Our first global contributor drive is coming up next weekend, January 30-31, 2016, and we want you to be involved!
Many of our current contributors first got involved at a Contributor Day at a WordCamp or WordPress Meetup event near them, but not everyone has had that opportunity, so we’re trying to create an online experience that will give new contributors the same kind of live support and group dynamic. We’ll be doing these as weekend challenges rather than one-day events so that WordPress users all over the world can participate without worrying about pesky time zones, but each challenge will be designed to be completed within a few hours, comparable to an in-person Contributor Day.
Our inaugural Contributor Weekend is focused on the Support Team — the folks who volunteer their time to help people with WordPress questions in the support forums and IRC. Over the two day span, forum moderators will be available online to help new contributors and answer questions as needed. The challenge this month is called 20 Questions; your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to help WordPress users by answering 20 forum support requests over the course of the weekend.
You can participate on your own, or you can get together with other people from your local meetup group and work on it together. Working together in person is really fun, so we highly recommend trying to get some folks together if you’re able, but if that’s not possible you can still connect to other participants online. Either way, this is a great way to give back to the WordPress project and have some fun helping people at the same time.
Over the past year, more and more Googlers have had the chance to meet service members and hear their stories through the Google Veterans Network—our employee resource group. These interactions have led to a greater understanding of the challenges the veteran community faces and have inspired many teams across Google to find additional ways for our technology to help.
This Veterans Day, on behalf of the Google Veterans Network and all Googlers, we’re proud to share some of the new ways we’re working with partners to support the military veteran community.
Helpouts by Google allows anyone to give and receive help over live video, and we think it can be an effective platform for nonprofit and veteran service organizations to connect with veterans and their families. Helpouts for veterans are already available, ranging from guidance for veteran education benefits to entrepreneurship/business planning. Because Helpouts is HIPAA-compliant, providers such as Give an Hour can provide secure and confidential mental health care sessions online—particularly useful for those veterans who are physically unable to travel from their homes.
Tour Builder is a storytelling tool in beta that enables anyone to record memories of their travels in Google Earth. Tour Builder was inspired by the accomplishments of military service members around the globe. We hope it will give veterans an easy way to share their journeys to loved ones at home and to preserve the legacy of their service for generations to come.
13.5 percent of the nation's businesses are run by veterans, employing a collective 8.2 million people. In recognition of the contributions veterans make to the economy, the Google Enterprise blog and Google+ page will share stories throughout the week from veteran-owned business and service organizations that achieved success with the help of Google Apps—like RuckPack Combat Nutrition:
Our professional development programs that pair Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with Google mentors continue to grow. This past summer, we hosted resume writing workshops for 350+ student veterans in 12 Google offices in partnership with Student Veterans of America and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Last week, working collaboratively with the Bob Woodruff Foundation, we welcomed more than 100 injured post-9/11 veterans and their loved ones to Google NYC for a tech immersion and mentoring day. Finally, VetNet, the Google+ career services platform we launched last year with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families and Hire Heroes USA, has helped thousands of veterans prepare for civilian careers.
Follow us at google.com/+GoogleForVeterans to let us know how else we can help and to stay up to date on our activities througout the year. Happy Veterans Day!
Posted by Carrie Laureno, Audience Evangelist & Founder, Google Veterans Network The Official Google Blog
Imagine having nutrition-label-like data about every product you use at your fingertips—knowing exactly what ingredients make up things like office chairs or house paint and how they could impact your health today and 30 years from now. It’s a future that goes hand in hand with our commitment to creating the healthiest work environments possible and promoting transparency within the wide world of building materials.
Today, we’re taking a step toward that future with a $ 3 million grant to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a leading non-profit organization that works to create greener buildings and communities in the U.S. and around the world.
There’s a lack of clear and accessible information on building ingredients, which means that a lot of us might be exposed to potentially harmful and toxic chemicals in building materials—whether it’s in the desk you sit at every day or the building’s paints, tiles and carpeting. This grant is designed to improve human health and well-being by supporting more industry research and better standards around healthy materials.
We’ve already done a lot to eliminate many of these chemicals in our offices around the world, and we want to make it easier for others to do the same. The USGBC has had great success with their widely adopted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. LEED is certifying 1.7 million square feet every day with 9.3 billion square feet participating in LEED across all 50 states and 138 countries. We think they’re in a great position to build on this track record to create real and lasting change in the industry.
But it isn't enough just to have better labeling or standards about the ingredients in various products. We also need to know more about the ingredients themselves, which is why this grant also supports more scientific research and outreach so we can all do a better job of understanding how building materials impact human health. By doing so, we hope to empower consumers and businesses alike to make more informed decisions about the materials they purchase and use in their day-to-day lives.
On July Fourth, America celebrates its independence.
In the summer of 1776, 13 disenfranchised colonies spoke. It took days for their declaration to be printed and distributed throughout the colonies, and it took weeks for it to be seen across the Atlantic.
Today, such a document could be published and shared with the world in seconds. More than any time in history, more people in more places have the ability to have their voices heard.
Powering these voices are billions of Internet connections around the world—people on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. The Internet is a powerful platform that makes it easier for people to speak, to assemble, and to be heard. This is true no matter where freedom is taking root.
Yet we’ve only just begun to see what a free and open Internet can do for people and for the freedom we cherish.
Today we’re sharing a video we made to celebrate our freedom and the tools that support it. Please take a moment to watch it, share it with your friends, and add your voice.
Googlers are the types who never really leave the classroom. Guest speakers come to campus to give talks on subjects ranging from fiction to physics. Diverse groups of people work together to understand and solve big problems while groups of Googlers engage in passionate debate in our cafeterias. Given this environment, it’s no surprise how highly we value our external work in education. We have a growing number of successful education programs from primary school through to university, as well as a suite of free and open tools that reach families and classrooms around the world.
Recently, we decided to gather our resources and lessons learned into one place for educators everywhere. “Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning” highlights how people are using Google resources to enhance teaching and learning. This booklet isn’t your typical annual report; it’s a living document for educators to use year-round. We’ve also revamped our website, google.com/edu, to be a one-stop shop for teachers, students, parents and organizations to explore all of our offerings. We’ve launched a Google+ page, where everyone can stay updated on our educational tools, products and programs, and join the conversation.
To develop all of these new materials, we went straight to the source, relying on dozens of educators to provide stories and feedback. We hope these resources will inspire and enable teachers, while affirming our commitment to increasing access to an excellent education for all.
Thanks to educators, students and supporters everywhere for helping to extend our spirit of lifelong learning into classrooms around the globe.
For more information about Google in Education, visit www.google.com/edu/about, and to stay updated on the world of education at Google and connect with fellow educators, follow us on Google+.
Posted by Jordan Lloyd Bookey, Head of Global K-12 Education Outreach
Question by Zorro (WAR on Dog Section): Does anyone know why they dont adjust child support for inflation, or set adjustments based off gross income?
I find it interesting that every time there is a change that the custodial parent has to go back to court, and most don't. I see that over time, the child support payments become way out of wack with the income, either one way or the other. I am curious as to why a automatic incremental/decremental system is not automatically built in, anyone know?
Des, thank you that is what I was looking for.
Best answer:
Answer by desmeran (emeritus) some places apparently do, though it's not the norm: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/14/nyregion/child-support-payments-to-rise-automatically-with-inflation.html
gory details, if you want them: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/reports/cola/pr01.html#N58
Question by jenn: In the state of mn what is automatic income withdrawl for child support. Do the find out where he works?
through his social security number or does he have to report it?
What if he doesnt report where he works?
Best answer:
Answer by CHEROKEESQUAW the state can follow his ss#....and then garnish his wages......if he owes a lot, the i.r.s. can also take his income tax checks till it is payed off......some states refuse to renew professional license's of sorts.......
