Google Cloud Platform News

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  Using tech to make hiring more inclusive
  • sorangutan  

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  Three years ago, Generation and Google.org joined forces to help jobseekers launch meaningful careers and change their lives. Enabled by $7.5M in grant funding from Google.org, and technical support from a team of Google.org Fellows, Generation has now helped to train and place more than 3,000 people in France, Italy, and Spain into entry-level technology sector professions, including digital customer care, full stack and java development, digital marketing, and robotic process automation.

  Opening up access to today’s digital economy

  At both Google and Generation, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in today's increasingly digital economy. Yet groups that are already underserved are still often underrepresented in jobs that require digital skills. Like Google’s Grow with Google initiatives, Generation’s programs seek to open access to education for those who have faced systemic barriers to accessing employment — 54% of learners at Generation are female, and most describe themselves as financially unstable before joining Generation, with 80% of learners unemployed.

  Graduates from the Generation programs supported by Google.org have seen life-transforming outcomes, even in the midst of a pandemic labor market. Within six months of program completion, 75% of graduates were already placed in jobs. A year later, the majority of those remained employed.

  10:25

  Seeing the impact of Generation’s work and hearing the stories of Generation graduates is deeply inspiring. Stories like that of David André, who started working after high school without a university degree. He had a series of low wage restaurant and retail jobs, and then spent a period of time unemployed, facing financial and family difficulties.

  Around that time, he received an email from the French employment agency, Pôle Emploi, about the Generation Customer Care program. David André decided to apply, and was accepted. He invested himself fully in the program. At the end of the course, Generation connected him with a French startup, Doctolib — an online platform that facilitates virtual medical appointments. Within a few months, he was hired permanently. With his newfound work stability, he has moved into his own place, and has stepped into a sales support role as he continues to advance in his career.

  Spotlighting skills on the Employer Portal

  To help further accelerate Generation’s mission, Google recently provided additional support in the form of a Google.org Fellowship, where a team of Google data scientists and product managers worked full-time, pro bono alongside Generation for six months, to address the challenge of matching job seekers with employers. When employers are accustomed to focusing on resumes, not candidate skills, it can be difficult for jobseekers from underrepresented communities to get seen. To make it easier for recruiters to find the talent they need from its pool of graduates, Google.org Fellows helped Generation to develop and build a new Employer Portal, now being trialed in both Spain and France.

  What differentiates the Portal from other job-matching platforms out there is that employers can search for talent based on the skill-set of the job seekers, which Generation helps validate beforehand. Focusing on the skills that candidates bring to the table, rather than data points like age, gender, and education, help to minimize hiring biases and unlock new talent pools for employers — breaking down barriers to employment for underrepresented populations. We’re looking forward to seeing what the Employer Portal can do to help more jobseekers find employment, and like David André, change their lives.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-org/using-tech-make-hiring-more-inclusive/
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  A closer look at one Googler’s flexible work week
  • sorangutan  

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  In January, we announced expanded leave benefits to help Googlers support their families and loved ones, and encourage employees to take time for themselves. We recently spoke with Googler Patricia Torres, who’s using leave benefits to spend more time with her family.

  What’s your role at Google?

  I’m a Program Manager based in Sydney, leading talent development programs for university students. My team provides scholarship grants to help students pursuing computer science degrees build their technical skills and become leaders in the field.

  Tell us about your Google career journey.

  I joined Google in 2016 as an Operations Specialist for the Talent and Outreach Programs team. My daughter Natasha was one and a half years old at the time. As a new parent, I felt guilty about leaving her in daycare — she cried every day for seven months straight! During this time, I worked three days a week, which allowed me to take care of my daughter and still get my work done. Once Natasha turned three, I moved to a four-day work week. Since then, I’ve had five different roles at Google.

  What’s your typical workday like?

  My days center around my family. After checking emails and eating breakfast, my husband Chris and I take turns getting Natasha ready for school. I usually sign off around 5:30 p.m. and have dinner with my family. We have a nightly routine where we share challenges and what we’re grateful for — it’s been an eye-opening experience for all of us! Because of the time differences between Australia and the U.S. and Europe, where the rest of my team is based, I’ll sometimes jump on conference calls in the evening.

  How has the pandemic affected the way you work?

  COVID-19 has presented challenges for everybody. For me, the hardest part was balancing childcare with work. When my daughter’s school closed for in-person classes, my husband and I became teachers overnight. It was a huge relief when Google extended their Carer’s Leave policy, which provides time off for parents or caregivers to support children or other family members due to COVID. Over the next few months, Chris and I worked half days, taking turns to make sure Natasha finished her schoolwork. On top of that, my mum was sick and in the hospital. Having the flexibility to work from the hospital and spend time with her before she passed was so important to me. Chris and I are both lucky to work for organizations that prioritize our health, well-being and families.

  What advice would you give to others about flexible work?

  Prioritization is key. Every month, I put together a schedule for my work and home responsibilities. For my job, I schedule back-to-back meetings on set days and times and block out periods to execute my work — communicating these in advance to my manager, team and stakeholders. At home, we plan meals (and who is going to cook) a week in advance, and we figure out who will take Natasha to her many activities.

  Thankfully, I’ve had supportive managers throughout the pandemic who have been understanding of the challenges we faced as a family. My managers told me to take the time I needed and offered an even more flexible work week when I returned from Carer’s Leave. Google has been there to support me and it’s made all the difference — helping our family stay happy and healthy in a time that’s been tough for so many people.

  Learn more about Patricia's storyand Google’s benefits.

  
  
  https://blog.google/inside-google/life-at-google/a-closer-look-at-one-googlers-flexible-work-week/
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  12L: A new look for Android’s larger screens
  • sorangutan  

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  Tablets and foldables are my favorite devices for content and productivity. The large, portable screens are easy on the eyes and the perfect way to watch a movie, answer emails or video chat.

  On tablets, we introduced Kids Space and Entertainment Space for the whole family to watch content, and spotlighted apps to stay connected, entertained and productive. And on foldables, we brought the best of Google to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and Galaxy Z Flip3 5G devices.

  Today we’re introducing 12L, an update to Android 12 with features that will make tablets and foldables simpler and easier to use.

  A new layout for easier viewing

  The bigger the screen, the more space there is for relevant information. With 12L, we’re optimizing the display for the home screen, lock screen, notification shade, device set-up screens, settings and beyond, so they look even better on tablet and foldable screens.

  For example, we heard from you that the most common reason for swiping down to your notification shade is to check and clear your notifications. On 12L, we moved notifications and quick tiles to their own dedicated columns to give you more space to view and swipe away your notifications.

  

  When setting up a new device, you’ll also be able to see more information with a two-column layout. And, you’ll be able to make changes to features in your Settings without having to go in and out of each section. Let’s say you’re looking to change the wallpaper on your device — select “Wallpaper & style” from the navigation panel and make your pick on the side, all in one view.

  

  A taskbar to get more done

  We’ve added a taskbar to help multitaskers launch and switch between apps on the spot. You can also drag-and-drop any app from the taskbar to enter split-screen mode so you can do two things at once. You can watch a YouTube video while you scan the news, or search for accommodations for an upcoming trip in a Chrome browser while you view its location in Google Maps.

  Starting later this year, we’ll bring 12L to your favorite tablets and foldables with planned updates from Samsung, Lenovo and Microsoft. And we’ll continue to build more features and functionalities to help you make the most of your larger screen devices in Android 13 and beyond.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/android/12l-larger-screens/
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  Snap at night, type responses in calls and more from Pixel
  • sorangutan  

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  Today’s update marks our tenth Pixel Feature Drop 🎉 🎊. The latest updates begin rolling out to Pixel 3a through Pixel 5a (5G) devices today, while Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices will begin receiving their updates later this month.

  Night Sight in Snapchat

  For those moments when the lighting isn’t quite right, Night Sight in Pixel Camera helps you capture clear low-light pictures and video. Now we're bringing Night Sight to Snapchat so you can snap vibrant, detailed, low-light videos or photos without flash. Give it a try on your Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro by selecting low light mode in the Snapchat app to make sure you never miss a moment — even in the dark.

  Communicating with captions

  

  For people who can't or prefer not to speak on calls, there's a new way to communicate with Live Caption. Now when you’re on a phone call you can see captions of what the other person says and type back a response that will be read out loud on the other end.

  Make messages and video calls more fun

  

  A picture is worth a thousand words. When you’re typing in messaging apps in, Gboard can convert your words into colorful stickers built with your exact text. With emoji, emoji kitchen and custom sticker suggestions while you type your Pixel helps you express exactly how you feel. Coming to Pixel users globally typing in English (U.S.) starting today.

  It's also getting easier to connect with friends and family on video calls: Host your own YouTube watch parties or share your favorite app with live sharing for Duo, all on your Pixel phone.

  More languages. More ways to translate.

  Live Translate on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro makes communicating in different languages easy. And with Interpreter mode, you can now translate your face-to-face conversations with Spanish, Italian and French speakers right on your phone, as all translations stay on device. Give it a try by saying, “Hey Google, be my Spanish interpreter.”

  

  And the new Pixel battery widget can show up-to-date battery information for your Pixel, as well as[b0081a]-connected devices like Pixel Buds). Add the widget to your homescreen to keep an eye on battery life across your devices.

  • Image showing a rendition of a Pixel with a colorful wallpaper on the screen.
  • Image showing a rendition of a Pixel with a colorful wallpaper on the screen.
  • Image showing a rendition of a Pixel with a colorful wallpaper on the screen.

  More helpful features for more Pixels

  In addition to the features reaching Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, we’re also bringing existing features to more languages and devices.

  • Direct My Call and Wait Times will now be available for Pixel 3a and newer phones.
  • Recorder can now transcribe in Italian and Spanish on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
  • Assistant Quick phrases will be available in Spanish, Italian and French on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/pixel/feature-drop-march-2022/
• 

  An update on the threat landscape
  • sorangutan  

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  Online security is extremely important for people in Ukraine and the surrounding region right now. Government agencies, independent newspapers and public service providers need it to function and individuals need to communicate safely. Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been working around the clock, focusing on the safety and security of our users and the platforms that help them access and share important information.

  This work continues our longstanding efforts to take action against threat actors in this region. In the last 12 months, TAG has issued hundreds of government-backed attack warnings to Ukrainian users alerting them that they have been the target of government backed hacking, largely emanating from Russia.

  Over the past two weeks, TAG has observed activity from a range of threat actors that we regularly monitor and are well-known to law enforcement, including FancyBear and Ghostwriter. This activity ranges from espionage to phishing campaigns. We’re sharing this information to help raise awareness among the security community and high risk users:

  FancyBear/APT28, a threat actor attributed to Russia GRU, has conducted several large credential phishing campaigns targeting ukr.net users, UkrNet is a Ukrainian media company. The phishing emails are sent from a large number of compromised accounts (non-Gmail/Google), and include links to attacker controlled domains.

  In two recent campaigns, the attackers used newly created Blogspot domains as the initial landing page, which then redirected targets to credential phishing pages. All known attacker-controlled Blogspot domains have been taken down.

  

  Example of APT28 credential phishing page

  Example credential phishing domains observed during these campaigns:

  • id-unconfirmeduser[.]frge[.]io
  • hatdfg-rhgreh684[.]frge[.]io
  • ua-consumerpanel[.]frge[.]io
  • consumerspanel[.]frge[.]io

  Ghostwriter/UNC1151, a Belarusian threat actor, has conducted credential phishing campaigns over the past week against Polish and Ukrainian government and military organizations. TAG has also identified campaigns targeting webmail users from the following providers:

  • i.ua
  • meta.ua
  • rambler.ru
  • ukr.net
  • wp.pl
  • yandex.ru

  Example credential phishing domains observed during these campaigns:

  • accounts[.]secure-ua[.]website
  • i[.]ua-passport[.]top
  • login[.]creditals-email[.]space
  • post[.]mil-gov[.]space
  • verify[.]rambler-profile[.]site

  These phishing domains have been blocked through Google Safe Browsing – a service that identifies unsafe websites across the web and notifies users and website owners of potential harm.

  Mustang Panda or Temp.Hex, a China-based threat actor, targeted European entities with lures related to the Ukrainian invasion. TAG identified malicious attachments with file names such as 'Situation at the EU borders with Ukraine.zip'. Contained within the zip file is an executable of the same name that is a basic downloader and when executed, downloads several additional files that load the final payload. To mitigate harm, TAG alerted relevant authorities of its findings.

  Targeting of European organizations has represented a shift from Mustang Panda’s regularly observed Southeast Asian targets.

  DDoS Attacks

  We continue to see DDoS attempts against numerous Ukraine sites, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as services like Liveuamap that are designed to help people find information. We expanded eligibility for Project Shield, our free protection against DDoS attacks, so that Ukrainian government websites, embassies worldwide and other governments in close proximity to the conflict can stay online, protect themselves and continue to offer their crucial services and ensure access to the information people need.

  Project Shield allows Google to absorb the bad traffic in a DDoS attack and act as a “shield” for websites, allowing them to continue operating and defend against these attacks. As of today, over 150 websites in Ukraine, including many news organizations, are using the service. We encourage all eligible organizationsto register for Project Shield so our systems can help block these attacks and keep websites online.

  We’ll continue to take action, identify bad actors and share relevant information with others across industry and governments, with the goal of bringing awareness to these issues, protecting users and preventing future attacks. And while we are actively monitoring activity related to Ukraine and Russia, we continue to be just as vigilant in relation to other threat actors globally, to ensure that they do not take advantage of everyone’s focus on this region.

  
  
  https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/update-threat-landscape-ukraine/
• 

  Two new pledges to reduce food loss and waste at Google
  • sorangutan  

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  As food makes its way from farms and factories to store shelves and dining tables, nearly one-third of it ends up lost or wasted along the way. All that unused food negatively impacts the planet — it makes up eight percent of the world’s carbon footprint and is the food system’s largest source of carbon emissions.

  To protect our planet and keep it healthy, we need to collectively cut back on food waste — for us at Google, that means doubling down on our efforts to reduce waste in our kitchens and cafes. By 2025, we aim to cut food waste in half for each Googler and send zero food waste to the landfill. To do so, we’ll prevent waste during food sourcing and procurement, improve our kitchens and cafes, and make sure excess food is repurposed or disposed of properly.

  Preventing waste before it happens

  Our food team serves hundreds of thousands of meals each day to Googlers across 56 countries. To prevent food waste before those delicious ingredients ever reach our kitchens, we work closely with manufacturers, processors, suppliers and distributors.

  One way we’ve done this is by sourcing produce from farms that is imperfect and would otherwise be tossed — like a misshapen carrot or an apple that is slightly blemished, but still delicious. We also buy from creative businesses that make food products from upcycled ingredients — like broth made from vegetable trimmings from a processing plant.

  To help the entire food system reduce food waste in their own operations, Google is also working with agricultural and food service partners to improve supply chain transparency, traceability and data tracking. For example, an early-stage team from X, an Alphabet subsidiary, worked closely with Kroger and Feeding America®️ to explore and analyze supply chain datasets using Google Cloud technology. With more data and transparency into the supply chain we can make sure excess food goes toward a better use like feeding people who need it, instead of going to a landfill.

  Rethinking our kitchens and cafes

  Shutting down our offices and pausing food services at the beginning of the pandemic gave us the space to think bigger about how we can sustainably support a growing global workforce.

  Now that food is back on the table at Google, we’re continuing to use technology to cut back on waste in our kitchen and cafe operations. For example, Leanpath is a tool that helps chefs track what food is going to waste. They can then use that data to make changes to how they prepare, cook and serve food in cafes.

  Since we started measuring our kitchen food waste in 2014, these strategies have helped divert 10 million pounds of food from our kitchens and cafes from going into the landfill. That’s equivalent to eliminating 25,000 metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere or taking 5,000 cars off the road for a year.

  To work toward our food waste goals, we plan to get more innovative and develop new technologies. We’ll prioritize coming up with creative menu options that turn produce that would otherwise be wasted into tasty treats — like healthy slaw made from peeled and shredded broccoli stems.

  And we’re working on technologies that can help us make changes not only in our kitchens but in commercial kitchens everywhere. For example, over at X we piloted a project that uses computer vision to automatically determine what is going into our compost bins. We need more projects like this to create a smarter food system that knows where excess food is and what state it’s in so we can make sure it gets used instead of ending up in a landfill.

  Being responsible with how we dispose of food

  The work doesn’t stop once the food is cooked and the meal is served. We have to think about what happens to the food next— whether it’s what we do with untouched components of our meals or what’s left on a Googler’s plate. We aim to donate the excess whenever possible or ensure that it is properly composted.

  Part of managing our global food program requires having a network in place so that untouched, excess food can easily be shared with food rescue partners. We’re also sharing ways that everyone at Google can do their part to reach these goals — like each of us only taking what we know we can eat. For any food product that’s ready to be tossed, we’re working to improve our waste separation systems to make sure that composting works everywhere. We’re even piloting technology that can process organic waste onsite and smart waste collection containers that can better sort trash to divert waste from the landfill.

  While we’re working hard to reduce waste in our own food operations and cafes, the biggest impact will come when the entire industry works together and adopts solutions to keep food out of landfills. That’s why last year we signed onto the Food Waste Action Plan — co-led by ReFED, the premier national nonprofit advancing data-driven solutions to end food waste — to urge the federal government to adopt ambitious food loss reduction goals. To further accelerate systems transformation, Google is providing $1M as an anchor funder to the upcoming ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund with the goal of accelerating and scaling food waste solutions in North America.

  As we make progress toward our food loss and waste goals, we’ll keep sharing what we learn with others in the industry. Together, we can keep our planet healthy.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/two-new-pledges-reduce-food-loss-and-waste-google/
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  Increasing Google’s investment in Poland
  • sorangutan  

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  It has been over 15 years since we opened our first office in Poland. Back in those days, it had one room and could fit no more than three people. Since then, we have invested dynamically, mirroring the growing potential of the Polish economy. Now, we employ more than 1000 Googlers in the country. Only last year, we added over 350 people, opened our new office in Warsaw and launched a Google Cloud region — the first such investment not only in Poland, but in Central and Eastern Europe.

  We are now making another step forward in reaffirming our commitment to Poland. We will invest nearly $700 million in the purchase and further development of The Warsaw HUB, a modern office complex right in the heart of Poland’s capital city. Google had moved into The Warsaw Hub as a tenant last year, opening a new office there — a home to teams working primarily on our most advanced solutions powering Google Cloud and its many global customers. It is already our largest site working on cloud technologies in Europe. With this new investment, across our sites in Warsaw we will have capacity for 2500 employees, with potential for future growth. We hope it also signals our long-term confidence in the potential that Poland and the region have as an attractive location for top talent and place to develop cutting-edge technologies.

  Our work in Poland goes beyond supporting its digital economy, and right now we are extremely focused on helping those who need it most at this time. Last week we announced that Google will provide $10 million to local organizations helping refugees from the war in Ukraine who arrive into Poland. The funding will support both immediate humanitarian efforts and assistance for refugees in the first weeks of their stay in Poland, as well as their longer-terms needs. We will also be using Google’s spaces and resources to support those affected, including by using the Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw as a space where local NGOs can provide legal and psychological support to refugees. As the needs of those affected by the war change, we will be looking at other ways in which we can help.

  

  View of the Warsaw skyline from Google's office at The Warsaw HUB

  Contributing to Poland’s digital growth

  Over the years, we've seen first hand in Poland how technology can help people get through difficult times, but also to grow their careers and businesses for the future. As we continue to invest not only in infrastructure, but also in talent and knowledge, we are confident that Google can continue helping Poland’s economy use its advantages and the power of technology to support its future economic growth. Much like the last 15 years, we will continue partnering with business, academia, public sector and the non-governmental organizations in Poland to ensure that our continued investments in the country enable society to benefit from what technology has to offer.

  Investing in the future flexible workplace

  We also believe that the future of work in this new, digital economy is flexibility. Whilst the majority of our Poland-based employees want to be on-site some of the time, they also want the flexibility of working from home a couple of days a week. Some of our people will want to be fully remote. Our future office spaces in Poland will have room for all of those possibilities.

  Over the next few years, we will be investing in the construction of the next workspaces in our new office in The Warsaw HUB to ensure that it is best equipped to meet the needs of our new ways of working. We'll be introducing new types of collaboration spaces for in-person teamwork and inclusive meeting rooms for hybrid working as well as de-densifying the offices to improve wellbeing and providing many amenities (like outdoor terraces) to make sure that we offer the best possible work environment for the many talented people that will be joining us in Warsaw in the near future.

  
  
  https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/increasing-googles-investment-in-poland/
• 

  This World Wildlife Day, the key word is adapt
  • sorangutan  

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  Wolverines are stocky, energetic carnivores who resemble small bears. These animals travel up to 15 miles a day and summit peaks in the wildest lands. Currently, their habitat range includes parts of the northern U.S. and Canada where they have access to huge swaths of remote land with abundant winter and spring snowpack to build dens for their baby kits. However, like other species across the world, their habitat is at risk of shrinking due to climate change.

  As entire habitats change, land managers and policymakers need to be able to make local land-use decisions that support regionally important species and ecosystems. Cloud-based mapping tools, like TerrAdapt which launched to the public today on World Wildlife Day, can help prioritize areas for conservation actions — like habitat restoration, increasing protection status, and building wildlife crossings. TerrAdapt uses satellite monitoring technology powered by Google Earth Engine and Google Cloud Platform to project habitat conditions given future climate and land-use scenarios.

  Using TerrAdapt to monitor wolverines

  It’s initially being developed in the Cascadia region — which spans part of Washington in the U.S and British Columbia in Canada — to model habitat ranges for species like the wolverine, as well as the fisher, grizzly bear, greater sage-grouse and Canada lynx. Working with the Cascadia Partner Forum and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the TerrAdapt team partnered with leading wolverine biologists to model changes in the wolverines’ habitat and connectivity between 1990 to 2100.

  

  Areas in orange and red show the shrinking of montane wet forest habitats where snow-dependent wildlife like the wolverine live, projected to 2100.

  According to this model, wolverines and other snow-dependent species are expected to see significant changes to their habitat — especially when climate change scenarios are factored into the mix. Looking forward to 2100, there is little remaining wolverine habitat in the U.S.

  

  Projections of how the suitable habitat for snow-dependent species changes from 1990 to 2100 based on the amount of liquid water contained in the snowpack, or SWE, under a “business as usual” climate scenario.

  Conservationists are concerned we’re not adequately preparing to protect the wolverines and their habitat which is also home to other species of animals and plants. In 2020, the decision to federally list the wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act was rejected on the basis that there’s still sufficient snowpack.

  Moving forward, land managers and policymakers can use TerrAdapt projections to better inform decisions like this. Carly Vynne, TerrAdapt co-founder and Director of Biodiversity and Climate at RESOLVE says that TerrAdapt helps them keep these animals on the landscape. “TerrAdapt allows us to visualize future scenarios and plan management responses,” she says. “This helps make sure that our region is as resilient as possible for wolverines and the other plants, animals, and human communities that depend on our natural landscapes.”

  Making decisions that benefit the planet

  The ability to use findings to inform conservation decisions and policy needs to grow. Equipped with information from TerrAdapt on how our current and future land-use decisions affect our natural world, we can increase ecological resilience to climate change risks and make land-use decisions that benefit our planet.

  Explore how Google’s technology, such as Google Earth Engine, is being used to help decision makers improve resilience and adapt to climate change. And learn more about how TerrAdapt is helping us plan for a positive future with wolverines in this short video.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/world-wildlife-day-2022/
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  The next generation of women in coding
  • sorangutan  

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  Women of color make upless than 10 percent of all Bachelor's degrees earned in computing in the U.S. Peta-Gay Clarke and Shameeka Emanual are working to help change that. As program managers of Google’s Code Next program, they’re using their tech careers to give young women more access to computer science. Today, they’re announcing the sponsorship of a new Women of Color in Tech scholarship.

  I recently had the chance to talk to Peta-Gay and Shameeka to learn about the women who’ve inspired them and how, in turn, they hope to inspire the next generation.

  What interested you in a technology career?

  Peta-Gay: My grandmother was a Jamaican immigrant and even though she didn’t know much about computers, she walked into Radio Shack in the 1990s and put a computer on layaway. A year later, she surprised my sister and me with it on Christmas. This gift both turned me into our family’s tech support and sparked my interest in technology. Later on, I transferred into a computer science program at my high school in Queens, which changed my life. I learned how to build and repair computers and was introduced to computer programming.

  Shameeka: I grew up as a cheerleader and band nerd who was eligible for free lunch — I knew technology would be my key to moving to another economic class. I was also drawn to tech because math and science are objective subjects rooted in proof: you’re either right, wrong or innovating.

  Women, particularly women of color, are underrepresented in tech. How have you seen women of color break into this work?

  Peta-Gay: Breaking into the tech industry requires a great deal of persistence, resilience and support. Early exposure, access and opportunities also make a huge difference. I personally have had mentors and sponsors enter my life at critical points. But if we’re going to see major shifts in the number of women of color entering the tech sector, we need innovative public and private partnerships and new ways to access careers in tech.

  

  Shameeka Emanuel, program manager of Google’s Code Next program

  You’ve been working with Google’s Code Next students for six years. What still surprises you about working with them?

  Peta-Gay: I’m still surprised how often our students are excluded and underestimated. There are still far too many schools that don’t offer computing courses, and even if they do, our students may not be eligible to take them. Many of our budding engineers join Code Next to get the exposure and access they need. They join as freshman in high school and stay through graduation. Our inaugural cohort have even stayed connected through the program, and they’re now sophomores in college!

  Shameeka: The students continuously blow me away, there’s no limit to what they can achieve. Our senior leadership sees it too. I’ve even seen their eyes twinkle when they attend our student showcases! Being a part of this leadership team has also helped me raise my own children — I’ve learned that you have to remove boundaries and focus on the play part of education to truly inspire the next generation.

  What do you hope the students who participate in Code Next learn beyond new technical skills?

  Peta-Gay: I want our students to become lifelong learners. My hope is that they never stop exploring and tinkering, but more importantly they find joy in learning.

  Shameeka: I want our students to use what they learn here to reach back and pull others forward. We want to inspire the next generation of makers and engineers to become disruptive leaders in tech with a growth mindset. I hope they keep growing and glowing!

  What do you hope to achieve with the new Women of Color in Tech scholarship?

  Peta-Gay : Together with Scholly, our team is excited to sponsor a new Women of Color in Tech scholarship that will award up to 20 Black, Latina and Native women with $10,000 towards computing degrees.

  Shameeka: It was created to raise awareness of the gender gap in tech and the challenges women of color face trying to enter the industry. We also hope it eases some financial burden for the winners so they can focus on their studies.

  

  Peta-Gay, lead of Google’s Code Next program, speaking at a Code Next Hackathon in New York City

  In the spirit of Women’s History Month, can you tell us about any role models or mentors who’ve helped you grow?

  Peta-Gay: My first role models were my mother and my grandmother. I’m a first-generation immigrant, so to know my parents came to the United States from Jamaica and had to start their lives all over is my greatest motivation.

  Shameeka: I’ve been blessed to cross paths with amazing women in this industry who took time to counsel and mentor me over the years. But the next generation — our students — are now pushing to create a world where diversity and access are the norm and not the exception — and I’m excited to watch them create this change!

  ---

  Head over Code with Google to learn how other Google programs and partnerships are addressing equity gaps in tech, including more scholarships for students pursuing degrees in computer science education.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/next-gen-women-coding-scholarship/
• 

  What World Hearing Day means for this Googler
  • sorangutan  

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  Dimitri Kanevsky, a research scientist at Google with an extensive background in mathematics, knows the impact technology can have when built with accessibility in mind. Having lost his hearing in early childhood, he imagines a world where technology can make it easier for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to be a part of everyday, in-person conversations with hearing people. Whether it's ordering coffee at a cafe, conversing with coworkers or checking out at the grocery store.

  Dimitri has been turning that idea into a reality. He co-created Live Transcribe, our speech-to-text technology, which launched in 2019 and is now used daily by over a million people to communicate — including Dimitri. He works closely with the team to develop new and helpful features — like an offline mode that will be launching in the coming weeks to give people access to real-time captions even when Wi-Fi and data are unavailable.

  For World Hearing Day, we talked with Dimitri about his work, why building for everyone matters and the future of accessible technology.

  Tell us more about your background and job at Google.

  When I moved to the U.S in 1984, there were no transcription services. I wanted to change that, so I focused my work on optimizing speech and language recognition to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

  I eventually moved from academia to Google’s speech recognition team in 2014. The work my team and I accomplished allowed us to create practical applications — like Live Transcribe and Live Caption.

  How has your personal experience shaped your career?

  I completely lost my hearing when I was one. I learned to lipread well so I could communicate with other students and teachers. My family was also very helpful to me. When I switched to a school where my father taught, he made sure I was in a class with children I knew so it was a smoother transition.

  But in eighth grade, I moved to a math school with new teachers and students and was unable to lipread what they taught in class or communicate with my new classmates. I sat, day after day, not understanding the material they were teaching and had to teach myself from textbooks. If I had a tool like Live Transcribe when I was growing up, my experience would have been very different.

  In what ways has assistive technology — like Live Transcribe — changed your experience today?

  Technology provides tremendous opportunities to help people with disabilities — I know this firsthand.

  I use Live Transcribe every day to communicate with others. I use it to play games and share stories with my twin granddaughters — which is life-changing. And just last week, I gave a lecture at a mathematical seminar at John Hopkins University. During it, I could interact with the audience and answer questions — without Live Transcribe that would have been very difficult for me to do.

  I used to rely heavily on lipreading for day-to-day tasks, but when people wear masks I can't do that — I don't even know when someone who's wearing a mask is talking to me. Because of this, Live Transcribe is even more important to me — especially when at stores, riding public transit or visiting a doctor.

  What are you excited about when you think about speech recognition technology ten years from now?

  My dream is to use speech recognition technology to help people communicate. As technology advances, it will unlock new possibilities — such as transcribing speech even as people switch languages, understanding people with all accents and speech motor skills, indicating more sound events with visual symbols and automatically integrating sign recognition or additional haptic feedback technologies.

  Further in the future, I hope to see an experience where people are no longer dependent on a mobile phone to see transcriptions. Perhaps transcriptions will be available in convenient wearable eye technologies or appear on a wall when someone looks at it. There's a variant of prediction that there will be no mobile phones since all devices around us — like our walls — will act as mobile devices when people need them to.

  What do you want others to learn from World Hearing Day?

  According to WHO, one in ten people will experience hearing loss by 2050. Still, a lot of people with hearing loss don’t know about novel speech recognition technologies that could help them communicate, and hearing people aren’t aware of these tools.

  World Hearing Day is an opportunity to make everybody aware of the needs of people with hearing loss and the technology that everyone can use to have a tremendous impact on their lives.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/accessibility/world-hearing-day-2022/
• 

  Machine learning can help read the language of life
  • sorangutan  

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  DNA is the language of life: our DNA forms a living record of things that went well for our ancestors, and things that didn’t. DNA tells our body (and every other organism) which proteins to produce; these proteins are tiny machines that carry out enormous tasks, from fighting off infection to helping you ace an upcoming exam in school.

  But for about a third of all proteins that all organisms produce, we just don’t know what they do. It’s kind of like we’re in a factory where everything’s buzzing, and we’re surrounded by all these impressive tools, but we have only a vague idea of what’s going on. Understanding how these tools operate, and how we can use them, is where we think machine learning can make a big difference.

  An example of a previously-solved protein structure (E. coli TrpCF) and the area where our AI makes predictions of its function. This protein produces tryptophan, which is a chemical that's required in your diet to keep your body and brain running.

  Recently, DeepMind showed that AlphaFold can predict the shape of protein machinery with unprecedented accuracy. The shape of a protein provides very strong clues as to how the protein machinery can be used, but doesn’t completely solve this question. So we asked ourselves: can we predict what function a protein performs?

  In our Nature Biotechnology article, we describe how neural networks can reliably reveal the function of this “dark matter” of the protein universe, outperforming state-of-the-art methods. We worked closely with internationally recognized experts at the European Bioinformatics Institute to annotate 6.8 million more protein regions in the Pfam v34.0 database release, a global repository for protein families and their function. These annotations exceed the expansion of the database over the last decade, and will enable the 2.5 million life-science researchers around the world to discover new antibodies, enzymes, foods, and therapeutics.

  

  The Pfam database is a large collection of protein families and their sequences. Our ML models helped annotate 6.8 million more protein regions in the database.

  We also understand there’s a reproducibility crisis in science, and we want to be part of the solution — not the problem. To make our research more accessible and useful, we’re excited to launch an interactive scientific article where you can play with our ML models — getting results in real time, all in your web browser, with no setup required.

  Google has always set out to help organize the world’s information, and to make it useful to everyone. Equity in access to the appropriate technology and useful instruction for all scientists is an important part of this mission. This is why we’re committed to making these models useful and accessible. Because, who knows, one of these proteins could unlock the solution to antibiotic resistance, and it’s sitting right under our noses.

  
  
  https://blog.google/technology/ai/machine-learning-can-help-read-language-life/
• 

  Helping Ukraine
  • sorangutan  

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  The Russian invasion of Ukraine is both a tragedy and a humanitarian disaster in the making. The international community’s response to this war continues to evolve and governments are imposing new sanctions and restrictions.

  Our teams are working around the clock to support people in Ukraine through our products, defend against cybersecurity threats, surface high-quality, reliable information and ensure the safety and security of our colleagues and their families in the region.

  Here are a few of the actions we’re taking.

  Providing support from Google.org

  Together, Google.org and Google employees are contributing $15 million in donations and in-kind support to aid relief efforts in Ukraine, including $5 million so far from our employee matching campaign and $5 million in direct grants. We’re also contributing $5 million in advertising credits to help trusted humanitarian and intergovernmental organizations connect people to important sources of aid and resettlement information.

  

  According to the Polish Red Cross, since Thursday last week over 300,000 people have arrived in Poland. (photo credit: Red Cross)

  Updating Search and Maps in Ukraine

  We've launched an SOS alert on Search across Ukraine. When people search for refuge and evacuation information, they will see an alert pointing them to United Nations resources for refugees and asylum seekers. We’re working with expert organizations to source helpful humanitarian information as the situation unfolds.

  And after consulting with multiple sources on the ground, including local authorities, we’ve temporarily disabled some live Google Maps features in Ukraine, including the traffic layer and information about how busy places are, to help protect the safety of local communities and their citizens. We’ve also added information on refugee and migrant centers in neighboring countries.

  Expanding security protections

  Our security teams are on call 24/7. Russia-backed hacking and influence operations are not new to us; we’ve been taking action against them for years. Over the past 12 months alone, we’ve issued hundreds of government-backed attack warnings to people in Ukraine using products like Gmail. We’ve been particularly vigilant during the invasion and our products will continue to automatically detect and block suspicious activity.

  While we have not seen meaningful changes in the levels of malicious activity in this region overall, our Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has seen threat actors refocus their efforts on Ukrainian targets. For example, we’ve seen the attackers behind the GhostWriter threat group targeting Ukrainian government and military officials. We blocked these attempts and have not seen any compromise of Google accounts as a result of this campaign.

  We also automatically increased Google account security protections (including more frequent authentication challenges) for people in the region and will continue to do so as cyber threats evolve. Our Advanced Protection Program — which delivers Google’s highest level of security — is currently protecting the accounts of hundreds of high-risk users in Ukraine. And “Project Shield,” a service providing free unlimited protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks, is already protecting over 100 Ukrainian websites, including local news services.

  Promoting information quality

  In this extraordinary crisis we are taking extraordinary measures to stop the spread of misinformation and disrupt disinformation campaigns online.

  Beginning today, we’re blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe. This builds on our indefinite pause of monetization of Russian state-funded media across our platforms, meaning media outlets such as RT are not allowed to monetize their content or advertise on our platforms.

  We have also significantly limited recommendations globally for a number of Russian state-funded media outlets across our platforms. And in the past few days, YouTube has removed hundreds of channels and thousands of videos for violating its Community Guidelines, including a number of channels engaging in coordinated deceptive practices.

  Of course we are working to not just reduce the reach of unreliable information, but also to make reliable and trustworthy information readily available. Our systems are built to prioritize the most authoritative information in moments of crisis and rapidly-changing news. When people around the world search for topics related to the war in Ukraine on Search or YouTube, our systems prominently surface information, videos and other key context from authoritative news sources.

  Helping our colleagues in Ukraine

  We remain extremely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of our Ukrainian team and their families. Our local Security and People Operations teams have been working since January to provide help, including physical security support, paid leave, assistance options and reimbursement for housing, travel and food for anyone forced to leave their homes.

  Operating our services in Russia

  We are committed to complying with all sanctions requirements and we continue to monitor the latest guidance. As individuals, regions and institutions like banks are sanctioned, products like Google Pay may become unavailable in certain countries.

  Most of our services (like Search, Maps and YouTube) currently remain available in Russia, continuing to provide access to global information and perspectives.

  We will continue to monitor the situation and take additional actions as needed – and we join the international community in expressing sincere hope for a return to a peaceful and sovereign Ukraine.

  
  
  https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/helping-ukraine/
• 

  TAG Bulletin: Q1 2022
  • sorangutan  

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  This bulletin includes coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q1 2022. It was last updated on February 28, 2022.

  January

  • We terminated 3 YouTube channels as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations. The campaign uploaded content in Arabic that was critical of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and supportive of the 2019 Sudanese coup d’état. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta.
  • We terminated 1 AdSense account and 1 Play developer as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Turkey. The campaign was sharing content in Arabic that was about news and current events in Libya. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta.
  • We terminated 42 YouTube channels and 2 Ads accounts as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Iraq. The campaign uploaded content in Arabic that was in support of the Iraqi Harakat Hoquq party. We received leads from Mandiant that supported us in this investigation.
  • We terminated 4 YouTube channels, 2 AdSense accounts, and 1 Blogger blog and blocked 6 domains from eligibility to appear on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of our investigation into reported coordinated influence operations linked to Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. The campaign was sharing content in English that was about a variety of topics including US and European current events. We believe this operation was financially motivated.
  • We terminated 4361 YouTube channels as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese and English about China and U.S. foreign affairs. These findings are consistent with our previous reports

  
  
  https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/tag-bulletin-q1-2022/
• 

  Exploring Afrofuturism on Google Arts & Culture
  • sorangutan  

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  • An image of a winged – half-silver, half-gold – figure lifts their hands up in the air. The figure’s torso sits on top of a municipal building and marble block.

    AstroSankofa by Quentin VerCetty from the Carnegie Hall collection on Google Arts & Culture

  • A woman wearing a bright pink dress smiles at the camera. There are four other girls sitting behind her working and laughing in the background. There are drawings on the wall behind them.

    Regina Agyare from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation on Google Arts & Culture

  • A woman sits on a large sculpture of a room-sized manta ray, and wears a long, black and pink patterned dress. She holds two smaller, seahorse-shaped sculptures; one in each hand. In the background is her workspace with various cardboard boxes and pieces of plywood.

    Wangechi Mutu poses with model of MamaRay by LaToya Ruby Frazier from the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University collection on Google Arts & Culture

  • A man stands and holds a skateboard behind his head. He stands in front of a bright red background. He wears white shoes, black bants (rolled up on his right leg), and a green, yellow, and red-striped mesh top.

    Kabangu (series) by Osborne Macharia from the African Artists' Foundation collection on Google Arts & Culture

  • An image of an exhibition installation of an home’s interior; a green and yellow glass chandelier, a bookcase with each shelf filled with a different artwork or artifact, and living room with a chair with legs like a comb and a table and television at the center of the room.

    Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room from The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection on Google Arts & Culture

  On the evening of February 13, 1893, soprano Sissieretta Jones became the first Black American artist to perform in Carnegie Hall’s main auditorium, today known as Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. When the Hall’s cornerstone was laid, Andrew Carnegie proclaimed that “all good causes may find here a platform.” In keeping with that spirit, this key moment of Black History at Carnegie Hall was soon followed by many others. Today, the Hall continues to celebrate and engage audiences in the Black American cultural legacy across all genres of music; through performances on its stages and across New York City; through the work of the Hall’s education and social impact arm, the Weill Music Institute; and through free digital resources like the Hall’s recently launched Timeline of African American Music.

  This February and March 2022, Carnegie Hall invites New Yorkers and the world to participate in a journey of discovery through one of its signature citywide festivals — Afrofuturism — a movement where music, visual arts, science fiction and technology intersect to imagine alternate realities and a liberated future viewed through the lens of Black cultures.

  Together with Google Arts & Culture, and coinciding with Black History Month, we are pleased to invite audiences around the world to learn more about this exciting movement as part of a new online hub: The Afrofuture is Now.

  On the hub, explore the inspiration behind AstroSankofa, the festival’s signature artwork by Afrofuturist artist Quentin VerCetty, dive into Afrofuturism in Black Music (the latest chapter from the Timeline of African American Music), and visit an online version of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall exhibition, The Black Angel of History, curated by Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, executive director and co-founder of the Black Speculative Arts Movement.

  Carnegie Hall is proud to partner with Google Arts & Culture and to be part of this new chapter, The Afrofuture is Now, where you will also find incredible collections and stories from 20+ other cultural institutions to explore Afrofuturism. From the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, get to know artist Wangechi Mutu, a creative force within the Afrofuturism movement. Or you can see the work of the artists at The Met, who’ve rebuilt a speculative future home for New York’s Seneca Village residents, reimagining the past, present and future of the community. Then, travel across the Atlantic to see Afrofuturism in action and learn about how African entrepreneurs are leapfrogging into the future with highlights from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation.

  We’re hoping these online resources will be your first step into exploring the dynamic world of Afrofuturism — and if you are in New York City this March, join us for one of many Afrofuturism Festival performances at Carnegie Hall, plus talks, performances, exhibitions, and online offerings presented by 70+ leading cultural and academic institutions across New York City and beyond.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/arts-culture/exploring-afrofuturism-google-arts-culture/
• 

  Don't...actually do @ me: 5 new Google Workspace features
  • sorangutan  

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  Sixteen years ago, we launched Google Docs and Sheets and introduced a new way of working. For many, it was the first time they worked in the same digital space together, in real time, without the burden — or risk — of sending documents back and forth. This has become second nature for billions of Google Workspace users around the world, and we’re still finding ways to make it even better.

  One of our most recent efforts includes smart canvas, which we launched last year. Smart canvas is a new part of Google Workspace that brings a whole new level of collaboration to the platform. And it must be working: Today, people use smart canvas features like adding checklists and smart chips more than they use commenting in Docs. We recently revealed some new features that make Google Workspace tools even more collaborative and helpful. Check out some of what you can now do, thanks to smart canvas:

  1. Auto-generatedsummaries in Google Docs give you a quick overview of the main points in a document. This means Docs will suggest a summary so you can quickly parse the information that matters and prioritize where to focus.

  

  Quickly grasp the main points of a document with summaries in Docs.

  2. Page breaks and margins in a document editor were designed for printing — which you might not do so often these days. If you want to take back that extra space for a document that will only live online, you can choose the new pageless format in Docs, so you can view it across more of your screen. (You can switch it back if you want to print it, too.)

  

  Remove the constraints of page boundaries with pageless format in Docs.

  3. With smart canvas, you can pull people, files and meetings directly into your document using @-mentions. We recently expanded the “@” menu, making it easy to insert additional things like images, tables and templates. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be bringing this capability to a common scenario at work: collaborating with others on an email in Docs that will be sent out broadly. Once it’s ready, simply click to export it into a draft email in Gmail, with all the relevant fields automatically populated.

  4. The recently launched meeting notes template automatically imports any relevant information from a Calendar meeting invite, including attendees and attached files.

  

  Easily import Calendar meeting invite information with the meeting notes template in Docs.

  5. You can now easily preview a Google Maps link directly in Docs, too. When you click on the smart chip, you’ll see a thumbnail with information like an image of the location in Maps and the address. We also recently launched people chips in Sheets, to show you things like a person’s job title and contact details.
  

  

  Preview Google Maps links directly in Docs with maps smart chips.

  We want smart canvas to make working together from wherever — and however — easier and better. With AI, we’ve found new ways to do that, and we’ll continue working hard to make Google Workspace more collaborative, helpful and dare we say it…even fun. Sign up today for a Google Workspace free trial.

  Read Article

  Your hybrid meetings could be better — here's how

  Make your hybrid meetings more inclusive for both in-person and remote attendees with best practices and tools from Google Workspace.

  Read Article

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/workspace/5-new-workspace-smart-canvas-features/
• 

  Demystifying the process of launching a news business
  • sorangutan  

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  As Irene McKisson learned in launching AZ Luminaria, a non-profit, community-centered newsroom in Arizona, building a news business from the ground up is a daunting undertaking. “Before our news startup even had a name — when it was still just an idea — we knew that there were eight million things that we needed to do, we just had no idea what order to do them in,” she says. Like all journalism founders, she had what seemed like an endless list of big decisions to make: What will we report on? Who will our audience be, and how can we reach them? And, of course, how can the business earn enough revenue to sustain and grow?

  10:25

  The Google News Initiative Startups Playbook, published last year in close partnership with LION Publishers, was designed to help early-stage news entrepreneurs answer these questions and begin building their editorial, distribution, and financial operations.

  “The Playbook helped us step back and really assess our market, our audience needs and our revenue plan,” McKisson told us. “When you’re building something from scratch, it’s so helpful to have a place to start or inspiration from other organizations you admire."

  Today, GNI and LION are introducing the second edition of the Startups Playbook, which has been built on feedback from many of its 17,000 readers to date. The first edition thoroughly outlined how to build and launch a digital news business, but it largely skipped the why. Why go independent? Why take on the risk of being an entrepreneur? To help would-be founders with these important decisions, we’ve added six founder profiles including the shared motivations that pulled them into news entrepreneurship.

  We built the Startups Playbook primarily for aspiring news founders working on an idea, but we also heard from established publishers who said the Resources section was particularly useful. This section has been expanded to include an array of important documents, from business plans to media kits to founder agreements. Recognizing that the industry is in a constant state of change, we’ve also added best practices and case studies centered around the biggest challenges and opportunities facing independent publishers today.

  With these updates in place, we hope that the Startups Playbook can continue to be useful to founders like Alicia Benjamin from North Carolina, who used it in founding The Charlotte Voice.

  

  Alicia Benjamin, founder of The Charlotte Voice.

  “The Playbook helped me understand the importance of testing the viability of our product,” she told us. “By talking with and surveying people in the community, I was able to learn their information needs, which, in turn, allowed me to identify my target audience and the information needs I would try to solve for them. The interactive exercises also challenged me to define what success would look like in the medium term, both financially and journalistically.”

  Launching a news business is rarely a straightforward endeavor, and there will never be a silver bullet for success. But through our programs and research, GNI, LION and our partners are learning more all the time about the activities and choices of successful founders, and the revamped GNI Startups Playbook represents the latest in our shared understanding.

  We are committed to keeping this resource up-to-date, so that it can continue to guide journalism entrepreneurs as they take their first steps. Over the coming weeks, we look forward to publishing the Playbook in additional languages, which will join the already-live English, Spanish and Portuguese editions. Additionally, anyone interested in launching their own news business to check out the GNI’s how-to workshop series, while also signing up for LION’s News Founder Challenge: a six-week newsletter series that pairs content from the Playbook with a weekly challenge designed to help aspiring founders refine and test their news business idea.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/demystifying-process-launching-news-business/
• 

  YouTube is the Main Stream: Our NewFronts and Upfronts approach
  • sorangutan  

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  The way we watch TV has changed. We increasingly stream it on our connected TVs (CTVs) and mobile phones alongside creator-driven content.

  Consumers are driving this massive shift — streaming what they want, when they want.

  YouTube is at the forefront of this shift as the top ad-supported streaming platform with the content people enjoy, and the creators they love. In fact, according to Nielsen, YouTube reached over 135 million people on connected TVs in the U.S. in December 2021.[0578e9]

  Helping our clients succeed in the streaming age

  More than ever before, our customers are asking us how they can tap into the streaming boom and continue to reach new audiences.

  Our answer is simple: Today, streaming and TV are one and the same. And YouTube can help advertisers reach more of their audiences on the big screen.

  YouTube accounts for over 50% of ad-supported streaming watch time on connected TVs among people ages 18 and up.[7ebbc0]And over 35% of YouTube CTV viewers ages 18 and up can’t be reached by any other ad-supported streaming service, according to Nielsen.[e2981d]

  The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) NewFronts and the Upfronts — the annual marketplaces for digital video and TV ad sales — are the most important moments to reach advertisers and agencies as they plan their media strategies. We feel this is the right time to help our customers bridge the gap between linear TV and digital, which is why YouTube will have a presence at both events this year.

  For the first time, we’ll host YouTube Brandcast, our annual advertiser showcase, during the week of the Upfronts. The live show — taking place on May 17 at 7 p.m. ET in New York — will feature top creators and music talent. Advertisers will be able to tune in via live stream.

  We’re also proud to be the principal sponsor of the IAB NewFronts, where we’ll share insights with advertisers throughout the week. We’ll kick off with an event in partnership with MediaLink on Monday, May 2, featuring industry leaders and creators discussing the future of content and the role of the creator economy.

  “As a founding member of the IAB NewFronts, YouTube has been with us on a decade-long journey to architect the streaming future,” says David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “That future is here, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them again to bring their content, creators and community to the NewFronts audience.”

  

  YouTube is the Main Stream

  In today's on-demand world, where viewers — not networks — ultimately determine what's popular, our creators are building passionate fan bases that fuel viewership. YouTube creators like Emma Chamberlain, Marques Brownlee and newer creators leaning into YouTube Shorts like Katie Feeney, Jake Fellman, The Beverly Halls and Lisa Nguyen are the next generation in media brands.

  YouTube is the only destination that can help creators produce all forms of content, whether it’s Shorts, live streams or videos on demand — unlocking the ultimate in creativity. YouTube is the Main Stream.

  We hope to see you in New York in May!

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/youtube-brandcast-2022/
• 

  An intro to AI, made for students
  • sorangutan  

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  Adorable, operatic blobs. A global, online guessing game. Scribbles that transform into works of art. These may not sound like they’re part of a curriculum, but learning the basics of how artificial intelligence (AI) works doesn’t have to be complicated, super-technical or boring.

  To celebrate Digital Learning Day, we’re releasing a new lesson from Applied Digital Skills, Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum (and part of the larger Grow with Google initiative). “Discover AI in Daily Life” was designed with middle and high school students in mind, and dives into how AI is built, and how it helps people every day.

  AI for anyone — and everyone

  “Twenty or 30 years ago, students might have learned basic typing skills in school,” says Dr. Patrick Gage Kelley, a Google Trust and Safety user experience researcher who co-created (and narrates) the “Discover AI in Daily Life” lesson. “Today, ‘AI literacy’ is a key skill. It's important that students everywhere, from all backgrounds, are given the opportunity to learn about AI.”

  “Discover AI in Daily Life” begins with the basics. You’ll find simple, non-technical explanations of how a machine can “learn” from patterns in data, and why it’s important to train AI responsibly and avoid unfair bias.

  First-hand experiences with AI

  “By encouraging students to engage directly with everyday tools and experiment with them, they get a first-hand experience of the potential uses and limitations of AI,” says Dr. Annica Voneche, the lesson’s learning designer. “Those experiences can then be tied to a more theoretical explanation of the technology behind it, in a way that makes the often abstract concepts behind AI tangible.”

  Guided by Google’s AI Principles, the lesson also explores why it’s important to develop AI systems responsibly. Developed with feedback from a student advisor and several middle- and high-school teachers, the lesson is intended for use in a wide range of courses, not just in computer science (CS) or technology classes.

  “It's crucial for students, regardless of whether they are CS students or not, to understand why the responsible development of AI is important,” says Tammi Ramsey, a high school teacher who contributed feedback. “AI is becoming a widespread phenomenon. It’s part of our everyday lives.”

  Whether taught in-person or remotely, teachers can use the lesson’s three- to six-minute videos as tools to introduce a variety of students to essential AI concepts. “We want students to learn how emerging technologies, like AI, work,” says Sue Tranchina, a teacher who contributed to the lesson. “So students become curious and inspired to not just use AI, but create it.”

  Read Article

  The future of learning is digital

  Celebrate Digital Learning Day on February 22 with technology lessons from Google’s Applied Digital Skills.

  Read Article

  
  
  https://blog.google/technology/ai/discover-ai-in-daily-life/
• 

  Google for Games Developer Summit returns March 15
  • sorangutan  

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  With over three billion players showing strong engagement worldwide, the games market continues to remain resilient and grow beyond expectations. As we look ahead this year, the influx of new and returning players creates a great opportunity for developers to grow their games business.

  TheGoogle for Games Developer Summit returns digitally on March 15, 2022 at 9AM Pacific. From mobile to cloud, learn about our new solutions for game developers that make it easier to build high-quality games and reach audiences around the world.

  The event keynote kicks off at 9AM Pacific and is open for all. Check out the full agenda today at g.co/gamedevsummit.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/google-for-games-summit-2022/
• 

  Introducing Checks: simplifying privacy for app developers
  • sorangutan  

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  Can I trust this app with my data? Is this app respecting my privacy rights? These are questions consumers are asking more and more about mobile apps and the developers who create them. In turn, developers are faced with a privacy and compliance landscape that is becoming increasingly more complex. And the path to compliance can be both time-consuming and difficult.

  We believe every developer — no matter the stage or size of their company — deserves access to easy-to-use tools that help them achieve their goals, while making privacy compliance simpler.

  That’s why today, as part of Google’s in-house incubator Area 120, we’re launching Checks, a new privacy platform. We are on a mission to help simplify privacy and reduce risk for mobile app developers.

  A shared passion to help developers succeed

  In 2018, as the world prepared for the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we were hearing that mobile app developers were struggling to feel prepared to meet the new privacy expectations under GDPR, and they hoped Google could help. Having previously built tools like Android Vitals to address developers’ technical challenges, we had an idea to use Google’s artificial intelligence and resources to create a new product to help mobile app developers address their privacy compliance needs. Since we worked together for years on Google Play, we knew we could bring this vision to life as a team.

  Joining Area 120 allowed us to focus full-time on creating a solution that simplifies privacy for developers distributing on both Android and iOS. Over the past two years, our team has spent time listening to feedback from hundreds of mobile app developers on their approach to privacy, and partnered closely with 40 highly-engaged early adopters to refine our product and roadmap. We believe Checks will help mobile app developers of all sizes save time by replacing complicated processes and providing automated privacy insights.

  Greater confidence for app developers

  We’ve heard developers say it’s difficult to keep pace with regulatory and app store policy changes, and determine how those changes apply to their apps. Checks helps developers gain confidence to make informed decisions by identifying potential compliance issues, providing clear actionable insights in simple language, and offering links to relevant resources.

  

  Save time and money

  Teams are able to better collaborate across legal, business and engineering roles on the Checks platform. Our product provides everyone access to the same unique insights — without the customer having to perform any technical integrations — which helps reduce the number of messages, meetings and documents necessary to track down information. Teams can focus on evaluating what actions to take and respond faster.

  

  Gain visibility

  Software Developer Kits (SDKs) can change their functionality at any time, sometimes without the app developer knowing it. Checks helps mobile app developers who use SDKs by detecting when their app’s data sharing practices have changed and then sending them an automated alert. If the change was not intended, the developer can further investigate where the new data is being shared and make necessary changes.

  

  Help completing Google Play’s Data safety section

  Many mobile app developers are still preparing for the launch of Google Play’s Data safety section, which will give end users more transparency into what data apps collect or share and how apps use their data. Checks can help developers get started by identifying what information they may need to declare and the basis for the recommendation. This can help them feel confident as they decide what to include.

  Request early access today

  We want to help developers build mobile apps that their users can enjoy and trust. We look forward to continuing to work closely with developers to ensure Checks provides solutions that developers need.

  If you’re working on privacy compliance for mobile apps, visit checks.area120.google.com to learn more and get started today.

  
  
  https://blog.google/technology/area-120/checks/