Official Google Canada Blog

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

Wandering in the footsteps of the polar bear with Google Maps

Thursday, February 27, 2014

This guest post is from Krista Wright, the executive director of Polar Bears International. We’ve partnered with PBI to share a fascinating look at polar bears in the wild using Google Maps. PihoqahiakInternational Polar Bear Dayintimate look at polar bears

The Street View Trekker, mounted on a Tundra Buggy, captures images of Churchill’s polar bears
Churchill, ManitobaFrontiers NorthTundra Buggy View Larger Map One of Churchill, Manitoba’s Polar Bears on Street View
Modern cartography and polar bear conservation melting sea ice

Polar Bear International’s Bear Tracker

Bear TrackerMapping the communities of Canada’s ArcticCambridge BayIqaluitMapUpMap MakerTown Centre Complexbear holding facility
Posted by Krista Wright, Executive Director of Polar Bears International

Spring 2014 Google Community Grants - Apply Now!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Google Toronto Community Grant Application

Google Waterloo Community Grant Application

Google Montreal Community Grant Application

Posted by Lauren Skelly, Google Canada Public Policy and Government Affairs

Google Maps laces up for the Rideau Canal Skateway

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Today, the Google Maps team collected Street View imagery of the Rideau Canal Skateway, the world’s largest skating rink.

Cody Ceci of the NHL's Ottawa Senators wearing the Trekker on the Rideau Canal Skateway

Every winter, tourists and commuters skate through the heart of downtown Ottawa on the frozen water of the Rideau Canal, where they can cozy up next to an outdoor bonfire with a hot chocolate and “Beavertail” – a local pastry favourite – in hand. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, soon users from around the world will be able to virtually explore this amazing frozen waterway in Google Maps.

This morning the Google Maps Street View team skated the nearly 8 kilometre Rideau Canal Skateway, using the Trekker backpack to collect panoramic imagery of this scenic skating rink; from Dows Lake all the way to the base of Ottawa’s Parliament Hill.

Joining the Google Maps team - and no stranger to a pair of skates - was Cody Ceci, a defenseman with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Ceci tried on the Trekker and helped the Google Maps team capture imagery from the canal.

The Google Maps team collects Street View imagery of the skateway

The Street View imagery will be available in Google Maps in the near future - so get those skates sharpened and get ready to explore this frozen icon of Canadian culture.

Posted by Aaron Brindle, Google Canada

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