Category Archives: Google

Google's relationship with bitcoin and cryptocurrency has long been fraught but it has apparently just taken a turn for the worse.

The search giant previously banned bitcoin and cryptocurrency ads, knocking the bitcoin price, before deciding to allow them again in September last year after three-month block.

Now, Google has decided to remove hundreds of bitcoin and cryptocurrency videos from its video-sharing site YouTube in what's being called a "crypto-purge"leaving many who make bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related videos feeling unfairly targeted by the search giant.

[Update: 5:05am EST 12/27/2019] YouTube has said the decision to ban bitcoin and cryptocurrency videos from its site was an "error" and the removed videos would be reinstated.

"With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call," a YouTube spokesman told crypto news site Decrypt. "When it's brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it."

Google's YouTube video-sharing platform is the world's biggest video website, with 300 hours of ... [+] content on everything, including bitcoin and cryptocurrency, uploaded every minute.

The YouTube crypto-purge appears to only be targeting smaller channels and publishers, with crypto-related videos from the likes of bitcoin and crypto news outlet CoinTelegraph and U.S. business news publisher CNBC escaping the cull.

One YouTuber Chris Dunn, who has some 210,000 subscribers on the platform, asked YouTube for an explanation via Twitter.

"YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing 'harmful or dangerous content' and 'sale of regulated goods,'" Dunn wrote, adding he's been making videos on the platform for 10 years and built up 200,000 subs and 7 million views.

The number of videos targeted by Google's YouTube is well into the hundreds and "growing fast."

Some in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry have vowed to challenge the decision.

"YouTube deleting all Crypto content is a massive blow to the industry," Ran NeuNer, host of the CryptoTrader show on CNBC Africa, said via Twitter.

"YouTube is the go to place for educational video and the first port of call for new people entering the ecosystem to learn the basics. As a community we should challenge this formally."

Meanwhile, others have been searching for a reason for the purge, finding YouTube's citing of "harmful and dangerous content" unsatisfactory.

"So far Alphabet [Google's parent company] has made no attempt to explain the reasons for the culling," Mati Greenspan, the founder of research group Quantum Economics, wrote in a note.

"The first instinct that many had was that perhaps they're trying to protect the consumer from scams. However, this wouldn't make much sense given that Google and Facebook have already had a crypto advertising ban last year that has long since been reversed, likely due to regulatory clarity in the U.S. where it was found that bitcoin and ethereum are neither securities nor scams."

Greenspan added he is now "officially boycotting YouTube" due to the crypto-purge.

Google, along with the likes of social media giant Facebook, has been increasingly looking to financial services to bolster advertisement revenue in recent years, with public opinion moving against ad-funded business models.

Last month, Google, in partnership with U.S. banking giant Citigroup, said it's planning to launch its own fully-fledged "smart checking" bank accounts via Google Paypiling pressure on bitcoin developers to improve user experienceandadoption or face redundancy.

Meanwhile, the bitcoin price has climbed this year,largely due to interest in bitcoin and crypto from the world's biggest technology companieswith others,including the likes of iPhone-maker Apple and online retailer Amazon, branching out into traditional financial services.

The bitcoin price has stagnated recently after surging higher earlier in the year though it remains ... [+] around double where it began 2019.

Google's decision to take action against bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related content on YouTube has caused some to call for an alternative.

"It may be time the crypto community take a stab at its own blockchain-enabled censorship-resistant social media platform," Changpeng Zhao, the founder and chief executive of bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said via Twitter.

Original post:

Googles YouTube Goes To War With Bitcoin And Crypto [Updated] - Forbes

While it seems like just yesterday we were all celebrating the beginning of 2019, the year is coming to an end.

Another year of making memories, and of course, shopping! We bet your credit card got some use this holiday season, but you're certainly not alone. Google just released the most searched products of the year, and we're not surprised that many are actually quite practical.

From the best vacuums, smart speakers and kids' toys, to the most searched beauty products, there is bound to be a category that catches your eye. Looks like it's time to put those holiday gift cards to good use. Shop the most popular products of 2019, according to Google ahead.

To quickly jump to the category you're looking for click on the links below or keep scrolling to see the full list.

L.L. Bean has sold over 4 million pairs of these cozy shearling slippers over the last five years and sell a pair every seven seconds during the holiday season! They're perfect to wear around the house, stain-resistant and great quality.

This North Face 1996 Nuptse Jacket would be a great addition to anyone's wardrobe. Look great all winter long in this durable, water-resistant, trendy coat. Available for men and women, it comes in black, purple, silver and red.

If you live in a cold-weather climate, you know how daunting the winter months can get. These classic Sorel boots are great in the snow and icy conditions. Not only are they fashionable, but they're waterproof suede and leather and have a non-slip rubber traction sole.

Known as "The world's first flossing toothbrush," the Waterpik has become one of the hottest items of 2019. The gadget combines the power of an advanced sonic electric toothbrush with a water flosser in one easy-to-use device.

There are a bunch of CC creams on the market, but this Juice Beauty stem cellular cream has dominated Google searches in the last few months. This vegan and cruelty-free cream has over 12 benefits including evening skin tone, sun protection and more.

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With almost one thousand five-star reviews on Sephora.com, this hydrating matte liquid lipstick gives intense, velvety color with a rich and creamy texture in one coat. It comes in over two dozen shades, so you're bound to be the perfect color just for you.

The Google Home Mini is one of the most searched tech items on Google, and that probably does not come as a surprise! It's both compact, useful, easy to use and the price doesn't break the bank.

Amazon's Fire TV cube lets you dive straight into your favorite movies and TV shows with the sound of your voice. From across the room, just say, Alexa, play 'Game of Thrones' on HBO," and she will automatically fire up your favorite episode. You can also ask Alexa to turn off the lights, get a weather report and so much more.

Another great streaming device option is the new Apple TV 4K. You can download any app available in the app store including Amazon Prime Video, HBO, YouTube, E! and more - so you can watch all of your favorite shows in 4K HDR.

If you've been eyeing an air fryer, this Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 Indoor Grill may be the best option on the market! Not only does it air fry but it also grills, roasts, bakes and dehydrates any food item of your choice.

Get your dose of freshly-made juice every day with this high-end juicer from Breville.

There are plenty of coffee maker options on the market but there's a reason so many people are searching for this Ninja coffee bar machine. It brews up to 10 cups of coffee, comes with a milk frother and is super easy to clean up.

Although Dyson products usually tend to be an investment, this one seems to be worth it! The Dyson Cyclone v10 Absolute Vacuum is cord-free and has powerful suction to deeply clean carpets and remove dirt. The brand's multi-floor vacuum was also highly searched.

The iRobot Roomba i7 vacuum is a state-of-the-art robot vacuum that uses a premium 3-stage cleaning system, dual rubber brushes and smart mapping technology that learns, maps and adapts to each room in your home. The Ecovas brand also has a similar item with a lower price point.

Reminisce with friends and family all winter long with this "A Christmas Story" leg lamp replica.

Help your little ones celebrate Anna and Elsa's latest story by helping them create Arendelle and beyond with this fun LEGO Disney Princess Frozen ice castle.

Each container includes a fun surprise for your child to enjoy. These little balls come with adorable mini replicas of popular items found at the grocery store. With over 70 to collect, there is plenty left to discover.

Fisher Price's interactive puppy toy is a great way to get your child moving and grooving.

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The most popular products of 2019, according to Google - TODAY

Search giant Google recently rolled out a new iteration of its Chrome browser. The latest version called the Chrome v79, which is available for users on Windows, Mac, ChromeOS, Android, and iOS platforms, has some new privacy and security features to keep you and your data safe.

Here are the 5 most easy ways of securing your data on Google Chrome:

Passwords protection

Google users will now be alerted if they are signing up on a website or anywhere else, using a password that has been exposed to some data breach. This feature is basically an integration of Googles recently launched Password Checkup tool. The tool alerts users about hacked passwords. The brand claims users have the option to control the feature through the Settings under Sync and Google services.

Real time phishing protection

Google is now extending predictive phishing protection for websites that may trigger phishing. In a blog post it said, Now well be protecting your Google Account password when you sign in to Chrome, even if Sync is not enabled. In addition, this feature will now work for all the passwords you store in Chromes password manager. Hundreds of millions more users will now benefit from the new warnings.

The company has claimed that it will provide real-time phishing protections on desktop, which users can avail by enabling Make searches and browsing better setting in Chrome.

Google Chrome also offers password checkup(Google)

Disable or Encrypt Data Syncing

Bookmarks and browsing history are usually saved on the users device computer. If sync is enabled data from the device is going to Google. In order to not share data with Google, one has to disable syncing. To disable sync, follow these steps

Tap on three dots on top right corner of Google Chrome

Go to Settings

Choose people from the list on left side

Your account name will appear with an option on the right to Turn on or off Sync

Toggle it, to Sync off

If a person uses multiple devices and has data sync across all of them, then instead of disabling the option to sync, the user can encrypt all data with a passphrase. To use this feature, Chrome will ask the person to create a passphrase that will be needed on every device that needs to be synced. To keep this data private, ensure the passphrase chosen is not the same as the one for the Google account.

ALSOREAD: 5 features of the Google Assistant that you probably did not know about

Refreshed UI for Profile

The new feature that has been rolled out with latest version shows the name aside of the profile picture of the account whos been switched to. Other features as tab freezing, back-forward caching mechanism, restricting the HTTPS mixed content sites to load have been added to ensure no data is leaked.

Enable Safe Browsing and Do Not Track

Safe Browsing feature can help in prevent certain malicious or poorly secured sites from opening in your browser. With the Do Not Track feature, websites cannot track the amount of time a user spends on any given page. Apart from that, this feature also stops the website from tracking your behavior, which includes the type of information that interests you.

Read the original here:

Google Chromes five security features that every user should know - Hindustan Times

Google has admitted that some of its employees have been exposed to harmful chemicals than can cause birth defects.

Factory workers making Google products, but hired by an outside supplier, have been exposed to N-Methylpyrrolidone, which can cause birth defects and serious skin and respiratory irritation.

Read more: France fines Google over anti-competitive behaviour

The workers, who are located at an unspecified location, had to submerge motherboard chips in the chemical every day.

Google admitted the violation in a report sent to investors, according to The Telegraph.

The report says it found 525 violations of its supplier code across a number of factories in Asia and the US.

This included some employees working more than 60 hours a week or more than six consecutive days.

Ted Smith, the founder and former executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, told The Telegraph that the violation was a serious problem.

Most of the workers in these factories are women of childbearing age, he said.

There have been a series of studies done in the workplace and surrounding communities showing high rates of miscarriages from women exposed to this chemical.

Brands at the top of the food chain have been sailing by, pretending that they didnt know what was going on. There has been lots of activity to get them to focus on these issues.

It is unclear how many workers have been exposed to the dangerous chemical or if any other suppliers have similar components.

Read more: Amazon, Apple and Google team up to break home tech barriers

While N-Methylpyrrolidone is legal itself in Europe, it has been listed as a restricted chemical due to its side effects.

Google declined to comment.

View original post here:

Google workers exposed to chemical that causes birth defects - City A.M.

Happy AI holidays. If youre the recent recipient of hardware with Google Assistant inside like a Google Nest smart speaker or smart display heres a guide to getting the most out of it.

Done right, Google Assistant can help you cook, shop, learn, remember things, stay in touch with loved ones, and interpret dozens of languages, not to mention acting as a remote control for your TV.

Lets call this your suite of standard issue features. These are the reason smart speakers became popular in the first place and are the kinds of actions the average user is most likely to do like setting a timer or alarm, controlling smart home devices, playing music, and creating calendar events.

Once youve downloaded the Home app, follow the instructions to do things like integrate your favorite music streaming service or enable voice control of smart home devices.

Youll also want to set up Voice Match if you have multiple people in your home and want to do things like ask whats on your personal calendar or add an event to your calendar. Voice Match works for up to six members of a household.

Some things you can do with your smart speaker or display:

Notice I gave no directions on how to do any of this? Thats because the AI Google Assistant uses is designed to understand how people talk and adjust to variations of commands. Unlike every other form of computing, when done right the conversational interface should require no training. So ask away.

This is pretty basic too, but if you share your home and work address with Google in the Home app, you can create location-based reminders that pop up on your phone or cue a sound when you walk in the door.

In August, Google Assistant got the ability to assign reminders to up to six members of a household. Assigned reminders first appear on the persons smartphone and can also be location-based or be scheduled to take place at a certain time or date.

When you assign reminders with the Nest Hub Max, a smart display with facial recognition released this fall, reminders appear on the screen when it sees your face as you approach the device. If you can stomach giving Google facial recognition that recognizes your family, this can be pretty helpful around the house.

Gone are the days of a single female assistant with a monotone voice. Today, most AI assistants are more expressive than they were a few years ago, and with the exception of Amazons Alexa, all major AI assistants now offer feminine and masculine assistant options. Google Assistant gives you up to 11 different voices to choose from.

Text-to-speech synthesis also means you can have Google Assistant respond to queries with the voice of John Legend or Insecures Issa Rae. Amazons Alexa can also talk like Samuel L. Jackson. It seems likely that tech giants making AI assistants will incorporate more celebrity personality options for voice computing in 2020.

To be clear, AI that sounds like celebrity voices is not for every exchange, but it does work for responses to common requests like Whats the weather like? or Tell me a joke.

Once youve chosen your favorite voice, you can ask Google Assistant factual questions about almost anything, from Who was the 36th president of the United States? to Where is the nearest Best Buy?

Youre speaking to the right AI for your random questions: For the second year in a row, Google Assistant ranks #1 among virtual assistants in an annual IQ test that gauges their ability to accurately respond to questions. Though other assistants are catching up, Google Assistant outranks the competition in virtually every category, including local search and commerce questions.

Another analysis this summer found that Google Assistant ranks best among AI assistants in answering questions about the most commonly used medications in the United States.

If you have a smart display, the response to questions may also include visuals. And ask an animal-related question, like What does a whale sound like? and you might hear the sound. Or ask about a local business and directions may be sent directly to your phone.

If youve ever seen kids interact with a smart speaker, you probably understand that many children get a real kick out of controlling AI assistants, and Google Assistant has made a growing list of things for kids to do since the first Home speaker became available in 2016.

There are alarms with Ninja Turtles, Lego, or Nickelodeon characters that can tell jokes or share words of encouragement. There are also Google Assistant voice apps for kids from characters like SpongeBob SquarePants.

Google Nest speakers and displays can listen to you read a book, and when you arrive at certain sections, words will cue sound effects. My Storytime even lets parents record stories for their kids to listen to at their leisure through a Google Assistant voice app.

Kids under 13 can make their own Voice Match profile that lets Google Assistant recognize their voice with a parents permission.

Asking questions can be fun, but what about the follow-up? Continued Conversations allows Google Assistant to listen for about 10 seconds after an initial exchange for a follow-up question. Ask Whats the capital of California and then And how many people live there? and Google Assistant will understand the context.

This is designed to make exchanges feel more fluid and human and less like youre speaking to a basic bot.

With your permission, Google Assistant is able to act as a translator for up to 44 languages. Interpreter Mode for Home speakers launched in January for about two dozen languages Its not a perfect solution, as translations were limited to about 15 seconds at launch, but it can still be helpful in the right context.

Interpreter Mode also recently came to Google Assistant on Android devices.

If you speak more than one language at home, you can enable multilingual Google Assistant in the Home app. That means Google Assistant can speak and respond to queries in both English and Spanish.

This can be a lot of fun and a great way to explore your own photos or watch video. Try Hey Google, show me my photos from last weekend or Hey Google, show me my photos from Portland.

You can also say Hey Google, play the Warriors Game on YouTube TV or Hey Google, show me cats tap dancing on YouTube. To avoid untoward video recommendations, responses can be limited to YouTube Restricted Mode or YouTube Kids.

Its important to note that you dont need a smart display to do this: A Home speaker can also work in tandem with a Chromecast connected to your TV to display photos based on voice commands. And depending on the brand and model, Google Assistant can also act as a remote control for your TV or Roku device to let you turn the device on or off, change the channel, or ask for certain shows.

Google Assistant incorporates thousands of recipes from the web, and Home speakers can help with step-by-step guides to cooking a recipe. You can also check with Google Assistant on the basic cooking stuff, like how much 500ml is in ounces, or set timers to make sure your casserole doesnt burn.

Cooking with Google Assistant works best when you can see the recipe and scroll through instructions, rather than waiting for a speaker to talk you through each step or having the assistant repeat steps when you get behind, get distracted, or go looking for an ingredient.

Smart display users can swipe to the left to see recipe recommendations. Favorite recipes can also be saved in the Google app.

When you tell Google Assistant to broadcast a message, it quickly sends an audio snippet to other devices in a home so you can tell everyone its time for dinner or bed.

Broadcast replies were introduced to enable broadcasts to be interactive even if youre away from home.

This feature naturally encourages people to own more than one speaker, because broadcasting a message to someone doesnt make much sense if youre both in the same room.

This year saw a slow drip of privacy-related incidents from AI assistants made by tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. Most of these stories involved third-party contractors hearing wildly intimate audio from users who were unaware that humans were reviewing recorded interactions with their AI assistant.

In response, Amazon and Google introduced privacy-focused voice commands that enable you to quickly say things like Hey Google, delete the last thing I said or Hey Google, delete everything I said to you last week.

Google makes it possible to delete voice recordings in the My Activity section of the Home app, but voice commands make it even easier and dont require digging through your account.

Google also introduced Digital Wellbeing, a suite of services to monitor and limit tech usage.

With Google Assistant, this feature lets you disable music or video or limit Google Assistant responses based on the time of day. This can be good in households where kids get chatty with the assistant when its time for bed.

One major item on my wish list: Enable restrictions based on unique voice ID, so parents can lock out their chatty children but still have a full range of movement with a voice computing device, for example.

You can also disable voice or video calls and interactions with third-party Google Assistant voice apps.

Routines are voice commands you can customize to carry out multiple actions with a single utterance. For instance, you can make Okay Google, good morning a cue for the assistant to read the news, take your phone off silent, change the temperature in your home, tell you about your commute, and start your coffee maker. Or you can make a Routine that shuts off smart home appliances when you leave home or turns them on when you return from work.

The one I use most often is Good morning to check my calendar and hear the latest news.

Routines can even incorporate Google Assistant voice apps like Headspace for things like word of the day or meditation or wind down breathing exercises. If you follow a certain religion, routines might be good for daily devotionals, or to get things like a quote of the day or word of the day.

Companies like Google and Amazon offer Routines because they know voice commands that become part of your daily life are likely to see the highest levels of engagement. Daily Routines are one of Google Assistant VP Scott Huffmans 5 must-follow rules of voice computing.

More:

10 things to try with your new Google Nest smart speaker - VentureBeat

There are still a few days left in 2019, but Im not holding my breath. After more than six months of no updates, Google updated its Android distribution data in May. Since then, more than seven months (234 days to be exact) have passed without a single update.

The Android developer website hosts a distribution dashboard that details the adoption of Googles mobile operating system versions. With over 2.5 billion active Android devices out there, Androids distribution is useful information for anyone who makes decisions regarding Googles mobile operating system. Its incredibly valuable to know how widely (or narrowly) an Android version or more importantly, an API level has been adopted.

In October, Google did share that Android Pie had 22.6% adoption in August 2019. That meant the second-latest version of Android was running on a fifth of devices after some 12 months. Google did not, however, share adoption numbers for any other Android version, including Android 10, the latest version that started rolling out in September.

Google used to update its dashboard monthly. The last regular update was in October 2018. Google blamed a technical glitch for the gap between then and May 2019. The company told us at the time that it had resolved the issue and promised to keep the dashboard updated again. The updates would be closer to quarterly than monthly, the company said.

After a few months it became clear that Google had broken that promise. We reached out to Google multiple times since May. The company declined to offer any new numbers and did not respond to requests for comment.

Here are the latest numbers from May 2019:

This data is useless. Do Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich still have the minimum 0.1% to show up on the dashboard? What is Android 10s adoption share? Which versions should developers target? How many users have devices that support a certain feature? When in 2020 will Google issue an update? Nobody knows.

Instead of regular dashboard updates, it looks like Google only wants to share tidbits of good news. We likely wont see the latest numbers until Google has something positive to say about Android 10 adoption.

ProBeat is a column in which Emil rants about whatever crosses him that week.

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ProBeat: Google only updated Android distribution data once in 2019 - VentureBeat

After its famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial, Apple officially unveiled the Macintosh 128k, the "the computer for the rest of us." The Mac revolutionized personal computing. And it was Apple designer Susan Kares job to create digital fonts and icons to usher in this new age.

"I was a typical customer that they were trying to attract, someone for whom the graphical side of it would have been attractive," Kare told a technology historian in 2000. "I didnt really have much computer experience, but even then I found the rudimentary Mac more appealing to me than the Apple II."

Compared to most personal computers at the time which used command line interfaces that were too technical for many users to understand the Mac adopted a much more user-friendly graphical interface (GUI). It featured plenty of things that even the most novice computer user today understands intuitively pointers, menus, scroll bars, windows, icons, and typefaces.

Before the Mac, letters took up the same amount of room on a computer screen, like on a typewriter. But with the new screen and interface, letters such as "i" and "w" could take up different widths. For the first time, designers like Kare were able create typefaces with natural proportions, which made them easier to read.

With those new abilities, Kare designed the Macs first set of proprietary typefaces. That includes Chicago, the quintessential Apple typeface that debuted with the first Mac, retired in 1997 with Mac OS 8, and resurfaced in the 2000s with the early generation iPods.

Chicagos dark, bold strokes were designed to improve legibility on low-resolution screens a testament to the Macs user-friendly ethos. But when combined with its jagged, stair-like aesthetics, Chicago became a hallmark of Apples early brand image. As Chicago Magazine noted in 2018, it was "a typographic premonition of Apples future: a highly visible company that would be known for consistently reaching new heights."

Susan Kare's Chicago, a quintessential typeface for the Apple brand, is the system typeface for early Macs and early iPods.

A combination of technological advancements, functional needs, and branding considerations made Chicago possible and popular. Those same factors are why tech companies design custom typefaces today, says designer and brand strategist Ksenya Samarskaya.

The 2010s saw a resurgence in the adoption of custom typefaces by big tech companies. Apple debuted its first in-house font in more than 20 years with San Francisco in 2015. Google introduced Product Sans in 2015, Roboto for Android in 2011, and Youtube Sans for YouTube in 2017. Then there are Netflix Sans, Airbnb Cereal, Samsung One, and Uber Move.

Samarskaya told me tech companies growing interest in custom typefaces is partly related to the evolution of display technology.

When Kare designed Chicago for Apple back in the '80s, it was displayed on some of the earliest pixel-based screens. Designers at tech companies today, on the other hand, work with much more sophisticated displays.

Susan Kare's design of Chicago for Apple is among the first typefaces made for a computer operating system

As screens gain resolution, designers gain ways to address functional and branding needs on smaller displays. For instance, Apple debuted San Francisco in 2015 now used across iOS, OS, and tvOS with the Apple Watchs small screen in mind.

"When screens were all low-resolution, you couldn't really tell the difference between typefaces as much, and so you were much more limited in terms of what you could do design-wise," Samarskaya told me. "But now, we have more people using high-density screens, and all of a sudden, there's a finer canvas with which to play and express yourself and communicate."

But technology didnt just expand design options for typographers; it also expanded their audience. With the evolution of mobile technology and the internet also came globalization, and the need to cater to global audiences.

For companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook, which operate around the world, legibility in English is no longer the only functional concern.

"When youre dealing with this kind of global landscape, you get into localization concerns," Samarskaya said. "If this country is operating in Thailand, or Georgia, or wherever else, all of a sudden you also have to support all those additional scripts."

As companies expand to serve users globally, font licensing fees also become a cause for concern, Samarskaya told me. For example, before Netflix transitioned to its custom typeface in 2018, it had been paying type design agency Hoefler & Co. millions of dollars a year to use Gotham the same typeface used by Barack Obamas 2008 presidential campaign.

This is in part because these agencies, too, are responding to technological developments. As advertising follows a younger audience to online platforms, agencies increasingly monetize their typefaces based on the number of times they're displayed digitally, Netflixs brand design lead Noah Nathan told design blog Its Nice That in 2018.

Samarskaya noted that the tech companies I mentioned to her created their custom typefaces with speed and ease of processing in mind amid a landscape of similar typefaces.

"They want to fit into the groove of 'what works,'" she said.

But, she added, there is an emotional appeal to typefaces, too.

For a New Yorker, for instance, Helvetica may feel familiar because it's associated with the subway.

Samarskaya speaks of the "invisible" power of typefaces the subtle, primal ways they make an impression on people in their everyday lives. For a New Yorker, for instance, Helvetica may feel familiar because its associated with the subway. Likewise, Comic Sans may bring up memories from elementary school.

That means the typefaces used by brands come with cultural implications for better or worse.

"Typefaces kind of act like a sponge, and all the connotations when it was made and what companies it was used for get absorbed by them," Samarskaya said. "It makes sense that all these companies are coming up with their own. They want to have control to craft their own narratives."

Facebook, the company, created a custom logotype to differentiate itself from Facebook, the social media site.

Thats why Facebook, the company, designed a custom typeface for a new logo to differentiate itself from Facebook, the social network, as the latter increasingly faces scrutiny over antitrust concerns.

But for the most part, custom typefaces are used to amplify and reinforce a companys identity.

For example, Youtube said it made YouTube Sans "quirky, expressive, simple and bold, just like the platform it calls home." Similarly, Google said Product Sans combines the "childlike simplicity of schoolbook letter printing" and "the mathematical purity of geometric forms" to become "Googly" a symbol of the company's playful, experimental personality and technological finesse.

Then there is Airbnb, who said it designed Cereal with an overall roundness to convey the feeling that it is "friendly and approachable" ideal characteristics for a vacation rental company.

But ultimately, Samarskaya says typography is a "living, evolving culture" that develops alongside technology, and as a result, globalization.

Go here to read the rest:

Why Apple, Google, and other big tech companies create their own fonts - Mashable

Google Maps is a handy piece of technology used to help viewers map their way across the globe. While it has plenty of practical uses, many users have also discovered it is good for uncovering some of the worlds mysteries. Using satellite images of the earth from above, viewers have the opportunity to see the planet from a new angle.

One eagle-eyed viewer recently came across a very unexpected sight.

The user posted their finding to Reddit, which appears to show an aircraft in the middle of a field.

Situated just north of Mogadishu in Somalia, the satellite image shows a plane only metres from a dirt road.

Trees and foliage surround the plane while a lemon drying field sits directly to its left.

READ MORE:Google Maps: Mysterious island with only one building [PICS]

In a bid to discover what happened the user did their own research and found out that the plane was an A300 model which crashed in 2015.

They wrote: This appears to be the A300 that crashed north of Mogadishu in 2015. The details around the crash are not exactly clear with some conflicting info. But essentially the aircraft failed to land and ran out of fuel, pilots had to ditch the aircraft north of the city.

The rectangles around the plane appear to be a lemon drying field.

According to the Aviation Herald, the flight was a Tristar Air Airbus A300-B4 performing a freight flight from Belgium to Somalia via Egypt.

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While there were no passengers travelling on the plane, there were six crew members.

The flight was carrying 40 tons of perishables, noted to be frozen food supplies packaged with carbon dioxide, on behalf of the United Nations.

Local police reported the aircraft had suffered problems with the landing gear prompting the flight crew to instigate an emergency landing.

Luckily, no one was fatally injured onboard, however, two occupants received minor injuries.

Meanwhile, the plane itself was left damaged beyond repair, abandoned in the field.

Elsewhere in the world, Google Maps' satellite image has been used to uncover some mysterious locations.

Another user discovered a lone island, situated between the Marshall Islands and Hawaii, which was home to something spooky.

It's sat desolate amongst the blue ocean is a lone building, prompting users to question what it is there for.

Reddit users discussed the history behind the island, with one user stating that every other building on the island was dismantled at some point and removed".

The reason behind this lies with the U.S military.

For nearly 70 years, Johnston Island was under the control of the army and during that time, the island was expanded in size through reconstruction and contained a naval refuelling depot, airbase, nuclear and biological weapons testing sites, a secret missile base and much more.

According to the Nautilus Institute, the island was used for a series of nuclear tests in 1962 under the codenamed Operation Dominic.

The tests were reportedly conducted in a rush, in a bid to beat the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. The first phase was held from 25 April to 11 July 1962, and the second phase from 2 October to 3 November 1962.

What followed in the years to come were a series of nuclear missiles with some resulting in radioactive contamination spread across the 2.67 km island, and the island has sat abandoned ever since.

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Google Maps: Aftermath of plane crash in Somalia discovered - what happened? - Express

Google (GOOGL) banned Huawei from preloading its apps on the new Huawei smartphones. It took that action to comply with the Trump administrations blacklisting of Huawei as a national security threat. Huawei responded to the Google apps ban by unveiling its own Harmony mobile operating system and digital mapping technology. These moves could rival Google products down the road.

Huaweis actions suggest brewing competition with Google down the road. Moreover, their different treatment of the controversial ToTok app may underscore that conflict of interest.

Google swiftly removed the ToTok app from its Play Store after the New York Times reported that ToTok is a spying tool for the United Arab Emirates government. Apple followed Googles lead a day later and yanked ToTok from its App Store.

However, Huawei indicated that it has no problem with ToTok. For instance, Huawei is using its Facebook page to promote ToTok. Furthermore, ToTok stated that Huaweis app store is one of the places people can download its app if they cant get it through Google or Apple. People can also download the ToTok app directly from the Samsung (SSNLF), Xiaomi, and Oppo app stores.

The Trump administrations blacklisting forced Huawei to launch its Mate 30 smartphone series without Google apps. For Huawei, that has resulted in tepid demand for Mate 30, resulting in weak sales of the device.

After its loss of access to Google apps, Huawei is preparing to move on without relying on the search giant for apps or other crucial technology for its smartphone business.

In India, Huawei is underway with efforts to break free of Google. Huawei is recruiting Indian developers to help it create alternatives to Googles popular apps, the Economic Times reported on December 24.

For Google, ToTok joins the list of popular social apps giving it a headache. The other is TikTok, which has been a huge hit with teens around the world. Similar to ToTok, TikTok has faced spying allegations. United States lawmakers have asked Google to clarify whether it requires foreign apps like ToTok and TikTok to disclose ties with their governments.

In addition to spying concerns, TikTok has emerged as a huge competitive threat to both Google and Facebook.

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Huawei and Google Diverge in Their Treatment of ToTok - Market Realist

According to The Washington Post, the NORAD tracking system, which is run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, uses satellites, radar, jet fighters, apps, social media accounts, and volunteers to track Santas location. However, its not entirely clear how or why Santa determines the route he takes.

This years portals for NORAD include Alexa, OnStar, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and 3-D apps that integrate geospatial and satellite-positioning technology with high-resolution graphics that display the actual positions of the stars, sun, and moon and the shadows they cast at any point in Santas journey, according to the Associated Press. It takes dozens of tech firms including (interestingly enough) Google, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Bing Maps to deliver the immersive effect for global Santa trackers, with some 15 million visits to the website alone last year, according to the AP.

While the NORAD tracker shows Santa traveling over a detailed globe-esque setting, the Google tracker takes a more 2-D approach. Googles version also features many Christmas-themed games to keep children (and, sure, adults) entertained as Father Christmas makes his journey.

Psst! Did you know, Santas journey lasts 25 hours?! a Google webpage reads. He makes his first stop just after 10 PM local time in far eastern Russia, when its 5 AM in New York and 11 AM in Paris.

The Washington Post notes that NORAD which was expected to see 140,000 or so phone calls on Christmas Eve and Googles trackers have seen similar snafus in previous years, chalking the differences up as a testament to Santas mischievous ways.

At least one Twitter account seemed to explain the discrepancy:

However, if you find yourself doubtful of either or both of the online trackers, the Post notes: You can always look up at the night sky to see if you can spot Santa and his reindeer yourself.

Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JaclynReiss

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Where in the world was Santa? It depended on which online tracker you were following - The Boston Globe