tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722270053911622652024-02-28T15:43:23.328-08:00bricoleurmacgillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11740500682899250940noreply@blogger.comBlogger172125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-31698949732169143612024-02-26T06:40:00.000-08:002024-02-26T08:03:10.440-08:00Google Timeline to Countries and Dates<p>I recently needed a list of all of the countries I had been to and the dates I was in each. Naturally I thought of my Google Timeline (formerly "location history") as a way to do it. Google Timeline is a data store of all the places you have been over time. It is extremely detailed and, at least for me, seems relatively complete. To view yours, go to <a href="https://timeline.google.com/">your timeline</a>.</p><p>To get your timeline in a form you can manipulate, you can use <a href="https://takeout.google.com/">Google Takeout</a>, Google's data portability service (big kudos to <a href="https://staging.bsky.app/profile/therealfitz.com">Fitz</a> and the whole Google Takeout team). My file contained over 2.8 million locations, so the first thing I did was used <a href="https://geopy.readthedocs.io/en/stable/">geopy</a> to throw out any locations that weren't at least 50 miles apart (see <a href="https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools/blob/master/reduce_json.py">code</a>). That left ~12,000 entries. For each of the 12,000 entries, I rounded them down to reduce calls, then used <a href="https://geopy.readthedocs.io/en/stable/">geopy</a> to reverse geocode (look up the street address based on the latitude and longitude), threw out everything but the country, and outputted any change with a date (see <a href="https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools/blob/master/find_countries.py">code</a>).</p><p>This was somewhat similar to a <a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2017/09/google-location-history-to-country-chart.html">project I did more than six years ago</a>, though Google had changed the format of its timeline file, so I needed to rewrite it. It should be pretty easy to also produce a country chart, but I haven't done that yet.</p><p>I continue to believe that data portability will not take off and be demanded by users until there exists useful things to do with the data. Hopefully scripts like these can help contribute to that.</p><p><br /></p>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-90534861597267133382023-11-08T17:50:00.005-08:002023-11-08T18:00:41.059-08:00Biden Admin Artificial Intelligence Executive Order & OMB Guidance: Some thoughts & a calendar<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>Take what I say here with a grain of salt because <a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2023/10/my-time-in-biden-harris-administration.html">my old team worked on this (and I worked on earlier iterations</a> and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/">the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights</a>). </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Now that I've had a chance to read the U.S. <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/">AI Executive Order</a> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(here's a </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NQu94UWJY_XhYAZjPVPsmg3gTKqOgrvrU-Iq3HJvHRY/edit?usp=sharing" style="font-family: arial;">version of the order that prints in fewer pages</a><span style="font-family: arial;">) </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and the accompanying -- and equally important -- <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AI-in-Government-Memo-draft-for-public-review.pdf">Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Draft AI Guidance</a>, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts and a calendar to help folks who are tracking the various deliverables assigned in the AI Order and the OMB AI Guidance</span><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinb55p6QEDFrCbSSXc1d-kIevxBcIhE4Bt3a7Rlh7y3ddvtZmvE4E4Q9GBmoCWZkPQfn6ZaLwE6aMYRwS0nLhWRRZQH4Wlc_PK8oAjXpO_XPbXHx6GeZpG6pbnyPzYBOi8o3kUSS_kr-DlcH5t8m522oDEmlB9CehblOfPt8KHpdPds1YLMhwjiEoZ_ZCC/s1241/PXL_20231030_185926179%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1241" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinb55p6QEDFrCbSSXc1d-kIevxBcIhE4Bt3a7Rlh7y3ddvtZmvE4E4Q9GBmoCWZkPQfn6ZaLwE6aMYRwS0nLhWRRZQH4Wlc_PK8oAjXpO_XPbXHx6GeZpG6pbnyPzYBOi8o3kUSS_kr-DlcH5t8m522oDEmlB9CehblOfPt8KHpdPds1YLMhwjiEoZ_ZCC/s320/PXL_20231030_185926179%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">President Biden speaking at the AI Order signing ceremony.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Much has been said about the size of AI Order but what struck me about it was its willingness to contain tensions. It has provisions dealing with concerns about </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence" style="font-family: arial;">AGI</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and existential threats as well as the current and historical harms from AI that are impacting people now. It has numerous specific provisions that are more national security focused and also many that are more typical of domestic policy and equity. It has a number of provisions that may impose burdens on new entrants to the AI space but also provisions that would radically lower barriers to entry. It addresses numerous AI harms but also contains provisions that recognize and seek to catalyze its benefits. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">All of this speaks to the nuanced understanding of AI that exists in the federal government from President Biden to the various folks working day to day on getting the Order together. I believe that's a product of </span><a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2023/10/my-time-in-biden-harris-administration.html" style="font-family: arial;">greater tech fluency throughout the White House and federal agencies</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and the way the White House has prioritized AI policy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Another striking thing about the AI Order is the sheer volume of deliverables it launches. I'm going to want to see what becomes of them, so I made an <a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=1da69146aac4a7a6b9984db672316cb018d3adbe0dad53d7acf3da08526d9044%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York">AI Order and OMB AI Guidance Calendar</a> (and in <a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/1da69146aac4a7a6b9984db672316cb018d3adbe0dad53d7acf3da08526d9044%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics">iCal</a>). It might be helpful to you too. You can import it into your Google or iCal calendar. Please let me know if I got a date wrong or missed one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The calendar only contains entries tied to dates and contains one hundred entries. There were a lot more actions that eitherstarted immediately or were not associated with a date by which they had to be done. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In creating the calendar, it was also striking that the AI Order requires some deliverables that are quite distant from today. I'm generally pretty skeptical of requirements far in the future for the reasons Jen Pahlka describes so well in her great book <a href="https://www.recodingamerica.us/">Recoding America</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I will add more entries from the OMB AI Guidance once it is finalized but for now the calendar contains the most important one: December 5, 2023, the date that comments are due. There is a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Guide-for-Public-Comment-on-Regulations.gov_.pdf">helpful guide to commenting</a> on the Guidance as well as a <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2023-0020-0001">Regulations.gov page</a> for submitting comments. Please consider giving it a read and submitting comments.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm excited that the AI Order and draft OMB AI Guidance are out in the world and look forward to hearing what folks think about them.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGI4I9jUxX3JJKerBgNogPerQsTagMtpDBxKDhDNocl174XkNDHA53DKWwXU_vNwGGj79sRhxWHmyCZ9gHqqxWqwCejeW03xUIRrdCzM0Cde5hc99fOHGAm-4ToJ2lXVTAseqxxDLcmLv0Bkr43BDdW5HX-sCHr7WbYh_9jD_NoNxURlVmqv7FJi669OnB/s4080/PXL_20231030_192218771.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGI4I9jUxX3JJKerBgNogPerQsTagMtpDBxKDhDNocl174XkNDHA53DKWwXU_vNwGGj79sRhxWHmyCZ9gHqqxWqwCejeW03xUIRrdCzM0Cde5hc99fOHGAm-4ToJ2lXVTAseqxxDLcmLv0Bkr43BDdW5HX-sCHr7WbYh_9jD_NoNxURlVmqv7FJi669OnB/s320/PXL_20231030_192218771.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">A good group of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights team posing together at the AI Order signing ceremony.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-77466776629592357132023-10-24T06:50:00.006-07:002023-10-24T07:09:43.524-07:00My Time in The Biden-Harris Administration <p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">
I recently (ok, <i>not</i> that recently) left the Biden-Harris Administration after serving in a variety of ways over the last few years. Initially I was part of the transition team. Then, after a break, I became Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy US Chief Technology Officer (CTO), in the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/">Office of Science and Technology Policy</a>
through the wonderful <a href="https://new.nsf.gov/tip/latest">National Science Foundation Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Directorate</a>. I'm grateful for the time I had in the administration, the phenomenal people I got to work with, and the impact we had together.</span></p>
<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFBIx-NXBwirZmABJypd8bFYir0RqLK-T4ZctdLf7CIR6aN_5Ojznx6JuB3Yorr2ivHioXSG26h3kzeh4W98DF55rRhtFI7jTnCdI1PzNfcsTBhlXhq5uB04o_ur7FJnCHCixWvStyGhxz5Vgl9_-UGQ5e7Jic7UyLqhFHW18arZwVvLV2bCJ2dSQcWif/s4080/PXL_20220525_135952014.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFBIx-NXBwirZmABJypd8bFYir0RqLK-T4ZctdLf7CIR6aN_5Ojznx6JuB3Yorr2ivHioXSG26h3kzeh4W98DF55rRhtFI7jTnCdI1PzNfcsTBhlXhq5uB04o_ur7FJnCHCixWvStyGhxz5Vgl9_-UGQ5e7Jic7UyLqhFHW18arZwVvLV2bCJ2dSQcWif/s320/PXL_20220525_135952014.jpg" width="241" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The Eisenhower Executive Office Building hallway leading to the Navy Steps down to the White House. One of my favorite views in the EEOB. In the morning the light as you walk towards those doors is blinding.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Joining the small but mighty CTO team in the fall of 2021 was quite different from when <a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2017/04/first-time-in-government.html">I held a similar role in the Obama-Biden Administration</a>. For one thing, I was joining at the beginning of an administration, not the end. For another, President Biden had learned a number of lessons during his long career and time as Vice President that led his administration to keep a rigorous focus on the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/priorities/">priorities President Biden had outlined on the campaign</a> and to prioritize effective implementation of policy initiatives at the highest level. Finally, from a tech perspective, the government in 2021 was different than in 2014. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The first US CTOs extended our government’s capacity to use technology effectively and brought tech expertise to White House policy making. In 2009, few agencies used modern technology fluently. Many career techie civil servants were pushing for change but were met with the various forms of resistance as <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpahlka">Jen Pahlka</a> details in her exceptional book, <a href="https://www.recodingamerica.us/">Recoding America</a>. The first three US CTOs, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/apchopra">Aneesh Chopra</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-park-3232573">Todd Park</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Smith">Megan Smith</a> and their teams were successful in a wide array of policy areas. They opened data sets for transparency and innovation, championed expanding digital medical records, helped increase access to broadband, brought more <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2017/01/04/tq-public-policy">tech expertise to policy tables</a>, and much more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">They also made significant strides, working with many others at the White House and across government agencies, in building the capacity of the federal government to deliver modern technology. That included helping to create the <a href="https://www.usds.gov/">US Digital Service</a>, the <a href="https://join.tts.gsa.gov/">Tech Transformation Service</a>, the <a href="https://presidentialinnovationfellows.gov/">Presidential Innovation Fellows</a>, and supporting the creation of agency digital services (e.g. the <a href="https://www.dds.mil/">Defense Digital Service</a>, <a href="https://www.usds.gov/projects/medicare-payment-program">Health and Human Services Digital Service</a>, etc) and the transformative work of the federal and agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Data Officers (CDOs). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">One of the most exciting things about being back in government in 2021 was how different it was from 2009. In 2021, there was significant tech expertise in all of the White House policy counsels, from the Domestic Policy Council, to both the National Economic Council and National Security Council. Even without counting the excellent CTO Team, the Office of Science and Technology Policy had significant technical expertise in its other divisions – including <a href="https://www.alondranelson.com/">Alondra Nelson</a>’s incredible Science and Society division. Both Alondra and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/directors-office/">Arati Prabhakar</a>, two of the three Office of Science and Technology Directors during my tenure, were highly technically sophisticated. In addition, leaders at agencies across the spectrum were increasing technical fluency at all levels.</span></p><p>
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1640" data-original-width="1955" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwPCfmStUM48pLpzyC8jBw4stidSXZX6Zcz6CLacUxmyh7pPIABE6WShf3I5_3_YR60I2RTIXVMeVCZ2p9PPAKr2Qy76viH8MaH86IJGqEWVcVsoVHZ_8FMuuSPy2-IO335W6RuLMqhEB6YT1hUEtKSYvxAI1un1DifoqA6xWxvITR7ZDSEM3xh5YnUWAU/w320-h269/PXL_20220519_171430252-cropped.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Senior Staff at the Office of Science and Technology Policy circa May 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwPCfmStUM48pLpzyC8jBw4stidSXZX6Zcz6CLacUxmyh7pPIABE6WShf3I5_3_YR60I2RTIXVMeVCZ2p9PPAKr2Qy76viH8MaH86IJGqEWVcVsoVHZ_8FMuuSPy2-IO335W6RuLMqhEB6YT1hUEtKSYvxAI1un1DifoqA6xWxvITR7ZDSEM3xh5YnUWAU/s1955/PXL_20220519_171430252-cropped.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></a></div></div><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Furthermore, the centralized tech experts at the US Digital Service, Federal CIO, and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/">GSA</a> were – and still are – thriving under strong leadership of Mina Hsiang, Clare Martorana, and Robin Carnahan. Many agencies have digital services groups of their own, while others have bulked up their CIO, CTO or other offices to more aggressively pursue strong digital service delivery. And, if you looked into the teams working on the biggest problems, such as climate change or COVID-19, you’d find strong tech experts.</span></p><p>
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3167" data-original-width="4748" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTG6VQAZ-sSQlQhynzyijRdelFUsiWQH1I-fM9PRglY-kAeMa5rIwpvbW2l7ZvQLoxWuDvXVkfMzxFaNAAAU89QBZ_LQcAtpOu6B3C9fntTlOTuc-0jh-0DU41o1dGCbyActa84rZlMeSDAbpaXKf84jEc6a_Wx9ZRnv2JmshRobA5dbg18HTeFO92Yiv/s320/P20221012YM-1358.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I love walking meetings. This is staged for the White House photographer. In real ones I wouldn't be wearing a suit. With me are two wonderful members of the CTO team, Ismael Hussein and April Chen. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTG6VQAZ-sSQlQhynzyijRdelFUsiWQH1I-fM9PRglY-kAeMa5rIwpvbW2l7ZvQLoxWuDvXVkfMzxFaNAAAU89QBZ_LQcAtpOu6B3C9fntTlOTuc-0jh-0DU41o1dGCbyActa84rZlMeSDAbpaXKf84jEc6a_Wx9ZRnv2JmshRobA5dbg18HTeFO92Yiv/s4748/P20221012YM-1358.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"></span></a></div><p>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">While the government environment was changing, the CTO team’s core mission remained the same. Our priorities were to build tech capacity and advise on policy, all in the service of delivering on the President’s agenda and delivering results for the American people. The CTO team still works hard on establishing good tech policy, including in the areas of artificial intelligence, digital assets (cryptocurrency), privacy, platform regulation, advanced air mobility, web accessibility, broadband access, wireless spectrum policy and in many other areas. Also, under the leadership of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/denicewross">Denice Ross</a> and now <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiqueduvaldiop">Dominique Duval-Diop</a> in the role of U.S. Chief Data Scientist, we had the privilege of continuing to support federal data science expertise, including in the development of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/04/22/the-release-of-the-equitable-data-working-group-report/">equitable data</a> that can be used to ensure government benefits and services reach those who need them the most and that data science is a key part of policy implementation. </span></p><p>
</p><p>
</p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaNMg2hjExArYTg-C2cxr3tsZr5_0zBTBxRi5cUvGmNqTB4B5V5Txw4otB3GuOG2Gn22-uUgDe1umKxf0CokB0rrHO8HU8q6XKChXKD7RPiWE44PeroWgTvCZm-UY_8hKU2Ey1UmKtxEerMnwljBz0vHYXJGXIHkQE7nmbkFu13qapFovcpOgGh4TkQaR/s904/Screenshot%20from%202023-10-24%2009-27-02.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="904" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaNMg2hjExArYTg-C2cxr3tsZr5_0zBTBxRi5cUvGmNqTB4B5V5Txw4otB3GuOG2Gn22-uUgDe1umKxf0CokB0rrHO8HU8q6XKChXKD7RPiWE44PeroWgTvCZm-UY_8hKU2Ey1UmKtxEerMnwljBz0vHYXJGXIHkQE7nmbkFu13qapFovcpOgGh4TkQaR/s320/Screenshot%20from%202023-10-24%2009-27-02.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">President Biden and Vice President Harris meeting with AI CEOs on the promise and risks of AI. This meeting and its followup commitments are examples of the types of tools the CTO team used to drive policy forward.</span> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Delving deeper on the team’s artificial intelligence work the US CTO team was deeply involved in President Biden’s work on AI. The team helped draft and launch the landmark <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/" style="font-family: arial;">Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights</a>. We spearheaded the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/04/white-house-ai-ceos-meeting/" style="font-family: arial;">Biden-Harris AI CEO convening</a> that resulted in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/07/21/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-secures-voluntary-commitments-from-leading-artificial-intelligence-companies-to-manage-the-risks-posed-by-ai/" style="font-family: arial;">set of commitments from the largest AI companies regarding AI</a>. We led, hosted or participated in the various White House AI processes to create federal AI policy as well as subsidiary policies such as the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/National-Artificial-Intelligence-Research-and-Development-Strategic-Plan-2023-Update.pdf" style="font-family: arial;">National AI Research and Development Strategic Plan</a>. We put forward the <a href="https://www.ai.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/NAIRR-TF-Final-Report-2023.pdf" style="font-family: arial;">National AI Research Resource</a> to ensure public sector participation in AI research and development. We also hosted the <a href="https://www.ai.gov/" style="font-family: arial;">National AI Initiative Office</a>, the federal coordination body for AI policy. That comprehensive approach to AI is similar to how we approached other policy areas.</span></p><p></p>
<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuBJhMwHFz7iwQiJoE9QbVyEYLJZIbHWrcTvBllIlZWLLFGJiZ5z6K6KNshHfIVJqCQtpfse_ns5exCpbQAEt-rv3gBdhETE0X0-va65HSHEh5g5pWek-QhlULHlDIluvV_KL-eafjwXmWSd6vD5EKeux3YjSAdksCrbT4gFvo_sRswodapOe4K35vS5_u/s4080/PXL_20221004_143355961.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuBJhMwHFz7iwQiJoE9QbVyEYLJZIbHWrcTvBllIlZWLLFGJiZ5z6K6KNshHfIVJqCQtpfse_ns5exCpbQAEt-rv3gBdhETE0X0-va65HSHEh5g5pWek-QhlULHlDIluvV_KL-eafjwXmWSd6vD5EKeux3YjSAdksCrbT4gFvo_sRswodapOe4K35vS5_u/s320/PXL_20221004_143355961.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Alondra Nelson leading a panel during the launch of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights in October 2022. I was proud to have helped draft and achieve the internal consensus required to publish the Blueprint. It was a deep collaboration with the Science and Society Division.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">There is still a ton of work to do and the leadership team now in place on the US CTO team is phenomenal. <a href="https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/people/deirdre-mulligan" style="font-family: arial;">Deirdre Mulligan</a> is the Principal Deputy US CTO and is someone I’ve wanted to work with – or for – for more than 20 years, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinbonner" style="font-family: arial;">Austin Bonner</a> is Deputy US CTO for Policy, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wade-shen" style="font-family: arial;">Wade Shen</a> is Deputy US CTO for AI and leads the <a href="https://ai.gov/" style="font-family: arial;">National AI Initiative Office</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/denicewross" style="font-family: arial;">Denice Ross</a> is now Deputy US for Tech Capacity, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiqueduvaldiop" style="font-family: arial;">Dominique Duval-Diop</a> is US Chief Data Scientist, and <a href="https://nikmarda.com/" style="font-family: arial;">Nik Marda</a>, the longest current serving member of the CTO team, is the Chief of Staff. Working with each of them, and the rest of the CTO team is what I miss most about having left the administration. Watching them take the team in new directions will be the best thing about sitting on the sidelines.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbOfgJN0mmQ4MYCfCbHdZHW-LDoXT34emeZJ4kbk9Gxwg6At4dv-MhiAZ4I75A4I784EewhgU2wW0aIQFYDIiwoKAzirF15-vrN4p7Hgb1ibKWv3yn5lXdqFPy_p1xu4rx5zCNsbttaplwQy5bexTc1N-gKmoMpI9bmY-5cioFbo0Uc9iJzbMlhAjxNAB/s3617/20230515%20Team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1654" data-original-width="3617" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbOfgJN0mmQ4MYCfCbHdZHW-LDoXT34emeZJ4kbk9Gxwg6At4dv-MhiAZ4I75A4I784EewhgU2wW0aIQFYDIiwoKAzirF15-vrN4p7Hgb1ibKWv3yn5lXdqFPy_p1xu4rx5zCNsbttaplwQy5bexTc1N-gKmoMpI9bmY-5cioFbo0Uc9iJzbMlhAjxNAB/s320/20230515%20Team.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoom tiles from a meeting of the CTO team.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Our third US CTO, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Smith" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Megan Smith</a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">, sometimes joked that the CTO team’s job would be fundamentally different when there were as many tech experts in all the rooms as lawyers or economists. That dream imagines a government that always delivers services effectively, efficiently, and equitably on behalf of the American people. A government that understands, and can keep up with, technologies and the disruptions they create to mitigate harm and ensure that people can maximally benefit from our phenomenally innovative nation. I was privileged to be able to work towards that dream. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><i>P.S. Now is a critical time to come into government as a techie. The potential to make a deep positive impact on the lives of people is huge. It is also a time of tremendous opportunity because of President Biden’s genuine empathy in understanding people’s needs, as well as his focus and excellence in execution in delivering on their behalf.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><i>If you are interested in getting involved, please consider applying to join the <a href="https://www.usds.gov/">United States Digital Service</a>, <a href="https://join.tts.gsa.gov/">Tech Transformation Services</a>, <a href="https://presidentialinnovationfellows.gov/">Presidential Innovation Fellows</a>,<a href="https://digitalcorps.gsa.gov/apply/">US Digital Corps</a> or the broader set of government technical jobs on the <a href="https://tech.usajobs.gov/">Federal Tech Jobs Portal</a>. </i></span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p>
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0nXOzY2yFOziixOp5H1Et1q0GGPAsS401bmTt40eQWDVydJccD9kMqo4dPz0o7vWgS6abEhyphenhyphenFNHvyGcA8cPBzb-Ru_rkM2obPGix_r7ygdj1Fgy1OGKCpIU0baILn3i0ph0MPP4B9QQEPqaopVhrRA0saCKRP6OX7Yyqw0U0z9BaDTfPd6bgED3AU1Ym/s320/PXL_20211118_220402573.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">One of my favorite views. When leaving around sunset, there would often be a murmeration of starlings near the edge of the South Lawn with the Washington Monument in the background.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0nXOzY2yFOziixOp5H1Et1q0GGPAsS401bmTt40eQWDVydJccD9kMqo4dPz0o7vWgS6abEhyphenhyphenFNHvyGcA8cPBzb-Ru_rkM2obPGix_r7ygdj1Fgy1OGKCpIU0baILn3i0ph0MPP4B9QQEPqaopVhrRA0saCKRP6OX7Yyqw0U0z9BaDTfPd6bgED3AU1Ym/s4080/PXL_20211118_220402573.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></a></div><br /><p></p>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-68004546502222488672021-01-21T13:47:00.003-08:002021-02-11T08:10:38.347-08:00The Last Four Years<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I haven’t shared an update here on what I have been up to since the <a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2017/04/first-time-in-government.html">end of the Obama Administration</a>, so now’s a good time to write some of this down.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Like many, I was extremely worried by Donald Trump’s election to the Presidency. Doing all I could to get to a different result in 2020 drove much of my work since 2017. I also tried to extend my non-profit work and grow my fundraising ability because I came to the sad realization that my fundraising ability is worth at least as much, if not more, than my strategic advice to the non-profits I care about (and I am not very good at fundraising).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">All of the projects below were overlapping, and most were not full-time. They combined to be a ridiculous amount of work sometimes, and nearly no work at other times. The list below is in somewhat chronological order.</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks to Megan Smith and Tom Perez, I got to help bring in Raffi Krikorian to be the first Chief Technology Officer of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Tom understood the value of tech and how badly Democrats were being beaten in this regard. He helped re-up tech within the DNC and the team has done amazing stuff under Raffi and Lindsey Schuh Cortes, and now Nellwyn Thomas and Kat Atwater.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks to Mike Yang, Haley van Dÿck and Mikey Dickerson, I helped found <a href="https://Alloy.us">Alloy.us</a> and was its General Counsel for the first year. Alloy’s mission was to help improve data and technology for the progressive ecosystem. We were originally focused on legal data sharing among progressive organizations and campaigns, but once the Democratic Data Exchange (DDx) got up and running, and based on feedback from potential users, we shifted to improving basic data availability and update frequency, as well as voter registration. The wonderful Kendall Burman took over as General Counsel on January 1st, 2020. Alloy is now in talks with <a href="https://civitech.io/">CiviTech</a> to have them carry on our mission. I’m thankful for the incredible people we were able to hire, many of whom I had not met before, and for the fact that Alloy seems to have had a positive impact on the election and Georgia runoffs through its set of partners.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial;">While working on the tech and data side for Dems and progressives, I also got drawn into, and did some funding of, and fundraising for, a wide set of organizations and candidates. One of the most amazing things to come out of 2016 was the incredible set of new organizations and candidates. The narrow 2016 loss to the person who would become one of the worst presidents in American history was also a catalyst for a bunch of more established organizations to do great work. I am really grateful to the many, many people who shared their wisdom and time as I was getting up to speed (I still am). I am also grateful to the folks who did the work of registering a record breaking number of new voters, helped to elect good candidates, including President Biden, and then protected those victories against the efforts to undo them. Before 2016 I had no idea of the richness and variety of people and organizations that are part of the big tent of the progressive community and Democratic party. It looks chaotic at times, but I was constantly blown away by the talented, committed people who work in politics. Many do so without much compensation or limelight, and nearly everyone I met shared a basic common purpose that was tied to getting real benefits for people.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks to Eric Goldman, Adelin Cai, Clara Tsao, and Denelle Dixon-Thayer, I got to help found the <a href="https://tspa.info/">Trust & Safety Professional Association</a> (TSPA) and the <a href="https://www.tsf.foundation/">Trust & Safety Foundation Project</a> (TSF). I’ve wanted to do something like this for fifteen years but it took others to push for their formation. I had the good fortune of getting to know some great Cognizant folks, including Kristen Titus and Davis Abraham, and many others while fundraising for TSPA and TSF. And then I got to talk to many old friends and make some new ones as we considered who would be the perfect first Executive Director. I couldn’t be happier that Charlotte Willner took the job. Being so immersed in a community I have been around for a long time was deeply satisfying. And the collective “FINALLY!!!” we heard on launching underscored to me that community building is important and should never be put off.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve also spent a good amount of time working as a Board Member at <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a> and <a href="https://datasociety.net/">Data & Society</a>. They are two great organizations from which I have learnt a lot. I am the Board lead for fundraising at both places, and so have been asking many of my friends for money to support their wonderful missions. Being a Board Member is also something I am still learning, and I have been thankful to get to watch others who are better at it than I, and to have such an intimate view of these two very different organizations during these exceptional times. I still also exist as a fanboy for the work that Creative Commons and Data & Society each do, so it is great to feel like I am helping them achieve their goals.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial;">More recently, thanks to Yohannes Abraham, DJ Patil, David Recordon, Ginny Hunt, Mina Hsiang, Eric Hysen, Clarence Wardell and many others, I was lucky to get to work on the Biden Transition (and with my old friend and mentor Nicole Wong). That was a huge privilege and again underscored that working with a great team, on hard problems, with one clear purpose is a wonderful experience. I am so pleased for the folks who are going into government (and will try to write more about some of them soon). If you want to learn more about transitions, <a href="https://presidentialtransition.org/transition-lab/">Transition Lab</a> is a fabulous podcast and episode 46 (!!) is with Yohannes.</span></li></ul>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I would not have thought in 2016 that I would have spent a large portion of the next four years in politics and political tech. Nor would I have thought I would have helped found three non-profits. So while </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I continue to be on the Board at Alloy, Creative Commons, Data & Society, TSPA and TSF,</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> I really don’t know what the next of these updates will look like. After President Biden’s heartwarming inauguration, I am very hopeful for us all.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Finally, if you got this far and are wondering what to donate to in the new year with the hellishness of COVID still in full swing, please consider using this <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank">tool to find your local food bank and donate</a>. I have a longer and <a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2020/04/covid-19-donation-list.html">slightly older list of COVID charities here</a>, but know that many are having a very hard time getting basics like food and shelter, so please be generous.</span></p>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-67672378142132510932020-05-07T08:44:00.000-07:002020-05-07T08:44:18.096-07:00First Amendment and Earlyish Content ModerationThis thread got long, so here is a perhaps more easily read copy of it:<br />
<br />
One thing that came up on #InLieuOfFun that I didn't get the chance to answer was @klonick asking about whether the earlyish content moderation was based on "First Amendment Norms." I think the answer to that is a bit more complicated than it may seem.<br />
1/<br />
<br />
Am speaking from my experience at Google (outside counsel 2000-3, inside 2003-9) and Twitter (2009-13). Others may have used different approaches.<br />
2/<br />
<br />
By "First Amendment Norms" I take @Klonick to mean that the platforms were thinking about what a govt might be OK banning under 1st Am jurisprudence in the US.<br />
<br />
Of course, the platforms aren't govt & 1st Am doesn't speak to what govts ban, only what they cannot. But still...<br />
3.1/<br />
<br />
To restate, "1st Am Norms" might be something like platforms ~only~ removing what was removable under US 1st Am jurisprudence ~and~ had been generally made illegal in the US (or elsewhere if doing geo-removals), irrespective of 47 USC 230.<br />
3.2/<br />
<br />
First, lots of content removal was simply not cognizable under 1st Am analysis. Spam was a significant issue for Google's various products & Twitter. I don't know of a jurisdiction where spam is illegal & it is unclear whether a govt banning it would survive 1st Am.<br />
4.1/<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, spam removal (both by hand and automated) was/is extremely important and was done on the basis of improving user experience / usefulness of the products.<br />
4.2/<br />
<br />
Similarly, nudity & porn were sometimes banned for similar reasons. Some types of products (video) might be overrun by porn and be unwelcome for other uses / users if porn was not discouraged through removal, especially early. And yet, the 1st Am is quite porn-friendly.<br />
4.3/<br />
<br />
There were also some places that might look like they fit 1st Am norms but were really the platforms deferring to courts. For example, a court order for the removal of defamation would result in removal (irrespective of §230 immunity).<br />
5.1/<br />
<br />
You can square that w/ 1st Am norms but the analysis was not based on what types of defamation or other causes of action the 1st Am would allow, but rather deferring to courts of competent jurisdiction in democracyish places.* <- this last bit was complicated + inexact.<br />
5.2/<br />
<br />
Where we refused, it was often about fairness, justice, human rights, or jurisdictional distance from the service, not the 1st Am per se.<br />
5.3/<br />
<br />
All of that said, I do think there were times when we look to the 1st Am (and freedom of expression exceptions more generally) to try to grapple with what the right policy was for each product.<br />
6.1/<br />
<br />
For example, understanding what types of threats we would remove from Blogger, we used US precedent to guide our rules. My memory is hazy as to why, but I believe it stemmed from two factors: (a) that we felt that we were relatively new to analyzing this stuff but that<br />
6.2/<br />
<br />
the Courts had more experience drawing those lines, and (b) that the Courts and Congress, being part of a functioning democracy, might reflect the general will of the people. These were overly simplistic ideas but that's my memory.<br />
6.3/<br />
<br />
In summary: while I think there is something to the idea that 1st Am norms were important, I think the bigger impetus was trying to effectively build the products for our then users -- to have the product do the job the user wanted -- within legal/ethical constraints. But...<br />
7.1/<br />
<br />
But, we did all of that from a particular set of perspectives (and that's what the 1st Am norms are probably part of) that was nowhere near diverse enough given the eventual reach and importance of our products.<br />
7.2/<br />
<br />
I'd love the read of others doing or observing this work at the time on whether I'm misremembering/misstating @nicolewong @goldman @delbius @jilliancyork @adelin @rmack @mattcutts @clean_freak @helloyouths @dswillner +many more + those who aren't on Twitter… (please tag more)<br />
8/<br />
<br />
And, in case you want to see the question I'm referring to, from @Klonick on #InLieuOfFun look here at minute 22:11 (though the whole conversation was good):<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/oYRMd-X77w0?t=1331">https://youtu.be/oYRMd-X77w0?t=1331</a><br />
9/9A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-38682369148234892482020-04-20T08:39:00.002-07:002022-02-23T08:32:20.147-08:00Product Counsel: Origin Story<i>This post is co-authored by <a href="https://twitter.com/nicolewong">Nicole Wong</a> and I. </i><br />
<br />
<div>
One of the best jobs either of us have ever had, didn’t exist before we had it.</div><div><br /></div>
<div>
We both started as lawyers in Silicon Valley firms. Alexander joined Google in May of 2003 as an IP Counsel. Less than a year later, Nicole joined as Senior Compliance Counsel. For both of us, the pitch was some combination of a bunch of our favorite areas of law, including privacy, content, consumer protection, copyright, open source, and jurisdictional issues as the company’s product ambitions and international footprint grew. As in many start ups, our actual jobs were to do whatever needed to get done.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Gmail launched in April 2004 (on April Fools Day -- don’t do that) and that marked the beginning of Google’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products">explosion in terms of number of products</a>, including Book Search, Maps, Chat, and the acquisitions of DoubleClick and YouTube. Google grew not only in terms of its product offerings, but in number of users, revenue, the number of countries it was in, and its impact in the world. The stakes got MUCH higher while product, operational and, of course, legal complexity exploded.<br />
<br />
We both set to work trying to figure out how to help Googlers launch successful products that were legal (at least in the countries where we operated). We each had some experience with this as outside counsel, and we were both pretty unsatisfied with the typical model of legal review for products. <br />
<br />
That model was taken from big companies which historically treated legal review like part of an assembly line (towards the end). The product teams would develop products and then check in with a line of legal subject matter experts for sign-off before launch. For example, a product that matched people to their perfect pet might get designed, written, tested, and be ready to launch when it was then taken for review by a commercial lawyer for the terms of service, an intellectual property lawyer for trademark and copyright clearance, a patent lawyer in case anything new had been invented, a regulatory attorney for regulatory compliance (sometimes including privacy), and maybe an export control lawyer and a similar set of experts in the countries where the product was launching. Law firms are typically departmentalized in similar ways, aligning along legal subject matter specialization, and consequently smaller companies who don’t have in-house counsel often need to hire multiple specialized lawyers.<br />
<br />
There are four major problems with this process: <br />
<ol>
<li>legal approval in each area is binary and too late: by the time the product is built, there is a large amount of pressure to launch with little ability to make more than cosmetic changes to the product; </li>
<li>legal approval is too fragmented: a product might need several different legal approvals (or rounds of consultation and then approval) from in-house and/or outside counsel. That would take too long and be very inefficient for a product team, which would have to explain the product to each new counsel. On top of that, no counsel would be able to weigh risks across domains to come up with more holistic tradeoffs. </li>
<li>legal would understand the law but not necessarily the product: dividing up legal counsel by area of legal specialization means that each lawyer has a depth in law and a breadth in products. </li>
<li>legal becomes “them” versus the product team’s “us”: last minute binary review by people who don’t know the product or the product team unnecessarily forces misalignment between the team trying to get something done for the users and the business, and the lawyers. That misalignment can result in all sorts of bad, from simple misunderstandings to adversarial behavior. </li>
</ol>
Taking our lead from Google’s first lawyer Kulpreet Rana and the way many commercial legal teams already functioned, we started working at the beginning of the product process rather than the end. We joined product teams and tried to get deep understanding of the product goals early, so that we could help them meet those goals with the right legal considerations. That meant going to a lot of meetings where product teams struggled to define and execute on new product and feature designs, raising legal issues, and working through alternatives. We tried to help our teams remove obstacles to their launches and refine launch processes so that the teams could deliver more easily and understand legal constraints that would result in us later blocking launch. We consolidated legal review so that the team could get answers from fewer lawyers and feel that those lawyers could properly balance risks and benefits in a holistic way. That meant that each of us would be responsible for a set of products on the core legal issues those products would face at launch.<br />
<br />
This approach is not without downsides. Perhaps the biggest is that product depth can come at the expense of legal depth, which meant that we sometimes incurred costs working with outside counsel and experts in legal areas and countries outside of our expertise or missed legal issues. However, we remain convinced that the vast majority of significant mistakes in-house departments make in our industry are the result of not understanding the product rather than not understanding the law. Another downside is that while being part of the “us” of a team is satisfying, can result in a much better understanding of a product, and better teamwork in identifying and fixing problems, it can also mean you are in the team “groupthink” as opposed to removed from it. Careful attention must be paid to all of the ways to reduce groupthink and it is imperative that you actively seek input from folks outside the bubble if you are going to effectively understand the various impacts your product decisions are likely to have in the world. We found it really helpful to discuss product features with advocacy organizations and they frequently improved the products. But, there were also definitely times we screwed up. <br />
<br />
The actual role of “product counsel” grew out of the fact that our previous job descriptions didn’t make much sense given how we were doing our jobs. So we started thinking through names. Originally, we liked “launch counsel” because it was active, aligned with what our teams were trying to do, and could describe a bunch of different areas of law. Eventually we settled on “product counsel” because it was even more descriptive of the alignment we hoped for, and was tied to the whole lifecycle of a product from idea generation through maintenance and refinement, not just launch.<br />
<br />
Our <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050224014451/http://www.google.com:80/jobs/legal.html">first job posting was in February 2004</a>. It read:<br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">=======================<br />Google is looking for experienced and entrepreneurial attorneys to develop and implement legal policies and approaches for new and existing products. The Product Counsel will be responsible for a portfolio of Google products across many legal subject areas including privacy, security, content regulation, consumer protection and intellectual property. Indeed, the only product legal matters with which this position will not be deeply involved are those that are strictly patent or transactional in nature, which are handled by other existing Google lawyers.<br /><br />Requirements: <br />Passion for and deep understanding of internet. <br />Very strong academic credentials. <br />Solid understanding of Internet architecture and operation. <br />Ability to respond to questions/issues spontaneously. <br />Demonstrated ability to manage multiple matters in a time-sensitive environment. <br />Strong interpersonal and team skills. <br />Excellent interpersonal skills, dynamic and highly team-oriented. <br />Flexibility and willingness to work on a broad variety of legal matters. <br />Superior English language writing and oral communication skills. <br />Sense of humor and commitment to professionalism and collegiality are required. <br />California Bar<br />=======================</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>Note the many mistakes in that posting. For example, the Internet is referred to with both lower-case and upper-case capitalization (back then I was incorrectly not capitalizing it). Ug. <br />
<br />
Even so, we were very fortunate to recruit an amazing set of folks at Google to become the first Product Counsel. Some of the originals who defined the role were: Glenn Brown, Trevor Callaghan, Halimah DeLaine, Brian Downing, Gitanjli Duggal, William Farris, Mia Garlick, Milana Homsi, Susan Infantino, Daphne Keller, Lance Kavanaugh, Courtney Power, Nikhil Shanbhag, Tu Tsao, and Mike Yang (in alphabetical order). The team was eventually about forty-strong by the time we left and worked across many countries. The idea of it spread relatively quickly in the industry and now <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?keywords=%22product%20counsel%22">LinkedIN lists thousands of product counsel</a>.<br />
<br />
Product Counsel, particularly when we were still doing it and not just managing people doing it, was one of the best jobs we have ever had. </div>
A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-73891528985606696142020-04-16T12:24:00.002-07:002020-05-05T08:20:00.468-07:00COVID-19 Donation List<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">This list is designed to help people give money in a time of COVID-19. There are many many many great projects out there helping people. Sometimes they need people to help with specific skills or equipment but all also need money. For each category listed below, there are some recommended charitable organizations. There are also some writeups, many of which were sources of recommendations. Please give generously.</span></div>
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This list is somewhat long so to help you find something that resonates with you. BUT, if you don’t have the time or inclination to look through the whole list, you can donate to the <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://covid19responsefund.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791879000">World Health Organization fund</a></span> or <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://secure.feedingamerica.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid%3D00000000.app20121b?idb%3D1422587697%26df_id%3D26876%2626876.donation%3Dform1%26mfc_pref%3DT%26NONCE_TOKEN%3D039EE3D47BDB57821DFC5996E2DFB70C%26s_channel%3Dno_channel%26s_onsite_promo%3DMainNav_Donate%26s_subsrc%3Dhttps://www.feedingamerica.org/%26s_src%3DW204DIRCT%2626876_donation%3Dform1&sa=D&ust=1587064791879000">Feeding America</a></span> easily (just click & donate) or choose a <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid%3D1nbceydaV515ERWJ3TtqsWN0I_s0bF_1z%26ll%3D40.34002604904353%252C-106.69519983019848%26z%3D4&sa=D&ust=1587064791880000">local community foundation fund</a></span> from <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid%3D1nbceydaV515ERWJ3TtqsWN0I_s0bF_1z%26ll%3D40.34002604904353%252C-106.69519983019848%26z%3D4&sa=D&ust=1587064791880000">this map</a></span><span class="c4">. If you have an extra second, please tweet or otherwise share that you donated (feel free to tag me and I’ll retweet). Being vocal about donating will encourage others to do the same and increase the value of your donation.</span></div>
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One other note specifically for those of you (like me) who are privileged to have a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). You may have funded that DAF a while ago with the intention of figuring out how to give away the money over time. You may not have given much away because: life. Now is a very good time to use your DAF to help. You put money in to give it away, not to watch it grow. Your money NOW can make a big difference. Please consider choosing a goal that meets the urgency of this crisis and pushing yourself to give that goal away. Each recommendation below includes the organizations’ EIN so that you can easily give from your DAF (I generally give unrestricted funds, but you can also specify programs when you submit). I have also included recommendations from some DAFs and community foundations at the end. [If you don’t know what a Donor Advised Fund is, don’t worry, you are normal! You don’t have to know about them but if you’d like to, here are some resources: <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donor-advised_fund&sa=D&ust=1587064791880000">explainer from Wikipedia</a></span>, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/guidance/philanthropy/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund.html&sa=D&ust=1587064791881000">explainer from Fidelity (a provider of them)</a></span>, and <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/business/donor-advised-funds-tech-tax.html&sa=D&ust=1587064791881000">a critical take from the NYT</a></span><span class="c4">.] </span></div>
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Finally, this is an evolving draft. If you have suggestions or questions, shoot me a note. I’m <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/amac&sa=D&ust=1587064791881000">@amac</a></span><span class="c4"> on Twitter.</span></div>
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<span class="c2"><b>Categories</b></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.jtg9bqdwtlyg">Hospitals, Doctors, Nurses & the Front Line</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.7woai8w99o4a">Food & Other Relief For Economically Disadvantaged</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.4yll6fkr34a3">Refugees and Displaced People</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.89tzk3adqvpa">Domestic Abuse</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.dx5h9r6le3dk">Children</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.hskoyhu8d9i0">Miscellaneous and Support</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="http:/#h.r2jefvqbx1w8">Other Good Writeups & Resources</a></span></div>
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<span class="c9 c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?rinli=1&pli=1&blogID=1972227005391162265#h.r2jefvqbx1w8"><br /></a></span></div>
<b class="c21" id="h.jtg9bqdwtlyg"><span class="c7">Hospitals, Doctors, Nurses & the Front Line</span></b>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.who.int/&sa=D&ust=1587064791883000">Support WHO Efforts</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://covid19responsefund.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791883000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>This is a large fund (>$100M so far) that is run through the UN Foundation.</i></span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 58-2368165 (UN Foundation)</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdcfoundation.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791883000">US CDC Foundation</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://give4cdcf.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791884000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c6 c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 58-2106707</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pih.org/article/pihs-emergency-coronavirus-response&sa=D&ust=1587064791884000">Partners in Health</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/coronavirus-response&sa=D&ust=1587064791885000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>Developing country care & testing.</i></span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 04-3567502</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.directrelief.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791886000">Direct Relief</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/coronavirus-outbreak/&sa=D&ust=1587064791886000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>Supplies to medical professionals to help them protect themselves.</i></span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 95-1831116</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://flexport.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791887000">Flexport</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gofundme.com/f/frontlinerespondersfund&sa=D&ust=1587064791887000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>Logistics and shipping for front line supplies.</i></span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791888000">Doctors without Borders</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/onetime.cfm&sa=D&ust=1587064791888000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 13-3433452</span></div>
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<span class="c4"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nafcclinics.org/Coronavirus&sa=D&ust=1587064791889000">National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nafcclinics.networkforgood.com/projects/89438-nafc-donations-2020&sa=D&ust=1587064791889000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 56-2273242</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://healthleadsusa.org/covid-19-resources/&sa=D&ust=1587064791889000">Health Leads</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://healthleadsusa.org/about-us/supporting-our-vision/donate/&sa=D&ust=1587064791890000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>Resources for health systems focusing on resolving inequity. </i></span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 45-0484533</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.frontlinefoods.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791891000">Frontline Foods</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.frontlinefoods.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791891000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>Meals from local restaurants to health workers. </i></span></div>
<div class="c6 c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 27-3521132 (through World Central Kitchen)</span><br />
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<b class="c11" id="h.7woai8w99o4a">Food & Other Relief For Economically Disadvantaged</b>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid%3D1nbceydaV515ERWJ3TtqsWN0I_s0bF_1z%26ll%3D40.34002604904353%252C-106.69519983019848%26z%3D4&sa=D&ust=1587064791892000">A</a></span><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid%3D1nbceydaV515ERWJ3TtqsWN0I_s0bF_1z%26ll%3D40.34002604904353%252C-106.69519983019848%26z%3D4&sa=D&ust=1587064791892000"> Local Community Foundation</a></span></div>
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<i>Community Foundations have a history of local giving and the staff to review potential grantees and get the money quickly in times of crisis. Consider giving to your local one (found via the map above) and/or one in a community that you care about. For example, for me that’s the <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mainecf.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791893000">Maine Community Foundation</a></span> (<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://4agc.com/donation_pages/5b9b541a-cd5f-409e-bccd-878f279ed393&sa=D&ust=1587064791893000">donate</a></span> EIN: 01-0391479), they have already given a wave of money to <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mainecf.org/initiatives-impact/covid-19-response/covid-19-grants/&sa=D&ust=1587064791893000">good local institutions</a></span>. </i></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.feedingamerica.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791894000">Feeding America</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://secure.feedingamerica.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid%3D00000000.app20121b?idb%3D1422587697%26df_id%3D26876%2626876.donation%3Dform1%26mfc_pref%3DT%26NONCE_TOKEN%3D039EE3D47BDB57821DFC5996E2DFB70C%26s_channel%3Dno_channel%26s_onsite_promo%3DMainNav_Donate%26s_subsrc%3Dhttps://www.feedingamerica.org/%26s_src%3DW204DIRCT%2626876_donation%3Dform1&sa=D&ust=1587064791894000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<i><span class="c14">They also run the very good </span><span class="c3 c14"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank&sa=D&ust=1587064791894000">Find Your Local Food Bank</a></span><span class="c13"> resource, which allows you to give locally.</span></i></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 36-3673599</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/take-action/covid-19-response&sa=D&ust=1587064791895000">Meals on Wheels</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ams.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?WebCode%3Dcovid19donate%26site%3Dmowa%26CampCode%3DCOVID-19EmergencyResponseCamp%26AplCode%3D2020ER-WEB-COVID-19&sa=D&ust=1587064791895000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>Many seniors use this program.</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 23-7447812</span></div>
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<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency-response/coronavirus-outbreak&sa=D&ust=1587064791896000">Save the Children</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://support.savethechildren.org/site/Donation2?df_id%3D1620%261620.donation%3Dform1&sa=D&ust=1587064791896000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
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<span class="c13"><i>Keeping children fed.</i></span></div>
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<span class="c4">EIN: 06-0726487</span></div>
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<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nokidhungry.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791896000">No Kid Hungry (Share our Strength)</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://secure.nokidhungry.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid%3D00000000.app20116a?idb%3D1639457315%26df_id%3D17508%26mfc_pref%3DT%2617508.donation%3Dform1%26NONCE_TOKEN%3D582D5D5797E7C368D0861D7D9E6F6A99%26s_subsrc%3D200WADR00L0T%26s_src%3Dweb%2617508_donation%3Dform1&sa=D&ust=1587064791897000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
EIN: 52-1367538</div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wck.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791897000">World Central Kitchen</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.wck.org/give/236738/%23!/donation/checkout&sa=D&ust=1587064791897000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>They also fund Frontline Foods (see above).</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 27-3521132 </span></div>
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<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/&sa=D&ust=1587064791898000">Give Directly COVID-19 Fund</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.givedirectly.org/covid-19&sa=D&ust=1587064791898000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4"><i>Gives cash to people who need it.</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 27-1661997</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://missionassetfund.org/coronavirus-rapid-response/&sa=D&ust=1587064791898000">Mission Asset Fund</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.classy.org/campaign/directcashassistance/c277176&sa=D&ust=1587064791899000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4"><i>“Emergency financial relief for students, immigrants, and workers left out”</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 20-8993652</span><br />
<span class="c4"><br /></span>
<span class="c4"><b>Update: </b></span><a href="https://twitter.com/mredshirtshaw">@mredshirtshaw</a> has a <a href="https://twitter.com/mredshirtshaw/status/1251535772664160256">good thread on a number of South Dakota Tribes</a>' COVID-19 funds. She points to South Dakota because of the lack of a shelter-in-place order there.</div>
<b class="c21"><br /></b>
<b class="c21" id="h.4yll6fkr34a3">Refugees and Displaced People</b><br />
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3 c15"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.global-response.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791899000">Global Response Management</a></span><span class="c15 c16"> [</span><span class="c3 c15"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://global-response.networkforgood.com/projects/93906-main-giving-page&sa=D&ust=1587064791899000">donate</a></span><span class="c9 c15 c17 c16">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<i><span class="c12">Consider directing your donation to the </span><span class="c3 c15 c14"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.global-response.org/matamoros&sa=D&ust=1587064791900000">Matamoros Project</a></span><span class="c18 c12 c17">.</span></i></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c15 c16">EIN: 81-5163032</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3 c15"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sidewalkschool.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791900000">Sidewalk School</a></span><span class="c15 c16"> [</span><span class="c3 c15"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sidewalkschool.org/donate&sa=D&ust=1587064791900000">donate</a></span><span class="c9 c15 c17 c16">]</span><br />
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16">EIN: 80-3405530</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"><br /></span>
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"></span><br />
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"><b>Update: </b>A friend who knows more than I do about refugee issues points to the following two orgs:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.rescue.org/">International Rescue Committee</a>, <a href="https://www.signpost.ngo/">Signpost Project</a> [<a href="https://help.rescue.org/donate/support-signpost">donate</a>]<br />
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16">EIN: 13-5660870</span><br />
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"><i>Signpost is designed to help refugees get good information during the crisis which the IRC's president says is one of the most pressing problems.</i></span><br />
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"><i><br /></i></span>
Refugee Advocacy Lab at <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/">Refugees International</a> + <a href="https://refugeerights.org/">International Refugee Assistance Project</a> (IRAP)[donate: <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/donate">Refugees International</a> or <a href="https://refugeerights.org/donate/">IRAP</a>]<br />
EINs: 52-1224516 (Refugees International) or 82-2167556 (IRAP)<br />
<i>Matching refugees with healthcare experiences with states that need healthcare workers and the certifications they need to practice, thereby helping both.</i><br />
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"><i><br /></i></span>
<br />
<div>
I have a friend who works specifically with communities on the El Paso / Juarez border. There they recommend:</div>
</div>
<ul class="c22 lst-kix_rbbhhab9849c-0 start">
<li class="c5 c10"><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-border-refugee-assistance-fund?utm_medium%3Dcopy_link%26utm_source%3Dcustomer%26utm_campaign%3Dp_nacp%2Bshare-sheet%26rcid%3D5d90525cdbb2424b824f62443fa2a9d3&sa=D&ust=1587064791901000">The Catholic Bishop’s Fund</a></span><span class="c16"> [</span><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-border-refugee-assistance-fund?utm_medium%3Dcopy_link%26utm_source%3Dcustomer%26utm_campaign%3Dp_nacp%2Bshare-sheet%26rcid%3D5d90525cdbb2424b824f62443fa2a9d3&sa=D&ust=1587064791901000">donate</a></span><span class="c9 c17 c16">]</span></li>
<li class="c5 c10"><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.seguimosadelante.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791901000">Seguimos Adelante</a></span><span class="c16"> [</span><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.seguimosadelante.org/donate&sa=D&ust=1587064791902000">donate</a></span><span class="c16">]</span><span class="c16"> </span></li>
<li class="c5 c10"><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abarafrontiers.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791902000">Abara</a></span><span class="c16"> [</span><span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abarafrontiers.org/donate/&sa=D&ust=1587064791902000">donate</a></span><span class="c16">]</span><span class="c16"> </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c9 c15 c16 c17"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c15 c16">The ACLU also has a </span><span class="c3 c15"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aclutx.org/en/news/whats-really-happening-our-border-and-what-you-can-do-help&sa=D&ust=1587064791903000">good article</a></span><span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"> about donating in this category.</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c9 c15 c17 c16"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="c5">
I don't have a perfect recommendation to directly help those in prisons and jails but <a href="https://www.civilrightscorps.org/">Civil Rights Corps</a> [<a href="https://www.civilrightscorps.org/donate">donate</a>] and <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/">Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection</a> [<a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/donate/">donate</a>] are fighting some of the legal battles around this. Please <a href="https://twitter.com/amac">ping me</a> if you have others.<br />
<b>Update: </b>The<b> </b><a href="https://p2a.co/w9R2EcZ">Reform Alliance</a> has a special <a href="https://p2a.co/w9R2EcZ">COVID-19 action page</a> to attempt to get governmental attention to this problem. Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/rklau">@rklau</a>.</div>
<b class="c11"><span class="c7"><br /></span></b>
<b class="c11" id="h.89tzk3adqvpa"><span class="c7">Domestic Abuse</span></b>
<br />
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rainn.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791903000">RAINN</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.rainn.org/donate&sa=D&ust=1587064791903000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>RAINN runs the US National Sexual Assault Hotline.</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 52-1886511</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.ncadv.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791904000">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ncadv.org/donate&sa=D&ust=1587064791904000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 91-1081344</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791905000">Global Fund for Women</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.globalfundforwomen.org/donate&sa=D&ust=1587064791905000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 77-0155782</span></div>
<b class="c21"><span class="c7"><br /></span></b>
<b class="c21" id="h.dx5h9r6le3dk"><span class="c7">Children</span></b>
<br />
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unicefusa.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791905000">UNICEF</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.unicefusa.org/page/contribute/help-save-childrens-lives-29161&sa=D&ust=1587064791905000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 13-1760110</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency-response/coronavirus-outbreak&sa=D&ust=1587064791906000">Save the Children</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://support.savethechildren.org/site/Donation2?df_id%3D1620%261620.donation%3Dform1&sa=D&ust=1587064791906000">donate</a></span>]</div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>Keeping children fed (also in Food above).</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 06-0726487</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nokidhungry.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791907000">No Kid Hungry (Share our Strength)</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://secure.nokidhungry.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid%3D00000000.app20116a?idb%3D1639457315%26df_id%3D17508%26mfc_pref%3DT%2617508.donation%3Dform1%26NONCE_TOKEN%3D582D5D5797E7C368D0861D7D9E6F6A99%26s_subsrc%3D200WADR00L0T%26s_src%3Dweb%2617508_donation%3Dform1&sa=D&ust=1587064791907000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>Also in Food above.</i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 52-1367538</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.childrenshealthfund.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791908000">Children's Health Fund</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donate.childrenshealthfund.org/give/277403/%23!/donation/checkout&sa=D&ust=1587064791908000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 13-3468427</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://firstbook.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791908000">First Book</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://support.firstbook.org/give/275995/%23!/donation/checkout&sa=D&ust=1587064791909000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13">US Focus on learning.</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 52-1779606</span></div>
<b class="c11"><span class="c7"><br /></span></b>
<b class="c11" id="h.hskoyhu8d9i0"><span class="c7">Miscellaneous and Support</span></b>
<br />
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://creativecommons.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791909000">Creative Commons</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://us.netdonor.net/page/6650/donate/1?ea.tracking.id%3Dtop-of-page-banner&sa=D&ust=1587064791910000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>Creative Commons provides the licensing infrastructure for a lot of the open content being relied on in this crisis and was part of creating the Open COVID Pledge to help ensure that people fighting COVID can worry less about patent lawsuits. Disclaimer: I am a Board Member. </i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 04-3585301</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://datasociety.net/&sa=D&ust=1587064791910000">Data & Society</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://donorbox.org/datasociety&sa=D&ust=1587064791911000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>Tech is becoming even more important now. Data & Society studies and critically unpacks the social implications of data-centric technologies & automation so that their impact is less harmful / more beneficial. Disclaimer: I am a Board Member. </i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 46-2904827</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cpj.org/&sa=D&ust=1587064791912000">Committee to Protect Journalists</a></span> [<span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cpj.org/donate/?utm_source%3Dwebsite%26utm_medium%3Dbutton%26utm_content%3Dtopheader&sa=D&ust=1587064791912000">donate</a></span><span class="c4">]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c13"><i>Good information is critical to combating COVID and journalists are risking their lives to get it to us. </i></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4">EIN: 13-3081500</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4"><br /></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4"><a href="https://www.rcfp.org/">Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press</a> [<a href="https://www.rcfp.org/donate/">donate</a>]</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<i>Support their just launched fund to give legal support to local and regional reporters.</i></div>
<div class="c5">
EIN: 52-0972043</div>
<b class="c21"><span class="c7"><br /></span></b>
<b class="c21" id="h.r2jefvqbx1w8"><span class="c7">Other Good Writeups & Resources</span></b>
<br />
<div class="c5">
Community Foundations have expertise to help get money to local charities in times of crisis. <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid%3D1nbceydaV515ERWJ3TtqsWN0I_s0bF_1z%26ll%3D40.34002604904353%252C-106.69519983019848%26z%3D4&sa=D&ust=1587064791912000">This map</a></span><span class="c4"> will help you find one in an area that you care about.</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<span class="c4"><br /></span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
Amelia Nierenberg, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/smarter-living/coronavirus-charity-donations.html?searchResultPosition%3D1&sa=D&ust=1587064791913000">Don’t Need That $1,200 Stimulus Check? Here Are Places to Donate It</a></span><span class="c4">, New York Times, March 27, 2020 but updated as well.</span></div>
<div class="c5">
<i>Great round up and source of a bunch of the above.</i></div>
<div class="c1">
<i><span class="c4"></span></i></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
Cynthia Pompa, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aclutx.org/en/news/whats-really-happening-our-border-and-what-you-can-do-help&sa=D&ust=1587064791913000">What’s Really Happening At Our Border And What You Can Do To Help</a></span><span class="c4">, ACLU, December 23, 2019. </span></div>
<div class="c5">
<i>Before COVID-19 was the focus but still very relevant.</i></div>
<div class="c1">
<i><span class="c13"></span></i></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
Denise Hearn, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://medium.com/@denisehearn_25750/covid-19-where-to-give-money-now-1e8b511e8ca9&sa=D&ust=1587064791914000">COVID-19 — where to give money now</a></span>, April 2, 2020. </div>
<div class="c5">
<i>Bloomberg Beta, Schmidt Futures, and The Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society put this together.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Update: </b>Isaac Chotiner, The Danger of COVID-19 for Refugees, April 10, 2020.<br />
<i>Q&A with David Miliband, the president and C.E.O. of the International Rescue Committee about the specific issues raised by COVID-19 in refugee communities where he highlights disinformation as an important issue.</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="c5">
Disaster Philanthropy, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2019-ncov-coronavirus/&sa=D&ust=1587064791914000">COVID-19 Coronavirus</a></span><span class="c4">, April 13, 2020.</span></div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
Fidelity Charitable, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/guidance/disaster-relief/how-to-help-novel-coronavirus.html&sa=D&ust=1587064791915000">How to help: Novel Coronavirus</a></span>.</div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
<div class="c5">
<br /></div>
<div class="c5">
Schwab Charitable, <span class="c3"><a class="c0" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mkt.schwabcharitable.org/COVID-19.html&sa=D&ust=1587064791915000">Maximize your charitable impact: COVID-19</a></span>.</div>
<div class="c1">
<span class="c4"></span></div>
A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-22251615974219708042019-08-13T07:14:00.000-07:002019-08-13T07:14:16.621-07:0010 Years of Retweet10 years ago today, Twitter <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/a/2009/project-retweet-phase-one.html">launched</a> “native retweet” and significantly changed how people experienced the Twitter timeline. IMHO it was a huge and relatively gutsy change. I’m writing this post to explain what changed, and why I like a particularly controversial aspect of it -- <i>strangers in the timeline</i> -- so much. I hope it will encourage others who were at Twitter at the time to share their stories.<br />
<br />
First off, imagine the Twitter of early 2009. It was a simpler Twitter in SOOOOO many ways. Timelines were a reverse chronological set of 140 character tweets. There were no ads. No images. And no mobile phone client from Twitter. Barack Obama had just been inaugurated.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://techgeek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/screenshot014.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://techgeek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/screenshot014.png" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="800" height="147" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late 2008 screenshot from Huynh, Terence, <br /><a href="http://techgeek.com.au/2008/09/20/twitter-releases-new-design-more-customisable/">Twitter releases new design, more customisable</a>, <br />TechGeek, Sept 20, 2008</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
People were already retweeting each other through a convention of using the letters “RT” and the original user’s username, and then the tweet. Retweeting the President’s election victory tweet would have been something like “RT @BarackObama We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks.” If you followed me and I retweeted that, you’d see my avatar and that text. Nothing would link my Tweet back to the original, and there was nothing stopping me from editing the original and misquoting it. In fact, even that retweet of @BarackObama would have needed editing so that it could fit in the 140 characters. Still, the convention was used and useful.<br />
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On August 13, 2009 @biz made a short blog post pre-announcing a new retweet feature so that the Twitter client developers (none of whom worked at the company or were paid by Twitter) would be ready for it when it rolled out on twitter.com. At least one of those developers already had a retweet button that made retweeting easier, but the new feature @biz announced was different. It was simple and revolutionary. Now when I retweeted @BarackObama my followers would see his tweet as if they too were followers of @BarackObama for that instant. They would see his Tweet as if they followed him -- in their regular timeline -- but with an acknowledgement to me, and as if it had been tweeted when I hit the retweet button. As @Biz described it:<br />
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"Let’s say you follow @jessverr, @biz (that’s me), and @gregpass but you don’t follow @ev. However, I do follow @ev and the birth of his baby boy was so momentous that I retweeted it to all my followers.<br />
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Imagine that my simple sketch is your Twitter timeline. You’d see @ev’s tweet even though you don’t follow him because you follow me and I really wanted you to have the information that I have." Photo and quotation from Stone, Biz, <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/a/2009/project-retweet-phase-one.html">Project Retweet: Phase One</a>, Twitter Blog, Aug. 13, 2009.<br />
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It made retweeting much easier,* but it also meant that users saw the faces of people they didn’t follow in their timeline (internally we called this the "strangers in the timeline" phenomenon). Retweets were also displayed based on the time of retweet, not the time of the original tweet (even though the timestamp was still the original one), so it looked like the tweets were being displayed out of order. Here’s what it looked like when it rolled out later that year (with a special dialog box to explain to people why they were seeing strange new avatars).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3i9iv4Mzk75U0FH_9DZbn7l7DrVON3z6fzBn8tKGszOx0V5BT1H2uC7aMhgLxROyqAVgdUoYUxFQ4EhJdQ4okSoRbCb6eh2wrIPZMx3tJ861iFvsyboOqtLs4JShII0dij6DzEdQwzbL/s1600/4112757339_3287caeb64_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1065" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3i9iv4Mzk75U0FH_9DZbn7l7DrVON3z6fzBn8tKGszOx0V5BT1H2uC7aMhgLxROyqAVgdUoYUxFQ4EhJdQ4okSoRbCb6eh2wrIPZMx3tJ861iFvsyboOqtLs4JShII0dij6DzEdQwzbL/s320/4112757339_3287caeb64_o.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/4112757339">Screenshot</a> by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/">See-ming Lee</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC-BY-SA</a></td></tr>
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This was (and is) a big deal for a whole bunch of reasons, but the one that I really appreciate today is that seeing strangers in my timeline made it so much easier for me to find and follow new interesting people. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091112172426/https://evhead.com/2009/11/why-retweet-works-way-it-does.html">@Ev’s blog post from the time</a> summarizes a lot of the other benefits and concerns that people had about the idea, including his description of the blowback he knew Twitter would face over putting strangers in peoples' timelines. He wrote, “The drawback is that it may be a little surprising (unpleasant even, for some) to discover avatars of people they don't follow in their timeline.” Which avatar to show, the original tweeter's or the retweeter's was a significant discussion and I am really glad the team chose to show the original tweeter as I think it has led directly to my timeline getting better and better over the years.<br />
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Anyhow, I’ll leave the rest of the stories about this to others who were closer to the decision and implementation. For now I just want to thank the folks that were there and call them out so that they (hopefully) tell more of the story. My memory is hazy, but I think at least @zhanna, @alissa, @cw, @goldman, @ev, and @biz would have good memories of it. Please share, tell the inside story, and add more folks I missed.<br />
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* Despite the ridiculous title, this <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/how-the-retweet-ruined-the-internet">Buzzfeed article</a> has some good discussion from folks on the cons of the convenience and speed of the retweet button, and ways to think about slowing the spread of harmful retweet cycles while preserving the good. </div>
A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-13831948231939174622019-02-04T05:27:00.000-08:002019-02-04T07:39:43.513-08:00Advice for new General Counsels (GCs)<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Here’s some advice I give first-time General Counsels (GC) or, as the kids today call themselves, Chief Legal Officers. These are written from my perspective as someone who had worked as an Associate at a law firm and in-house at Google before going to Twitter as the GC. Your mileage should vary.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">Being a GC is lonely, you need colleagues.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Once you become a GC you have no colleagues. Your CEO and Board are your boss. You may have lawyers who work for you, but you are their boss. Your colleagues are the other members of the management team, but they don’t really care about legal stuff the way you do. They’ll be friends, but you need to also have GC friends, and you’ll need to find them outside of the company.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Eventually (on my last day), I formed a network of SF Tech GCs that would have been WONDERFUL to have had before I left. At the time I met with a bunch of peers outside of work and they were a godsend. These folks should be struggling like you. That way you’ll feel free to ask them anything and you’ll be as helpful to them as they are to you. They are your support group as well as your knowledge base. Plus they’ll remember being as clueless as you, which will make them good teachers. These are not your mentors. You need good mentors too, but these are your colleagues. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJbUiac0xnSntK3ZNxEFF4FcqunIUYli4kkiyY29FWLcFuwQDwr8f4Fobcv0bcbaitXjMGtOXA7PLqI7F0Cv7NeUgiwC-4khdqDbZZEas9CdS8v-hF7yCrmO4Ns7LkQ2DJa91_AQ96WmP/s1600/Arabella_mansfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJbUiac0xnSntK3ZNxEFF4FcqunIUYli4kkiyY29FWLcFuwQDwr8f4Fobcv0bcbaitXjMGtOXA7PLqI7F0Cv7NeUgiwC-4khdqDbZZEas9CdS8v-hF7yCrmO4Ns7LkQ2DJa91_AQ96WmP/s320/Arabella_mansfield.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arabella Mansfield, 1870. <br />
Public Domain image from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabella_Mansfield">Wikipedia</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You are the boss and the end of the line.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">When you are the GC, you are it. Yes you can “escalate” things to your CEO or Board but doing that a bunch will not build respect with either. For many hard decisions, you are the decision maker. You cannot just let something slide or say “here are three options.” You are being paid to be responsible for this stuff and have an opinion. Also, there are some things that only you can do, especially before you have a team. When the CEO is freaking out about the CFO deciding to go to your biggest competitor, talking to somebody else likely will not cut it. Vacation purity will go down. Stress will go up. You will need a way to deal with that and it is very important that it is not </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4736291/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">alcohol, drugs, or other bad things</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You are your company. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">If you come from being an outside counsel, you may misunderstand the ethical issues involved in being at a company. At an outside firm you might have had a bunch of ways to distance yourself from a bad thing that a firm clients does. You might not work on their matters. Or not advise them on that subject matter. And, in any case, even bad actors need legal defense. When you are in-house that is no longer the case. You are your company. If they do something unethical or illegal, that is you doing it. Another way to say that is that there is no </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">they</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">, only </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">we</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">. So… you need to be VERY comfortable with the company you are joining. Both what they are now and how they might change over the time you are there. Your only remedy will likely be to quit quietly. Quitting quietly is not a good remedy. Especially if you need the job and the money it provides.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeQZvXZgFh6CSbrMT_qVnRRrO-MtGmfp7lY2VkC611OE8gQ3A2id-K4yrnBzhiNsLe80c6EY2e4M697Syz0BuDE1OPpg3oEyGD44cXe48l6OwCbDurv5swF5lx-RL0GU_8ZJ2ftl7P50g/s1600/14577323969_8f355f2692_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1600" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeQZvXZgFh6CSbrMT_qVnRRrO-MtGmfp7lY2VkC611OE8gQ3A2id-K4yrnBzhiNsLe80c6EY2e4M697Syz0BuDE1OPpg3oEyGD44cXe48l6OwCbDurv5swF5lx-RL0GU_8ZJ2ftl7P50g/s320/14577323969_8f355f2692_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior of H.A. Goodrich & Co.'s Store. Public Domain<br />
illustration from <i><a href="https://archive.org/stream/fitchburgmassach00inemer/fitchburgmassach00inemer#page/n327/mode/2up/">Fitchburg, Massachusetts <br />Past and Present</a></i> via Internet Archive.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You are the establishment. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">You likely came from being a part of a team and not being in the very senior part of management. You might even have complained about the Partners or the management team at your last company. That ends now. You are the management. If the company has a problem, then it is your problem. You whining is not a good thing. You are not a victim and you need to fix what you don’t like, not complain about it. That goes for even things that the CEO or Board do that you don’t agree with. Make sure you had your say. Quit if you need to, but if you are not going to quit, you need to take ownership of it with the rest of management.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You work for the Board (and the CEO).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">GCs have a weird dual reporting structure because they represent the corporation, not any particular person in the corporation. Your day-to-day boss is the CEO, but the Board is also your boss and you need a relationship with the Board. This can be tricky because the CEO often thinks of themselves as the only person who “reports” to the Board. You need to have your own relationship with the Board for a bunch of reasons and a wise CEO will understand that your relationship with the Board is helpful to them as well. You should help the CEO manage getting the board deck together and with the basic stuff that goes comes with managing the Board. In that sense you will act a bit like a Chief of Staff and Executive Assistant. You have a legal role too, and may be the Board Secretary as well, but you should do the other, more mundane stuff as well in order to ensure that you are part of the company having a good relationship with its Board. For example, you should have periodic informal meetings with your board members. You should know how many kids they have and where they like to take vacations. FWIW, CFO’s have a similar need for that type of direct relationship.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crocker Block. Public Domain<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">illustration from </span><i style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://archive.org/stream/fitchburgmassach00inemer/fitchburgmassach00inemer#page/n293/mode/2up/">Fitchburg,<br />Massachusetts Past and Present</a></i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br />via Internet Archive.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You are also an owner of the company & member of the management team.</span> </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Your CEO and the rest of the team will look to you for your legal opinion. That is very important. If you screw that up, you will not be GC for very long. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">However, you are also (hopefully) a significant owner of the company through your stock grant, as well as a member of the senior management team. In those roles the CEO is looking for you to have an opinion on what is the right thing for the company to do. If you come from being an outside counsel, you may be used to giving opinions of the form: “Doing X is a legal risk.” or perhaps “Doing X is a legal risk and I would quantify it in the following way.” Once you are a GC you need to be ready to say things like: “Doing X is a legal risk but is important for us to do because Y” or “Doing X is a legal risk that is not worth pursuing because Y.” What you fill in for Y will not be legal analysis but business, customer, user, employee, etc. analysis. Get to know those parts of your business and start making contributions that have nothing to do with legal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">Be careful about acting in your non-legal capacity. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Now that I’ve told you not to only act like a lawyer, I need to flag some important pitfalls. First, you need to do a good job of labeling and calibrating your non-legal advice. You’ll make more mistakes and tread on other management team members expertise in your non-legal role. If you are not clear about it, the management team may start treating your non-legal advice like your legal advice (or vice versa), and that is usually unhelpful. This can be as simple as saying, “this isn’t a legal issue but…” or “there is nothing legal that requires X but…” and “here I’m speaking directly about our legal requirements under the contract.” You needn’t do it all the time, but being able to be clear can help a lot.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Second, we lawyers are somewhat spoiled by the protections that our legal advice affords us under the law. We can have conversations with people that won’t be revealed in lawsuits. When you venture out into the world of non-legal advice those protections fade away. Some lawyers have gotten into bad habits based on their attorney-client relationships and have gotten used to saying really dumb things in email that they (a) don’t mean, and (b) would never let a client say in email. Remember that your non-legal work is not protected by your special status as an attorney. Do what you tell your clients to do. Imagine your email on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">Legal is a cost center.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">If you came from a firm, legal advising was the profit center. Lawyers were extremely important and probably ran the show. That is not true now. You are a support service. Act like it. Don’t waste your clients time (ie. arrive to meetings on time, with an agenda, etc.). Respond to their emails. Do the things you said you were going to do when you said you were going to do them. Provide value. Make sure your internal clients are happy. And, understand that winning at the Supreme Court and establishing precedent are not the purpose of your business. They shouldn’t be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;"><i>your </i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">purpose. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljk5uPxm9VLnVmo4DKHmcyOTi0AJA82RBXF67sAb8MRhVE_Hqd07b_W2-l9WbXUg9KtQUXT9rOhmgaOefryYg94UtDO7TmKq0lzDamo-wqFBoP0D27bSnL-QeMCzfscPnzPDBS3pCx04Y/s1600/Thurgood-marshall-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="1184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljk5uPxm9VLnVmo4DKHmcyOTi0AJA82RBXF67sAb8MRhVE_Hqd07b_W2-l9WbXUg9KtQUXT9rOhmgaOefryYg94UtDO7TmKq0lzDamo-wqFBoP0D27bSnL-QeMCzfscPnzPDBS3pCx04Y/s320/Thurgood-marshall-2.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thurgood Marshall, 1976.<br />
Public Domain image from the <br />
Library of Congress via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall">Wikipedia</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700;">Set yourself up to be constructive.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Some people say GCs shouldn’t say no. I strongly disagree. There will be times when you need to say a flat no. Those times will be bad for the company and for you. But the flat no you enforce may be a moment where you are providing your greatest value to the company. Don’t shy away from those times, but don’t welcome them either. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Try to set yourself up so that you do not get into a flat no situation by understanding legal issues early, and by understanding product goals enough to suggest solutions that will meet the product goals and legal constraints. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Understanding legal issues early, particularly in a startup, means having a very good understanding of who is working on what. Many startups spend a large amount of time transitioning from everyone knowing everything to having processes so that people can know what they need to know. That in-between stage is a hard one for the GC. If you find out about a feature launch from reviewing the launch blog post, you are likely too late for a product redesign. Your product team will have spent a bunch of time working and dreaming about the feature implemented exactly the way they have implemented it. They will be looking to you to say yes (or no). That may be a valuable “no” but it will hurt a lot. And if you say “yes but…” then at that point you may only be putting lipstick on a pig. It is FAR better to be able to understand what is going on when the feature is just an idea. Product managers, designers, and engineers are really good with constraints. They design within them all the time. Having them understand the legal constraints and desires when designing is essential. To do that, you need to be really in tune with whatever part of your company first thinks up new features. Google’s first lawyer, Kulpreet Rana’s practice of taking one afternoon a week to just wander around introducing himself to people and asking them what they were working on is brilliant in that respect (and also helps with the culture points below).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Equally importantly, once you see a legal issue, don’t just issue spot. Know enough about what the teams are trying to do to get your hands dirty in a design setting to help them understand the legal constraints and design within them. Sometimes this looks like working with the engineers to implement variable public domain rights for very old books in Google Books and embedding local copyright law into code. Sometimes it is jumping from a legal constraint to value creation, such as when </span><a href="https://twitter.com/gob" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">Glenn Brown</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/zahavah10" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">Zahavah Levine</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">, and I helped design the </span><a href="https://www.tubefilter.com/2018/11/07/youtube-payouts-content-id/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">YouTube DMCA system to also allow content providers to leave content up and get a share of revenue</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">. There is almost always more than one way to do something. Help your product teams choose the way that helps users and will survive legal challenges.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You have a decision to make about who to hire when.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">As you build your team, you need to decide who to hire when. You will eventually be middle management and do very little legal thinking. You also came into this job not knowing most of the legal areas you will supervise. Do you hire what you know first, or what you don’t? Do you start building with someone who could be the next GC, or someone more junior who can churn through more basic stuff so you don’t have to? If the company is getting bigger, do you start with an employment lawyer? There is no right answer, other than that employment lawyers tend to get hired really early because very few GCs love dealing with employment issues, and good employment lawyers are really good.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">Your team(s) are everything.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">As your team grows and perhaps you take on a few extra responsibilities (public policy, trust & safety, communications, corporate development, business development, human resources, etc.) because you are a competent leader at a growing company, your teams will be much more important than you in terms of the company’s success. Many lawyers never get management training and didn’t start out life wanting to be managers. That is your life now. It is difficult and you need to want to do it extremely well. That means training, intentional focus, and making sacrifices on other things to make sure that you are doing the management part well. It also means understanding, valuing, and actually achieving diversity from the get-go. Start growing your leaders and empowering them. Get out of the way.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">If you don’t like management and would prefer to be doing law stuff, being a GC probably isn’t the right job for you.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3O2wr2DY72DY9YaW2yUX8o7KmSXipjHaTTJFFrSj6i1KLBtceZ5cgWJCJM4ot6epusvqpmrl4kekY7YMRucpDV_ehQWOHC9ZI9YWVjatca6U7AvA4FK2Xd9Ro4PpntTgNbn2TZ2RWoCEj/s1600/14577777187_14c87d7e03_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1103" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3O2wr2DY72DY9YaW2yUX8o7KmSXipjHaTTJFFrSj6i1KLBtceZ5cgWJCJM4ot6epusvqpmrl4kekY7YMRucpDV_ehQWOHC9ZI9YWVjatca6U7AvA4FK2Xd9Ro4PpntTgNbn2TZ2RWoCEj/s320/14577777187_14c87d7e03_o.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clara Shortridge Foltz. Public Domain<br />
image from <a href="https://archive.org/stream/benchandbarofcal00shuc/benchandbarofcal00shuc#page/830/mode/2up">History of the Bench and<br />Bar of of California</a> via Internet Archive.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">You define the culture of the Legal department, and likely the culture and ethics of the company. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Many of you will get the privilege of being at a very small company, or being the first or second attorney at the company. When I joined Twitter we were around 50 people and had one other intrepid lawyer (the great </span><a href="https://twitter.com/tyip" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">@tyip</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">!). You will define the relationship between the company and legal. You will define what legal is. Those are probably your most important jobs other than ensuring the company continues to exist. If you establish that legal should be consulted last, heard to say no, and then overruled by others without consequences, that will be the way legal is treated by the company for a very long time. If you are teammates who provide value and help get stuff launched, it will be hard to lose that reputation. Make sure that legal’s relationship with the company is something you focus on. Have goals. Do things that help. For example, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/BenL" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">Ben Lee</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;"> and I created the </span><a href="https://github.com/twitter/innovators-patent-agreement" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">Innovators Patent Agreement</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;"> as a way to signal to engineers that Twitter was in line with their ethics on patents so that legal could contribute to the company’s #1 priority of hiring great engineers. Another one of my favorite hacks is to set up a desk by wherever your team gets coffee for the post lunch afternoon coffee time. Sit there. Answer questions. (Yes, it is amazing how many engineers have “friends” with weird legal issues and need to be told to get a lawyer.) Being a GC is not a popularity contest, but you need to be known and you need to make sure people understand you are on their team, especially when you disagree with them. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">GCs are also often the oldest and/or people who have the biggest vocabulary for ethics at the company. I don’t think we are necessarily the folks who care the most about ethics or have the best ethical compass, but we have the hubris / common sense to have been thinking about ethics and how it applies to our work for a long time. That often makes the GC the de facto Chief Ethics Officer. The important part of that often unofficial role is to understand the difference between ethics or values, and law. When a GC says something is OK to do, we sometimes mean legally OK but the company will frequently hear that it is both legally and ethically good. Ideally everyone at the company is thinking about ethics and your founders, CEO, Board, and management team all provide a solid tone from the top on ethics. That is not always the case. You should ensure that you are the backstop on ethics. Consider making that part of your job </span><a href="https://twitter.com/rhomsany/status/1055121127389847558" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline;">official</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">. Definitely talk to the company about its ethical responsibilities and always consider those in your analysis. “That’s legal but completely unethical” is extremely important advice from a GC.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700;">Conclusion</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">You are not an impostor. Nobody was born a GC. No GC knows every area of law. There is no perfect way to manage people. There is no secret to being a GC that is not something that was learned through trial and error on the job. The truly incredible GCs that I have met may have been better at the job than I but they weren’t superhuman. They started out just like me and you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">Finally, have fun. I found being a GC to be really interesting, challenging, and rewarding. I still love the various teams I helped build. I still have trouble not referring to my old companies with the pronouns “us” or “we.” Being a GC can be a phenomenal job (but it is only a job). Congratulations and good luck!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">P.S. Thank you to the SFGCs email list for their useful comments on a working draft of this paper. Ken Carter and others on that list have grown it and made it into something great since I left SF. If you are an SF GC, DM me on Twitter (@amac) and I’ll forward to the right person to add you. If you are a D.C. GC, I’d also love to hear from you.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400;">P.P.S. I got another great suggestion for a pic to add to this post, Laura de Force Gordon.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_w1XdfkWocN_BKuRlG8N8q-_Tu7xui1ccwPrbvcuM9kLkNzpqeFnUG2FOeTxoXr1r1XRHmptsHqdJRAqX6ki6uKA5UA_wWbWG8BZqhcVYU5j3jqJV3p12WvcFmterbTCpFkExsLnVjDUa/s1600/Laura_de_Force_Gordon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_w1XdfkWocN_BKuRlG8N8q-_Tu7xui1ccwPrbvcuM9kLkNzpqeFnUG2FOeTxoXr1r1XRHmptsHqdJRAqX6ki6uKA5UA_wWbWG8BZqhcVYU5j3jqJV3p12WvcFmterbTCpFkExsLnVjDUa/s320/Laura_de_Force_Gordon.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Laura de Force Gordon<br />
Public Domain image <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">via</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshallhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_de_Force_Gordon" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Wikipedia</a><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">.</span></td></tr>
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A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-77239262076908897722018-08-31T07:45:00.002-07:002019-01-16T05:37:39.050-08:00Recent Podcasts & Articles on Content ModerationOne of the great things happening now is that more and more attention is being focused at one of my favorite subjects: content moderation by internet platforms. It's an important subject because a large amount of online speaking and listening happens through platforms. There has been a ton of good writing about this over many, many, years but I want to focus on four relatively recent bits here.<br />
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<b>Radiolab, <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/post-no-evil">Post No Evil</a>, Aug 17, 2018</b><br />
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Radiolab tells a sweeping story of the development of Facebook's content removal policies, deftly switching perspectives from people protesting its former policy against breastfeeding, to the headquarters workers developing policy and dealing with high-profile controversies, to the offshore contractors on the front line evaluating thousands pieces of disturbing content every day.<br />
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<a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/post-no-evil">Post No Evil</a> is a great introduction to the issues in this space but I think its most insightful moment is relatively buried. At 1:02, this exchange happens:<br />
<ul><tt>Simon Adler: What I think this [controversy around a beheading video] shows is that Facebook has become too many different things at the same time. So Facebook is now sort of a playground, it's also an R-rated movie theater, and now it's the front page of a newspaper.<br />
Jad Abumrad (?): Yeah, it's all those things at the same time.<br />
Simon Adler: It's all those things at the same time and what we, the users, are demanding of them is that they create a set of policies that are just. And the reality is justice means a very different thing in each one of these settings.</tt>
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I've tried to emphasize when I talk about content policies that there is no one perfect set of policies that <i>should</i> exist for every service but rather that the policies serve the product or service goal that the platform is trying to create. The type of experience Google web search is trying to create ("you can find whatever you are looking for") is very different from the experience that the Disney was going for when it launched a social network for pre-teens where users could only talk to each other through a set of pre-chosen phrases ("this place is REALLY safe for kids").<br />
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Think of the content policies you might want at a library versus a dinner party. When I go to a library, it is very important to me that they have books about the tiny niche of the world that I am interested in at that moment. For example, books on bias in machine learning or Italian Amaros. It doesn't really bother me if they have books on things I don't care as much about, like American football. For books that I disagree with, such as <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/To_Save_America.html?id=9KQtcs-qg2UC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false">To Save America</a>, or think are evil, such as <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=qKTjsgEACAAJ&dq=mein+kampf&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiezKeeh5XdAhUxw1kKHar2C8UQ6AEIJzAA">Mein Kampf</a>, I may question the curators' choices but I expect breadth, and the inclusion of those books is less bad than if the books I cared about were not included.*<br />
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Change to the dinner party context and my preferences are reversed. Dinner parties that don't hit on bias in machine learning are fine by me but if I was at a dinner party where someone couldn't shut up about American football, I would not call it a success. A dinner party where a guest was espousing the views of Mein Kamfp would be one I would cause a scene at and leave. Over-inclusion is a huge problem and outweighs inclusion of my specific niche interests.<br />
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I've never been a big Facebook user, but it used to remind me of a dinner party. I thought that's what it was going for with its various content policies. Now, as Simon Adler says, it is trying to be many things (perhaps everything?) to many people (perhaps everyone?) and that is really hard (perhaps impossible?). It also has made the decision that some of the types of moderation that other platforms have used to deal with those problems (blocking by geography, content markings for age, etc.**) don't work well for it's goals. As Radiolab concludes starting at 1:08:<br />
<ul><tt>Robert Krulwich (?): Where does that leave you feeling? Does this leave you feeling that this is just, that at the end this is just undoable?<br />
Simon Adler: I think [Facebook] will inevitably fail, but they have to try and I think we should all be rooting for them.</tt>
</ul>
<b>Kate Klonick, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2937985">The New Governors: The People, Rules, and Processes Governing Online Speech</a>, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 1598, last revised Apr 17, 2018</b><br />
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Professor Klonick does an excellent job of describing why platforms may want to moderate content, how they do it, and the legal framework and regulatory framework that underpins it all. This is a very large expanse of ground, covered extremely well.*** If you are new to this area and want an in depth briefing, I highly recommend The New Governors. Her proscriptions are to push platforms towards greater transparency in their content moderation decision making and policies, as well as greater accountability to users. As in Post No Evil (for which she was a source), Professor Klonick identifies the popular concern about platform policies and locates it as a mismatch between platform policies and user expectations.<br />
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Professor Klonick also draws out the similarities and differences between content moderation and judicial decision-making. She writes:<br />
<ul><tt>Beyond borrowing from the law substantively, the [Facebook content moderation rule documents called] the Abuse Standards borrow from the way the law is applied, providing examples and analogies to help moderators apply the rules. Analogical legal reasoning, the method whereby judges reach decisions by reasoning through analogy between cases, is a foundation of legal theory. Though the use of example and analogy plays a central role throughout the Abuse Standards, the combination of legal rule and example in content moderation seems to contain elements of both rule-based legal reasoning and analogical legal reasoning. For example, after stating the rules for assessing credibility, the Abuse Standards give a series of examples of instances that establish credible or noncredible threats. “I’m going to stab (method) Lisa H. (target) at the frat party (place),” states Abuse Standards 6.2, demonstrating a type of credible threat that should be escalated. “I’m going to blow up the planet on new year’s eve this year” is given as an example of a noncredible threat. Thus, content moderators are not expected to reason directly from prior content decisions as in common law — but the public policies, internal rules, examples, and analogies they are given in their rulebook are informed by past assessments.</tt>
</ul>
(footnotes omitted). Content moderation rules are always evolving and changing. Just as there is no one perfect set of content policies for all services, there is also no one perfect static set of rules for any given service. Instead, just like the law, the rules are always changing and being adapted to deal with new realities.<br />
<br />
<b>Ellen Pao, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ellen-pao-facebook-twitter-ceos-can-fix-abuse-mark-zuckerberg-jack-dorsey/">Let's Stop Pretending Facebook and Twitter's CEOs Can't Fix This Mess</a>, Wired, Aug 28, 2018; and Kara Swisher and Ron Wyden, <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/8/22/17765668/ron-wyden-senator-recode-decode-kara-swisher-podcast-transcript">Full Q&A: Senator Ron Wyden on Recode Decode</a>, Recode Decode, Aug 22, 2018</b><br />
<br />
I include these two as good examples of the current mood. Both Ms. Pao and Senator Wyden are friends of tech and highly tech knowledgeable. Ms. Pao was the CEO of Reddit. Senator Wyden was one of the authors of the original statute that encouraged content moderation by protecting platforms that moderate content from many types of liability. Nevertheless, Ms. Pao believes that the tech CEO's don't care about and aren't trying to solve the issue of bad speech on their platforms. She calls for legal liability for falsity and harassment on platforms.<br />
<ul><tt>If you’re a CEO and someone dies because of harassment or false information on your platform—even if your platform isn’t alone in the harassment—your company should face some consequences. That could mean civil or criminal court proceedings, depending on the circumstances. Or it could mean advertisers take a stand, or your business takes a hit.</tt>
</ul>
Senator Wyden says that he is working on legislation that:<br />
<ul><tt>... lay[s] out what the consequences are when somebody who is a bad actor, somebody who really doesn’t meet the decency principles that reflect our values, if that bad actor blows by the bounds of common decency, I think you gotta have a way to make sure that stuff is taken down.</tt>
</ul>
I strongly disagree with legislating "common decency" because I think there is good evidence that it would do more harm than good, particularly to suppress the speech of unfairly marginalized groups. More broadly both Wyden and Pao seem to believe that these problems are relatively easy to solve, if only the CEOs cared, or were legally liable. I don't agree that this is an easy problem to solve in part because I don't see examples of it having been solved in spite of the value of solving it. As I have written <a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html">previously</a>:<br />
<ul><tt>... I don't know of many good examples outside of heavily editorial ones with a relatively small set of content producers, that have been able to be both extremely inclusive and progressive towards what I think are the "right" kind of marginalized ideas while keeping out the ones that I think are marginalized for very good reason. ...
Many of the larger Internet platforms are trying, with varying degrees of success and failure, to do this right, as I was when I worked at Google and Twitter. That said, I don't have a great example of a platform or community that is working exactly as I would like. And it seems like that is a big and worthy challenge.</tt>
</ul>
(footnotes omitted). As I said in that post, if you have a good example, please send it my way. In the meantime, my belief is that this is difficult, there is no silver bullet, and we should continue trying.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, it is important to understand that this is where public opinion is headed and these two pieces are a good indication.<br />
<br />
<b>Finally, </b><br />
<br />
If you want to find out more about content moderation, here's a twitter list of <a href="https://twitter.com/amac/lists/content-moderation">content moderation folks</a> on Twitter. If I'm missing someone, please let me know.<br />
<br />
* This is really specific to me and your mileage may vary widely. I am a white male with lots of privilege. Take what I say about evil content with a huge grain of salt. I am relatively unthreatened by that content compared to someone who has had their life impacted by that evil. I get that some societies will want to ensure that books like Mein Kampf are not available in libraries. I don't believe that is the right way forward, but I may not be best situated to make that call.<br />
<br />
** Facebook does use some of these tactics for advertising and Facebook Pages but, as far as I know, not for Facebook Posts or Groups.<br />
<br />
*** Professor Klonick's description of Twitter's early content policies as non-existent is mistaken. Even early in Twitter's history the company had content policies which resulted in the removal of content, for example, for impersonation or child pornography. I think she just didn't have a good source of information for Twitter.A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-58615262872326191682018-04-04T04:24:00.000-07:002019-01-16T05:37:55.846-08:00Hallin Spheres, Overton Windows, Constitutional Interpretation, and Online Platforms (oh my!)Hallin Spheres, Overton Windows, and certain theories of constitutional interpretation<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin1" name="BackHallin1">1</a>]</sup> are all ways of thinking about what can and cannot be argued successfully, or at all, within different contexts. They are very applicable to our current discussion about online platforms and the types of speech they contain. This post aims to briefly describe all three, and how they might apply to online speech. One thing that seems to follow from thinking about the Internet and online platforms through these lenses is that the widening of participants that the Internet brought tends to increase the types of arguments that can be had and tends to decrease the amount of consensus available. While I am generally optimistic about the change as a way of accelerating social progress and bringing more, previously marginalized people into the "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WySzEXKUSZw">room where it happens</a>," some people and ideas were marginalized for very good reason. Implementing global platforms or communities inclusively, but only towards progress seems possible but I don't yet know of a good example of it being done successfully at scale. (If you know of more, I'd love to hear about them!)<br />
<br />
<b>Hallin Spheres</b><br />
<a href="http://communication.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/daniel-c-hallin.html">Daniel Hallin</a> is a journalist and professor of media systems who wrote <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kmpYUSYLD8MC">The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam</a> about the way journalists covered the Vietnam war through a description of three spheres of ideas on which journalists report. At the two extremes are the <i>sphere of consensus</i>, for ideas journalists assume their readers accept and agree with; and the <i>sphere of deviance</i>, for ideas that the journalists believe their readers disagree with vehemently. Between the two is the <i>sphere of legitimate controversy</i> where a journalists assumes her readers believe that there may be debate. These spheres come together like a donut, with the sphere of deviance outside the donut, the sphere of legitimate controversy making up the dough, and the sphere of consensus, the hole in the middle (the Canadian in me can't help but think of it as the <a href="http://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/menu/timbits.php">Timbit</a> of consensus).<br />
<br />
Hallin observed that within the spheres of deviance or consensus, journalists would deviate from "objective" journalism in a variety of ways, such as adopting sphere of consensus views without challenge, excluding sphere of deviance sources and ideas from any mention in their stories, and generally reinforcing the divisions between the spheres. For more specifically on Hallin Spheres and the effect of the the Internet on mainstream media ability to maintain them, see Jay Rosen, <a href="http://archive.pressthink.org/2009/01/12/atomization.html#comment52316"> Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press</a> (more on that below). A <a href="https://books.google.es/books?id=kmpYUSYLD8MC&pg=PA117#v=onepage&q&f=false">diagram from Hallin's book discussing the spheres</a> is below from Google Books.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9ReGSU102qXVMohbM_9TSVHn9xToQq846q3SIkpmb0NcLCg36uTY_OstZgFM_Cmyg8qIcBbbZ7pRlUWklzsLzOy082v4V6JY_8GYw8CYJGzFEJnyui7sluZX1_wibktFTqxfct7M5Wld/s1600/Screenshot+from+2018-04-04+13-27-48.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="557" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9ReGSU102qXVMohbM_9TSVHn9xToQq846q3SIkpmb0NcLCg36uTY_OstZgFM_Cmyg8qIcBbbZ7pRlUWklzsLzOy082v4V6JY_8GYw8CYJGzFEJnyui7sluZX1_wibktFTqxfct7M5Wld/s320/Screenshot+from+2018-04-04+13-27-48.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Hallin, Daniel, <a href="https://books.google.es/books?id=kmpYUSYLD8MC&pg=PA117#v=onepage&q&f=false">The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam</a>, <br />
University of California Press (1989), p 117.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b>The Overton Window</b><br />
<a href="http://www.mackinac.org/bio.aspx?ID=12">Joseph Overton</a> was writer and think tanker who proposed the window as a metaphor for understanding which ideas are viable from a political perspective in a certain community. Ideas in the window are viable and can be debated and adopted. Ideas outside the window cannot. Overton appears to have seen the window along a continuum of more and less government intervention (which many on the right would call "less free" and "free") and believed that while the window constrained policy discussions, it was political and social forces that could change whether ideas were inside or outside of the window. The Overton Window has been in the news a lot lately as a way to explain that normalizing extremely radical ideas can move the whole window towards those ideas and thereby move some slightly less radical ideas into the center of the window. For example, see Politico's <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/25/overton-window-explained-definition-meaning-217010">How an Obscure Conservative Theory Became the Trump Era’s Go-to Nerd Phrase</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/12/21/16806676/strikethrough-how-trump-overton-window-extreme-normal">Vox Media's description</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef6CSeehSp5MFt9_XABUPLlQh9IJVh5Rl4IDmqUc-ne-b-Xsx8SNIRHu2oQB4dlQrvFAtq2sWxV5X4btaxSxSrOG-BX8aqPGSIHSVul25EHtipvonneqOo6zjHlNm2fmxdEdEuAWI/s1600/Overton_Window_diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef6CSeehSp5MFt9_XABUPLlQh9IJVh5Rl4IDmqUc-ne-b-Xsx8SNIRHu2oQB4dlQrvFAtq2sWxV5X4btaxSxSrOG-BX8aqPGSIHSVul25EHtipvonneqOo6zjHlNm2fmxdEdEuAWI/s320/Overton_Window_diagram.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window#/media/File:Overton_Window_diagram.svg">Image of the Overton Window</a> from <br />
Wikipedia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Constitutional Interpretation</b><br />
I've had a harder time coming up with a good source or pithy name for these same ideas in constitutional interpretation. The first time I learned about them was in an Advanced Constitutional Law class I was lucky to take from <a href="http://www.lessig.org/">Professor Lawrence Lessig</a>. My recollection / understanding is as follows, but all errors are mine, not his. First off, the Constitution is made of words. A lot of constitutional law is about interpreting those words and how they might apply to situations in a particular case. For example, is death by a particular lethal injection "cruel and unusual punishment" and therefor illegal under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Text">Eighth Amendment</a>? There are a bunch of different ways to go about this and some significant <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_interpretation">disagreement among jurists</a>, however the question that Lessig was asking was, is there a context behind all of this that makes some thoughts thinkable by the Supreme Court Justices, while others are not?<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin2" name="BackHallin2">2</a>]</sup> For example, how do all but one of the Justices in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/163/537#writing-USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZO">Plessy v. Ferguson</a>, not understand that separate is not equal, whereas almost sixty years later, all of the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483">Brown v Board of Education</a> Court does? Compare:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The object of the [fourteenth] amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but, in the nature of things, it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political, equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either. Laws permitting, and even requiring, their separation in places where they are liable to be brought into contact do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and have been generally, if not universally, recognized as within the competency of the state legislatures in the exercise of their police power. The most common instance of this is connected with the establishment of separate schools for white and colored children, which has been held to be a valid exercise of the legislative power even by courts of States where the political rights of the colored race have been longest and most earnestly enforced." Plessy v Ferguson, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/163/537#writing-USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZO">163 U.S. 537</a>, 544 (1896)</blockquote>
with:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"To separate [students] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. The effect of this separation on their educational opportunities was well stated by a finding in the Kansas case by a court which nevertheless felt compelled to rule against the Negro plaintiffs: Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system. ... We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Brown v Board of Education, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483">347 U.S. 483</a>, 494-5 (1954)</blockquote>
For more on these cases, listen to the difference between the oral arguments in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/163us537">Plessy</a> and <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483">Brown</a>, and read Justice Harlan's dissent in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/163/537#writing-USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZO">Plessy</a>. In the language of Hallin Spheres, segregation being detrimental and not "equal," moved from pretty close to the sphere of deviance for the Court, to the Sphere of consensus. And, there have been similarly important, radical, and progressive shifts in Supreme Court understanding of specific words in the constitution in many other areas that I care about.<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin3" name="BackHallin3">3</a>]</sup><br />
<br />
<b>Enter, the Internet</b><br />
As <a href="https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu">Jay Rosen</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/nototally">Shaun Lau</a> have said better than I ever could, the Internet and its propensity to allow for many more speakers to join the conversation<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin4" name="BackHallin4">4</a>]</sup> have had a significant effect on windows and spheres in the mainstream media, on internet media, and in society at large.<br />
<br />
Rosen gives a great description of Hallin Spheres and argues that the "audience's" increased ability to talk among themselves and talk back to bigger media players weakens the big media players ability to maintain the spheres without challenge:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Now we can see why blogging and the Net matter so greatly in political journalism. In the age of mass media, the press was able to define the sphere of legitimate debate with relative ease because the people on the receiving end were atomized— meaning they were connected “up” to Big Media but not across to each other. But today one of the biggest factors changing our world is the falling cost for like-minded people to locate each other, share information, trade impressions and realize their number. Among the first things they may do is establish that the “sphere of legitimate debate” as defined by journalists doesn’t match up with their own definition. ... what’s [] happening is that the authority of the press to assume consensus, define deviance and set the terms for legitimate debate is weaker when people can connect horizontally around and about the news." Jay Rosen, <a href="http://archive.pressthink.org/2009/01/12/atomization.html#comment52316"> Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press</a></blockquote>
Lau makes the same point before expanding on it to a bigger point about how internet communities affect discourse in this <a href="https://twitter.com/NoTotally/status/908909777777864704">excellent thread</a>. He's writing about how Jemelle Hill's description of Donald Trump as a white supremacist was seen by ESPN as in the sphere of deviance, whereas many on the Internet disagreed. You should go read it.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Y'all are having a Hallin's Spheres argument, but I haven't seen anyone else bring it up. So here we go. <a href="https://t.co/egJhoWFUr9">https://t.co/egJhoWFUr9</a></div>
— Studio Glibly (@NoTotally) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoTotally/status/908909777777864704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Among the many good points Lau and Rosen make is that Hallin Spheres are also about understanding consensus. As more people are included in a community, the sphere of legitimate controversy tends to grow. As it grows, it likely takes some space away from the sphere of consensus. As Lau says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Put only Montagues in a room, and you have consensus. Now put a few Capulets in. 'What happened to all the consensus?' The answer is that there never was consensus; there was only agreement among those with access or those represented by those with access. "Internet pushback" when the internet- and very specifically twitter- is more meritocratic than, let's say large corporations like ESPN? That's not "the internet" pushing back. It's those who you didn't allow in the room before we forced our way in via new technology. PEOPLE." From @NoTotally Twitter thread, <a href="https://twitter.com/NoTotally/status/908909777777864704">Sept. 15, 2017</a>.</blockquote>
Both of these observations mean that it can be harder to create spheres of consensus, that it is harder to maintain them once created, and that we might expect spheres of legitimate controversy to grow.<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin5" name="BackHallin5">5</a>]</sup><br />
<br />
<b>This is good?</b><br />
Years of forward societal progress based in part on expanding and shifting the Overton Window and sphere of legitimate controversy may make you think, this is great! But hold on, some ideas are in the sphere of deviance for a reason. Racism is one good and sadly timely example. Same with some people. The Internet and its platforms have created many spaces for marginalized people to congregate and become less marginalized by removing gatekeepers who might enforce spheres and windows to exclude.<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin6" name="BackHallin6">6</a>]</sup> On the internet, nobody needs permission to speak. Again, that's often good progress. But, some groups are marginalized for a very good reason. Nazis are a good and sadly timely example. Bringing racism and Nazis back into the window is VERY, VERY BAD, and yet the relative lack of speech gatekeepers in the U.S. Constitution, on the Internet, and on many Internet platforms may make this more likely. This is not a malfunction, but a design feature of the Internet and many of its platforms.<br />
<br />
<b>What can online platforms and communities do?</b><br />
It is worth noting that spheres and windows are a bit of a misnomer for these phenomenon because not only can they be different sizes in different communities, they can also be pretty permeable along the edges and can change size or permeability. Just as importantly, they can change shape. There is nothing that says that a particular society, medium, or context needs to treat all ideas that are equidistant from the center of consensus as equal. The sphere need not be a sphere, it can be oblong and irregular. The window can be slanted and weird looking. In other words, it is not a law of nature that determines that two ideas that are believed by a similar number of people need to be treated the same. That said, I don't know of many good examples outside of heavily editorial ones with a relatively small set of content producers, that have been able to be both extremely inclusive and progressive towards what I think are the "right" kind of marginalized ideas while keeping out the ones that I think are marginalized for very good reason (and I use "I" here as a measure because different people differ quite a bit on these judgments).<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin7" name="BackHallin7">7</a>]</sup> If anything, there are concerns that attempts to suppress speech by groups that should be marginal are often used against those that shouldn't.<sup>[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#Hallin8" name="BackHallin8">8</a>]</sup><br />
<br />
Many of the larger Internet platforms are trying, with varying degrees of success and failure, to do this right, as I was when I worked at Google and Twitter. That said, I don't have a great example of a platform or community that is working exactly as I would like. And it seems like that is a big and worthy challenge. Anyhow, there is probably a whole 'nother post from me on this, but that's for another day, this one is already long enough.<br />
<br />
P.S. If you have examples of platforms or communities doing this extremely well at scale, please forgive me for not including them and help me fix my error by pointing me towards them <a href="https://twitter.com/amac">@amac</a>.<br />
<br />
<hr align="LEFT" width="80%" />
<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin1"></a>1]</sup> I am an expert in none of these, but I have found them to be very useful concepts. [<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin1">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin2"></a>2]</sup> One of the questions that Professor Lessig asked that I think is really interesting, but not quite on point for this post is "What is the thing that we can't really consider today because it almost unthinkable, but our grandchildren will think is so obviously true that it is unthinkable to debate against?"
[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin2">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin3"></a>3]</sup> For example, see Obergefell v. Hodges, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/576/14-556/opinion3.html">576 U.S. ___</a> (2015).
[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin3">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin4"></a>4]</sup> This has clearly not been uniform progress. Even as the speech gatekeepers have receded and allowed more people to speak, harassment, trolling, aggressive spamming, false flagging, and other techniques are being used to suppress speech and drive speakers, particularly those who have historically been marginalized, away from these platforms.
[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin4">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin5"></a>5]</sup> I also believe that these two effects have negatively impacted trust in institutions more generally. [<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin5">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin6"></a>6]</sup> <i>See</i> note 4.
[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin6">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin7"></a>7]</sup> Spam or illegal content might be good examples of this at some of the major services.
[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin7">return</a>]<br />
<sup>[<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Hallin8"></a>8]</sup> <i>See e.g. </i>Daphne Keller, <a href="https://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/files/publication/files/Commission-Filing-Stanford-CIS-26-3_0.pdf">Inception Impact Assessment: Measures to further improve the effectiveness of the fight against illegal content online</a>, Comment to the European Commission, March 29 2018 (discussing the potential for disparate impact of rules requiring internet platforms removal of terrorist content).[<a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2018/04/hallin-spheres-overton-windows.html#BackHallin8">return</a>]macgillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11740500682899250940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-81063989161850943602018-02-28T07:14:00.000-08:002019-01-16T05:38:10.591-08:00A Service I WantI would like an algorithm or service that would suggest arguments, opinions, and points of view from smart people trusted within their communities but with whom I am likely to disagree or whose communities I am underexposed to. I do not think I am alone in this desire.<br />
<br />
I attempt to get some of this out of who I follow on Twitter (and it was a great use for Google Reader -- may it rest in peace), but that is a pretty imperfect system. I also routinely ask others to suggest sources I might like to fulfill these needs, but I have found that many struggle to make good suggestions.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8XSibcV1D6YkngpHx82sB7pJKYR9DdjZKJKqFiRMHKIJMYLDmmvEKnDlIZqGI8nwtrbUB05xHkizJk-5sUOTqCVpigyX2q3rV3b2wn7eStWVxBYP1YPbxB2psw_4yRvhZO7spOUhZmbB/s1600/14598276840_306197d522_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1600" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8XSibcV1D6YkngpHx82sB7pJKYR9DdjZKJKqFiRMHKIJMYLDmmvEKnDlIZqGI8nwtrbUB05xHkizJk-5sUOTqCVpigyX2q3rV3b2wn7eStWVxBYP1YPbxB2psw_4yRvhZO7spOUhZmbB/s320/14598276840_306197d522_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Noble Returns to the Pavilion, from <a href="https://archive.org/stream/wgcricketingremi00grac/wgcricketingremi00grac#page/n500/mode/1up">"W.G.", cricketing <br />reminiscences and personal recollections</a> (1899) <br />Public domain book from the <a href="https://archive.org/">Internet Archive</a>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One of the tricky things about this algorithm or service is that it would need to distinguish between those arguments and communities that I care about, those that I do not, and those I am repulsed by. For example, I am probably underexposed to cricket enthusiasts but I don’t care much about cricket anymore and don’t want more information. Another example is that I have not read anything about the Parkland victims being actors conspiracy theories but I would be actively repulsed if a service suggested that I should read about it.<br />
<br />
My suspicion is that one of the reasons services serve up filter-bubble content based on the engagement metrics of friend groups and similar users is because it is much easier than finding good, challenging material to suggest to users. That said, I wonder if the later might be more fulfilling to the user over the long term and result in a stickier service if it could be achieved.<br />
<br />
Do you know of a service doing a good job of this? Do you have ideas for users or publications that would fit this bill for me? If so, please send them my way at <a href="https://twitter.com/amac" style="text-decoration-line: none;">@amac</a><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiTtpHKl6E65fGcXoGzFWoRGfAgxhSv-0I2BRIrKLJj9Lr015ulsvzmsgIduYHvaLiA3ltTTJBCbglx7zvM1VWInKzqYzC84sUyxfzoV9NfL-HtU2mjLeRbVmAAfPmsF2l1EXaTavtpjm/s1600/14761978676_fd1aa9dfc6_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1004" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiTtpHKl6E65fGcXoGzFWoRGfAgxhSv-0I2BRIrKLJj9Lr015ulsvzmsgIduYHvaLiA3ltTTJBCbglx7zvM1VWInKzqYzC84sUyxfzoV9NfL-HtU2mjLeRbVmAAfPmsF2l1EXaTavtpjm/s320/14761978676_fd1aa9dfc6_o.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C.L. Townsend, Playing Forward, from <a href="https://archive.org/stream/wgcricketingremi00grac/wgcricketingremi00grac#page/n464/mode/1up">"W.G.", cricketing<br />reminiscences and personal recollections</a> (1899)<br />
Public domain book from the <a href="https://archive.org/">Internet Archive</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-86799164556766974342018-02-26T04:21:00.000-08:002018-02-26T04:24:45.253-08:00Internet & JurisdictionI went to the last <a href="http://conference2016.internetjurisdiction.net/">Internet & Jurisdiction gathering in Paris</a>. I can’t make it to the one that <a href="https://conference.internetjurisdiction.net/">starts today in Ottawa</a>, but I would have come if I could. I’ve been thinking about the last one all year because it was full of good, smart people trying to make progress on coherent and practical Internet jurisdiction. What I also loved about it was that I came away strongly disagreeing with the direction they were going. More on that below, but first some background.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKoHlw4QK-dM23sEQfBzEtD251Q8VqcVh5JInf_tZxOeFbkTk2pDHrGOFrIQ6RqO7vh_aDcHSTEDnK9ATQv_RNKFGcBdTf3Vo4CLaQQG11LHX7rlA32mkBn7iP5c9vvpfiHqIzu3nPfp0/s1600/9508405067_68b1647abe_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKoHlw4QK-dM23sEQfBzEtD251Q8VqcVh5JInf_tZxOeFbkTk2pDHrGOFrIQ6RqO7vh_aDcHSTEDnK9ATQv_RNKFGcBdTf3Vo4CLaQQG11LHX7rlA32mkBn7iP5c9vvpfiHqIzu3nPfp0/s320/9508405067_68b1647abe_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dwarf Galaxy Caught Ramming Into a Large Spiral Galaxy <br />
(NASA, Chandra, 08/14/13) from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/9508405067/">NASA Marshall Space Flight Center</a>.<br />
This and the other space images accompanying this blog post appear <br />
to be in the public domain, in spite of NASA's <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html">weird licensey language</a> <br />
to the contrary.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre;">Background: Internet Jurisdiction</span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
Jurisdiction is one of the oldest and thorniest questions for Internet policy: “Which government(s) get to regulate what and who, where?” <br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
As John Perry Barlow put it in his <a href="https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence">1996 manifesto</a> declaring the Internet’s independence from government regulation, “[Cyberspace] is a world that is both everywhere and nowhere, but it is not where bodies live.” In that piece, he argued that regulation of the Internet by governments was both unwise and impractical. Others saw it differently. As Tim Wu <a href="http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v10/10HarvJLTech647.pdf">wrote in 1997</a>, “it is possible to regulate the Internet, and ... countries, corporations, organizations, and private individuals are already doing so.” The first important legal cases involving the extent of government jurisdiction over the Internet were decided shortly thereafter. <br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
As the Internet has grown, become more mainstream, and increased in importance, particularly with respect to real world consequences that governments have historically regulated, questions of which governments get to regulate who and what online have become increasingly frequent. These questions get “answered” in courts, as governments make laws, and by corporations and individuals as the architecture, norms, markets, and regulation of the Internet develop.<br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
There has been no straight line of consensus “progress” from one point of view to another. Even now, there are big questions that are being actively fought, including the United States Supreme Court considering <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Corp._v._United_States">Microsoft’s challenge to request by the United States</a> for user data stored in Ireland, and the Supreme Court of Canada <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/16701/index.do">asserting</a> the ability to order content removed globally only to have a U.S. District Court <a href="https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/google-v-equustek-united-states-federal-court-declares-canadian-court-order-unenforceable&httpsredir=1&article=2589&context=historical">disagree</a>.<br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
The technological landscape has also changed dramatically. Over the last twenty years, as billions of people started using the Internet it has morphed from an incredibly decentralized landscape of personal websites hosted from tiny service providers, often at the very edge of the network, to a more centralized set of cloud-storage service providers serving a large percentage of the population. If the FBI wanted to find out whether I had sent an email to a particular person in 1996, they would have had to come to my house to get my computer and take a look at my locally stored email, if I hadn’t already deleted it. Today, all my email is on Google’s servers, just like that of more than a billion other people from all over the world. The public content I created used to be housed on a server in my closet. If someone thought I was saying something illegal, they would have likewise most likely have had to come to me in order to get it removed from the Internet. While it is true that, in some situations, some other avenues existed to get my information or remove my content, they were not very broadly available or used. By contrast, now, most of my online content is served from large U.S. corporations, like Google and Github. If they decide my content shouldn’t be online, they can remove it and force me to go look for another publisher. In some cases the online service providers are so important that no suitable replacement would exist.<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjpLna2bhKhKW_Uql_rC-i4BNL2JBvAeg4a8psbqSO91_jF9uwYvJ4jHOWGrD_o5xNfuWOy8coRCuAH2hiMNAi8jMCx4QtIt34DhzjxriNsbX1iUNoXdy0iX25mHkimixaoAUXaLrBKzW/s1600/6950499078_5a93c15379_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjpLna2bhKhKW_Uql_rC-i4BNL2JBvAeg4a8psbqSO91_jF9uwYvJ4jHOWGrD_o5xNfuWOy8coRCuAH2hiMNAi8jMCx4QtIt34DhzjxriNsbX1iUNoXdy0iX25mHkimixaoAUXaLrBKzW/s320/6950499078_5a93c15379_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tarantula Nebula (NASA, Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer,<br />
04/17/12) from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/6950499078/">NASA Marshall Space Flight Center</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre;">Towards a coherent, if abhorrent, Internet jurisdiction policy</span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
The <a href="https://conference.internetjurisdiction.net/">Internet & Jurisdiction Conference</a> (I&J for short) focuses on three broad tracks: data, requests for private user data; content, requests to render content inaccessible; and the internet domain name system. I’m most interested in the first two and these comments are mostly meant for them. <br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
I&J had a wide variety of participants and many more government and law enforcement types than I generally find at the Internet policy conferences. The conversation was therefore more oriented towards those stakeholders than at some other conferences, and it was quite similar in tone to the types of conversations happening in <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1865">governments</a> and <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/16701/index.do">courts</a> all over the world right now. <br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
In both the data request and content removal areas, these conversations are moving towards a coherent, if abhorrent, policy of allowing governments almost everywhere to get data about any internet user or remove any content without needing to engage the users themselves or the court systems of their jurisdictions. Most discussions exclude certain governments from the club that should have this type of power, but the idea that data should be able to be given over and content should be able to be suppressed through interactions between governments and repeat-player intermediaries was so ingrained in many of the discussions as to be an assumption. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/opinion/sunday/tyranny-convenience.html">Convenience</a> and speed are touted as principal advantages. <br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
For example, a Facebook user in Mexico <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">should </span>have their data given to authorities in the England on a request to Facebook. A Canadian Microsoft user <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">should</span> have their post suppressed, at least in Thailand if not all over the world, via a request to Microsoft. Even if the user is known to the complainant, no direct approach to them is contemplated. At some companies under some circumstances the user might get a notice, but that is left to the companies and to the circumstance. This is not just “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us">All your base are belong to us</a>” but “All your base aren’t ever belonged to you in the first place.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ6zRP8wbgUT5RXc4ZFC0wLCAY_Bc8wUbJttiVOLDGyq9Ol8PWIyugXnyoPNY6_EIgGkc9mEQvYlp2FNgk47fU78EkoPpPVsddjZHenSYEURjzsIfB6wlfqa3hMpKeobg2rXr-dManjd8/s1600/7004963602_744b4a5c87_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ6zRP8wbgUT5RXc4ZFC0wLCAY_Bc8wUbJttiVOLDGyq9Ol8PWIyugXnyoPNY6_EIgGkc9mEQvYlp2FNgk47fU78EkoPpPVsddjZHenSYEURjzsIfB6wlfqa3hMpKeobg2rXr-dManjd8/s320/7004963602_744b4a5c87_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Black Hole Caught in a Stellar Homicide (NASA, Chandra, <br />GALEX, 05/03/12)</span> from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/7004963602/">NASA Marshall Space Flight Center</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A challenge: Center Internet policy on </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">users</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> citizens</span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
If I were able to come again this year, I would. Indeed, my favorite conferences are those at which a majority of the attendees are smart, passionate advocates with direct experience with the subject matter and with whom I disagree (see e.g. the excellent <a href="http://fordhamipinstitute.com/">Fordham Intellectual Property Institute</a>). If I was there, I would challenge the attendees to propose a way forward that centers on the user rather than removing them from the equation. It is more convenient to just go to the big corporate repeat players. They are well known to the governments and can be counted on to pick up the phone. However, an Internet jurisdiction policy that regularly circumvents the user will encourage countermeasures to return power to the user -- the emerging prevalence of end-to-end encrypted services is one good example of this trend. More importantly, those users are our countries’ citizens, they deserve our respect and, at least, to be able to face their accusers and challenge the accusations. There may be cases where expediency trumps all, but this is the tiny minority of cases, not the norm on which policy should be based.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tBR6qUGH1SU?start=1323" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The YouTube clip above is of me trying to make a similar point at the end of last year's I&J.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
PS If you want to read more about the current intermediary liability battles, please follow <a href="https://twitter.com/daphnehk">Daphne Keller</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ericgoldman">Eric Goldman</a> and take a look at their excellent sets of resources on the topic at <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/focus-areas/intermediary-liability">Stanford</a> and on Eric’s <a href="https://blog.ericgoldman.org/">blog</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/cyberleagle">Graham Smith</a> also wrote a <a href="http://www.cyberleagle.com/2018/02/peaceful-coexistence-jurisdiction-and.html">couple</a> of <a href="http://www.cyberleagle.com/2017/08/21-years-of-cross-border-liability-on.html">posts</a> in the run-up to this year’s I&J.<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlAlO8itIxWsweY9addu5W2-u-zK-vxKwu3nWUCuUHrlJjfBs9v6uYvBpLtrj6fURePjvu6R-unmQPOuPmO-sicYw1iLg9Z9HhGYpbupKpj3OzpC5GxP4LfZb0UOZWOpwNEouw0kC-v-W/s1600/8165115083_6d4390c226_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlAlO8itIxWsweY9addu5W2-u-zK-vxKwu3nWUCuUHrlJjfBs9v6uYvBpLtrj6fURePjvu6R-unmQPOuPmO-sicYw1iLg9Z9HhGYpbupKpj3OzpC5GxP4LfZb0UOZWOpwNEouw0kC-v-W/s320/8165115083_6d4390c226_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Star Cluster Cygnus OB2 (NASA, Chandra,<br />
11/07/12) from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/8165115083/">NASA Marshall Space Flight Center</a>.</td></tr>
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A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-80641168915732996972018-02-02T01:58:00.000-08:002018-02-02T01:58:32.068-08:00Screens, Images, and Attention (a thing I'm working on) Many of us have more than a few screens. Mostly they lay idle. A tablet for plane trips, an old phone, a Chromecast connected LCD TV.<br />
<br />
I also have a bunch of images I want to see more of. More than 100,000 personal digital photos. And, <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/about_the_database/images_on_the_database.aspx">lots</a> <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection">more</a> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Featured_pictures/chronological">incredible</a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/">images</a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/">out</a> in the <a href="https://archive.org/details/nasa?and[]=mediatype%3A%22image%22">world</a>. Millions.<br />
<br />
One of the things I loved about the Obama White House was that Pete Souza and his team's wonderful photos were everywhere and changed relatively frequently. Walking to a meeting you'd see a picture of a co-worker and her kids hugging the President. In a meeting room there would be a beautiful photo of Half Dome in Yosemite and Marine One. It was great.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/15399462301_7fc15d95d6_o_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/15399462301_7fc15d95d6_o_d.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Barack Obama visits with Natalie Quillian, <br />
Advisor to the Chief of Staff, and family in the Oval Office,<br />
Aug. 27, 2014. (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/15399462301">Official White House Photo</a> by Pete Souza).<br />
Public Domain.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm working on using idle screens to bring more of that into my home with my images and those from incredible online collections. The idea would be that the screens could show a playlist (automatically generated or hand-curated) of images from a wide variety of sources and on a wide variety of devices / screens. Incidentally, I haven't been able to find the equivalent of .m3u for images. I don't think it exists. It would be wonderful if people could trade image playlists.<br />
<br />
Automatically generated playlists could show images relevant to the day of the year, or types of images, or ones that will look good on that particular screen, or ones I might like based on what I've liked before. An earlier version of this was surprisingly good if it just showed images from Christmas, New Year's and Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Magnificent_CME_Erupts_on_the_Sun_-_August_31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Magnificent_CME_Erupts_on_the_Sun_-_August_31.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar Flare, August 31, 2012, Nasa Goddard Space Flight <br />
Center. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Magnificent_CME_Erupts_on_the_Sun_-_August_31.jpg">Hosted</a> by Wikipedia. Public Domain.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I don't know of a thing out there that does this across image collections. Do you?<br />
<br />
I mostly program to learn things. This project will help me really learn the techniques I've been studying through the Andrew Ng's <a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning">Coursera on Machine Learning</a>. It will also brush up some of my full-stack web development skills as the database will be Mysql, the backend will be Python 3 and Django 2, the frontend will be HTML and CSS with a lot of Javascript (including ajax, which I haven't used too much). And, I'll get to know both JQuery and <a href="http://jquery.malsup.com/cycle2/">Cycle 2</a> well. It has been fun so far and I will share updates as I go, and, eventually, the code.<br />
<br />
I'm not doing this as an "entrepreneur." The idea isn't to make a bunch of money or get a million users. Mostly I'm doing this for myself and to learn. I have found that deeply understanding technology is really helpful to my legal and policy work (not to mention my life). I also really enjoy coding for fun. If you haven't tried that, you should!<br />
<br />
I'm writing about it here to further commit to finishing it and so that others can share their good ideas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://ia800501.us.archive.org/3/items/mma_153rd_new_york_infantry_268038/268038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="800" height="207" src="https://ia800501.us.archive.org/3/items/mma_153rd_new_york_infantry_268038/268038.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">153rd New York Infantry, ca. 1861, from Metropolitan Museum <br />
of Art. <a href="https://archive.org/details/mma_153rd_new_york_infantry_268038">Hosted</a> by the Internet Archive. Public Domain.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you are interested in using or working on this, please let me know. I'd be interested in understanding other use cases. I would also love pointers to great image repositories (preferably public domain). And eventually, I'd like people to help me rate the pics from some of the public repositories. My email is "lawyer" @ the popular email service run by Google. Or you can @reply me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/amac">@amac</a>.A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-65537630084299416392017-10-02T12:11:00.000-07:002019-01-16T05:38:27.943-08:00Recap & Response to a Thread on SpeechSometimes a Twitter thread is easier to read as a blog post.<br />
<br />
The below was originally posted on Twitter.<br />
<br />
1) Good <a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914608686688956416">thread by @yonatanzunger</a> with a bunch of useful truths. Recap & comments from me below.<br />
<br />
2) Speech can be used as a weapon against other speech: <a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609013722984448">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609013722984448</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609721696559109">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609721696559109</a><br />
See also <a href="https://twitter.com/superwuster/status/912836269708906496">@superwuster arguing that the 1st Am is obsolete in an era of attention scarcity</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf56Cwt3WcqQftpl8iL5F8rTqJVjeIJAK95srfoTmDgp0mpjIeIup1IIuLMoN2jPqDYJCHXVD3jDcEdQ58CxoPexFAbw2G76E3JM_mUZ2Q_w-kO-nLFVdSJ9dvMs6L0mKSfsiBENhCjFu/s1600/riot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="870" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf56Cwt3WcqQftpl8iL5F8rTqJVjeIJAK95srfoTmDgp0mpjIeIup1IIuLMoN2jPqDYJCHXVD3jDcEdQ58CxoPexFAbw2G76E3JM_mUZ2Q_w-kO-nLFVdSJ9dvMs6L0mKSfsiBENhCjFu/s320/riot.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fight between Rioters and Militia, from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=kAUKAAAAIAAJ&dq=riot%20intitle%3Aillustrated&pg=PA128-IA2#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="background-color: white; color: #ff6600; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.68px; text-align: left;">Pen and Pencil Sketches of the Great Riots</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.68px; text-align: left;">. </span>Image in the Public Domain.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
3) People bear diff costs of bad speech & harassment, disadvantaged often most affected:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609927729147904">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609927729147904</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914610451782156288">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914610451782156288</a><br />
<br />
4) Understanding & combating speech that reduces engagement can further a speech maximizing policy goal:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611676497899520">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611676497899520</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611742247809024">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611742247809024</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914612024126038016">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914612024126038016</a><br />
<br />
5) Having + stating an “editorial voice,” gestures, public perception & examples also can be important:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914612173023744001">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914612173023744001</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611921038409729">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611921038409729</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914612262790402048">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914612262790402048</a><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdF4u9J97UTx815hmO8cAeLlP5SnboxunBDuSM_fZlUlkq-9mjYSs3jsOnXvVveoy5oyn3eCi6uS-tkuJPhXe1D574OTeLfFyL6qJFykSdMswEUMkuGah4RySg_HNMTLnfHn5LkG_DJ3n_/s1600/typeset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="617" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdF4u9J97UTx815hmO8cAeLlP5SnboxunBDuSM_fZlUlkq-9mjYSs3jsOnXvVveoy5oyn3eCi6uS-tkuJPhXe1D574OTeLfFyL6qJFykSdMswEUMkuGah4RySg_HNMTLnfHn5LkG_DJ3n_/s320/typeset.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Frame, from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vfK3BGlbxVkC&dq=%22gutenberg%20press%22%20intitle%3Aillustrated&pg=PA408#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="background-color: white; color: #ff6600; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.68px; text-align: left;">Typographia</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.68px; text-align: left;">. </span>Image in the Public Domain.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
6) Also, he gives great pointers to smart folks in the online community field:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609375523852288">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914609375523852288</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611296150188032">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611296150188032</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611486881808384">https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914611486881808384</a><br />
And of course there are many more, incl: Heather Champ, <a href="https://twitter.com/juniperdowns">@juniperdowns</a>, Victoria Grand, Monika Bickert, Shantal Rands, Micah Schaffer, <a href="https://twitter.com/delbius">@delbius</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/nicolewong">@nicolewong</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/zeynep">@zeynep</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/zephoria">@zephoria</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenBalkam">@StephenBalkam</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/unburntwitch">@unburntwitch</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/noupside">@noUpside</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ethanz">@EthanZ</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/jessamyn">@jessamyn</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahjeong">@sarahjeong</a> + many many more incl great non-US folk. And including the folks & orgs on the various advisory councils:<br />
<a href="https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/a/2016/announcing-the-twitter-trust-safety-council.html">https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/a/2016/announcing-the-twitter-trust-safety-council.html</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/222332597793306/">https://www.facebook.com/help/222332597793306/</a> (and others)<br />
As <a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/">@yonatanzunger</a> says, this work is a team sport that advances with help from all around.<br />
<br />
7) I have some Qs re his <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230">47 USC §230</a> (CDA) points. I don't know a case of something like his “editorial voice” breaking immunity or otherwise causing a “huge legal risk.” Indeed that was the point of §230 originally. So, asking experts: <a href="https://twitter.com/ericgoldman">@ericgoldman </a>& <a href="https://twitter.com/daphnehk">@daphnehk</a> what do you think?<br />
<br />
8) Also, I don’t think “maximizing speech” is quite the right goal or that every service should have the same goal. I want something different when I go to Facebook v Twitter v YouTube.<br />
Also, I want more than one good service whose arch + policies (and, sure, “editorial voice”) support an extremely wide diversity of views being able to flourish, be expressed well & be easy to find & interact with including from outside social circles. But your mileage may vary.<br />
<br />
9) Naturally, I also disagree that Twitter folks (including me) “never took [these issues] seriously,” provided “bullshit” explanations, were naive, and chased traffic over good policy. Was there & think I'd know.<br />
But, taking that sort of beating is kinda part of the job. And, maybe I’m too biased from working & learning these issues at platforms incl many at Google, Twitter & in govt w/ <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS44">@POTUS44</a>.<br />
<br />
10) Anyhow, I’m very glad <a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/">@yonatanzunger </a>chose to post this thread to Twitter & I hope the suggestions part is read widely.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFejW6mDw3Q7GwEGUcXV9gwtD7mejPggO0ykkX7yD9bZExLwgfAFNT2oKWtU7O3xHb3Zy2vYrFVeoV54I3isja1n64x0PjV5Amf1yRjFGgsSDH2xOV1vyQfF-NBGq1vWT6nbNAoEAJFmTv/s1600/press.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="711" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFejW6mDw3Q7GwEGUcXV9gwtD7mejPggO0ykkX7yD9bZExLwgfAFNT2oKWtU7O3xHb3Zy2vYrFVeoV54I3isja1n64x0PjV5Amf1yRjFGgsSDH2xOV1vyQfF-NBGq1vWT6nbNAoEAJFmTv/s320/press.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Printing Press, from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vfK3BGlbxVkC&dq=%22gutenberg%20press%22%20intitle%3Aillustrated&pg=PA414-IA2#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="background-color: white; color: #ff6600; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.68px; text-align: left;">Typographia</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.68px; text-align: left;">. Image in the Public Domain.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-17134871939917889322017-09-25T06:14:00.000-07:002024-02-26T08:12:25.298-08:00Google Location History to Country Chart<span style="background-color: #fcff01;">UPDATE 2/26/2024: Google has updated its format for location history (and renamed it Google Timeline), so I rewrote a bunch of this code for the new format (and got rid of the need for a Google API key). New post here: <a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2024/02/google-timeline-to-countries-and-dates.html">https://www.bricoleur.org/2024/02/google-timeline-to-countries-and-dates.html</a>.</span><div><br /></div><div>I had some spare time, so I knocked out another rough and ready set of scripts that I've been meaning to code for a while (see also <a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2017/03/dense-dead.html">DenseDead</a>). These scripts, written in python with help from the <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/intro">Google Geocoding API</a>, <a href="https://developers.google.com/chart/">Google Charts</a>, and the <a href="https://github.com/geopy/geopy">GeoPy</a> module will give you a map of the world with countries colored based on how many years it has been since you visited. Mine looks like this (I added some data by hand for before 2012):<br />
<br />
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/charts/loader.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
google.charts.load('current', {'packages':['geochart']});
google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawRegionsMap);
function drawRegionsMap() {
var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([
['Country', 'Years Since Visit']
,['Canada', -0]
,['Ghana', -4]
,['Ireland', -4]
,['Portugal', -3]
,['USA', -0]
,['Mexico', -1]
,['Denmark', -3]
,['France', -0]
,['United States', -0]
,['Iceland', -3]
,['Kenya', -4]
,['China', -9]
,['Germany', -0]
,['UK', -0]
,['Puerto Rico', -1]
,['Belgium', -4]
,['Japan', -5]
,['Dominican Republic', -2]
,['Norway', -2]
,['South Korea', -9]
,['Spain', -0]
]);
var options = {};
var chart = new google.visualization.GeoChart(document.getElementById('regions_div'));
chart.draw(data, options);
}
</script>
<br />
<div id="regions_div" style="height: 500px; width: 900px;">
</div>
<br />
It is kind of kludgy, but in case you are curious, the steps and the scripts are below.<br />
<br />
One of the reasons I wanted to write these is because the Google information is awesome but both too detailed for what I'd like to keep lying around, and not useful to me as latitude/longitudes. Instead, I'd like to know the countries I've been to over time. With these scripts, I convert the timestamps and latitude/longitudes into timestamps and addresses before fuzzing them down to years and countries, which is immediately useful and about the level that I want to keep. If you no longer find Google's use of its more fine-grained information useful, you can also clear the more detailed information from Google (<a href="https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en">instructions to delete your location history</a>).<br />
<ol>
<li>Go to <a href="https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout">Google Takeout</a> and download a KML of your location history. Allow me one small digression here. <br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><DIGRESSION></span> <br />Google Takeout exists because of a relatively small group of engineers and others at Google who worked hard to make it exist. The team used to go by the name of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Data_Liberation_Front">Google Data Liberation Front</a> and have a really cool <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091101135252/http://dataliberation.org/">website</a> and logo. The website now redirects to a <a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/">support article</a> but there are still great people working at Google working on ensuring that users have access to their data. This type of data portability is extremely important and ensuring it is something I worked on in the private and <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/09/30/exploring-data-portability">public sector</a>. Thank you to the current and former team members and allies of the Data Liberation Front! <br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"></ DIGRESSION></span></li>
<li>Run reduce_kml.py to reduce the number of KML entries to a more manageable number. I threw out all entries that are within 10miles of the last entry I counted. The commandline is: <br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">#python reduce_kml.py Google_Location.kml > outfile.kml</span></li>
<li>Split up the resulting file into chunks so that you don't violate the Google Geocoding API's daily limit. I used "#<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">split -l4000 output_from_reduce.kml infile</span>" that will produce 2000 calls to the Google API per file.</li>
<li>Run get_addresses.py on each of the split files. Do one per day so as not to get blocked. The commandline is: <br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">#PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8 python get_addresses.py input_file.kml</span> <br />Note that I needed to specify the encoding because although I think I understand encoding well enough, I don't. If someone else wants to teach me how to fix that, I would love to know.</li>
<li>Join the outputfiles ("<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">#join infileaa infileab infileac > infile_join</span>"). </li>
<li>Optional: Fuzz the joined outputfiles by using fuzz_addresses.py: <br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">#python fuzz_addresses.py inputfile.csv outputfile.csv</span></li>
<li>Run make_country_chart.py to create an HTML file that will include the javascript for the chart. The commandline is: <br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">#python make_country_chart.py input_file.csv > Country_Chart.html</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
You may download the scripts at <a href="https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools">amac0/google-location-tools</a> and the most interesting are also below.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
reduce_kml.py<br />
<script src="http://gist-it.appspot.com/https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools/blob/master/reduce_kml.py"></script>
get_addresses.py<br />
<script src="http://gist-it.appspot.com/https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools/blob/master/get_addresses.py"></script>
fuzz_address.py<br />
<script src="http://gist-it.appspot.com/https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools/blob/master/fuzz_addresses.py"></script>
make_country_chart.py<br />
<script src="http://gist-it.appspot.com/https://github.com/amac0/google-location-tools/blob/master/make_country_chart.py"></script></div>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-50912844909919707132017-04-11T08:52:00.000-07:002017-04-11T09:06:00.203-07:00First Time in Government<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The President of the United States is going to call you in three hours to offer you the job, so I need to know in two whether you will say yes because we do not surprise the President.” That’s what </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Park" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Todd Park</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Technology_Officer_of_the_United_States" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. Chief Technology Officer</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (CTO), said to me in August of 2014 as our family was about to head back to San Francisco for the new school year.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoD-rWPXMWSd6wE3CCTrU8y-FKacPDK2926BQk4I1rZas1UmaLBaEw3C3aR7Pym8bdLUOT_R_T3E3fkqYIaQ4h9Bj5bBD_1TPytqkwAl179gG09ttDz6etxgmOPWCJb0roy6PIQLyjIhUO/s1600/8734832757_2bddf4c0dc_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoD-rWPXMWSd6wE3CCTrU8y-FKacPDK2926BQk4I1rZas1UmaLBaEw3C3aR7Pym8bdLUOT_R_T3E3fkqYIaQ4h9Bj5bBD_1TPytqkwAl179gG09ttDz6etxgmOPWCJb0roy6PIQLyjIhUO/s320/8734832757_2bddf4c0dc_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Todd Park, Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer<br />
shows President Obama information on a tablet April 15, 2013.<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/8734832757/">Official White House Photo by Pete Souz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In those two hours, I tried to figure out if I could really make a significant positive impact in the job the President would offer me as Deputy U.S. CTO. And, if so, whether that was worth moving our family. The ability to make a positive impact is generally my north star when trying to make job decisions, but time and again, when I am looking back on whether taking a job was the right decision, the quality of the team I got to work with is always most important. Now that I’ve had some time to reflect on my time in government, and the entire Obama team has <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/3/31/15139966/trump-white-house-technology-science-policy">moved on from team CTO</a>, I know that this time was no different. While I am extremely grateful for the impact of the work I was privileged to do, I am most happy about my time in government because of the the people I got to do it with.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsotvqlC0LBeoI0sHs3bxLVjAqQ5trY-DD_P31Y66JTc_BF92tGo_Bt_iImCJ-sG2zdqOBifnkaeet1_aXfUphfX-XlAwTMF9ZbdiWMrmPN4JmFR9KjzGAOY0DhtQ5SrePYy-o_kbLfbH/s1600/14773010555_1cd87786e1_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsotvqlC0LBeoI0sHs3bxLVjAqQ5trY-DD_P31Y66JTc_BF92tGo_Bt_iImCJ-sG2zdqOBifnkaeet1_aXfUphfX-XlAwTMF9ZbdiWMrmPN4JmFR9KjzGAOY0DhtQ5SrePYy-o_kbLfbH/s320/14773010555_1cd87786e1_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, home of the<br />
U.S. CTO, pictured c 1907, then the State, War & Navy Building<br />
Gall, George, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/washingtoncapita00gall/washingtoncapita00gall#page/n14/mode/1up">Washington: The Capital of the Nation</a> (1907).<br />
Digitized by The Internet Archive from the Library of Congress</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The impact of government work was amazing. Our purpose was clear: help make life better for and with the American people. Under President Obama, </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/divisions/cto" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Team CTO</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had significant impact working together along with many others in our home at the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Science_and_Technology_Policy" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Office of Science and Technology Policy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (OSTP), elsewhere in the </span><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2017/01/working-at-white-house.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">White House</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and across the Federal Government. We supported the work done by previous CTO teams to bring tech capacity to government in the form of the </span><a href="https://presidentialinnovationfellows.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presidential Innovation Fellows</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/124182" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18F</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.usds.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. Digital Service</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and revamped </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/us/politics/a-digital-team-is-helping-obama-find-his-voice-online.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Office of Digital Strategy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We brought more data science and data scientists into government through the creation of the </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/02/18/white-house-names-dr-dj-patil-first-us-chief-data-scientist" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. Chief Data Scientist</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> team and role, and creating a data science cabinet. We expanded data collaborations for solutions in justice, jobs, housing, education, and more, while continuing to get more </span><a href="https://www.data.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">government data out to the public</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The </span><a href="https://www.opengovpartnership.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Open Government Partnership</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (OGP) </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/07/fact-sheet-united-states-commitment-open-government-partnership-and-open" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">continued to thrive and grow</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and we shepherded the </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/open/partnership/national-action-plans" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. Open Government National Action Plans</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> while teaming up with the National Security Council and State Department to help lead the U.S. OGP. With support from the </span><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2017/03/chiefs-of-staff-we-need-more-in-private.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chief of Staff</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, we created a new tool for </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2017/01/04/tq-public-policy" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tech policy making</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> called the Tech Policy Task Force -- which added “TQ” to many policy tables, formulated a </span><a href="https://sourcecode.cio.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">federal source code policy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, moved the government forward on </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/10/12/administrations-report-future-artificial-intelligence" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">artificial intelligence</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and uncrewed aerial vehicles, accelerated open educational resources, highlighted </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/05/04/big-risks-big-opportunities-intersection-big-data-and-civil-rights" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the opportunities and challenges of big data and algorithmic decision making</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and worked with the Departments of Education, Transportation, Commerce, State, Homeland Security, Justice, and others to help regulations get out of the way of innovation while protecting people’s rights and lives. We pushed for greater recognition of all American talent, including women and underrepresented minorities in STEM; catalyzing for improvements in the portrayal of STEM people in media; expanding inclusive opportunity in </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/01/30/computer-science-all" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">computer science education</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; ensuring outreach for jobs in innovative industries in hiring programs, such as </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/technology/techhire" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TechHire</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; increasing Internet connectivity in the U.S. and around the world; championing </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2017/01/05/try-home-scouting-local-solutions-rapidly-scaling-whats-working" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">innovative local community solutions</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; pushing through more diversity and inclusion in the </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/10/05/presidential-memorandum-promoting-diversity-and-inclusion-national" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Federal government workforce</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; and expanding best practices in organizations and companies in diversity, equity, and inclusion, including </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/11/28/raising-floor-sharing-what-works-workplace-diversity-equity-and-inclusion" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">an implementation action grid</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/22/fact-sheet-global-entrepreneurship-summit-begins-silicon-valley-new" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tech Inclusion Pledge</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and expanded </span><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/11/30/demystifying-access-capital-all-early-stage-science-and-tech-entrepreneurs" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">inclusive venture funding</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And, lots more. Even reading the list brings a tired smile to my face.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWKcAMpA961Y8DTb6NPxGLu9MYNY3VZJUY3MH1uBLi_Vz2CtE0At5eWq9og5aWU7T2CfGH_ckNk7eB82znfl3aURsbae9eDqm5w78s8_HLK4vJ8JqFisiVgV6Q_u445JZUnSMdNUM2_37n/s1600/16601911779_1480bb573d_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWKcAMpA961Y8DTb6NPxGLu9MYNY3VZJUY3MH1uBLi_Vz2CtE0At5eWq9og5aWU7T2CfGH_ckNk7eB82znfl3aURsbae9eDqm5w78s8_HLK4vJ8JqFisiVgV6Q_u445JZUnSMdNUM2_37n/s320/16601911779_1480bb573d_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Obama writes his first line of code and celebrates <br />
with the middle school student who helped teach him, Dec. 8 2014.<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/16601911779/">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, while there was no shortage of impact, I still would say that it was the people that were the most important reason why I was so glad that I had the opportunity to work government. The diversity of people in the White House and at agencies was a huge difference from Silicon Valley. That diversity was expressed in terms of the traditional lines of socio-economic, ethnicity, race, color, religion, age, disability status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and far more balanced gender representation, but also in terms of point of view, educational, geographic origin, and career background. Sometimes, I was among others like me but more frequently I was unusual along a number of dimensions such as my lack of long federal service, my lack of military service, my tech background, etc. I came away extremely impressed with the level of experience, intellect, and passion that the Obama White House was able to attract. There were people who you later discovered were Rhodes Scholars, or Supreme Court clerks, or had beaten a Scrabble world champion over the weekend. I had expected both the diversity and excellence, but it is one thing to expect something and quite another to live it for two-plus years.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUSpx6FBleV7nZQkUQoTIWeLvFSOJs0pRCpHQ-moTxMYRxG8k-1M36u8HXvIKeVvezlbuy1fXzgB25rAz7QtsbrzEjI81MqvdZEEmJ5j3ccfLbNoEJEIQQoEHKMUQFqfRxVvvTpCCZLRJ/s1600/16601908439_973894fc56_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUSpx6FBleV7nZQkUQoTIWeLvFSOJs0pRCpHQ-moTxMYRxG8k-1M36u8HXvIKeVvezlbuy1fXzgB25rAz7QtsbrzEjI81MqvdZEEmJ5j3ccfLbNoEJEIQQoEHKMUQFqfRxVvvTpCCZLRJ/s320/16601908439_973894fc56_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Obama talks with U.S. CTO Megan Smith, and <br />
OSTP Director Dr. John Holdren, Oct. 8, 2014.<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/16601908439/">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Team CTO under U.S. CTO </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Smith" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Megan Smith</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was also outstanding. I had the privilege of working with a number of people that I have admired and wanted to work for for years. I also got to meet and work with a bunch of folks that I might never have otherwise met. Over my time there, the U.S. CTO team while I was there included at different times: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/puneetahira/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Puneet Ahira</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/SethAndrew" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seth Andrew</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/bacchustle" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rob Bacchus</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/jakebrewer" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jake Brewer</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/drmarvincarr" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marvin Carr</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Jimmy Catania, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/colleen_chien" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Colleen Chien</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/emcooke" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evan Cooke</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/r_d" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R. David Edelman</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/EdFelten" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed Felten</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Anjali Fernandes, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/BrianForde" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brian Forde</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/bri_fugate" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brianna Fugate</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ghoshd7" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dipayan Ghosh</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vivigraubard" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vivian Graubard</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-gregory-351a0516/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Renee Gregory</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/econohammer" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dan Hammer</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevansharris/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie Evans Harris</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/readg" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read Holman</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/khoney" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kristen Honey</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mina_hsiang" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mina Hsiang</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/postkxj" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kelly Jin</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/terahlyons" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Terah Lyons</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mc4llister" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matthew McAllister</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/dawnmielke" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dawn Mielke</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LynnOvermann" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lynn Overmann</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/rypan" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ryan Panchadsaram</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/dpatil?" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DJ Patil</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-power-a428b1b4/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tom Power</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/laurawp" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laura Weidman Powers</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Lawgeek" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jason Schultz</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/NickSinai" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nick Sinai</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/lesmith" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lauren Smith</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ashk4n" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ashkan Soltani</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/SubSuhas" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suhas Subramanyam</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/etavoulareas/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emily Tavoulareas</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mayauppaluru" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maya Uppaluru</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Adenvn" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aden Van Noppen</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/9cweiss" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nancy Weiss</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/claudiawilliams" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Claudia Williams</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/cew821" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charles Worthington</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/corizarek" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cori Zarek</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and, of course, the wonderful </span><a href="https://twitter.com/smithmegan" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Megan Smith</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> herself. </span></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/amac/lists/cto44/members" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yowza</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0UJG8Jj5Yt2CGheIYH9FLWOSzBTX6KwPWYxeu9Gyb1V4A89UUyvH5wO_CC1Q7hh7MLstqN3DZVaB31-urp1H1BfHE7KpZ5RAhTtYtNd5biKYoK2qku5uz6vR2rWLcDFu61MlmjuSrYmJ/s1600/ASA_1710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0UJG8Jj5Yt2CGheIYH9FLWOSzBTX6KwPWYxeu9Gyb1V4A89UUyvH5wO_CC1Q7hh7MLstqN3DZVaB31-urp1H1BfHE7KpZ5RAhTtYtNd5biKYoK2qku5uz6vR2rWLcDFu61MlmjuSrYmJ/s320/ASA_1710.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the wonderful folks that made up team CTO,<br />
Jan. 14, 2017.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That combination of a top-notch team amid a diverse broader group of excellent folks from top to bottom at OSTP, the broader White House and across the Government, made going into work both a joy and a challenging learning experience every day. I felt like I grew a ton, learned a lot about how the U.S. government functions, and picked up some really interesting management and leadership lessons from the people I got to work with. I came home mentally worn out but almost always smiling. I also made a bunch of new friends.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7flqRiAQlAd8D_gPW7ucRkIMulMTcgPTwx4SSaPONXGsXwvQUK3_I-5Luso7qPOQRgV40Ui6g3A37iiSHrfxurgfwGqJYLBYaeZ2ZNR-ew6AmTGJow-ncAzUY138s1JnWFlYSt4dTrcF/s1600/20894942972_0d97a792d4_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7flqRiAQlAd8D_gPW7ucRkIMulMTcgPTwx4SSaPONXGsXwvQUK3_I-5Luso7qPOQRgV40Ui6g3A37iiSHrfxurgfwGqJYLBYaeZ2ZNR-ew6AmTGJow-ncAzUY138s1JnWFlYSt4dTrcF/s320/20894942972_0d97a792d4_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Obama talks with Girl Scout White House Science<br />
Fair participants who had designed a Lego page turner to help<br />
people read books who may not otherwise be able, Mar. 23 2015.<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/20894942972/">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now that I have been out of work for a few months, I am thankful for the opportunity to make a pos</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">itive impact but I am certain that I made the right choice that August because of the amazing people I got to work with. I am still </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhWDFgRfi1Q" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">fired up</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that I had the privilege to serve with each and every one of them, and ready to go and work with them again!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU1D7fqp-OaIfcf7t0t_WFd6fJQMgEFKONqaraDkGBb7w-bIBACFA6DQrVWnxgtvgYD8HtbAJw5S79piW7KoRkZh0HSpa5nOrVfRDO5Azlb1sRFk9lfmqxfxBqMCzcxQx2LYwPY1WhQDz/s1600/16786906821_072abbdefb_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU1D7fqp-OaIfcf7t0t_WFd6fJQMgEFKONqaraDkGBb7w-bIBACFA6DQrVWnxgtvgYD8HtbAJw5S79piW7KoRkZh0HSpa5nOrVfRDO5Azlb1sRFk9lfmqxfxBqMCzcxQx2LYwPY1WhQDz/s320/16786906821_072abbdefb_o.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
President Obama, <span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12.8px;">listens during a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12.8px;">technology </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12.8px;">strategy</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12.8px;"> discussion, Oct. 8, 2014.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/16786906821/" style="color: #ff6600; font-size: 12.8px;">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></div>
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A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-8434258151481592442017-03-15T19:47:00.001-07:002017-03-15T19:47:25.188-07:00Dense DeadIf there is some interest, I'll publish something longer on this. In the meantime, I threw together a quick script that takes a link to one of the wonderful <a href="https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead">Grateful Dead shows available to stream from the Internet Archive</a> and edits out the least dense of Dead songs, Drums and Space, so that when I am listening to the Dead and working, I don't need to skip them.<br />
<br />
The result is <a href="http://densedead.com/">DenseDead.com</a> and a <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dense-dead/cipophnpcdpjdcipmogpooiopgdfhghm">chrome extension</a> that will rewrite Grateful Dead Internet Archive pages to push the m3u files through Dense Dead.<br />
<br />
For example, to hear a slightly denser version of The Grateful Dead's last show, the Internet Archive URL would be:<br />
<a href="https://archive.org/details/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16/gd95-07-09d1t01.flac">https://archive.org/details/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16/gd95-07-09d1t01.flac</a><br />
the streaming URL on that page is:<br />
<a href="https://archive.org/download/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16_vbr.m3u">https://archive.org/download/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16_vbr.m3u</a><br />
and the DenseDead URL would be:<br />
<a href="http://densedead.com/https://archive.org/download/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16_vbr.m3u"><b>http://densedead.com/</b>https://archive.org/download/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16/gd1995-07-09.127735.nick.flac16_vbr.m3u</a><br />
If you visit the Internet Archive URL for the show with the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dense-dead/cipophnpcdpjdcipmogpooiopgdfhghm">Dense Dead chrome extension</a> installed, clicking on the VBR Stream Playlist link will automagically give you the denser m3u file even though the page itself still shows the full show.<br />
<br />
If you find shows where Dense Dead doesn't work, hit me up on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/amac">@amac</a> and I'll see if I can fix it. If you want to know more about how I did this, also shoot me an @reply over on Twitter and I'll consider writing more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlN8glX24QatmCHJOBPgTBi6qjVBWH6HoCHLx5Q012gNYGUy9yh5z00cnm7-DGhcZkg2tPlxq_xd_ZbY7CfPFdXAHpzrt5kcl3Utc3vTmn3rsKY3MsdvjF6wMzB26Hv2iID_fcZVAjYaK7/s1600/skull.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlN8glX24QatmCHJOBPgTBi6qjVBWH6HoCHLx5Q012gNYGUy9yh5z00cnm7-DGhcZkg2tPlxq_xd_ZbY7CfPFdXAHpzrt5kcl3Utc3vTmn3rsKY3MsdvjF6wMzB26Hv2iID_fcZVAjYaK7/s400/skull.png" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public domain image of skull from <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=GDgAAAAAQAAJ&dq=intitle%3Aillustrated%20skeleton&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q=intitle:illustrated%20skeleton&f=false">An Illustrated System of Human Anatomy: Special, General and Microscopic</a>,<br />
Samuel George Morton (1849) scanned by Google Books from Oxford University Library</td></tr>
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<br />A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-91461035416888098672017-03-15T19:44:00.001-07:002017-03-15T19:44:17.441-07:00Skull<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxioCx22prtBfs6tEwIUBMPXQQGxkL42rcdC8kbnZZPk996ecy-gCfnrXt08gGVMyWpesQ1vP0dsdz1-pORLxI91YWpLzTq63e96DuF6P-oOGRx-y0zvCcktPrPtXrcaAi9B8MxuInQKb4/s1600/skull.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxioCx22prtBfs6tEwIUBMPXQQGxkL42rcdC8kbnZZPk996ecy-gCfnrXt08gGVMyWpesQ1vP0dsdz1-pORLxI91YWpLzTq63e96DuF6P-oOGRx-y0zvCcktPrPtXrcaAi9B8MxuInQKb4/s640/skull.png" width="491" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
Public domain image of skull from <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=GDgAAAAAQAAJ&dq=intitle%3Aillustrated%20skeleton&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q=intitle:illustrated%20skeleton&f=false">An Illustrated System of Human Anatomy: Special, General and Microscopic</a>,</div>
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Samuel George Morton (1849) scanned by Google Books from Oxford University Library</div>
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<br />A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-2736821230524825522017-03-14T11:39:00.002-07:002019-03-17T08:42:47.800-07:00Chiefs of Staff: We need more in the private sector<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A bunch of friends in Silicon Valley have asked some version of “what was surprising to you in govt?” or “what did you learn about govt?” This is part of a <a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/search/label/govforsv">series of posts</a> answering those questions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the MANY things I learned while serving as Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer was just how amazing the folks are that have the title “Chief of Staff.” They are some of the unsung heroes of the White House and government as a whole. There is no true equivalent to the Chief of Staff job and it is pretty rare in the corporate world, particularly in Silicon Valley (but see <a href="https://twitter.com/kris">Kris Cordle</a> at Slack). Chief Operating Officer (COO) may be the closest analogy, and it is no coincidence that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheryl_Sandberg">Sheryl Sandberg</a>, Facebook’s extremely effective COO was Chief of Staff at the Treasury Department before moving to Google and Facebook. Read on for a bit more about what a Chief of Staff does, with some examples from President Obama’s administration.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Letterhead of the Chief of Staff to the President</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Managers</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First and foremost, a Chief of Staff (COS) is a manager. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBexAoGQEHWj5o77Wvkk5AT3S5okAO9F27Z1LdOM3ksK8UVaq-0324_ZvCXfTj55FDZbEeTdwlGLLXLg4h6lK-VEym3uJONgn8KPkXWyKY5I2b8AwLIpOQK93aUIAt2WP9aoZP_zrANwB/s1600/image+%25283%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBexAoGQEHWj5o77Wvkk5AT3S5okAO9F27Z1LdOM3ksK8UVaq-0324_ZvCXfTj55FDZbEeTdwlGLLXLg4h6lK-VEym3uJONgn8KPkXWyKY5I2b8AwLIpOQK93aUIAt2WP9aoZP_zrANwB/s320/image+%25283%2529.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Data from the <a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/historical-tables/total-government-employment-since-1962/">Office of Personnel Management</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The U.S. Federal Government is extremely large. The President of the United States is a CEO of sorts for approximately 2.6 million civilian executive branch employees engaged in a mind-bendingly diverse set of jobs (including the military, that number is over 4 million). </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition, the President’s relationship to the country makes him also responsible to the more than 300 million people that make up the United States. As a result, the President’s time, and that of other leaders in government (called “principals” in government), is precious and spent on external events, relationship calls, decision making, or getting information, and, in each case, only if the principal is not replaceable with others. An example of part of that schedule for President Obama is <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20110415192856/http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete/2011-04-12">archived here</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but the schedules of other principals, from the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to the Secretary of Commerce, are similar. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A COS's first job is making sure their principal’s vision is implemented effectively and that requires, in the first instance, managing their principal. They need to make sure that their principal is using their time effectively, for example that any issue that can be resolved at a lower level is resolved, and that they have the information necessary to make informed decisions. This part of the COS job requires an extraordinarily good relationship with the principal and almost supernatural ability to predict what the principal wants. A COS may have their own views but a significant amount of the COS power and effectiveness comes from being, in Game of Thrones vocabulary, the “<a href="http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Hand_of_the_King">Hand of the King</a>.” This relationship balances a COS's management of their principal with their relatively egoless role as their principal’s direct report and executer. They are also truth-tellers who aren’t shy about bringing bad news to their principals. In my experience, the best COSes are both supremely loyal and trusted by their principal to make significant decisions without them. This gives them a dual role “staffing” their principal but also being principals in their own rights. Denis McDonough, who was President Obama’s COS during my time in the Executive Office of the President, is a great example. Denis was in sync with the President and his guidance could be relied upon to reflect the President’s. As much as anyone at the White House, he seemed to embody being in service to the President. At the same time, the buck frequently stopped with Denis, and, in those situations, he was a principal himself.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chief of Staff to the President, Denis McDonough,<br />
walking with President Obama, Sept 22, 2014.<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/15954418589">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The COS is also likely to be the manager of the department. Hiring, firing, tasking, internal dispute resolution, and other managerial duties are often functions that are delegated to the COS. The principals oversee these but a ton of day-to-day management is done by the COS. For example, within OSTP where I worked, Cristin Dorgelo was the COS and would do weekly one on one meetings with each of the Director of OSTP’s reports. Cristin constantly was touching base with people across the department. She interviewed every person brought into OSTP, and she had an exit interview with everyone who left. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OSTP Chief of Staff, Cristin Dorgelo, <br />
leading brainstorming at an NIH event, June 24, 2015<br />
Photo by <a href="https://twitter.com/NIH3Dprint/status/613750651760312320">@NIH3DPrint</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similarly, Natalie Quillian, part of Denis’s COS team and a Deputy Assistant to the President, established new internal communication avenues for the White House to help spread internal communication and to create a sense that all of the employees in the Executive Office of the President were part of one team. Natalie also gave me and other White House staff regular guidance and mentoring in how to approach different processes and people within the White House.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4r3kcvFVgZ-wL1soNLe_4UbjXdql9f4nuhAv9dyDVFKNRsp6ehU_SCYo0IYMxljOb8djsGW8uJXKs5dZqlcrVhvZinCHQfcANeIGq6M_5uk2CBgOn27iQAYizm_5jjCl-bScplvbpmEF/s1600/15399462301_7fc15d95d6_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4r3kcvFVgZ-wL1soNLe_4UbjXdql9f4nuhAv9dyDVFKNRsp6ehU_SCYo0IYMxljOb8djsGW8uJXKs5dZqlcrVhvZinCHQfcANeIGq6M_5uk2CBgOn27iQAYizm_5jjCl-bScplvbpmEF/s400/15399462301_7fc15d95d6_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
Deputy Assistant to the President, Natalie Quillian, </div>
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introducing her child to<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> President Obama, Aug 27, 2014.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/15399462301/">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Process Wranglers</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Federal Government has a significant amount of process designed to improve decision making and ensure that the diverse viewpoints of departments are represented. For example, <a href="https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/ppd/ppd-1.pdf">Presidential Policy Directive 1</a> laid out the National Security Council system for national security decision making under President Obama. A well run process can produce a good decision but, equally importantly, it will produce a decision with buy-in from the components and agencies that will need to implement the decision. While laudable, these processes are a lot of work to run and to exist within. The various COSes are the masters of them and are responsible for “shipping” a decision just as in Silicon Valley we rely on product managers to ship products.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie was an expert at driving a process to completion. Understanding the type of decision that was required, she effectively figured out the right forum, the right questions, and the right type of information to get in front of the right set of principals to ensure an informed and constructive discussion that could produce a decision that would then have the buy-in to be implemented. She did everything from scrutinize an attendee list in order to add a person or two that needed to be included (or remove someone that was unnecessary to the decision); force lower level folks to more finely hone their disagreements or come to agreement on items that didn’t need higher level participation; push the conversation in the meeting towards an argument that was left unaddressed; and follow up to crisply articulate the meeting’s outcome and the mandate of each participant going forward. Each is an active task requiring a very high degree of understanding of the subject matter and emotional intelligence about people across government. I saw Natalie and many of the other COSes take this on across an incredible range of substantive areas from national security to communication to legal issues. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The White House under President Obama was also a place that effectively used memos. As Jeff Bezos <a href="https://www.hirevue.com/blog/coach-blog/what-i-learned-from-jeff-bezos-about-sales-management">reportedly</a> does at Amazon, the White House used memos to force the cogent development of argument and to allow components and agencies to resolve disagreements and to make decisions in a way that others across government and outside of government can see and understand. Working a document, with hundreds of other potential editors can be a recipe for <a href="https://hbr.org/2009/12/that-writtenbycommittee-flavor">committee-written prose</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and a huge time waster. The only thing worse would have been the potential for future disagreement if the various players didn’t have to come to agreement on paper. This paper process would have been impossible without the COSes. For example, on any given day, Cristin could be involved in a handful or more memos. Over her time at the White House, that meant that she was likely involved in thousands. She developed an expert sense of what was an important edit for OSTP and what might be better to let go. As importantly, the set of COSes within the Executive Office of the President and at the agencies were repeat players with strong relationships and a good deal of trust between them. Irreconcilable substantive policy differences that might otherwise disrupt the decision making process could often be resolved to the satisfaction of all through Cristin’s relationships and the creativity of the COSes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Implementation Gurus</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Federal government implementation of policy is almost always the responsibility of agencies. For example, while the President may determine that Federal data <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/09/executive-order-making-open-and-machine-readable-new-default-government-/">should be open</a>, it is up to the Department of Transportation to <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/traffic-fatalities-sharply-2015">release Traffic Fatality data to the public</a>.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This can leave execution of policy initiatives, particularly ones needing interagency cooperation without a central driver. Since few policies are successful without successful implementation, President Obama focused White House staff on continuing to track policy decisions through implementation and helping where needed. No-one did that better and across more important policy priorities than Kristie Canegallo, whose title was Deputy COS for Implementation. During her time in the position I saw Kristie ensure appropriate implementation across a wide range of topics including the <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2017/01/06/american-life-and-without-affordable-care-act">Affordable Care Act</a>, <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/precision-medicine">Precision Medicine Initiative</a>, <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/02/09/presidents-national-cybersecurity-plan-what-you-need-know">Cybersecurity National Action Plan</a>, and the technology transformation of government more generally. And those were just a small percentage of her workload. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1RM_lh0cR4RQ_KFliYHwI-LrGuCbJ8fnVvIgKKa3qWbbNqlAxjwB9arxyzGIobyEG3UC-NlMNgQzxMZtdB05bRKf9pTjr1kDL9ea6e4CzGdIs8gbQ9LyQEfKnaG2WpiePCGKOKrixbIG/s1600/13563211545_80499b6876_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1RM_lh0cR4RQ_KFliYHwI-LrGuCbJ8fnVvIgKKa3qWbbNqlAxjwB9arxyzGIobyEG3UC-NlMNgQzxMZtdB05bRKf9pTjr1kDL9ea6e4CzGdIs8gbQ9LyQEfKnaG2WpiePCGKOKrixbIG/s400/13563211545_80499b6876_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
Deputy Chief of Staff for Implementation, Kristie Canegallo (center), </div>
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with other members of the Affordable Care Act team</div>
<div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
giving an update to <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">President Obama, April 1, 2014.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/13563211545/">Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As with any good operator, Kristie delegated effectively but sometimes got into the weeds to better understand and debug problems. She removed obstacles for the teams. She elicited and measured teams against metrics. She kept the cross-agency and cross-functional teams focused on the bigger picture and brought her own mastery of all of the tools available to our government to get the job done. Kristie is one of the better executing leaders I have ever worked with and her focus on and skill in implementation was shared by many of the COSes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calm, Solution Oriented, and Without Ego</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A great COS is also calm, solution oriented and without ego. Yohannes Abraham, Valerie Jarrett’s COS at the Office of Public Engagement, is a great example of this COS attitude. Like part of a startup founding team, Yo has seen it all, so nothing phases him. He does not dwell on blame but moves quickly towards finding solutions. For example, I once brought him an issue that I was working on that some said might threaten one of his core implementation projects. Yo’s project was a higher Presidential priority than what I was working on. He talked through the issue calmly and saw the tensions between the two policy objectives. Together we weighed the good that would come of each and then talked through an approach to try to ensure the thing I was working on could get done in a way that would not threaten the higher priority policy project. Then he used his relationships to broaden that understanding and ensure that others could come to the same conclusion. Yo, like the other COSes, worked on thousands of individual policies and launches. His experience showed in his calmness and in the creative solutions he was able to make happen and often he was working to push someone else’s work over the finish line. Yo is exactly the kind of person you want to be working with you on the hardest problems. No ego, all drive to make a positive impact.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFItb8fyYii9dC5uZjNlQ3viSKTQ2Z7XlaM9clega1LBpI-PPZw622GjNennTPmKaf6xaqnpFXBOj2pBLRVhLbBp5pj2PihqoiD6Nl9FzWtCoCD_dkFKGuXSWNmUQeUErDbKGZsk0f7UT/s1600/C0E_BE8VEAEkZqU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFItb8fyYii9dC5uZjNlQ3viSKTQ2Z7XlaM9clega1LBpI-PPZw622GjNennTPmKaf6xaqnpFXBOj2pBLRVhLbBp5pj2PihqoiD6Nl9FzWtCoCD_dkFKGuXSWNmUQeUErDbKGZsk0f7UT/s400/C0E_BE8VEAEkZqU.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chief of Staff of the Office of Public Engagement, Yohannes Abraham<br />
Undated Government Photo</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We Need More Chiefs of Staff!</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While not every business is as large or complex as the Federal Government, the Chief of Staff position is underutilized in the private sector. The skills of Chief of Staffs in managing their bosses and staff, pushing through processes, and driving implementation, all with a reassuring calmness, solution orientation, and lack of ego, are very much in need in Silicon Valley. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I focused this post on the COSes that I worked with closely over the last few years but there were many others, and all were world class. And, they also ALL tendered their resignations as part of the peaceful transition of power at the White House. They would each be well suited to be CEOs or COOs in the private sector. I can’t wait to see what they do, and I would work with any of them again. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Update: Paul Cohen wrote a good <a href="http://www.paulcohen.com/the-chief-of-staff-guide-intro/">series of posts</a> that go into more depth on the COS role at high growth companies in the private sector.</i></span></div>
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<br />A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-32053412633790679432017-02-23T07:05:00.002-08:002017-02-23T07:05:23.289-08:00Fences<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVnHcIZ0ZmcwZIflVOYnuEW8oEpj-mZZnzJ_xP3ZiWdK0ztYrANHp-epxtnHEC2wQfzN0gOdJ2izYk1aFH1LKOdyZLBxK9eAxB4SqJjs4ntfy2QeN_8nStJXx25NaGfWWXcNEzowoiHpU/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-21-36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVnHcIZ0ZmcwZIflVOYnuEW8oEpj-mZZnzJ_xP3ZiWdK0ztYrANHp-epxtnHEC2wQfzN0gOdJ2izYk1aFH1LKOdyZLBxK9eAxB4SqJjs4ntfy2QeN_8nStJXx25NaGfWWXcNEzowoiHpU/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-21-36.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhraWpb511ylaeHq1MLp-8E7vaWN1qW6RlA8TQP2nRprVpRYfkihhHiVrK0vFIdRPSDrz2KN90xnq9IBumXWCSI7W4yCsHNgRyiKjZZxulSGbZbL0kSiTGNZzEEjDGfGkQq_HmsmKvncBR-/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-22-01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhraWpb511ylaeHq1MLp-8E7vaWN1qW6RlA8TQP2nRprVpRYfkihhHiVrK0vFIdRPSDrz2KN90xnq9IBumXWCSI7W4yCsHNgRyiKjZZxulSGbZbL0kSiTGNZzEEjDGfGkQq_HmsmKvncBR-/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-22-01.png" /></a></div>
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Public domain images from J.J. Thomas, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=MT9AAQAAMAAJ&dq=barbed%20wire%20fence%20intitle%3Aillustrated&pg=PA289#v=onepage&q=barbed%20wire%20fence%20intitle:illustrated&f=false">Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs for 1876-7-8</a>, Luther Tucker & Son (1878) scanned by <a href="http://books.google.com/">Google Books</a> from <a href="https://library.osu.edu/">Ohio State University Library</a></div>
A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-64009275314416660082017-02-23T06:13:00.001-08:002017-02-23T06:13:49.129-08:00Basic CyberSecurity<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9mgjaidb9ztlrZqjPJ6xmij1SYGk9JsqoneH5UB49V4iAdKXWdbeI-_Idcaqg51-VwQTxMiuZgyTkTzI29ZQ0IeMdWA_W9zF5S9nmey34H4CFcO_mgfSL1FkZ3ZJ-saX_pV2FGnL0iXF/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-21-36.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9mgjaidb9ztlrZqjPJ6xmij1SYGk9JsqoneH5UB49V4iAdKXWdbeI-_Idcaqg51-VwQTxMiuZgyTkTzI29ZQ0IeMdWA_W9zF5S9nmey34H4CFcO_mgfSL1FkZ3ZJ-saX_pV2FGnL0iXF/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-21-36.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public domain image of fence from J.J. Thomas,<br />
<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=MT9AAQAAMAAJ&dq=barbed%20wire%20fence%20intitle%3Aillustrated&pg=PA289#v=onepage&q=barbed%20wire%20fence%20intitle:illustrated&f=false">Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs for 1876-7-8</a>, <br />
Luther Tucker & Son (1878) scanned by <a href="http://books.google.com/">Google Books</a><br />
from <a href="https://library.osu.edu/">Ohio State University Library</a></td></tr>
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Some former Obama Administration folks have asked for advice on what do to re: cybersecurity now that they are using non-government equipment. Since we each have a different <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat_model">threat model</a> and different setups that advice should be very different, person to person. BUT, for the folks I know, no matter who you are, or what setup you have, start with:<br />
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<b>1)</b> Use two factor authentication. the <a href="https://eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a> (EFF) has handy <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/12/12-days-2fa-how-enable-two-factor-authentication-your-online-accounts">guides to turning it on at many major services</a>. If yours isn't listed, check this <a href="https://twofactorauth.org/">two factor resource</a> maintained by <a href="http://joshldavis.com/">Josh Davis</a>.<br />
<b>2)</b> Use a password manager so that using unique, hard to guess passwords is easier than using bad ones. Also use the password manager to store your fake answers to those insecure security questions, such as "what is your mother's maiden name?" EFF has a great <a href="https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/animated-overview-using-password-managers-stay-safe-online">video about password managers</a> suggestions and <a href="http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-password-managers/">Wirecutter has some suggestions</a> about which one to use.<br />
<b>3)</b> Keep your operating system and applications updated. If you are no longer using an application, consider deleting it.<br />
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The three steps above are relatively simple to do and shouldn't take more than a half hour to set up. There is no excuse for NOT doing them. They will save you from many, many, many, many types of attacks and heartache.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3TfZeSFRtw1qDf2q2q0E7-IKBIS2wwszSrUPuteecnUKq23j-NsSFxnW_TEbEYFzysJkZ4WfdmJe9GqQ4Z5yxfry-KxZGDGhmsxYbFv-7RhQBj67iocpxulC1XWHpqVcjG9euYqsExE2/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-22-01.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3TfZeSFRtw1qDf2q2q0E7-IKBIS2wwszSrUPuteecnUKq23j-NsSFxnW_TEbEYFzysJkZ4WfdmJe9GqQ4Z5yxfry-KxZGDGhmsxYbFv-7RhQBj67iocpxulC1XWHpqVcjG9euYqsExE2/s1600/Screenshot+from+2017-02-22+20-22-01.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public domain image of barbed wire fence from<br />
.J. Thomas, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=MT9AAQAAMAAJ&dq=barbed%20wire%20fence%20intitle%3Aillustrated&pg=PA289#v=onepage&q=barbed%20wire%20fence%20intitle:illustrated&f=false">Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs <br />for 1876-7-8</a>, Luther Tucker & Son (1878) scanned <br />
by <a href="http://books.google.com/">Google Books</a> from <a href="https://library.osu.edu/">Ohio State University Library</a></td></tr>
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One additional thing I suggest, particularly if you are involved in anything sensitive, is to think about what information about you is accessible by others, such as your friends, the places you work, and the providers of the services you use. Threats may get information from those sources, instead of you.<br />
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For more information, please take a look at the EFF's excellent <a href="https://ssd.eff.org/">Surveillance Self Defense guide</a> (which is labelled surveillance but could really be labelled "privacy" or "security").<br />
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And, if your threat model includes the government getting access to your devices at a protest or as you cross the border, there are some other <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/11/digital-security-tips-for-protesters">important</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NSQE/status/823690911242555392">things</a> to <a href="https://www.eff.org/document/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices">consider</a>.<br />
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<br />A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-86066051372639218922017-02-22T12:32:00.004-08:002023-10-24T07:22:20.727-07:00Bio<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilo4rKu8i3KlirAuj_HVQg07rnq2B0EFkYfO_qtN0v2ZU0ChG0WczE2T2ExN53jXlBn46JGgs_qGQIkQDWL6DV9ahQr7zKNCUL_oaxmWOdAU-S9ktkQ9XgunRlFUO4Ful_M0H0MTnaqiDy/s1600/amacgillivray_cropped.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilo4rKu8i3KlirAuj_HVQg07rnq2B0EFkYfO_qtN0v2ZU0ChG0WczE2T2ExN53jXlBn46JGgs_qGQIkQDWL6DV9ahQr7zKNCUL_oaxmWOdAU-S9ktkQ9XgunRlFUO4Ful_M0H0MTnaqiDy/s320/amacgillivray_cropped.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/269871467/">Doc Searls</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA</a></td></tr>
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<br />
Alexander Macgillivray, also known as "amac," is curious about many things including ethics, law, policy, government, decision making, the Internet, algorithms, social justice, access to information, coding, and the intersection of all of those.<br />
<br /><div>He worked on the <a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2023/10/my-time-in-biden-harris-administration.html">Biden transition team and administration</a>, and was part of the founding team at the <a href="https://tspa.info/">Trust & Safety Professional Association</a> and <a href="https://alloy.us/">Alloy.us</a>. He was also a proud board member at <a href="https://datasociety.net/">Data & Society</a> and <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>, and an advisor to the <a href="https://foundation.mozilla.org/opportunity/2017-tech-policy-fellows/mozilla-tech-policy-fellowship-advisory-board/">Mozilla Tech Policy Fellows</a>. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>He was <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a>'s General Counsel, and head of Corporate Development, Public Policy, Communications, and Trust & Safety. Before that he was Deputy General Counsel at <a href="http://google.com/">Google</a> and created the Product Counsel team. He has served on the board of the Campaign for the Female Education (<a href="https://camfed.org/">CAMFED</a>) USA, was one of the early <a href="http://cyber.harvard.edu/">Berkman Klein Center</a> folks, was certified as a First Grade Teacher by the State of New Jersey, and studied Reasoning & Decision Making as an undergraduate.<br />
<br />For more about what he is proudest of during his last few jobs see:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.bricoleur.org/2023/10/my-time-in-biden-harris-administration.html">My time in the Biden-Harris Administration</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2021/01/the-last-four-years.html">The last four years</a>: the miscellany of the four years after Obama,</li><li><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2017/04/first-time-in-government.html">First Time in Government</a>: in the Obama Administration,</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2013/08/some-news-and-thanks_30.html">Some News and Thanks</a>: at Twitter, and</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/2009/07/on-leaving-google.html">On Leaving Google</a>: at Google.</li>
<li>And <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/30/twitter-alex-macgillivray-free-speech">this overly nice article from the Guardian</a> summing some of it up.</li>
</ul>
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For a more resume-like experience, check out <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amacCV/">his LinkedIn</a>.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7INpMCbT1MNwuUMBJXwVjk9xeIMPjs8I4fNs5ESLVamvLTnDuQ3MnAEY1Bi-eYAfc6SR3WAFaRkglyHhgip-UbN65gjVtznfzoJl_xMZfg0n-388FbFa01k6Z8nLZoeLz9LjT6WVRx6nSZJF0pq7agmp3Y1zkpy_htxrFT9ierp6os7msGs3eUZEfuDcF/s4897/P20221012YM-0519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3266" data-original-width="4897" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7INpMCbT1MNwuUMBJXwVjk9xeIMPjs8I4fNs5ESLVamvLTnDuQ3MnAEY1Bi-eYAfc6SR3WAFaRkglyHhgip-UbN65gjVtznfzoJl_xMZfg0n-388FbFa01k6Z8nLZoeLz9LjT6WVRx6nSZJF0pq7agmp3Y1zkpy_htxrFT9ierp6os7msGs3eUZEfuDcF/s320/P20221012YM-0519.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://www.yashmori.com/">Yash Mori</a>, White House Photographer</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>
</div></div>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-74971754866561745222017-02-11T05:55:00.000-08:002017-02-11T05:55:56.318-08:00Not Working in the Trump Administration<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was asked by a reporter recently about whether I would have continued on in my job as part of the Trump Administration. I said no and for me it was not a difficult choice. I wanted to elaborate a bit on that here in case useful to others.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First though: </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a) I have friends who made a different choice. Everyone's situation is different, everyone's potential job within an administration is different, and we all have our own ways of thinking about this issue. I believe that thinking about the moral and ethical implications of one’s work is important, as do all of the people that I have talked with who are staying. I would like to see more folks think about those implications, both in government and outside of government.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">b) I am strongly supportive of the various indications I have heard about this Administration’s continuation of the Obama Administration’s agenda to improve government services by improving federal tech, and am optimistic about what might be done in that space with the support of the strong group of people who have offered to stay. The office of the U.S. Chief Technology Officer, the U.S. Digital Service, the Tech Transformation Service (including 18F, the Presidential Innovation Fellows, and many other parts), the agency Digital Services teams, the offices of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Information Security Officer, Director of White House IT, agency CIOs, and the rest of the digital family in government still have a ton of work to do to make government more efficient and effective on behalf of all of us. I believe in a functioning government that is effective at delivering services for people. A thriving government digital family is essential for those efforts. And, that work has been supported by Republicans and Democrats. It was hugely supported by President Obama and there are indications that President Trump’s team is also supportive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">FYI: <a href="https://twitter.com/USDS">@USDS</a> is here to stay in the new administration. Period.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">— Gerrit Lansing (@lansing) <a href="https://twitter.com/lansing/status/823617474616852482">January 23, 2017</a></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">N.B. I feel the opposite way about President Trump’s tech policy agenda, see e.g. the rumblings about Net Neutrality.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">c) I am fortunate to have many privileges others do not, including the privilege to choose where and with whom I work. Those are real privileges that not everyone has. I was born lucky and got to go to excellent schools and jobs over time, which led to connections, additional privileges, and more. I am white and male. Being able to make the decision not to take a job is a privilege that is unevenly distributed. Furthermore, in talking with some career civil servants, some feel the very idea of getting to choose which administration to work for is a form of spoiled entitlement. There are people who have been quietly serving on behalf of the American people for 40 years. People who have made life better for Americans under Presidents that they disagreed with. These are many of the folks who were critical in explaining government to me and helping me use its tools during my tenure. If our entire civil service turned over every time the Presidency changed, our government would function significantly worse, if at all.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">d) It is also unclear to me how much of an administration's policies people </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> consider when trying to ethically evaluate being a part of an administration. Clearly, I shouldn't be involved in something I believe to be ethically wrong. To what extent am I also responsible for what the other ~2.5 million government employees do? What about the President?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyhow, all of the above is just to reiterate that there are many reasons others have to choose to stay. I respect and thank those that have stayed. They have important work to do, and I admire them for doing it. But it is not the right decision for me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I told the reporter I would not continue on as Deputy U.S. CTO for a constellation of reasons.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) First and foremost, my job as Deputy U.S. CTO was very connected to the President's agenda. That is one of the reasons people in those types of jobs historically tender their resignations before inauguration. It does not make much sense for the President's inner circle and the circles around them to be actively opposed to the core of the President's agenda. I strongly disagree with large swaths of President Trump's agenda (at least as far as I understand it). </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) I believe I can contribute to protecting the values I care about from President Trump’s agenda (see point (c) about privileges above). I think protecting those values is important, and I think I can do that more effectively outside of the federal government. These decisions about where to work and what to do are inherently political in part because of the opportunity cost of whatever decision one makes. Working in the office of the U.S. CTO is an incredible opportunity but comes at a cost of not being able to do other things. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) I had the opportunity to serve in an incredible job for over two years. I tried to do as much as I could during that time. There is a lot more to do, even in areas of bipartisan agreement. I believe in fresh legs and the advantage of having new perspectives and energy on those issues.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4) My work-life balance hasn't always been great. It was time for more life in that balance.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These thoughts are a bit raw and draft but hopefully they can be helpful to others as they make their own decisions.</span></span>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1972227005391162265.post-45559721669835857812017-01-31T06:11:00.000-08:002017-01-31T06:11:09.778-08:00Working at the "White House"<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A bunch of friends in Silicon Valley have asked some version of “what was surprising to you in government?” or “what did you learn about government?” This is one of a</span><a href="http://www.bricoleur.org/search/label/govforsv" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">series of posts</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> answering those questions.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzX-2Wn56Y8L4DoOQ6z47q4aXJS3lN0MiZKHX7Z_N13nc6u1Y5fZFHx_79-e5-OGd4ggvV0eiH5tbXj_wrPZN_DKj9CiAC4SxuVHsYS2hVPfu3cDsHt0ayEdtXQ5f2NCFn6g78EDpw2kz/s1600/4346383741_ae97687a28_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzX-2Wn56Y8L4DoOQ6z47q4aXJS3lN0MiZKHX7Z_N13nc6u1Y5fZFHx_79-e5-OGd4ggvV0eiH5tbXj_wrPZN_DKj9CiAC4SxuVHsYS2hVPfu3cDsHt0ayEdtXQ5f2NCFn6g78EDpw2kz/s320/4346383741_ae97687a28_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bo in front of the White House in the snow<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/4346383741/">Official White House photograph by Pete Souza</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the confusing things people say in D.C. is that they “work at the White House.” That can mean one of a bunch of different, true things. Only a few are what you might expect.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You work for the President at the White House. And by that I mean the building that is white, looks like a house, is where the first family live, and is pictured above in the snow behind Bo. There are a bunch of people who work in the actual house part of the White House and many others who are there for periods of time for their jobs, such as the Secret Service agents assigned to the house (the Secret Service agents have some of the hardest jobs and are in each of the spaces listed below as well).</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You work in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_Wing">West Wing</a>, which is attached to the thing that is an actual house. There are a bunch of offices of high ranking people and their staff who are part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Office_of_the_President">Executive Office of the President</a> or Vice President, as well as White House <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Situation_Room">Situation Room</a> personnel and others in the West Wing of the White House. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You work for the President or the First Lady in the East Wing (attached to the other side of the house).</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You work elsewhere on the complex, perhaps for the Executive Office of the President or the Vice President. The majority of these people actually work in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Executive_Office_Building">Eisenhower Executive Office Building</a>, which is an incredible building but neither white, nor a house. Up until a few weeks ago, I worked in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer within the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and was physically located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You work elsewhere as part of the Executive Office of the President (or VP). Many of these folks are in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Executive_Office_Building">New Executive Office Building</a>. And, while the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is technically part of the Executive Office of the President, I don’t know whether USTR people say that they work at the White House.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The above are all “true” as far as D.C. is concerned. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are also a lot of people who say they work at the White House but are just lying. </span>A Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446743082690666845noreply@blogger.com0