Hello world! My name is Michael Rosario. I serve the Mercer University Google Developer Group (GDG) as a mentor. The Mercer GDG serves software developers, engineers and designers in the middle Georgia area through education and community building events. In the Fall of 2013, we have hosted sessions on the following topics:
- Introduction to Android development
In general, the group studies and teaches technologies connected to the very unique ethos of Google culture. As computer professionals, we work in a wildly exciting area. Armed with the right software and resourcefulness, we convert ideas into systems that serve businesses, nonprofits, and communities. You don’t need big expensive tools or materials. You don’t need permission. You need passion and the persistence to see the idea through the creative/engineering process. I believe that this process is a balance of art, leadership, and science.
Starting With WHY
As we start our blog for the GDG, I wanted to share my favorite principles from Google’s culture. I enjoy exploring the “WHY” or belief structures of businesses and nonprofits. It’s fun to find find nuggets of truth that I can adopt into my design processes.
Focus on the user and all else will follow: I believe that people are more important than processes and tools. In Google’s company philosophy, their #1 principle focuses on bringing success and simplicity to the user. Google is all about search and organizing the world of information. I appreciate the care they have taken to promote speed and simplicity. In the Android design principles, you can see that Google strives to give a delightful unified experience for the user across browsers and devices.
Democracy on the web works:
Tim O’Reilly has a great quote: “Government is what we do together that we can’t do alone.” Google promotes the ethos of open source software. Great innovations can occur when resources are shared in the open with the community. In Google’s summer of code programs, Google helps to connect bright and driven students to open source projects that are making an impact. Everything that Google does isn’t open source. I, however, feel they are open enough. (i.e. Android, Python, V8, Chromium,etc.)
When Google provides search results, you desire to see information that’s trusted, delightful and useful. Google’s PageRank algorithm prioritizes your search results by many factors. Google celebrates a core idea that you are more likely to find information interesting if many websites link to the information. By creating a link to a web page, you vote that the information on the page needs consideration or attention.
Education
While education does not appear as an explicit aspect of their corporate philosophy, Google has served the world through their open culture. As a developer, I have grown and benefited from the lectures Google has collected in Google Tech Talks. I am probably a raving fan for Google because they are very open with their Google i/o conference material. As schools struggle to do more with less financial funding, Google come to the rescue with with products like Google Drive , Chromebooks, Google Apps for education. Google has made a positive impact in EVERY classroom.
I appreciate how Google moves the web forward through leadership, promoting open standards, and open technology. If you’re interested in making an impact and learning with a community, I hope you consider joining us for the Google Developer Group at Mercer University.
Key Question: What Google related topic would you like to learn?
Join Us For Our Next GDG Meeting!
- Coding Dojo
- Where: Mercer Computer Science Building ( map )
- When: October 29th, 2013 Networking starts at 6:30pm. Talks will begin by 7:00pm.
- During this session, we will be learning ways to improve our code and software craftsmanship by collaborative exercises.
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/scobleizer/
Love the post!