Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Google Takeout

Google Takeout: "Google wants to differentiate from Facebook by offering a lot of ways to export your data. Google Takeout is a feature that's included in Google+, but it's also available as a standalone service. You can use it to export your contacts, Google Buzz messages, Picasa Web photos and Profile data with one click.

'Google Takeout lets you take your data out of multiple Google products in one fell swoop. Moreover, you’ll find that all your data is in portable and open formats‚ so it's easy to import to other services quickly,' mentions the Data Liberation blog.

I've downloaded my data in a huge ZIP archive that included all my Buzz posts saved as HTML files, VCF files for my Gmail groups and the first 100 photos from each of my Picasa Web album. What's the point of downloading the first 100 photos?"


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

What Do You Think of Google+? [POLL]

What Do You Think of Google+? [POLL]: "


Google has unveiled its answer to Facebook: Google+. Will it give the king of social networking a run for its money, or will it fall flat like some of the search giant’s previous attempts at social?
Google+ is both a social layer and a full-fledged social network. Users will find a new navigation bar, complete with new sharing options. It leads to the Google+ homepage, where users can access their friend streams, share and edit multimedia, create group video chats and more."


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Third Thursday Interview: Greg Marsh

June's Third Thursday Interview is with Greg Marsh. Greg is a University Programs Manager with Google, Inc. Keep reading to learn about his thoughts about Google products, what his job entails, and his tips for getting a job with Google!
First word that comes to mind when thinking of Google: Innovative.
First Google product you ever used: Search. I remember when I first heard about Google and all the "cool kids" were using it... Well, never one to follow, I was going to stick to my "Meta-Crawler." Not even sure it still exists... But MetaCrawler billed itself as the searcher of search engines, basically taking all the results of Yahoo, Google (whatever that was), Lycos, and rolling it into one... But soon, the simplicity of Google won me over, and perhaps more importantly, its ability to find you that REALLY obscure webpage no other search engine ever could.
Google products you currently use: Mainly... all of them.
Favorite Google product: Love Street View. I found Street View to be most helpful when my wife and I were relocating from SF to Boston. Everyone has apartment hunted before. Obviously you know there are many sites out there to show you pictures of the apartment, outside and inside, but what's missing is a view of the neighborhood-- what's around you, does it look safe, how does the parking situation look, etc. In comes Street View! So helpful for us to explore our new potential neighborhoods from across the country...
Google product you could live without: That I could live without? Well, Google Buzz consists almost entirely of my Twitter feed...
Google product idea/Favorite Not-So-Googly product: Hmmm, still working on my next big idea for Google, but for now I'll say I love Twitter. Love the ability to for real-time search, and glad that now Google will integrate those results into search. For example, if I hear a bunch of crazy sirens and gun shots going around me in Boston, I can search "gun shots sirens Boston" and find out on Twitter they are currently shooting a Ben Affleck movie in Boston and that it's "only a movie." Also love its ability to make stuff happen. I wait forever for a refund from British Airways with no word-- tweet something nasty about it, and what do you know-- refund comes through... :) Follow me @gmarsh17 by the way... And for student opportunities: @googlestudents (shameless plug).
Message to Googly News' readers: I hope this is helpful and SOMEWHAT interesting. I often tell people I have the greatest job in the world-- and I do. I travel the world talking about a company I love, whose products I love, and try and find the next generation of Googlers to work with people I love... Can it get any better? By the way, we're hiring. So be sure to check out www.google.com/jobs or www.google.com/students if you're job hunting-- and keep checking back-- there's always new things popping up!! After all, this is Google! :)

To keep track of future Third Thursday Interviews and more Googly News, make sure to follow Googly News on Facebook and Twitter.

***Obligatory disclaimer: The views expressed above are Greg Marsh's and not necessarily those of his employer.***


Thursday, June 2, 2011

YouTube Reactions

YouTube Reactions: YouTube tests a new feature that allows users to express their reactions without posting silly comments. They can just click one of the six buttons (LOL, OMG, EPIC, CUTE, WTF, FAIL) and instantly tag the video.
YouTube already highlights tags that use Internet slag words ('#LOL', '#FAIL', '#CUTE') from the comments and places links to a list of comment search results.
Blogger has a similar feature, but blog authors can edit the list of reactions. 'With Reactions, readers can easily respond with one click, increasing feedback on posts.