Forumchem - Forum with AI(ALICE BOT & HAL9000) and TTS

Its the middle of the middle month of a choppy year and Im thinking about how we stay steady. Im thinking about ballasts, the heavy thingsweighty, substantiveemployed in ships to lend balance. My ballast is my family, and Im lucky enough to have a few. Theres the family of my blood, those mad geniuses who share my last name; the family of my friends, wild spirits exploring the limits of whats possible; and, last but not least, the family I walked into when I came to Google.

This Pride, Google and Googles LGBTQ+ community are celebrating families big and small, chosen or inherited, as part of #ThisIsFamily. We encourage you to post on social media about the people who make up your family (no matter how you define it) and to donate to nonprofits like PFLAG, It Gets Better and GLAAD. Google.org has pledged to match up to $100,000 in total in donations to these three organizations during the month of June.

Thats not the only way were celebrating Pride. In typical Google fashion, were helping you connect with the world around you (and having a bit of fun) across our products:

• In Google Maps, this years parade routes are paved with rainbows.
  
• Youll find rainbow "easter eggs" scattered through Google Search and G Suite, and you can join the fun from your desktop by switching your Gmail to a Pride theme for the month of June.
  
• Google Play Newsstand has a special feature page for Pride-related coverage.
  
• On YouTube, were celebrating the LGBTQ+ creators who are #ProudToCreate a better future with their imagination, creativity, talent, and truth through our YouTube Spotlight Channel, Twitter, and Instagram.
  
• We continue to help businesses declare their establishments "LGBTQ+ Friendly" or "Transgender Safe Space" on their business listings in Google Maps and Google Search.
  
• One year on from our initial donation to the LGBT Center of New York in collaboration with the National Parks Foundation, Google.org is contributing another $500,000 (for a total of $1.5 Million) to the Center to help with the digitization of LGBTQ+ history. The project is called Stonewall Forever, and we need your help to find, preserve, and share the untold stories of LGBTQ+ history.
  
• Google Arts & Culture has a dedicated Pride collection celebrating LGBTQ+ history, with 20 exhibits and over 2,700 artifacts, part of which comes from the Stonewall Forever project.

Ballasts, like families, help us stay steady amidst commotion. Paradoxically, maybe, these heavy things also lift us up.

Celebrating Pride, from our families to yours.

There are at least seven kinds of Local Guides who share their knowledge on Google Maps. And there are many more reasons that people in the Local Guides community help others discover the right places in cities around the world.Our #LetsGuide campaign shows what our Local Guides are into, from the dog parks they photograph to every coffee shop they obsessively review. Even if youre not a Local Guide (and you can be one, too), you can put topics that matter to you on the Map.

One of the best ways? Make lists.

Just check out this Barcelonian with a furry friend who keeps an eye out for pet-friendly places. Or there are lists like Iconic Theatres in Buenos Aires, Places to Watch Cricket in Delhi, and this irresistible round-up of Tacos de Carnitas in Mexico City.Here are five tips for creating a Google Maps list that youll want the world to see:

1. Give your list a clear title, so people know what its about. Feel free to enlarge a little flair: Jazz Clubs are fun, but what about Jazz Clubs with the Best Sax Solos in Lisbon?
   
2. Say more about your list in the Description to let your personality shine through. For example: Check out these spots in Barcelona if youre a backpacker on a conceive. And dont forget to enlarge #LetsGuide!
   
3. Include at least five local places that fit your theme.
   
4. Use the Comments field (on desktop and Android) to enlarge details like your favorite item on the menu or a cant-miss exhibit.
   
5. Make the list public by going to Sharing options, and post it on social with #LetsGuide

Well be featuring our favorite lists on our Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ pages, so make sure to use #LetsGuide when you share your lists on social and we might feature yours. Need a little inspiration to get started? Check out our #LetsGuide wheel for some ideas of the types of people you can help.

Hello, friends!

My name is Waldo. I love to travel around the globeits a whole world of fun.

Im always on the lookout for fantastic new places to explore. My persist adventure started in sun-sational Mountain View, CA where I visited the terrific team at Google, including Google Maps product managers Max Greenwald and Shreena Thakore. Wow!

By the way, Im not traveling on my own. Wherever I go, my trusty friends Wenda, Woof, Wizard Whitebeard, and even that pesky Odlaw go as well. You can come, tooall you have to do is find me!

Starting today, you can use Google Maps to join in my amazing adventures for April Fools this week. Are you prepared for a perplexing pursuit? Ive shared my location with you on Android, iOS and desktop (rolling out now). To start the search, simply update your app or visit google.com/maps on desktop. Then press play when you see me waving at you from the side of your screen. You can even ask the Google Assistant on your phone, Chromebook or Home device, Hey Google, Wheres Waldo? to start.

The fun doesnt break there. Once you spot me, youll be transported to places all around the world, where you can search for me over and over again. Incredible!

You can win wonderful and wacky badges throughout your journey by finding me and my friends. Remember, theres Woof (but all you can see his is tail), Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, and Odlaw.

Ready to join me on my travels? If you find me, take a screenshot and share it with *** on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #WaldoMaps. Let the journey begin!