Google Tech Talks
December 18, 2006

ABSTRACT

If you wanted to undermine the technological revolution of the last 30 years, using the law, how would you do it? How would you undercut the virtuous cycle that results from access to an open network, force technological innovation into stagnation, diminish competition, create monopolies over the basic building blocks of knowledge? How many of those things are we doing now? James Boyle is William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law at Duke Law School, the founder of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, and a Board Member of Creative Commons. He is also a columnist for the Financial Times New Technology Policy Forum. His most recent books were…

Google Tech Talks
January 23, 2007

ABSTRACT

The modern Internet is, like all collections of information artifacts, affected by technology as well as culture. The question is what kinds of current technology ideas are potentially disruptive to Google goals, and what might one have to do to understand that disruption, and turn it to a positive effect. This talk will present some technical ideas that arise in broader AI research, but again and again reveal connections to culture that show the difficulty of “democratizing” the world’s information. Examples include data visualization, sensor networks, and belief revision, most notably connected to the idea of trusted digital community. Credits:…

Google Tech Talks
January 17, 2007

ABSTRACT

Kai-Fu Lee, Greater China President, visited the Seattle area Google office on January, 17, 2007 to talk about the current development of our offices in China. He spoke about the challenges and opportunities facing Google China as well as collaboration between the Seattle/Kirkland and China offices. Credits: Speaker:Kai-Fu Lee

We all know how to use Google Earth as a toy. But how do we use it as tool? We’ll go through some of the most powerful, yet overlooked, features of this program, how people are using it, and hopefully, take you way out of this world. Credits: Speaker:Jessica Pfund

Google Tech Talks
March 29, 2007

ABSTRACT

Video is becoming increasingly important content type, and it’s time to make video a first-class citizen on the web. The element is, along with JavaScript bindings, proposed as a simple solution to encourage browsers to support video natively. Equally important is the choice of video format to be used with. I will argue that the success of the web is based on using open standards, and that video should be no exception. I will demo Opera showing Ogg Theora video clips natively.

A demonstration is available here:

http://people.opera.com/howcome/2007/video Credits: Speaker:Håkon Wium Lie

Google Tech Talks
March 22, 2007

ABSTRACT

This presentation will be about 20-30 minutes, discussing Kestrel’s initial development and design of the first carbon fiber bicycles, as well as what the future holds. It will be followed by Q&A, allowing time for attendees to get an up close look at Kestrel’s bikes and carbon products at the end.

Speaker: Preston Sandusky, Co-owner and Engineer at Kestrel Bicycles Credits: Speaker:Preston Sandusky

Tim Lister, co-author of Peopleware and Waltzing With Bears discusses A Secret of Peopleware…why it’s so hard for big successful companies to keep the edge of the Blues brothers…”We’re on a A Mission from God.” What can you do about turning from the “Joy of the Struggle” to “We’re Entitled to This.” Credits: Speaker:Tim Lister

Google Tech Talks
January 17, 2007

ABSTRACT

If you’ve enjoyed Hal’s talks and emails on how economic theory can help make sense of various financial phenomenon around us from the US real estate bubble to zero-coupon bonds; come listen to Prof. Waverman from the London Business School talk about how mobile technology can impact economic growth in emerging markets. His work was recently profiled in The Economist. Prof. Waverman visits Google in Mountain View courtesy of efforts by Yonca Brunini and Dennis Woodside from our EMEA offices.

Professor Waverman’s research quantifiably demonstrates that communications networks form a key component of the infrastructure crucial to a nation’s economic…

Google Tech Talks
January 11, 2007

ABSTRACT

Much of what we want to know about other people is not directly perceivable. Are you a nice person? Did you really like the cake I baked? If we got married, would you be a good parent to our children? Instead, we rely on signals, which are perceivable features or actions that indicate the presence of those hidden qualities. Yet not all signals are reliable. It is beneficial for the con-man to seem nice, for the guest to seem to like the burnt cake, for the unsuitable suitor to seem as attractive as possible. While these deceptions benefit the deceiver, they may be quite costly for the recipient. What keeps signals honest — and why are some signals…