Google + Nike = Joga

Google and Nike launched Joga, an invitation-only social network for football enthusiasts. “Joga bonito” means “play beautiful” in Portuguese

“Joga is unique, because it's an organically growing network of trusted friends. It is one of a kind network that focuses solely on a common interest around the game of soccer. Joga will help you connect to people who share the same passion for the game and also access exclusive content around athlete profiles, video clips and photos.”

Joga is based on Orkut, a social network very popular in Brazil.

Google to Reveal the Contents of a Gmail Account

In a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a subpoena is sent to Google for the complete contents of a Gmail account, including deleted e-mail messages.

In November 2003, the Federal Trade Commission sued AmeriDebt and founder Andris Pukke on charges that the company deceived customers about credit counseling and failed to use customers' money to actually pay their creditors.

Pukke's missing money has been linked to a Belize developer called Dolphin Development, which counts a fellow named Peter Baker as a shareholder. The court-appointed receiver in the FTC case, Robb Evans & Associates, sent a subpoena to Google on Nov. 1 asking for the complete contents of Baker's Gmail account.

The subpoena asks for not only current e-mail but also deleted e-mail: "All documents concerning all Gmail accounts of Baker...for the period from Jan. 1, 2003, to present, including but not limited to all e-mails and messages stored in all mailboxes, folders, in-boxes, sent items and deleted items, and all links to related Web pages contained in such e-mail messages."

Google's privacy policy says deleted e-mail messages "may remain in our offline backup systems" in perpetuity. It does not guarantee that backups are ever deleted. Baker estimated he may have tens of thousands of e-mail messages in his Gmail account.

In a Jan. 31 ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte rejected Baker's objection to the subpeona. She said his attorney could withhold "truly protected" information but must "err on the side" of disclosure. Baker asked the judge to reconsider, but on Monday, Laporte reiterated her decision.

Schmidt: "Office is not the business we're in"

Google CEO Eric Schmidt held a roundtable lunch Thursday with a number of journalists in which he talked about the company, how it is perceived, and where it is headed.

China censorship
To those who talk about embargoing filtering technology to China or other regimes that restrict political information, Schmidt said that personally he was instructed by the example of Cuba. He said the embargo there hasn't worked, with Castro still in power, and with the Cuban people living with technology form the 1950s.

Google growth
Schmidt said he expects advertising will be the growth engine of Google for a very long time. Other growth are might be selling content: video, books. "The next 6 months is when video really takes off."

Google Office
Schmidt said that the acquisition of Writely was not meant to create a competitor to Microsoft Office, which he said solves a complicated and important problem of work productivity. Writely is a server-based editing system where you can move your files around, he said, and there are places where a rich text editor is useful in Google. "Office is not the business we're in" stressed Schmidt.

Google Base vs. eBay
Schmidt said Google Base is just a database of structured information, which is easier to index and rank than regular web pages. Most Google Base information points to eBay or similar sites, so it can't compete with eBay.

Related:
Google strategy in 2006

Best Definition For Google (Video)

If anyone asks you what's Google, just show them this video from a 2005 edition of "60 Minutes" with Lesley Stahl.



More about Googleplex:
Inside Google Campus
Videos From Googleplex

ABC Visit At Googleplex (Video)

Another tour of Googleplex, plus some interviews with Larry Page, Sergey Brin and other Googlers.



Related:
Inside Google Campus
Googleplex Spy Photos
Videos From Googleplex

Microsoft Doesn't Trust .NET Anymore

An interesting article presents results of an investigation into usage of .NET on five versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista.

It's quite surprising to see that Microsoft intended to use .NET framework as an important constituent of the Longhorn (Vista) operating system.

"One of the most important things when you think about Longhorn is, it's not just another operating system release like Windows XP or Windows 2000. We think about it more like a wave, and the wave is really made up of more than just any one particular thing. Think about the wave being built upon a foundation of a new platform investment that we've made across the board, built on top of the .NET foundation. And then with Longhorn there'll be client releases and a server release." (Michael Wallent, general manager of the Avalon team, 2003)

Last pre-beta 2 build of Windows Vista (5308) has only 27 managed files (.NET files) and 2464 unmanaged executable files. Microsoft built very few applications in .NET (for example Windows Server Update Services) and doesn't intend to include in its OS a famous .NET application written by a Microsoft employee: Paint .NET.

After an insightful analysis, Richard Grimes concludes that "Microsoft has lost its confidence in .NET. They implement very little of their own code using .NET. The framework is provided as part of the operating system, but this is so that code written by third party developers can run on Vista without the large download of the framework."

Google Desktop As Data Recovery Software

Google Desktop doesn't delete from its index the files you have deleted or moved. Of course you can remove files one by one from the index, but that's not something you would do for every deleted file.

While some people (including me) may say that Google Desktop is not very clever and it should detect non-existent files in its index and remove them, you should also see the bright side. Google Desktop caches files, so if you delete an important Office document, you will have the HTML version in Google Desktop cache. Of course, it doesn't have images, charts or fancy tables, but it does have the text and that's the most important.

So if you don't have a data recovery software, you can use Google Desktop as a partial replacement. A data recovery software recovers complete files (not just the text as Google Desktop does), but it's also expensive.

Google Desktop stores in its cache different versions of a file, so you could use it to track differences between the original document and its later edits.

Related:
Recover lost partitions
System Rescue Live CD

Google Desktop Isn't For Corporate Use

Acording to ZDNet, UK IT bosses are already taking measures to ban employees from downloading Google's Desktop search software on PCs and laptops because of the security risk to corporate data.

Phil Young, head of IT at Amtrak Express Parcels, said his organization's policy is to ban any third-party software that presents a security risk: "I think Google is playing with fire in the corporate arena with this latest software."

Nicholas Evans, European IT director at Key Equipment Finance, agrees: "Google has crossed the line from Desktop as a personal search engine to being a tool that can be used to exploit security weaknesses. The sending of data back to the servers only confirms the security risk."

Basicaly, Google Desktop allows you to search all your computers by sending data to Google servers and linking it to a Google account. Google Desktop indexes data without encryption by default.

Google Desktop Leaves Beta

Google Desktop leaves beta once again. Along with the major new feature "search across your computers", Google Desktop 3 brings a quick search box that combines inline desktop search with inline web search. You have to press Ctrl twice to get the box.

Read more:

Google Desktop Is Back
EFF says: "Don't use Google Desktop"

Google Philosophy Teared Down

Google found ten things to be true. Unfortunately not for their company.

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.

Not if the user loses his Gmail account.

2. It's best to do one thing really, really well.

It may be the best thing, but Google does search, Gmail, Google Talk, Analytics, Google Earth, Blogger, Page Creator, Google Reader and many more.

3. Fast is better than slow.

True, but Blogger is slow very often, Google Reader doesn't load at times and Analytics keeps slowing webpages load.

4. Democracy on the web works.

Except for China.

5. You don't need to be at your desk to need an answer.

That doesn't mean Google is able to give answers. Try: "Latest album from Aimee Mann"

6. You can make money without doing evil.

Yes, but what if you make money selling ads to low-quality products?

7. There's always more information out there.

Yes, there are audios, videos, IRC conversations...

8. The need for information crosses all borders.

All borders, except for China.

9. You can be serious without a suit.

But what if face lawsuits for patent infringement and click-fraud?

10. Great just isn't good enough.

Yeah, we should continue indexing deleted files in Google Desktop.

Google Acquires SketchUp, 3D Sketching Software

Google acquired @Last Software, the creator of SketchUp, a powerful tool for creating, viewing, and modifying 3D models quickly and easily. SketchUp was developed to combine the elegance and spontaneity of pencil sketching with the speed and flexibility of today's digital media.

Although Sketchup is a commercial software (it costs $495), you can try it for 8 hours (31.2 MB, available for Windows and MacOS X).

One reason for which Google acquired this company is that SketchUp has a very nice plug-in for Google Earth. You can create virtual models for buildings, parks or streets.

Rupert Murdoch To Media: Change Or Die

Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp media magnate, evangelised about a digital future that would put that power in the hands of those already launching a blog every second, sharing photos and music online and downloading television programmes on demand. "A new generation of media consumers has risen demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it," he said.

The owner of Fox News added: "Never has the flow of information and ideas, of hard news and reasoned comment, been more important. The force of our democratic beliefs is a key weapon in the war against religious fanaticism and the terrorism it breeds."

"I believe traditional newspapers have many years of life but, equally, I think in the future that newsprint and ink will be just one of many channels to our readers," he said, predicting a future in which "media becomes like fast food" with consumers watching news, sport and film clips as they travel, on mobile phones or handheld wireless devices.

"Great journalism will always attract readers. The words, pictures and graphics that are the stuff of journalism have to be brilliantly packaged; they must feed the mind and move the heart."

News Corp spent $400m on MySpace.com, the social networking phenomenon that has proved hugely popular with 35m regular users on both sides of the Atlantic. Murdoch admitted he underestimated the power of the web. "It is a creative, destructive technology that is still in its infancy, yet breaking and remaking everything in its path. We are all on a journey, not just the privileged few, and technology will take us to a destination that is defined by the limits of our creativity, our confidence and our courage."

Isolatr - Say No To Social Networks

Isolatr is an anti-social network that promises to deliver the best technology for staying away from the crowd. Who needs MySpace or Yahoo! 360?

Sean Bonner, the creator of isolatr, explains: "Since the internets were invented we've all been trying to figure out what they can be best used for, how that can improved our lives, and how we can monetize the fuck out of that. Who ever could have guessed that I'd be the one to figure it out? Well, it's been a long three days since this was conceived in the back channel at etech, but the minutes of hard work, semi-dedication and near sacrifices have finally paid off. I'm proud to introduce the world to isolatr. "

By the way, the link for isolatr is isolatr.com, but you should have already guessed.

Google To Face Off With DoJ Over Releasing Data

Google and Department of Justice will square off today in San Jose over whether Google should be forced to turn over a vast amount of data, including one million Web addresses.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales triggered the clash in January, when Justice Department lawyers went to court to force Google to comply with a subpoena that asks the company to release one million Web addresses and at least one week's worth of random search queries. The government is seeking the information to make its defense of the Child Online Protection Act, a federal law designed to keep children from sexually explicit content on the Internet.

Google, backed by privacy advocates, is resisting the subpoena on a variety of grounds, including the argument that it threatens the privacy rights of Web users and exposes the company's trade secrets to public release.

The case is considered a crucial barometer of how much control a search engine has over its vault of Web traffic and whether the Internet habits of its users are insulated by a 20-year-old electronic privacy law. Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University, said that if the government gets the information, it's conceivable Congress may eventually step in with legislation that would prevent the broad release of data collected on Internet searches.

Justice Department lawyers argue that Google and its supporters have overstated the risks of releasing the information. Government lawyers stress that the data they seek would not identify individual users.

"This case comes at a time when people are starting to recognize that the information they put into their computers creates a record,'' said Lauren Gelman, associate director of Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society. "In the bigger picture, as people input more information into computers, they are losing control over that. We're leaving a digital footprint with all sorts of information about ourselves.''

Programming Languages Poster - Hang It On Your Wall

O'Reilly published in 2004 a poster (PDF, 700 KB) that represents the evolution of programming languages from 1954's Fortran to 2003's Java, C#, Ruby, Python, PHP and Perl. The graph shows the most important releases, how progamming languages influenced each other. [Via Digg]

Google Mars, Google Galaxy

In commemoration of Percival Lowell's birthday, Google joined up with NASA to build Google Mars, a version of Google Maps for Mars. In 1895, Percival Lowell published his book "Mars" where he describes the canals, oases from Mars and the technically superior intelligent lifeforms which created them. A quote from the book:

"Now, in the special case of Mars, we have before us the spectacle of a world relatively well on in years, a world much older than the Earth. To so much about his age Mars bears evidence on his face. He shows unmistakable signs of being old. Advancing planetary years have left their mark legible there. His continents are all smoothed down; his oceans have all dried up. Teres atque rotundus, he is a steady-going body now. If once he had a chaotic youth, it has long since passed away. Although called after the most turbulent of the gods, he is at the present time, whatever he may have been once, one of the most peaceable of the heavenly host. His name is a sad misnomer; indeed, the ancients seem to have been singularly unfortunate in their choice of planetary cognomens. With Mars so peaceful, Jupiter so young, and Venus bashfully draped in cloud, the planet's names accord but ill with their temperaments."

Googlist discovered that Google registered last year the following domains: GoogleMercury.com, GoogleVenus.com, GoogleJupiter.com, GoogleSaturn.com, GoogleUranus.com, GoogleNeptune.com, GooglePluto.com, GoogleGalaxy.com, GoogleGalactic.com, GoogleUniverse.com, GoogleSatellite.com, GoogleSolarSystem.com. Maybe Google wants to extend Google Earth to Google Solar System or even Google Galaxy.

More at Google Blog.

Inside Google Campus

Bob Woodruff from ABC News visits Googleplex, speaks with some employees, and tries to explain why Google is a different kind of company: people can have toys in their offices, food is free, and everythings looks like a campus. Watch the video (7 minutes).



Related: Googleplex spy photos

Googleplex Spy Photos

A very nice collection of photos from Googleplex (via Flickr).

Greasemonkey - Web DJ

Greasemonkey is a Mozilla Firefox extension that allows users to install scripts that make persistant changes to specific web pages. You can alter the layout of a page, disable the advertising, add links to other services.

The screenshot shows Gmail Saved Searches script in action.

Use Greasemonkey (required: install Firefox)

1. Download Greasemonkey
2. Find scripts


Develop Greasemonkey (required: JavaScript knowledge)

3. Learn more about Greasemonkey (free ebook with videos)
4. Greasemonkey hacks (get the code)
5. Greasemonkey hacks (buy the book)

Minti - Parents Play With Ajax

Minti is a recently launched collaborative advice site for parenting with user contributed articles, rating, tagging. It doesn't have RSS feeds, instead Minti has quality tips and a childish design (in a good way), with many colours spreaded all around the page.

"We started with the goal of supporting parents worldwide to become better at caring for their children."

Here are some tips for encouraging kids to enjoy books and reading from a parent who really thinks books are important.

1. Read aloud to your child every day.

2. Discuss the books with your child.

3. Buy books that you know will interest your child.

4. Create a comfortable reading space for your child.

5. Buy good dictionary for your child and use it regularly together.

6. Introduce books on other topics

7. Get down to the local library.

8. Visit the Web sites of favourite authors and illustrators.