John Cornyn Would Destroy The Internet .. S.978 Thank you for contacting me about Senate Bill 978 (S. 978). I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter. As you may know, S. 978 would update federal criminal copyright statutes to address technological advancements that have been made since these laws were originally enacted in 1976. Under current law, individuals can be prosecuted for a felony for copying and selling ten digital copies of a copyrighted movie or record totaling at least $2,500. However, if the copyrighted content is distributed over an Internet stream, that same individual can sell thousands of copies, totaling millions of dollars, and yet only be prosecuted for a misdemeanor. Unfortunately, federal prosecutors have little incentive to pursue misdemeanors, and as a result these crimes largely go unpunished. Sincerely, John Cornyn Comments+
A note to Google recruiters (and on Google hiring practices) Writing this in part to let off steam, and in part so I can point the next recruiter at it. Time from my leaving Google til getting the first unrelated contact from a Google recruiter: 6 days. Interest I have in going through Google’s hiring process again: zero. When Metaweb/Freebase was acquired by Google last year, we came in as part of the Search team. As a community/developer relations person, Search didn’t really have a place for me, but they brought me in on a fixed term offer, giving me a year to figure out how I might fit in at Google, perhaps by transferring my work to a more appropriate group or finding another role that made more sense. I’m going to handwave a bit, but in short, we shuffled things around so that I could continue doing my job by moving to a more appropriate part of the organisation. Now, I’m 100% confident that Google wouldn’t have hired me straight off the street. (True story: in my interview I was asked how I would extract entities from an HTML page.
Four Things Google Plus Could Do To Fix Google Plus Saturday's Google+ user account deletion purge plunged the new social network into a crisis of user trust. The community wants it fixed. Saturday's deletion of multiple Google+ user accounts spanned from well-known tech figures to ordinary netizens. It was ostensibly over Google Plus' enforcement of using so-called "real names." Google+ remained silent, and combined with contradictory actions over the weekend it's now a trust trainwreck, a growing PR shadow and a textbook-case community management nightmare. Other social networks are now probably laughing into their morning coffee, while Google+ users are most certainly both furious and frightened. Read also: Google Plus Deleting Accounts En Masse: No Clear Answers Google+ is not warning users before deleting user accounts, and some people have reported being locked out of all Google services, including docs and Gmail. Google+ has told some users they can now only use the names on their government ID's for their Plus profiles. 1.
Clinton to Syria: Implement Reforms Now U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is running out of time. Clinton, in a speech Monday, called on the Syrian president to implement genuine reforms after the reformers registered their biggest day of protests since the Syrian uprising began about four months ago. Clinton warned Assad that he would have more, organized resistance unless he allowed a genuine transition to democracy, guardian.uk reported Tuesday. On Monday, Syrian authorities permitted an unprecedented opposition conference to take palce in Damascus, even as political analysts and regional officials continued to debate whether this marked a substantive move toward reform, or more mere superficial gestures by one of the most authoritarian, and human rights-violating, regimes in the world. Look, I mean, from our perspective, he [Assad] has lost legitimacy, Clinton said, ABCNews Radio reported. Earlier Tuesday, France condemned Syria and said the U.N.
Publications by Googlers Google publishes hundreds of research papers each year. Publishing is important to us; it enables us to collaborate and share ideas with, as well as learn from, the broader scientific community. Submissions are often made stronger by the fact that ideas have been tested through real product implementation by the time of publication. We believe the formal structures of publishing today are changing - in computer science especially, there are multiple ways of disseminating information. Open Source We understand the value of a collaborative ecosystem and love open-source software. Product and Feature Launches With every launch, we're publishing progress and pushing functionality. Industry Standards Our researchers are often helping to define not just today's products but also tomorrow's. Resources "Resources" doesn't just mean tangible assets but also intellectual. Impact Couple big challenges with big resources and Google offers unprecedented research opportunities.
Analysis: When Google+ gives Facebook a run for its money Video: The revolution will not be firewalled: Gabriella Coleman on the ‘hacktivist’ underground | Need to Know Computer hackers have been very busy this year. On Monday, as Rupert Murdoch prepared to testify before parliament, computer wizards mocked him by planting a fake news story which claimed the media magnate had died. More seriously, earlier this month some hackers released a bunch of military data including thousands of email passwords. In recent months, the websites of the CIA, Sony, Visa, PBS and many others have all been tampered with by outsiders. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to hack is: a) to write computer programs for enjoyment or b) to gain access to a computer illegally. Both definitions would apply to the hacking that’s been going on this year. The most well-known hacker group is Anonymous, a group with roots in the anti-Scientology movement. Other prominent hackers include LulzSec, which was behind the hackings at PBS.org and The Sun, and Anti-Sec, short for anti-security, and it’s aimed at exposing security holes in the databases of large corporations.
Google Rumored Preparing $10/Month Chrome OS Laptop Rentals Rain or shine, see the weather in Google Maps Whether you’re organizing a trip overseas or a picnic at a local park, knowing the weather forecast is a crucial part of the planning process. Today, we’re adding a weather layer on Google Maps that displays current temps and conditions around the globe, and will hopefully make travel and activity planning easier. To add the weather layer, hover over the widget in the upper right corner of Google Maps and select the weather layer from the list of options. When zoomed out, you’ll see a map with current weather conditions from weather.com for various locations, with icons to denote sun, clouds, rain and so on. Enabling the weather layer also gives you an instant weather report for friends and family living around the world. Weather near London, UK Clicking on the weather icon for a particular city will open an info window with detailed data like current humidity and wind conditions, as well as a forecast for the next four days. Weather near Sydney, Australia in satellite view
Norway suspect laid out detailed plans for violence against "traitors," Muslims Anders Behring Breivik saw himself as a holy warrior and crusader engaged in a war against a “Marxist-Islamist alliance” that he feared would take over Europe if not stopped. He hoped by his actions to inspire “thousands” to follow in his path. He described himself as a “martyr” and “resistance fighter.” He described members of Norway’s Labour Party as “traitors” because of their alleged support of “multiculturalism and Islamisation.” Behring advocated “terror” attacks on mosques, especially during Muslim relgious holidays. This is according to a 1,500 page manuscript Breivik himself wrote. The manuscript consists of hundreds of pages of political analysis and ideology, plus a lengthy diary-like section setting out Breivik’s meticulous planning for yesterday’s attacks. Breivik signed the manuscript in terms which suggested he viewed himself as a crusader: Andrew Berwick Justiciar Knight Commander Knights Templar Europe Knights Templar Norway “Martyr” and “resistance fighter”
Google Doing Some Profile Unification Leading Up To… Well, Something. Google is still hard at work on their social strategy. You know it, I know it, we all know it. What it will actually be, remains to be seen. The first was the redesign of the toolbar. As The Next Web spotted a couple weeks ago, Google quietly announced that it would be deleting Google Profiles that weren’t public starting in July. The purpose of Google Profiles is to enable you to manage your online identity. And that’s important because other Google properties are also being woven into these profiles. Google Groups-specific profiles will no longer be supported. This type of unification will also take place across other Google properties as well, we hear. But as we laid out a couple weeks ago, don’t look for a massive launch of something being billed as a “Facebook-killer” (not that anyone besides the press would label it as such anyway).