Search findings from the U.S. presidential inauguration

Today, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. As we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/search-findings-from-third-presidential.html" id="z-ih" title="observed">observed</a> throughout the presidential campaign, many people in the U.S. turned to <a href="http://www.google.com/" id="rybr" title="Google Web Search">Google Search</a> to find information. During the inauguration, top queries included <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=live+inauguration+coverage" id="lgqa" title="live inauguration coverage">live inauguration coverage</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=inauguration+day+2009+streaming" id="lgqa" title="inauguration day 2009 streaming">inauguration day 2009 streaming</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=listen+to+inauguration+live" id="aq3o" title="listen to inauguration live">listen to inauguration live</a>, and many others.<br /><br />However, interest in the inauguration was not only confined to the United States. Twelve percent of inauguration-related queries came from outside the United States as thousands worldwide used Google to find ways to watch the event. From Latin America, we received queries like <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=es&q=toma+de+posesion+de+Barack+Obama+en+vivo" id="h9x5" title="toma de posesion de Barack Obama en vivo">toma de posesion de Barack Obama en vivo</a> (inauguration of Barack Obama live -- Spanish) and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=pt-BR&q=posse+de+Obama" id="e438" title="posse de Obama">posse de Obama</a> (inauguration of Obama -- Portuguese). Similarly in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, people interested in the inauguration searched for <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=de&q=amtseinf%C3%BChrung" id="uupx" title="amtseinführung">amtseinführung</a> (inauguration -- German), <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=nl&q=inauguratie" id="sau2" title="inauguratie">inauguratie</a> (inauguration -- Dutch), <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=es&q=investidura" id="w7-k" title="investidura">investidura</a> (inauguration -- Spanish), <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=iw&q=%09%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%A7+%D7%90%D7%95%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%94" title="ברק אובמה">ברק אובמה</a> (Barack introduction -- Hebrew), <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=ar&q=%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7" id="po1o" title="اوباما">اوباما</a> (Obama -- Arabic), and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=fr&q=investiture" id="ye2y" title="investiture">investiture</a> (inauguration -- French). And even though it was very early in their day, users in Asia and Australia were still interested in watching the festivities, with queries like <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=zh-CN&q=%E5%A5%A5%E5%B7%B4%E9%A9%AC%E5%B0%B1%E8%81%8C%E5%85%B8%E7%A4%BC%E7%9B%B4%E6%92%AD">奥巴马就职典礼直播</a> (Obama inauguration broadcast -- Chinese) and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=inauguration+timetable" id="asak" title="inauguration timetable">inauguration timetable</a>.<br /><br />While President Obama was certainly the central player in today's events, searchers were also interested in the other people who took part in the ceremony. In particular, people wanted more information on the religious leaders who spoke: <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rick+warren" id="n46y" title="Dr. Rick Warren">Dr. Rick Warren</a>, who gave the invocation, and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=joseph+lowery" id="q1kk" title="Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery">Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery</a>, who gave the benediction. Additionally, there was a lot of interest in some of the artists who performed: <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=aretha+franklin" id="i.7y" title="Aretha Franklin">Aretha Franklin</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=elizabeth+alexander" id="x2r-" title="Elizabeth Alexander">Elizabeth Alexander</a>, and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=yo+yo+ma" id="i5g2" title="Yo Yo Ma">Yo-Yo Ma</a>. They also sought to know more about <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dianne+feinstein" id="qo1y" title="Senator Dianne Feinstein">Senator Dianne Feinstein</a>, who presided over the ceremony as chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=john+roberts" id="evhe" title="Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.">Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.</a>, who swore in President Obama. (Click on the images to see a larger version.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVqPVW4tFuRQ2elIzy9Mi35vX7atzaCr5aIp7n8zhSFgK7UrEbYgk14zlUIIfKT_vOE_NGwVGVdi7xwhdmkVlrgWyhC5YZVBosRMlptiCGd5kaCEgqEJzBuNCi9Y-CO_C06Nqd0dJn3j7/s1600-h/people.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293639733738277122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVqPVW4tFuRQ2elIzy9Mi35vX7atzaCr5aIp7n8zhSFgK7UrEbYgk14zlUIIfKT_vOE_NGwVGVdi7xwhdmkVlrgWyhC5YZVBosRMlptiCGd5kaCEgqEJzBuNCi9Y-CO_C06Nqd0dJn3j7/s320/people.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" /></a><br />During the last nine years, the growth of the Internet has changed the way the world seeks information. From President Bush's first inaugural address in 2001 to his second in 2005, the number of inauguration-related searches increased by more than a factor of ten. From 2005 to today's address, the number grew even more. Few of the 2001 queries requested "video," and none requested streaming. By 2005, a few queries such as <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=inauguration+audio" id="m.7v" title="inauguration audio">inauguration audio</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=streaming+video+of+inauguration" id="x80a" title="streaming video of inauguration">streaming video of inauguration</a> appeared. Today, technology has become so prevalant that queries such as <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=YouTube+live+inauguration" id="y88k" title="YouTube live inauguration">YouTube live inauguration</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=live+blogging+inauguration" id="ga.1" title="live blogging inauguration">live blogging inauguration</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=inaugural+podcast" id="sp8k" title="inaugural podcast">inaugural podcast</a>, and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Obama+inaugural+speech+mp3" id="oa_." title="Obama inaugural speech mp3">Obama inaugural speech mp3</a> formed one-third of all inauguration-related queries.<br /><br />Finally, this graph demonstrates one other interesting search pattern that we saw: the overall query volume of Google searches dropped in the U.S. from the time President Obama took the oath of office until the end of his inaugural speech, demonstrating that all eyes were on today's festivities.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFmx_puzbMvjQdtYaAvGhMOUci_Gveeya9hIhJhbXJwFDlWm1D6bl_IbrHLKIlzLEiTLFvTdn1oRe_Z8Wu2XoCgfxkP1WIu6_Ct7CtIakbxN7Y98JW3pD-LIbLQsgOGt4jA1G_24b-KOY/s1600-h/query_vol.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293640082138421330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFmx_puzbMvjQdtYaAvGhMOUci_Gveeya9hIhJhbXJwFDlWm1D6bl_IbrHLKIlzLEiTLFvTdn1oRe_Z8Wu2XoCgfxkP1WIu6_Ct7CtIakbxN7Y98JW3pD-LIbLQsgOGt4jA1G_24b-KOY/s320/query_vol.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" /></a><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Jeffrey Oldham, Software Engineer, and Fred Leach, Quantitative Marketing Manager</span>

Search findings from the U.S. presidential inauguration

Today, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. As we observed throughout the presidential campaign...

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A day on, not a day off

Today, Americans celebrate the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Day">birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.</a> One of the chief elements of the day, as expressed by Dr. King and manifested in recent years, is marking the day as a <a href="http://www.mlkday.gov/">National Day of Service</a>. The credo of a national service day is "a day on, not a day off," and citizens are encouraged to contribute their time and talents to community organizations in some way. A website <a href="http://usaservice.org/pages/about/">USAService.org</a> offers a <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/adde?synd=open&source=ggyp&moduleurl=inaugmap.appspot.com/xml/inaugmap2.xml">Google gadget</a>, from which you can <a href="http://usaservice.org/page/content/eventsearch">find a service event near you</a> that needs your help, or <a href="http://usaservice.org/page/event/create">create your own</a>. Inform others of your activities with text messages, and <a href="http://usaservice.org/page/s/eventfeedback">share your photos and feedback</a>.<br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6HSiYV6yBl6bCm3fT9vSfjEilCKqjaC4O7rWjPTXLRPTSDmmcgW6B-oKD5mRlwkFsOiqlSwRdIcAxQZy2sYpDmdV7QFDbfJyBwVDM7Vbx4B7jNOU6etMoCuKdHu54QrkXMS8_kXmPBPj/s1600-h/MLKDay_gadget.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6HSiYV6yBl6bCm3fT9vSfjEilCKqjaC4O7rWjPTXLRPTSDmmcgW6B-oKD5mRlwkFsOiqlSwRdIcAxQZy2sYpDmdV7QFDbfJyBwVDM7Vbx4B7jNOU6etMoCuKdHu54QrkXMS8_kXmPBPj/s320/MLKDay_gadget.gif" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /><br />Remember, too, that the need for your skills and energy is great, and extends well beyond today. Please consider <a href="http://usaservice.org/page/content/opportunities/">these organizations</a> for future volunteer opportunities.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team</span></div>

A day on, not a day off

Today, Americans celebrate the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the chief elements of the day, as expressed by Dr. King ...

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100,000th knol published

A few weeks ago the 100,000th knol was published, and we figured now is an excellent time to reflect on the first five months of Knol's existence.<br /><br />Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. Since <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/knol-is-open-to-everyone.html" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="Knol announcement">the start of the project</a>, we've seen articles written on everything from <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/ralph-metson/sinus-infections-sinusitis/pi3gI5WQ/Jy8bHA" id="m1-y" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="sinus infections">sinus infections</a> and <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/russell-potter/arctic-exploration/2lw7dgtyidtqb/2" id="uvfd" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="Arctic exploration">Arctic exploration</a> to <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/andrew-thomson/long-distance-motorcycle-riding/1kuc8mjxx9lte/2" id="dfa9" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="long distance motorcycle riding">long distance motorcycle riding</a> and <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/klaus-rohde/the-amphilinidea-a-small-group-of/xk923bc3gp4/21" id="dfa9" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="The Amphilinidea">the Amphilinidea</a>.<br /><br />The Knol interface is now available in eight languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish) and we are excited that our users are helping us translate it into many more languages using the <a href="http://www.google.com/transconsole" id="us37" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="Google in Your Language">Google in Your Language</a> console. Encouraging people to contribute their knowledge online is particularly important for languages with limited web content, and we are glad to see that knols have been written in 59 different languages to date. It has been very exciting to have people all over the world come forward to help improve online content in their language.<br /><br />We have worked quickly to incorporate the features most requested by our early authors, such as usage stats showing reader activity on knols and rich media embedding (videos, spreadsheets, forms, slideshows, etc.). All of these improvements are tracked in our <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/1ng4pryc7bgdb/11" id="t0bp" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="Knol Announcement and Release Notes">Announcement and Release Notes</a>.<br /><br />We are happy to see that most authors choose to accept moderated edits from their audience and that the volume of suggested edits from readers is steadily growing. So if you find yourself reading a knol and want to suggest an improvement, go ahead and press that edit button! You will be able to make the desired changes directly in the knol, and the author(s) will be able to review and act upon your suggestions. We look forward to seeing this new mode of online collaboration used more widely.<br /><br />People visit Knol from 197 countries and territories on an average day, from the Aland Islands and Antarctica to Zambia and Zimbabwe. We welcome you to share your knowledge with the world and <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/" id="lw3v" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);" title="write a knol">write a knol</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Cedric Dupont, Product Manager, and Michael McNally, Software Engineer</span>

100,000th knol published

A few weeks ago the 100,000th knol was published, and we figured now is an excellent time to reflect on the first five months of Knol's ...

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Building engineers

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we know that a world's worth of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. We have more than a dozen employee-driven resource groups, from Gayglers to GWE (Google Women Engineers), that actively participate around the world in building community and driving policy at Google. This is the next post in our <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/diversity">Interface series</a>, which takes a look at valuing people's similarities and differences in the workplace. For more information on how Google fosters an inclusive work environment, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html">Life at Google</a> on our Jobs site. – Ed.</span></span><br /><br />As someone who has been building technology for more than 15 years, I know firsthand what a positive impact building hardware or software with a small team in an agile environment can have. I was only exposed to this type of work during grad school, and have since been actively involved in getting young people interested in science and technology. This year Google has enthusiastically supported my initiative to bring a local group of girls closer to technology through the <a href="http://www.usfirst.org/what/frc/default.aspx?id=366">FIRST Robotics Competition</a>.<br /><br />"People claim that only with the perspective of years can you know how much influence a particular event has had on you," Tal Tzangen says and proceeds to explain how she is convinced her participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition last year has significantly changed the course of her life. Tal, a 17 year old girl from a rural part of Israel, was taking technology courses at her school, not because she was particularly interested in technology but because the other options seemed even less appealing to her. Although Israel is also known as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Wadi">Silicon Wadi</a>," Tal thought technology was "just for geeks." Last year she agreed to be a member of a newly forming FIRST team, not knowing what she was letting herself in for.<br /><br />The competition involves 1,686 teams from more than 42,000 high schools spanning the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K. Each team has six weeks to build a robot from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST. Then, they compete with other robots in a new game devised each year.<br /><br />Before Tal knew it, she was "bit by the bug." During the weeks of preparation, she spent days and nights at school learning about robotics and teamwork with her peers and mentors. Her team had won the regional competitions and were seeking funding for the finals in Atlanta when I met her.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZCOEaaA4jyIPlibt-vgfWf_q0c3Ajpby5AjZHK6elRqjyECEfwFHQIf5jkM2e21k_GNuiunHIvghv-thkHPw3qWsAm6fLPSgFInMW8AmtX6EnEufG5K9cuqPr9f5denatVpwRTNhq9b9/s1600-h/IMG_2090.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291654394473927458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZCOEaaA4jyIPlibt-vgfWf_q0c3Ajpby5AjZHK6elRqjyECEfwFHQIf5jkM2e21k_GNuiunHIvghv-thkHPw3qWsAm6fLPSgFInMW8AmtX6EnEufG5K9cuqPr9f5denatVpwRTNhq9b9/s320/IMG_2090.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">Tal, center, and her team members work on their robot's transmission system.<br /></div></span><br />This year Tal is the captain of the Google-sponsored Thunderbolts team, and one of her goals has been to get as many girls involved as possible. As she puts it, "I certainly don't mind the company of my male peers, but I know that girls also have a lot to contribute in this domain." The current team includes 24 students, eight of them girls (last year there were only two). Recruiting girls has been challenging since there are very few in the technical track in high school. She has enlisted some pre-high school girls with the hope of serving as a role model to them. Likewise, she has encouraged the forming of a FIRST LEGO<span style="font-size:85%;"></span> team (9-14 year olds) to ensure the "next generation" for the Robotics Competition.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2A6cp0aW7_zP_vW3XXq3SSmEOQbVw9lJf-5XRGXG0UEihATIB0SG7-vU50QCWtCOgBZnyI1feLV1kC0xGqSKG9FKq09ZMrV5KRaL2HDpUASqmahoJ5YmhlpCNT-2AzoaHvX3Yaw44RDuH/s1600-h/IMG_2046.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291654403837436114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2A6cp0aW7_zP_vW3XXq3SSmEOQbVw9lJf-5XRGXG0UEihATIB0SG7-vU50QCWtCOgBZnyI1feLV1kC0xGqSKG9FKq09ZMrV5KRaL2HDpUASqmahoJ5YmhlpCNT-2AzoaHvX3Yaw44RDuH/s320/IMG_2046.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">The Thunderbolt team.<br /></div></span><br />The world kickoff for this year's competition took place on January 3rd, followed by the Israeli kickoff the following day. Regardless of how far they get in the competition this year, Israel is a country where high tech, engineering, science and entrepreneurship thrive, and Tal and her Thunderbolts are a growing part of this culture.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Natalia Marmasse, Software Engineer, Haifa office</span>

Building engineers

We believe great ideas can come from anywhere and everyone. And we aspire to be an organization that reflects global diversity, because we k...

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Supporting equality

In September of last year, Google <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-position-on-californias-no-on-8.html">announced</a> its opposition to California's <a href="http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/title-sum/prop8-title-sum.htm">Proposition 8</a>. While the campaign was emotionally charged and difficult for both sides, in the wake of the election many were concerned with the impact Proposition 8 could have on the personal lives of people they work with every day, and on California's ability to attract and retain a diverse mix of employees from around the world.<br /><br />That's why we've signed an <a href="http://www.nclrights.org/amicigoogle">amicus brief</a> (PDF file) in support of several cases currently challenging Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court. Denying employees basic rights isn't right, and it isn't good for businesses. We are committed to preserving fundamental rights for every one of the people who work hard to make Google a success. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.nclrights.org/businessesoverturn8">join us</a> in continuing to fight for equality for all Californians. <br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Kent Walker, General Counsel</span>

Supporting equality

In September of last year, Google announced its opposition to California's Proposition 8 . While the campaign was emotionally charged ...

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Making your personalized homepage even more personal

The holidays have passed, but if you're anything like me, you've got a gold mine of bear hugs and embarrassing moments captured on film. My holidays wouldn't be the same without Tabby, our family cat, who has been part of the winter festivities for 10 years. Over the holidays, we caught Tabby sticking out his tongue at the family get-together! Below is one of those prized moments I wanted to post everywhere, including on my personalized homepage:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoLCONqoXemvH_gH-JOV_q8VNWTLdDYyTGaHDeL_l8eGwBuA0S9ZQhy6pWqZstp5kU9EjWkvh03Sa0d6DPFJTIffNu-ZH6loRyUFasy4BWboBQVaMBGjpn31Xsv26AQTKZiNu_-etPScR/s1600-h/igoogle+theme+maker+photo.PNG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291610263873247666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoLCONqoXemvH_gH-JOV_q8VNWTLdDYyTGaHDeL_l8eGwBuA0S9ZQhy6pWqZstp5kU9EjWkvh03Sa0d6DPFJTIffNu-ZH6loRyUFasy4BWboBQVaMBGjpn31Xsv26AQTKZiNu_-etPScR/s400/igoogle+theme+maker+photo.PNG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 232px;" /></a><br />Now, you too can capture memories and images on your iGoogle homepage by building a custom theme. We've just released our <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/tm">new tool</a> for creating iGoogle themes. It's an easy way for iGoogle users to spruce up their personalized homepage without needing to know how to use XML, etc. All you need is an image, and we'll provide the rest.<br /><br />The theme-building tool has a simple interface for uploading your photo from your desktop, Picasa Web Album, or the web. Once you've chosen a photo, the builder provides a basic set of tools to help you create your theme:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Image Cropping</span> - Crop your favorite photo to fit your iGoogle theme </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Color Schemes</span> - Pick colors to complement your photo </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Real-time Preview</span> - See immediate feedback of your changes to swiftly fine-tune your theme </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Public and Private Publishing</span> - Choose who gets to see your original themes, whether it's just you, or if you want to share them with the world</li></ul>Once your theme is created, it's immediately added to your iGoogle page for you to enjoy.<br /><br />We hope you have fun customizing your iGoogle homepage with your favorite images, whether they're photos of your pets or places you've visited, drawings, designs, cartoons — or whatever else your heart desires.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Update</span> on 1/16 @ 10:30 AM: A number of people are having trouble accessing our theme-builder tool. We're currently working on the issue, and we'll post here as soon as it's up and running again. We're sorry for the delay, and we'd like to thank everyone who let us know they had trouble accessing this feature.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Update </span>on 1/22 @ 4:25 PM: Our theme-builder tool is now available to anyone in the U.S. who has their language default set to English, and we hope to release this feature in other languages and countries soon. Thanks for bearing with us, and we'll keep you posted on further updates.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Kathleen Ko, iGoogle Engineer</span>

Making your personalized homepage even more personal

The holidays have passed, but if you're anything like me, you've got a gold mine of bear hugs and embarrassing moments captured on f...

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Hear how Illinois State University uses Google Search

Search functionality is a critical part of higher education websites due to the diverse audiences that these sites serve. Current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other communities come to these sites to seek a wide range of information. Even with the best navigational scheme, it is a challenge to make all of this information findable, which makes accurate search a huge boost to website effectiveness.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/index.html">Google Apps</a> adoption in higher education has been steadily climbing (3 million users and counting), and we're really excited to see more and more universities using the <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/">Google Search Appliance</a> (GSA) to power high-quality search on their websites. Like Google.com, the search appliance can search public pages on a website, but it can also find information in databases, content systems, business applications, and other sources, which opens up a whole range of options for making all kinds of information easily accessible. For example, <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/illinois.html">Illinois State University</a> uses the Google Search Appliance to create a "Course Finder" tool for their current and prospective students. This tool delivers up-to-the minute course information to more than 20,000 students, 1,000 faculty members, and the public at-large. It provides users with a friendly, easy-to-use interface for finding class and schedule data stored on the university's mainframe. Students can easily fine-tune searches to specify departments, time slots, and instructors, all using the familiar Google interface.<br /><br />When <span style="font-style: italic;">Campus Technology</span>, a leading publication addressing technology trends in universities, invited us to showcase the capabilities of the Google Search Appliance in an upcoming <a href="https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=124002&sessionid=1&key=ED57896312850ADBDCFB1957C2BA19A5&partnerref=resources&sourcepage=register">webinar</a>, we immediately turned to our friends at Illinois State to share their great example. We invite you to <a href="https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=124002&sessionid=1&key=ED57896312850ADBDCFB1957C2BA19A5&partnerref=resources&sourcepage=register">join us online</a> on Wednesday, January 21st, at 11:00 am PST, to hear Illinois State University talk about their experience with GSA. We'll also be sharing information about Google Apps for higher education, so if you're interested in that front, be sure to mark your calendars as well. <br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Vijay Koduri, Product Marketing Manager, Google Search Appliance</span>

Hear how Illinois State University uses Google Search

Search functionality is a critical part of higher education websites due to the diverse audiences that these sites serve. Current and prospe...

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