Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Live streaming at Egypt's Abu Simbel Temple
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
It was a ritual for the Pharaohs! Twice a year, the sun aligns with the face of
Pharaoh Ramses II’s
statue in the inner sanctuary of the temple of
Abu Simbel
. Today, the
Egyptian Ministry of Tourism
live streamed the occasion on YouTube.
The solar alignment occurs on the date of Ramses II's birthday, February 22, and the date of his coronation, October 22. The latter date also signified the start of the harvest season for Ancient Egyptians.
Ramses commissioned the Abu Simbel temple between 1279 and 1213 B.C out of piety to the gods, to mark his own deification and to celebrate his domination of Nubia. It is carved into sheer stone, located 275 kilometers southeast of the city of Aswan. The original temple was positioned on the bank of the Nile. A UNESCO-sponsored project relocated and raised it some 60 meters in the 1960s to save it from flooding caused by the construction of the giant
Aswan Dam
.
Thousands of tourists flock to the temple to see the solar alignment spectacle. Now, thanks to the Internet, anyone can watch it from anywhere in the world at any time using a desktop or mobile device.
Posted by Tarek Abdalla, Head of Marketing, Middle East & North Africa
Seeing Spain through English eyes
Monday, October 21, 2013
Over the past few centuries, Span has exerted a powerful fascination on foreigners, particularly English-speaking ones. Visitors from the United Kingdom, as well as the U.S., Canada, Australia and Ireland, left powerful descriptions of their travels to this exotic land. Now, with our help, the
Cervantes Institute
has created an
online exhibition
based on accounts by foreign travelers collected in more than 240 books on Spain written between 1750 and 1950. More than five hundred images and engravings have been put online.
The Institute, the Spanish government’s equivalent to France’s
Alliance Francaise
and Germany’s
Goethe Institute
, is dedicated to promoting the Spanish language and culture. Some 40 of the exhibition's books, the out of copyright works, already had been scanned in our
Book Project
. Others were found in the collection of the Institute’s London branch. Institute curators have prepared a detailed analysis of the texts and organized them by subject, ranging from the role women to bull-fights
The exhibition explodes many stereotypes about Spain. Most foreign observers found them hard-working, seeing the much-noted afternoon siesta as hiding the real truth. “This is not a fair ground for the charge of laziness, so often urged against the natives of the south of Europe, for the heat at this hour will induce drowsiness even in the active and stirring Englishman, especially when not inured to the relaxing climate,” wrote
George Dennis
in
A Summer in Andalusia
, published in 1839. “The Spanish working man is really a most sober, hard-working being, not much given to dancing and not at all to drinking. They are exceptionally clever and sharp, and learn any new trade with great facility,” concurred Louis Higgin, in 1902 in his
Spanish life In town and country
.
More than 100 people showed up for the exhibition’s launch this month. The Cervantes’s Institute’s General Secretary discussed the project via Google Hangout with the the director of Cervantes Institute in London. The exhibition demonstrates how the Internet helps allow access to previously overlooked or ignored documents. Many of the books, stocked in dusty library shelves, received few readers. Today, anyone, anywhere in the world is able, with a click of their computer, to find and enjoy them.
Posted by Esperanza Ibanez, Public Policy Manager, Spain
Injecting data into journalism
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
We’ve long believed that the vast amounts of information unearthed by the Internet can power innovations in journalism. That’s why we are supporting the
European Journalism Centre’s
new online
data journalism course
. Registration for Doing Journalism with Data: First Steps, Skills and Tools has just opened at
http://www.datadrivenjournalism.net/course/
.
This five-module introductory course will give participants the essential concepts, techniques and skills to effectively work with data to produce compelling and visual stories. It is open to anyone with an Internet connection and is due to start in early 2014.
The course features a stellar line-up of instructors and advisors from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, New York Times, ProPublica, Wired, Twitter, La Nacion Argentina, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Zeit Online, and others. “Whether you want to get over your fear of Excel, learn the language of your data geeks, or discover how to tell stories with data visualisations, this course will help journalists and newsrooms learn how to take advantage of these invaluable skills,” said Josh Hatch, senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education and member of the course’s Advisory Board
There is already plenty of
evidence
of the opportunities and insights to be had in data driven journalism. We hope a graduate of this new course will soon be producing similar ground-breaking journalism.
Posted by Peter Barron, Direct, Communications, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Young and old unite for the Internet in Italy
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Students gr0w up with the Internet, but have difficulty entering the job market. Youth unemployment now reaches 40 percent in Italy. Retired entrepreneurs were successful in the business world, but often have little experience with the Net. Only 16 percent of Italian pensioners are online, benefiting from search, chats, blogs, and social media.
For two innovative Italian associations, the
Fondazione Mondo Digitale
, and
CNA Pensionati
, these alarming figures offer an opportunity to create a mutually beneficial exchange. At the pension group’s annual conference in Rome, and with our support, 300 students from nine schools from throughout Italy heard real life testimony on how to create and manage a company. Through next April, many students will visits to these companies and benefit from a specific training in our
“Clusters on the Web”
initiative.
In exchange for the business knowledge, the students will run workshops for retirees on how to use the Internet in their everyday life, learning how to access and use public administration services online or how to stay in touch with their grandchildren studying abroad.
At the launch event, Luciano, a retired tailor (pictured above), met up with Sara, a highschool student in Rome. Luciano wants to learn how the Internet can help him keep a record of his measurements and rationalise the administration of his business, and Sara wants to help him create an Internet site to promote his hand-made suits online. The Internet can drive ahead Italy’s economy - and engage all ages.
Posted by Laura Bononcini, Public Policy Manager, Rome
Enhancing Greek democracy
Monday, October 14, 2013
The timing for the debate was ideal: Greece is fighting against an unprecedented political - as much as economic - crisis. Earlier this month, police arrested several leaders of a far-right, xenophobic, neo-fascist party Golden Dawn, charging it with a variety of serious criminal offenses including murder. At the beginning of next year, the country takes over the six month European Union presidency.
In response, we became a supporter and prime mover behind the first
“Digital Democracy” conference
, held in the original 19th-century
Old Parliament
building in Athens. Participants included the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Deputy Foreign Minister, the e-Government Minister and the Minister responsible for public television. The conference explored the ways that digital technologies and the Internet enhance democracy by changing the nature of political communication.
Speakers concluded that a democratic deficit exists in Europe which the Internet can help fill. Politicians need to leverage the web for a two-way dialogue, listening as much as talking to citizens. We need to close the digital literacy gap which leaves certain parts of the population - the less digitally savvy - out of democratic processes. Most important, the Government needs to use Internet tools to increase transparency via the use of open data and of online public consultations.
Other countries face similar challenges. No silver bullet exists. It will take sweat and perseverance for the Greece and the rest of Europe to solidify their democracies.
Posted by Dionisis Kolokotsas, Policy Manager, Athens
The cultural catwalk: 5,000+ new works in the Cultural Institute
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
The past few weeks, Fashion Week in New York, London, Paris and Milan have given us a feast for the eyes with parades of creativity, color and design. At the
Cultural
Institute
, we're putting on a fashion show of a different kind with new content from 36 partners. Many of these cultural treasures, from China, Hungary, Mexico and 16 other countries, have a strong link to fashion and design through the ages.
Fabrics are the starting point of many designs. You can see this in the wonderful costumes added by the Textile Museum of Canada to the
Google Art
Project
. Highlights include a
kimono
from Japan, a
cape
from Polynesia and an 1800s
jacket
with beautiful detail from Greece. The creation of these fabrics is highly skilled work; in an online
exhibition
, The Craft Revival Trust gives us an insight into the 5,000-year-old Indian textile tradition which creates the prints, motifs and colors that are still used today, while the
The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
exhibits quilts of delicate beauty.
If regalia and royal jewels are more your thing, then then be sure to see new exhibits from
La Venaria Reale
in Italy and the
Palace of Versailles
in France. Zoom in at brushstroke level to the
gigapixel
painting of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia to appreciate the jewellery, metallics, fabrics and lace of the King’s royal mantle, scepter and crown. And accessories were as important in the 17th century as they are today: an
online exhibition
entitled “Louis XIV: the construction of a political image” curated by experts in Versailles features an amazing
wax portrait
moulded from the monarch’s face, complete with a real wig.
The fashion world has long taken inspiration from tribal traditions. In a new photographic archive named "
African ceremonies
,” the diversity and beauty of 100+ unique African cultures is on full display—the work of two world-class artists who spent 30 years criss-crossing the continent. From the
painted Karo Dancers of Ethiopia
to
The Hands of the Ashanti King
, you'd be hard-pressed to find more elaborate body art and ceremonial dress.
You can also browse the interiors of the
first two museums in China
to open their doors to Street View; enjoy our first
collection of children’s art
from Norway;
learn about Sumatra’s Pustaha book of spells
reflecting the wisdom of nine generations of magicians; or simply sit back and let yourself be
taken on a tour by a museum director
through one of the 12 new galleries they’ve created.
With 5,400 new items to explore, there’s some style inspiration for all of us!
Posted by Piotr Adamczyk, Program Manager, Google Cultural Institute
Music spreads across Europe with Google Play
Friday, October 4, 2013
Your music is supposed to be fun, but in reality it can be the exact opposite: a chore - moving files between computers, syncing across your phone and tablet, and lots and lots of wires.
Google Play Music,
an easier way to manage your music, offers a solution. It just has launched so you can listen to any song you want, whenever you want, on all of your devices. has just come to Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland.
All Access coverage is now spread pretty much across the entire continent. A first group of
nine European countries
last month received the service.
All Access is the first service of its kind that lets you store 20,000 songs from your personal music collection in the cloud for free; purchase new music from all the major record labels and thousands of indies to grow your collection; or get an unlimited pass to a huge library of music on all your devices with All Access, our monthly music subscription service. It’s all stored in the cloud so you never have to worry about losing songs or moving them again. You can add a new favorite track to your collection while you’re on your computer, and it will be instantly available on your phone and tablet. And you can “pin” all of this content to make it available on your phone or tablet when you’re offline without a connection.
All Access lets you search for and listen to any song from our library of millions of tracks, wherever and whenever you want. You can create an ad-free, interactive radio station from any song or artist you love. Or you can browse recommendations from our expert music team and explore songs by genre. The “Listen Now” tab puts artists and radio stations we think you’ll like front and center so you can start listening the minute you open your library. You can try All Access for free for the first month and pay only a modest subscription service each month after that.
With this launch, Google Play moves one step closer to being your ultimate digital entertainment destination, where you can find, enjoy and share your favourite apps, games, books, movies, magazines and music on your Android phone or tablet. Good listening.
Posted by Posted by Sami Valkonen, Head of International Music Partnerships, Google Play
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