Google Cloud Platform News

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  Grow your games business with a player-first approach
  • sorangutan  

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  As an avid gamer, every year I look forward to spending time with developers at GDC to celebrate together and learn from their successes. We are all disappointed that this year's conference was postponed, but we applaud the organizers for taking steps to protect our global community. 

  Although we won’t be gathering in person this year, the Google team is hosting the Google for Games Developer Summit, a free, digital-only experience where developers can watch the announcements and session content that was planned for GDC. We still wanted to share these updates with you because we think these new products will help developers succeed and are a direct response to feedback from our developer community. 

  As we study emerging gaming trends one of the most consistent things we've noticed over the years is that those who build a strong games business always put players first. That means deeply understanding players at every stage of their app journey. Today, we’re announcing new solutions that help you launch a game people love, improve it based on player insights, and earn more during the time that someone is engaged with your game. 

  Launch a game players love with scaled user testing

  Appealing to players at launch is essential to the success of your game. Based on recent Google internal data, more than half of installs come within the first 8 weeks of an app’s release. To make the most of this influx of users, leading developers like Big Fish Games test their apps in beta before releasing them publicly.  That’s why last year we introduced open testing in the Google Play Console to help you get early feedback from real users before your full release. 

  To get even more testers into your app, you’ll soon be able to promote Android games with open testing in Google Ads as well. By running open testing ads in App campaigns, you can drive early users to your app to test things like app stability, user retention, monetization, and effectiveness of ad creatives—then use the learning to improve your results when you launch. 

  In one example, Chinese developer NetEase used open testing ads to reach more beta users that helped them optimize in-app purchase behavior based on open testing data.  For their new game, Dawn of Isles, Netease was able to double in-app purchases which ultimately led to higher lifetime value (LTV) at launch.

  

  Improve your game by learning from your players

  Many developers use Google Analytics to understand how people are playing their game. Now, we’re taking it a step further by introducing a gaming-specific Analytics experience to help you get relevant insights even faster. Starting today, App + Web properties in Google Analytics will proactively surface gaming-specific user funnel metrics like acquisition, retention, engagement, and monetization in one place.

  
  

  With games reporting, you can see how players move through the lifecycle. Then, you can use that insight to improve the game experience and drive more revenue using both ads and IAPs. For example, you could group the players that have dropped off after one week in your game and share that audience to Google Ads to re-engage them with a tailored message and offer. There’s no extra work to set up games reporting in your Google Analytics App + Web property. Learn more to get started.  

  
  

  In addition to Google Analytics games reporting, coming soon are a few other new ways for you to use Google tools to unlock more valuable insights about your players. 

  • Updated Google Ads asset report: Understand how your App campaign creatives are resonating with new users and optimize campaign performance more easily. 
    

  • AdMob cohort report: Understand the LTV of your players across their user journey.

  • AdMob mobile app:Quickly access ads monetization reports on the go via a new mobile app.

  Earn more from your game

  In addition to using player insights, another way to earn more from your game is with AdMob mediation. Leading developers like GameHouse, Playdots, and StickyHands, who use AdMob mediation have seen revenue increases of up to 30%—and now they can earn even more. 

  We’re introducing a new tool called Mediation A/B testing, so you can test and refine your ads monetization setups directly in your AdMob account. For example, you’ll soon be able to run a test to see how much more you could earn by using Open Bidding compared to waterfall mediation. 

  

  Disclaimer: revenue results may vary. 

  Using Google’s internal A/B testing engine, mediation A/B testing will split your traffic to run on your control group and the variant at the same time. This approach provides unbiased results that can help you maximize the value of every ad you show to players. 

  To learn more about how these solutions will help you build a strong games business, tune into our broadcast keynote of the Google for Games Developer Summit on Monday March 23 9AM PT. Get all the details on the digital event at g.co/gamedevsummit. 

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/admob/grow-your-games-business-player-first-approach/
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  Connecting people with COVID-19 information and resources
  • sorangutan  

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  Since the beginning of the year, search interest in COVID-19 has continued to climb around the world. Right now the disease is the largest topic people are looking for globally, surpassing even some of the most common and consistent queries we see in Search.

  

  As this public health crisis has evolved into a pandemic, information needs are continuing to change, differing from region to region. When COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in late January, we launched an SOS Alert with resources and safety information from the WHO, along with the latest news. The alert has launched in 25 languages across dozens of countries, and people in more than 50 countries can access localized public health guidance from health authorities. 

  Expanding our COVID-19 Search experience
  Now, as we continue to see people’s information needs expanding, we’re introducing a more comprehensive experience for COVID-19 in Search, providing easy access to authoritative information from health authorities alongside new data and visualizations. This new format organizes the search results page to help people easily navigate information and resources, and it will also make it possible to add more information over time as it becomes available.

  

  In addition to links to helpful resources from national and local health authorities, people will also find a carousel of Twitter accounts from local civic organizations and health authorities to help connect them with the latest local guidance as it’s shared. We’ve also introduced a feature to surface some of the most common questions about the pandemic, with relevant snippets sourced from the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

  To help people track the latest information about the spread of the disease, we’re adding modules with statistics and a map showing COVID-19 prevalence in countries around the world. This new COVID-19 experience on Search will roll out in the coming days in English in the U.S., and we plan to add more information and expand to other languages and countries soon.

  A website dedicated to help and resources
  In addition to launching new features on Google Search that provide easy access to more authoritative information, we’ve worked with relevant agencies and authorities to roll out a website—available at google.com/covid19—focused on education, prevention and local resources. People can find state-based information, safety and prevention tips, search trends related to COVID-19, and further resources for individuals, educators and businesses. Launching today in the U.S., the site will be available in more languages and countries in the coming days and we’ll update the website as more resources become available. Along with our other products and initiatives, we hope these resources will help people find answers to the questions they’re asking and get the help they need.

  Guidance around local health services
  We’re also looking for more ways we can help people follow authoritative public health guidance and locate appropriate health services through our products. Right now in the U.S., people seeking out urgent care, hospitals and other medical services in Search or Maps will see an alert reminding them of the CDC’s recommendation that symptomatic individuals call ahead in order to avoid overwhelming health systems and increasing the risk of exposure.

  

  As coronavirus becomes a challenge in more communities and as authorities around the world develop new guidance and tools to address the pandemic, we’ll continue to find more opportunities to connect people with key information to keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/search/connecting-people-covid-19-information-and-resources/
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  Helping educators and students stay connected
  • sorangutan  

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  As many educational institutions around the globe are undergoing, extending or planning closures due to COVID-19, half of the world’s student population is unable to attend school. Educators face the challenge of teaching remotely at an unprecedented scale, and in some cases, for the first time.

  In the last week we’ve created new distance learning resources including a collection of training materials, a list of useful apps, a new learn@home YouTube resource designed for families, as well as a series of blog posts and webinars. We’ve also made our premium Meet features free for schools through July 1, 2020. This includes the ability to have 250 people in a call together, record lessons and livestream. And thanks to feedback from educators, we’re also constantly making product improvements, like these new educator controls for Hangouts Meet. 

  We’ve continued to listen to the challenges teachers are facing during these uncertain times and today we’re announcing two new resources to help teachers and students stay connected.

  Teach from Home

  Teach From Home is a central hub of information, tips, training and tools from across Google for Education to help teachers keep teaching, even when they aren’t in the classroom. 

  To start, we’re providing an overview of how to get started with distance learning—for example how to teach online, make lessons accessible to students, and collaborate with other educators.

  

  The resource hub will continue to evolve. We've built the hub with the support and cooperation of UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, who is also working with other education partners to respond to this emergency. As we continue receiving feedback from teachers and partners on what’s most helpful, we’ll continue to build and improve this. Teach From Home is currently available in English, with downloadable toolkits available in Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Polish, with additional languages coming soon.

  Supporting organizations who are helping to reduce barriers to distance learning

  When facing these challenges, we’re at our best when we respond as a community. As part of our $50 million Google.org COVID-19 response, we’re announcing a $10 million Distance Learning Fund to support organizations around the globe that help educators access the resources they need to provide high quality learning opportunities to children, particularly those from underserved communities.

  
  

  The Google.org Distance Learning Fund’s first grant will be $1 million to help Khan Academy provide remote learning opportunities to students affected by COVID-19 related school closures. Along with the grant, Google volunteers are planning to help Khan Academy provide educator resources in more than 15 languages, and through their platform, they'll reach over 18 million learners a month from communities around the globe. We hope to announce additional organizations soon.

  
  We’re inspired by the ideas and resources educational leaders are sharing with each other during this time. To continue the conversation, join a Google Educator Group, share your distance learning tips and tricks, and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook. We hope you’ll keep passing along your ideas and feedback so we can continue to evolve and build this together.
  
  https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/helping-educators-and-students-stay-connected/
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  In Mexico, one Googler gives girls their "tümü" moment
  • sorangutan  

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  When a butterfly comes out of its cocoon, it uses the most fragile part of its body—its wings— to break free. In the Otomi dialect, which is spoken in the central region of Mexico, this magical moment is called Tümü. So when Paoloa Escalante and her co-founder decided to create an organization to help support young women, they decided that Tümü was a fitting name for it.  

  “The idea was to create content that promotes determination, self-esteem and assertiveness during a moment in girls’ lives that's constantly changing,” Paola Escalante, Head of Google Mexico’s creative consulting branch, called the Zoo, says. The pre-teen and teen years are challenging, and in recent years, social media has made this time even more complicated. “Adolescence has always been the same, what has changed is technology,” says Paola. “With so much access to information, decision making can be overwhelming and social media is setting new standards not just regarding beauty, but also lifestyle and accomplishments. There’s a new layer of vulnerability that grows at a very fast pace.”  

  Tümü began as an after-work project that Paola started about two years ago. She and her co-founder, Zarina Rivera, had noticed that instead of reaching out to family and friends with their questions or problems, more and more often girls turn to internet communities. So they created a platform where girls can find content as well as ask questions and get answers from experts in a friendly way, and hopefully navigate what can be a complicated time more smoothly. 

  Paola never imagined how big Tümü would become or how much responsibility she’d feel for the girls using it. Some of them ask questions about eating disorders, or about being pressured into sex or into sending intimate photos. Some girls ask about depression. Sometimes, their mothers even turn to Tümü’s experts for answers. 

  • DSC09148.JPG

    Participants write down their goals while journaling during the first offline Tümü event.

  • DSC09852.JPG

    Tümü’s self defense workshop in Mexico City.

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    Another journaling session.

  • DSC09996.JPG

    Tümü held a gardening workshop during an offline event.

  • IMG-20191023-WA0015-01.jpeg

    Googler Paola Escalante and Tümü co-founder Zarina Rivera

  Tümü has become more than just an online resource. The organization also hosts workshops and small events, which Paola hopes they’ll be able to offer to more communities in the country, and bring in more speakers to talk to the girls. At Tümü’s first offline event, Paola invited 19-year-old astronaut Alyssa Carson to speak. “That day I cried so much. I couldn’t believe that more than a thousand girls had gathered to hear her speak. And then I couldn’t believe that they had stayed for all the activities,” Paola says. “We gave them a journal and the girls were filling it willingly, writing down their reflections, how they saw themselves in five years, what they wanted to learn.”     

  The way Paola sees it, what girls need has less to do with empowerment and everything to do with being given the space to get to know themselves and their self-worth. “As grown-up women, we have different movements focused on women empowerment, and we need them because we are a generation of women who need to regain the power that culture has taken away,” she explains. “But younger generations have that power. They don’t need to be empowered—they need to be pushed to believe in themselves and figure out how to become the best version of themselves.” And, she says, young women should be given the opportunity to realize what they want before being pushed to get it. “I also don’t think that the message for them should be achieving their dreams. Very few girls know what their dreams are, and they don’t need the added pressure to have one and go after it. In order to figure out what they want they need to be happy with who they are now and understand themselves.” 

  Paola is proud of the work she’s doing through Tümü because she knows how important these kinds of resources are for young women. “I would’ve liked to have a helping hand when I was that age. It took me a while to have my ‘tümü moment’ as I call it, I don’t think I had it until I was 30,” says Paola. “I want to help build a better world for future generations.”

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/inside-google/google-mexico-paola-escalante/
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  Bringing more people online and introducing Camera Go
  • sorangutan  

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  There are more than 3.5 billion people who use smartphones, but that’s only 45 percent of the world’s population. We created Android (Go edition) to bring more affordable, high-quality smartphones to people around the world. Thanks to our partners who have made more than 1,600 device models available in 180+ countries, there are now more than 100 million active Android (Go edition) devices around the world. Here are some updates on Go edition’s progress and where we’re going next.

  Powering universal access to information

  In partnership with Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecom provider, we brought more than 900,000 Android (Go edition) smartphones to people in Kenya—53 percent of whom were women—through their “Life is Digital” campaign. This is especially important because there is a significant gender gap in mobile internet usage in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  With the help of the suite of Google apps designed for Go edition, people are connecting with new   opportunities and making gains in their daily lives. For example, Google Go has helped connect millions of people to information by providing a lightweight search engine that works on unstable connections. And with Lens in Google Go, people can quickly translate, hear and search text they see in the real world using their phone camera—helping them understand words on street signs, medicine labels, documents, and more. 

  Across the Google apps designed for Android (Go edition), we’ve introduced a number of user privacy features to protect the next billion people coming online for the first time. For example, a new mode within Google Go lets people search without their searches being saved to their account, and Gallery Go leverages on-device machine learning to help people organize photos without ever sending data to the cloud.

  Bringing a beautiful, fast camera experience to affordable devices

  Your phone’s camera gives you the power to capture memories that you’ll want to share with those around you. But on many smartphones, camera apps are often slow or complex to use, and your phone can quickly run out of storage.

  

  The new Camera Go app from Google helps you take beautiful photos without worrying about speed or storage. It has features like Portrait Mode to give your photos a professional look by focusing on your subject. It’s built for people using smartphones for the first time, so it has a clean and simple interface. And, most importantly, Camera Go tracks how much photo and video storage space you have left, and then it helps you clear up space so you never miss a shot.

  
  

  Camera Go will be available on Nokia 1.3 and more Android (Go edition) devices soon.

  
  

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/android/android-go-camera-go/
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  Together we rise: a Q&A with Libby VanderPloeg
  • sorangutan  

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  Women Techmakers is Google’s global program to build visibility, community and resources for women in technology. For Women’s History Month, we’re recognizing the inner qualities that make women stand out—their very own superpowers. To do this, we teamed up with Libby VanderPloeg, whose superpower is the art she creates. She’s the mastermind behind multiple viral gifs emphasizing the power of women, collaboration and civic engagement. 

  We sat down with her to talk about the evolution of her craft, her work with the Women Techmakers team, and her illustrations that encourage women to rise up together. 

  • Google Women Techmakers superheroes
  • Google Women Techmakers super hero - valiant visionary
  • Google Women Techmakers super hero - conscious connector
  • Google Women Techmakers super hero - empathetic entrepreneur

  You’ve created art that resonates with  many people and movements. Which of your designs makes you the most proud?
  It’s definitely “Lift Each Other Up,” first shared in 2016 on International Women’s Day. It’s been shared for the past four years, especially lighting up the internet on its birthday, March 8. It’s given people hope and inspired women to work together and help each other out when they can. I’m proud of how much it communicates in just a few seconds, and how that message has resonated so deeply all over the world.

  
  

  How would you describe your design style?
  Colorful, relatable, energizing, funny and hopeful.

  
  

  A lot of your art is digital. Has that always been the case?
  I never liked computers, growing up into my early twenties, because I didn’t know how to use them as part of my art practice. I was a painter, period. But once I started playing around with technology, I started to fall in love with it. First I got the wacom tablet, which took some time to master. And then I started doing most of my drawing in Illustrator, learning more about how to bring a natural touch to vector art. Now I use a mix of Procreate, Illustrator, and Photoshop. It’s so fun to work digitally because you can play with your artwork in infinite ways, like changing the color palette or adding a little bit of animation, a skill that I’ve been working on for about ten years. I’m not a master animator, but excited to always learn new tricks. I just started learning how to use After Effects and it’s so much fun! 

  What advice do you have for women starting out in their careers?
  Know that you are capable of more than you can imagine. Sometimes it’s just a matter of being asked to do something you don’t know how to do. When you accept new challenges, it can be very nerve wracking, but the payoff of growth makes it so worthwhile.

  
  

  What does it mean to you to have your work highlighted by Women Techmakers?
  It's really exciting that, through my artwork, I can be a part of the effort to get more women into tech. For a long time, I thought of myself as simply an artist, and took for granted the other strengths that I was honing along the way. I’m my own IT and production department, and am constantly communicating with my clients to help them achieve their goals through art, yes—but art with a technological edge. So on top of being visually creative, I’m technologically creative, and whenever I can solve problems, I feel like somewhat of a superhero! So these Women Techmakers are an ode to all of the women out there who have the vision to make the world more connected and empathetic. I want them to know what inspiring superheroes they all are.

  Know that you are capable of more than you can imagine.

  What’s your superpower?
  This is one that fellow designers will appreciate: I can deliver designs in multiple sizes and file formats without batting an eye or breaking a sweat :) 

  
  

  Who are the superwomen who have inspired you?
  My mom has been a huge source of inspiration, her superpower being relentless hope. She’s an incredibly hard worker with a positive outlook, and has always inspired me to chase after my dreams. And my dear friend, Marisa Ponitch, whose superpower is making doing the right thing look cool. She is one of the most creative people I know, using her voice and vision to teach people about waste in the textile industry and give them fun and engaging ways to reduce their consumption. 

  Don’t miss Libby’s work featured on the Women Techmakers page. If you’re interested in learning more and getting involved with Women Techmakers, check out our website and sign up to become a member.

  Photo credit for headshot of Libby: Leigh Ann Cobb Photography

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/diversity/together-we-rise-libby-vanderploeg/
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  Make “work from home” work for you
  • sorangutan  

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  In my job at Google, I advise people on how to use their time as efficiently as possible. When working from home, my productivity strategies are even more important because I don’t have the ordinary structure of a day at the office, like commuting to work, walking to meetings, or running into coworkers. When your house becomes your office, you need to learn a whole new routine. 

  Getting work done when your teammates aren’t physically with you has been the norm at Google for a while (in fact 39 percent of meetings at Google involve employees from two or more cities). But it might not be for everyone, and many people around the world are now finding themselves in new work situations. So I put together some of my go-to productivity tips—no matter where you’re working—and a few things I’ve learned about how to get it all done from home.
  

  Designate your “spot” where you work (and where you don’t)

  It’s easy to pull your computer up to your kitchen table or plop on the couch and start working. But a consistent room, spot, desk or chair that you “go to” every day to work helps your brain associate that spot (smells, sights and sounds) with getting work done. Put up some things you had at your desk, like pictures of your friends or family. Get a new mousepad you love. Stock your go-to snacks on a little shelf. And just as important as creating your "work spot" is determining the areas where you don’t work. Maybe you never bring your computer upstairs or into your bedroom. This helps create mental distance and allows you to relax often even though your work is at home with you.

  Use Hangouts Meet like a pro. 

  You’ll probably be spending more time on video chat—in our case, Hangouts Meet. Here are a few tricks for Meet at home: lower your video quality when you’re experiencing bandwidth restrictions or delays, dial into a video call but get audio through your phone, andcaption your meetings to make sure everyone can follow. If you’re needing some (virtual) human interaction, set up an agenda-less video chat with your team or friends in the office—it’s not a formal meeting, just time to chat and check in with each other.

  Practice “one tab working.” 

  If you don’t have a large monitor or your usual screen setup at home, it’s even more important to focus on one Chrome tab at a time. If you’re on a video call from your laptop, minimize all other tabs and focus on the conversation—just like you would put away your phone or close your laptop in a meeting to stay engaged.

  Act the part. 

  Resist the urge to wake up and start working in bed—it doesn’t help your brain get in the “mood” of being productive. Stick to your usual routines like waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, then “commuting” to your new work space. Staying in your pajamas, while comfortable, will make you feel less like it’s a regular workday and make it harder to get things done.

  Play around with your schedule and energy.

  The good news about working from home? No commute. Think of this as a time to experiment with alternate schedules and finding your “biological prime time.” If you’re a morning person, try waking up and working on something for a bit, then taking a break mid-morning. If you’re a night owl who prefers to sleep a little later, shift your schedule to get more work done in the later afternoon when you may have been commuting home. Productivity is not just about what you’re doing, but more importantly when you’re doing it.

  Working from home does not mean working all the time. 

  One of the hardest things about working from home is setting boundaries. Leave your computer in your workspace and only work when you’re in that spot. Pick a time when you’re “done for the day” by setting working hours in Google Calendar to remind people when you’re available. Take mental breaks the way you would in the office—instead of walking to a meeting, walk outside or call a friend.

  Create your daily to-do list the day before. 

  Part of staying on track and setting a work schedule at home is listing out what you have to do in a day. I created a daily plan template (you can use it too!) that helps me create an hour-by-hour plan of what I intend to do. If you fill it out the night before,  you’ll wake up in the mindset of what you need to do that day.

  Finish that one thing you’ve been meaning to do.  

  Working in the office can be go-go-go and rarely leaves alone time or downtime to get things done. Working from home is a chance to catch up on some of your individual to-do’s—-finish those expenses, brainstorm that long term project or read the article you bookmarked forever ago. Set up an ongoing list in Google Keep and refer back to it when you have pockets of downtime. 

  Cut yourself (and others) some slack

  Some people only have a one bedroom studio and are spending their days there. Some people have spouses who are working from home, kids at home, or dogs at home (I have all three!). Connectivity might be slower and there might be some barking in the background, but just remember everyone is doing their best to make working from home work for them.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/inside-google/googlers/make-work-from-home-work-for-you/
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  Sandeep Ahuja is comfortable confronting convention
  • sorangutan  

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  In 2018, women received only 2.2 percent of all venture capital funding. Women Techmakers, Google’s program to build visibility, community and resources for women in technology, is committed to changing this narrative. Founded is a new web series that shares the stories of women founders using tech to solve some of the world’s challenges. For our first season, we’re taking our viewers to Atlanta, home of one of the largest technology hubs in the U.S., to highlight the stories of four women of color entrepreneurs.

  Today, we’re releasing our second episode, an interview with Sandeep Ahuja. Sandeep is the co-founder of cove.tool, a software platform that helps architects and engineers model energy efficient buildings. We had the chance to talk to the Atlanta-based entrepreneur about her international upbringing, how she creates community for women in tech and how it felt to make Forbes “30 Under 30” list. 

  Can you explain what cove.tool is to someone who’s not in tech?

  Buildings contribute to 40 percent of total carbon emissions, and while developers and owners don’t mind doing the “right thing” for the planet, no one has unlimited budgets to spend on green building design. We still have to make things affordable and that’s exactly what cove.tool’s smart optimization does. We want to make it easier to build sustainable and green energy efficient buildings.

  What originally inspired your interest in fighting climate change?

  As a daughter of a diplomat, I traveled the world seeing the remarkable homogeneity of buildings in climates as diverse as Riyadh and Moscow. Given the outsized contribution buildings make to climate change, I was deeply troubled by the lack of architectural response. I wanted to disrupt this idea, and for me, given that I moved to a different country every four years, I’ve always felt comfortable with change and with confronting entrenched beliefs.  For me, there was no such thing as conforming to conventions. 

  What was it like to be named to the Forbes “30 under 30” list? 

  It’s both exciting and humbling; so many people reached out to express support and congratulations. It was exciting to see so many  strong women on the list, as well as so many immigrants, including myself! 

  Cove.tool is meant to help architecture and engineering professionals fight climate change, but how can everyone else help? 

  Getting politically active and pushing business and political leaders to take action is the key. Multinational corporations, investment firms and government regulations account for the vast majority of emissions. A good place to start in America is to join grassroots efforts like Citizens Climate Lobby, a bi-partisan organization tackling climate change. Collaborating with them is a great way to organize, volunteer and raise awareness. Writing letters to your local representative, congressperson and voting for fighting climate change candidates also makes a big difference. 

  Why do you think it’s important for women in the entrepreneur and tech worlds to create community? 

  Being a data driven person, the data clearly answers the "why.” Women only receive 2 percent of VC funding and make up only 11 percent of leadership in tech; this is creating a world of systematic bias. This needs to change and the change can start with me, you and everyone else. I drive change by making sure that cove.tool maintains a strong gender and diversity ratio and that we put  women in leadership roles. Our first non-founder team member was a woman, and the second was a woman, too, and they weren’t hired for any other reason aside from the fact that they deserved those roles and had the best skillsets. I also volunteer, coach and hopefully inspire other women founders and architects.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/entrepreneurs/women-techmakers-founded-sandeep-ahuja/
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  New malware protections for Advanced Protection users
  • sorangutan  

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  Advanced Protection safeguards the personal or business Google Accounts of anyone at risk of targeted attacks—like political campaign teams, journalists, activists and business leaders. It’s Google's strongest security for those who need it most, and is available across desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets. 

  One of the many benefits of Advanced Protection is that it constantly evolves to defend against emerging threats, automatically protecting your personal information from potential attackers. Today we're announcing new ways that Advanced Protection is defending you from malware on Android devices. 

  Play Protect app scanning is automatically turned on

  Google Play Protect is Google's built-in malware protection for Android. It scans and verifies 100 billion apps each day to keep your device, data and apps safe. Backed by Google's machine learning algorithms, it’s constantly evolving to match changing threats. To ensure that people enrolled in our Advanced Protection Program benefit from the added security that Google Play Protect provides, we’re now automatically turning it on for all devices with a Google Account enrolled in Advanced Protection and will require that it remain enabled. 

  Limiting apps from outside the Play Store

  Advanced Protection is committed to keeping harmful apps off of enrolled users’ devices. All apps on the Google Play Store undergo rigorous testing, but apps outside of Google Play can potentially pose a risk to users’ devices. As an added protection, we’re now blocking the majority of these non-Play apps from being installed on any devices with a Google Account enrolled in Advanced Protection. You can still install non-Play apps through app stores that were pre-installed by the device manufacturer and through Android Debug Bridge. Any apps that you’ve already installed from sources outside of Google Play will not be removed and can still be updated.

  G Suite users enrolled in the Advanced Protection Program will not get these new Android  protections for now; however, equivalent protections are available as part of endpoint management. See this help center article for a full list of Android device policies, specifically: “Verify apps,” which prevent users from turning off Google Play Protect, and “Unknown apps,” which prevent users from installing apps from outside the Play Store.

  When will these changes roll out?

  Starting today, these changes for Android will gradually roll out for Google Accounts that are enrolled in Advanced Protection. We’ll also be rolling out new malware protections for Chrome later this year, building upon the risky download protections we announced in 2019. 

  You can learn more about Advanced Protection on Android here, and to enroll in Google's Advanced Protection, visit g.co/advancedprotection.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/android/new-malware-protections-advanced-protection-users/
• 

  Cultivating digital “oases” in the local news landscape
  • sorangutan  

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  Editor’s Note: Susan Leath is the director of the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at UNC Hussman School of Journalism.

  In my 30 years of working in journalism, I’ve seen first-hand the value of trusted news sources that help citizens connect and engage. As a local publisher for McClatchy, and later regional president with Gannett, I’ve also experienced the significant challenges facing local news in the wake of rapidly changing technology and consumer behavior. 

  At UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media (UNC CISLM), our mission is to help local news organizations retool for the digital age. We continuously hear from publishers that achieving long-term sustainability requires a fundamental mindset shift, and new types of resources to help them succeed.

  That’s why we’re partnering with the Google News Initiative (GNI), LION Publishers and Douglas K. Smith on Project Oasis: a research initiative focused on helping local news organizations navigate the complex choices they face in establishing and growing their digital business. The first step is to develop a database that maps the current landscape of digital native local news publishers in the U.S. and Canada. Then, through in-depth interviews with these local news site founders at key stages of growth, we will develop resources to help others grow, including a “Starter Pack” for aspiring entrepreneurs.

  This initiative responds to UNC’sNews Deserts Project, led by UNC Knight Professor of Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Abernathy, which highlighted the rise of rural and urban communities where residents have limited access to the credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level. 

  This research showed that by 2018, we had lost 1,800—nearly 25 percent—of local newspapers that had existed in 2004. In just two years since, that number has jumped to 2,100, while cost-cutting by many remaining newspapers has rendered them ghosts of their former selves.

  Despite these stark numbers, we’re starting to see the evidence that local news digital startups can thrive in communities and fill these gaps. Penny’s research has shown that a positive response to the loss of local newspapers has come from the several hundred digital news outlets that now span the country, most of them started in the past decade. Project Oasis will build on a range of programs at UNC CISLM to arm these local news publishers with sustainable practices to help strengthen their digital business models and strategies.

  For this project, LION will help us focus our research on the most pressing and relevant questions, and engage with the right news organizations. The GNI will bring digital expertise and inform our research with lessons from the GNI Local Experiments project, where they’re working with global partners to create new digital local news organizations. We’re also partnering with Doug Smith, the founder of Media Transformation Challenge and architect of Table Stakes, which has supported the growth of more than 150 local news organizations in the U.S. and Europe.

  This month, we will begin surveying digital native local news organizations in the U.S. and Canada to shine a light on the business strategies that have set some apart from others. If you run a digital native local news publication, we invite you to complete the survey, which we’re making available until the end of April 2020.

  I believe local news is an essential element of a strong democracy. These information outlets build trust, inspire civic engagement and bring communities together. Through new research and resources, we believe this project has the potential to help shape a bright future for local news.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/cultivating-digital-oases-in-the-local-news-landscape/
• 

  Works With Chromebook helps you find Chromebook accessories
  • sorangutan  

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  A charger that gives you power when you need it, cables that ensure you can make important connections, a mouse that helps you work more efficiently—these accessories make it easier to work and play on your Chromebook. To help you find your next accessory, look for the Works With Chromebook logo on products in stores and online.

  

  You’ll begin to see the Works With Chromebook badge on certified accessories in the U.S., Canada and Japan. We’ve tested these accessories to ensure they comply with Chromebook’s compatibility standards. Once you see the badge, you can be sure the product works seamlessly with your Chromebook.

  Works With Chromebook certified accessories come from leading brands—including AbleNet, Anker, Belkin, Brydge, Cable Matters, Elecom, Hyper, Kensington, Logitech, Plugable, Satechi, StarTech, and Targus. Find Works With Chromebook accessories at Amazon.com, Best Buy (U.S. and Canada), Walmart.com, and Bic Camera (Japan), with other retailers and countries coming soon.

  For more information about Works With Chromebook, check out the Chromebook website.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/chromebooks/works-with-chromebook-find-chromebook-accessories/
• 

  Now you can transcribe speech with Google Translate
  • sorangutan  

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  Recently, I was at my friend’s family gathering, where her grandmother told a story from her childhood. I could see that she was excited to share it with everyone but there was a problem—she told the story in Spanish, a language that I don’t understand. I pulled out Google Translate to transcribe the speech as it was happening. As she was telling the story, the English translation appeared on my phone so that I could follow along—it fostered a moment of understanding that would have otherwise been lost. And now anyone can do this—starting today, you can use the Google Translate Android app to transcribe foreign language speech as it’s happening.

  Transcribe will be rolling out in the next few days with support for any combination of the following eight languages: English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai. 

  

  
  

  To try the transcribe feature, go to your Translate app on Android, and make sure you have the latest updates from the Play store. Tap on the “Transcribe” icon from the home screen and select the source and target languages from the language dropdown at the top. You can pause or restart transcription by tapping on the mic icon. You also can see the original transcript, change the text size or choose a dark theme in the settings menu. 

  

  On the left: redesigned home screen. On the right: how to change the settings for a comfortable read.

  We’ll continue to make speech translations available in a variety of situations. Right now, the transcribe feature will work best in a quiet environment with one person speaking at a time. In other situations, the app will still do its best to provide the gist of what's being said. Conversation mode in the app will continue to help you to have a back and forth translated conversation with someone.  

  Try it out and give us feedback on how we can be better. 

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/translate/transcribe-speech/
• 

  Get into "Focus mode" at work with help from Android
  • sorangutan  

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  Holding your focus and attention at work can sometimes be a challenge, but Android offers helpful tools so that you can reduce distractions and get work done on your own terms. Whether it’s news alerts, social media, or other apps you find distracting, Focus mode lets you pause apps that could keep you from tackling those important tasks. The work profile also clearly labels work apps in a separate tab, so you can quickly access the important ones you need to get your job done.
  
  

  Get in the zone with Focus mode

  Use Focus mode to pause apps in your personal profile that you find distracting.

  

  Pause selected apps with Focus mode.

  Once you turn on Focus mode, the apps you chose will be grayed out on your screen and their notifications will be hidden. Also, any notifications from those apps are put on hold until Focus mode is turned off.

  

  With one tap, turn on Focus mode and quiet any potential distractions.

  To suit your work hours, you can create a daily schedule with Focus mode so it launches automatically during the time period you specify. If you’re on a lunch break or need to check any of the paused apps, you can take a break from Focus mode to use those apps for a short period.  When the break’s over, Focus mode resumes automatically so those apps won’t bother you.

  

  Take a break for a while, then Focus mode will turn back on.

  Work profile organizes the apps you need

  On personally enabled devices, the work profile helps you quickly get to the apps you need. When it’s time to step away from work, you can pause the work profile—work apps will be unavailable and won’t send you any notifications until they’re back on.

  

  Pause work profile to snooze notifications and apps.

  Focus mode and work profile are among the many ways that Android works the way you want. Learn more about what Android can do for you at work.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/android-enterprise/focus-mode/
• 

  Actions to reduce the need for people to come into our offices
  • sorangutan  

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  During the unprecedented COVID-19 situation, many companies are closing their offices and directing their employees to work from home (WFH), schools are moving to online classes and people are quickly adopting social distancing measures. Our priority is to take care of people who work in our offices—including employees, vendors and temporary staff—and the communities they work in. So we’ve been taking action to reduce the need for people to come into our offices, particularly in locations where local COVID-19 conditions merit increased precaution.

  At the same time, we know that people rely on Google’s products and services, so a limited proportion of employees, temporary staff and vendors continue to work in our offices, because some important jobs can only be done onsite—like those who need to access the most sensitive content or account data for user and customer safety and security. (For example, the people who help you if your account gets hacked.)

  Here’s how we’re reducing the need for people to come into our offices while ensuring that our products continue to operate under these unique circumstances. 

  Remote access

  In most parts of the world, we’ve recommended that everyone who can work from home should do so. We’re also increasing the ability for employees, temporary staff and vendors to work from home by rolling out remote access and equipment, like secure laptops, where feasible. We’re working closely with our partners to provide the right equipment and guidance as fast as possible.

  Prioritizing workflows

  To reduce the need for support staff to come into the office, where possible we’re prioritizing support work that is critical—like account recovery, security, and certain advertising-related reviews (such as preventing COVID-19 scams, or inappropriate ad placements). 

  Increasing automation 

  We’ve always used a combination of humans and machines to review content on our platforms, like YouTube. We will temporarily be increasing our reliance on automated systems given this unique situation, to reduce the need for people to come into the office. Our goal is to continue to act quickly to remove content that violates our community guidelines and policies. 

  Adjusting shifts

  To promote social distancing and reduce the number of people in the office at a given time, in some locations, we’ll change the timing of shifts, the timing between shifts, and the number of people on a given shift based on the work required.

  Temporary implications for support times
  

  We know that right now, people around the world need information, communication and computation more than ever. We’re deeply committed to helping. All our products remain fully operational. The changes we’re making to our operations won’t impact their availability. 

  However, given the steps we need to take due to these unprecedented times, there may be some temporary limitations and delays in support in some cases:
  
  

  • Some users, advertisers, developers and publishers may experience delays in some support response times for non-critical services, which will now be supported primarily through our chat, email, and self-service channels. 

  • Our goal on YouTube is to ensure we are removing content that violates our policies. We've invested significantly in automated systems for content review but they are not always as accurate or granular in their analysis of content as human reviewers. These systems are configured deliberately to identify content that may violate our policies. So on YouTube there may be an increase in content classified for removal during this time—including some content that does not violate our policies. Turnaround times for appeals against these decisions may be slower. You can read more on the YouTube blog. 

  • For other Google products, our automated systems may not always accurately classify content for removal, and human review of these decisions may be slower.

  We will provide updates if there are additional delays in support over time.

  Covering our workforce

  As we temporarily reduce the need for people to come into the office, we’ve committed that during this time, members of our extended workforce who are affected by reduced schedules will be compensated for the time they would have worked. We also established a COVID-19 fund so that members of our extended workforce who would not otherwise be paid will be compensated for their normal working hours if they can’t come into work because they have potential symptoms of COVID-19 or if they’re quarantined. For those coming to the office, we have significantly enhanced our hygiene and cleaning operations, are increasing spacing between people, and in some locations have instituted temperature checks.

  We thank you for your support and understanding during this challenging period, and we think this is the right thing to do for the people who work here, and the community at large.

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/update-extended-workforce-covid-19/
• 

  COVID-19: How we’re continuing to help
  • sorangutan  

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  For 21 years, Google’s mission has been to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Helping people get the right information to stay healthy is more important than ever in the face of a global pandemic like COVID-19. Since my last update, we’ve accelerated our work to help people stay safe, informed and connected. Here are the latest developments in our ongoing global response.
  

  Helping people find useful information

  We’re partnering with the U.S. government in developing a website dedicated to COVID-19 education, prevention, and local resources nationwide. This includes best practices on prevention, links to authoritative information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and helpful tips and tools from Google for individuals, teachers and businesses. We’ll be rolling out an initial version of the website late Monday, March 16, and we’ll continue to enhance and update it with more resources on an ongoing basis.

  
  We also continue to help people find timely and useful information through our products, including Search, Maps and YouTube. Right now on the Google homepage we’re promoting the “Do the Five” campaign to raise awareness of simple measures people can take to slow the spread of the disease, according to the WHO. In the first 24 hours, these tips have already been seen by millions in the U.S. We’ve added more useful information to our COVID-19 SOS Alerts, including links to national health authority sites and a map of affected areas from the WHO.

  “Do the Five” raises awareness of simple measures people can take to slow the spread of the disease, according to the World Health Organization.

  On YouTube, we’re using the homepage to direct users to videos from the CDC or other locally relevant public health agencies. We’re highlighting content from authoritative sources when people search for COVID-19, and inserting information panels to provide additional context from high-quality sources.

  
  

  With so many disruptions to daily life, people are looking for more information about school or business closures. Based on data from governments and other authoritative sources, Google Search and Maps will now display if a place, like a school or local business, is temporarily closed. In the coming days, we’ll make it possible for businesses to easily mark themselves as “temporarily closed” using Google My Business. We’re also using our artificial intelligence (AI) technology Duplex where possible to contact businesses to confirm their updated business hours, so we can reflect them accurately when people are looking on Search and Maps. 

  
  For travelers looking for which airlines are offering flexible cancellation policies and change fees, we’re helping to direct users of Google Flights to a special webpage with the information they need. This page is currently offered in English, with more languages coming soon.

  Protecting people from misinformation

  Promoting helpful information is only one part of our responsibility. We’re also removing COVID-19 misinformation on YouTube, Google Maps, our developer platforms like Play, and across ads. On YouTube, we’ve taken down thousands of videos related to dangerous or misleading coronavirus information, and we continue to remove videos that promote medically unproven methods to prevent coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment. On Google Maps, our automated and manual review systems continue to take down false and harmful content such as fake reviews and misleading information about healthcare locations. 

  
  When it comes to advertising on our platforms, we have strict policies to govern the types of ads we allow. This includes a sensitive events policy which prohibits advertising that may try to capitalize on tragic events such as a natural disaster, conflict or death. Since January we’ve blocked hundreds of thousands of ads attempting to capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic, and last week we announced a temporary ban on all ads for medical masks and respirators.

  Enabling productivity for remote users and students

  As more employers have asked workers to stay at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19, we’re seeing more people using the premium features of Meet, our video conferencing app, which we made available to all G Suite customers at no cost until July 1, 2020. We’ve also shared tips and resources for remote workers of all kinds.

  
  For educators around the globe, we’ve created new distance learning resources, including a collection of training materials, a new YouTube Learning Hub, and a series of blog posts and webinars. We're working with Google Educator Groups around the world, for example in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, to provide local content from teachers for teachers. In Italy, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, we’re helping schools quickly get set up with G Suite for Education and are working to provide additional technical support through partners. We’ll continue working with educators to see what more we can do to help as they navigate the transition to distance learning.

  For educators and schools facing closures, distance learning tools can help keep students engaged.

  Supporting relief efforts and government organizations

  Through our philanthropic arm Google.org, we are committing $50 million to the global COVID-19 response, focusing on health and science, access to educational resources and small business support. 

  
  

  We have been working in close collaboration directly with the WHO. As part of that collaboration, on Friday we announced we’ll bematching up to $5 million in donations to the WHO’s new COVID-19Solidarity Response Fund. The fund will help the WHO track and understand the spread of the virus and help frontline workers with essential supplies and information. We also made a $500,000 grant to a team of researchers, epidemiologists and software developers at Boston Children's Hospital working onHealthMap, a website that provides up-to-date trends of emerging public health threats and outbreaks. Our grant and technical expertise will support development of their infrastructure to inform COVID-19 response and epidemiological modeling.

  
  

  In the coming weeks, we’ll launch a Distance Learning Fund to help learning continue around the globe, as well as support for small businesses, including resources and access to capital. 

  
  

  Another way we’re supporting governments and relief organizations is through our $25 million Google Ad Grants crisis relief program. To date, COVID-19 public service announcements are live in more than 15 countries.

  Advancing health research and science

  Alphabet’s Verily, which is focused on health and life sciences, is working in collaboration with California state, local and federal health authorities to help establish testing sites in the San Francisco Bay Area, and on an online tool to increase risk screening and testing for people at high risk of COVID-19. Californians will be able to take an online COVID-19 screener survey through Verily’s Project Baseline, and those who meet eligibility and requirements for testing will be directed to mobile testing sites based on capacity. While Verily is in the early stages of this pilot program, the plan is to expand to other locations over time.

  
  As previously shared, DeepMind released predictions that could help scientists better understand the coronavirus protein structure in order to develop future treatments.

  Taking care of our global community

  Across all of this work, we’re focused on the impact the disease is having on our communities. That includes our own workforce. Last week, we established a COVID-19 fund, which will allow all our temporary staff and vendors globally to take paid sick leave if they have potential symptoms of COVID-19 or can’t come into work because they’re quarantined. We’ll continue to make sure our workforce is supported as this crisis evolves. 

  
  

  In this unprecedented moment, we feel a great responsibility to help. We’ll keep doing everything we can to deliver on our mission, and help people take care of themselves and their communities. 

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/covid-19-how-were-continuing-to-help/
• 

  Even without internet at home, students can keep learning
  • sorangutan  

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  If your school is operating virtually as a result of COVID-19, you may be wondering how to continue teaching students who don’t have access to the internet at home, or who only have low-bandwidth access. Fortunately, there are many ways to keep Chromebooks and G Suite up and running even when online access is slow or unavailable. We’ve pulled together ideas for educators and school IT teams who want to encourage all students to keep learning, regardless of their online access. 

  For edtech and IT teams: The basics of enabling offline access

  Using Chromebooks and G Suite without Wi-Fi or low connectivity is relatively easy, but you may want to enlist your EdTech and IT teams to set up offline access for everyone. Here are the key steps in the process, along with useful Google support links. 

  Keep in mind that people need to go through this process while they still have online access. Consider taking a few minutes to guide students and staff through the process while they’re on school Wi-Fi networks.

  Step 1: To help students, teachers and staff work in G Suite offline, the first step is to enable offline access for all users. Your IT or EdTech team can do this from G Suite’s admin console using these instructions for managed devices; in the Features and Applications section of the Admin console, administrators can click “Allow users to enable offline access.” 

  Step 2: G Suite users also need to download the Google Docs Offline extension for Chrome Browser, which will allow them to use Google Docs, Sheets, Drive and Slides without online access. 

  Step 3: Finally, people should turn on offline access for the G Suite applications they’d like to use before they go offline. Share these instructions for opening G Suite files offline. It’s a good idea to ask students to test that offline access is working properly; help them turn off W-iFi access and try to access a G Suite file. Students can download notes from Slides, Docs, and more, and download the lectures from Classroom and Drive to watch later if they do not have internet at home.

  For teachers: Things to do offline

  Remind students that even if they don’t have Wi-Fi access away from school, there’s a lot that they can do with their Chromebooks:

  • Read and respond to emails. Once the IT administrator enables offline access, they can read and write emails. The emails are sent as soon as students get back online. 

  • Take, view and edit photos and videos. 

  • Take notes in the Google Keep app. 

  • Work on Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive files. 

  For edtech and IT teams: Chrome extensions that work offline

  Encourage students to use Chrome extensions that help them do classwork while offline--and ask your edtech or IT team to push out the extensions to all G Suite and Chromebook users. Search theChromebook App Hub or the Chrome Web Store using the “runs offline” option to find useful extensions, or start with Screencastify for recording and editing videos and Soundtrap for recording and saving audio files. 

  Tips from teachers

  Teachers are already brainstorming creative ways to help students without home online access continue their studies:

  Create a “file upload” feature in Google Forms:Eric Lawson, director of technology at Maine’s York School Department, shared that you can create a Google Form directly from Google Classroom. One of the question options in Google Forms is to create a “file upload.” This allows for students to work on podcasts, videos, journals, infographics, etc. and simply submit them to their teacher through a form. On a day where students may not have internet access, they can still work on their project offline on their Chromebooks at home and then submit the file when they have access.

  Offer mobile hotspot access:At Grain Valley Schools in Missouri, Kyle Pace, director of technology, plans to remind students that they can check out mobile hotspot devices from the school’s libraries--just as they’d check out books.

  If you use Google Classroom and want to make sure students can view assignments offline, follow this YouTube tutorial from Stewart Lee, technology integration coordinator with Anderson School District 3 in South Carolina.
  

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/offline-access-covid19/
• 

  8 tips for getting it done when working from home
  • sorangutan  

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  With many businesses considering how best to keep teams connected when not everyone can be in the same location, we’ve been asked by a number of our customers for recommendations for staying productive and on task. Here are some best practices for fostering collaboration when your teams find themselves working remotely.
  
  

  Set up your team for remote work

  Make sure your team has the right tools and processes set up before you transition from working at the office to working from home. Once they’re set up, here are a few extra steps you can take in advance: 

  1. Create a team alias to easily stay in touch. An email list that includes all your team members lets you quickly share information, and a chat room can be used for faster-moving discussions. 
  

  2. Check sharing permissions on important documents so collaborators can edit and comment as needed. You might even consider creating a shared drive where your team can store, search, and access files from any device. 
  

  3. Schedule meetings now so you can stay in contact later. Set up calendar invites, create an agenda ahead of time, and attach relevant docs to the invite. It’s also a good idea to make sure everyone is familiar with video conferencing. 
  

  Keep your team connected and organized each day

  Now that your team is set up and everyone’s ready to work from home, it’s important to keep everyone on the same page. Now that your team is set up and ready to work from home, here are some ways to keep everyone on the same page.

  1. Hold daily meetings to stay connected with your co-workers. Working at home can be isolating for some, and video conferencing is a great way to keep people engaged. Try to be visible on camera when appropriate, present relevant content, and ask questions to spark conversations. When time zones prevent everyone from joining a meeting, record it—after making sure that participants feel comfortable being recorded!

  2. Share goals and updates regularly. Whether it’s through a chat group or in a shared document that everyone updates,  a record of what’s being accomplished is a great way to feel connected, keep everyone up to date, and follow-up on action items. You can also set up an internal site to consolidate important information and resources into a central hub for your team, or to share information with your organization more broadly.

  3. Continue to practice good workplace etiquette. Just because your team isn’t at the office doesn’t mean they’re not busy. Check calendars before scheduling meetings, and when you reach out via chat, start by asking if it’s a good time to talk. You can also proactively inform your co-workers of your own availability by setting up working hours in Calendar. That way, if a team member tries to schedule a meeting with you outside of your working hours, they’ll receive a warning notification.
  
  

  Getting your work done on the Wi-Fi at home

  Sharing space—and an internet connection—at home means you might need to be mindful of the needs of others in your household. Here are a few tips.

  1. Don’t spend all day on video. There are many tools at your disposal for staying in touch with your team, whether it's a chat room, a shared document, a short survey, or a quick conference call. Pick what works best—especially if you’re sharing an internet connection.

  2. Find the right set-up for you. You might need to try a few different configurations before you discover how to stay focused and not distract others. Here are six tips for better video calls including how to turn on live captioning so you can read a transcript of the meeting in real time. 

  These are just a few of the ways the G Suite team is thinking about staying focused and collaborative. For more information, watch these videos with tips on working from home, and check out the latest updates in our Learning Center article on tips for working remotely.
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/g-suite/8-tips-for-working-from-home/
• 

  Highlights from the first year of .dev
  • sorangutan  

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  A year ago, our Google Registry team launched .dev—a top-level domain (TLD) for developers, designers, technical writers, and technology enthusiasts. This new TLD gave people the chance to register memorable domain names that can be hard to find on older domains, with a descriptive ending that’s especially relevant to them.

  The .dev TLD is on the HSTS preload list, which means it’s secure for both website owners and their visitors. Placement on the HSTS preload list ensures HTTPS encryption for your entire website, which helps protect visitors against ad malware, tracking injection from ISPs, and potential spying when using open Wi-Fi networks. With so much built-in security, .dev has become the natural place for technology makers to share resources, showcase great work, and foster community.

  In the last year, over 150,000 .dev domains have been registered, and we’ve seen many creative uses of the TLD. Here are just a few of the exciting examples we’ve seen.

  .dev 1 year anniversary

  A video with three .dev tips

  Atlassian
  

  Atlassian launched both software.dev and cicd.dev to share insights into today’s software development landscape and how software and IT professionals use CI/CD tools. Using .dev domains helped them market both sites, which have sparked conversations on social media among the developer community.

  Cloudflare

  Cloudflare launched workers.dev to help developers build serverless websites and applications that deploy directly onto subdomains of workers.dev. The TLD made it possible for Cloudflare to use a domain name that’s both descriptive and easy to remember. And over the last year, they’ve seen developers create handy apps like this “lazy invoice” tool.

  Salesforce

  Salesforce used lwc.dev to launch a site dedicated to Lightning Web Components (their open source project) where professional developers can find online documentation, copy source code for various recipes, and engage with the Lightning Web Components community.

  Google Developer Relations

  The Google Developer Relations team launched google.dev for developers to explore and learn about all the technologies Google has to offer. You can sign up for the waitlist for the beta version of google.dev, which lets developers create profiles and earn badges by passing technical challenges. The team sends out new invites regularly, so be sure to sign up.

  Go Programming Language

  Our Go Language team launched go.dev on the 10th anniversary of the open source programming language to provide Go developers a hub where they can find learning resources, including featured use cases and customer stories of other companies using Go.

  Build your own .dev experience

  From the start, we envisioned .dev as a home for developers and technology makers, and it’s been wonderful to see all the amazing work showcased in this domain. To celebrate .dev’s first birthday, we created a short video of some of our favorite .dev users sharing their tips for building great websites. We hope you’ll find it useful as you begin your next project, and we hope it inspires you to create your own .dev experience. Visit get.dev to learn more and get started.
  
  https://www.blog.google/technology/developers/highlights-first-year-dev/
• 

  Go beyond the page with Google Lens and NYT Magazine
  • sorangutan  

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  When you read an article online—including this one—videos, GIFs, photo galleries and links to related articles can help you get a better sense of the story. But in print, you’re limited by what can fit on the page. So how do you go beyond what’s on the physical page for more? 

  Throughout the first half of this year, we’re working with The New York Times so that readers of the print edition of The New York Times Magazine can use Google Lens to unlock more information by simply pointing their smartphone camera at the pages. On Sunday, when The Times Magazine’s annual Music Issue hits newsstands, readers can use Lens to access videos, animations and in-depth digital content that help you go beyond what’s included in print. Readers will also be able to access a playlist of all the music on the magazine’s list of “25 Songs That Matter Now” using Lens.

  Point Lens at the cover of the magazine to learn about how it was designed. And as you're reading the magazine, you'll be able to get more information related to the articles that pique your curiosity and digitally save or share them by simply pointing Lens at the page. In addition to the cover and articles, we're excited to work with The New York Times and other brands to bring interactive elements to print ads in the magazine through Lens.

  Using Lens, you can already find out what kind of flower you’re looking at, see what’s popular on the menu at a restaurant, translate text into another language or figure out where to get a pair of shoes like the ones you just saw. Now, Lens can help you go deeper into the stories you care about in The New York Times Magazine. 

  
  
  https://www.blog.google/products/google-lens/go-beyond-page-google-lens-and-nyt-magazine/
• 

  How one Googler is raising awareness around ALS
  • sorangutan  

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  When you’re young, life is filled with a chorus of well-intentioned advice: “Work hard.” “Be brave.” “Follow your dreams.” 

  And of course: “Be the hero of your own life.” 

  When it comes to “heroes” I’ve found that even if you’re really lucky, then the person staring back at you in the mirror won’t make your top five. Heroes are those unexpected people who step into your life long enough to teach you something about grace, courage and persistence. 

  For me, one of those people is a woman named Stacy Title.

  A personal connection to ALS

  I met Stacy after competing with her husband, Jonathan Penner, on season 13 of Survivor: Cook Islands. My friendship with Jonathan is one of the things I treasure most from that experience. In time, I befriended his brilliant and lovely wife, Stacy, and their two children, Cooper and Ava.  

  

  Yul with Stacy in 2019

  Two years ago, Stacy was diagnosed with familial ALS, a devastating neurodegenerative disease that slowly robs a person of all muscle control. Her thoughts immediately turned to her children. Beyond the diagnosis, the real horror was knowing that each of her children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the genetic abnormality that causes this disease. She was determined to fight and somehow spare her children this diagnosis—but she didn’t know how. No one did. 

  As Stacy’s disease progressed, ALS took away her ability to move her arms, hug her children, and even to speak. She lost the ability to communicate except by using her eyes to slowly spell out words using eye-tracking technology, which would then be read out loud by an electronic voice.
  

  ALS left my friend's mind intact but otherwise cut her off from the world, and it left a family cut off from a wife and mother—so I asked her if we could try something. 
  

  

  Stacy, Jonathan and their children Cooper and Ava in San Diego in 2006. Jonathan had recently returned from competing with Yul on Survivor: Cook Islands.

  A newfound sense of autonomy and connectedness

  Last spring, I went to Stacy’s home and set her up with a Nest Hub Max smart display and several Google Home Mini speakers. I also got her a subscription for Google Play Music and a gift card for Google Play Books. I didn’t know if any of these would actually be helpful to her. But as it turned out, they changed her life.  

  Google Assistant on the Nest Hub Max understood Stacy’s electronic voice perfectly. Suddenly she could play her favorite songs, listen to the news or audiobooks, watch YouTube videos, and ask questions whenever she wanted. Using Google Assistant’s broadcast feature, she could call people in other rooms for help through the Mini speakers. Jonathan could also check on her easily from his phone using the Hub Max’s built-in Nest Cam. 

  

  Jonathan with Stacy in 2020

  Jonathan, Cooper and Ava then installed Google Photos on their phones so that any photos they took were automatically uploaded to a live album and streamed to Stacy’s Hub Max. For the first time in over a year, she could keep up with what her kids were doing, and be present in their lives outside the confines of her bed or chair.

  While far from a cure, these products brought back a sense of autonomy, connectedness, and enjoyment she had lost, not because of the tools themselves, but because of the moments these tools allowed her to experience. This was when it really hit home for me how much technology can help people.

  Today, Stacy knows it’s only a matter of time. She endures the discomforting intervention of a ventilator and other systems, and lives for one urgent purpose: raising awareness of ALS so that her children will have a chance of escaping her fate.  

  Raising awareness for ALS with Survivor

  Last year, I received an unexpected invitation to compete in Survivor: Winners at War. This 40th season, now running on CBS, brings together past winners for the ultimate showdown. Though I was initially unsure about returning, I saw it as an opportunity to bring attention to Stacy’s story, and raise funds in a way that I wouldn't be able to do otherwise. So I returned to the South Pacific, and pledged that whatever money I earn from the show will go toward supporting ALS research and other ALS charities.

  I’m grateful to Google for building technology that helps people everywhere. I’m grateful to CBS for sharing Stacy’s story and creating a fundraising page to support her family and thousands of other families in need. And most of all, I’m grateful to Stacy for showing me how someone can face the impossible each day with more bravery, persistence, and love than I could ever imagine. Because she reminded me that what’s important isn’t finding hope for her. It’s finding hope for Ava and Cooper and countless others who can still be spared this terrible disease. 

  In the end, I think that’s the best way we can honor the people who inspire us: by helping build the future they imagined. I hope we can build Stacy’s future together.

  
  
  
  https://www.blog.google/inside-google/googlers/raising-awareness-als/