Update from the CEO Sergey and I first heard about Android back in 2004, when Andy Rubin came to visit us at Google. He believed that aligning standards around an open-source operating system would drive innovation across the mobile industry. Most people thought he was nuts. But his insight immediately struck a chord because at the time it was extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. Fast forward to today. Going forward, Sundar Pichai will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Today we’re living in a new computing environment.
Google Reader to shut down July 1st Google has announced yet another spring cleaning of its various services, and this time around, the company is giving the axe to its Google Reader RSS aggregator. The service, which originally launched back in 2005, will be officially put out to pasture on July 1st, 2013. Reader has gone through a number of iterations, but it had not been significantly updated in a long time. The last time that Google updated the product, it built in integration for the Google+ social network and removed Reader's own native sharing service, causing a bit of a backlash with die hard users. Google is offering users a way to export their Reader content, including lists of users that they follow and starred and liked articles. In addition to killing off Reader, beginning next week Google is ending support for the Google Voice app for BlackBerry smartphones, instead pointing users toward the HTML5 webapp. Lack of usage and a 'focus on fewer products' are to blame
Fermeture de Google Reader – Comment survivre ? Google vient d'annoncer l'air de rien sur son blog que son célèbre lecteur de flux RSS Google Reader allait tirer sa révérence après 8 années de bons et loyaux services. Évidemment, ça hurle dans les chaumières ! Tous les amateurs de veille (oui, je n'ai pas dit de "vieille" mais ça peut marcher aussi), tous les journalistes, tous les blogueurs et j'en passe se voient déjà à la rue, s'impatientant du rendez-vous journalier à la machine à café pour faire le plein de news fraiches. Avant toute chose, il faut savoir que Google Reader c'était : Une application web et mobileUne API super cool Et tout ceci (SURPRISE !!!) La décision subite de Google de tout arrêter n'a pas été réellement justifiée. Maintenant, concrètement, je ne pense pas qu'il faille céder à la panique. Certains s'imaginent déjà que Google va passer son service en open source, mais je pense que là-dessus, on peut se toucher. Une sur le téléphone, une sur la tablette, une sur l'ordi...etc. Et bien c'est simple...
Voices of women in technology A diverse workforce is critical in helping us build products that can help people change the world. That includes diversity of all life experiences, including gender. Women were some of the first programmers and continue to make a major impact on the programming world today. We think it’s important to highlight the great work women are doing in computer science, to help provide role models for young women thinking about careers in computing. Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, and as one of our contributions to the celebration, we’re proud to support Voices Global Conference, presented by Global Tech Women. The Voices Global Conference is the brainchild of Global Tech Women’s founder Deanna Kosaraju, who also started India’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2010 with grant support from Google. I hope you’ll join us for our sessions—and in the meantime, you can learn more about our efforts to support women at Google and beyond.
Google Closes The Book On Google Reader On July 1, Seven Other Products Also Get The Chop Google just revealed plans to shut down eight of its services as part of what it’s calling an ongoing spring cleaning effort. Some of them are pretty arcane, but among TechCrunch writers, anyway, we’re pretty bummed to see that Google Reader will be shut down on July 1. “We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites,” SVP of Technical Infrastructure Urs Hölzle writes in the blog post. As a result, we can probably expect another round of “RSS is dead” posts. Google’s declining interest in RSS was already pretty obvious given last fall’s shutdown of AdSense for feeds. RSS, as a mainstream consumer technology, is mostly dead today (though it still provides a lot of the backend plumbing for many web and mobile apps). Other products being shut down (with various nuances in terms of what will still be available to whom) include: Latest Coverage
What Does the Internet OWE us? All through my newsfeed today, friends and internet acquaintances were aghast at Google’s decision to dissolve Google Reader. “I demand justification, Google,” wrote one. “We must fight to save it,” wrote another. Not to poo-poo their righteous indignation too much (today also marked the day when Veronica Mars the Movie got Crowdfunded in less than 24 hours. Earlier this year, EveryBlock, owned by NBC closed it’s doors without any sort of notice. But, there’s an important lesson in this that I hope people see through their anger: we own our online platforms as much as we own the television shows we adore e.g. we don’t own them at all.
Google Keep—Save what’s on your mind | Google Drive Blog (Cross-posted from the Android Blog) Every day we all see, hear or think of things we need to remember. Usually we grab a pad of sticky-notes, scribble a reminder and put it on the desk, the fridge or the relevant page of a magazine. Unfortunately, if you’re like me you probably often discover that the desk, fridge or magazine wasn’t such a clever place to leave the note after all...it’s rarely where you need it when you need it. To solve this problem we’ve created Google Keep. If it’s more convenient to speak than to type that’s fine—Keep transcribes voice memos for you automatically. Changing priorities isn’t a problem: just open Keep on your Android phone or tablet (there’s a widget so you can have Keep front and center all the time) and drag your notes around to reflect what matters. Pro tip: for adding thoughts quickly without unlocking your device there's a lock screen widget (on devices running Android 4.2+).
GoogleReaderpocalypse. For Real This Time. Don’t be evil? If that’s the unofficial Google motto, then the company has failed to deliver today. Among the products Google just announced it plans to sunset (read: kill off), beloved feed-reading service Google Reader is now on the chopping block. “*$%#” wrote at least one TechCrunch staffer upon hearing the news. “What will feed my Reeder app,?” These reactions will be echoed among a legion of Google Reader fans, and loudly, as the news spreads. Google Reader never made it as a mainstream product, which is why Google is giving the ax. We got a taste of what life without Reader was like in February, when the service became unusable for nearly two days. I guess that’s good news for those early stage startups though. Google has been gradually destroying Google Reader for over a year now. There were even movements like the “we are the (1000+)” #occupyGoogleReader meme, from Google Reader’s original creators, no less! After all, who uses it but bloggers anyway, right? You were loved.
Digg va lancer un successeur à Google Reader Vendredi 15 mars Web 2.0 - 15 mars 2013 :: 09:53 :: Par Valentin-Pringuay Google a annoncé hier la fermeture de Google Reader. Entre déni et recherche d’alternatives, Digg a décidé de se présenter en sauveur de la situation avec un Google Reader à la sauce 2013. Digg est un service social de partage qui a été lancé en 2004 par Kevin Rose. Son système de votes (permettant de faire ressortir les articles populaires) est considéré comme l’un des principes fondateurs du Web 2.0. Digg, le successeur de Google Reader ? Et alors qu’une partie de la communauté tech bondissait à l’annonce de la fermeture de Google Reader le 1 Juillet prochain, Digg a décidé de sauter sur l’opportunité. En effet, l’équipe de Digg avait prévu de lancer un lecteur de flux RSS dans la seconde moitié de 2013. RSS version 2013 Mais bien plus loin qu’un simple clonage de Google Reader, Digg pourrait avoir une occasion unique de repenser la syndication RSS pour la faire correspondre aux attentes de 2013.
Why 2013 is the Year of PHP 2012 was an excellent year for the PHP community, thanks to many badly needed features being added to version 5.4, as well as the countless projects, advancing PHP to the next level. In this article, I'd like to review a handful of the issues that people had with PHP in the past, and provide a glimpse at why 2013 just may be the year of PHP! Why the Hostility? This may come as a surprise to you, but many people have negative feelings toward PHP developers, and the language as a whole. However, before you make any changes, you have to ask yourself: "Why does PHP have such a stigma?" Well, like many of life's important questions, there is no clear-cut answer. Roughly eighty percent of the arguments against PHP are rooted in ignorance. The Beginners There are the beginners, who don't really know how PHP works. One Language to Rule Them All Next, you have the folks who don't know about other language or framework than the one that they currently use. Fighting PHP 4 Scaling What is the PHP-FIG?
Google announces Reader’s imminent demise Google has announced that Google Reader, its RSS aggregation system, will be turned off on July 1st. Citing years of declining usage, Reader is one of several victims of the advertising giant's periodic "spring cleaning." The Reader RSS platform had a popular Web front-end, and was also used to provide behind-the-scenes support for a wide range of RSS clients. Current users of Reader will be able to export their list of feeds up until the cut-off date using Google's Takeout facility. Google's last periodic clean, its "winter clean," saw the company announce the end of support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) for non-paying customers. That Google was willing to change its plans over EAS might give Reader users a slight glimmer of hope that enough pressure could make the company change its mind. We'll going to follow up later tonight with some thoughts on replacements.
C'est la fin de Google Reader : 5 alternatives pour vos flux RSS C’est la fin d’une époque, Google Reader ne sera bientôt plus. Le 1 juillet 2013, le rideau retombera sur l’agrégateur RSS de Google. L’annonce vient de tomber, Google Reader c’est fini, ou presque. C’est le 1er juillet 2013 que Google mettra définitivement au garage son agrégateur de flux RSS et beaucoup (comme moi) cherchent déjà des alternatives. En voici une petite liste non exhaustive. C’est la fin d’une époque, Google Reader ne sera bientôt plus. Mais pleurer sur notre sort ne changera probablement pas grand chose à la logique du produit rentable donc autant se mettre dès maintenant à la recherche d’un outil de substitution. Voici donc une petite liste d’alternatives non exhaustive que je vous invite à compléter et à préciser dans les commentaires. Feedly Vous permet de lire vos flux RSS sur votre browser ainsi que sur vos smartphones et tablettes. Netvibes Un outil un peu plus large qui permet de catégoriser votre navigation dans des catégories. Flipboard NewsBlur FeedDemon (source)
Iraq: War's legacy of cancer - Features This report contains photos of a graphic nature. Fallujah, Iraq - Contamination from Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions and other military-related pollution is suspected of causing a sharp rises in congenital birth defects, cancer cases, and other illnesses throughout much of Iraq. Many prominent doctors and scientists contend that DU contamination is also connected to the recent emergence of diseases that were not previously seen in Iraq, such as new illnesses in the kidney, lungs, and liver, as well as total immune system collapse. DU contamination may also be connected to the steep rise in leukaemia, renal, and anaemia cases, especially among children, being reported throughout many Iraqi governorates. There has also been a dramatic jump in miscarriages and premature births among Iraqi women, particularly in areas where heavy US military operations occurred, such as Fallujah. Toxic environments The research team interviewed Fallujans about abnormally high rates of cancer and birth defects.