Category Archives: Google

Massachusetts residents were politically minded in 2020, at least according to Google, which has released its annual list of top trending searches.

Election results came in as the top trending search in the state, according to the list, in a year that saw several high-stakes contests. In addition to the presidential election in 2020, congressional elections and the Democratic senate primary between incumbent Edward Markey and Joe Kennedy III took place in the state this year.

Three coronavirus-related searches also made the list, as did the now-ubiquitous video conferencing app Zoom.

Three of the states main sports teams were also represented, in addition to former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year after 20 years with the Patriots. Notably absent were the Boston Red Sox, who finished last in the American League East this year.

A few public figures were also among the top trending searches following their deaths, with basketball player Kobe Bryant and actress Naya Rivera on the Massachusetts, Boston, and national lists.

The top trending Google searches in Boston were very similar to those in Massachusetts, though Bostons list included the February Iowa caucuses, which saw major delays in reporting results due to technical issues, causing a lot of confusion.

Heres a look at the top trending searches of 2020 in Massachusetts, Boston, the United States, and the world, according to Googles annual Year in Search report:

The top 10 trending searches in Massachusetts:

The top 10 trending searches in Boston:

The top 10 trending searches in the US:

The top 10 trending searches across the world:

Amanda Kaufman can be reached at amanda.kaufman@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandakauf1.

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These are the top 10 trending Google searches of 2020 in Boston and Massachusetts - The Boston Globe

Google Pays old iOS app, Android app, and website are set to lose many of their payment features in the US in January, the company has confirmed to The Verge. According to a Google support document the old apps will soon no longer be able to send or receive payments or withdraw money. Meanwhile, a notice on the Google Pay website says its also losing the ability to send and receive peer-to-peer payments. Google is also introducing a 1.5 percent fee when you transfer money out of Google Pay using a debit card, 9to5Google reports.

The changes follow the services massive relaunch last week in the US, which includes a new app and new features like the option of automatically scanning your Gmail inbox and Google Photos account for receipts to import. The new service is set to expand further next year, when Google plans to partner with banks to offer full checking and savings accounts within Google Pay.

The relaunch also brings with it the introduction of a new fee for transferring out money using a debit card. A support page says that transferring money out using a debit card, a process which usually happens instantly, will now incur a fee of 1.5 percent or a minimum of $0.31. Transfers out to a linked bank account are still free, but can take between 1 and 3 business days. Google Pay originally had zero fees, 9to5Google reports.

Although its peer-to-peer payment features are disappearing in the US, Google has confirmed that Google Pays web interface will stick around. In future it will be focused on managing payment methods, subscriptions, and account settings, the company says.

Update November 25th, 12:07PM ET: Updated to clarify that the changes are specific to the US.

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Google Pays old apps and website to lose payment features in the US in January - The Verge

Google Home only requires one app, but several others can come in handy as well.

If you dig around in the Google Home ecosystem for long enough, you'll discover the Google Home app alone doesn't handle everything you want to do with your smart speakers. Tons of great features require you to download even more Google apps, like Google Assistant and even Gmail, but there's nothing in the Google Home app to let you know about those apps.

To make matters more confusing, there are some apps you might think you need but either you actually don't or you do, just not for the reasons you think. Rest assured; I'm going to sort it all out for you.

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I'll show you which app you absolutely need, which ones aren't critical but definitely worth having and, finally, which one you can leave on the app store shelf (unless, of course, you need it for a different reason than setting up your smart speakers).

If you want to set up a morning routine, you'll want to use the Google Home app to do it.

Everyone needs to download the Google Home app to set up their Google-branded smart speakers, so it's by far the most ubiquitous of these apps. The Google Home app is the one you'll use the vast majority of the time when you need to accomplish something you can't easily handle with voice commands. For example, you need the app tocreate custom commands orroutines,organize your smart home into rooms orcreate speaker groups for playing music across your whole house.

It's also incredibly useful as a centralized place to see the status of all your smart home devices at any given time. Want to check to see if you've left any lights on at home? Rather than opening a bunch of apps for all the various smart bulbs or Wi-Fi outlets you have, you can open the Google Home app to get a snapshot of your entire smart home (and control it all with touch).

Even though you have the Google Home app on your phone, to fully bridge the gap between your smart speakers and your mobile device, you're going to want to also install the Google Assistant app. Without it, for example, you won't get notifications on your phone for reminders you set up on Google Home. You also won't be able to tell Google Home tosend information to your phone without the Google Assistant app -- stuff like answers to random questions, a store's operating hours or even driving directions.

Google Home is the name of the device, but it's Google Assistant you're talking to when you say, "Hey, Google."

Most important, though, you need the Google Assistant app to see which third-party apps (called "Actions") you've enabled, which is an important step in tightening up your privacy and security (check out our fuller guide to Google Home privacy and security here).

If you really, really want to clamp down on security and privacy with your Google Home setup, you'll want to enable two-factor authentication, aka "2FA." That means anytime you (or someone who is not you) tries to log in to your Google Home account, you'll have to allow it via a push notification (our full step-by step guide onhow to set up two-factor authentication is here).

If you've got an Android device, 2FA for Google Home is baked into the operating system. But if you've got an iPhone (like me), you'll need todownload the Gmail app, which generates the notification when someone (hopefully you) tries to log into your Google Home account. Why Gmail and not some other app like Google Assistant? Your guess is as good as mine.

Download the Nest app to setup and control Nest devices other than smart speakers, but for speakers use the Google Home app.

One common mistake for people just now getting into the Google Home ecosystem is to download the Nest mobile app when trying to set up their new speakers. The confusion arises, of course, from Google's slow rebranding of Google Home as Google Nest. Last year Google rebranded the Google Home Hub as the Nest Hub ($50 at Best Buy), as well as the updated Google Home Mini ($19 at Best Buy) as the new Nest Mini ($19 at Walmart). Then, this year, Google discontinued the original Google Home speaker and replaced it with a new option called Nest Audio ($100 at Sam's Club). The Nest app, however, won't help you set up any of those Nest devices, nor do you need it for Nest Wifi. You'll need only the Google Home app for all of the above.

You will, however, need the Nest app if you have a Nest Learning Thermostat ($248 at Amazon), Nest Protect ($119 at Amazon) smoke detector, Nest Secure ($407 at HP) Alarm, Nest x Yale lock or Nest security cameras, including the Nest Hello ($218 at HP) Doorbell.

One Nest feature that finally got brought over to the Google Home app:Home and Away location-based routines. That, andGoogle Home's broadcast feature that lets you pipe messages across your whole house, plus my recent discovery ofGoogle Home's hidden "brief mode," all add up to making Google Home a formidable adversary in the ongoing smart speaker wars.

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Google Home: Try these other mobile apps to unleash its full power - CNET

Google Assistant now lets users schedule lights and other devices to turn on and off at specific times with its scheduled actions feature, according to Android Police, which cites Google Assistant developer documentation.

Google Assistant has worked with Hue and other smart lights for some time, to turn them on and off and to set alarms, but now you can tell your Assistant exactly when you want to turn on lights and other devices in a smart home.

One caveat: you have to be really specific if you want to schedule the lights (or other devices) to turn on or off a day in the future. Just saying something like, Hey Google, turn the lights on tomorrow at 8PM, isnt enough. Youd need to say, Hey Google, turn on the lights Tuesday at 8PM.

However, as Android Police noted, you can specify sunrise and sunset as times to set your lights to come on (or off) and you wont need to state the exact time. You also can use Google Assistant to schedule a length of time to keep lights on, such as turn on lights for 10 minutes.

The feature is apparently still a work in progress, however; in addition to the tomorrow quirk, Reddit users and Android Police note that the function to cancel a scheduled action doesnt appear to work. But according to Google Assistant smart home documentation, it looks like these features are likely to be working soon.

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Google Assistant can now be used to schedule your smart lights - The Verge

Image for representational purpose only| Pic: AFP

Tech giant Google is gradually rolling out a new feature to Google Chrome 87 that allows the user to type commands in the address bar that perform specific browser actions.

According to Mashable, this new feature is called 'Chrome Actions' and allows the user to type in a command, causing an action to be displayed in the address bar search results. When the user selects that action, it will be executed in the browser.

The new option can help user directly search in Google or the engine of choice and even present calculations and unit conversions even before pressing 'Enter'. Its next trick might appeal to a certain class of users who are more used to entering commands in a terminal or envision themselves giving orders to the browser through typed commands.

As reported by Mashable, the new feature called 'Chrome Actions', will let the user type in some keywords and phrases, which can take the form of commands, to initiate some actions. Like other non-search results, these actions are presented in the suggestion list that user has to either click or if it is currently selected already, hit Enter to take effect.

Techdows lists some of those actions that are already known including: delete history, update browser, launch incognito mode, update credit card info, edit passwords, translate this.

Depending on one's typing skills, these commands might be faster than digging through menus or click on things. They are not also enabled by default and the user will at least have to dig through chrome://flags to turn them on.

As the site points out, this is not a Google innovation and other browsers have had a similar feature even before Chrome Actions arrived.

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Google to roll out new feature called 'Chrome Actions' that will enable users to search before pressing the Enter button - EdexLive

Google has teamed up with Disney and Lucasfilm to bring the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian to augmented reality. The company announced this morning the launch of a new Android AR app, The Mandalorian AR Experience, which will display iconic moments from the first season of the show in AR, allowing fans to retrace the Mandalorians steps, find the Child, harness the Force and more, according to the apps Play Store description.

In the app, users will be able to follow the trail of Mando, Din Djarin and the Child, interact with the characters and create scenes that can be shared with friends.

New AR content will be released for the app on Mondays, starting today, November 23, and continuing for nearly a year to wrap on October 31, 2021. [Update: After publication, Google reached out to note that its Play Store listing description was incorrect and was going to be revised. There will only be 5 content drops during this time period. Originally, Google had said there would be drops on Mondays during this time.]

Image Credits: Google/Lucasfilm

Meanwhile, the app itself takes advantage of Googles developer platform for building augmented reality experiences, ARCore, in order to create scenes that interact with the users surroundings. This more immersive design means fans will be able to unlock additional effects based on their actions. The app also leverages Googles new ARCore Depth API, which allows the app to enable occlusion. This makes the AR scenes blend more naturally with the environment thats seen through the smartphones camera.

However, because the app is a showcase for Googles latest AR technologies, it wont work with all Android devices.

Google says the app will only support compatible 5G Android devices, which includes its 5G Google Pixel smartphones and other select 5G Android phones that have the Google Play Services for AR updated. You can check to see if your Android phone is supported on a list provided on the Google Developers website. Other phones may be supported in the future, the company also notes.

Image Credits: Google/Lucasfilm

While the experience requires a 5G-capable Android device, Google says that you dont have to be on an active 5G connection to use the app. Instead, the requirement is more about the technologies these devices include and not the signal itself.

Google has teamed up with Lucasfilm many times over the past several years for promotional marketing campaigns. These are not typically considered ads, because they give both companies the opportunity to showcase their services or technologies. For example, Google allowed users to give its apps a Star Wars-themed makeover back in 2015, which benefited its own services like Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Chrome and others. It has also introduced both AR and VR experiences featuring Star Wars content over the past several years.

The Mandalorian AR Experienceis a free download on the Play Store.

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Google brings The Mandalorian to AR in its new app - TechCrunch

If you've made updates to your Google Site or personal website, you may want to request that Google "crawl" your site.

Crawling is a software process that takes a full snapshot of all the content on a particular webpage. That snapshot is what search engines use to direct users to your site. That means that if you've made significant changes to your website, but Google has not yet collected the most recent snapshot, people won't be directed to your new content.

If you need Google to crawl your updated site, here's how to do it.

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2. Enter the URL of your Google Site under "URL Prefix."

4. After completing whichever process you've selected, Google Search Console should confirm your site has been automatically verified.

5. In the confirmation message box, click "Go to property."

7. Copy and paste the URL of your site into the tool's search box at the top of the page.

8. Once the search process is complete, click "Test Live URL" in the dashboard's upper-left corner.

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How to get Google to crawl your Google Site or other websites and improve your search performance - Business Insider India

Use a reverse Google Image search to check if the image in a meme actually comes from a different event altogether.

A meme that spread online last week falsely claimed that a vendor sold Nazi and Confederate flags at the Million MAGA March in Washington, DC, where Trump supporters gathered on Saturday. But it isn't true. The vendor was actually spotted at a Pennsylvania flea market in September, and the market organizers reportedly told him to put the flags away.

Memes like this -- usually featuring a political message framing a compelling image -- often turn out to be misleading or downright false. Typically, a photo from a different event has been paired with a description of something that didn't happen or lacks context.

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Luckily, there's a trick that can help you find out if this is happening, and let you locate the original source of the image. It's called a reverse image search. It's easy to do, and it might just make you feel like a brilliant detective.

It isn't just useful for fake news. A reverse image search can also help you detect scams on dating or real estate websites. That'll help you spot a catfisher who's using someone else's photos to lure you into a relationship under false pretenses (they'll likely eventually ask you for money or gifts, but sometimes they just play odd pranks). It'll also keep you from handing over personal information to scammers pretending to rent out a property they don't own.

A quick drag and drop can help you separate fact from fiction.

The Million MAGA March meme was debunked by Snopes. But the website, which fact-checks news stories, rumors and memes that fly around the internet, can't get to everything. If you look up your story on Snopes and can't find it, it's time to open up Google.

There are a few options for how to do a reverse image search. First, open Google Images in your Safari, Firefox or Chrome web browser.

Option 1: Click on the image and hold down. Then drag it to the Google Images search field in another window.

Option 2: Take a screenshot of the image and drag that file into the search field. (You can also upload the file from the Google Images search bar, if you prefer.)

Option 3: Right click on the image and select "open image in another window." Copy the URL and then paste into the Google Images search field.

Option 4: If you're using Chrome, right-click on the image and select, "search Google for image."

The results will tell you what other contexts the photo has appeared in. That'll help you spot multiple postings trying to sell the same object (like this pig chair, which isn't for sale but has appeared repeatedly on Craigslist). It'll also help you spot duplicate real estate listings, which may not have been posted by the same people.

For the quickest and most readable results, you'll want to be on a desktop web browser to run a reverse image search. The same search just isn't as straightforward to pull off on mobile. These are the simplest approaches you can try:

Option 1: On the mobile Chrome browser, you can hold down on an image and then select "search Google for this image."

Option 2: Hold down on the photo in your mobile browser and select the option that lets you copy the photo ("copy" or "copy URL," for example). That puts the photo's URL onto your clipboard. Then paste the URL in the Google Images search bar.

You can also use the Google app, which lets you upload or take pictures of images. However, CNET found the results to be very spotty when trying to find the origin of a photo.

You can report a misleading or false meme to the social media platform you found it on. You can also report scam dating profiles, bogus ads and fake rental listings to the websites where they're hosted. Steps for reporting the posts will be different for each website.

You can also let people know they've posted a misleading meme. The outcome will of course vary. Nonetheless, you now know how to debunk fake news right at the Thanksgiving dinner table. How you choose to handle your powers is up to you.

More:

This simple Google trick can help you sniff out fake news and scams - CNET

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Google linked up to cooperatively steer artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven pilot projects that could advance the agencys environmental monitoring, weather predicting, and climate research capabilities.

Through a three-year deal unveiled Tuesday, the two will collectively study and develop small-scale AI systemsand eventually wider-ranging prototypesthat might be infused across NOAAs broader enterprise. Such resources would be of good use to the water and climate-focused agency, which is responsible for providing raw data for weather forecasts nationwide, including those used to predict hurricanes and other natural disasters.

And as the research and technology deployments unfold, both entities aim to simultaneously offer their personnel unique, novel hands-on experience and training opportunities, coupling the agencys leading environmental science expertise with the companys command of AI.

In joining forces, each expects to make significant progress, more efficiently, and instill new expertise in the partners' workforces, Sid Boukabara, principal scientist in NOAA's Center for Satellite Applications and Research told Nextgov Tuesday.

Google spokesperson Jane Khodos on Tuesday also noted to Nextgov that if the effort is successful, this has the potential to be a significant leap in NOAAs ability to leverage the enormous volume and diversity of environmental data in order to enhance prediction, including for extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

An other transaction authority agreement signed between the tech giant and NOAAs Satellite and Information Service underpins the work. Born jointly by Google and NOAA, the total cost of that OTA is around $10 million, Boukabara confirmed.

This includes leveraging researchers and existing projects aligned with the objectives of the OTA agreement, he said.

Initial work will hone in on creating the smaller scale AI and ML systemsthen, NOAA and Google Cloud insiders will hone in on executing full-scale prototypes that the agency can ultimately operationalize across its organization, according to the release detailing the effort. The hope is that they can tap the tech solutions to drive forward NOAAs use of satellite and environmental data.

Previously, Google AI teamed up with NOAAs Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center to train an AI model using their massive collection of underwater recordings and harness new insights about whales behavioral and migratory patterns. And through this latest effort, the company is especially interested in platforms that use AI to increase the utilization of weather satellite observations, Khodos said.

The work will also build on priorities laid out in NOAAs new AI strategy, released earlier this year.

Boukabara, who also serves as the agencys project manager of the agreement, said both Google and NOAA have kickstarted the planning phase of their partnership, and as a result of it in about a month down the line, theyll have a firmer idea of specific joint AI and ML-centered projects theyll collaborate on.

But overall, I can say that these AI-based systems will aim at assimilating a higher rate of environmental data from a diverse set of sources, he explained.

Among others, those sources could include satellites, crowd-sourced data, and balloons. The ultimate intent, Boukabara said, is to generatewith a much faster speed of executiona richer environmental analysis at higher spatial, vertical and temporal resolutions. And if it works out, this will have the potential to significantly improve the experience of citizens, forecasters, governments and other users of environmental data, he noted.

One of NOAAs primary missions is to save lives and property by providing accurate warnings, forecasts, and other environmental monitoring information, Boukabara further explained, adding that officials do so by taking advantage of the observations made by sensors on satellites, balloons, ground platforms and elsewhere. Employing an AI-based approach can boost the rate and types of data that can be used, and a number of projects have already demonstrated AIs promise to make a leap in our ability to use environmental data for weather prediction and do the same thing [they] do now but better and significantly faster, he said.

Its better because researchers can actually exploit information in the data captured that is usually difficult to put to use with regular techniques. This includes the step called 'data assimilation,' which Boukabara noted is key in producing an accurate numerical weather prediction, or NWP.

We have a number of things to develop, tailor and to test, such as ensuring the analysis we obtain with AI is scientifically consistent with the physics of the forecast model used for NWP, he said. Recent and new developments in the AI and machine learning field such as explainable AI [and] trustworthy AI, should help us in this endeavorand we plan to fully take advantage of them.

Down the line, the work could also help the federal agency increase its medium-range weather forecast skills and reclaim global leadership, he added.

Link:

NOAA Partners with Google to Boost Weather Forecasts with AI - Nextgov

(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - More than 2 million Michigan voters have already mailed in or submitted their ballots ahead of Election Day, but some might be wondering if they can change that vote, according to Google Trends.

Google searches of the phrase "can I change my vote" peaked Tuesday morning in the U.S. around 6 a.m. ET.

One of the states where it surged was in Michigan, one of the key battleground states in the Presidential election.

While most states do not allow voters to change their early votes, Michigan is one of those statesthat does allow them to be changed.

In Michigan, it's called spoiling your ballot. It's commonly used during primaries after candidates drop out of races. However, it can be used during any election.

According to the Secretary of State's Office, you have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, to change your vote by mail. If you would like a new ballot, you must sign a request and state you want a new ballot mailed to you or be picked up in person by that deadline.

However, you can also spoil it in person at your local clerk's office by 10 a.m. on Nov. 2.

Lastly, if you have not yet submitted your ballot, you can return it and spoil it in person by 4 p.m. at your local clerk's office by 4 p.m. on Nov. 2.

If a voter has not yet returned their ballot, you can surrender it in person or sign a statement stating that the ballot was lost or destroyed and vote in person.

To find you clerk's office, go to the state's website here.

Michigan is far from the only state to allow voters to change their mind after submitting the ballot.

In New York, if you have submitted an absentee ballot but change your mind, you can show up to your polling place during early voting or on Election Day and cast a vote, in which case the absentee ballot is set aside and not counted, according to the state Board of Elections.

Minnesotans who mailed in an absentee ballot had until Oct. 20 to request a new ballot from their county or city election office.

In New Hampshire, voters who submitted an absentee ballot can go to the polls on Election Day during the first hour they're open and vote in person, or before their absentee ballot is processed.

In Wisconsin, if time allows, a voter can cancel their original absentee ballot and request a new one but they have until Oct. 29, the legal deadline for requesting absentee ballots by mail.

As of Sunday, nearly 60 million Americans voted early, a record turnout. By comparison, in 2016, 47.2 million people voted early.

Information from FOX News was used in this report.

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'Can I change my vote' trends on Google: What you need to know - FOX 2 Detroit