Google Pundit

Berkeley California Picks Google Apps for Education Over Microsoft Office 365 and Gives Detailed List of Comparison

2011-12-24T14:09:00.001+01:00

At Wired.com, Caleb Garling links to a detailed comparison showing why California Berkeley chose Google Apps for Education (including GMail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Video for Education) over Microsoft 365.

See
Berkeley Explains Why Google Trumps Microsoft

Mark Twain Birthday Celebrated by Google Doodle Today

2011-11-30T13:40:00.000+01:00

MARK TWAIN GOOGLE DOODLE: Panoramic 'Tom Sawyer' logo colorfully celebrates legendary Clemens - Comic Riffs - The Washington Post: - Sent using Google Toolbar

Chromebook Store at PC World in Tottenham Court: Google Opens First Retail Shop in London

2011-10-04T10:31:00.001+02:00

Surprise, surprise, but studies show that 80% of laptop sales are still made in physical shops and stores, not online, so Google is going retail with Chromebook. Jonathan Prynn has the story at Google's first store pops up in LondonNews.

Google slips to lowest search share in two years - Computerworld

2011-09-14T01:54:00.000+02:00

Google slips to lowest search share in two years - Computerworld: - Sent using Google Toolbar

Google, Intel team up on future Android phones, tablets - latimes.com

2011-09-14T01:52:00.000+02:00

Google, Intel team up on future Android phones, tablets - latimes.com: - Sent using Google Toolbar

Google Gets FTC Subpoenas in Antitrust Investigation

2011-08-11T21:12:00.000+02:00

DailyTech - Google Gets Served With FTC Subpoenas in Android Abuse Investigation: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

AdWords? 20 Most Expensive Google Keyword AdWords via WordStream and TechCrunch

2011-07-31T17:16:00.000+02:00

Robin Wauters at TechCrunch writes about a WordStream study of What Are The 20 Most Expensive Keyword Categories In Google AdWords?

Google Denies That Google Circles Launch is Imminent

2011-03-13T19:35:00.000+01:00

Liz Gannes at Network Effect writes that Google Denies Social Network Called Circles Will Debut Today despite the report at ReadWriteWeb.

Social Network Google Circles May Be Launched Soon to Compete with Facebook

2011-03-13T19:30:00.000+01:00

At ReadWriteWeb, Marshall Kirkpatrick writes that Google to Launch Major New Social Network Called Circles, Possibly Today, a service which is to permit social networking while respecting the rights of privacy better than is done at Facebook.

We would definitely welcome such a service, as the privacy settings for Facebook are not set up in such a manner as to permit privacy to be adequately protected while still engaging in social networking.

Whether a competitor to Facebook can counter the massive head-start that Facebook already has globally on social networking membership is another matter.

Google enterprise chief: Data is safer on our cloud than your PC - Fortune Tech

2011-03-13T19:28:00.000+01:00

Google enterprise chief: Data is safer on our cloud than your PC - Fortune Tech: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

LawPundit: Google and Microsoft Battle Patent Troll GeoTag

2011-03-05T18:16:00.000+01:00

LawPundit: Google and Microsoft Battle Patent Troll GeoTag: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Google Faces Anti-Trust Problems in EU Search Engine Competition from Competitors Alleging Abuse of Dominant Market Position

2011-02-27T14:49:00.000+01:00

Valentina Pop at EUobserver.com reports that Google facing second EU anti-trust case "for alleged abuse of its dominant market position." Google controls 80% of the European search engine market and is accused of favoring its own sites in search results. If true, Google may have trouble winning this case.

Search Engine Watch: Google's Cutts: Bing's Higher Search Success Rate Due to Bad Hitwise Data

2011-02-11T21:10:00.000+01:00

See

Search Engine Watch: Google's Cutts: Bing's Higher Search Success Rate Due to Bad Hitwise Data

Google's New Two-Factor Identification System Breaks Apps : Too Much of a Good Thing is Too Much

2011-02-11T21:04:00.001+01:00

At ZDNet.com Jason Perlow in Google's two-factor authentication: nice idea, but unwieldy applauds the attempt to improve user authentification but says we should be careful what we wish for, as Google's new cell phone authenticator system breaks many apps and makes daily utilization of it impossible for heavy users.

Google: "Expect Some Big Changes Here Very Shortly"

2011-02-11T20:52:00.000+01:00

Google: "Expect Some Big Changes Here Very Shortly": "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Top 10 Gmail Labs You Should Enable

2011-01-06T14:51:00.000+01:00

Top 10 Gmail Labs You Should Enable: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

New Themes at the Gmail Blog - a Bit of Humor on Design

2010-11-11T14:31:00.000+01:00

Read this for some nice humor.

Five new themes - Official Gmail Blog: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Google: Android was our best acquisition ever | The Digital Home - CNET News

2010-10-29T00:12:00.000+02:00

Google: Android was our best acquisition ever | The Digital Home - CNET News: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Follow Gmail on Twitter - Official Gmail Blog

2010-10-22T09:01:00.000+02:00

Follow Gmail on Twitter - Official Gmail Blog: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Dots in GMail Addresses Do Not Matter: Tips at the Official Gmail Blog

2010-10-22T08:59:00.000+02:00

See 2 hidden ways to get more from your Gmail address - Official Gmail Blog: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Google flattens Wave

2010-09-08T22:15:00.000+02:00

Did anyone notice? Google kills Wave

Google Has New Localized "at" Arrow in Search Quiver

2010-08-28T00:43:00.000+02:00

Google has new "at" arrow in its search quiver.

Try e.g. these search phrases in Google search, no quotation marks:

Megaliths at amazon.com
Mosel wine at amazon.com

Hat tip to CaryGEE.

CloudMagic searches your Gmail faster than Google can

2010-08-26T21:32:00.000+02:00

CloudMagic searches your Gmail faster than Google can: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Google's Page Query

2010-08-20T22:13:00.000+02:00

Google's PageRank Query: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

PageRank: Tool for Querying Google™ Page Rank

2010-08-20T22:08:00.000+02:00

PageRank: Tool for Querying Google™ Page Rank: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Google Unveils the 1000 Most-visited Sites on the Web

2010-06-10T14:15:00.000+02:00

Google Unveils the 1000 Most-visited Sites on the Web

YouTube Adds Real-Time Discussion Support with Google Moderator

2010-05-27T20:18:00.000+02:00

YouTube Adds Real-Time Discussion Support with Google Moderator

How to Escape Google Sandbox - by Debbie Everson at Google Blog Online

2010-05-25T01:03:00.000+02:00

How to Escape Google Sandbox - by Debbie Everson at Google Blog Online

Google Code Blog: Introducing the Google Font API & Google Font Directory

2010-05-24T18:36:00.000+02:00

Google Code Blog: Introducing the Google Font API & Google Font Directory

Google Buzz Comes to Seesmic and TweetDeck

2010-05-20T13:36:00.000+02:00

Google Buzz Comes to Seesmic and TweetDeck

Google Wave Now Open For All

2010-05-20T02:28:00.001+02:00

Google Wave Now Open For All

Popular - Google Fast Flip

2010-05-20T02:28:00.000+02:00

Popular - Google Fast Flip

Google Opens Wave to Public, Previews Chrome Web Store | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

2010-05-19T22:54:00.000+02:00

Google Opens Wave to Public, Previews Chrome Web Store | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Scvngr Looks Like it will be Immensely Popular

2010-05-19T22:52:00.001+02:00

Scvngr CEO: We’ve Seen A Ridiculous Spike [Video]

Drag images into messages - Official Gmail Blog

2010-05-18T21:33:00.000+02:00

Gmail has a new blockbuster feature: Drag images into messages, which, however, at the moment only works with Google Chrome.

Official Google Mobile Blog: Google on Android

2010-05-11T22:40:00.000+02:00

Official Google Mobile Blog: Google on Android

Google Has a New Look : What's Up?

2010-05-06T17:16:00.000+02:00

Helen Walters at Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com writes about How Google Got Its New Look.

Official Google Blog: A different kind of company name

2010-04-01T20:53:00.000+02:00

Today, it's Topeka instead of Google. April Fool!

Official Google Blog: A different kind of company name

Novel Simplicity: Google Gets a Design Patent | %Business_and_Tax_Layer_Blog%

2010-03-25T12:55:00.000+01:00

Novel Simplicity: Google Gets a Design Patent | Business_and_Tax_Layer_Blog

Google Bookmarks Gets Public and Private Lists, Collaboration Tools

2010-03-24T22:33:00.000+01:00

Frederic Lardinois writes that Google Bookmarks Gets Public and Private Lists, Collaboration Tools.

Internet Censorship in China

2010-03-24T22:17:00.000+01:00

The Censorship Battles between Google and China continues as the BBC writes in China condemns decision by Google to lift censorship.

Read in this regard
Internet Censorship in China
by the Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center, which writes:

"Foreign visitors in China frequently complain to me that they could not access certain websites during their stay in China. Indeed, certain news websites, websites related to certain religious organizations (most of them are illegal in China), as well as some pornographic websites are inaccessible from China. Surprisingly enough, our website, the website of Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center at http://chinese-school.netfirms.com is also blocked by the Chinese government. (Through our recent efforts, the site has been unblocked by the Chinese government. Currently, we are offering the service to unblock your website from China)

In a well researched paper titled 'Documentation of Internet Filtering Worldwide' by Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman from Harvard Law School tested approximately two hundred thousand websites by dial-up link and through proxy servers in China. From May 2002 through November 2002, 19,032 websites rendered inaccessible. These sites contained information about news, politics, health, commerce, and entertainment. Please visit http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/ for details."

If I ran Google search, I would - just to give the Chinese a taste of their own medicine - block all pages that have anything to do with China - for let us say a month, just to teach them a lesson. Some people do not learn any other way.

China, Google and Search Censorship Battle Continues

2010-03-24T22:09:00.001+01:00

BBC News - China condemns decision by Google to lift censorship

UnGoogled: A Week of Discovering Alternatives For Google’s Services

2010-03-19T19:10:00.000+01:00

UnGoogled: A Week of Discovering Alternatives For Google’s Services

Simple Productivity | Zen Habits

2010-03-19T14:03:00.000+01:00

Simple Productivity | Zen Habits

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Best practices when moving your site

2010-03-16T14:00:00.000+01:00

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Best practices when moving your site
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Posted by Ríona MacNamara, Webmaster Tools Team

Does Google Street View see a future in Europe? | Digital Media - CNET News

2010-03-07T20:48:00.000+01:00

Does Google Street View see a future in Europe? | Digital Media - CNET News

Google YouTube Auto-Captions by Google's Speech Technology

2010-03-06T01:43:00.000+01:00

Google YouTube Auto-Captions:
posted by Olga Kharif at Business Week, March 05, 2010
by Guest Blogger Suzanne Robitaille

"Ah, video and search. Frank Sinatra said it best: Try, try, try to separate them – it’s an illusion. Here’s proof of that: Speech Technology. This week, Google sealed the deal on video search capabilities for its YouTube portal, saying it would provide auto-captions for all of its uploaded videos using proprietary Google’s Speech Technology."

Read the full posting here.

The Antithesis of Justice : Criminal Convictions in Italy of Google Execs Point to Flaws in European Union (EU) Law

2010-03-05T23:02:00.001+01:00

We posted about this absurd case previously at LawPundit.

Struan Robertson, editor of out-law.com, writes on March 3, 2010 in Google convictions reveal two flaws in EU law, not just Italian law inter alia as follows regarding the inexcusable criminal convictions of Google execs - made in absentia in Italy - for alleged untimely takedown of criminally offending video material posted online by youthful criminals in Italy and totally unknown to Google execs at the time for which their criminal conviction for non-action applies:

"Web hosts are unfairly exposed all across the EU and two legal changes are needed....

Problem 1: An unreasonable caveat to safe harbour....

Problem 2: We don't know enough about notice and takedown...."

Read the whole posting here.

Robertson in our opinion in focusing on the ill-drafted EU laws and on the shambles of law in Italy is much too lax with the misguided officials in Italy and with the responsible lawmakers in the European Union, all of whom are much more directly at fault than Google for the appearance of the offending video.

Why have government officials in Italy and the EU not instituted effective procedures in their own law enforcement systems to timely catch criminal postings in their areas of jurisdiction - AS IS THEIR JOB, rather than putting the entire onus of "policing" on Google or other online providers. Why should Google be more effective in catching criminals than THE government institutions are - it is not Google's line of business at all.

Everyone always wants to put the blame on the other guy, rather than honestly shouldering their true part of the blame themselves. Policing is a responsibility of government institutions and not of Google. Maybe nations and communities should not have 90% of their officers playing cops and robbers with normal citizens for minor things like traffic violations etc. - and should direct more of the attention of their own State employees to combatting real crime. Now - THAT would be a major change.

If the purpose of Italy's convictions is to seek scapegoats, which the guilty often do to ward culpability away from themselves, it would be equally logical to issue criminal convictions for all those in Italy and the EU responsible for what happened in the instant video case, and we would not stop at judges, legislators and officials, but would also include the teachers and parents of the criminals, who were unable to keep the offenders from doing their offensive acts. Google is at the end of a very long chain of societal and legal blunders and errors which create criminal offenders to begin with.

As it now stands, the people FURTHEST REMOVED from the actual criminal video activity have been held criminally responsible rather than those CLOSEST to it. How convenient for all of the institutions involved, whose members via overinflated salaries are all stuffing their pockets with taxpayer monies but of course disclaiming any responsibility themselves for the state of affairs in their own jurisdiction. Some distant executive from a far-away jurisdiction will be picked to shoulder the blame - a blame which ITALY and the EU rightly should share among themselves.

That is not a miscarriage of justice. It is the ANTITHESIS of justice.

Google Index to Go Real Time

2010-03-04T23:20:00.000+01:00

Google Index to Go Real Time

Google Launches User-Generated Street View – GigaOM

2010-03-02T02:13:00.000+01:00

Google Launches User-Generated Street View – GigaOM

Adding Buzz this Button for Blogger Blogspot Blogs | QwertyWEB

2010-02-19T14:47:00.000+01:00

Adding Buzz this Button for Blogger Blogspot Blogs | QwertyWEB

Google Buzz Has Completely Changed the Game: Here’s How

2010-02-15T00:00:00.000+01:00

Google Buzz Has Completely Changed the Game: Here’s How

Google Buzz Launched for Gmail, Google's Mail

2010-02-11T14:48:00.000+01:00

Official Gmail Blog
February 9, 2010

"Today, we're launching Google Buzz, a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting and share updates, photos, videos and more. Buzz is built right into Gmail, so there's nothing to set up — you're automatically following the people you email and chat with the most."

Google calls time on Blogger FTP • The Register

2010-02-05T16:53:00.000+01:00

Google calls time on Blogger FTP • The Register

"Google will no longer allow FTP publishing on its Blogger service beginning March 26....

Google is building a migration tool for current FTP users [which] will be ready the week of February 22. Google is also providing a blog dedicated to educating users on the migration from FTP to [Google Blogger Custom Domain] hosted blogs...."

Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks | Privacy Digest

2010-02-05T01:31:00.000+01:00

Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks | Privacy Digest

Google Maps Mania: Google Map of the World's Art

2010-02-02T13:44:00.000+01:00

Google Maps Mania: Google Map of the World's Art

"An unofficial Google Maps blog tracking the websites, mashups and tools being influenced by Google Maps.

GeocodedArt is a new website that is busy mapping the world's fine art paintings. The geocodedArt database contains over 1,000 images of identifiable places all over the world."

Goollery - A collection of awesome Google-related projects from people around the world

2010-01-26T13:12:00.000+01:00

Goollery - A collection of awesome Google-related projects from people around the world

Google ices Android launches in China • The Register

2010-01-19T15:08:00.000+01:00

Google ices Android launches in China • The Register

The Chinese are making a huge mistake in the manner that they are handling Google in China. We originally thought that China would simply ignore the issue via the well-known Oriental inscrutability, but the systematic attacks on Google systems from within China - where nothing like that happens without government sanction - are stupidly poisoning the world technology atmosphere - greatly to China's detriment. We thought the Chinese were smarter than that.

AdSense for Feeds: Socializing your feed with Twitter

2010-01-19T14:42:00.000+01:00

AdSense for Feeds: Socializing your feed with Twitter

"We're now taking our distribution and analytics a step further by enabling the ability to automatically publish the feed items that meet your criteria to Twitter, using the Google URL shortener at goo.gl."

Google-China showdown may alter tech game

2010-01-17T02:35:00.000+01:00

Google-China showdown may alter tech game:

"The Google-China flap has already reignited the debate over global censorship, reinvigorating human rights groups drawing attention to abuses in the country and prompting U.S. politicians to take a hard look at trade relations. The Obama administration issued statements of support for Google, and members of Congress are pushing to revive a bill banning U.S. tech companies from working with governments that digitally spy on their citizens."

Google Hack Attack Was Ultra Sophisticated, New Details Show | Threat Level | Wired.com

2010-01-17T00:35:00.000+01:00

Google Hack Attack Was Ultra Sophisticated, New Details Show | Threat Level | Wired.com

"Google announced Tuesday that it had been the target of a “highly sophisticated” and coordinated hack attack against its corporate network. It said the hackers had stolen intellectual property and sought access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The attack originated from China, the company said."

Lady Who Oversaw McCain's Fall from Grace Now Represents Google - Google - Gawker

2010-01-16T20:51:00.000+01:00

Lady Who Oversaw McCain's Fall from Grace Now Represents Google - Google - Gawker

Chinese entrepreneurs, investors on Google: ‘Just quit. We don’t care.’ | VentureBeat

2010-01-14T15:19:00.000+01:00

Chinese entrepreneurs, investors on Google: ‘Just quit. We don’t care.’ | VentureBeat

Google threatens to pull out of China - Telegraph

2010-01-13T17:12:00.000+01:00

Google threatens to pull out of China - Telegraph

January 13, 2009 by Malcolm Moore in Shanghai and Peter Foster in Beijing:

"Google, the internet search engine, has said it is ready to close down its business and quit China because of the country's increasing censorship."

But do the Chinese care?

Google Docs Becomes Google ‘Any File’ as Cloud Wars Heat Up | Epicenter | Wired.com

2010-01-13T02:17:00.000+01:00

Google Docs Becomes Google ‘Any File’ as Cloud Wars Heat Up | Epicenter | Wired.com

Ryan Singel writes:

"Google is now offering a small virtual hard drive in the cloud so you can access all sorts of files anywhere — the latest salvo in an arms race to become the dominant player in cloud services.

As with many Google initiatives, this one may be deceptively modest: When it is completely rolled out, Google Docs will accept uploads of any kind of file — not just text and spreadsheets. That move heightens their competition with Microsoft, and takes on Apple and a number of small startups in the business of creating backup and storage space on remote servers."

Search Engine Stats : Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing

2010-01-11T17:05:00.001+01:00

Three PPC Predictions For 2010 | PPC Without Pity

"An August 2009 study by Search Engine Watch indicates that Google gets about 65% of total searches, Yahoo gets 15%, and MSN/Bing gets about 10%. Looking exclusively at PPC market share, a Rimm-Kaufmann group blog in March 2009 shows that Google dominates with 80% of PPC market share, while Yahoo gets about 15% and MSN/Bing lags with only about 5%."

Google's 2009: A Glimpse of the Web's Next Decade

2009-12-30T01:43:00.000+01:00

Jennifer Van Grove at Mashable, the Social Media Guide, gives us Google's 2009: A Glimpse of the Web's Next Decade

Google Goggles at Deep Tech - CNET News

2009-12-29T21:49:00.000+01:00

Google Goggles at Deep Tech - CNET News - visual search by sight

Google Announces Jan. 5 Android Event | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

2009-12-29T21:34:00.000+01:00

Google Announces Jan. 5 Android Event | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Android 1.5 apps from Google I/O--photos - CNET Reviews

2009-12-29T21:31:00.000+01:00

Android 1.5 apps from Google I/O--photos - CNET Reviews

Twitter finally in the money with Google link - Times Online

2009-12-12T16:07:00.000+01:00

Twitter finally in the money with Google link - Times Online

Official Google Checkout Blog

2009-11-19T22:21:00.000+01:00

Official Google Checkout Blog

Google Checkout - Google Code

2009-11-19T22:20:00.000+01:00

Google Checkout allows buyers in over 140 countries to purchase goods and services using a credit or debit card through our fast, secure checkout process....

For more, see Google Checkout - Google Code

Google Wave Explained In Two Minutes (CLIP) (GOOG)

2009-11-15T21:05:00.000+01:00

Google Wave Explained In Two Minutes (CLIP) (GOOG)

Digits at WSJ Blogs writes that Rupert Murdoch at News Corp. Considers a Google Ban

2009-11-11T21:54:00.001+01:00

Stories such as this one at Digits of WSJ Blogs

News Corp. Considers a Google Ban - Digits - WSJ

suggest that some leading entrepeneurs in the news business perhaps do not accurately understand the revolution that is going on in the new technologies of human communication.

NEWS is going to be "delivered" differently in the future than it has been and search engines will not be circumventable. News entrepeneurs should therefore probably start spending more time figuring out how they can capitalize on these new technologies rather than fighting them - to no avail, we think.

You Need To Take Control of Google Dashboard To Prevent Data Theft - Security - IT Channel News by CRN

2009-11-06T19:19:00.000+01:00

You Need To Take Control of Google Dashboard To Prevent Data Theft - Security - IT Channel News by CRN

Google Wave and the practice of IP law | The Invent Blog®

2009-10-30T15:08:00.000+01:00

Google Wave and the practice of IP law | The Invent Blog®

Google Wave to be opened for federation today! Yes, for you to host.

2009-10-30T13:59:00.000+01:00

Google Wave to be opened for federation today! Yes, for you to host.

Google Maps Navigation beta unleashed

2009-10-29T00:29:00.000+01:00

From engadget....

Google adds free turn-by-turn navigation, car dock UI to Android 2.0 (video)

Google Social Search aims to make social networks more useful

2009-10-28T19:58:00.000+01:00

Google Social Search aims to make social networks more useful is Sharon Gaudin's title at Computerworld.com in her article on Google's October 27, 2009 launch of the experimental Google Social Search service, as created by Google Labs. So I went to Google Labs to sign up for this experimental service, which was permitted.

Lo and behold then, however, how surprised I was that when I conducted my first search on Google after sign-up for Google Social Search that I got the message: "The experiment you're trying to access is no longer available. Go to experiments overview." And when I do that, I see I am still signed up for the experiment.

What gives at Google? Bumbling?

Google Books and Copyright Law : New Feature Creates Word Clouds for Published Materials : The Example of Stars Stones and Scholars by Andis Kaulins

2009-08-11T18:47:00.000+02:00

Words. Words. Words.

Google Books has a special page for Legal Analysis relating to Google Books and copyright law.

Our photo shows the sculpture "The Word" at Groote Markt, the marketplace in Sint-Niklaas, capital of Waasland, Flanders, Belgium,the largest such marketplace in the country:

Google Books is a wonderful information resource which can assist greatly in determining whether to buy a book or not.

Google Books has expanded in the course of time to include many new features. Among these new features are word clouds - in a book's "Overview" section - showing a selection of frequent important terms found in a book. Here is the Google Books word cloud for Stars Stones and Scholars, the Decipherment of the Megaliths by Andis Kaulins.

"Common terms and phrases

Ain Ghazal Ancient Britain Andis Kaulins Andromeda Aquarius Aquila Arbor Low astronomical Auriga Autumn Equinox Barclodiad Y Gawres Bouar Canis Major Carnac Cassiopeia Catal Huyuk Cave Paintings Ceide Fields Celestial Pole Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Clava Cairns Cohen Gadol Coma Berenices constellations Corona Australis Corona Borealis County Sligo Creswell Crags Cygnus Decipherment Delphinus Deneb Dolmen Draco Dschubba Ecliptic Pole Egypt Eridanus Estonia Externsteine False Cross Fowlis Wester Gardom's Edge Gavrinis Gemini Ggantija Gozo Herefordshire Beacon Hierakonpolis Hyades Hydra Hydrus Kents Cavern Lanyon Quoit Large Magellanic Cloud Lascaux Latvian Leo Minor Magdalenians Malta megaliths Menhir Miami Circle Milky Mnajdra Mulfra Neolithic Newgrange Ophiuchus Ordnance Survey Perseus planisphere Pleiades Pole Star precession Richard Hinckley Allen Rock Drawing Rollright Stones Sagittarius Sarsens Saulheim Scorpio Scotland Serpens Caput Serpens Cauda Silbury Hill Solstice Stonehenge Tarxien Taurus Trethevy Quoit tumuli Ursa Major Ursa Minor Virgo Wayland's Smithy Yarmukian Zhangye"

We are very happy to be part of Google Books and view "word clouds" of our published works to be "fair use". But is the legal issue here so simple?

Take a look at these word cloudsvia Federal News Service transcriptsregarding the Democratic Party and Republican Party conventions leading to the US Presidential Election of Barack Obama.

It would certainly seem to be the case that a particular design of a word cloud is copyrightable, and since every word cloud has its own design, then word clouds would appear to be subject to copyright protection. But who owns the words in a cloud?

Word clouds are essentially one example ofdata visualization, for which there are numerous programs online.

Is a "word cloud" a derivative use (in which case it belongs to the original copyright holder) or is it a transformative use (in which case it belongs to the transformer). We favor the latter interpretation, but the issue has never been litigated.

As software applications show, "word clouds" appear to have a very "proprietary" character.

Online anyone can generate word clouds for free at WORDLE.net, which, however, claims the copyright to the word cloud image created, licensing it under a Creative Commons license with attribution. Here is a Wordle word cloud of the most recent postings at LawPundit:

There is also a free networking site for writers at The Word Cloud.

Crossposted to LawPundit.

Google Voice Phone Management System Arrives : Can also be Combined with Google's GOOG 411 to Find and Connect with Local Businesses by Phone for Free

2009-06-29T00:08:00.000+02:00

Some readers are no doubt familiar with Google's free Goog 411 "find and connect to a business by phone service" - dial from any phone 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411):

So how about the new Google Voice?

Jeff Bertolucci at PC World in his June 26, 2009 article Hands On With Google Voice -This Is Really Cool reviews "Google's long-awaited Google Voice phone management service that finally became available this week to a lucky few" writing:

"Google Voice provides a single phone number, such as 415-555-1212, for all your cell, home, and work numbers, and lets you manage your voice services online. Unlike a landline service, a Google Voice number isn't tied to a geographical location. Unlike a cellular service, it's not linked to a specific handset. And unlike a VoIP line, it's not matched with an IP address. Rather, it's tied to you. So if you move, change jobs, or switch wireless carriers, your Google Voice number stays with you. One drawback: you can't port your current number to Google Voice, although that option may be added in the near future, the company says.

This isn't a Skype-type service either. You don't use your computer to make phone calls, and there's no additional software or hardware to install or buy. (You can, however, use the Click2Call feature from the Google Voice website to place calls.) Is it perfect? No, it's got a few quirks, and the myriad of configuration options can be confusing at times. But Google's onto something big here. A service that helps manage the multiple phone lines in our lives should have universal appeal." [emphasis added]

Read the rest of Bertolucci's review of Google Voice.

Unfortunately, Google Voice is open to use at the moment by invitation only.

Click here to sign up at Google for a Google Voice invite.

Blogger Babble at Google - The Glitches Continue

2006-03-22T13:53:00.000+01:00

This is a copy of an e-mail I just sent to Blogger developers:

"Dear Blogger Developers,

For some reason, Blogger development lags far behind the general pace and quality of Google development. Why is that?

I complain about this from time to time on my Blogger blogs but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

The newest glitch is part of the Blogger advertising toolbar script code which Blogger enters onto blogspot.com pages. This script has the nefarious quality of now appearing on Google as the "description" of the site (since it appears before any other TEXT on the site)".

I have a new blog, megaliths.blogspot, for which the following "description" appears now on Google (March 22, 2006):
"Notify Blogger about objectionable content. What does this mean? Blogger · Send via SMS · Get your own blog · Flag Blog · Next blog · BlogThis! ..."

This is not limited to my site. You can also see this if you enter the search phrase - "link size" Blogger - into Google and look at the first result, which is a page from the site linux.help.blogspot.com. I looked at that page http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2006/02/concise-explanation-of-i-nodes.html and it is quite a normal page, so why is Google giving us Blogger Babble????

As seems so often to be the case at Blogger, programming changes are instituted before such changes are suitably tested for their effect on the real world.

Sincerely,

Andis Kaulins"

P.S. Note also how the long link in the text of this page - a Blogger template - runs across the right border, at least it does on my Firefox browser. I have left it that way intentionally to show another Blogger error which needs correction.

Find the Google U.S. Home Page in English

2006-03-16T19:30:00.000+01:00

We have a problem with Google in Germany since Google apparently redirects the Google.com URL to the Google home page of the country of the location of the computer or server. Worse, even when one is diverted here in Germany to Google.de and selects the option "English" in the language preferences, it remains the Google Germany home page, even though it is in English. This is apparently done to direct local advertising to local users.

The solution here is the following link
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en
which takes one to the original Google.com U.S. site in English.

However, this kind of a fudge should not be necessary. The user is quite aware that he can reach Google Germany by using the google.de URL address so that there is no reason to redirect such a user to google.de if google.com is the address which the user has typed in or clicked as a URL.

We have the same problem with AOL by the way, which is keyed to the language of the browser used. For AOL, we thus use our English-language Mozilla Firefox version, because AOL under IE otherwise redirects us to the German pages of AOL, even though we explicitly select aol.com and not aol.de. The reason for this is that the language of the Internet Explorer installation is tied to the language of the Microsoft Windows version installed on the computer. If you buy a computer in e.g. Germany, the default versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system and IE browser are all in German and there is no way to get English versions, which makes Internet Explorer a washout for AOL overseas.

In any case, go here for the real true Google.com website in English.

Google Guidelines for Third Party Use of Google's Trademarks

2006-03-14T18:02:00.000+01:00

Although Google is now a household word used daily by millions of people around the world, Google™ is also a trademark of Google™ Inc. As a result, there are strict legal limitations on what use can be made of the Google™ trademark online or elsewhere.

Google has a special page online titled "Google Permissions" which provides Guidelines for Third Party Use of Google's Trademarks.

We abide, for example, by one of these rules in formulating the name of this blog "Google Pundit", where Google is an adjective describing just what kind of Pundit we are, e.g. to distinguish us from "Law Pundit". As Google writes in the Guidelines "Use the trademark ONLY as an adjective, NEVER as a noun or verb, and NEVER in the plural or possessive form".

Here is how we see the law, but this is only our opinion, and not legal advice.

Trademarks relate to products and services of a company and the whole idea of trademark law is to permit trademark holders to distinguish their goods and services from those of others and to profit from the goodwill of their trademark. Without a license from Google for example, no one is permitted to produce any kind of a product with the name Google used in that name. For example, a software product named "Google Search Optimizer" - without a license from Google to use its Google trademark in the name of the product - would violate that trademark.

In our opinion, our blog title (and anyone else's blog title with Google in the name of the blog) would be a clear case of trademark infringement if it created confusion with regard to its ownership, and that is why our blog specifically contains a prominent notice that Google Pundit is in no way related to Google Inc. but rather presents third-party information about that company and its products and services. Indeed, the subtitle of our blog is "An informative blog about Google which is NOT affiliated with Google™ Inc. in any way."

Take a look at the "Google Permissions" at Guidelines for Third Party Use of Google's Trademarks. You will see that Google has many trademarks.

Google Pundit Not Affiliated with Google™

2006-03-14T16:06:00.000+01:00

Google Pundit Is Not Affiliated with Google™ Inc. in Any Way

As a graduate of Stanford Law School - Stanford is the home of Google - we are great fans of this amazing company and have been from the very beginning, having informed our law students at the University of Trier Law School from the outset (1999) that this was the search engine to watch.

As a result, we have already posted regularly about Google on our other blogs (e.g. in defending Google Book Search, (formerly Google Print) at LawPundit, e.g. here, here, here, here and here).

Hence, we thought we would see if the name GooglePundit is free on Blogger. The name was free, so we thought we would try out a blog devoted solely to Google, where we will also repost some of our previous postings relating to Google if they bear on actual matters of interest.

Please note that Google™ is a trademark name of Google Inc. It belongs to them, not to us. See the Google Guidelines for Third Pary Use of Google's Trademarks. Obviously, anyone is free to write editorially about Google, but using the Google name in a blog is a borderline case legally. However, since the blog is hosted on Blogger, a Google company, we imagine that they can shut us down if they want to. Besides, we are favorabale towards Google and intend to post positive information, so that this blog may be tolerated, though this is not guaranteed.

Our personal intention in creating this blog is to keep up on what Google is doing. There are now so many new projects under way that it has really gotten quite difficult to keep up. This blog will assist us - and perhaps our readers - in the necessary task of keeping up with a dynamic company that is rapidly changing our planet.

Note that we also limit our blogroll solely to official blogs or official websites of Google, excepting only our selection of non-affiliated unofficial blogs about Google, which we thought necessary for balance.