Official Google Canada Blog

‘Check Out’ the new Chromebook program at the Brampton Library

Monday, April 7, 2014

Ontario’s Brampton Library kicked off its new Chromebook program this month in an effort to help its patrons connect online and make it easier to reach the information that matters to them. The Internet is transforming our lives at lightning speed, changing the ways we learn, share information, and connect with one another. Canadians have embraced this change, but about a fifth of us still didn’t have access to the Internet at home in 2012.

Brampton Library’s new program aims to bridge this digital divide, by providing Internet access to those who don’t have access to a computer at home, including students, seniors and new Canadians.
Library cardholders will now be able to borrow one of 200 Google Chromebooks for use in the library - the largest collection of Chromebooks at a Canadian library!
In addition, the library will be hosting new courses to make it easy for anyone to discover the wonders of the Internet. Classes such as ‘Google Essentials’ will focus on on popular web-based Google tools, including search, maps, and translation, while ‘Gmail Basics’ will teach the foundations of email.
We’re very excited to see how the new Chromebook program impacts the community of Brampton and the half a million residents the library serves. Hopefully, we’re a few steps closer to bridging the digital divide and improving web literacy in our neighbourhood.
Posted by James Lambe, Head of Google Enterprise, Canada

Charting Canada’s Digital Future

Friday, April 4, 2014

At Google Canada, we see the impact digital technology can have in the everyday lives of Canadians. As smartphones and high speed Internet have become available in communities across the country, Canadians have jumped at the chance to record and share their stories, consume online content and even dabble in some online shopping. Canadians are world leaders in terms of the number of webpages we visit monthly, we’re second only to the United Kingdom when it comes to watching online video, and more than half of Canadian consumers have used the Internet to order a good or service.

Still, many Canadians have been slow to recognize the potential for digital technology to transform our economy. For instance, according a recent study by L2, Canadian retailers are falling significantly behind on e-commerce and digital marketing, driving 68 percent of Canadian online shoppers to purchase from non-Canadian retailers and effectively ceding the Canadian market to international competitors.

Digital tools can accelerate innovation in every sector of our economy, help Canadian businesses develop new products, and access new markets at home and abroad.

Digital Canada 150, released today by the Government of Canada, makes it clear that Canada must embrace this digital challenge, much as our ancestors explored our great rivers, laid a ribbon of rail from sea to sea, and first established radio-communication across the country with the help of microwave towers.

With this strategy, the Government of Canada not only recognizes that digital technology is having an impact on every aspect of Canadian life, but argues for us to make a greater investment in digital adoption - as individuals, communities, businesses and a nation.

Digital Canada 150 also commits to supporting the collection, preservation and popularization of our cultural and historical heritage. We share this focus, making information available through Google Maps, the Cultural Institute, the Maps Gallery, and our partnerships with groups like Parks Canada.

We are a digital nation. Digital Canada 150 challenges us all to have a truly global impact by revolutionizing how we interact with our government, our customers and each other.

Posted by Chris O’Neill, Managing Director of Google Canada

It's April Fools' Day - How Will Canadians Prank?

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

searches for ‘April Fools’Searches for ‘pranks’ are most popular in AlbertaHow will Canadians prank? searches for ‘office pranks’ are outpacing searches for ‘school pranks’searches for ‘scary pranks’‘prank call’searches for ‘prank text’

For the ultimate inspiration: Expert pranksters from Just for Laughs have devised some of the most elaborate, funny, and clever pranks that you will ever see on the Just for Laughs Gags YouTube channel.

For playful pranks and sketches: Vancouver-based YouTuber TheChengman has no shortage of new pranks, funny characters and public twerking.

For Canuck comedy: The signature style Canadian-grown funnyman Tom Green turns ordering a sandwich or using Windex into a comedic experience.

For pranks ... with love: Ever wonder what it would be like to start a prank war with your boyfriend or girlfriend? Jesse and Jeana of Prank vs. Prank have done just that! OK, they are not Canadian, but they have collaborated with Tom Green so we added them to the list.

For a simple how to … Check out PrankVote’s video on how to really make a pop bottle pop in the ultimate explosion prank.

TechRaking: Digging the News

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Editor’s note: Today’s guest author is Jennifer LaFleur, senior editor for data journalism at The Center for Investigative Reporting
In 1952, Walter Cronkite predicted the US Presidential election for his readers before the poll closed using an analysis of election results on one of our first mainframe computers. Walter’s analysis predicted the election for Dwight Eisenhower, despite polling that said Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson would win.
Today, spreadsheets and databases are commonplace in newsrooms across industry.The tools used to analyze data and to make it available online are cheaper, faster and more powerful. But there continue to be significant challenges that prevent journalists from harnessing this data. Accessing information from governments and institutions remains a significant hurdle for newsrooms in Canada and the US. And when data does become available, journalists still need the tools to unlock the stories which are important to the public.

TechRaking via Hangout with Richard Gingras, the Head of News and Social Products at Google
Over the next two days, the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), The Canadian Press and Google Canada, are hosting a conference and hands-on learning session called TechRaking Toronto: Digging the News. While Google and the CIR have hosted similar events in the U.S. in the past, we are excited to bring this expertise to Canada for the first time.
Designed for journalists, digital news desks, and broadcasters, this two-day event will explore innovative uses of data in the newsroom and the most recent tools of the trade for digital production and research. We will be joined by nearly 75 Canadian journalists, students and design experts who will participate in sessions exploring best practices to produce groundbreaking investigations. Attendees will be participating in a data journalism design sprint to collaborate on potential projects – one of which will be selected to receive a development grant from a local app developer, The Working Group, to bring their idea to reality.
Our hope is that TechRaking: Digging the News provides a forum for reporters to tap into the enormous potential of data, and to uncover the tools necessary for that essential pillar of our democracy: great journalism.
Posted by Jennifer LaFleur

Chromecast: now casting in Canada

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Superheroescliff diversfearless reporterstoday's biggest hitsChromecastwe’ve grown to include moreyour favourite movies

Chromecast to developerschromecast.com/appsLook for ChromecastPosted by Jennifer Wasson, Chromecast Team

A browser that paints the sky

Monday, March 17, 2014

Editor's Note: Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog

Today, residents of Vancouver, Canada, will notice a new addition to their scenic waterfront: an interactive artwork on one of the largest textile sculptures ever. The piece, entitled Unnumbered Sparks, is a collaboration between artist Janet Echelman and Google Creative Director Aaron Koblin, as part of TED’s 30th annual conference.

Echelman is known for building sculptures that respond to the forces of nature—wind, water and light—and this project is no exception. Made from ultralight fibers, the sculpture soars from the roof of a skyscraper over the water and walkways near the Vancouver Convention Center (site map). As visitors collaborate via mobile devices, they create colors and ripples that move over its surface.

Photo by Ema Peter

What's not obvious to the public is when you look at the sculpture, you're actually looking at a web browser. The interactive lighting is actually one giant Chrome window, stretched across the 300-foot long sculpture with the help of five high-definition projectors. To interact, visitors open a website using Chrome or other modern mobile browser on their smartphone or tablet. After selecting a color, they use their fingers to trace paths along the surface of their device, which are then projected onto the sculpture in real-time as colorful beams of light. The result is a crowd-controlled visual experiment on a giant, floating canvas.

Photo by Ema Peter

Watch this short documentary to get a quick look at the work involved in creating this project:

Art and technology are continuously evolving together, and we hope that this project showcases the opportunity for mobile devices and the web to play a part in that evolution. We all carry devices in our pockets that have the power to connect with people around the world, but rarely do we get a chance to use this incredible power to connect and create with the people standing next to us. With Unnumbered Sparks, we hope to turn strangers into collaborators, working together to create a single piece of art on this amazing canvas.

Posted by Jenny Ramaswamy, Google Creative Lab

YouTube and TED present Ads Worth Spreading 2014 Honorees

Friday, March 14, 2014

What makes an ad worth spreading?
For the fourth year, TED’s Ads Worth Spreading and YouTube are partnering to celebrate advertising that goes beyond a simple commercial message. Each year, TED speakers and up-and-comers from the advertising industry select 10 ads that tell a story and forge a connection with their audiences, prompting them to share that story with friends and family around the world.

This year, we’ve added a new component that focuses on identifying the ad submissions that are “spreading” on YouTube. We passed the nominees through our YouTube Ads Leaderboard algorithm to determine which of these ads have already caught on with the YouTube community.

See the Special Edition TED Ads Worth Spreading YouTube Ads Leaderboard and the winning TED Ads Worth Spreading honorees.

TED’s Ads Worth Spreading is a call to action for all of us who are in the profession of communicating ideas to elevate our game from creating messages that are memorable to those that are shareable. Posted by Jennifer Kaiser, Google Canada

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