Inside Search
The official Google Search blog
Learning independence with Google Search features
March 29, 2012
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
.
Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world and some just put a smile on our face. This is a story of how people can use Google to do something extraordinary. If you have a story,
share it
.
- Ed.
We all have memories of the great teachers who shaped our childhood. They found ways to make the lightbulb go off in our heads, instilled in us a passion for learning and helped us realize our potential. The very best teachers were creative with the tools at their disposal, whether it was teaching the fundamentals of addition with Cheerios or the properties of carbon dioxide with baking soda and vinegar. As the Internet has developed, so too have the resources available for teachers to educate their students.
One teacher who has taken advantage of the web as an educational tool is Cheryl Oakes, a resource room teacher in Wells, Maine. She’s also been able to tailor the vast resources available on the web to each student’s ability. This approach has proven invaluable for Cheryl’s students, in particular 16-year-old Morgan, whose learning disability makes it daunting to sort through search results to find those webpages that she can comfortably read. Cheryl taught Morgan how to use the
Search by Reading Level
feature on Google Search, which enables Morgan to focus only on those results that are most understandable to her. To address the difficulty Morgan faces with typing, Cheryl introduced her to
Voice Search
, so Morgan can speak her queries into the computer. Morgan is succeeding in high school, and just registered to take her first college course this summer.
There’s a practically limitless amount of information available on the web, and with search features, you can find the content that is most meaningful for you. For more information, visit
google.com/insidesearch/features.html
.
Posted by Glen Shires, Speech Technology
Searching for fresh, artisanal ingredients
December 14, 2011
Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world, and some just put a smile on our face. This is the latest in a series of posts about people who have used Google to discover or do something extraordinary. Have a story?
Share it
.
For a chef, a great dish starts with a solid foundation of fresh and unique ingredients. As part of Google’s Food Team, we’re tasked with serving about 50,000 healthy, creative and flavorful meals every day at nearly 100 cafes around the world. Our team thrives on the challenge of creating innovative new dishes, expanding our knowledge of what ingredients go well together, and satisfying our curiosity of where ingredients come from and the difference it makes in the quality of our food. We try to find ingredients that are as
local, seasonal and organic
as possible because when it’s fresh, it just tastes better.
Brett Ottolenghi, supplier of specialty ingredients to elite chefs in Las Vegas, has a similar philosophy. He is passionate about food, and he prides himself on finding the highest quality ingredients and being knowledgeable about what he supplies. I’m always thrilled to hear about people who share our passion for fresh ingredients, who’d go the extra mile to make sure what they get is the real thing.
One of Brett’s most recent discoveries was a wasabi farm in Japan. Realizing that the majority of wasabi in the United States is just horseradish that has been dyed green, Brett wanted to learn more about the real stuff. He searched on Google to find out more about fresh wasabi, and with the help of Translate, was able to read a site in Japanese about a local wasabi farm. He then contacted the family in Shizuoka, Japan who has been producing wasabi for 11 generations. During his trip to the wasabi farm in Japan, Brett learned the background of the condiment and how it’s fed oxygen and minerals from man-made waterfalls and got a taste of fresh wasabi -- and was able to bring it back to his chefs.
“It’s not as harsh as horseradish. It’s much sweeter,” said Brett. “That’s the reason it’s so important to travel and visit the producers because you can learn about the details in what they’re doing that makes their product so much better.”
With this knowledge, not only is Brett is able to provide his chefs with a unique ingredient, he provides a new experience with wasabi. “I don’t think my chefs would expect their supplier to know that much. Yuma’s family, their story adds to the flavor, it adds to the experience. You get into food because you’re passionate about it. As much as you learn, there’s still more to know.”
Posted by Scott Giambastiani, Executive Chef
Exploring ancient ruins in 3D with Google Earth
December 8, 2011
(Cross-posted from the
LatLong Blog
)
Searches can become stories. Some inspire us, others change the way we see the world or just make us smile. This is the latest in a
series of videos
about people who have used Google to discover or do something extraordinary.
The field of archaeology has changed much over the years. New modes of transportation have made even the most remote sites accessible, while cameras simplify how a historical record is created and shared with the world.
Spurred on by these innovations, researchers are also embracing technology as a creative way to aid their research and explore ancient sites. To conduct archaeological studies in the Middle East,
Professor David Kennedy
of the University of Western Australia turned to
Google Earth
.
From his office chair in Perth, Professor Kennedy has
remotely identified
thousands of archaeological sites without having to step foot on Saudi Arabian or Yemeni soil. Historically it has been difficult to undertake ground surveys and aerial photographs of these areas are seldom available for research, making the countries some of the least explored archaeologically. By carefully studying satellite imagery of the Arabian peninsula in Google Earth, Professor Kennedy has
unearthed an enormous record
of archaeological sites, from ancient
geoglyphs
to stone
Wheels
to Pendant-shaped tombs and animal traps called kites that could be up to 9,000 years old.
Watch
Professor Kennedy’s Search Story video
to see how Google Earth aided his search for these ancient sites across the Middle East.
Professor Kennedy
isn’t the only archaeologist to discover the potential in using satellite imagery to aid traditional field methods. Visit
www.OneWorldManyStories.com
to discover how the scientific community has used Google Earth to
uncover ancient relics
, find a
new hominid ancestor
,
identify hidden forests
, and
put craters on the map
.
Do you have a great Google Earth story?
Share it
with us.
Posted by Vicky Homan, Google Earth Product Marketing
The “Pride of Australia” and his search story
November 23, 2011
In February 2011, Queensland, Australia was hit by Cyclone Yasi whose resulting floods devastated many towns and submerged roads and homes. With streets and landmarks under water, Queensland helicopter pilot Mark Kempton and his team faced the gloomy prospect of being unable to identify and rescue stranded Aussies. Armed with his mobile phone, Mark turned to Google Maps to navigate the area and locate people in distress. He and his team worked around the clock throughout the crisis and rescued 43 people from rooftops and treetops in the town of Grantham.
At Google, we’re constantly inspired by our users and honored that our products can play a small part in helping them achieve the extraordinary. Yesterday, Mark Kempton was recognised with the 2011
Pride of Australia
Award for Heroism. Congratulations, Mark!
Here is Mark’s search story:
Posted by Lucinda Barlow, Head of Marketing, Google Australia and New Zealand
To pitch a perfect game, teach yourself online
October 20, 2011
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
.
Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world, and some just put a smile on our face. This is a story of how people can use Google to do something extraordinary. If you have a story,
share it
. - Ed.
My major league pitching career was anything but perfect. The closest I ever came was a seven-inning outing against Milwaukee while
playing for the Cincinnati Reds
, in which I gave up only four runs and earned the victory. In baseball, you can be successful without coming close to perfect. Just think about batting average: a .400 average is insanely good, but that means you strike out or get out in some other way more than half the time you're at bat. Hall of Fame pitchers give up an average of more than two runs per game. Seldom does a pitcher throw a shutout. A perfect game—in which a pitcher does not allow a single player on base—is incredibly rare.
In the majors, setting your team up to win involves daily physical workouts, hours of practice and in-depth analysis of the opposing teams’ traits and tendencies. The idea that someone without this training and background could instead go online, gather and process the necessary information and use it to throw a perfect game is unfathomable. Yet that’s exactly what happened to Brian Kingrey.
Brian is a high school music teacher from Hammond, La. and not much of a sports fan. As one of his students put it, “I’ve never heard him say the word baseball.” But Brian
is
a gamer—so naturally, he was intrigued by the $1 million prize he saw in a TV commercial for a new baseball video game called MLB 2K11. He knew nothing about baseball, had never even played the real game in his life, but encouraged by his wife, he went out, bought the game and started playing. A few weeks later, Brian won the $1 million prize for pitching the first perfect game in MLB 2K11. And he learned how to do it entirely online.
“I had to figure out what
baseball
was, not just what a perfect game was,” Brian said. He found that everything he needed to know was online: he was able to search about batters, batting averages, the different kinds of pitches. He combined the information to figure out that he had the best odds in a match-up between the Phillies -- with star pitcher Roy Halladay on the mound -- and the Houston Astros. He also researched the weak spots of each player—for instance, the toughest batter Halladay would face was going to be Astro’s infielder Bill Hall. After that, Brian was ready to play.
And play he did. On his third try, Brian pitched the perfect game and became a millionaire. “Once I got past Bill Hall, I knew I had it,” he said. “Without online search, I would’ve been in deep trouble. If I had played like it was in my head, I would’ve done it all wrong.” Perhaps if I’d known that search was the answer when I was playing in the major leagues, I might have come a little closer to perfection more often.
Posted by Jeff Austin, Google Apps channel manager and former Major League Pitcher
Search Stories: Surfing for the Perfect Wave
September 29, 2011
(Cross-posted on the
Google LatLong Blog
)
Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world, and some just put a smile on our face. Today we continue our series of posts about people who have used Google to discover or do something extraordinary. Have a story?
Share it
. - Ed.
I’ve surfed all my life. And every summer I spend a couple weeks with my family on a small island called Hornby just east of Vancouver Island. I always think that area would be paradise if only it had great surf. It turns out it does... And with the help of Google Maps and Search, local pro surfer Sepp Bruhwiler is well on his way to finding that perfect wave that breaks somewhere off Vancouver's west coast.
Vancouver Island has a large, beautiful coastline. Before Google, local fishermen would tell Sepp about these enormous waves they found along some remote part of the coast. Sepp would run down to the dock, hop in a boat, and try his luck tracking down those elusive "breaks". It was an imprecise science with mixed results.
Sepp’s quest then led him to pull up the satellite layer in Google Maps, where he scanned the coastline near his hometown of Tofino. What, exactly, was he was searching for? That tell-tale image of a line of curling white swells -- waves.
Just like Google Maps lets you zoom in to explore your city, your street and your house, that same viewing experience extends to Canada's rugged coastlines. As Sepp put it, "we navigated the entire coastline by dragging my finger across my phone." When he found what he was looking for, he zoomed in and put a virtual pin in the location of the waves. Sepp and his surfing pro friends then pulled up the weather conditions and a swell report from nearby buoys on Google Search. And, just like that, it was on!
They found great waves that had possibly never been ridden before. In the words of Sepp’s friend, Pete Devries: "To go to a spot that few people have surfed ever before, that's been breaking for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, keeps you wondering what else is out there and what else we could possibly find."
I’m inspired. Next summer when I head up north, I plan to bring my surfboard, a smartphone, and a
really
warm wetsuit. I can’t wait to join Sepp in the never ending search for great new waves.
Surf on...
Posted by
Brett Crosby
, Surfer & Director of Product Marketing.
Search Stories: New energy for Ypsilanti, Michigan
September 21, 2011
Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world, and some just put a smile on our face. This is the first in a series of posts about people who have used Google to discover or do something extraordinary. Have a story?
Share it
. - Ed.
Discovering stories
about amazing people
who use our products to do interesting (and often entertaining) things is one of the best parts of working on search at Google. Sometimes what people find changes their lives - and sometimes it changes their community or the world. It’s always fun to hear these stories, so we decided to share a few of our favorites with you.
Up first: Dave Strenski, whose curiosity about solar energy has driven the transformation of a small Michigan town. Dave is an engineer in Ypsilanti, near Detroit, who didn’t know a thing about solar technology six years ago. What began as a search for solar grants, turned into a search for ways to help his hometown turn increasingly solar and become the place to come for solar information. Now, Ypsilanti is a model for other communities and Dave has become a “solar guru.”
Dave began searching online when the manager of the
Ypsilanti Food Cooperative
expressed interest in putting solar panels on the roof of her store. Dave quickly found that all the information he needed was already on the Internet: grants available for solar installations, how to design a system, where to buy panels and the best way to put it all together.
As soon as they won their first grant, volunteers and friends rallied to help, and four solar panels were quickly mounted on the Coop’s roof. Since then, Dave has designed installations for Ypsilanti’s
City Hall
, River Street Bakery and the
Adams School
. To help monitor the economic impact of these installations, Dave and his volunteers invented an open-sourced program to track and visualize energy patterns.
Dave also began giving talks to educate the public on how solar power works, how it compares to other energy sources, metering, and the importance of efficiency. At every talk, he would be asked questions about topics he hadn’t yet explored. He would note them, go back to find the answers online, and be more knowledgeable for his next presentation.
When Dave began searching for all topics solar, the content he needed was spread across various sites. He has since collated and shared much of this information on
SolarYpsi.com
- creating a single source for others to discover and use. His wildest dream is to have a hundred locations in Ypsilanti running on solar power - all connected to SolarYpsi where their energy consumption is visualized in real-time. Because of Dave’s curiosity and determination to help his town, a snowy, cloudy corner of Michigan is becoming a solar destination.
Posted by Kevin Proudfoot, Creative Director, Creative Lab
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