If you follow my blog (wink!) you’ll recall that I was surprised that Google cancelled its data hosting service, Palimpset. Well, they’ve brought it back big time, albeit under a new moniker. The Google Public Data Explorer was announced yesterday. You can upload any dataset you like, so long as you format the data using DSPL which is related to XML. The hosting service is totally free.

They’ve also got a service called DataWiki listed in their Google Labs section which allows users to upload “structured” data. I’m not sure how these two services differ and whether Google really needs both. But at least duplication is far better than the situation in 2009 when they cancelled the one data-hosting service they ran.

In addition to the data hosting, there is a set of tools which can be used to display the data. Right now, the home page shows a graphic for lifespan vs. number of offspring by geographical region. The graphic includes a cool slider which shows the fertility bubbles jumping around as time progresses.

I’m guessing this is a harbinger for Google to return to its research roots and take a step back from the profit juggernaut it has turned into.

A related snippet of news that I came across was the announcement by Intel that it is starting a center at Stanford devoted to visual computing. And GE recently came out with visualizing.org, a website devoted to data visualization which also incorporates other elements such as website contests. I noticed they have a contest for visualzing eco data with a $5,000 prize! Their ads have been appearing everywhere, including on this blog.

-Lyndie Chiou

I was surprised to read that Google has decided to cancel its data hosting service, nee Palimpsest. The name Palimpsest came from the book, Archimedes Palimpsest. To read more on the project which recently restored Archimedes Palimpset click here.

Google was originally planning to host Terabytes of data, including astronomical and large governmental data sets. Many bloggers had been hailing Google’s service as the start of a new era of transparency for the USA.

The decision to cancel Google’s Palimpset came just a week ago. The sharp downturn in the economy played a key role. Google’s stock fell from an all-time high of about $700 a year ago to around $300 today. This caused Google to sharply curtail “experimental” programs that have no guaranteed revenues.

-Lyndie Chiou