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AMBER Alerts for missing children now in Google Search and Maps
October 31, 2012
Today we are launching AMBER Alerts coordinated by
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC) in the
Google Public Alerts
platform. Public Alerts are designed to bring you emergency alerts when and where they’re relevant to you, and AMBER Alerts aim to help bring abducted children home safely.
If you’re using
Google Search
or
Maps
on desktop and mobile you’ll see an AMBER Alert if you search for related information in a particular location where a child has recently been abducted and an alert was issued. You’ll also see an alert if you conduct a targeted search for the situation. By increasing the availability of these alerts through our services, we hope that more people will assist in the search for children featured in AMBER Alerts and that the rates of safe recovery will rise.
AMBER Alerts will provide information about the abducted child and any other details about the case as they become available. Additional details could include the make and model of the vehicle he/she was abducted in or information about the alleged abductor.
Screenshot for a test version of an AMBER alert
The US Department of Justice’s
AMBER Alert™ Program
is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies and others to engage the entire community in the most serious child-abduction cases. We are working with NCMEC, who will provide the AMBER Alert data to Google and make it possible to display information in Public Alerts.
We’re working closely with
Missing Children Europe
and the
Canadian Centre for Child Protection
to try and scale this service to more countries. We’ll keep exploring different ways to improve child protection through innovative technologies, like what has been used to
reduce exploitation
and
improve reporting
to NCMEC.
Posted by Phil Coakley, software engineer, Google Public Alerts team
Celebrating Leonardo Torres-Quevedo, Spanish inventor of the world’s first computer game
October 31, 2012
What does a cable car in Niagara Falls have to do with the world’s first chess-playing machine? Surprisingly, both were inventions of Spanish civil engineer
Leonardo Torres-Quevedo
. Next week, as part of
our ongoing effort
to celebrate Europe’s computing heritage, we’re commemorating Torres-Quevedo’s legacy and his remarkable machine—
"El Ajedrecista"
(in English, "The Chess Player")—in partnership with the
Telecommunication Engineering department of the Technical University of Madrid.
Photo thanks to Wikimedia Commons
Torres-Quevedo’s inventions span many fields. He was the second in the world to
demonstrate wireless remote control
, beaten to the post only by
Nikola
Tesla
. His
designs for airships
were used by both the French and British during WWI. He was a global leader in cable car design, creating the “
Spanish aero car
” over the Niagara Whirlpool which,
nearly a century on
, remains a tourist attraction. However, his most remarkable achievements were in the field of automation, developing machines that are antecedents to what we now call computers and robots.
Torres-Quevedo’s ambitions were bold. As
Scientific American
proclaimed in 1915
: “He would substitute machinery for the human mind.” In the 1890s, Torres-Quevedo built a
series of mechanical devices
that solved algebraic equations. In 1920 he wowed a Paris audience with an electromechanical
arithmometer
with a typewriter attachment. You simply typed a formula—say, “24x48”—and the machine would calculate and automatically type the answer “=1152” in reply.
But El Ajedrecista, an algorithmically powered machine that could play an end-game of chess against a human opponent completely automatically, is his most notable creation. Although it’s a far cry from
Deep Blue
, El Ajedrecista can lay claim to being the world’s first (analog) computer game.
.
Photos thanks to
Museo Torres Quevedo
The machine didn’t just calculate its moves—it had mechanical arms that physically moved its pieces, in the form of electrical jacks, across a grid. In later models the arm mechanism was replaced by magnets, and play took place on a more ordinary-looking chess board. You couldn’t cheat the machine as it could spot illegal moves; and you couldn’t win, as the game always started at a point (machine’s King and Rook versus human’s King) from which the
machine could never lose
.
In honor of El Ajedrecista’s 100th birthday, we’re working with the
Telecommunication Engineering department of the Technical University of Madrid
to stage a conference commemorating Torres-Quevedo’s legacy. The
conference
, taking place on November 7, will feature lectures and panel discussions, as well as an exhibition of Torres-Quevedo’s devices—including El Ajedrecista itself. Attendance is free—if you want to join us,
request an invitation
.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
Google’s most advanced voice search has arrived on iOS
October 30, 2012
When you have a question, finding the answer should be effortless—wherever you are and whatever device you’re using. The new Google Search app for iPhone and iPad helps you to do just that with enhanced voice search that answers any question with the comprehensive Google search results you know and love.
Fast and accurate voice recognition technology enables Google to understand exactly what you’re saying. Getting an answer is as simple as tapping on the microphone icon and asking a question like, “Is United Airlines flight 318 on time?” Your words appear as you speak, you get your answer immediately and—if it’s short and quick, like the status and departure time of your flight—Google tells you the answer aloud.
You can get answers to an increasingly wide variety of questions thanks to
Knowledge Graph
, which gives our search technology an understanding of people, places and things in the real world. Here are a few of the questions that Google can answer:
“What does Yankee Stadium look like?” Google will show you hundreds of pictures instantly.
“Play me a trailer of the upcoming James Bond movie.” The trailer starts playing immediately right within Google Search.
“When does daylight savings time end?” The answer will appear above the search results, so you can set your clock without having to click on a link.
“Who’s in the cast of The Office?” See a complete cast list and find out who made you crack up last night.
Download the Google Search App
on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and find out how much wood a woodchuck would chuck (if a woodchuck could chuck wood).
Posted by Kenneth Bongort, Engineer, Google Search
More Art Project online for you to explore
October 30, 2012
Back in April we
announced
a major expansion of the Google Art Project. Since then 15 million people have explored the paintings, sculptures, street art and photographs contributed by our partners. From today the number of treasures you can view is increasing by more than 10% as 29
new art organizations
from 14 countries bring their collections online.
A wide range of global institutions, large and small, well-known and less traditional, are represented. Explore contemporary works at the
Istanbul Modern Art Museum
, admire works from the
Art Gallery of South Australia
(who have contributed almost 600 objects) and access the treasures of the famous
Museum of Palazzo Vecchio
in Italy and
Princeton University
. This round has also seen contributions from more unusual sources including a collection from the
National Ballet of Canada
,
pre-Columbian art from Peru
and
decorative arts from China
.
Now that the total number of objects online is more than 35,000, we've turned our attention towards thinking of different ways for you to experience the collections.
The first is a great educational tool for art students, enthusiasts or those who are simply curious. A “Compare” button has been added to the toolbar on the left of each painting. This allows you to examine two pieces of artwork side-by-side to look at how an artist’s style evolved over time, connect trends across cultures or delve deeply into two parts of the same work. Here's an
example
: place an early sketch of
Winslow Homer's
'The Life Line'
from the
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
next to
the completed painting
from the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
. Comparing them in this way allows you to see how the artist's vision altered (or not) over the life of the work.
Beyond following us and discussing great art on our
Google+ page
, we have also created a
Hangout
app within the Art Project so that you can share your favorite collections and perhaps give your friends a personal guided tour. If there is a budding museum guide or an art critic within any of you it can finally be unleashed! Watch this video to see how it works.
Around 180 partners have contributed their works to the Art Project so far, more than 300,000 of you have created your own online galleries and we've had more than 15 million visitors since our last launch in April. The cultural community has invested great time and effort to bring these masterpieces online.
Watch this space
for more to come.
Posted by Piotr Adamczyk, Google Art Project
Public Alerts on Google Search and Maps for Android for superstorm Sandy preparedness information
October 29, 2012
Earlier today
we posted about efforts to provide information to those affected by the former hurricane and now superstorm Sandy.
We also want to let you know that
Public Alerts
are now available on Google Search & Maps in your browser, on Google Maps for Android and also on Google Now for Android devices running Jellybean.
Public Alerts provide warnings for natural disasters and emergency situations. They appear based on targeted Google searches, such as [Superstorm Sandy], or with location-based search queries like [New York]. In addition to the alert, you’ll also see relevant response information, such as evacuation routes, crisis maps or shelter locations.
We were planning on announcing the new features in a few days, but wanted to get them out as soon as possible so they can be helpful to people during this time.
This is part of our continuing mission to bring emergency information to people when and where it is relevant. Public Alerts are primarily available in English for the U.S., but we are working with data providers across the world to expand their reach.
If you are searching for superstorm Sandy, you’ll see content at the top of the Search page specific to this crisis. For other searches, you’ll see public alerts where and when they are live.
Public Alerts on desktop search
Public Alerts on mobile
Desktop search showing content for Sandy-related query
We’re able to gather relevant emergency safety information thanks to a strong network of partners, including
NOAA
and
USGS
. Their commitment to open standards like the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is what makes this all possible.
We’ve also developed partnerships to bring you even more relevant alerts in the future, including local emergency data from Nixle.
To learn more about Public Alerts, visit our
Public Alerts homepage
. If you’re a data provider, and would like to contribute to our efforts, please see our
FAQ
.
We hope that this information makes it easier for you to stay safe.
Posted by Nigel Snoad, product manager, Google Crisis Response
Get Ready to Vote with Google
October 29, 2012
Every four years in the United States, people prepare to head to the polls and
increasingly search
for information about how to register to vote, where to vote and who is on their ballot. Even though it is 2012, important voting information is disorganized and hard to find on the Internet. To help voters research candidates and successfully cast their ballot on Election Day, we’ve launched our new
Voter Information Tool
.
You can enter your address to find information on your polling place, early vote locations, ballot information with links to candidates’ social media sites and voting rules and requirements. The tool is
easy to embed
on any website and is
open source
so developers can modify it to create custom versions. We're working with a number of media partners to ensure the tool is accessible across the web, and partners like Foursquare and AT&T are doing great work building apps on our
Civic Information API
.
We hope this tool will help make getting to the polls and casting your ballot as simple as possible.
Posted by Jesse Mwaura, Google Politics & Elections Team
(Cross-posted on the
Politics and Elections blog
)
New Crisis Response maps feature preparedness information for Hurricane Sandy
October 29, 2012
Already responsible for a reported 41 deaths across the Caribbean, late-season Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall again early this week on the East Coast of the United States.
Some are calling the hurricane “Frankenstorm” due to its potential mix of both winter and tropical cyclone weather. Regardless of what you call it, we hope that you get the information you need to make preparations and stay safe if you are in the area. It has the potential to be one of the worst storms the area has seen in decades.
The Google Crisis Response team has assembled a
Hurricane Sandy
map to help you track the storm’s progress and provide updated emergency information.
View larger map
.
On the map, you’ll find the following emergency preparedness information:
Location tracking
, including the hurricane’s current and forecasted paths, courtesy of the
NOAA-National Hurricane Center
Public alerts
, including evacuation notices, storm warnings, and more, via
weather.gov
and
earthquake.usgs.gov
Radar and cloud imagery
from
weather.com
and the
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Evacuation information
and routes
Shelters
and recovery centers will appear as they become operational
Storm footage
and storm-related YouTube videos, curated by
Storyful
We’ve also launched a map specific to New York City, featuring evacuation zone information from
NYC Open Data
, open shelters, weather information and live webcams.
View larger map
.
You can easily share and embed these maps on your website — just hit the “Share” button at the top of the map to get the HTML code. We’ll continue to update these maps as more information becomes available.
Posted by Ka-Ping Yee, Software Engineer, Google Crisis Response
(Cross-posted on the
Google.org blog
)
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