Good information embedded in the humour

Love Google's Earth Day Doodle this year, featuring Jane Goodall

This year's Earth Day theme is fighting plastic pollution.  Do what you can to remember the day on April 22nd and celebrate the diversity and fragility of life on our planet.

Have you looked at Google Arts & Culture, the mobile application?

When I first downloaded it, I was enchanted by the window it represents into the art world, as you can enjoy art from museums all over the world.  Living in a city that is about 300,000, we don't get a lot of fine art masterpieces come through locally (although there is the UK Art Museum, which has lovely exhibits, and the Headley-Whitney Museum, among others, which has fine pieces of jewellery and other objects there, among others).

Then in January, Google came out with a feature of the application that allowed the user to take a self-portrait (aka 'selfie') of him- or herself and 'match' it to a piece of artwork in the database.  It is a cool feature.  It was, however, regionally-locked, and much of America and most other countries couldn't actually access it.  Not only that, there was no explanation--it just didn't appear unless you were in a region that it worked in.  After some time of frustration, I finally found a news story that explained it, after I'd looked all the way through the application in vain.  I was not alone.  Thousands of negative reviews in Google Play ensued.  It's a fine application in and of itself, but the tantalising feature got dangled generally on the Internet and many found they could not begin to play with it, sometimes because they lived a mile from someone who could.

Fast forward to March.  The other night, I was getting ready to sleep and was in bed, in the dark, and happened to go onto the application to discover that the feature was there.  But of course, I couldn't take the self-portrait without getting up and turning on the light.  [You can't use an existing picture; it has to be taken by the camera right then, and then you can use Google's facial recognition processing to search.]  So I thought, well, next time I think about it, I'll try it.

Last night, before bed, I tried, and couldn't find the feature again.  So there was frustration again.  Then I tried to think what had been different the other day, and the answer was that I wasn't on the data plan; I was on the house WiFi, something I hadn't had back in January.  I went on the WiFi, tried again, and it actually showed up.  And this was the first result (you can try different ones, and it gives you the percentage matched):

Ignore the fact that my hair is sticking up (I had just gotten back out of bed and taken my CPAP masque off).  The nose and eyes and chin are pretty decent.  So I decided to learn more about both the artist (Jean-Baptiste Isabey), who was born almost exactly 200 years before I, and his subject  Louise Rosalie Lebfèvre, an actress and singer from the time.

This is the full portrait:

And here is a portrait of the artist and his daughter by fellow artist  François Gérard :

Anyway, it was fun.  I would suggest trying different forms of connecting to see if you can use it if you are regionally-locked otherwise.  I use a VPN for security and some say that helps, but for me, it was going on my local WiFi rather than the cell service.  Google has a webpage for the application and the self-portrait feature at which you can learn more, with a link to getting the application, whether on Android or iOS.

Okay, I've finished getting ready for the game and rested.  Time to get a shower before Brenda gets here.  Have a great day.

A little fun at spelling bee time

Alaska can't spell Hawaii, and this other state can't spell itself: In honor of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Google Trends releases a map showing which word each state struggles to spell.

Unlike my fellow Kentuckians, I can spell 'maintenance', but according to this map, I should live in Minnesota or Montana, because 'vacuum' is a challenge for me, and often takes two tries. I might come out on some of the others, as I use International Standard English spellings in general, not American ones (sorry, have for years--it's just a quirk from reading lots of British literature plus a love for archaic pre-Webster/Dewey spellings), so there's things like 'grey' and 'neigbour' instead of the ones as they are placed on the map. I am a little confused as to why Utah and Arkansas share the whole thing about leprechauns. Amd poor Massachusetts.

Okay, search engines can never replace a trained librarian, but

I love to be able to Google anything and normally find something to help me with my question. For example, I weighed myself this morning, and decided to see how different it was between morning and evening. But somehow my scale got set to kg when I pulled it out from its place this evening. I didn't see anything, tried resetting it by taking the battery out, and when that didn't work, went to Google. Apparently there's a switch that's on there but it's the type you depress to toggle the unit of measure on the back, and I'd accidentally managed to depress that. I turned the scale on (you step a foot on the scale to do that), depressed the switch, which does blend in with the rest of the underside, and I had pounds rather than kilograms again. And oh, by the way, even though I'm not having swollen ankles like I did when it was hot, I'd gained 8 lbs in water weight over the course of the day, which is why I don't consider it significant until about 15 lbs. Yesterday, I weighed myself with clothes and shoes on (I don't normally do that), and it was 10 lbs higher than this morning.

Hmmm....

Many Android Devices Still Vulnerable To 'Stagefright' Flaw Despite Patch From Google

Google issued an update for Android to address Stagefright—a major security vulnerability in the mobile OS—but researchers now claim the “fix” can be bypassed and the vulnerability can still be exploited.

Oops.

Google called it the biggest software update the world has ever seen. Stagefright is a vulnerability in Android that allows an attacker to take over the mobile device with a single text message. It affects all Android devices—a billion or so around the world—so it’s a huge deal.

Have you seen this?

It's a simple way to find an Android phone. :) While the ability to find a phone has been available using Android Device Manager for awhile, this is a way to just Google 'find my phone' in the search box and then ring your phone if you want, with a couple of stipulations. You have to have the latest Google application on your phone (mine updated today, for example), must be logged into the same Google account while searching. Pressing the ring option will ring the phone at full volume for quite some time until you can find it, if it's in your house. Cool, hmm? Of course the iPhone has its own ways to do this, as described in the article. I checked the process with mine and it was accurate within 62 feet. It gave options to ring, lock, and erase the phone.

How to use Google to find your lost Android phone

But first...

this was an amusing picture shared on Facebook by George Takei:

Kudos to Google

Okay, I must confess that I didn't immediately realise it for what it was, despite being a liberal lefty who is a long-time supporter of gay rights. I don't automatically associate rainbows with gays, for one. But the rainbow-coloured 'doodle' of Google's celebrating Olympic sport with the following quote was definitely meant to show solidarity for those in Russia who are gay and the athletes competing there:

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." –Olympic Charter

Did you see this?

Google Contact Lens Will Measure Glucose Levels in Tears: Making it easier for diabetes patients to monitor dangerous blood sugar dips and spikes

Introducing our smart contact lens project

We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. We’re testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second. We’re also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, so we’re exploring integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds. It’s still early days for this technology, but we’ve completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype. We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease.

Can I just say, cool. And way to go Google for working on making it easier to monitor and improve health for those of us with this condition.

:)

Okay, when they announced that Android 4.4 would be known as 'KitKat', my first thought was, how did they manage the trademarks? I wasn't the only one:

Google™ Strikes Bizarre Licensing Deal With Nestlé® To Name Next Android™ Kit Kat®

Well, apparently they did in a deal where no money actually changed hands but Google and Nestlé partnered in a fun way. I found this amusing:

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised

Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S IV to Include Eye-Tracking Tech

The rumored Samsung Galaxy S IV may be a sight for sore eyes, literally. According to a New York Times report, the company's "next big thing," to be introduced later this month, will include eye-tracking technology that turns your eyeballs into page scrollers.

Citing an anonymous Samsung employee, the Times explained that when the software detects that someone has reached the end of visible text on a smartphone, it will automatically scroll to reveal the next graf.

Even my Samsung Galaxy S III has a nifty feature called Motion that allows for various gestures and movement of the device to do certain things, like placing a call to a contact just by putting it to your ear, or taking a screenshot by putting the hand perpendicular to the screen and passing it across. I haven't really used it much, but it is meant to save time. Apparently Samsung did apply for a patent that would cover the above technology. And on my phone, the front-facing camera is used to see if someone is looking at the phone to stay lit longer, according to the article. I didn't know that. A bit creepy, but it makes sense.

We'll know more March 14th, when Samsung is supposed to have a great unveiling of a new Galaxy in New York. Here's their teaser trailer:



On a totally unrelated note....some fun with YouTube.

I have managed so far to avoid the Harlem Shake thing, but if you go to YouTube and type in the search box: do the harlem shake and then hit enter, watch what happens. Make sure your sound is on (but maybe not really high.) It's kind of funny. Thank you, folks at Google, for making me laugh. And thanks to Vanessa Irvin Morris, who shared it on Facebook.

Okay, that's enough for tonight. I'm going to bed. Good night. :)

Awww...

I went over to Google, and they're getting rid of the background images/cusomisation feature on the search page later this month. I liked that. :(

I love the Internet

One thing I couldn't figure out on Ice Cream Sandwich was removal of individual notifications...in the previous version you tapped one side of the notice. Now you slide it, easy enough, but I didn't find that out without searching. Also, I couldn't quite figure out Rory McIlroy's accent (what can I say, I was switching over to news and golf was wrapping up, and the accent intrigued me; I don't care for golf and had never heard of him before). Turns out he's from Northern Ireland. My, the power we have due to Google and Wikipedia and their instant information. And if a ever lose them they'll have to bring back those librarians who learned to find info in the pre-Internet age (or those of us who learned both) to save the wealth of human knowledge.

Guess what?

I'm up (got out of bed at 5:30), and I'm doing laundry, at least enough to get me through the rest of the week, anyway, which I could just carry over there sans hamper and granny cart, making it less of a hassle. I'll have to do the main chore Saturday, but at least I'll have three outfits until then.

:)

What else? Oh, Google did send out the certificates for the course, so I have a nice certificate saying I got a 100% on both my tests that I can put in my education file at work. Yay.

Okay, time to change to the dryer....

It's late, and I have a VERY busy schedule this week

that includes large clinics, an audit I do [oops, that's next week, thankfully], a person coming in to determine my process for the data entry job, and (finally) getting my permanent crown on my tooth, and of course, being Sunday, I've been up since 6 am and have played several hours of Call of Cthulhu--but--I stayed up to finish something.

I just took the final to the Power Searching with Google course and got 100% on the first try. And while some of the it was stuff I already knew, about 1/3 of the class was totally new to me, like dragging and dropping images into the search box, or using whois, how to download Google Earth files, and those sorts of things.

Thanks Google for the lessons!

Good things

1. The library got my application and it has been referred on. They're having trouble with the system that sends a verification, but it did go through.
   
2. I'm halfway finished with Google's Power Searching with Google class. Much of the early stuff I'm familiar with already, but I am learning a few tricks I didn't know. I finished the mid-class assessment with a 100%.
   
3. I'm feeling much better today. I wasn't sure this morning, but I perked up and was very productive.
   
4. I have managed to answer some questions from a friend that might stump lesser librarians, although I'm still working on a few things for him that might be beyond me, like locating a book by its colour and weight. :)
   
5. I got a ride home from work.
   
6. I have the dates for the trip to Chicago (got that last week). It'll be in November this year, on a Thursday and Friday, which will be better for me in terms of the data entry/referral duties at work.
   

One more reason to like Google...

Google launches Endangered Language Project: Google tries to promote info exchange on the world's 3,000 endangered languages.

Today, Google announced the launch of the Endangered Language Project, "a website for people to find and share the most up-to-date and comprehensive information about endangered languages." The project was built in conjunction with the Alliance for Language Diversity.

Google and its partners hope the Endangered Language Project will help by providing "an online resource to record, access, and share samples of and research on endangered languages, as well as to share advice and best practices for those working to document or strengthen languages under threat."

Although Google helped develop the site, they plan to turn it over to the First Peoples' Cultural Council and The Institute for Language Information and Technology at Eastern Michigan University.

By the way

If you look on the left side of this page, you'll see a little widget for Google-a-Day, where you try to find the answer to a question by searching. It's pretty fun. I've known about it for quite awhile but never got around to playing. Now I've been doing it about every day. Enjoy!

If you have an Android phone or tablet

You may have noticed a 'Google Play' icon rolling out onto your device over the next few days, along with a notice asking you to agree to its terms and conditions. Google Play replaces the Android Market, Google Books, and Google Music, integrating them into one store, much like iTunes. For more information, there's this:

Google Play Replaces Google Music, Books & Android Market, Adds YouTube and Google+ Tie Ins

It's a smart move. Let's see how it works.