Larry Page

Back in prehistoric times, when Google was going public, its founders wrote in its stock registration statement: "Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one. " I suggested in response that good intentions such as that were often thwarted by little things, like showers of money. But it was 2004, an innocent time, before smart phones and video that could be downloaded on your handset, and the message of hope being wholesaled by Larry Page and Sergey Brin seemed uplifting.

Googled The End of the World as We Know It Ken Auletta Penguin Press: 400 pp., $27.95 " Google" has become as common a word as any in the modern vocabulary. We google phone numbers instead of picking up a phone book; we google for dirt on potential dates and celebrities; we google ourselves, to see what trace we've left in the digital ether. Google has become synonymous with user-friendly efficiency, via its search engine and its many free and easy-to-use offshoots.

Continuing a recent tradition, Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt held court with the press Thursday at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he called the current economy "the new normal." Companies need to "figure out how to be happy and get our lives together in this new configuration," Schmidt said, adding, "You can't waste money, credit is tight." Schmidt, who was joined by Google co-founder Larry Page, spoke on a variety of topics, including Apple Inc.

Google Inc. has made peace with privacy advocates over one of its policies, and it did so without cluttering up its famously sparse home page. The Web search giant had drawn criticism for its refusal to include a link to its privacy policy on Google.com. Some groups called that a violation of state law. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company responded that it didn't think the link was necessary because its privacy policy was "readily accessible" to those looking for it. It can be found, among other places, on its About page, which is linked to Google.

Tesla Motors Inc., aiming to be the first high-volume electric car maker, raised $40 million more from Silicon Valley investors to ensure that it could begin production next month after delays and a management shake-up. Tesla is closing the "funding round right now," Chairman Elon Musk said. San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla collected $100 million earlier from backers including Google Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and venture capital firms such as Palo Alto-based Technology Partners.

Eric Schmidt has a message: Don't let the lava lamps fool you. Google Inc. is serious. As Google's chief executive, Schmidt presides over a headquarters filled with trinkets, pets, free food and bouncy-ball chairs. But the whimsical workplace belies the company's focus on cold, hard numbers.

A new version of Picasa, Google Inc.'s digital photo software, is due for release today, offering additional ways to edit, print and share pictures. It also has a feature that Web surfers have come to expect from Google: It's free. Google acquired the company behind Picasa in July and immediately slashed the price of its software from $30 to nothing. When Picasa co-founder Lars Perkins asked Google executives how the software would make money, he recalled, they told him, "Don't worry about it."

Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin each plan to sell as many as 7.2 million company shares during the next 18 months -- divestitures that would generate windfalls of more than $1 billion apiece at current market prices. The online search engine leader disclosed the intentions of Page and Brin, both 31, late Friday in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the same filing, Mountain View, Calif.