Google Code University goes back to school

Fall is on the way — the leaves are changing, college football is in full swing and you're probably already knee-deep in schedules, new books and assignments. At Google, we're also prepping for back to school with the newest version of Google Code University. For the fall we've not only made our online course repository more slick and easier to navigate, but we've added new content and features to help you tackle your CS courses.

Some of the newest updates include:

• Google's C++ Course
• Android Application Development - Cal Poly

We've also recently added several Discussion Forums with topics like web security, Python and C++ where you can ask your fellow students questions, or post interesting articles and resources. We'd also love your input on new course content in our General Forum.

Good luck with the new semester!

Posted by Mary Radomile, Education Program Manager

Google Summer of Code 2010 is on!

Interested in learning more about open source software development and methodologies? Looking for a way to get that experience while getting paid? Look no further!

Through the Google Summer of Code™ program, we match college and university students with mentors from academia and industry to work on a three month coding project. You're welcome to propose a project that suits your specialized interests or to apply to work on a project proposed by one of our mentoring organizations. Successful student participants receive a $5000 stipend, an awesome t-shirt and valuable exposure to real world software development scenarios. You won't even need to leave home to work with this global community, with our members hailing from more than 100 countries. Best of all, no previous experience with open source development is required, and there will be projects available across a wide variety of technical areas and skill levels.

We're currently accepting applications from open source projects who wish to act as mentoring organizations. We'll publish the list of accepted open source projects, along with their suggested project ideas, on Thursday, March 18th. You'll have a few days to get to know your would-be mentors before student applications open on Monday, March 29th. However, there's no reason to wait to get involved with the Google Summer of Code community; check out the webpages from past instances of the program, review what other students have done and decide what open source projects look interesting to you. While there are no guarantees, if an organization has participated in the past, chances are they'll return again this year provided they choose to apply.

Looking for more background? We have a wide variety of resources to help you get started. First, read our program Frequently Asked Questions for an overview of Google Summer of Code. We also have a community wiki that has some great advice for student applicants and more information to give you an idea of the mentor's perspective. You can also check out a variety of videos, including information about the program and screencasts made by past students, in our program's community YouTube channel. If you still have questions or want to jump in after taking a look at the documentation, you can always find us in the Google Summer of Code Discussion group, in #gsoc on Freenode and on various social networking sites. You may also consider subscribing to the Google Open Source Blog for regular updates on the program.

Best of luck to all of our applicants, and here's to our sixth Google Summer of Code!

Post by Leslie Hawthorn, Program Manager - Open Source

Growing open government with Transparency Camp West

(If you're interested in meeting the team of Googlers working to strengthen the public sector and civic engagement through technology, check out our Public Sector blog. -Ed.)

Organizing public sector information isn't easy, and companies like Google rely on the good work of open government advocates to access useful data. Last weekend more than 150 developers, NGOs, wonks, activists and government representatives from as far away as Russia and Israel gathered at our Mountain View campus for Transparency Camp West to discuss efforts to make governments more transparent and accessible to the public.

Sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan organization founded in 2006, Transparency Camp allowed open government advocates to freely swap ideas about a wide range of topics: voting, journalism, public transit, healthcare, citizen engagement and more. The theme of openness also extended to the Sunlight Foundation's board meeting on Saturday. While most organizations hold their board meetings in private, the Sunlight Foundation opened their board meeting not only to staff, but also to members of the public.

The "un-conference" format let attendees decide session topics

At Google we're inspired by efforts to connect people to the political process, to useful public information and to their governments — and we're eager to participate. To hear more about the different kinds of bottom-up change proposed at Transparency Camp, head to the Google Open Source blog for a summary by Clay Johnson from the Sunlight Foundation.

This and previous photo courtesy of Heather Bussing

Posted by Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager