sjbach

Transit encryption requires that both sides are game. Google always supports it, but the server on the other side may not.

The NPR chart may also be misleading; it's unclear from the notes. There was ~60% inflation between 1992 and 2011.

A salient bit:

  [Eric] Grosse echoed comments from other Google officials, saying that the company
  resists government surveillance and has never weakened its encryption systems to
  make snooping easier — as some companies reportedly have, according to the Snowden
  documents detailed by the Times and the Guardian on Thursday.

  “This is a just a point of personal honor,” Grosse said. “It will not happen here.”

Some folks are inclined to distrust Google, but there are people here who really, really care about security.

Re: maps, you can revert to "classic" by clicking on the gear.

Warning: article written by Jonah Lehrer. It's probably still a good read, but that spoils it for me.

Yes, there are 20% projects.