http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/terms.html">open source license</a>. We've been working hard to build great tools for AJAX development, and now we're happy to begin working with the open source community towards the same goal. The folks who are passionate about AJAX can contribute to the project and make this toolkit even better. If you're curious about how to add some AJAX goodness to your site, see if the <a href="http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/">Google Web Toolkit</a> is right for you.

Opening up the Google Web Toolkit

Posted by Dan Peterson, Product Manager Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is all about making the web a better place by making it easier to create w...

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There's more to Google Finance

Posted by Vivi Costache, Software Engineer, Google Finance team The Google Finance team has been working hard since we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/spring-is-season-for-love-and-data.html">launched 6 months ago</a>. Here's a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv1Lw0Pk4jE">short animation </a>describing what's been keeping us busy. Just in case your sound is off (and we don't have subtitles :-) ), here's what's new: <ul><li>A new homepage design which lets you see currency information, sector performance for the U.S. market, and a listing of top market movers along with the relevant and important news of the day.</li><li>A Top Movers section highlighting most active companies by price, market cap, volume, and popularity as determined by our own <a href="http://www.google.com/trends">Google Trends</a>.</li><li>More comprehensive charts, which now display up to 40 years of data for U.S. stocks.</li><li>Richer portfolio capabilities that let you import other online portfolios to Google Finance, use different views and add transactions to make it easier to track your investments.</li><li>A quick and easy way to <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/add?moduleurl=finance_portfolios.xml">add and view your Google Finance portfolios</a> on the <a href="http://www.google.com/ig">Google Personalized Homepage</a>.</li></ul>So check out the new features on <a href="http://finance.google.com">Google Finance</a>, and <a href="http://www.google.com/support/finance/bin/request.py">let us know</a> what you think.

There's more to Google Finance

Posted by Vivi Costache, Software Engineer, Google Finance team The Google Finance team has been working hard since we launched 6 months ago...

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Opening my eyes to a whole new world

Posted by Chikai Ohazama, Google Earth team Every once in a while you come across a piece of technology that instantly grabs you and you can't stop saying "Oh my god!" When I bought my 12" Mac Powerbook, for instance, just opening the box was an experience. Each item was laid out perfectly -- everything I pulled out was well designed from the power connector with the glowing ring to the pulsating light next to the latch that made it look like it was breathing. <div> I recently went to the <a href="http://www.techawards.org">Tech Museum Awards</a>, and one of the laureates, <a href="http://www.techawards.org/laureates/stories/index.php?id=131">Mohammed Bah Abba</a>, had created a refrigerator that requires no electricity -- basically uses two clay pots with wet sand in between them. This device helped keep food fresh longer in poor rural areas in Africa. And the group <a href="http://www.fogquest.org">FogQuest</a> uses these big meshes that collected potable water from fog (yes, the white stuff that hangs around in the air) for people in Central and South America. Simple, elegant technologies that have a huge impact to help with basic human needs. Due in large part to the community of people who use <a href="http://earth.google.com">Google Earth</a>, it has also become one of those technologies. Having worked on it for almost 7 years, you would think the magic would have worn off for me by now, but amazingly enough, it hasn't. Every once in a while we add a new feature -- and it's like I was looking at it for the first time. Hours pass by without me noticing. The new Geographic Web layer we released today is one of those features. We've taken the rich data of <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/">Panoramio</a>, and the <a href="http://bbs.keyhole.com/">Google Earth Community</a> and made a browsable layer in Google Earth. Now you can fly anywhere in the world and see what people have written about it, photographed, or posted. I went hopping around from the southern tip of South America to the mosques in the Middle East to the Maldives Islands, immersed in a wealth of information, and I really felt like I was visiting each place through eyes of people who had been there. It was really engaging to compare, say, the Grand Canyon through the photos in Panoramio to the view from Google Earth, where I could follow the Colorado River through each. To experience this for yourself, all you need to do is start Google Earth and explore the world. As of today you will see new icons -— the Wikipedia globe, the Panoramio star, or the information “i” of the Google Earth Community —- so just click on any of them to explore information about a place. You can also easily turn it off in the Layers panel on the lower left. This is by far one of my most favorite layers we've ever done, and I really hope you enjoy it. To use our founding group's tagline, Happy travels! <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7609/900/1600/133697/Earth_Wikip_combo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7609/900/320/925614/Earth_Wikip_combo.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a></div>

Opening my eyes to a whole new world

Posted by Chikai Ohazama, Google Earth team Every once in a while you come across a piece of technology that instantly grabs you and you ca...

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