Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Explore the Galapagos’ biodiversity with Street View
Thursday, September 12, 2013
This week marks the 178th anniversary of Darwin’s discovery of the Galapagos Islands. This volcanic archipelago is one of the most biodiverse and unique places on the planet, with species that have remarkably adapted to their environment. Through observing the animals, Darwin made key insights that informed his theory of evolution. Here’s a short documentary that captures the 10-day expedition:
Today, in partnership with the Directorate of the
Galapagos National Park
and
Charles Darwin Foundation
, we’re launching the 360-degree images from the Galapagos Islands that
we collected in May
with the
Street View Trekker
. Now, you can visit the islands from anywhere you may be, and see many of the animals that Darwin experienced on his historic and groundbreaking journey in 1835.
Darwin may have first sighted San Cristobal Island
from the water
, perhaps near where we sailed with the Trekker strapped to a boat in order to observe the
craggy shoreline
and the
Magnificent Frigatebirds
that the rocky landscape shelters. After landing on San Cristobal, we made our way to Galapaguera Cerro Colorado, a breeding center that helps to restore the population of the island tortoises, seriously threatened by invasive species. Wearing the Trekker, we walked by
giant tortoises munching on leafy stalks
and recently hatched
baby tortoises
.
View Larger Map
The Galapaguera plays a critical role in conservation of the giant tortoises
Darwin visited Floreana Island, but he didn’t have the scuba gear needed to properly explore the marine life just off the island’s coast. Thanks to our partner,
Catlin Seaview Survey
and their
SVII underwater camera
, we were able to collect underwater imagery of some especially
energetic and inquisitive sea lions
that came out to see whether the divers wanted to play!
View Larger Map
The playful Galapagos Sea Lion is one of the endemic species of the islands
On our hike through the wetlands of Isabela Island, we spotted some marine iguanas, including
this one
sunning itself after a morning swim. On North Seymour Island, we got up close and personal to
blue-footed boobies performing their mating dance
and the
Magnificent Frigatebirds with their red throat sacs
.
View Larger Map
The blue-footed boobies on North Seymour island
The
extensive Street View imagery of the Galapagos Islands
won’t just enable armchair travelers to experiences the islands from anywhere in the world—it will also play an instrumental role in the ongoing research of the environment, conservation, animal migration patterns and the impact of tourism on the islands. See our
Lat Long blog post
for an example of how the imagery will be used for scientific research.
Visit our
behind-the-scenes experience
and tune in to an exclusive
Google+ Hangout
with the Google Maps team and our partners at 9:00 a.m. PT today to learn more about this special collection of imagery.
Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Project Lead, Google Earth Outreach
Discovering Europe’s historic Parliament buildings
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Few Europeans have the opportunity to visit their parliament, the historic home of their democracy. Now, however, technology and the Internet offer a glimpse into the splendours of the some of these hidden chambers where important decisions are made.
To mark this year’s European Heritage Days (where people can get a peek inside iconic buildings not normally open to the public), we joined with the French National Assembly on two exciting projects. From today, you can
virtually visit
the Palais Bourbon, seat of France’s National Assembly
via Street View
in Google Maps. A
trolley
equipped with fifteen lenses took 360° pictures allowing anyone with an Internet connection to virtually explore the architecture, paintings and decor of this impressive building. At the click of a button you can transport yourself to the centre of decision-making in France.
View Larger Map
The Street View imagery is also featured in an online exhibition created by the National Assembly using imagery from the the
Google Cultural Institute
G. Entitled
"Enter the Chambers"
, the exhibition features photos and historical commentary on the European Union’s 42 parliaments, ranging from the Bundestag in Berlin to the Sejm in Warsaw. ontributions have been made from many individual Parliaments to showcase an impressive array of buildings and architecture rarely seen in a single place.
The parliamentary initiative is not the only one way we are working to bring online historic buildings and sites On our Cultural Institute platform, we offer virtual tours of many sites around the world, from the
archaeological site of Pompeii
to the
Versailles Palace
and even the art collection of the
White House
in the US on the Cultural Institute site with content contributed from cultural institutions from all around the world. We hope you enjoy exploring.
Posted by Francis Donnat, Senior Policy Counsel, Google France
Report: How Google fights piracy
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
More music, video, text and software is being created on the Internet by more people in more places than ever before. Every kind of creative endeavor, both amateur and professional, is being transformed by the new opportunities and lower costs made possible by digital tools and online distribution. But copyright infringement remains a problem online, and Google is working hard to tackle it.
Today, we are releasing a report, “
How Google Fights Piracy
,” bringing together in one place an overview of the programs, policies, and technologies we have put in place to combat piracy online. Here are few highlights:
Better Legal Alternatives
: The best way to fight piracy is with better, convenient, legal alternatives. On YouTube and Play, Google is committed to creating those compelling alternatives for users. Each time a music fan chooses YouTube or Play over an unauthorized source, for example, it’s a victory against piracy. And thousands of copyright owners now use Content ID on YouTube to elect to monetize user-generated content on YouTube, rather than take it down, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties from Google each year.
Follow the Money
: When it comes to rogue sites that specialize in online piracy, other anti-piracy strategies will have limited effect so long as there is money to be made by their operators. As a global leader in online advertising, Google is committed to rooting out and ejecting rogue sites from our advertising services, to ensure that they are not being misused to fund these sites. In 2012, we disabled ad serving to more than 46,000 sites for violating our copyright policies, the vast majority detected through our proactive efforts. We are also working with other leaders in the industry to craft
best practices
aimed at raising standards across the entire online advertising industry.
Removing Infringing Results from Search
: When it comes to Search, Google is a leader in addressing the concerns of copyright owners, responding to more copyright removal notices, and faster, than ever before. During 2012, copyright owners and their agents sent us removal notices for more than 57 million web pages. Our turnaround time on those notices was, on average, less than 6 hours. That’s faster than we managed in 2011, despite a 15-fold increase in the volume of requests.
Hundreds of Google employees work on the problem of piracy online, and we will continue to work with copyright owners to focus our energies on combating the problem.
Posted by Fred von Lohmann, Legal Director, Copyright
Celebrating start-ups at Campus Party London
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Last week, I joined more than 10,000 “Campuseros” at
Campus Party London
- a huge gathering of coders, tech entrepreneurs, press and politicians, all focused on the Internet as an engine of economic growth for Europe. The event felt more like a music festival than a traditional conference, and featured an
indoor campsite
and countless, workshops, hackathons and demonstrations - all dedicated to showing what the digital sector can deliver for Europe’s future.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes
used the occasion
to give an inspiring speech about the need for Europe to embrace digital innovation. Her “Startup Europe Leaders Club” launched the
Startup Manifesto
.
Drafted by European entrepreneurs including Joanna Shields, CEO of TechCity UK, Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify and Niklas Zennström, founder of Atomico and Skype, the manifesto is an excellent proposal to tackle the issues that inhibit entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe. We hope it will be a useful guide for the 28 EU leaders who’ll meet to discuss digital opportunities in October at the European Council.
Google was glad to play its part in the event too. My Google colleagues Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the internet, and Chris DiBona, Google’s open source guru, spoke about the future of the Internet and Open Source.
I gave a talk about the principles of innovation at Google and how we implement them in our own
Campus London
, which, in its first year alone, has hosted
more than 860 events
, offering more than 60,000 entrepreneurs
mentorship, technical advice and training
. We’re replicating these kinds of initiatives across Europe and around the world via our
Google for Entrepreneurs
programme too.
Throughout the event, noise and energy levels were high - in part because of performances from the likes of
Beardyman
- but also because Europe’s digital sector is gaining momentum. Since the start of the crisis in 2008, the number of European start-up accelerators and incubators has grown by nearly 400%, putting the continent more or less on an even footing with the US in terms of startup programs per capita. And more broadly, the digital economy already contributes up to 8 percent of GDP in some EU economies, and 4% of EU GDP and is predicted to grow seven times faster than the rest of the economy. This is an accomplishment to cherish - and nurture!
Posted by Eze Vidra, Head of Campus London
Afternoon tea and a new gallery with computing’s heroines
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Last Saturday saw a special gathering at Bletchley Park to showcase the contributions of women to computing. We were joined in person by some of the UK’s female pioneers—including
Margaret Bullen
who did the wiring and soldering for Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer;
Sophie Wilson
who co-designed the ARM processor, found in almost every mobile phone and tablet; and
Dame Stephanie Shirley
who founded Freelance Programmers, one of the UK’s earliest software startups.
Photos thanks to
Shaun Armstrong
(copyright
Mubsta.com
) and
James Martin
The afternoon got into full swing with a presentation applauding the pioneers present and the
announcement of a new Google sponsored gallery
at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC). The gallery aims to highlight the achievements and roles played by women as visionaries, engineers, entrepreneurs, programmers and more. It was aptly launched with a
speech by Dame Stephanie Shirley
speaking via hangout from the new Gallery.
Afterwards, people were free to enjoy tours of
Bletchley Park
, guided by some of the original ‘Wrens’ stationed there during the war, and to visit
TNMOC
where they could see the new gallery as well as many other exhibits, and even get hands on and learn to solder!
Photos thanks to
TNMOC
and
James Martin
Bletchley’s Mansion was also decked out for the event with posters highlighting 20 women from the UK and beyond who have made groundbreaking contributions to computing—among them,
Dina St Johnston
,
Grace Hopper
,
Kateryna Yushchenko
,
Karen Sparck Jones
,
Barbara Liskov
,
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller
,
Hedy Lamarr
, and many more, not least
Ada Lovelace
who started it all. Other exhibits included displays by those working to encourage young people to get interested in computing, including
CAS #include
,
Technology Will Save Us
and
Apps For Good
.
Photos thanks to
Shaun Armstrong
(copyright
Mubsta.com
)
Overall, it was a splendid day and a chance to shine a light on some of those whose contributions are often overlooked. And this is just the beginning. Thanks to the
digital touch screens
installed in the new gallery, the displays will evolve and expand as more stories are found.
Do get in touch
if you have an idea or would like to contribute. We’re keen for this to be an inspiring resource for all visitors—especially for girls curious about computing’s opportunities.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
What's the State of the European Union? #askbarroso!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Is Europe really emerging from the financial crisis? What’s going to happen to Europe’s 5 million unemployed young people? Does the rise of euro-sceptic politics spell the end of the EU as we know it? Will Europe act on Syria?
Now’s your chance to put these questions and others to the man in charge of the European Commission, President José Manuel Barroso, in a special, live State of the European Union Hangout interview, hosted by the
euronews Global Conversation
team, but driven by you.
The Hangout on Air takes place on Thursday 12 September at 20:50 CET / 11:50 PDT, one day after President Barroso’s 2013
State of the European Union
address.
euronews is soliciting questions, comments and ideas for the interview until 12:00 CET / 03:00 PDT on Wednesday 11 September. No topic is too big or too small—all you need to do is submit your question (text or video) on Google+, Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag
#askbarroso
. The authors of the best questions—as chosen by euronews editors—will be invited to interview the President in person, live, in the Google+ Hangout.
To tune in, visit the
European Commission’s Google+ page
Thursday 12 September at 20:50 CET / 11:50 PDT. And of course, you can keep commenting up to and after the interview using the hashtags
#askbarroso
and
#SOTEU
.
Posted by Al Verney, Communications Manager, Google Brussels
Four women share stories from UK computing’s early days
Thursday, September 5, 2013
So far, with
rare
exception
, the focus of our
computing history series
has been on technology—the machines that broke new ground and the people behind them.
This time we’re approaching it from a different angle, with the release of short films highlighting the stories of four women. By luck or design, all found themselves working at the forefront of the UK’s computing industry in its earliest stages, and it was fascinating to hear their diverse experiences.
In three clips from past interviews,
Joyce Wheeler
and
Margaret Marrs
talk about their time using
EDSAC
at Cambridge, and
Mary Coombs
tells of programming
LEO
, the world’s first business computer. And in a fourth brand new film,
Dame Stephanie Shirley
shares her extraordinary tale of founding
Freelance Programmers
, one of the UK’s first software startups.
Launched in 1962, Freelance Programmers wasn’t the UK’s first independent software company—that honour goes to
Vaughan Programming Services
founded by another pioneering woman,
Dina St Johnston
, in 1959.
What made Dame Stephanie’s company stand out however was its unusual business model, dedicated to employing women programmers working part-time from home. In an era when women were routinely expected to leave the workforce upon marriage, this was a bold move. Against all odds, Dame Stephanie—or “Steve” as she signed her business letters—dramatically overcame the glass ceiling by sidestepping it, bringing many others in her wake.
Few entrepreneurs have been as successful as Dame Stephanie; even fewer have done as much to champion the cause of women in computing. We’re delighted to share her inspirational story.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
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