venting

it's time for a vent or two.

not the one pictured, but the other kind.

good thing i decided to work this week when all my coworkers are holidaying it up... why? because we have an urgent catalog to ship, and i get to do ALL their work. yesssssss.

good thing i decided to get back on track with my diet... why? because thanksgiving and christmas are around the corner, of course! oh and don't forget the plethora of baked goods being brought in at work.

and finally, good thing i'm not tanning anymore... why? because albino is totally in this season.

Got Questions? Try the new Google Mobile Help Forum

We know that with many Google products launching on an array of mobile devices, you're bound to have questions. And with all your experience using those products and devices, you're also likely to have some knowledge to share. Even though we've tried to make our help center as up to date as possible, you'll likely have even more questions that we haven't addressed yet. We can't talk to everyone -- there are millions of you! -- but we've been working hard to provide you with better ways to express your views and discuss our products. To that end, we're very excited to invite you to a housewarming party as our help community moves from Google Groups to a brand new platform: the Google Mobile Help Forum.

The new platform was built from scratch to offer you some exciting new features:

• Q&A format to help you find answers quickly
• Improved search and integration with the Google Mobile Help Center
• Better spam detection and prevention
• Public recognition of Top Contributors and frequent posters (with more posting privileges as you make your way up)
• Ability to subscribe to ask questions and receive answers via email

Naturally, we're pumped for the move. We've got a dynamic system of levels to reward your contributions, and a profile that you can personalize. You can subscribe to the forum (or to individual discussions) by RSS feed. You can even vote on which responses answer the question best and mark a best answer to a question you asked.

The new forum is just one step in our quest to build better products and connect you with one another, so stay tuned for more. As part of this transition, we'll archive the current Google Help Group, as well as the Google Mobile Community. We hope you'll use the Forum not just when you need help, but also to share your enthusiasm and give tips and tricks to the whole mobile community. So stop by to introduce youself, and stay to ask and answer a few questions.

Posted by Alden and Robin, Google Mobile Help Forum Guides

Microwave Journal in China

At this past year's IMS show in Atlanta and EumW in Amsterdam, the Microwave Journal booth displayed the beta-version of our pending Microwave Journal China Website. China has for a number of years been a big manufacturing center of microwave hardware and over the past few years has shifted into design work itself. With the large number of engineers graduating in China focused on Microwave technology, we feel the timing is right for Microwave Journal to report on the news, product information and events coming out of China and to provide this vast community of new microwave engineers with our technical content in a chinese-language format.

To understand our new targeted audience better, MWJ publisher Carl Sheffres and I traveled to Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou last week. We met with a number of company executives, conference organizers, manufacturer representatives (representing China, US and European-based products) and engineering managers. The feedback was unanimous. China is ready for a dedicated source of information about our industry - in Chinese - which targets the growing number of new and experienced RF/microwave engineers.

Our first stop was the IME 2008/EMC 2008 show in Shanghai, where we saw familiar faces (Agilent Technologies, Rohde & Schwarz, AR Worldwide, Valpey Fisher, Gore, LPKF, Emerson & Cummings and Yantel) as well as many new faces.



Booth traffic was very heavy at times as engineers lined up to fill out subscription cards and take a complimentary copy of our October issue (English version). Of course, we were very pleased to hear that a number of show attendees considered the Journal to be "very famous".



Our immediate goal will be to put the finishing touches on the new Microwave Journal China web site in time for its January launch date, work with the partners we had identified to expand our audience and line up authors for this new venture. All in all, it is a very exciting time for us at the Journal as we begin this new adventure. Have ideas for our Chinese web site, add them to this blog or send me an e-mail at dvye@mwjournal.com.

Changing of the Guard- Cell Phone Leaders

There have been several market research reports out over the last month that show what I think is a permanent shift in cell phone leaders. Samsung took over as leading mobile phone shipments in the US market (Apple moved up to #6). RIM seems to be holding strong and introducing some nice products. It seems like the global market leaders of Nokia and Motorola are loosing some of their grip on some of the market. The iPhone also took over as the best selling phone which had been held for a couple of years by the outdated Razor. The smart phones are really starting to take over as they become affordable and Apple, RIM, Samsung and even LG seem to be playing the game better than the traditional leaders (at least in the US).

What do you think? How will the G1 and Android do competing against these phones??

last hurrah

On Friday afternoon, Steve took my catalog team out to lunch and a movie as sort of a last time together before we are all moved to our different teams. It was sad because our team has been a well-oiled machine for the last 2 years, and I'm going to miss the girls that I've become great friends with. We went to see Twilight, and now I'm hooked! I had heard about all these people reading the books and obsessing over the movie, so I was a little skeptical of seeing it. It was awesome though! I'm going to read the books now!!!!

So...anyone in the Dallas area wanna lend me their Twilight copy? For those of you who've seen the movie... is it better or worse than the book?

christmas tree lighting

Tonight we went to PBC's Christmas tree lighting that was put on by the children's choir. We had such a great time, and it was the perfect way to start getting in the holiday spirit! We met up with some of our class and went to dinner afterwards. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: we are so blessed by this class and it's leadership.

Rue & Lon, two of our teachers
us :)
Julie & David

Danny, Merydith, Joseph, Hollen, David, Julie, Ryan & me :)

Merry Christmas! (a month early!)

smitten mittens

i'll have these please...so me and my love bug can hold hands when it's cold :)

from smitten

Google Maps for iPhone adds Street View, public transit, and walking directions

(cross posted with the Google LatLong Blog)

I waited in line on launch day to buy my first-generation iPhone, and ever since then it has never left my side. The best part is that it keeps getting more useful with every software upgrade Apple puts out. This time around, Apple has improved their version of Google Maps by putting even more Google features in your pocket.

The most eye-catching one is Street View: Apple's silky-smooth implementation makes it a joy to pan around the world. You might wonder why you'd want to look at panoramas of the world while you're already out in it, but I've found it handy for getting an idea of what to look for when going somewhere new. In somewhere like New York, it's also a great way to get your bearings when you pop out of a subway station in an unfamiliar part of town.



Speaking of subways, my favorite new feature is the addition of Google Transit and walking directions. In a time of congested roads and fluctuating gas prices, driving isn't always the best way to get from A to B, so why limit your options? Now when you get directions, you can switch between driving, walking, and public transportation directions (where available) with a single tap.

Google Maps has schedules for transportation systems in more than 100 cities worldwide, including New York, Tokyo, Montréal, Zürich, and Perth — and now it's easy to get that information on your iPhone. As more transportation agencies decide to share their schedule information, their routes will be available on the iPhone the instant they appear in Google Maps on the web.




Finally, in the latest version of Google Maps for iPhone, you can email information about a location to your friends, which can be a great help when coordinating a get-together.

To get these new Maps features on your iPhone, you'll need to update your phone's software through iTunes. I hope you'll find these new additions as useful as I have. And don't forget that even if you don't have an iPhone, Google Maps for mobile is available for many other kinds of phones, including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian Series 60, and Android — visit www.google.com/gmm for more details.

Posted by Joe Hughes, Mobile Maps Software Engineer

SDK 1.1.7 Released

Posted by Marzia Niccolai, App Engine Team

Update: This morning we released SDK 1.1.7 due to an issue with the 1.1.6 release. SDK 1.1.7 contains the fix for this issue, as well as the fixes and features listed below.

Today we released the 1.1.6 SDK. You can download it on our Google hosting project, and peruse the release notes for more details on the release.

This release contains some notable new features, including several to our datastore:

• You can now sort and filter on an entity's key


• You can now delete an entity directly using its key, without fetching the Model object.


• If you specify a key_name when creating a Model, its key will now be available before you call put()


• URLFetch calls made in the SDK now have a 5 second timeout, matching production

Also, it contains a number of issue fixes, including the following:

• SDK now only supports the same headers as production


• In production, fixed an erroneous NeedIndexError when two ancestor queries were specified


• Calling to_xml() on a model instance containing a BlobProperty returns that BlobProperty base64 encoded


• URLFetch now uses the original HTTP method (e.g. POST) when following a redirect

As always, any and all feedback is welcome in the Google Group!

AWESOME package in the mail!

I hadn't checked the mail in about a week (don't judge), so imagine my surprise when I had a HUGE package waiting for me at our apartment office... I was good and waited until Ryan got home to open it since it was addressed to both of us.

Well, after dinner, we (I) couldn't wait any longer, so we busted the box open and found....

a picnic basket!!

Oh no, not just your normal picnic basket... it was FULL of awesome stuff for a romantic picnic! There were 2 wine glasses, a bottle of wine, brie, crackers, pretzels, fudge dip, AND wooden plates and cute napkins! WHAT a GREAT idea!

Now who was this AWESOME gift from?? None other than the amazing Jey & Vinnie Vincent! Jey was my roommate in college for two years, and I couldn't say enough nice things about her... She is the most genuine, loving, caring, kind person that I know, and I miss her SO much! Her husband Vinnie is perfect for her! He's a pilot, and they're living in Japan while he's in pilot training! WE LOVE THE VINCENTS!

Thanks Jey & Vinnie!!!! We can't wait to go on our first picnic together! :)

Antenna Measurement Techniques Association (AMTA) Conference

I attended the AMTA Conference this week in Boston at the Park Plaza hotel including the keynote speech by Dr. Eric D. Evans (Director of MIT Lincoln Labs) about radar measurement activities within their organization. I was surprised at the wide array of RF/microwave projects they are working on. He said they are concentrating on key technology enablers such as digital sensors, portable software, open system architectures, sensor/network sidecars and online processors. He said they are still innovating in hardware but spend more effort these days on software. They use rapid proto-typing (3 months from inception to hardware) and typically transfer the technology to industry for production.

There were also a few talks about the European Antenna Network - how they are structured to provide support for antenna research and what projects are underway. A very interesting and comprehensive set of programs for Europe and many of them have global participation.

The exhibits included most of the key players like ETS-Lingren, Agilent, CST, Satimo/Orbit RF, MI, Rohde & Schwarz, etc. One of the most interesting products on display was the helicoidal scanning for elongated antennas from MI Technologies which will greatly speeds up the measurement process (see image).

More to come in my conference wrap up on the Microwave Journal web site.

Google Sync for BlackBerry: Now with contacts

You asked for it, so here it is. We're happy to announce that in the latest update to Google Sync for BlackBerry, we've added two-way contacts synchronization. This new functionality will enable you to sync your handheld's built-in address book with your Gmail contacts. This all happens in the background and over the air, so your information is always up to date, no matter where you are or what you're doing.

Once you've installed Sync, all your information will be safe in your Google account. If you ever lose your phone or buy a new one, getting your address book and calendar to your new device is as easy as installing Sync. Current and new Google Sync users can try Google Sync today by visiting m.google.com/sync from their BlackBerry browser.

Posted by Marcus Foster, Product Manager, Google Mobile

note to self:

Just a bit overwhelmed today...

Google App Engine Camp Shanghai

Posted by Marzia Niccolai, App Engine Team

Join fellow Google App Engine developers in Shanghai for Google App Engine Camp on November 22nd starting at 1pm. We'll be meeting at Google's Shanghai office, where you can come to discuss and develop your App Engine projects. We'll kick off the event with a round of lightening talks, after which you can meet other developers, and even get started coding!

Food and coffee will be provided, so just bring your ideas and your laptop. Full details and registration form can be found on the website.

sick sick sick

I'm sick. Yesterday it felt like a cold, but then last night it was definitely something more (I think the clue was having my head in the toilet for a good 45 minutes).

Three things I thought about when I was in this position:

1. No more Chick-Fil-A for a while.
2. We need to clean the toilet more often.
3. Thank God for my husband and the way he takes care of me.

Google Mobile App for iPhone now with Voice Search and My Location

The new Google Mobile App for iPhone makes it possible for you to do a Google web search using only your voice. Just hold the phone to your ear, wait for the beep, and say what you're looking for. That's it. Just talk. Once the App is on, you don't have to push any buttons to search. Check out the video below to watch engineer Mike LeBeau explain how this works.

After you speak your query, Google Mobile App will return search results formatted for your iPhone.

And if you're doing a local search, there's no need to specify where you are because Google Mobile App now has Search with My Location. Search for "movie showtimes" or "Mediterranean restaurant" and you'll automatically see results based on your current location. For this to work, Location Services must be enabled on your iPhone and you have to opt-in to let Google Mobile App use your location.

To get the latest Google Mobile App for iPhone or iPod touch, go to the App Store and look for "Google Mobile App." Note that the voice search feature is currently available only in U.S. English and for the iPhone. Read more about other features of Google Mobile App.

Watch this video to see what Googlers from Chicago, London, New York, and Mountain View are searching for. Then consider sharing your most interesting voice search query by submitting a video response.



Posted by Dave Burke, Engineering Manager, Google mobile team

girls' day out

On Saturday, I went on a girls' day out with my mom and mom-in-law, and we had a blast! We started out at Tuesday Morning and found some great things, and then we went to eat at Corner Bakery in Highland Park. It was reeeally cold that day, and we snagged the BEST table in the restaurant right next to the fireplace!!! It was wonderful! We sat and talked for a long time while we stayed toasty by the fire. We took a picture, and then realized we looked like a stoplight :)

After that, we walked over to Sprinkles (of course) so Gail could try her FIRST Sprinkles cupcake ever! I tried a new one called the Black & White which was suuuuuper yummy. Gosh, why do I love cupcakes so much!?

After enjoying our cupcakes we walked around and shopped in some cute little stores. Gail bought me (well, technically us but I don't think Ryan cared) a super cute pumpkin decoration! It was such a fun day of quality time with my moms :) I'm so blessed.

Oh, and here's the frame that I bought to display a very important picture in our apartment... this is from the night Ryan and I MET. As in, our blind date that ended up verrrrry well after almost 6 years :)

Not many people have a picture of the first night they me their husband, so I feel pretty blessed to have that memory in print... and displayed on our wall. :)

the bc gang on office night!

So, every Thursday we go to someone in our bc gang's apartment to watch The Office and Grey's. I literally look forward to that night every week because it means that the weekend is right around the corner, and we get to watch our favorite shows on the same night! Well, last Thursday it was our turn to host. We made tacos and everyone else brought the sides, drinks and dessert.

Oh, let me back track. The "bc gang" is actually the "Buttercream Gang" which is a name that Justin Kouba called our group a while back as a joke, and it just stuck. Unfortunately. We feel like big dorks when people call us that, but we've started to embrace the bc gang idea.

...and here we are :)

gosh, i love them.

yeah....

So... about that other blog....it sounded like a fun idea on a reeeeeeally slow work day... not so much anymore :) I think two blogs is plenty for me to handle at this point in time!!

Go ahead Justin... I deserved it.

meat-lovin meal

So last Monday, Dad and Dawn took us to Texas de Brazil for the first time... it was like nothing I've ever seen. This place was awesome! Basically waiters would bring us all different kinds of meat all night as long as much as we could eat. I've never seen so much meat in my life! Ryan was in heaven. He didn't turn down anything that was offered to him! If you have a meat-lover man (and some money saved up) definitely go to this restaurant! It's such a fun experience!

New Microwave Technologies for Medical Applications

Microwave technology currently has relatively limited uses in medical applications such as MRI and Telemetry systems with RFID starting to find some uses, but I can think of many others. However, there seems to be a resurgence in some new medical research activities that could change that. Our Dec. issue feature story will describe research being done by Duke University to use microwaves to mildly heat tumors so they respond better to other treatments. New modeling software has enabled better results to eliminate hot spots so that this technique shows promise now.

And now UMass has just released news that they are working on a portable breast cancer screening system that uses low power microwaves for imaging. The idea is to bring modern breast cancer screening to Third World countries without the danger, high cost and access problems of X-ray based machines. This new technique would take advantage of the fact that normal breast tissue and cancer cells have different electrical properties. These differences can be identified and measured using an array of tiny transmitters and external sensors embedded in the walls of a cylinder that fits comfortably around the breast.

It should be interesting to follow these technologies as the develop. Let us know if you can come up with other contributions of microwave technology to the medical field.

this makes me happy today...

It's also on my pretty things blog. (yes, I started another one) I always find random things throughout the day that doesn't really apply to the McCrady blog, and not really to the House Itch blog either. So why not have a "pretty things" blog?! :) It's meant to be a group blog that we can use to post inspiring things whenever we feel inspired... so if you want to be a co-author and post pretty things you find, leave me a comment and I'll add you! You'd be surprised how fun (and addicting) it is!

matt's surprise party

On Saturday night, we all surprised Matt for his birthday! When he and Courtney got done with church, we were all waiting at Dickey's Bar-b-que to surprise him! I only got a few pictures, and Ryan wasn't there because he was working (and really sick), but this deserved a post because we love our Stewarts :)

one of our bible study teachers, Rue, the Johnsons and Joseph!
surprise!

Courtney did a great job of surprising her hubby!
smiley Matt during the "happy birthday" song
and lastly, Joseph & Hollen!

Yay for friends! Happy Birthday Matt!! :)

Attention Bay Area developers: participate in our developer study!

Posted by Donal Mountain, App Engine Team

Starting later this year the App Engine team will be getting out of the office for a series of developer visits.

We want to come to your home or office (or wherever you use App Engine), and look over your shoulder so that we can learn first-hand about how you use our product. Our goal is to see how App Engine fits into your development process. We want to learn what's working for you and what's frustrating you.

The initial round of visits will be to developers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and then in the new year we will visit developers elsewhere in the US. If you would like to participate, please take a few minutes to complete this sign-up form. That link also contains information about exactly what's involved in the field visit. Developers who we end up visiting will receive $150 compensation. For questions and updates check the App Engine discussion group.

We look forward to meeting as many of you as possible!

what's the deal?

I've been seeing a huge trend of giraffe-print handbags lately... Don't get me wrong, I like them, but I'm wondering why all of a sudden this is popular. When I worked at Neimans, I prided myself on knowing all of the up-and-coming trends before they even hit the shelves...well times have changed now that I'm employed at good 'ol JCP.

So what's the deal? Is this a specific designer that's inspired this new craze? Help me, fashion conscious readers :)

New Google Search results pages for iPhone

Starting today in the U.S., when you go to google.com on your iPhone and do a search, you'll see search results that are better optimized for your phone. You'll still get the full comprehensiveness and quality of regular Google Search results, but laid out in a more efficient and user-friendly arrangement.

Results are formatted to be neatly displayed on the mobile screen, so there's no need to scroll side to side. Local search results now include easier-to-press "Get Directions" and click-to-call links. Maps are shown by default in the case of a single listing or accessible by the "Show map" link for multiple listings. For those of you wanting to access the classic desktop search results format, it's only a click away, with the "Classic" link near the bottom of each page.

For now, the newly formatted results pages are available only in U.S. English and for iPhone and iPod touch firmware version 2.x. Over time, we intend to make the newly formatted results pages available through other search entry points on the iPhone, on additional devices, and in more language and country combinations.



Posted by Steve Kanefsky and Rob Stacey, Software Engineers, Google mobile team

11:11 on 11/11

Ever since I was little, I've had a "thing" for when the clock says 11:11. I don't know why, but I used to get really excited and say "It's 11:11!!! make a wish!!" So now, that's my thing. And you'd be surprised how many times I've looked at the clock when it's exactly 11:11. Well, today is extra special because it's November 11th, so I'm making a point to write a silly blog post at 11:11 on 11/11. Can you imagine the excitement when it's 11:11 on 11/11/11?!? Three years to go...

P.S. Happy Veterans Day... I'm thankful for all of the men & women serving our country!

what this weekend looked like:

He's still so cute when he's sick... how does he do it? :)