Go 1.1...

A new release of Google's Go programming language...

Backup for GMail...

If you're comfortable at the command line, and you have a gmail account, here's something that might interest you: an open source tool (written in Python) that will backup your gmail account to your local computer, and let you restore those messages to any gmail account.  I'm trying it right now (my backup is going to take a while!).

I actually have exactly this program on my list of “Maybe I should write this!” projects.  I'll probably get rid of it now :-)

A Next Big Thing?

OpenFlow just got an absolutely enormous (and convincing) endorsement...

Graphs in Google Search...

I don't know when this happened, but Google's search bar graphs now.  Who knows what else it does?  To see an example, click on the link...

Clever Widget...

The folks at Google have come up with another clever toy.  This one lets  you draw an arbitrary distribution curve (over time), then finds Google queries whose frequency closely matches the curve you draw.  I tried drawing about ten quite arbitrary (and in some cases, challenging!) curves – and every time this tool found a query whose results quite closely matched it.  Impressive...

Public Data Visualizer...

Here's a fascinating tool from Google that lets you visualize quite a few different sets of publicly-available data.  At right is a snapshot of fertility rates for some countries I picked, along with the world as a whole.  Note how the world's fertility rate is falling inexorably toward the “replacement rate” of 2.1 (the point at which the population stops growing).

When you click onto the tool, click on the box that says “Fertility Rate” to change what data set you're looking at.  Pick the countries you'd like to see on the check-box list at the left...

Gigapixel Art Reproductions...

Courtesy of Google and museums around the world...

Doing Their Bit...

...to help the folks in Egypt.  Good for Google!

WTF? This is Google's Fault?

I'm having trouble seeing what this flap is all about.  The facts in the story are this: Google sends it's “Street View” vehicles up and down every street and road in the world, recording photos that can then be seen on their online maps.  It's a wonderful feature that I use all the time.  These vehicles record not only the photos, though; they also keep a record of the wireless networks they happen to see as they're cruising by.  These days, practically every house has one. I'm not sure what Google is planning to do with this information, but it's just stuff in the airwaves that they're picking up – the same way that anyone who drove by could do.

Somehow, some people are interpreting this as a violation of their privacy.  This is the part that completely escapes me.  Two factors argue against any expectation of privacy.

First, the wireless data is stuff that the homeowner chose to broadcast.  Suppose the homeowner chose to hang a large sign outside their house, and on that sign ws the homeowner's bank account number and access password.  Would we expect that information to be private?  I think not!  Would we expect the homeowner to behave like that?  Only if they were morons!

And this leads directly to the second factor: this wireless information is very easily secured.  Every wireless router (the gadget that lets you create a wireless network at home) has a simple means to encrypt the information broadcast on the network.  All any homeowner has to do is turn this encryption feature on, and then neither Google nor any other passer-by can read that information.  Why doesn't everyone turn this on?  I haven't the foggiest idea, but I can't see how that failure can in any way become Google's problem...

Get Your Free Web Fonts...

...right here.

The Internet Really Does Change Everything!

There's a new 411 (phone directory) service available.  It's free.  You use it over the telephone.  It works anywhere.  It's fast.

From Google.

Google Kills Wave...

Google's Wave is an interesting product that I've been following (and using) for more than a year.  It's hard to describe it – it's kind of a blend of email, chat, and blog.  Several of its features I thought were just outstanding, most especially the ease with which you could share almost anything with people.

But the product had many rough edges, and was apparently not easy for many people to use.  The adoption rate was lower than they expected, and now Google has officially pulled the plug on it – no more development.  Some folks are trying to save it with a site asking for your thumbs-up vote (it had 900 when I checked in on it).  Interestingly, there's no thumbs-down button.

Here's Google CEO Eric Schmidt talking about the decision:

Italy Attacks the Internet...

Yesterday three Google executives were convicted in Italy of privacy violations.  What did they do?  They “allowed” some Italian teenagers to upload an awful video of an autistic kid being tormented, and didn't pull it down quickly enough.  What's “quickly enough”?  The court didn't say.  How fast did Google pull it down?  It depends on whose story you want to believe, but Google says they pulled it down within three hours of the first complaint they received.

Google will, of course, appeal this conviction (see their official blog post).  It seems completely absurd to me, akin to holding UPS responsible because someone packed an awful video in a box and shipped it via UPS.  If companies like Google actually became liable in many countries for the content uploaded by Internet users, the inevitable result would be that all the wonderful, free services like Google video would go away, or would require payment ‐ for those companies would have to decide between hiring armies of censors or simply dropping the problematic line of business.

Google Introduces Free Faster, Better DNS...

I'm telling you, they're going to take over the world!