How does privacy relate to homepage word count? Larry and Sergey told me we could only add this to the homepage if we took a word away - keeping the “weight” of the homepage unchanged at 28. Given that the new Privacy link fit best with legal disclaimers on the page, I looked to the copyright line. There, we dropped the word “Google” (realizing it was implied, obviously) and added the new privacy link alongside it.

The 28 words:

Advertising Programs - Business Solutions - About Google

©2008 - Privacy
The words I’d cut:

iGoogle — stupid name, stupid service
“My” in “My Account”
“Sign out” becomes “Logoff”
I’m Feeling Lucky — I never use, think it’s stupid
Advertising Programs — lose “Programs”
Business Solutions — lose “Business”
About Google — lose “Google”

That’s nine. I suggest we replace them with “Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba” (that’s seven) and “Fred Zimmerman”

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, senior military commanders and other freed hostages also spoke — Uribe called the rescue mission “an unbelievable military achievement.”

“Today the armed forces of Colombia, the army of this country, our soldiers and policemen are entering the pages of heroes of humanity,” the president said. “They have written the name of Colombia on a golden mold of the democratic world.”

This is no exaggeration. Read the detailed account of how the Army infiltrated the rebels and set up a cinematic helicopter rescue.  Well done.

Hostage takers are complete bastards. If you doubt this, read some of the accounts of Ingrid Betancourt’s years in captivity.

The contrarian has to ask me, is the Colombian Army’s outstanding performance partly a justification of years of training assistance by the U.S. Army?