Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
A few easy tools the whole family will love
Thursday, July 11, 2013
This summer we’re
posting regularly
with privacy and security tips. Knowing how to stay safe and secure online is important, which is why we created our Good to Know site with advice and tips for safe and savvy Internet use.
-Ed.
Summer is here, and with kids out of school it is a great time for families to explore the web together—from learning what makes fireflies glow to playing online games together. But while there is a lot of entertaining, educational content online, there are also materials I’d rather not see when I’m surfing the web with my family. Google has built a number of tools that parents can use to help keep content they would rather not see from popping up on the family computer. It takes less than five minutes to turn them on, so follow the steps below to help make your search results more family-friendly this summer.
1. Turn on SafeSearch in Google Search
Turning on
SafeSearch
is an easy way to help you hide images, search results and videos intended just for adults. It’s especially helpful if you’re concerned about the content that might pop up on your family computer, and it’s easy to turn on. Just visit the Google
Search Settings page
, go to the "SafeSearch filters" section, and check the box to filter mature content from Google Search result pages. These preferences will apply for any searches done using that browser on your computer. If you have multiple browsers on your family computer, you might want to turn SafeSearch on for each one.
You can turn SafeSearch on or off from the
Search Settings page
2. Save and lock your preferences
Once you’ve set your preferences, make sure to click the Save button at the bottom of the page. And if you're signed in to your Google Account, you can also lock the SafeSearch filter so others can’t change your preferences—just click “Lock SafeSearch.” Now the setting is protected with your Google Account password. While no filter is 100 percent perfect, with SafeSearch on you can feel more confident browsing the web with your family.
3. Turn on YouTube Safety Mode
YouTube Safety Mode
helps you and your family avoid videos that might be OK with our
Community Guidelines
, but you might not want popping up on your family computer. Turning on Safety Mode in YouTube takes just one step. Scroll down to the bottom of any YouTube page and click on the button that says “Safety” at the bottom of the page—now you can choose your preferences for Safety Mode.
Click the button that says “Safety” at the bottom of any YouTube page, and then choose your preferences
4. Lock your Safety Mode preferences
Just like with Safe Search, you can also log in with your Google Account and
lock YouTube Safety Mode
on each one of your computer’s browsers. It will filter videos with mature content, so they won’t show up in video search results, related videos, playlists, shows or films. YouTube Safety Mode will also help hide objectionable comments.
5. Turn on SafeSearch on mobile
SafeSearch is available on your phone or other mobile device, as well as the web. You can turn on SafeSearch for Google on your mobile device by opening your phone’s browser and visiting
google.com/preferences
. Scroll to the SafeSearch Filters section to select what level of filtering you would like to enable. Be sure to tap “Save Preferences” after you’ve made your selection.
To enable SafeSearch on YouTube’s mobile app, first open your settings, then press “Search.” From there, select “SafeSearch Filtering” and select moderate or strict filtering.
Helping your family have a positive and safe experience with Google is important to you, and it’s important to us, too. That’s why we’ve partnered with parents and experts on free and easy to use tools and resources to help your family stay safe and secure when browsing online. If you’re interested in even more of our tools and tips, please see our
Good to Know
site, and stay tuned for more security tips throughout the summer.
Posted by Matthias Heiler, Staff Software Engineer
Hanging out with a Nobel Prize economics laureate
Thursday, July 11, 2013
We believe the Internet represents the motor of the 21st century economy, and its always nice to hear a Nobel Prize winner explain how best to encourage net innovation. Czech
CERGE-EI
think tank recently organized a Google Hangout with Nobel Laureate for economics
Eric Maskin
.
The Prague setting was appropriate. The Czech Republic’s economy remains dependent on traditional manufacturing, particularly the auto industry, which accounts for nearly a quarter of Czech output. Czech policymakers regularly acknowledge the need to move toward a more high-tech, services-based, knowledge economy. How?
Professor Maskin suggested that the Czech Republic and the rest of Europe needed to be careful about imposing a heavy patent burden on the tech sector. Software, semiconductor, and computer industries have been innovative despite historically weak patent protection, he argues. “In software you don’t have single big breakthroughs, but rather a succession of many small improvements,” he explained. “If I patent a small discovery and you want to build on it, you won’t be able to do that easily - I’m going to block you with my patents.”
The Nobel Prize winner discussed these ideas, along with many others, with Czech commentators
David Marek
(Chief Economist, Patria Finance) and
Jakub Steiner
(Associate Professor, CERGE-EI). During his discussion, Professor Maskin is not an anti-patent zealot. He compared the software to the pharmaceutical industry, where he said patents could be effective. “In the case of drugs, where you have a single big breakthrough and have to spend hundreds of millions, patents have been useful for drug companies and society,” he said.
The Czech Republic, along with the rest of Europe, needs to embrace Internet innovation and Professor Maskin offers some important insights in how to construct the best possible innovation environment. We hope to hold new Hangouts from Prague to foster a healthy debate on Internet regulation.
Posted by Denis Gibadulin, Public Policy & Gov't Relations Analyst, Czech Republic
Supporting Israeli and Palestinian technology students
Monday, July 8, 2013
In his recent Jerusalem speech, President Obama referenced one of our 2013
RISE
award recipients,
MEET - Middle East Education through Technology
as an example of how innovation is reshaping the Middle East.
Today, on MEET’s 10th anniversary, hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis will come together in Jerusalem to celebrate MEET's impact, showcasing technology and business projects built by students who’ve participated in their program. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube between 4-6pm GMT/6-8pm IDT, to enable MEET’s community all over the world to join the occasion. Watch
here.
Working in partnership with
Massachusets Institute of Technology
, MEET's mission is to educate and empower the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians to bring about positive change in the region. Their groundbreaking program teaches computer science, entrepreneurship and leadership to 160 high school students (age 15-17) over three years. The program comprises three consecutive summers at the Hebrew University with volunteer instructors from MIT, and weekly program sessions in the two intervening years at the MEET hubs in Jerusalem and Nazareth, taught by MEET alumni.
Google’s work with support for MEET goes beyond the RISE award. Googlers from Tel Aviv, Mountain View and London serve as project mentors; and the Venture Lab incubator for social and business initiatives led by MEET alumni is a partner of
Google’s Campus Tel Aviv Launchpad
program.
MEET has accomplished much in its first decade, and we know they have great plans for the future.
Alison Daniel-Cutler, Pre-University Education Outreach, Europe, Middle East and Africa
A new way to experience the 100th Tour de France
Monday, July 8, 2013
This year, the Tour de France is celebrating its 100th edition with a special route, from Corsica to Les Champs-Elysées, giving people around the world the chance to admire beautiful sights as well as amazing athletic feats.
Our Doodle celebrating the 100th edition of the Tour de France
The Tour de France uses a variety of Google products that can help you experience the race like never before, including a
YouTube
channel, a
Google+ page
and an
Android app
where you can keep up with this 100th edition. We’ve also used Google Maps and Street View to create a new interactive experience that lets you feel what it’s like to pedal alongside the greats. Put on your helmet and cycle
here
.
So what are you waiting for?
Line up and get started
!
Posted by Raphaël Goumain, Consumer Marketing Director, France
Hanging out with innovators
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Over the past decade, Slovakia has reformed its taxation, healthcare, pension, and social welfare systems, attracting large inflows of foreign investment into the automobile and electronic sectors, and becoming Central Europe’s first country to adopt the euro in January, 2009. But Europe’s economic woes have slowed growth. The Slovak government believes it must forge ahead finding new and innovative sources of growth - particularly on the Internet.
For this reason, the Ministry of the Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic recently worked with Slovak Alliance for Internet Economy to stream its first ever live
Google Hangout
with Israeli venture entrepreneur
Jon Medved
. Medved has invested in over 100 Israeli startup companies, helping 12 of them to get to valuations in excess of $100 million. His presentation, entitled “Israel - the Power to Astonish,” explained to the online audience that venture capital for web startups was flowing into israel despite the global economic crisis. What is Israel’s “special sauce?,” he asked rhetorically. “A willingness to accept risk and failure,” he answered.
Slovakia’s major economic daily
Hospodarske noviny
streamed the hangout live on its website and four national startup hubs participated. We are planning to continue these hangouts from Finland and elsewhere, creating a series of
“Innovators Connect”
policy discussions about innovation and Internet Economy. Tune in and see if Slovakia can become the next hot e-country.
Posted by Ondrej Socuvka, Public Policy Manager, Bratislava
An evening with the UK’s computing pioneers
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
It was fish and chips, ice-cream and popcorn all round as we celebrated the UK’s computing heritage on Monday with a night of film and stories from some of the country’s pioneers.
The evening began with unveiling a new display showcasing the extensive contributions the UK has made to computing—from
Charles Babbage
and
Ada Lovelace
, to
Donald Davies
and
Tim Berners-Lee
. It now has pride of place in the reception of Google’s Central St Giles office in London, and we hope will help make these achievements better known.
Following came more formal sessions, beginning with those who first brought the Internet to the UK. The
pioneering work of the National Physical Laboratory
was described by Roger Scantlebury and Peter Wilkinson, both members of Donald Davies’ team who built the NPL network—the first Internet-like thing in the UK. They were joined
by Peter Kirstein from UCL
and
Vint Cerf
who recounted the story of how the US Arpanet came to be connected to NPL’s network, via Peter’s workaround gateway at UCL.
It was a thrill to have these four pioneers together, reminiscing about their early work and the creative ways they overcame the many challenges, bureaucratic and technological. If you’d like to hear the inside scoop on how the Internet got started in the UK, enjoy this video:
The evening was rounded off with
some film screenings
, interspersed with presentations by Tilly Blyth from the
Science Museum
, and David Hartley from
TNMOC
, describing the great work they’re doing to help preserve and promote the UK’s computing heritage. Finishing with a lively Q&A session with Vint Cerf where we talked about the Internet’s future.
Thanks to everyone who came, and all who shared their stories, making it such a memorable night.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
Joining the European Union - live on YouTube
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Croatia
this week became the 28th member of the European Union, with crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb. Fireworks lit the sky as membership became effective - and the celebrations were streamed live on YouTube.
Thousands of people assembled in Zagreb's main square for the accession ceremony."Welcome to the European Union!,"
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
said in Croatian to the cheering crowd.
Croatia’s President Ivo Josipovic
said it was "a great and joyful day for our homeland".
More and more European politicians are using YouTube and other Google tools to get their message across. Lithuania this week took over the rotating six month presidency of the European Union’s Council.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite
welcomed the moment, naturally, on YouTube.
“Europe is going through tough times,” the President said. “We Lithuanians know exactly what it means. We have survived a number of occupations. We fought for our freedom. We have never doubted our European path.” We hope these stirring words will signal six months of success for Europe.
The
opening ceremony
of the Lithuanian presidency of the EU Council will be live-streamed via Hangout on Air on Friday afternoon. Watch it on
YouTube
or
Google+
from 4 PM Central Eruope Time. Guests are expected to include European Commission President Borroso, and
European Council President Herman van Rompuy
.
Posted by Marta Poslad, Policy Analyst, Central and Eastern Europe
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