Official Google Canada Blog

Remixing northern voices while learning to code

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

ᐅᓇ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᖓᔪᖅ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᕈᒃ

Editor’s Note: Today’s blog is guest authored by Jennifer Flanagan, President and CEO of Actua. In the fall Actua and Google announced the creation of Codemakers.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!”
That was Nelson Tagoona’s reaction this morning when he heard the Nakasuk Elementary school’s throat singing club using audio-based coding tools to remix their voices. Nelson is an Inuit beatboxer who has a passion for all things digital. Today in Iqaluit he is joining a team from Google and Actua as part of the launch of Codemakers – a national initiative aimed at changing the way Canada’s youth think about computer science and technology.
“Throat singing is how we can pass on the traditions of our past.” Nelson told me as he helped the children mix and digitize the stories they shared in song. “By learning to code and remixing our voices, these kids have created something that’s new and totally amazing but still rooted in our culture. And we can now share it with the world.”

Jace Meyer of Actua works with a young student of Nakasuk Elementary helping her use coding software to remix her voice

This week’s workshop in Iqaluit, which also includes modules on 3D printing Inuit art and coding simple video games, is the first of hundreds of Codemakers programs and camps that will soon run in Canada's urban centres and high north. And, as we prepare to roll out Codemakers across Canada this summer, today’s event serves as the very first step towards engaging thousands of Canadian youth in activities that enable them to connect, create and produce their own culturally relevant content.

Nelson Tagoona performs with some of the Nakasuk Elementary School throat singing club.
Nelson is an inspiration to the children in this classroom. He sees computer science as a tool to mobilize and empower his community. So do Actua and Google. Codemakers is a three-year project developed by Google engineers and Actua experts that will transform the way youth engage with computer science. The program has an ambitious goal: to inspire more than 100,000 young Canadians, including girls and young women, Aboriginal youth and youth facing socio-economic challenges, to become the computer science builders and innovators of tomorrow. Today in Iqaluit we took our first step to delivering on that goal. And, thanks to the students of Nakasuk Elementary, we created a pretty great soundtrack too!
Posted by Jennifer Flanagan, President & CEO, Actua

Montreal’s Street Art joins the Google Art Project

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Rain, wind and Canadian winters - just a few of the reasons why street art remains such an ephemeral part of Montreal’s urban culture. But now some of those splashes of whimsy and colour that bring life to the city’s public spaces have been preserved and are on display for the entire world.
Last year we added street art to the Google Art Project in order to help conserve this art form and tell the story of street art around the world. Today, we are more than doubling the number of artworks from 34 countries sharing 10,000 high resolution images of artworks.

Kashink - Mural Festival 2014 - panorama
MONTREAL We partnered with 86 art organizations from around the globe and, here in Canada, we worked with MU and the MURAL Festival, two organizations dedicated to supporting Montreal’s vibrant street art scene.
MU Over the past seven years MU has produced 70 large-scale murals in 15 neighbourhoods of Montreal. MU’s projects are designed to promote the democratization of art and local development.

Printemps : hommage à Marcelle Ferron by Phillipe Allard in the Champ-de-Mars Metro station in Old Montreal, 2013
MURAL Festival MURAL festival is a free art festival based in Montreal, which aims to celebrate the creativity and democratize urban art. MURAL aims to bring together artistic activities that are linked with urban art.

Seth - Mural Festival 2014 - panorama
GLOBAL From stencil to sculpture installations and mosaic via collage, a great variety of styles from around the world are now represented on the Google Art platform. Ready for an urban safari around the world? Hit the streets in Street View and listen to the stories behind the art: travel from Sweden’s most famous street festival to New York city’s rooftops where you will discover Water Tanks wrapped with art, and follow an expert through Buenos Aires’ blooming urban art neighbourhoods.
Want to know more about local street art scenes, places and practitioners? We’ve put online 260 digital exhibits [link] for you to explore and a dozen immersive street view visits! For example you can now take a virtual tour of London’s trendy East End, home to some the world’s finest artworks, enjoy the colourful murals of Los Angeles’ Winston Street aka Indian Alley, learn more about the longest open air gallery in the world in Berlin and see how street artists can get inspired by 17th and 18th century paintings.
When the web and street art meet, the walls can come to life: discover the mesmerizing work of artists like INSA or Checko who painted, photographed, re-painted and then re-photographed a wall to create animated street art: the so-called GIF-iti.

GIF-ITI
Bringing street art into our daily lives You can now enjoy these fantastic collections in your daily life - at home, at work, on the go - as we introduce street art to Chrome, Chromecast and Android Wear. Turn your TV screen into a vibrant backdrop of street artworks, or discover a new artwork every time you open a browser tab in Chrome with the new Google Art Project Chrome extension. On your phone or tablet, browse through our partners' new apps, and follow them on a tour of Melbourne's famous laneways, take you on an art safari in Lisbon, and share a glimpse of the multicoloured murals that are covering Delhi, Lima and Honolulu. Finally, turn your smartwatch into a colourful artwork with our new Street Art Watch Faces!
From the streets of Montreal to cityscapes around the world, there’s so much more to discover. Head over to the Google Cultural Institute and dive into this vibrant and colourful world. Posted by Lucy Schwartz, Program Manager, Google Cultural Institute

Helping music artists make the most of YouTube

Monday, March 16, 2015

Cross-posted from the YouTube Creator Blog.
Remember your first guitar lesson? Or your 1,000th subscriber on YouTube? What about when you learned YouTube Analytics to understand what your fans watch the most?
Making great music is just like making great YouTube videos. It requires creativity, passion and the right resources, and that’s why we’re helping artists like you make the most of YouTube with the launch of YouTube for Artists. This initiative will give you two things: the tools to best connect with fans, and promotional programs to help you get discovered and grow.
YouTube for Artists...like you
On a new YouTube for Artists site, you have a variety of powerful resources, everything you need to take your latest slow jam or dance track to the next level. Here you’ll find tips on how to best get discovered, lessons on engaging with your fans beyond your music videos, a guide to making money on YouTube, and more. You can also learn about how you can sell merch and promote your shows directly within your video through cards, and have fans directly contribute money to your channel through Fan Funding. These features give you even more ways to grow both your audience and your revenue on YouTube.
Success on YouTube leads to greater overall success as an artist, and on YouTube for Artists you can learn about all the current programs we have to make that happen. That includes getting your YouTube views to lead to charting on Billboard, airtime on SiriusXM and NRJ in France, and free production resources at our YouTube Space locations around the world.
We’re also working on a new data tool for artists that will show you where your fans are located at the city level, as well as show the total number of views from your official music videos and fan uploads through Content ID. This will help you figure out where to promote your next single to your fans, the best time zone to release your next video or where you might route your next tour. And if you’re at SXSW Music this week, we’ll be hosting YouTube at Coppertank to show a preview of this data tool, as well as having live performances from emerging artists and trailblazing artists on YouTube.
Making center stage big enough for everyone
We want to do more than just give you tools to succeed—we want to help more and more fans discover your channel and videos. So we’re working on new ways to celebrate and promote the wide range of artists on YouTube.
We’re starting with the YouTube Music Awards, where we’re putting a spotlight on the artists who are growing the fastest, engaging with their audience the most, and helping define what music means on YouTube. You can learn more about this year’s top 50 artists at the YouTube Music Awards channel, and stay tuned on March 23 @ 10 a.m. PT for special music video performances from some of this year’s winners and other emerging artists. And if you’re a YouTube Music Award winner—congratulations!
The YTMAs are just the beginning, as we’re working on even more ways to help you make the most of YouTube.Marly Ellis, Global Head of Artist Marketing, recently watched “Introducing YouTube for Artists.”

Google Science Fair 2015: What will you try?

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog Google Science Fairsubmit projects onlinePrizesAnn MakosinskiKenneth ShinozukaHarine RavichandranSomething you love, you’re good at, and want to tryPosted by Miriam Schneider, Google for Education team(Cross-posted on the Google for Education Blog)

CTV GO Brings Network TV to Chromecast in Canada

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Marvel’s Agent CarterThe Big Bang TheoryGothamThe MentalistCTV GO

Chromecast

Sheldon meet Stephen HawkingPosted by Suveer Kothari, Director, Chromecast Partnerships

The Vancouver Art Gallery and Google Art Project share Douglas Coupland’s art with the world

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

crowd-sourced installation of Lego structuresa brain sculpted with 5000 objectsonlineGoogle Cultural Instituteeverywhere is anywhere is anything is everything

Explore the exhibition here

strollSecret HandshakeCultural InstituteGumheadRoyal Ontario Museum
Posted by Amit Sood, Director of the Google Cultural Institute

Street View Skates through the Nation’s Capital

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

No toques, mittens or warming huts required!

Just in time for Ottawa’s Winterlude Festival, Canadians and people from around the world can now take a virtual skate along the entire 7.8 kilometers of the frozen Rideau Canal Skateway

A picturesque day for virtual skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway

Last year, with the help of the NHL’s Cody Ceci, the Google Maps team laced up its skates and collected Street View imagery of the skateway -- the world’s largest skating rink which is managed and maintained by the National Capital Commission.

Skating to Parliament Hill in the Nation’s Capital

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, there’s plenty to explore along the skateway in Google Maps. From Dow’s Lake all the way to the base of Parliament Hill, you’ll pass commuters skating to work and iconic ‘Beavertail’ stands selling fresh pastries.

Oh, and as you enjoy a leisurely glide down this frozen icon of Canadian culture, keep an eye out for a couple of furry oversized Ottawa locals, eager to cheer you on your way!

Posted by Aaron Brindle, Google Canada

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