November 2013 Summaries

In an eventful week for Google Developers, the Chrome Dev Summit was highlighted through live streams that showcased two days of high-quality content, alongside a sneak peek at the Google Glass Development Kit. Additionally, Tim Bray and Breno de Medeiros engaged in discussions on passwords and account security. Google Developers Live Weekly offered a concise three-minute video summarizing these events, with direct access to various related videos and posts, including topics such as Google Cloud SQL, Google Drive SDK, and live performance analysis. The platform encourages subscribers to stay updated by following Google Developers on YouTube, with Program Manager Louis Gray emphasizing the dynamic nature of Google's Developer Relations Team.

"A Journey through Middle-earth" is a Chrome Experiment developed by North Kingdom in collaboration with major film studios to showcase the potential of the evolving mobile web using the latest web technologies. Despite the historical challenges of building rich multimedia experiences on mobile devices due to their limited power and browser API support, recent advancements such as WebGL, WebRTC, and Web Audio in Chrome for Android have enabled the creation of this interactive and immersive experience. The project utilizes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build a dynamic map of Middle-earth with features like multi-touch pinch-to-zoom and parallax scrolling, eventually leading users into a WebGL-based 3D environment with interactive audio, optimized for high-end Android devices. This experiment highlights the rapid evolution of the multi-device web and the exciting possibilities for future web experiences, encouraging developers to explore new capabilities through technical resources and community engagement.

Google launched a new functionality in the Civic Information API to empower developers in connecting U.S. users with their federal, state, county, and municipal elected officials, down to the city council district level. This enhancement allows the API to not only support election-specific applications but also promote everyday civic engagement by returning political jurisdictions using Open Civic Data Identifiers. Developers can integrate this API with their own datasets, such as matching districts with historical election results, to create impactful civic applications. Examples include Change.org's Decision Makers feature, which directs petitions to elected representatives, and PopVox, which facilitates meaningful communication between constituents and Congressional representatives. The initiative, developed in collaboration with civic technology groups like the Sunlight Foundation, aims to make civic data universally accessible, encouraging developers to share their experiences and contribute to building new tools for improving civic life.

Last week was eventful for Google Developers, featuring the introduction of Dart 1.0, discussions on Portable Native Client, and insights from the Google Developers Hackademy. These topics were highlighted on Google Developers Live Weekly, which encourages viewers to stay updated by subscribing to Google Developers on YouTube. The program also featured various resources like Root Access, YouTube Developers Live, and other APIs such as Wallet Objects and Google Compute Engine. Louis Gray, a Program Manager on Google's Developer Relations Team, emphasized the importance of engaging with these live streams to stay informed about the latest developments.

Google Code-in is a global online contest for pre-university students aged 13-17, designed to introduce them to open source software through practical engagement with real-world projects. Running for seven weeks, the program offers tasks across various domains including coding, documentation, marketing, and user interface design, created by ten open source projects. Students earn points for completing tasks, with the chance to win T-shirts, certificates, and ultimately a grand prize. The 20 grand prize winners are rewarded with a trip to Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, where they meet Google engineers and tour the Googleplex. Since its inception, more than 1,200 students from 71 countries have participated, with previous grand prize winners coming from diverse global locations. The initiative aims to enhance participants' technical skills and contribute to open source organizations while providing an exciting and educational experience.

Google has expanded its offline disk import service to include new centers in Switzerland, Japan, and India, allowing users worldwide to import large datasets by mailing hard drives instead of relying on potentially unreliable or costly internet connections. Originally developed for efficiently importing data from the hard drives of Google's Street View cars, the system, humorously named OmNomNom, rapidly ingests and processes large data sources, improving the time between image capture and user availability. This service highlights the global reach and scalability of Google Cloud Storage, offering users the ability to send EncFS encrypted hard drives for import to designated GCS buckets, with options for returning the drives or secure destruction. The initiative demonstrates Google's commitment to providing scalable infrastructure solutions, with options for those who prefer online access through tools like gsutil.

Dart SDK 1.0 has been released as a stable, cross-browser, open-source toolkit for creating structured web applications, marking its evolution into a production-ready option for developers. This release includes a powerful programming language, robust tools such as Dart Editor and Dartium, comprehensive core libraries, and the dart2js translator, which enhances the performance and reduces the code size of generated JavaScript. The SDK also features the Pub package manager with over 500 community packages, including popular frameworks like AngularDart and polymer.dart. Dart aims to simplify and scale development workflows, offering features like code completion, refactoring, and debugging. It supports asynchronous server-side computation and allows interoperation with JavaScript libraries. The performance has significantly improved, with benchmark results showing Dart VM surpassing idiomatic JavaScript in speed. Companies like Blossom, Montage, Soundtrap, and even Google's internal applications are already using Dart in production, and other companies such as Adobe and JetBrains are adding Dart support to their products. The Dart team plans to focus on enhancing Dartium, further improving performance, and maintaining backward compatibility with core technologies.

Google Drive's integration with Gmail, announced by Nicolas Garnier from Google Developer Relations, enhances the functionality of web apps by allowing users to open email attachments directly with Drive-enabled apps. This improvement lets users discover and connect with apps seamlessly within their inbox, offering suggestions for compatible Drive apps based on the attachment type. If an app is already listed in the Chrome Web Store's Drive collection, it will automatically appear in Gmail for existing users, while new users can search for and connect with it. Developers are encouraged to ensure their apps are Drive-enabled to take advantage of this integration. Nicolas Garnier, based in Zurich, has been with Google's Developer Relations since 2008 and plays a significant role in advocating for Google Drive and Apps, as well as leading the OAuth 2.0 Playground project.

Louis Gray, Program Manager at Google Developers Live, provides a recap of the weekly activities and updates from Google Developers Live, highlighting key events and resources. The discussion includes insights into improving mobile page speed using tools like mod_pagespeed and ngx_pagespeed, updates on the Google Mobile Ads SDK for iOS, and the integration of PageSpeed with Google Analytics. It also covers the Google Cloud Tour and various developer updates, such as Google App Engine and YouTube Developers Live. Gray emphasizes the importance of staying informed on these developments by subscribing to Google Developers on YouTube for the latest events and updates.

In the November 8, 2013 edition of the Google Developers Blog's "Fridaygram," the post highlights various educational and environmental initiatives. Connected Classrooms on Google+ offers students virtual field trips to destinations like the Seattle Aquarium and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, allowing global access to educational experiences. The blog also discusses the pronghorn migration in Wyoming and efforts by the Wyoming Department of Transportation to facilitate safe crossing with a system of fences, overpasses, and underpasses for these animals, which have successfully adapted to the new crossings. Additionally, Google's new service, Helpouts, is introduced as a platform for obtaining and providing assistance on diverse topics such as cooking and fitness via Google+ Hangouts, offering users opportunities to learn or solve problems in real-time. The post concludes with a light-hearted reminder of the weekly "Fridaygram" tradition to share entertaining and nerdy content with its audience.

Recent updates to mod_pagespeed and ngx_pagespeed, specifically versions 1.5 and later, introduce optimizations that significantly enhance the loading speed of web pages, particularly on mobile devices, by up to two times. These improvements are primarily due to new features such as prioritize_critical_css, which inlines essential CSS for initial page rendering, and the critical image beacon that aids in image optimization through lazy loading and inline previews. Existing enhancements like defer_javascript, which delays script execution until page load completion, and convert_jpeg_to_webp, which reduces image sizes for webp-capable browsers, further contribute to performance gains. The optimizations lead to faster rendering of above-the-fold content and more efficient image handling, with full page rendering occurring quicker than previously possible. Users can enable these features by updating their pagespeed configuration, and feedback on the performance improvements is encouraged as the development team continues to refine and enhance page optimization techniques.

Louis Gray, a Program Manager at Google Developers Live, provides an update on recent activities and resources available on Google Developers Live, highlighting various topics and events. These include a series on Google Apps Script in Spanish, an App Clinic in Italy, insights on timing and market conditions for startups, and discussions on startup revenue. Other notable mentions include a YouTube Live session on resumable uploads, an overview of GDG DevFest, and updates on the Wallet Objects API and Android developments like KitKat and Nexus 5. Additionally, the post discusses new AdSense data in the Analytics Core Reporting API, a refreshed API management interface, and expanded accessibility for Google Cloud SQL. The post encourages subscribing to Google Developers on YouTube to stay informed about future events and updates.