5 hours, 10 minutes ago
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If you log in to the Google AdSense site and mouse over the “10” banner from the lower-left corner, Google will start a retro Ping Pong game. Google celebrates 10 years of AdSense and this is just a small gift. “AdSense has helped over two million partners grow their businesses in the last 10 years,” says Google.
{ Thanks, Mark. }
Author: Alex Chitu
Source:
googlesystem.blogspot.com
6 hours, 12 minutes ago
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There’s just one week and a half and Google Reader will be history. If you’re using the service, it’s a good idea to export your data and switch to a different service. You can choose from Feedly, The Old Reader, MultiPLX, Netvibes. I haven’t decided which one I’ll use, but Feedly is a strong contender.
Feedly is probably the service that will benefit the most from Google Reader’s demise. It grew from 4 million users to 12 million users in only 3 months and that’s impressive. The service was just a Google Reader client, an alternate interface for Google Reader that gained a foothold on mobile.
Feedly has recently started to migrate users from Google’s backend to its own backend, while preserving most of their data. Feedly Cloud was built in record time and it’s now a scalable infrastructure for Feedly that can also be used by other apps that were powered by the unofficial Google Reader API. There are 9 apps that use it, including gReader, Newsify and Sprout Social. If you don’t like the mobile apps or the browser extensions, there’s now a Feedly web app that’s optimized for the desktop and replaces extensions. It’s hard to morph from a client to a platforms in a few months.
I’ll miss Google Reader, like many other power users. Unfortunately for us, Google is not the right company for niche services. Google wants to create products that are used by hundreds of million of users and Google Reader wasn’t one of them. Feedly and other similar services will have to find a business model for something that’s no longer cool, no longer supported by many browsers, no longer supported by Twitter (other sites to follow). For many people, social sites offer better value than feed readers and not even Google could change that.
“As a culture we have moved into a realm where the consumption of news is a near-constant process. Users with smartphones and tablets are consuming news in bits and bites throughout the course of the day — replacing the old standard behaviors of news consumption over breakfast along with a leisurely read at the end of the day. (…) Google is looking at pervasive means to surface news across products to address each user’s interest with the right information at the right time via the most appropriate means,”
said Richard Gingras, Senior Director, News
& Social Products at Google.
Author: Alex Chitu
Source:
googlesystem.blogspot.com
7 hours, 28 minutes ago
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Google Forms added a printing option. You can find it by clicking the print button from the toolbar or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+P.
It may not seem much, but Google made this feature more useful by changing how the forms look when printed. “When you print a form, each question is formatted in a way that makes it simple for people to fill in when printed on paper,” informs Google.
For example, Google includes helpful messages like “
Example: December 15, 2012” when you’re supposed to write a date or “
Mark only one oval” when you need to pick a single answer. The text box for longer answers is replaced by a few dotted lines.
It’s a much better option than clicking “view live form” and printing the page.
{ via
+GoogleDrive }
Author: Alex Chitu
Source:
googlesystem.blogspot.com
7 hours, 36 minutes ago
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1) Help
#python manage.py dumpdata —help
2) Create json fixture from table Template
#python manage.py dumpdata dbtemplates.Template > ~/Desktop/template.json
Author: Admin
Source: fosshelp.blogspot.com
8 hours, 32 minutes ago
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By Dan Rubel, Productivity Enhancer, Dart Editor team
Cross-posted from the Chromium Blog
Today’s release of the Dart SDK and Editor is the first beta release, and contains performance and productivity improvements across the platform. This latest release helps Dart developers automate code evolution, produce smaller JavaScript code and deploy Dart web apps.
The Editor’s analysis engine, responsible for reporting warnings and errors, is completely rewritten and is 20% faster at parsing and analyzing. Now, there’s no need to run all the unit tests just to discover a typo. The Dart Editor watches your back as you type.
In addition, Dart Editor makes it easier for developers to manage an evolving app. Some of the new features include:
- “Rename Library” refactoring
- “Convert Method to Getter” and “Convert Getter to Method” refactorings
- “Import Library” quick fix
- “Create Class” and “Create part” quick fixes
Code completion has also improved. For example, completion is now camelcase aware. Type iE and Dart Editor finds isEmpty.
Compiling Dart to JavaScript now results in smaller code. For example, some Dart programs that use reflection and HTML can compile to JavaScript that is 3.7x smaller than previous compilation sizes.
Dart VM performance has also improved. Compared against the previous release of Dart, DeltaBlue is 33% faster and Tracer is 40% faster. This release also includes full SIMD acceleration in Dart VM.
Finally, deploying a Dart web app is now easier, with the beta pub deploy command. It creates a directory with your app’s code and assets and prepares it for hosting on your favorite web server. You can use this command from Dart Editor or the pub command-line utility.
That’s just the highlights - there are more improvements across the platform. You can read the full release notes for more details and changes. You can download the latest version of Dart Editor, including everything you need for Dart development, from dartlang.org. We look forward to your feedback!
Written by Dan Rubel, Dart Editor Team
Posted by Scott Knaster, Editor
Author: Scott Knaster
Source:
googledevelopers.blogspot.com
11 hours, 3 minutes ago
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By Louis Gray, Program Manager, Google Developers Live
One year ago, we took the magic of Google I/O and brought it home with Google Developers Live (+GDL) - engaging with our developer community all year round, live, from our offices around the world. Nearly 1,000 videos and several million views later, we’ve seen you connect with Googlers and industry experts every day, gaining knowledge, sharing insights, and getting feedback on how to create incredible apps and leverage Google’s tools.
Thanks to the combination of Google+ Hangouts and YouTube Live, you can now see our engineers face to face and gain up to the minute insights on +Android, +Google Chrome, +Google Cloud Platform, and many more.
But Google Developers Live is not just all Google products, all the time. It’s an interactive platform for innovative applications, design wizards and entrepreneurs. We’ve hosted initiatives like Women Techmakers, Google Top Geek from Mexico City, Android Design In Action and Root Access, and we hear directly from the minds behind applications many of us use every day.
It was on GDL where we saw Google Fellow +Sebastian Thrun introduce a new HTML5 course on Udacity. GDL debuted the Mirror API for +Project Glass. And it was on GDL where we first demonstrated YouTube API v3, went behind the scenes with Santa Tracker, and answered questions on the Blink rendering engine.
And when we returned to I/O last month, it was Google Developers Live with wall-to-wall broadcasts, featuring exceptional guests like Megan Smith of Google[x], Bradley Horowitz of Google+ and Hiroshi Lockheimer and Hugo Barra of Android.
While we love the live interaction, Google Developers Live is more than just live. Our archives make it easy for you to watch on your own schedule - in any order, on any product.
Although GDL is only a year old, we’re now broadcasting from Mountain View, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Milan, Moscow, Buenos Aires, and many places around the world, to bring you the latest Google tools for developers in your time zone, in your language. And we’ve got a lot more planned. So make sure you don’t miss a show, by subscribing to Google Developers on YouTube and staying tuned to https://developers.google.com/live/.
+Louis Gray is a Program Manager on Google’s Developer Relations Team, running Google Developers Live. He believes life is but a (live) stream.
Posted by +Scott Knaster, Editor
Author: Scott Knaster
Source:
googledevelopers.blogspot.com
12 hours, 8 minutes ago
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ShotHotspot is a great resource that helps both professional and amateur photographers find great locations to take photos.
The application uses data from sites like Flickr and Panoramio to analyse the most photogenic areas. ShotHotspot’s Google Maps allows users to scout for locations around any location worldwide. It is possible to narrow down the area of search by drawing the area you are interested on the map. It is also possible to zoom in on a location and update the results shown by selecting the ‘Search Visible Area’.
You can select any of the hotspots displayed on the map and preview the photo opportunities by viewing photographs of the location taken by other photographers which have been posted to Flickr or Panoramio. 
Author: Keir Clarke
Source: www.mapsmaniac.com
12 hours, 29 minutes ago
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Linux Deepin is a Chinese Linux distribution (English ISO files are available as well) based on Ubuntu, that ships with its own desktop environment and some unique applications, which integrate with the overall Linux Deepin look and feel.
Linux Deepin 12.12, based on Ubuntu 13.04, has been
released today and comes with a huge list of changes and improvements, including a
new desktop environment: Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE). Previously, Linux Deepin has used a highly customized
GNOME Shell as the default desktop environment.
The latest version, 12.12, was supposed to be released by the end of December 2012, but because its developers wanted to offer a stable, high quality Linux distribution and that couldn’t be achieved in time, it was postponed, until today, when the 12.12 version has finally been released.
Linux Deepin 12.12 video
(direct video link)Deepin Desktop Environment
Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE) tries to continue with the same look and feel Linux Deepin had in the previous releases, but without using GNOME Shell. The menu will probably remind you of the GNOME Shell Activities Overview while the indicators on the bottom dock look more or less like those used in elementary OS Luna. But, unlike Pantheon and GNOME Shell, Deepin Desktop uses Compiz. I didn’t look close into this, but it seems that the Compiz version in Linux Deepin comes with some DDE-specific patches.
Each desktop component has various useful features, such as:
- Application launcher: quickly create a desktop shortcut or add an application to the dock via right click; on the desktop, you can drag and drop an application on to another one to create an application group, useful to keep your desktop organized - you can easily rename the app group, ungroup the applications, delete it and so on:
- The dock displays live previews for open windows. You can use the previews to switch between windows or close them:
- Stylish notifications that come with a close button so they never get in your way:
Linux Deepin 12.12 ships with its own System Settings, this being the first release to include it. The new settings tool is designed to be easy to use and by default, it doesn’t display advanced settings that regular users wouldn’t understand. Using it, you can configure various system settings such as the sound, multiple monitors and so on as well as change the theme, the dock behavior and more:
Default applications
Linux Deepin ships with its own software center, music player, video player and screenshot tool, along with some applications, including proprietary software such as Skype.
Linux Deepin 12.12 includes Deepin Software Center 3.0, which comes with new features such as:
- recommendations and download rank added to the home page;
- various category improvements;
- Users can now log in using their Linux Deepin forum account to comment and rate applications;
- The preferred software sources mirrors can now be set via its preferences.
Also, Deepin Software Center comes with a completely reworked backend which should improve its performance.
The default Linux Deepin video player, DPlayer, has received new features too, including:
- supports choosing and switching sound tracks and subtitles for multiple languages;
- can be used to convert video files to various formats;
- supports DVD/CD playback;
- multiple instances support.
Another application especially designed for Linux Deepin is DMusic, the default music player. DMusic 2.0, which is included in Linux Deepin 12.12, has received addons support and includes DoubanFM and Internet Radio addons by default, along with some other features:
- a new mini-mode has been added - you can easily toggle between the regular and mini interfaces from its preferences;
- supports audio CD and lossless formats playback;
- can convert between various audio formats;
- comes with Mpris V2 support so it’s integrated into the Linux Deepin sound menu (displayed on the bottom dock).
And finally, DSnapshot (previously Deepin Scrot - really), a screenshot tool that’s available by default in Linux Deepin, has received support for sharing screenshots on Twitter and other social media websites along with other improvements and bug fixes.
Besides the applications mentioned above, Linux Deepin 12.12 ships with the following applications by default: Nautilus 3.8.1 (patch to display the gear menu on the left), Firefox 21, Google Chrome 27, Thunderbird 17.0.6, LibreOffice 4.0.2, Kingsoft Office (WPS Office) 9.1.0, GNOME Sound Recorder 3.4.0, Pidgin 2.10.7 and Skype 4.2.0.11, among others. Also, Linux Deepin comes with codecs and Adobe Flash Player installed by default, along with a proprietary Wireless Drivers setup tool.
Under the hood, Linux Deepin 12.12 uses GTK 3.8.2 - unlike Ubuntu 13.04 which ships with GTK 3.6 -, a patched Compiz 0.9.99+git, the Ubuntu Kernel 3.8.0, based on the upstream Linux Kernel 3.8.5, and Xorg server 1.13.3.
Here are a few more Linux Deepin screenshots:
 |
| Lock screen |
 |
| Login screen (LightDM greeter) |
Download Linux Deepin 12.12
Linux Deepin 12.12 ships with a nice user manual (available on the desktop for easy access) so, even if you’ve used Linux Deepin before, take a look at the manual to find out some of the basics, like how to create application groups and so on:
Author: Andrew
Source:
www.webupd8.org
12 hours, 38 minutes ago
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We’d like to recognize and congratulate the 84 recipients and finalists of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship and Google Scholarship for Students with Disabilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The full list of the 2013 scholars and finalists and the universities they attend can be found in this PDF.
Both scholarships aim to encourage underrepresented students to enter the computing field. The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship honours the memory of Dr. Anita Borg who devoted her life to encouraging the presence of women in computing; we recently announced the U.S. recipients of this scholarship. The Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities aims to help dismantle barriers for students with disabilities as well as encourage them to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders in creating technology.
All of the students receiving the scholarships are pursuing degrees in computer science or related fields at universities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This summer, they’ll attend the annual Google EMEA Scholarships Retreat in Zurich, where they’ll have the opportunity to attend tech talks on Google products, participate in developmental sessions, network with Googlers and attend social activities. Notable speakers at the 2013 retreat include Alan Eustace, SVP of Knowledge, Megan Smith, VP of Google [x], and Carolyn Casey, Founder of Kanchi.org.
Applications for the scholarships will be open again in just a few short months. Learn more about how the scholarships impacted the lives of previous recipients:
For more information on all of our scholarships and programs, please visit the Google Students site.
Posted by Efrat Aghassy, EMEA scholarships program manager 
Author: Emily Wood
Source: googleblog.blogspot.com
13 hours, 38 minutes ago
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In the previous post of this series I looked at what’s in an image. This post will cover the workings of an image factory.
Base library and imports
The starting point for an image is… another image.
Whilst it’s possible to create an image entirely from scratch, that would involve having entire operating systems available as packages that could be deployed into those empty images. It’s just more efficient to start from a base operating system image or an imported image of the users choice.
Mount here
To put things into an image the factory mounts it (or partitions within it) using the loopback interface, so the image appears to be a block device like any other. Once an image is mounted it’s very straightforward to copy packages into it.
Chroots are just for smoking
Let’s say the image is mounted at /mnt/my_image… This is no good for running scripts, because if I try to modify files in /etc I’ll end up modifying the /etc of the factory rather than the /etc of the image (which is in fact /mnt/my_image/etc). I need to change root to /mnt/my_image, which can be done using the chroot command.
Chrooting allows scripts to change the image rather than the factory, but it’s not a panacea. Any code that I execute is running in the context of the factory - so (for example) if I try to find out what the OS type is then at best I’ll get the answer of the factory’s OS, and at worst I’ll get no answer at all (because the /proc filesystem that gives me a window into the inner workings of the operating system won’t be populated).
This means that I can use chroot to get some work done at inception but not every type of script or installation is going to work as might be inspected.
Meta virtualization to the rescue
Chroot is often used as a ‘poor man’s virtualization’, and the answer to many of the problems with chroot is to use a real virtualization container. As (in the case of Server3 at least) the factory runs on a virtual machine (in the cloud) this implies virtualization within virtualization, which we can call meta virtualization.
Using meta virtualization the image is actually running within the factory, so installation steps that might go awry in a chrooted environment should work perfectly. There are however a couple of things that can catch out the unwary:
- When the image is instantiated as an instance inside the factory it will go through its first boot process. Some aspects of this (e.g. creating machine SSH keys, udev rules for IP addresses etc.) should not be carried over into the true runtime environment - especially where many instances will be launched from a single image.
- The image shouldn’t be allowed to customise itself to the factory hypervisor, and network, as it will meet new ones when it’s launched later as an instance.
Both of these issues mean that some tidying up is needed at the end of the factory installation process so that final customisations can happen on first boot in the target environment.
Meta virtualization also allows for inception of non Unix derived operating systems (like Windows), which don’t have chroot.
Conclusion
An image factory allows software installation to be done before a machine reaches a cloud so that it can be productive more quickly. Getting software into an image is relatively simple, but actually running stuff inside the factory is tougher - needing chroot or meta virtualization. It’s worth it though, particularly when an image is going to be launched many times.
Author: Chris Swan
Source: blog.cohesiveft.com
An image factory allows software installation to be done before a machine reaches a cloud so that it can be productive more quickly. Getting software into an image is relatively simple, but actually running stuff inside the factory is tougher - needing chroot or meta virtualization. It’s worth it though, particularly when an image is going to be launched many times.