Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Web Lab brings Internet magic to London Science Museum
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
Inspiration comes in many forms and can influence you in unexpected ways. I can trace my own interest in programming to
Babbage’s Analytical Engine
, which fascinated me on my childhood visits to the
Science Museum
in London. This idea that science and technology can inspire people is one that we hold close to our hearts.
It’s also the thought behind a new exhibition we’re launching today online and at the Science Museum in London. We hope to inspire people around the world by showcasing the magic that the Internet makes possible.
Launching in beta,
Web Lab
is a set of five physical installations housed in the Science Museum in London. You can interact with them in person at the museum, or from anywhere in the world at
chromeweblab.com
.
By opening up the museum experience to the world online, Web Lab doesn’t play by the usual rules—a visitor’s location and museum opening hours no longer matter. Each of the five experiments—Universal Orchestra, Data Tracer, Sketchbots, Teleporter and Lab Tag Explorer—showcases a modern web technology found in Chrome to explore a particular theme in computer science.
For example, the Universal Orchestra experiment uses
WebSockets
to demonstrate real time collaboration as people from around the world make music together on custom-built robotic instruments housed in the Science Museum. Please join us online or at the Science Museum in London (entry is free), and let us know what you think. True to its name, the year-long exhibition is a working lab, and we’ll continue to tinker with it based on your feedback. Here’s to the next wave of Internet invention!
Posted by Jayme Goldstein, Product Marketing Manager, Chrome, on behalf of the Web Lab team
Explore the mysteries of the universe on Google+ & YouTube
Thursday, February 23, 2012
2012 is set to be a big year in particle physics, perhaps the most important for decades. At the European Organisation for Nuclear Research at
CERN
, the hunt for the famous
Higgs Boson
particle is in full swing, and experiments which create, trap and measure elusive anti-matter are reaching a dramatic stage.
To make things even more exciting, you can now follow the scientists’ progress, share in their discoveries and interact with them via the new CERN People
Google+
Page and
YouTube channel
.
CERN People is a feature-length film project by the award-winning documentary-maker
Films of Record
. The documentary will explore the motivations, hopes and fears of the particle physicists as they explore the origins of the universe. The film will be released in 2013.
But instead of having to wait until then to see it, they are using Google+ and YouTube to tell this fascinating story, and invite everyone to get involved, as they go along. Here’s a taste:
A series of short films featuring the personalities behind the experiments will be posted on the CERN People Google+ Page and YouTube every month, and anyone from professional scientists to interested amateurs will be able to interact directly with CERN’s physicists via comments and Google+ Hangouts, a live video chat with up to 10 people.
As you can see from the videos, the scientists at CERN are pretty excited about what lies ahead. We are too.
Posted by Peter Barron, Director of External Relations, EMEA
Inaugurating our new French headquarters
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Last year, our Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt promised to open a research and development and culture centre in France. Today, Eric returned to Paris to inaugurate our new 10,000-square meter office in a refurbished
19th century Second Empire building
near the St. Lazare Train Station.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy honored us with his presence. “Why as President, do I make this symbolic move and come to Google?" he asked rhetorically to a packed courtyard auditorium. “I love the United States, and its motto that everything is possible whatever your origins.” President Sarkozy also officially launched the
Elysee Palace’s YouTube channel
and his visit was shown on
YouTube Live
, the section of the site where we list all live streamed events.
The President participated in a Google+ Hangout, taking questions from French-speaking Google employees around the world. (“What time is it there?” he asked someone dialing in from California.) On a serious note, he expressed his gratification for how Google has moved to dig deep roots in France. “When I first met Eric, we had a frank conversation,” he recalled, saying his message was clear. “I asked him how long Google was preparing to make money in France without investing here. I told him that Google must have its feet in France.”
Our new Paris office is emblematic of our commitment to one of Europe’s fastest-growing Internet economies. According to a recent McKinsey study that we helped sponsor, the web contributed to 3,2% of the French GDP in 2009 and created more than 700,000 jobs during the past 15 years. Between now and 2015, McKinsey estimates that the digital contribution will grow to 5.5% of GDP, and 450,000 additional jobs will be created. In order to help accelerate the French digital engine, we’ve launched a
Startup Café
, an online platform offering information and tools.
Our investment plan for France is ambitious, and extends far beyond buildings. We’re expanding our engineering presence to take advantage of France’s strong engineering talent pool and are making significant academic investments, including a partnership with the French national research center
CNRS
.
France is a global cultural leader and we’re working hard to partner with French writers, filmmakers and musicians. Over the past year, we've reached an agreement with the biggest French publisher Hachette to scan and sell digital versions of out-of-print books and are providing payment systems for French news publishers from Hachette. YouTube has signed royalty-collection agreements with music copyright societies and our new Cultural Institute will be located in the Paris headquarters. It will aim at driving innovation in cultural preservation, creation and access, not just in France, but across the world.
Just before the President left, he asked to say a few final words. He praised our “dynamism” and wished well our expanded operations, before making a parting promise. “I hope this inauguration is one of a long series,” he said. “If you invite me to another building opening, I will come.”
Posted by Anne-Gabrielle Dauba Pantanacce, Head of Communications, France
Practical steps towards a greener, energy-efficient cloud
Friday, June 3, 2011
UPDATE | 14 June | 17:50: videos of all the presentations at the Data Centre Summit are now available on our
website
Data centres are very important to us—they’re critical to the cloud services we deliver. Over the last 12 years, we’ve put a lot of effort into
minimising
the amount of energy, water and other resources we use—because it makes financial sense, and because it’s good for the environment too. That work means that today, we use
half the energy
of a typical industry data centre.
Last week, we brought together more than 150 industry professionals in Zürich, Switzerland for our
second conference on data centre efficiency
. Since our
first conference
two years ago in the U.S., the industry’s come a long way, with large operators now very focused on energy efficiency.
With “free cooling” we can dramatically reduce energy consumption by using the local environment to cool servers, instead of energy-intensive chillers. In our data centres we use both air cooling and evaporative cooling—and we revealed the details of the seawater cooling system we’ve custom-engineered for our new data centre in Hamina, Finland.
Google is lucky enough to have the resources and experts to continually improve efficiency. But around
70% of the world’s data centres
are operated by companies that probably don’t.
That’s why we shared
five simple and low-cost steps
that any company, large or small, can use. These include using plastic meat locker curtains to separate hot and cold air, or welding your own air-conditioning chimney out of cheap sheet metal. These techniques are proven to increase energy efficiency, reduce electricity consumption and improve environmental footprint.
We also announced that we’re now participating in the European Commission’s
Code of Conduct for Data Centres
, a framework for designing and operating data centres efficiently. It ties in closely with the way we build and run our facilities, and has a robust checklist of efficiency best practices that are well worth trying out.
The main take-away was that there is no magic in data centre efficiency. With the right information and a bit of creativity, anyone can make their computing infrastructure efficient. If you operate a data centre or server room, please
visit our website
and make use of the techniques we’ve outlined. Videos of all the presentations from the Summit will be available on the
site
next week.
Posted by Urs Hoelzle, Senior Vice President, Technical Infrastructure
Google TechTalk: Tomorrow’s web and why the HTML5 standard matters
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
First conceived in 1990 by CERN scientist
Tim Berners-Lee
, HTML is the international standard used to create most of the websites and content that we enjoy online today. HTML has evolved and grown over the years and today, a new iteration - HTML5 - is approaching the final phase of the approvals process.
HTML5 is a radical departure from its predecessors and will enable web designers to create sites and applications that are more interactive and more graphically rich than ever before. It promises an end to websites and applications that only work in a particular browser or on a particular type of computer or cellphone. And it will enable a whole new generation of innovative services for web users around the world.
At Google, we’ve been focusing heavily on HTML5 in our own research and development, even before the standard is fully approved. We firmly believe HTML5 will drive the web forward, help keep it open and equally accessible for all, and deliver great benefit to individuals, businesses and governments around the world.
Tab Atkins, a member of Google’s HTML5 development team, will talk about the importance of open standards for tomorrow’s web, show some cutting-edge demonstrations of HTML5 web technology, and explain what the new standard might mean for Europe.
When
: Friday, 29th October 12.15-13.45 CET
Where
:
Google Brussels
| Chaussée D'Etterbeek 180 | 1040 Brussels
Registration:
Please register
here
Need another reason to come?
There will be a delicious, Googley lunch (!)
About our Tech Talks:
Ever wondered how exactly Google is tackling the big technology problems that the online world faces? Want to take a look behind the curtain of our engineering operations and learn from the people who actually work on the Google products and services day-in, day-out? Here's your chance: The Google Brussels TechTalks.
Posted by Angela Steen, Policy Analyst, Google
Growing our appetite for geeky girl dinners
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
We’re always looking for opportunities to partner up with organizations that promote diversity and encourage women to excel in technology.
Girl Geek Dinners
is a world-wide initiative that does exactly that—it helps build communities of women who have a passion and interest in science, technology and other traditionally male-dominated fields by hosting social events around the world.
We recently sponsored the
Amsterdam Girl Geek Dinner
and I attended the event with my colleague Noha, who, like me, is a software engineer for
Google in Zurich
. At the dinner, we had the opportunity to meet and mingle with other women in the tech community and talk about what it’s like being a woman in the field of computer science. The keynote speaker at the event was renowned mathematician
Ionica Smeets
and I can’t imagine a woman more inspiring.
Google shares a similar goal to Girl Geeks—we want to make it possible for everyone to pursue careers in technology, regardless of gender. And, in our presentation at the event, we outlined our numerous initiatives to promote and support diversity in technology. We have various
scholarship programs
to help students to pursue their interests, excel in their studies and become leaders. And to encourage more female computer scientists to attend and participate in research conferences around the world, we also offer
travel and conference grants
in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. You can learn more about our diversity programs,
here
.
Posted by Alexandra Alecu, Software Engineer
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