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New York, 10:45 AM
Wed Nov 25
49 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of twig twig
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    You've been doing fairly well, Ryan, but you're falling into one of the classic 'Wag traps: you, like your predecessor, consistently misinterpret the connection between engineers and execs. This is especially important at Google, where the work experience for engineers is different than the experience in other divisions of the company.

    This is not to say that bad execs and good execs have no effect on engineers, because they do -- particularly the bad ones, who can very easily spoil a development environment. But the factors that determine a "good" or "bad" exec from an engineer's point of view are frequently not the same as the factors that cause the business press to draw conclusions about their quality.

    So what did GoogNYCers really think of Armstrong or your other gossip targets? It's astonishing that in a company that employees thousands of engineers, you can't find a single decent tipster. They are out there, I am sure.
     Reply
    twig was starred twig was unstarred
    Image of pureblarney pureblarney
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    My old roommate worked for Google, and her complaints were about the following:

    - Relentless, robotic corporate culture
    - How braindead said culture made her feel
    - Higher management pressure to party and be seen with other Googlers
    - The fact that so many other Googlers can't understand why a normal person would want to have non-work friends
    - Politics and office drama associated with zombie corporate culture and rampant social incest
    - How fucking boring it was
     Reply
    pureblarney was starred pureblarney was unstarred
    Image of lionel-mandrake lionel-mandrake
    11/18/09

    @pureblarney: Yep. I heard the same thing.

    Money aside (and it's not an inconsiderable aside), the couple times I've visited friends there (hey, free lunch), it seemed an atrocious place to work. Gave me the creeps.
     Reply
    lionel-mandrake was starred lionel-mandrake was unstarred
    Image of south2nd south2nd
    11/18/09

    @pureblarney: I have a friend who worked there as well. After he got married, he asked if he could cut back to 11 hours a day, or if that wasn't possible, to transition into part time or flex time.

    His supervisor flipped out and questioned his loyalty (?!!?) and then started screwing with him, changing deadlines, etc until my friend quit.
     Reply
    pureblarney promoted this comment south2nd was starred south2nd was unstarred
    Image of badasscat badasscat
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    You know, while it may pay for things like food, rent, alcohol and limousines, money really *isn't* everything. For a lot of people, there is a point where no amount of money can make working in a difficult job bearable. Once you're making enough to live on, a company just offering to throw more money at you in order that you shut up and accept any amount of abuse that they heap on you just is not a very compelling offer anymore.

    I don't work at Google and I don't make a lot of money. But I have worked at other places like that, where I could have made a lot of money if I had just agreed to play their little games and given up any semblance of my own life as part of the deal. I chose to leave instead too.
     Reply
    badasscat was starred badasscat was unstarred
    Image of SNForrester SNForrester
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    Gimme a break. The IPO was 5 years ago and the company went from 2000 to 20,000 employees since then. If people are leaving, it's because Google is no longer a start up. I'm sure the food and stuff is still wonderful, but the potential to get filthy stinking rich is not what it used to be.
     Reply
    Edited by SNForrester at 11/18/09 12:00 PM SNForrester was starred SNForrester was unstarred
    Image of A Message To Rudy A Message To Rudy
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    Well, taking turns driving around every city in the world taking picures of every single stretch of street has got to be a horrible way to start a Monday.
     Reply
    A Message To Rudy was starred A Message To Rudy was unstarred
    Image of manchops manchops
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    There's probably issues finding parking in those razor scooter racks on monday mornings or something

    (please never show that photo again of the razor scooter racks at google--eyes already bled out from the first time you did it)
     Reply
    manchops was starred manchops was unstarred
    Image of HenryLovesFonzie HenryLovesFonzie
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    I used to work at Yahoo! and have many friends at Google. I must say, they do have great benefits... but the politics and uncertainty associated with working for such a large company can be difficult.
     Reply
    HenryLovesFonzie was starred HenryLovesFonzie was unstarred
    Image of mimigoliath mimigoliath
    11/18/09

    In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
    My job makes me cry and want to cut myself, and I can't leave because I need the tiny salary that won't even get me out of my parents' house. So Google can keep whining. And yes, I'm bitter and it could be worse. But it still sucks.
     Reply
    mimigoliath was starred mimigoliath was unstarred
    Image of Lizawithazee Lizawithazee
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    Say what you will but I'm totally stealing the hang-stuff-salon-style-around-a-corner bit from yesterday. That's a pretty genius solution for those weird corners that always look empty. #twitter
     Reply
    Lizawithazee was starred Lizawithazee was unstarred
    Image of A Message To Rudy A Message To Rudy
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    I somehow think an in-office DJ would get old fast.

    "Hey....HEY!... HEY, GRANDMASTER FLASH, COULD YOU GIVE YOUR PHAT BEATS A REST WHILE I'M ON THE PHONE!!!" #twitter
     Reply
    A Message To Rudy was starred A Message To Rudy was unstarred
    Image of sanyucat sanyucat
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    I am reminded of the phrase "the Emperor has no clothes." #twitter
     Reply
    sanyucat was starred sanyucat was unstarred
    Image of iplaudius iplaudius
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    It would be cool if the software project management process somehow corresponded to the architectural layout, with the deer sculptures expressing various stages.

    At the planning stage (meeting rooms), the live green deer represent the idealism of the vision and scope statement. By the time you get to the programming phase (coding cubicles), the deer have been shot and are being gutted. After testing, when a product iteration is complete (breakroom), you have the deer heads mounted on the wall.

    Or maybe the deer theme was just a quirky designer thing. #twitter
     Reply
    iplaudius was starred iplaudius was unstarred
    Image of BadUncle BadUncle
    11/17/09

    @iplaudius: Especially since the product is as useful as plastic venison. #twitter
     Reply
    BadUncle was starred BadUncle was unstarred
    Image of b4nt4 b4nt4
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    egad! this is what happens when you buy all of your furnishings from urban outfitters and the moma store. #twitter
     Reply
    b4nt4 was starred b4nt4 was unstarred
    Image of Claire Buoyant Claire Buoyant
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    modern Ikea seats

    These are iconic designs from Charles and Ray Eames, you philistine. #twitter
     Reply
    Claire Buoyant was starred Claire Buoyant was unstarred
    Image of jimchuck jimchuck
    11/17/09

    @Claire Buoyant: thank you for catching the Eames too #twitter
     Reply
    AndPreciousLittleofThat promoted this comment jimchuck was starred jimchuck was unstarred
    Image of AndPreciousLittleofThat AndPreciousLittleofThat
    11/17/09

    @jimchuck: Also important: manufactured by Herman Miller. #twitter
     Reply
    AndPreciousLittleofThat was starred AndPreciousLittleofThat was unstarred
    Image of Claire Buoyant Claire Buoyant
    11/17/09

    @AndPreciousLittleofThat: But hey, speaking of Ikea and famous designers, Verner Panton did design a chair for Ikea, though it didn't sell well -- even in the secondary market. (Maybe people find it too derivative of Gerrit Rietveld?)
    [greg.org]
     Reply
    Edited by Claire Buoyant at 11/17/09 1:09 PM Claire Buoyant was starred Claire Buoyant was unstarred
    Image of themediatrix themediatrix
    11/17/09

    @Claire Buoyant: Seriously. I was about to accuse someone of joking. #twitter
     Reply
    themediatrix was starred themediatrix was unstarred
    Image of ms_priestypants ms_priestypants
    11/17/09

    @Claire Buoyant: Yes, I have one in my bedroom. But the patents have run, so you can buy reproductions now. #twitter
     Reply
    ms_priestypants was starred ms_priestypants was unstarred
    Image of contradicto contradicto
    11/17/09

    In reply to The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build
    A DJ booth, eh? When do they start spinning revenue? #twitter
     Reply
    contradicto was starred contradicto was unstarred
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