Archive for November 28th, 2007
Google today announced the release of version 2.0 of Google Maps for mobile, its innovative and widely used mobile mapping and local search application. New in v2.0 is a beta version of Google’s “My Location” technology, which uses cell tower ID information to provide users with their approximate location, helping them determine where they are, what’s around them, and how to get there.
Google is committed to providing users with quick and easy access to the information they need, no matter when or where they need it. Location information makes mobile mapping and search faster and more convenient, but the most common source of location information to date — GPS technology — is supported on fewer than 15 percent of the mobile phones expected to be sold in 2007. With Google’s new My Location technology, users who don’t have GPS-enabled mobile phones will now be able to take advantage of the added speed and convenience afforded by location information. The My Location technology also complements GPS-enabled devices, as it delivers a location estimate faster than GPS, provides coverage inside buildings (where GPS signals can be unreliable), and doesn’t drain phone batteries as quickly as GPS. Whether users are trying to locate a restaurant in an unfamiliar neighborhood, get directions to the nearest hotel while traveling, or just find a place to grab some coffee while shopping for the holidays, Google Maps for mobile with My Location can help them get what they need quickly and easily.
The My Location technology takes information broadcast from cell towers and sifts it through Google-developed algorithms to approximate a user’s current location on the map. This approximation is anonymous, as Google does not gather any personally identifiable information or associate any location data with personally identifiable information as part of the My Location feature. The feature can also be easily disabled by anyone who prefers not to use it. The My Location technology is available on most smartphones, including all color BlackBerry devices, all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices, most Windows Mobile devices, newer Sony Ericsson devices, and some Motorola devices.
Google Maps for mobile, first launched in the US in November 2005, enables users to view interactive maps and satellite imagery, find local businesses, get point-to-point driving directions, and view live traffic updates, all while on the go. The application is now available on and optimized for a wide variety of platforms, running on most J2ME-enabled devices; all color BlackBery devices; Windows Mobile devices with Windows Mobile 2003, 5.0, and above; Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices; and Palm devices with Palm OS 5 and above. Google Maps for mobile is being actively used by millions of people in more than 20 different countries around the globe.
To download Google Maps for mobile with My Location, point your mobile or desktop web browser to www.google.com/mobile/gmm/index.html. To see the full range of mobile products and services available from Google, visit mobile.google.com.
November 28th, 2007
I’ll admit that I am not a coder and I don’t know much more than a tiny bit of PHP at the time of writing this. However, I have managed to create database driven webpages, and even password protected members only areas due to the extremely easy to use PHP buttons in Dreamweaver.
If you are interested in learning to do this for yourself, this lesson will point you in the right direction so that you can experiment and see for yourself how easy it is.
The first thing you need to do is to create an SQL database on your webhost. This can be done via CPanel or if not that, then ask your host how…anyways, creating an SQL database with 1 table is not hard.
The key is, to create it, record the information and then try to log in to that database via Dreamweaver.
You can do this by creating a new database connection in the ‘Application’ window of Dreamweaver.
This is one of the most challenging parts, and you’ll need to set up the site’s testing server. At first this can be tricky, but if you stick with it and get connected to your SQL databas via Dreamweaver, you’ll soon find ways to insert records, display records, and much more!
You see, once you are connected to the database, the table names will dynamically show up in Dreamweaver, and from there it is only a short step to learn how to insert records, repeat records, and display data in the database.
Of course reading a book can help you with PHP, but it is also fun to just jump right in the Dreamweaver buttons.
Even a total PHP dunce like myself was able to start creating little PHP/SQL applications once I figured out these basic steps.
So if you want to create PHP applications, but don’t know how to hand-code PHP, create a PHP/SQL database with 1 table, figure out how to connect to it via Dreamweaver, and start messing around with the Dreamweaver PHP buttons.
November 28th, 2007
Google today announced a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The newly created initiative, known as RE<C, will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. RE<C is hiring engineers and energy experts to lead its research and development work, which will begin with a significant effort on solar thermal technology, and will also investigate enhanced geothermal systems and other areas. In 2008, Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development and related investments in renewable energy. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.Â
“We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers,” said Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products. ”We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal.”
Page added, “There has been tremendous work already on renewable energy. Technologies have been developed that can mature into industries capable of providing electricity cheaper than coal. Solar thermal technology, for example, provides a very plausible path to providing renewable energy cheaper than coal. We are also very interested in further developing other technologies that have potential to be cost-competitive and green. We are aware of several promising technologies, and believe there are many more out there.”
Page continued, “With talented technologists, great partners and significant investments, we hope to rapidly push forward. Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades.” (One gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.)Â
“If we meet this goal,” said Page, “and large-scale renewable deployments are cheaper than coal, the world will have the option to meet a substantial portion of electricity needs from renewable sources and significantly reduce carbon emissions. We expect this would be a good business for us as well.”
Coal is the primary power source for many around the world, supplying 40% of the world’s electricity. The greenhouse gases it produces are one of our greatest environmental challenges. Making electricity produced from renewable energy cheaper than coal would be a key part of reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions.Â
“Cheap renewable energy is not only critical for the environment but also vital for economic development in many places where there is limited affordable energy of any kind,” added Sergey Brin, Google Co-founder and President of Technology.
Strategic Investments and Grants
“Lots of groups are doing great work trying to produce inexpensive renewable energy. We want to add something that moves these efforts toward even cheaper technologies a bit more quickly. Usual investment criteria may not deliver the super low-cost, clean, renewable energy soon enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change,” said Dr. Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, “Google.org’s hope is that by funding research on promising technologies, investing in promising new companies, and doing a lot of R&D ourselves, we may help spark a green electricity revolution that will deliver breakthrough technologies priced lower than coal.”
Working with RE<C, Google.org will make strategic investments and grants that demonstrate a path toward producing energy at an unsubsidized cost below that of coal-fired power plants. Google will work with a variety of organizations in the renewable energy field, including companies, R&D laboratories, and universities. For example, Google.org is working with two companies that have promising scalable energy technologies:Â
- eSolar Inc., a Pasadena, CA-based company specializing in solar thermal power which replaces the fuel in a traditional power plant with heat produced from solar energy. eSolar’s technology has great potential to produce utility-scale power cheaper than coal. For more information, please visit http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/esolar.pdf.
- Makani Power Inc., an Alameda, CA-based company developing high-altitude wind energy extraction technologies aimed at harnessing the most powerful wind resources. High-altitude wind energy has the potential to satisfy a significant portion of current global electricity needs. For more information on Makani Power, please visit http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/makani.pdf.
Ongoing Commitments
Today’s announcement represents just the latest steps in Google’s commitment to a clean and green energy future. Â
Google has been working hard on energy efficiency and making its business environmentally sustainable. Last spring the company announced its intention to be carbon neutral for 2007, and is on track to meet that goal. To this end, the company has taken concrete steps to reduce its carbon footprint and accelerate improvements in green technology, including:
- Developing cutting-edge energy efficiency technology to power and cool its data centers in the U.S. and around the world.Â
- Generating electricity for its Mountain View campus from a 1.6 Megawatt corporate solar panel installation, one of the largest in the U.S.
- Accelerating development and adoption of plug-in vehicles through the RechargeIT initiative, including a $10 million request for investment proposals (http://www.google.org/recharge/)
- Joining with other industry leaders in 2007 to form the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a consortium that advocates the design and use of more energy-efficient computers and servers (http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/). Â
- Working on policies that encourage renewable energy development and deployment, such as a U.S. Renewable Energy Standard, through Google.org.
For more information on Google’s commitment to a clean energy future, see http://www.google.com/renewable-energy
November 28th, 2007
