CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-06-19 00:43:26 (44 comments, 21 reshares, 210 +1s)

We have long pushed for transparency so users can better understand the extent to which governments request their data—and Google was the first company to release numbers for National Security Letters. However, greater transparency is needed, so today we have petitioned the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to allow us to publish aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures, separately. Lumping national security requests together with criminal requests—as some companies have been permitted to do—would be a backward step for our users.

2013-06-18 17:38:16 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 8 +1s)

In our book we say that we have to fight for our privacy or we will lose it; here is a good summary of the tough calls from Bill Keller at the NY Times.  Appears to me we are on a path to lose our privacy without the appropriate legal protections we should have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/opinion/keller-living-with-the-surveillance-state.html?_r=0

http://newdigitalage.com/

2013-06-18 17:37:58 (16 comments, 6 reshares, 49 +1s)

In our book we say that we have to fight for our privacy or we will lose it; here is a good summary of the tough calls from Bill Keller at the NY Times.  Appears to me we are on a path to lose our privacy without the appropriate legal protections we should have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/opinion/keller-living-with-the-surveillance-state.html?_r=0

http://newdigitalage.com/

2013-06-15 16:56:36 (11 comments, 13 reshares, 120 +1s)

We have always believed that it's important to differentiate between different types of government requests. We already publish criminal requests separately from National Security Letters: http://goo.gl/OCFck Lumping the two categories together would be a step back for users. Our request to the government is clear: to be able to publish aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures, separately.

For more background please read this New York Times piece: http://goo.gl/t5P7e

2013-06-12 18:43:31 (19 comments, 29 reshares, 168 +1s)

Quote of the day :

"Surest sign of intelligence is curiosity" -- Oliver Jeffries, Artist

2013-06-08 16:41:22 (32 comments, 23 reshares, 119 +1s)

Data Permanence:  Its often observed that the Internet does not have a delete button.  Information, once published, is very hard to get fully deleted.  Indeed the architecture of the Internet makes it very easy to make copies, and keep them in other countries under other legal regimes.

There is a technical solution to this.  Information could be published in an encrypted way, and the key available only to authorized viewers.  The viewer would have to be similarly secure, and if adopted fully the only hole is the point where the information is displayed (This is called the "analog hole" in copyright battles.) 

If adopted this would make it harder to spread information, at a significant cost to broad understanding.  Is this why it has not happened, or is it because its not truly secure because of the analog hole?

2013-06-08 16:21:55 (2 comments, 6 reshares, 17 +1s)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57588337-38/no-evidence-of-nsas-direct-access-to-tech-companies/

CNET gets it right on the Google issue

2013-06-08 16:21:08 (54 comments, 79 reshares, 113 +1s)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57588337-38/no-evidence-of-nsas-direct-access-to-tech-companies/

CNET gets it right on the Google issue

2013-06-08 16:18:50 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Data Permanence:  Its often observed that the Internet does not have a delete button.  Information, once published, is very hard to get fully deleted.  Indeed the architecture of the Internet makes it very easy to make copies, and keep them in other countries under other legal regimes.

There is a technical solution to this.  Information could be published in an encrypted way, and the key available only to authorized viewers.  The viewer would have to be similarly secure, and if adopted fully the only hole is the point where the information is displayed (This is called the "analog hole" in copyright battles.) 

If adopted this would make it harder to spread information, at a significant cost to broad understanding.  Is this why it has not happened, or is it because its not truly secure because of the analog hole?

2013-06-08 12:06:01 (3 comments, 11 reshares, 32 +1s)

From the Google Blog today on the alleged spying:

Dear Google users—

You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM to give the National Security Agency direct access to our servers. As Google’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts.

First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.

Second, we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law. Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don’t follow the correct process.Press reports... more »

2013-06-08 12:05:09 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

Julian Assange on Google and our book, fondly, from your witch doctors Jared and Eric

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/opinion/sunday/the-banality-of-googles-dont-be-evil.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

the book is The New Digital Age (newdigitalage.com)

2013-06-08 12:03:44 (3 comments, 8 reshares, 89 +1s)

Here is a Google+ community devoted to the issues, problems and solutions posed by our book and current events.  There are so many examples in today's newspapers.. please join and enjoy !!!! Eric

2013-06-07 22:30:01 (29 comments, 36 reshares, 230 +1s)

From the Google Blog today on the alleged spying:

Dear Google users—

You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM to give the National Security Agency direct access to our servers. As Google’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts.

First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.

Second, we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law. Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don’t follow the correct process.Press reports... more »

2013-06-07 17:48:36 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 40 +1s)

Must read:@NYTimes on "one of the most sophisticated & effective cybercrime attacks ever uncovered." http://goo.gl/rWkNN #NewDigitalAge

2013-06-07 17:10:14 (8 comments, 8 reshares, 66 +1s)

Tom Friedman in 2010 on the changes since his last book in 2004:
"Facebook didn't exist; Twitter was a sound; the cloud was in the sky; 4G was a parking place; LinkedIn was a prison; applications were what you sent to college; and Skype for most people was typo," he says. "All of that changed in just the last six years."

2013-06-07 16:19:44 (18 comments, 23 reshares, 114 +1s)

The New Digital Age is a book about technology, but even more, it’s a book about humans: http://newdigitalage.com/

2013-06-07 16:17:46 (45 comments, 37 reshares, 111 +1s)

Quartz reports on a possible solution to hunger in the #NewDigitalAge: 3-D printed FOOD. But look at tomorrow's menu: pizza, algae, duckweed, insects...
http://goo.gl/czTHL

2013-06-07 16:07:10 (4 comments, 5 reshares, 42 +1s)

The good news is that well being, how we feel and our outlook, actually increases as we age:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=age-brings-happiness&WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_HLTH_20130528

2013-06-07 15:36:22 (59 comments, 46 reshares, 207 +1s)

Google does not have a 'back door' for the government to access private user data - statement by Google; read in your favorite news sites

2013-06-06 23:26:17 (7 comments, 37 reshares, 66 +1s)

The Council of Foreign Relations has released a sharp report http://www.cfr.org/cybersecurity/defending-open-global-secure-resilient-internet/p30836

similar in focus to our book and urging strong action from the United States to keep the Internet open and keep proprietary information from being stolen.  Worth reading

2013-06-03 21:33:38 (9 comments, 10 reshares, 73 +1s)

If we look at the recent $45 million ATM heist, we see a classic example of how criminals will slip up in the future. Organized criminals teamed up with hackers and both are highly skilled at remaining invisible. But they still had to rely on street criminals to go to hundreds of ATMs. More prone to error, the street criminals took photos of themselves celebrating with the money and didn't think to conceal their identities when approaching the ATM machines. Their carelessness is ultimately what led to the unraveling of the network. So to the extent that future criminal heists involve lots of links in the chain that are all using technology, one mistake can help connect the entire digital network. We discuss this in The New Digital Age: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-45-million-global-cyber-bank-thefts.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130510&_r=1&

2013-06-03 19:24:51 (1 comments, 23 reshares, 63 +1s)

Mary Meeker's annual report is well worth reading:
http://allthingsd.com/20130529/mary-meekers-internet-trends-report-is-back-at-d11-slides/

2013-06-02 15:29:48 (37 comments, 33 reshares, 138 +1s)

Julian Assange on Google and our book, fondly, from your witch doctors Jared and Eric

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/opinion/sunday/the-banality-of-googles-dont-be-evil.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

the book is The New Digital Age (newdigitalage.com)

2013-06-02 15:20:54 (8 comments, 10 reshares, 86 +1s)

A completely new approach to marketing to people, and for elections

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-30/googles-eric-schmidt-invests-in-obamas-big-data-brains

2013-05-27 16:08:49 (11 comments, 12 reshares, 77 +1s)

An example of what is now possible to help citizens in a civil war.. just get them connectivity:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/opinion/a-cyberattack-campaign-for-syria.html?_r=0

2013-05-20 12:09:47 (20 comments, 56 reshares, 277 +1s)

Chinese man uses Google maps to locate family 23 years after being kidnapped http://rt.com/news/chinese-kidnapped-google-maps-476/ …

2013-05-19 19:23:18 (30 comments, 44 reshares, 214 +1s)

Google's and my view on UK tax reform http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/18/google-tax-reform-eric-schmidt …

2013-05-15 17:31:37 (4 comments, 3 reshares, 111 +1s)

Sundar at I/O: 900 Million Android activations !!!!! "Remember: there are over 7 billion people in the world. We have a long journey to go"

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/15/live-blog-live-from-the-google-io-2013-keynote/

2013-05-15 17:22:48 (16 comments, 12 reshares, 178 +1s)

Are you watching the Google #IO13 keynote? Plenty of time (and launches) left: https://developers.google.com/events/io/

2013-05-15 14:26:25 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 49 +1s)

Interesting study on video and bandwidth on the Internet esp Netflix and Youtube

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/14/sandvine-report-confirms-video-makes-bandwidth-hogs-of-us-all/

2013-05-12 05:47:43 (7 comments, 5 reshares, 78 +1s)

In The New Digital Age we asked a now inactive Navy SEAL, who, incidentally, participated in the Osama bin Laden raid in May 2011, what he anticipated for combat units in the future. First, he told us, he envisioned units equipped with highly sophisticated and secure tablet devices that will allow soldiers to tap into live video feeds from UAVs, download relevant intelligence analysis and maintain situational awareness of friendly troop movements. These devices will have unique live maps loaded with enough data about the surrounding environment—the historical significance of a street or building, the owners of every home, and the interior infrared heat movements captured by drones overhead—to provide soldiers with a much clearer sense of what to target and what to avoid. (cc: +Eric Schmidt ) www.newdigitalage.com

2013-05-12 05:47:33 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 64 +1s)

Really excited that The New Digital Age (newdigitalage.com) is now #7 on the New York Times Bestseller list, up from #8 last week. Please help +Eric Schmidt  and me spread the word. We wrote this book because we were tired of the debates about is technology good or bad, a question which ignores the inevitability of it. Instead, we wanted to look ahead at both the good and the bad that awaits us when 5 billion new people come online.

2013-05-11 17:20:44 (43 comments, 35 reshares, 114 +1s)

The perfect example of a collision of many things on the Internet today, all of which we talk about in our book   http://www.newdigitalage.com/

1. 3D printing can in principle be used to build a personal weapon hard to detect
2. Plans are uploaded to the Internet and becomes a big story
3. The government asks the information be removed, but as there is no delete button copies are kept on foreign sites
4. The resultant publicity makes the problem worse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/09/3d-printed-guns-plans-state-department

2013-05-11 15:43:26 (9 comments, 10 reshares, 55 +1s)

I wonder what the list of "Better worker for 2014" would look like 100 years after Henry Ford's seminal work.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324059704578471112978065632.html

2013-05-04 15:43:33 (14 comments, 8 reshares, 68 +1s)

Martin Rees on the danger of humans "The main threats to sustained human existence now come from people, not from nature".

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1123.full

2013-05-04 15:28:24 (181 comments, 1 reshares, 82 +1s)

In our new book, +Jared Cohen  and I are brainstorming the future. What do you think unlimited connectivity will bring us?

2013-05-03 19:58:26 (5 comments, 29 reshares, 118 +1s)

As 5 billion come online, innovation will increasingly come from the margins, with entrepreneurs and inventors building for different audiences and incredibly specific problems.

Consider 24-year-old Kenyan inventor Anthony Mutua, who has invented a chip that can charge phones with footsteps (a reminder of how problematic the lack of reliable and affordable electricity, and to a lesser extent short battery life, is for many people).

Mutua’s chip is now set to go into mass production. Innovation really can come from the ground up.

http://www.newdigitalage.com/

2013-05-03 16:18:08 (9 comments, 17 reshares, 49 +1s)

How Chinese users get around censorship today, a topic covered in our new book http://www.newdigitalage.com/ .. the key are services that are dual use (ie for business as well as for consumers) as they block the consumer and Tor-type services.

http://www.robinsonyu.com/pdfs/CollateralFreedom.pdf

2013-05-02 21:11:03 (46 comments, 48 reshares, 133 +1s)

Here is a detailed summary of Chinese security activiities and hacking into US firms, one of the topics we discuss in depth in http://www.newdigitalage.com/


http://www.businessinsider.com/mandiant-report-chinese-hacking-explained-how-it-really-works-full-report-downloaded-highlights-2013-2

2013-05-02 16:39:26 (42 comments, 45 reshares, 175 +1s)

Medical exam by Smart Phone.. Technology is wonderful; this is one of the preditions in our new book  http://www.newdigitalage.com/


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_HEALTHBEAT_SMARTPHONE_PHYSICAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-02-03-35-45

2013-04-30 18:44:20 (78 comments, 12 reshares, 116 +1s)

+Jared Cohen and I have traveled together to some of the world’s least connected countries, from North Korea to Libya, Myanmar to Afghanistan.

There are no countries whose situations worsened because of the arrival of the internet.

2013-04-30 18:43:31 (2 comments, 7 reshares, 42 +1s)

The carjack victim was a hero, and the phone and MB car finder helped find the suspects .. in boston

http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/04/25/carjack-victim-recounts-his-harrowing-night/BhQWGzarWee8MZ6KtMHJNN/story.html …

2013-04-29 21:25:45 (3 comments, 6 reshares, 49 +1s)

Don Tapscott's review of The New Digital Age in Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-tapscott/review-the-new-digital-ag_b_3178215.html Eric Schmidt 

2013-04-23 16:13:50 (11 comments, 6 reshares, 74 +1s)

CNET reviews the New Digital Age
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57580877-93/google-execs-new-digital-age-resists-cyber-siren-song/

2013-04-23 00:44:08 (9 comments, 16 reshares, 77 +1s)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/04/22/178424347/google-execs-talk-privacy-and-security-in-the-new-digital-age

http://www.newdigitalage.com/

2013-04-22 14:26:21 (13 comments, 6 reshares, 51 +1s)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-e-schmidt/the-new-digital-age_b_3128692.html

The Huffington Post is running a query for what you all think! 

2013-04-22 01:44:33 (11 comments, 4 reshares, 96 +1s)

See from Jared:
Tomorrow morning around 7:40am, Eric Schmidt & I will be on the Today Show speaking about The New Digital Age and some of the opportunities and challenges we will encounter in the future: newdigitalage.com

2013-04-21 14:16:46 (17 comments, 21 reshares, 125 +1s)

Excerpt from our forthcoming book The New Digital Age in The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/20/eric-schmidt-cohen-book-extract

2013-04-20 20:13:57 (14 comments, 30 reshares, 124 +1s)

Wall Street Journal today is excerpting from our forthcoming book.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324030704578424650479285218.html

2013-04-19 16:30:47 (19 comments, 36 reshares, 132 +1s)

For those of you interested in Moore's law, here is a thorough technical report on its future.  The summary is that its slowing dramatically due to heat and power consumption.  The report is free in electronic form and you can purchase a hardcopy.  What a ride this law has given us for more than forty years.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12980