A little light reading: the latest on technology from around the Google-verse

As we collectively dive into 2019, we’ve already come across some great cloud-related reads from around the broader Google world. Here are a few stories to help you stay informed—and get inspired—about interesting technologies, projects and initiatives on everything from application development and Knative to renewable energy and AI research.

Brighten up your day with renewables news

A 40,000-strong solar panel farm in Taiwan is now part of our plan to meet our renewable energy goals. This is our first renewable energy project in Asia, and we’ll purchase 100% of the output of a 10-megawatt solar array. Located about 100 kilometers away from our data center on the west side of Taiwan, solar panels will be mounted several feet in the sky around commercial fishing ponds. Take a peek at the solar farm site here.

See Cloud Functions through Firebase eyes

Here’s a look, with plenty of visuals, at how one mobile developer uses Firebase for app dev, along with Cloud Functions as a back end. Since Firebase is a Google product, it integrates with other Google products, so you can access Cloud Functions from within Firebase’s console, or vice versa. You may often switch between the consoles during development, as well as writing and deploying code via either the Firebase CLI or Cloud CLI (known as gcloud). Read the nitty-gritty details here.

Go back to school at the library

Grow with Google is a digital skills training and education program for students, teachers, job seekers, startups and others. It’s spreading its wings with a big push to bring in-person Grow with Google workshops to libraries in every U.S. state in 2019. The workshops and tools are all free, in true library spirit, and there’s also room for creative new ideas through a grant to the American Library Association. Check out the workshop list.

See what researchers accomplished in 2018

The accomplishments of Google researchers last year are inspiring, from creating assistive techniques in email to earthquake aftershock prediction. It’s worth scrolling down for some great details about how quantum computing is developing as well as how computational photography powers Night Sight in Pixel phones. Do your own investigation into this post.

Try a little light listening: All about Knative

Though this podcast doesn’t exactly count as “reading,” it’s a great primer for understanding Knative, which simplifies Kubernetes for developing serverless apps. . Knative came out of the idea that developers don’t necessarily need to see every detail of Kubernetes tools to use it effectively. Knative is a higher level of abstraction that’s focused on making the Kubernetes experience easier for developers, and the podcast covers features like eventing and scale-to-zero capabilities. Plus, you’ll learn how to pronounce “Knative.” Hear from the developers on Knative details. And join the Knative community on GitHub.

That’s a wrap for January! What have you been reading lately? Tell us your recommendations here.