How Google’s Earthquake Alerts Protected Millions — And How to Turn It On in Quake-Prone Countries When two massive earthquakes (7.2 and 7.5) struck Venezuela recently, the country had no national early warning system. But millions of Android phones lit up with loud alerts seconds to minutes before the shaking hit — giving people precious time to drop, cover, and hold on. Google’s clever system turns the accelerometers in over 2 billion Android phones into a giant crowdsourced seismic network. It detects the first waves, confirms the quake, and blasts notifications to users in the affected area. In Venezuela, it reached 11.4 million people — proving technology can save lives even where governments can’t. How to activate it (works in nearly 100 countries): Open Settings on your Android phone. Tap Safety & Emergency (or search for “Earthquake alerts”). Select Earthquake Alerts and toggle it ON. Keep Location services ena...
A Google executive has admitted the search giant lost out on buying GitHub. Speaking at a Fortune Magazine event yesterday, Diane Greene Google’s head of cloud made an interesting admission. “I wouldn’t have minded buying them, but it’s OK,” said Greene, Bloomberg reports.
Previous rumors suggest Google was also trying to acquire GitHub, alongside Microsoft’s bids. GitHub founder Chris Wanstrath reportedly chose Microsoft because of his relationship with CEO Satya Nadella. GitHub is a large code repository that has become very popular with developers and companies to host projects, documentation, and code. Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and many other big tech companies use GitHub. There are 85 million repositories hosted on GitHub, and 28 million developers contribute to them.
Google earlier this month to comment on whether it will still continue to use GitHub, but a company spokesperson said at the time “We do not comment on ongoing acquisitions across the industry.” Facebook has committed to GitHub, and a spokesperson revealed: “as long as GitHub remains a great place to share our projects and collaborate with the open source community, we’ll continue to use it.”
Greene also echoed similar concerns from developers about Microsoft buying GitHub and its future. “I really hope Microsoft can keep them totally neutral,” said Greene. Most developers seem to be waiting to see what will happen with Microsoft’s acquisition. Some would have had concerns even if Google had acquired the service. Microsoft has been trying to calm initial nerves, and the company is expected to close its deal later this year.

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