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Google Introduces Google Forms API: Bringing Programmatic Access For Managing Forms And Acting On Responses

Google Dev team introduces the Google Forms API to join the large family of APIs available to developers under the Workspace Platform. The programmatic access provides powerful integrations, empowering you with your forms and actions on them.

The API enables developers to build automation for acting on incoming responses. For instance, you could create a real-time dashboard or visualization that watches what people are doing in your form and then trigger an email campaign based on their actions.

Some use cases include education automation integrations with learning management systems (LMS), customer management and support by auto-generating surveys/forms based on customer data, and data analysis and visualization with response data.

The Google Forms API has a good set of methods to perform these operations.

Core Methods

  • forms.create – Creates a new form
  • forms.get – Get all information on a form
  • forms.batchUpdate – Perform form updates (add, edit, delete form items)
  • forms.responses.list – List all responses from a form
  • forms.responses.get – Get a single response from a form

Event types

  • Schema – Changes to form content or settings
  • Response – When form responses are submitted

Watch Methods

  • forms.watches.create
  • forms.watches.delete
  • forms.watches.list
  • forms.watches.renew

Some of the portals that are supporting the beta version of Google API Form are Zapier, Portant, Automagical Apps, 

Resources to use Google Forms API:

Reference: https://developers.googleblog.com/2022/03/introducing-google-forms-api.html

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Featured Google Guest Post Java Language Tech News Uncategorized Unicorns

Google Open-Sources The App Engine Standard Java runtime

The introduction of Google App Engine in 2008 opened up a whole new world for developers – one without worrying about infrastructure management or scaling web applications. Java 8, 11 and 17 all run on this platform along with alternative JVM languages like Apache Groovy or Kotlin are also part of it.

But now, Google has finally opened-source the Java Source code for its Google App Engine Standard environment, which includes all of its production runtime features as well as APIs and local SDKs.

In the below picture representation, items in orange are public modules artifacts and items in yellow are internal ones. Modules ending with * are only used on the production server-side:

Source: https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/appengine-java-standard
PackageDescription
com.google.appengine.apiProvides facilities for server lifecycle management, threading and namespaces/multitenancy.
com.google.appengine.api.appidentityProvides a service to sign arbitrary byte arrays using an internally-generated, rotated private key.
com.google.appengine.api.backendsProvides access to long-running, addressable servers.
com.google.appengine.api.blobstoreProvides management and persistent storage of large, immutable byte arrays.
com.google.appengine.api.capabilitiesProvides status information about the services available via the Google App Engine APIs.
com.google.appengine.api.datastoreProvides persistent storage, also accessible via JDO or JPA interfaces.
com.google.appengine.api.filesProvides a service for file storage and access.
com.google.appengine.api.imagesProvides facilities for the creation and manipulation of images.
com.google.appengine.api.logProvides access to request logs and application logs.
com.google.appengine.api.mailProvides a service to send email messages on behalf of administrators or authenticated users, also accessible via a JavaMail interface.
com.google.appengine.api.memcacheProvides fast but unreliable data storage, also accessible via a JCache interface.
com.google.appengine.api.modulesUtility functions for working with modules.
com.google.appengine.api.oauthProvides a method for clients to access server resources on behalf of a resource owner, as well as a process for end-users to authorize third-party access to their server resources without sharing their credentials.
com.google.appengine.api.quotaProvides measurement of API and CPU usage during requests.
com.google.appengine.api.searchProvides a service for indexing documents and retrieving them using search queries.
com.google.appengine.api.search.checkers 
com.google.appengine.api.search.query 
com.google.appengine.api.taskqueueProvides a mechanism to perform work initiated by a user request, outside of that request.
com.google.appengine.api.urlfetchProvides a service to make HTTP/S requests of other servers on the internet.
com.google.appengine.api.usersProvides facilities to check if a user has authenticated, retrieve their email address, and check if they are an administrator for this application.
com.google.appengine.api.utilsProvides common utility classes.
com.google.apphosting.apiProvides access to the ApiProxy, which dispatches API calls to backend services.

Github: https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/appengine-java-standard

References:

  • https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/standard/java/javadoc
  • https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/developers-practitioners/open-sourcing-app-engine-standard-java-runtime
  • https://www.infoq.com/news/2022/03/google-appengine-java/
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Featured Google Guest Post Tech News Uncategorized Unicorns USA

Google’s Jigsaw Unit is Releasing An Open-Source Tool Called ‘Harassment Manager’ to Reduce Toxicity Online for Journalists

When covering controversial topics or live under autocratic governments, online harassment is a constant challenge. For women, it can range from nuisances like insults and memes targeting their appearance to matters of life-threatening danger. They’ve been targeted before for reporting on stories that upset powerful groups with negative feedback who feel threatened by what you’re doing coverage-wise.

Google’s Jigsaw’s team of experts has made long-standing investments in user experience research, technology, and other initiatives to help women navigate targeted harassment online. Jigsaw unit releases the code for an open-source anti-harassment tool called Harassment Manager. The program enables journalists and other public figures to manage better abusive comments on social media platforms like Twitter with Jigsaw’s Perspective API, which sorts through potentially harmful messages.

Harassment Manager is a tool that helps users identify and document harmful posts, mute or block perpetrators of harassment on social media. It has an advanced filtering and reporting system that automatically sorts messages into queues, so you can address them all at once rather than individually through the platform’s default tools which are often not effective or well-suited for dealing with harassment issues on their own account. The interface provides insights into how much “toxicity” there was in each message while it’s being processed – this helps users decide whether they want certain replies blurred out before reading them.

Harassment Managers helps users keep track of abusive messages and downloads a standalone report containing the evidence. This creates an easy paper trail for their employer or law enforcement if necessary and gives them access to services like those provided by The Thomson Reuters Foundation which will be released soon.

Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2202.11168.pdf

Github: https://github.com/conversationai/harassment-manager

References:

  • https://medium.com/@JigsawTeam/5edcac127872
  • https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/8/22966204/google-jigsaw-perspective-ai-twitter-moderation-harassment-manager-journalists
  • https://www.perspectiveapi.com/
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Featured Google Region Tech News Uncategorized Unicorns USA

Google Introduces Cloud Functions (2nd gen) Into Public Preview: Google Cloud’s Next-Generation Functions-as-a-Service Product

Google’s Cloud Functions (2nd gen) is the next generation of their popular product as Functions-as-a-Service product. It comes with an advanced feature set that gives you more powerful infrastructure, control over performance and scalability, as well as 90 event sources from which to trigger your function. The power of the second generation is in its portability. You can run your function anywhere with just one command. The new version also offers greater flexibility in terms of when it runs – all thanks to some help from Google’s cutting-edge serverless technology called Cloud Run or Eventarc.

The new capabilities of Cloud Functions include increased concurrency (up to 1,000 concurrent requests per function instance), larger instances (16 GB memory and 4 vCPUs), and longer processing time for HTTP functions (up to 60 mins).

The new Cloud Functions features an enhanced UI that lets you customize your dashboard to suit what matters most. With improved developer experience and accessibility updates, it’s easier than ever to develop functions for any device or platform without worrying about complicated installation processes! A seamless onboarding process easily makes 1st gen and 2nd gen function development in one place.

References:

  • https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/serverless/introducing-the-next-generation-of-cloud-functions
  • https://www.infoq.com/news/2022/03/google-cloud-functions/
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Top Cloud Providers For AI/IoT/VR/AR

In 2021, cloud computing is the go-to model for information technology. Companies are prioritizing as service providers over traditional vendors and accelerating digital transformation projects with this new normal of work following COVID 19 pandemic.

The top cloud computing vendors are all about choice. You have a few great options when it comes to the vendor, but they’re not just one-and-done types of machines. Here are some of the top cloud providers to check:

Infographic: Amazon Leads $180-Billion Cloud Market | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS is a major player in AI, database and machine learning today. They were also one of the first companies to offer cloud computing back when it was just beginning years ago – 2008! In this time period since then, they’ve never looked back with new services launching all over town every other day or hour, depending how fast you can read about them on here.
  • Microsoft Azure : Microsoft has been making significant advances in enterprise technology with their Azure cloud platform. The company’s software-as-a service effort and its footprint among companies who want an alternative to AWS makes them a strong candidate. As we move forward into 2022 it will be interesting how much weight these two players can carry given the current state of affairs within ecommerce, AI, IoT globally
  • Google Cloud Platform: Google Cloud Platform is coming off a year where it built out its strategy, sales team and differentiating services. It also had performance hiccups but now COVID-19 has given the company a boost as well as setting up plans for managing multi-cloud workloads.
  • Alibaba Cloud: Alibaba Cloud is a global leader in cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Founded as early as 2009, it offers services to thousands of enterprises around the world from more than 200 countries or regions through its platform which has been built up by rapid expansion over time with numerous partnerships still remaining key aspects for success going forward
  • IBM: IBM is betting big on the Red Hat acquisition, hoping that it can boost their revenue growth.
  • Dell Technologies/VMware: With its product lineup now tied together with the help and guidance from VMware, it will be easier than ever for companies to offer customers a seamless experience across both on-premise data centers as well as public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services. This leadership position has been established through investing heavily into research & development efforts that produce cutting edge technology including processors which are optimally tuned per application needs; servers featuring upspeed capabilities such bumping speeds while reducing costs
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The global edge-to cloud company, HPE is looking to be a hybrid and multi-cloud player. However its secret sauce may lie at the edge with Aruba.
  • Oracle: Oracle is no stranger to the world of cloud computing. The company has been providing both IaaS and PaaS for years now, but with their latest acquisition they have become even more competitive in this market by adding NetSuite as well.
  • Cisco Systems: With a focus on network, security and analytics for the modern cloud environment Cisco is able to deliver comprehensive portfolios of software solutions that simplify connecting or protecting your IT infrastructure.
  • Salesforce: Salesforce is on a mission to be the center of your customer data universe. The company wants its customers utilize all that information for personal experiences, sell them cloud services and put their Sales Cloud Customer 360 effort in central tech world places.

We tried our best to bring some of the best cloud providers, but if we missed anything, then please feel free to reach out.

References:

  1. https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-top-cloud-providers-of-2021-aws-microsoft-azure-google-cloud-hybrid-saas/
  2. https://www.itbusinessedge.com/cloud/compare-top-cloud-providers/
  3. https://allcode.com/cloud-providers/
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Google Tech News Uncategorized Unicorns

Google Open-Source ‘network-opt’: A C++ Library For Network Optimization

We are all part of the internet. From your computer’s electrical circuits to be networked networks that route data around globe, we live in this vast web-connected by blue links on pages everywhere you look- whether it is an article online or something more personal like Facebook status updates.

Networks have a variety of different shapes and sizes, from the most simple networks where all nodes communicate with each other to more complex arrangements that involve dedicated links or bridges between groups. The number is exponential as well; just 12 active participants can produce over 1 trillion possible topologies.

Google researchers have introduced a new open-source C++ library, ‘network-opt’, that can optimize network topologies. Using sophisticated techniques for combinatorial search, this algorithm efficiently constructs instances from series-parallel networks commonly found in electrical and telecommunications applications.

Paper: https://research.google/pubs/pub51051/

Github: https://github.com/google/network-opt

Reference: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2022/02/A-New-Library-for-Network-Optimization.html