Google is adding two new products to its data liberation effort, hoping to draw wider attention to the concept that users should be able to take their data wherever they go.
The company formally announced the Data Liberation Front Monday, although the group has been around for at least two years. A cheeky play on the Judean People's Front from the Monty Python classic "Life of Brian" (although, technically, Brian joined the People's Front of Judea), the DLF is the group within Google that is charged with finding ways to make it easier for users of Google products and services to export their data in standard forms.
Google has been working on that kind of effort since 2007 as an extension of the company's famous "Don't Be Evil" pledge, a component of which strives to avoid falling prey to the traditional Silicon Valley business strategy: lock-in. "We started looking at our products and discovered that while the door to leave wasn't locked, in some cases it was a bit "stuck" and we thought that we could do better," Google said in an FAQ accompanying the launch of Dataliberation.org.
The undercurrent for such an announcement, of course, is the scrutiny Google is facing at home and abroad this year as users and governments become wary about the amount of data the company has amassed and organized. One of the most heated topics of criticism concerning Google's Book Search settlement with authors and publishers has been concerns about privacy, such as how Google will treat records of which users are reading which books.
Therefore, anything Google can do to show that it isn't planning to create an impenetrable fortress surrounding user data, it's going to do. But this is an industry-wide issue for Internet companies in general: Facebook, for example, faced off with anxious users concerned about the difficulty in exporting Facebook data outside that site before the launch of Facebook Connect.
What makes it tricky is that the personal data stored on these services is more valuable--for both the user and the company--because of the fact that so many people use the services, therefore giving companies incentives to build the largest network possible and retain those users once they've made the switch.
Two Google products--Google Docs and Google Sites--will soon be added to the list of products that Google says it has "liberated," with users slated to receive the ability to batch-export files created in Google Docs.
Now that the U.S. has witnessed a peaceful transfer of power, some in the country are saying that it's time to unite. And while that may be possible for some, others still frequent political commentary sites that aim to sway public opinion in one way or another.
There are people on both sides of the political fence--left or right--that use the following sites as sources for their own political understanding and to help them formulate their own agenda. To those folks, these biased sites provide value. But to some, nonpartisan sites are important and they want to hear the unbiased truth. Either way, politics is an extremely contentious business. And whether you're looking for liberal-leaning posts on the greatness of President Obama or conservative discussions on the problems with the president's stimulus package, you can find it all in the following sites.
Conservative sites
Drudge Report
Drudge Report may just be a collection of links, but critics say they tend to lean to the right. Perhaps that's because Matt Drudge, the site's founder, became famous by being the first source to break the Monica Lewinsky scandal after Newsweek decided not to publish it.
Since then, Drudge Report has become a daily haven for conservatives who want to take aim at liberals. It works: Drudge Report has over 3 million unique visitors each month, according to its internal figures. Conservative rating: 4 out of 5
Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin may be just one person, but her conservative punditry has ignited fierce debate across the Web.
Malkin first started as a newspaper reporter over a decade ago. Since then, she has become a well-known conservative thinker, nationally-syndicated columnist, and author of three antiliberal books. She updates her blog daily with antiliberal and right-leaning opinions. Conservative rating: 5 out 5
National Review Online
National Review Online is the online version of the conservative magazine of the same name. Designed for the Republican or conservative, the site features news, commentary, and opinion on some of the most important political happenings of the day.
The National Review is widely considered one of the most influential conservative publications in the world and as it explains in its "About" page, it constantly aims at providing the "right's take" on political issues facing the world. Conservative rating: 4 out of 5
TownHall
The self-proclaimed, "No. 1 conservative Web site," TownHall provides political commentary and analysis from more than 100 leading conservative columnists to "amplify those conservative voices in America's political debates."
TownHall takes aim at the barriers between news and opinion and provides an arena for conservatives to espouse their opinions on the state of the world. The site is often updated with discussions on why President Obama's policies may hurt the world. Conservative rating: 5 out 5
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