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Failing to Report Adverse Effects of Treatments

We have frequently advocated the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to improve the care of individual patients, and to improve health care quality at a reasonable cost for populations. Evidence-based medicine is not just medicine based on some sort of evidence. As Dr David Sackett, and colleagues wrote [Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Muir Gray JA, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence-based medicine; what it is and what it isn't. BMJ 1996; 312: 71-72. Link <a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/312/7023/71">here</a>. ] <blockquote> Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. </blockquote> One can find other definitions of EBM, but nearly all emphasize that the approach is designed to appropriately apply results from the best clinical research, critically reviewed, to the individual patient, taking into account that patient's clinical characteristics and personal values. When making decisions about treatments for individual patients, the EBM approach suggests using the best available evidence about possible benefits and harms of treatment, so that the treatment chosen is most likely to maximize benefits and minimize harms for the individual patient. The better the evidence about specific benefits and harms applicable to a particular patient, the greater will be the likelihood that a particular decision based on this evidence will result in the best possible outcomes for the patient. A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine focused on how articles report adverse effects found by clinical trials. [Pitrou I, Boutron I, Ahmad N et al. Reporting of safety results in published reports of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med 2009; 169: 1756-1761. Link<a href="http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/169/19/1756"> here</a>.] The results were not encouraging. The investigators assessed 133 articles reporting the results of randomized controlled trials published in 2006 in six English language journals with high impact factors, that is, the most prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, British Medical Journal, and Annals of Internal Medicine. They excluded trials with less common designs, such as randomized cross-over trials. The majority of trials (54.9%) had private, or private mixed with public funding. The major results were: 15/133 (11.3%) did not report anything about adverse events 36/133 (27.1%) did not report information about the severity of adverse events 63/133 (47.4%) did not report how many patients had to withdraw from the trial due to adverse events 43/133 (32.3%) had major limitations in how they reported adverse events, e.g., reporting only the most common events (even though most trials do not enroll enough patients to detect important but uncommon events). The authors concluded, "the reporting of harm remains inadequate." An accompanying editorial [Ioannidis JP. Adverse events in randomized controlled trials: neglected, distorted, and silenced. Arch Intern Med 2009; 169: 1737-1739. Link <a href="http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/169/19/1737">here</a>] raised concerns about why the reporting of adverse events is so shoddy: <blockquote>Perhaps conflicts of interest and marketing rather than science have shaped even the often accepted standard that randomized trials study primarily effectiveness, whereas information on harms from medical interventions can wait for case reports and nonrandomized studies. Nonrandomized data are very helpful, but they have limitations, and many harms will remain long undetected if we just wait for spontaneous reporting and other nonrandomized research to reveal them. In an environment where effectiveness benefits are small and shrinking, the randomized trials agenda may need to reprogram its whole mission, including its reporting, toward better understanding of harms. </blockquote> Pitrou and colleagues have added to our knowledge about the drawbacks of the evidence about treatments that is publicly available to physicians and patients when making decisions about treatment. Even reports of studies with the best designs (randomized controlled trials) in the best journals seem to omit important information about the harms of the treatments they test. It appears that the majority of the reports that Pitrou and colleagues studied received "private" funding, presumably meaning most were funded by drug, biotechnology, or device companies and were likely meant to evaluate the sponsoring companies' products. However, note that this article did not analyze the relationship of funding source to the completeness of information about adverse effects. Nonetheless, on Health Care Renewal we have discussed many cases in which research has been <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/manipulating%20clinical%20research">manipulated</a> in favor of the vested interests of research sponsors (funders), or in which research unfavorable to their interests has been <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/suppression%20of%20medical%20research">suppressed</a>. Therefore, it seems plausible that sponsors' influence over how clinical trials are designed, implemented, analyzed and reported may reduce information about the adverse effects of their products reported in journal articles. Trials may be designed not to gather information about adverse events. Analyses of some adverse events, or some aspects of these events may not be performed, or if performed, not reported. The evidence from clinical research available to make treatment decisions consequently may exaggerate the ratios of certain drugs' and devices' benefits to their harms. Patients may thus receive treatments which are more likely to hurt than to help them, and populations of patients may be overtreated. Impressions that treatments are safer than they actually are may allow their manufacturers to overprice them, so health care costs may rise. The article by Pitrou and colleagues adds to concerns that we physicians may too often really be practicing pseudo-evidence based medicine when we think we are practicing evidence-based medicine. We cannot judiciously balance benefits and harms of treatments to make the best decisions for patients when evidence about harms is hidden. Clearly, as Ioannidis wrote, we need to "reprogram." However, what we need to reprogram is our current dependence on drug and device manufacturers to pay for (and hence de facto run) evaluations of their own products. If health care reformers really want to improve quality while controlling costs, this is the sort of reform they need to start considering. NB - See also the comments by Merrill Goozner <a href="http://www.gooznews.com/node/3148">in the GoozNews blog</a>.

Failing to Report Adverse Effects of Treatments

We have frequently advocated the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to improve the care of individual patients, and to improve health ca...

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Growing the next generation of computer scientists and business leaders

(Cross-posted on the <a href="http://googleforstudents.blogspot.com/2009/10/growing-next-generation-of-computer.html">Google Student Blog</a>) We had a busy summer here at Google interacting with students through a wide variety of scholarship, internship and networking opportunities across North America. Here's a look back at a few of our programs (you can bet we'll be hosting them again!) along with news on some upcoming initiatives. Rising college sophomores participated in two Google programs: Google <a href="http://www.google.com/jobs/fuse/">FUSE</a>, in its inaugural year, and the Google <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/cssi/index.html">Computer Science Summer Institute</a> (CSSI). For FUSE, we welcomed 50 rising college sophomores to our <a href="http://maps.google.com/?q=Google%20New%20York@40.741962,-74.004624&hl=en">New York City office</a> for a three-day retreat designed to connect students from groups that are under-represented in the field of computer science. The retreat focused on making connections between students and Googlers, encouraging students to create meaningful academic experiences and allowing them to learn more about possible career paths via hands-on activities, panel discussions and a bit of fun around the New York City area. Another group of twenty rising sophomores spent two weeks at the Googleplex in Mountain View for the second annual Computer Science Summer Institute. This special program included an interactive and collaborative Computer Science curriculum, as well as a living-learning residential experience for student networking. Students worked in teams to create an interactive web application using Python in Google App Engine. When not in class, they heard technical talks from Google engineers, spoke with professionals from across the technology industry and academia about the many things they can do with a Computer Science degree. They also had some fun joining the Bay Area summer interns on a boat cruise and catching a baseball game after an exciting San Francisco scavenger hunt. In addition, our engineering internship program hosted more than 450 college (undergraduate and graduate) interns in 15 locations across North America. These interns were an integral part of the engineering team and made significant contributions this summer working on exciting projects including Android, Chrome, <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/back-to-school-with-google-docs.html">Docs</a> and machine translation. We also had more than 100 students working across multiple functions, including sales and engineering in Mountain View, New York, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Boston as part of the Building Opportunities for Leadership and Development (<a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=bold.html&src=bold">BOLD</a>) Program. BOLD is a 10-week internship program designed to provide exposure to the technology industry for students from groups that are historically underrepresented in technology. This summer experience includes a unique glimpse into a <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=bold.html&src=bold">business</a> or <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=boldpracticum.html">engineering</a> career, professional development and leadership courses, as well as one-on-one mentorship designed to further support professional growth. Of course, we realize that growing future leaders in engineering and business doesn't just start with college students. For this reason, we partner with the <a href="http://global.leadprogram.org/">LEAD</a> programs in both <a href="http://business.leadprogram.org/">business</a> and <a href="http://www.leadprogram.org/page/leadengineering.html">engineering</a> to encourage outstanding high school students to pursue careers in these fields. This year, all four LEAD Summer Engineering Institute participants had the opportunity to tour a local Google office to attend technical talks and interact with Google engineers (okay, with some tasty food and video games thrown in as well). As part of Google's ongoing commitment to recognizing student achievements and promoting leadership, we also offer a number of academic scholarships. We are currently accepting applications for the <a href="http://limeconnect.com/google.html">Google Lime Scholarship for Student with Disabilities</a> in the U.S. and Canada, and the Anita Borg Scholarship in <a href="http://www.google.ca/intl/en/anitaborg/">Canada</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/anitaborg-emea/">Europe, the Middle East and Africa</a>, and the <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/anitaborg/">United States</a>. In case you're curious, we offer a <a href="http://www.google.com/jobs/students">host of scholarships</a> for many other international regions. If one or more of these opportunities sounds like something you'd like to participate in, you can find applications for full time opportunities and summer internship opportunities on our <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=students.html">student job site</a>. Visit our <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=students.html&sid=scholarships&src=scholarships">scholarship page</a> for more information on our scholarship opportunities. And follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/googlestudents">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/GoogleStudents?ref=ts">Facebook</a> for updates on application deadlines and new program announcements. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJujoe9X4lh0L3b2svRecsCKoAeEOaAhZWTh2ZekIiw9hpNsaJo3TEpMrTANglofb7kdl-f5I5wbc_iC91vz2uu__mc3xwSQ_sryNu5brF2MEMuhgpRAV8w3pkKGl5J_pKnkjI28cc9QC/s1600-h/bingo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397728403069673602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJujoe9X4lh0L3b2svRecsCKoAeEOaAhZWTh2ZekIiw9hpNsaJo3TEpMrTANglofb7kdl-f5I5wbc_iC91vz2uu__mc3xwSQ_sryNu5brF2MEMuhgpRAV8w3pkKGl5J_pKnkjI28cc9QC/s400/bingo.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Making an early connection playing <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=people+bingo">People Bingo</a> at Google FUSE. </div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-BLYMpKghtkpu8dQTWNIRskcvZbMnckg5pLfsM5RYvBxMJvC94swRBAPYOh-zoN1ylSR1Pe0O60dJB3Jg1aIIVgMZm__PcU6K3HPLAvOl6kb3N6BTwTqJUxBOtw-9mI51S5b7XqAJIE/s1600-h/break.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397728408312217554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-BLYMpKghtkpu8dQTWNIRskcvZbMnckg5pLfsM5RYvBxMJvC94swRBAPYOh-zoN1ylSR1Pe0O60dJB3Jg1aIIVgMZm__PcU6K3HPLAvOl6kb3N6BTwTqJUxBOtw-9mI51S5b7XqAJIE/s400/break.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Taking a break from bowling during Google FUSE. </div> Posted by Kyle Ewing, Talent and Outreach Programs - University Programs and Recruiting

Growing the next generation of computer scientists and business leaders

(Cross-posted on the Google Student Blog ) We had a busy summer here at Google interacting with students through a wide variety of scholarsh...

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Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0

(Cross-posted with the <a href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-google-maps-navigation-for.html">Google Mobile Blog</a>) <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IevKNrO7uCY/Sudi7cMuw2I/AAAAAAAAAK8/iWonWTXpMl0/s1600-h/google-maps-navigation.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397391451748221794" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IevKNrO7uCY/Sudi7cMuw2I/AAAAAAAAAK8/iWonWTXpMl0/s320/google-maps-navigation.png" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" /></a> <div>Since 2005, millions of people have relied on <a href="http://www.google.com/mobile/products/maps.html" id="roox" target="_blank" title="Google Maps for mobile">Google Maps for mobile</a> to get directions on the go. However, there's always been one problem: Once you're behind the wheel, a list of driving directions just isn't that easy to use. It doesn't tell you when your turn is coming up. And if you miss a turn? Forget it, you're on your own. Today we're excited to announce the next step for Google Maps for mobile: <a href="http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/index.html#p=default">Google Maps Navigation (Beta)</a> for Android 2.0 devices. This new feature comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection. Here are seven features that are possible because Google Maps Navigation is connected to the Internet: The most recent map and business data When you use Google Maps Navigation, your phone automatically gets the most up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps — you never need to buy map upgrades or update your device. And this data is continuously improving, thanks to users who <a href="http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/10/your-world-your-map.html" id="cwfq" target="_blank" title="report maps issues">report maps issues</a> and businesses who activate their listings with <a href="http://www.google.com/lbc" id="uup-" target="_blank" title="Google Local Business Center">Google Local Business Center</a>. Search in plain English Google Maps Navigation brings the speed, power and simplicity of Google search to your car. If you don't know the address you're looking for, don't worry. Simply enter the name of a business, a landmark or just about anything into the search box, and Google will find it for you. Then press "Navigate", and you're on your way. Search by voice Typing on a phone can be difficult, especially in the car, so with Google Maps Navigation, you can say your destination instead. Hold down the search button to activate voice search, then tell your phone what you want to do (like "Navigate to Pike Place in Seattle"), and navigation will start automatically. Traffic view Google Maps Navigation gets live traffic data over the Internet. A traffic indicator light in the corner of the screen glows green, yellow or red, depending on the current traffic conditions along your route. If there's a jam ahead of you, you'll know. To get more details, tap the light to zoom out to an aerial view showing traffic speeds and incidents ahead. And if the traffic doesn't look good, you can choose an alternate route. Search along route For those times when you're already on the road and need to find a business, Google Maps Navigation searches along your route to give you results that won't take you far from your path. You can search for a specific business by name or by type, or you can turn on popular layers, such as gas stations, restaurants or parking. Satellite view Google Maps Navigation uses the same satellite imagery as Google Maps on the desktop to help you get to your destination. Turn on the satellite layer for a high-resolution, 3D view of your upcoming route. Besides looking cool, satellite view can help you make sense of complicated maneuvers. Street View If you want to know what your next turn looks like, double-tap the map to zoom into Street View, which shows the turn as you'll see it, with your route overlaid. And since locating an address can sometimes be tricky, we'll show you a picture of your destination as you approach the end of your route, so you'll know exactly what to look for. Since there's nothing quite like seeing the product in action, we made this video to demonstrate a real-life example: <object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tGXK4jKN_jY&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tGXK4jKN_jY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> The first phone to have Google Maps Navigation and Android 2.0 is the <a href="http://www.droiddoes.com/" id="ckr8" target="_blank" title="Droid">Droid</a> from Verizon. Google Maps Navigation is initially available in the United States. And like other Google Maps features, Navigation is free. Check out the <a href="http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/index.html#p=default">Google Maps Navigation page</a> to learn more and browse a gallery of product screenshots. Take Google Maps Navigation for a spin, and bring Internet-connected GPS navigation with you in your car.<a href="http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/index.html#p=default"></a></div><div> Posted by Keith Ito, Software Engineer</div>

Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0

(Cross-posted with the Google Mobile Blog ) Since 2005, millions of people have relied on Google Maps for mobile to get directions on the g...

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Similar Images graduates from Google Labs

Today, we're happy to announce that Similar Images is graduating from Google Labs and becoming a permanent feature in Google Images. You can try it out by clicking on "Find similar images" below the most popular images in our search results. For example, if you search for <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=jaguar">jaguar</a>, you can use the "Find similar images" link to find more pictures of the car or the animal.  When we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/hard-at-play-in-google-labs-with.html">revamped Labs in April</a>, we also launched Similar Images to highlight some of the innovative work our engineers have been working on. Google Labs gives us a way to get some of our new ideas in front of you early in the process, refine them based on your feedback and see what sticks. Your support has helped to make Similar Images the first major feature to graduate from Google Labs since its recent overhaul. So, let's say you want to find images of <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=ancient+egypt">Ancient Egypt</a>. Google Images will provide you with a rich variety of results, including pyramids, maps, relics, drawings and other types of images. Instead of poring through hundreds of images, now you can simply click "Find similar images" to narrow down the results to the results to the type you want. (We're rolling this out gradually, so the links in the below examples may not work for you yet.)<div><div> </div><div>You could narrow down your results to show you only the <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=ancient+egypt&imgtype=i_similar&sa=X&ei=J3HWSpmhEJW-tAP1-b3WAg&ct=img-sim-l&oi=image_sil&resnum=1&tbnid=3KAD94jrArNUDM:">Great Sphinx of Giza</a>:</div><div> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rkQFXba-AiSm1_IuZsEdFcgPYdXQ9cNveo78gGNBQetxHRRVvIuFsRDS3m_NjXdXciwoem49ZIqenI_2M622Sfdk0WyDUufX4T195auAYaQSTCBP6Ny7tzK64I-bqtV71OzguXPXjnlQ/s1600-h/e1.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397369370158834898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rkQFXba-AiSm1_IuZsEdFcgPYdXQ9cNveo78gGNBQetxHRRVvIuFsRDS3m_NjXdXciwoem49ZIqenI_2M622Sfdk0WyDUufX4T195auAYaQSTCBP6Ny7tzK64I-bqtV71OzguXPXjnlQ/s400/e1.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 109px;" /></a> Or <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=ancient+egypt&imgtype=i_similar&sa=X&ei=hXHWSp_8FZ66sgOQ1ITNAg&ct=img-sim-l&oi=image_sil&resnum=6&tbnid=QgHXqTYfmMo6fM:">illustrative maps of Ancient Egypt</a>: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDa_AsfHw1vWQMbOcpKXB3-E53EFiN3jT1ML5rd5RNvZguB8TOWTVa9_7uQGk7JB5fjPwbEKmpjjVSabkzAK5RZwr1anmbjgHw6xrNuj0NV5TXZdfjhDpbeOy37BRvqfgCIuk4g967csc/s1600-h/e2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397369376579576546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDa_AsfHw1vWQMbOcpKXB3-E53EFiN3jT1ML5rd5RNvZguB8TOWTVa9_7uQGk7JB5fjPwbEKmpjjVSabkzAK5RZwr1anmbjgHw6xrNuj0NV5TXZdfjhDpbeOy37BRvqfgCIuk4g967csc/s400/e2.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 130px;" /></a> Or <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=ancient+egypt&imgtype=i_similar&sa=X&ei=hXHWSp_8FZ66sgOQ1ITNAg&ct=img-sim-l&oi=image_sil&resnum=17&tbnid=rpN3MWvZS4v48M:">ancient Egyptian-style drawings</a>: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_zeX0fm3hLYFQlz-gzPutMmDaW6N_CBdVDsfj3Vfh3irrGoNquJUwfzhjsITpsYiQHPfoa3lQWAMDqILwDunky0Fe6TbE1qgjLGNGfXGDOLteWvRO28t_NM_CEAw21Di26GZe0QQqcQx/s1600-h/e3.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397369713492637986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_zeX0fm3hLYFQlz-gzPutMmDaW6N_CBdVDsfj3Vfh3irrGoNquJUwfzhjsITpsYiQHPfoa3lQWAMDqILwDunky0Fe6TbE1qgjLGNGfXGDOLteWvRO28t_NM_CEAw21Di26GZe0QQqcQx/s400/e3.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 103px;" /></a> While we'll continue to use Google Labs as a way to showcase and collect feedback for exciting new technologies, we also want to make it easier for you to provide direct feedback on all aspects of Google Images. That's why today we're also announcing the availability of <a href="http://productideas.appspot.com/#16/e=299f4">Product Ideas for Google Images</a>. With product ideas, you can post comments that will be seen directly by members of the Images team, as well as vote on ideas that others have submitted. We'll pay special attention to those ideas that are voted to the top of the list. Posted by Erik Murphy-Chutorian and Chuck Rosenberg, Software Engineers</div>

Similar Images graduates from Google Labs

Today, we're happy to announce that Similar Images is graduating from Google Labs and becoming a permanent feature in Google Images. You...

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Introducing the Google Earth heroes project

Hundreds of millions of people use <a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a> every day to discover, explore and learn more about the world around them. We're especially proud that Google Earth has also been used as a tool to help people change the world. Today, to celebrate he individuals and organizations that have used Google Earth in their efforts to effect change, we announced the Google Earth heroes project. In this first stage of the heroes project, we're highlighting the work of five groups — <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/changetheworld/#a">Project Kaisei</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/changetheworld/#c">Save the Elephants</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/changetheworld/#b">Borneo Orangutan Survival</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/changetheworld/#d">Chief Almir and the Surui</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/changetheworld/#e">Appalachian Voices</a> — who have used Google Earth in a variety of ways to tell their stories. We'll be releasing videos showcasing other organizations' work in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! To learn more about these groups and view their videos, read our post on the <a href="http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/10/celebrating-heroes-of-google-earth.html">Google Lat Long blog</a> or visit <a href="http://earth.google.com/changetheworld">http://earth.google.com/changetheworld</a>. Posted by Krating Poonpol, Product Marketing Manager, Google Earth and Tanya Keen, Program Manager, Google Earth Outreach

Introducing the Google Earth heroes project

Hundreds of millions of people use Google Earth every day to discover, explore and learn more about the world around them. We're especi...

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Sesame Street comes to Google: Improving our education system at the Breakthrough Learning forum

If you could reinvent the American education system, what would you do? It's a question we think about a lot here at Google. This week we're exploring possibilities with <a href="http://www.google.com/events/digitalage/">Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age</a>, a forum organized in cooperation with <a href="http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/">The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop</a> and <a href="http://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Common Sense Media</a>, with the support of the <a href="http://macfound.org/">MacArthur Foundation</a>. This event will bring together 200 of the nation’s thought leaders in science and technology, informal and formal education, entertainment media, research, philanthropy and policy to design a strategy for scaling up effective models of teaching and learning for children, with an emphasis on technology. The forum will showcase new research, proven and promising education innovation models to challenge decision-makers to refresh and reboot American global leadership in education. There's plenty of evidence that shows that the current educational system in the U.S. needs improvement. Twenty-five years ago, President Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education produced "<a href="http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html">A Nation at Risk</a>," a report which first highlighted that our country's system wasn't meeting the national need for a competitive workforce in the day's global economy. Since then, our education system has gone through great upheaval, from the state-level standards reforms in the 1990s to 2002's <a href="http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml?src=ln">No Child Left Behind</a>, which is similarly based on the belief that setting high standards measurable goals will improve individual outcomes in education. Though the intention of these reforms was to close the global achievement gap, they left many teachers and students feeling restricted to teaching and learning "to the test." And we're still seeing disheartening results; the U.S. is currently ranked 25th of <a href="http://www.oecd.org/home/">OECD</a> countries in math scores and 24th in science scores according to the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_39718850_1_1_1_1,00.html">PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World report</a>. And according to <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Social_Sector/our_practices/Education/Knowledge_Highlights/Economic_impact.aspx">McKinsey's Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools</a> report, if the U.S. had in recent years closed the gap between its educational achievement levels and those of higher-performing nations, our GDP in 2008 could have been $1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion higher. That's 9 to 16 percent of GDP! Fortunately, there are people today who are working to change these statistics. One is tonight's keynote speaker, Geoff Canada, founder of the <a href="http://harlemchildrenszone.org/">Harlem Children's Zone</a>. The Harlem Children's Zone combines educational, social and medical services with the goal of reaching all of the children in Harlem. Another organization addressing the issue is the <a href="http://macfound.org/">MacArthur Foundation</a>, which has created the Digital Media and Learning Project to explore the effects of digital media on young people and its implications for the future of learning and education. And we can't forget <a href="http://www.sesameworkshop.org/home">Sesame Workshop</a>, which this year celebrates 40 years of educating children with Muppets and media. There's great hope for American education, as long as we can work toward innovative solutions that not only allow students distinct educational experiences tailored to their interests and abilities, but also drive toward a common goal of assessable success. Students today are technologists too, and embracing that familiarity and bringing it into the classroom will help teachers and students better engage and work together to teach and learn. Most importantly, we need to support our teachers, principals and administrators — the true agents of change who tirelessly and passionately work to connect with each and every student that passes through their classrooms. The Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age forum is one step we're taking to address some of our most pressing national education system issues. If you're interested in joining us at the forum, we'll be broadcasting live on the web both <a href="http://investor.shareholder.com/googpr/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=72855">today</a> and <a href="http://investor.shareholder.com/googpr/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=72857">tomorrow</a>. We welcome your <a href="http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=c77db">questions and ideas</a> to help us shape our discussions. Go to <a href="http://www.google.com/events/digitalage/">http://www.google.com/events/digitalage/</a> to participate and learn more. Posted by Cristin Frodella, Product Marketing, Google Apps Education

Sesame Street comes to Google: Improving our education system at the Breakthrough Learning forum

If you could reinvent the American education system, what would you do? It's a question we think about a lot here at Google. This week w...

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Use Google Voice with your existing number

Up until now, if you wanted to use <a href="http://google.com/voice">Google Voice</a>, you needed to choose a new number (a "Google number"). Taking calls through your Google number allows us to offer features like call recording, call screening and getting text messages via email. But we know not everyone wants to switch to a new phone number, so it made sense for us to create a lighter version of Google Voice for people who are willing to trade some features for the ability to use their existing numbers. We're excited to announce that you now have the choice to get Google Voice with your existing mobile number OR with a Google number. If you sign up using your existing number, you'll still get many of Google Voice's features. Most notably, you'll get all the functionality of Google voicemail, as explained in this video: <object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ua9Q5frlQ2M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ua9Q5frlQ2M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object> If you already have a Google Voice account, you can <a href="http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164652">add Google voicemail</a> to any mobile phone you've linked to your account. If you're not yet using Google Voice, you can <a href="https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/">request an invite</a> or ask a friend with a Google Voice account to send you an invitation. When you receive the invitation to sign up, you can choose to use Google Voice with your existing number — or to get a Google number for additional features. Google Voice is about giving you more control over your communications. We hope this new option makes it easier for you to manage your messages and personalize your voicemail experience. Posted by Craig Walker, Vincent Paquet & Pierre Lebeau, Product Managers

Use Google Voice with your existing number

Up until now, if you wanted to use Google Voice , you needed to choose a new number (a "Google number"). Taking calls through your...

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