#best Googlers

[don-lichterman]

Is Google Dying? Or Did the Web Grow Up?

Is Google Dying? Or Did the Web Grow Up?

A few weeks ago my house had a septic-tank emergency, which is as awful as it sounds. As unspeakable things began to burble up from my shower drain, I did what any smartphone-dependent person would: I frantically Googled something along the lines of poop coming from shower drain bad what to do. I was met with a slew of cookie-cutter websites, most of which appeared hastily generated and were…

View On WordPress

#best Googlers #best results #blog post #clever searchers #coherent SEO chum #company #conspiracy theories #countless Google Search queries #Danny Sullivan #demise of Google Search #Dmitri Brereton #dying #first page of search results #Google #Google Chrome browsing #Google Doc #Google Search #Google Trends data #Google’s flagship product #Google’s parent company #Google’s Search liaison #Google’s search-engine decay #grow #hearing aids #instinctive keywords #interesting discussions #Marie Haynes #middling search results #much inaction #niche information

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Don’t Be Evil

Tonight (November 22), I'll be joined by Vass Bednar at the Toronto Metro Reference Library for a talk about my new novel, The Lost Cause, a preapocalyptic tale of hope in the climate emergency.

My latest Locus Magazine column is "Don't Be Evil," a consideration of the forces that led to the Great Enshittening, the dizzying, rapid transformation of formerly useful services went from indispensable to unusable to actively harmful:

https://locusmag.com/2023/11/commentary-by-cory-doctorow-dont-be-evil/

While some services have fallen harder and/or faster, they're all falling. When a whole cohort of services all turn sour in the same way, at the same time, it's obvious that something is happening systemically.

After all, these companies are still being led by the same people. The leaders who presided over a period in which these companies made good and useful services are also presiding over these services' decay. What factors are leading to a pandemic of rapid-onset enshittification?

Recall that enshittification is a three-stage process: first surpluses are allocated to users until they are locked in. Then they are withdrawn and given to business-customers until they are locked in. Then all the value is harvested for the company's shareholders, leaving just enough residual value in the service to keep both end-users and business-customers glued to the platform.

We can think of each step in that enshittification process as the outcome of an argument. At some product planning meeting, one person will propose doing something to materially worsen the service to the company's advantage, and at the expense of end-users or business-customers.

Think of Youtube's decay. Over the past year, Google has:

Dramatically increased the cost of ad-free Youtube subscriptions;

Dramatically increased the number of ads shown to non-subscribers;

Dramatically decreased the amount of money paid to Youtube creators;

Added aggressive anti-adblock;

Then, this week, Google started adding a five-second blanking interval for non-Chrome users who have adblockers installed:

https://www.404media.co/youtube-says-new-5-second-video-load-delay-is-supposed-to-punish-ad-blockers-not-firefox-users/

These all smack of Jenga blocks that different product managers are removing in pursuit of their "key performance indicators" (KPIs):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

We can think of each of these steps as the outcome of an argument. Someone proposes a Youtube subscription price-hike, and other internal stakeholders object. These objections fall into two categories:

We shouldn't do this because it will make the product worse; and/or

We shouldn't do this because it will reduce the company's earnings.

Lots of googlers sincerely care about product quality. People like doing a good job, and they take pride in making good things. Many have sacrificed something that mattered in the service of making the product better. It's bad enough to miss your kid's school play so you can meet a work deadline – but imagine making that sacrifice and then having the excellent work you put in deliberately degraded.

I have been around Google's orbit since its early days, going to the odd company Christmas party in the early 2000s and giving talks at Google offices in cities all over the world. I've known hundreds of skilled googlers who passionately cared about making the best products they could.

For most of Google's history, those googlers won the argument. But they didn't do so merely by appealing to their colleagues' professional pride in a job well-done. For most of Google's history, the winning argument was a combination of "doing this bad thing would make me sad," and "doing this bad thing will make Google poorer."

Companies are disciplined by three forces:

Competition (the fear of losing business to a rival);

Regulation (the fear of legal penalties that would exceed the expected profits from a given course of action);

Self-help (the fear that customers or users will change their behavior, say, by installing an ad-blocker).

The ability of googlers to win enshittification arguments by appealing to the company's bottom line was a function of one or more of these three disciplining factors. The weakening of each of these factors is the reason that every tech company is sliding into enshittification at once.

For example, when Google contemplates raising the price of a Youtube subscription, the dissent might say, "Well, this will reduce viewership and might shift viewers to rivals like Tiktok" (competition). But the price-hiking side can counter, "No, because we have a giant archive, we control 90% of searches, we are embedded in the workflow of vloggers and other creators who automatically stream and archive to Youtube, and Youtube comes pre-installed on every Android device." Even if the company leaks a few viewers to Tiktok, it will still make more money in aggregate. Prices go up.

When Google contemplates increasing the number of ads shown to nonsubscribers, the dissent might say, "This will incentivize more users to install ad-blockers, and then we'll see no ad-revenue from them." The pro-ad side can counter, "No, because most Youtube viewing is in-app, and reverse-engineering the Youtube app to add an ad-blocker is a felony under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. As to non-app viewers: we control the majority of browser installations and have Chrome progressively less hospitable to ad-blocking."

When Google contemplates adding anti-adblock to its web viewers, the dissent might say, "Processing users' data in order to ad-block them will violate Europe's GDPR." The anti-adblock side can counter, "But we maintain the fiction that our EU corporate headquarters is in the corporate crime-haven of Ireland, where the privacy regulator systematically underenforces the GDPR. We can expect a very long tenure of anti-adblock before we are investigated, and we might win the investigation. Even if we are punished, the expected fine is less than the additional ad-revenue we stand to make."

When Google contemplates stealing performers' wages through opaque reshufflings of its revenue-sharing system, the dissent might say, "Our best performers have options, they can go to Twitch or Tiktok." To which the pro-wage-theft side can counter, "But they have no way of taking their viewers with them. There's no way for them to offer their viewers on Youtube a tool that alerts them whenever they post a new video to a rival platform. Their archives are on Youtube, and if they move them to another platform, there's no way redirect users searching for those videos to their new homes. What's more, any attempt to unilaterally extract their users' contact info, or redirect searchers or create a multiplatform client, violates some mix of our terms of service, our rights under DMCA 1201, etc."

It's not just Google. For every giant platform, the threats of competition, regulation and self-help have been in steady decline for years, as acquisitions, underenforcement of privacy/labor/consumer law, and an increase in IP protection for incumbents have all mounted:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

When internal factions at tech companies argue about whether to make their services worse, there's a heavy weight tilting the scales towards enshittification. The lack of competition, an increase in switching costs for users and business-customers, and broad powers to prevent users from modifying the service for themselves all mean that even when a product gets worse, profits can still go up.

This is the culprit: monopoly, and its handmaiden, regulatory capture. That's why today's antimonopoly movement – and the cases against all the tech giants – are so important. The old, good internet was built by flawed tech companies whose internal ranks included the same amoral enshittifiers who are gobbling up the platforms' seed corn today. The thing that stood in their way before wasn't merely the moral character of colleagues who shrank away from these cynical maneuvers: it was the economic penalties that befell those who enshittified too rashly.

Incentives matter. Money talks and bullshit walks. Enshittification isn't due to the moral failings of individuals in tech companies. It's possible to have a good internet run by flawed people. But to get that new, good internet, we have to support technologists of good will and character by terrorizing their venal and cynical colleagues by hitting them where they live: in their paychecks.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/22/who-wins-the-argument/#corporations-are-people-my-friend

#pluralistic #microeconomics #incentives matter #microincentives #enshittification #corporate discipline #big tech #competition #too big to fail #too big to jail #ip #dont be evil #google #institutions #locus magazine

[weclassybouquetfun]

What an achievement for Dev Patel.

MONKEY MAN is lit, it's fire, it's bananas

it's a wild action, vibrant, brutal action flick that is right up there with the best of the best.

It's very easy to compare it to the JOHN WICK film (the JOHN WICK stunt team was to do the fight choreography but in one of the multitudes of bad luck that happened to the film during production namely Covid 19, but including the studio going bankrupt, Patel's gaffer dying from a heart attack, losing the location he scouted for four to five months, having to move the shoot from India to Indonesia, thus losing much of the production team and their equipment and Patel breaking his hand on his very first stunt, and injuring his foot when a stuntman stepped on it) Patel lost the stunt team), and while Patel has said his influences were bombastic Bollywood action films and Korean revenge films; for me, not as versed in those films, an easy reference is THE RAID. So if you like that brand of action, you would love MONKEY MAN.

What I especially loved is that after the first act the action levels out, which is great because when it is incessant (as I found JOHN WICK 4), it's mind-numbing, so with act two, you get breathing room and a deeper dive into the story and it gives more depth to the film.

-Dev Patel is just one of the many SKINS cast members who are having a moment. What are some of the others up to?

-Jacob Anderson was in only one SKINS episode but he has remained in the fold somehow.

He even invited the gang to his wedding.

and was on GAME OF THRONES with Joe Dempsie and Hannah Murray.

Anderson can be seen May 12th in series two of AMC+'s INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, where he plays the long living, long-suffering Louis du Pointe du Lac.

-Jack O'Connell, pictured with young Jacob, will reportedly be the villain in Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Googler's next team-up.

Jack can be seen S.A.S ROGUE HEROES.

-The cast reunited at another wedding a few years ago based on pics posted by Kaya Scodelario and five years ago at a Golden Globes celebration.

Kaya can be currently seen in Netflix's THE GENTLEMEN.

-Also on Netflix is Daniel Kaluuya's directorial debut THE KITCHEN.

during his time on SKINS, Kaluuya also pitched storylines and co-wrote a few episodes for the series.

-Nicky Hoult, who played the lecherous Tony, is our future Lex Luthor in James Gunn's SUPERMAN LEGACY.

Yes, he looks like a giant Caillou - what of it?

#dev patel #monkey man #skins uk #skins #skins alum #jacob anderson #interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #iwtv #kaya scodelario #the gentlemen #daniel kaluuya #the kitchen #jack o'connell #sas rogue heroes #nicholas hoult #superman legacy #lex luthor

[macwantspeace]

Pulled from one of Cory Doctorow's extremely long discourses. @mostlysignssomeportents "Large pieces of Google's database-of-crimes are now on display – so much, in fact, that it's hard for anyone to parse through it all and understand what it means. But some people are trying, and coming up with gold. One of those successful prospectors is Ed Zitron, who has produced a staggering account of the precise moment at which Google search tipped over into enshittification, which names the executives at the very heart of the rot:

Zitron tells the story of a boardroom struggle over search quality, in which Ben Gomes – a long-tenured googler who helped define the company during its best years – lost a fight with Prabhakar Raghavan, a computer scientist turned manager whose tactic for increasing the number of search queries (and thus the number of ads the company could show to searchers) was to decrease the quality of search. That way, searchers would have to spend more time on Google before they found what they were looking for.

#enshittification #cory doctorow #google search

[poipoipoi-2016]

But there are also downsides. As any Googler will tell you, these companies usually have a lot of fat to trim. Some of what looks like economic inefficiency is actually vital seed corn for the innovations of the future, but some of it is also just inefficiency, because nobody looks at the books, because it isn’t that kind of company. Likewise, being highly deliberative about everything can lead to some really smart decision making and avoidance of group think, but it can also be a cover for laziness or for an odium theologicum that ensures nothing ever gets done. Smart managers steeped in this sort of culture can usually do a decent job of sorting the good from the bad, but only if they can last, because you see there’s a third problem, which is that almost everybody involved is a quokka.

Engineers, being a subspecies of nerds, are bad at politics. In 1996, Boeing did something very stupid and acquired a company that was good at politics. McDonnell Douglas, another airplane maker, wasn’t the best at making airplanes, but was very good at lobbying congress and at impressing Wall Street analysts. Boeing took over the company, but pretty much everybody agrees that when the dust had settled it was actually McDonnell Douglas that had taken over Boeing. One senior Boeing leader lamented that the McDonnell Douglas executives were like “hunter killer assassins”. No, sorry bro, I don’t think they were actually that scary, you were just a quokka.

Anyway, the hunter killer assassins ran amok: purging rivals, selling off assets, pushing through stock buybacks, and outsourcing or subcontracting everything that wasn’t nailed down. They had a fanaticism for capital efficiency that rose to the level of a monomania,

which maybe wasn’t the best fit for an airplane manufacturer. And slowly but surely, everything went off the rails. Innovation stopped, the culture withered, and eventually planes started falling out of the sky

[aduckmentalistin]

Google in 1999...

Here’s the relevant section of the old code of conduct, as archived by the Wayback Machine (last updated October 12, 2017):

Preface

“Don’t be evil.” Googlers generally apply those words to how we serve our users. But “Don’t be evil” is much more than that. Yes, it’s about providing our users unbiased access to information, focusing on their needs* and giving them the best products and services that we can. But it’s also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law, acting honorably, and treating co-workers with courtesy and respect.

*Ha ha ha!

#google #google code of conduct #search engine #1999 #how things change

[pbandjesse]

I was exhausted all day and honestly did not have a very good day. But I guess I really needed the rest. It honestly makes me think back to when I always got the Saturday sads. This was just a Sunday sad. My body holds it together best it can all week. I'm high energy for work. People literally comment that. And then I fall to pieces when the week is over.

I honestly slept okay. I had pretty rough dreams. And when I woke up I told myself that if it was before 10 I wouldn't be upset. I hate waking up so late.

But it was only a little after 9 so I wasn't to mad at myself.

I went and got washed and dressed. A little in a daze. Just uncomfy and dizzy. My allergies had made my eyes swollen but they would calm down eventually. I wore my little romper and a sweatshirt and was glad it was cool enough for that.

I had cereal and half a pbandj for breakfast. I got to use the jam I made!! It came out really good!! I am excited that it actually worked out. Much better then last year's batch. That batch was to runny. It still tasted good but I'm glad I improved. I would love to actually try real canning sometime and not just freezer and pectin but this was still fun.

I played Stardew even though I told myself I wasn't going to. I just didn't have the energy to do anything else. I did open the back door and watered all the plans but I just couldn't get out of my head and get the energy to do anything else.

So I played my little video game. I watered my fake plants. I made cheese. I spun cloth. I went to the mines. It was fun. But I was just. Still so tired.

So around 1130 I laid in bed. And absolutely passed out. I would sleep for about an hour and wake up very hot. The sun had moved. So I took off my sweatshirt but then fell back asleep.

I basically slept the rest of the afternoon. I would wake up at 330. And went and had a snack and tried not to feel stupid. But I felt dizzy and exhausted and just not very fun.

James would get home soon. And they tried to make me feel better but I could feel myself being short with them and that isn't fair. Just because I am tired. I didn't feel like myself. I felt bad.

James made pasta for dinner. Sweetp stole some. I painted my nails again because having them all copper wasn't working for me.

Me and James would play video games for a little. And then go work on the Lego guitar. But I got upset and had to lay down again on the couch. So I mostly scrolled on my phone and watched James build the amp. Which actually has parts inside and is super cool. But I was just being such a baby. I tried to help but then I heard a name in the podcast we were listening to and I had to Google if it was who I thought and it took a lot of archive and way back searching but I found that it was a YouTuber they were citing and I was so proud of my research skills. I wish I knew how to make that a job. Professional googler.

I got a shower and still felt sad. But now James is making me a little sandwich and we are getting ready to sleep. They are determined to make me have a good day tomorrow because we have the day off together. I hope they can.

Sleep good everyone. Take care of yourself!

[datascience-from-the-trenches]

Scarcity breeds clarity: Sundar Pichai’s memo to Google employees to acknowledge changes due to the economic downturn, reinvigorate the belief in the company’s mission and sharp focus. (bold is mine).

———————————-

Hi Googlers,

Hard to believe we’re already through the first half of 2022. It’s the right opportunity to thank everyone for the great work so far this year, and to share how my Leads and I are thinking about H2.

The uncertain global economic outlook has been top of mind. Like all companies, we’re not immune to economic headwinds. Something I cherish about our culture is that we’ve never viewed these types of challenges as obstacles. Instead, we’ve seen them as opportunities to deepen our focus and invest for the long term.

In these moments, I turn to our mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. It’s what inspired me to join the company 18 years ago, and what makes me so optimistic about the impact we are able to have on the world. Knowledge and computing are how we drive our mission forward. That’s the lens we use to decide where to invest — whether it’s in areas like Search, Cloud, YouTube, Platforms and Hardware, the teams that support them, or in the AI that enables more helpful products and services.

We help people and society when we focus on what we do best, and do it really well. The investments we’ve made in the first half of the year reflect this vision. In Q2 alone, we added approximately 10,000 Googlers, and have a strong number of commitments for Q3 start dates which reflects, in part, the seasonal college recruiting calendar. These are extraordinary numbers, and they show our excitement about long-term opportunities, even in uncertain times.

Because of the hiring progress achieved so far this year, we’ll be slowing the pace of hiring for the rest of the year, while still supporting our most important opportunities. For the balance of 2022 and 2023, we’ll focus our hiring on engineering, technical and other critical roles, and make sure the great talent we do hire is aligned with our long-term priorities.

Moving forward, we need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days. In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes. In other cases, that means pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas. Making the company more efficient is up to all of us — we’ll be creating more ways for you all to engage and share ideas to help, so stay tuned.

Scarcity breeds clarity — this is something we have been saying since the earliest days of Google. It’s what drives focus and creativity that ultimately leads to better products that help people all over the world. That’s the opportunity in front of us today, and I’m excited for us to rise to the moment again.

—Sundar

#leadership

[bitrise-co-in]

SAVE $150: As of February 28th, the Google Pixel Tablet (256GB) is on sale at Best Buy for $449, which is 29% off its regular price of $599. This is the lowest price we have seen so far. Looking to pick up a new tablet? Apple, Samsung, and Micro... bitrise.co.in

#Tablets

[speed-seo]

[Openness] Google Confirms Open Hours As Key Local Search Ranking Factor

Having accurate openness or "working hours" listed on your Google Business Profile (GBP) is more important than ever for local search visibility. In a welcome move, Google has placed greater emphasis on whether a business is truly open as a ranking factor. Listings with incorrect or outdated hours now risk plummeting in local search and Maps. 😱Well the news is out, the new ranking factor we are seeing that has a massive impact on ranking is HOURS. We're seeing that businesses literally vanish in the local pack when they are not open. We started seeing this with the November 2023 core update. This is also making… pic.twitter.com/kDzfrbNmB5— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) December 7, 2023 Why "Openness" Matters? At a recent conference, Googler Gary Illyes confirmed that openness and accurately reflecting operating hours are stronger signals in the local search ranking algorithm. For non-navigational queries like "restaurants open now" or "coffee shops near me," Google wants to showcase open, operational businesses. So if your hours are outdated or wrong, your GBP is penalized with lower visibility. “We try to strongly prioritize showing open businesses in Local searches for queries where a user’s immediate need is to find someplace to visit now.” - Gary Illyes, Google Closed or permanently shuttered businesses naturally rank lower. But even listings with wrong hours get demoted, frustrating searchers. So optimizing and monitoring your hours is now vital for local SEO. Why Accurate Business Hours or Openness Matter? https://youtu.be/XHeJUL3Xp_0?list=TLGGWpdVqLzlqEwyNjAyMjAyNA Displaying accurate open hours in local search results benefits everyone: - Searchers see more open options meeting their needs, reducing dead ends. - Businesses earn more visibility and traffic by reflecting real-world availability. - Google reduces result frustration and improves trust in its data. Improved Local Search Visibility Listings with the correct current hours, especially for prime operating times, receive a visibility boost. This impacts appearance in both the local pack and Maps pin rankings. Conversely, wrong hours can drastically hurt visibility. If Google thinks your outdated Saturday morning hours mean you’re closed, that listing drops like a rock. Leaving holiday closures unmarked similarly reduces rankings. Avoid Customer Frustration Searching customers rely on accuracy to choose where to spend money. If they visit your GBP or Maps pin only to find you’re closed contrary to listed hours, that risks losing their business forever. They’ll simply proceed to the next option. Maintaining updated hours earns you the trust and patronage of both existing and new local customers. Don’t let faulty information cost you sales. Steer Clear of Suspension Risks Purposely inflating your hours or falsely claiming to be open 24/7 now carries suspension risks. Google will monitor and verify your hours, potentially sending anonymous checkers. So any exaggeration or deception gets punished. Stick to listing your true availability. The team tells me we’ve long used “openness” as part of our local ranking systems, and it recently became a stronger signal for non-navigational queries. This might change in various ways, as we continue to evaluate the usefulness of it, however. — Google Search Liaison (@searchliaison) December 15, 2023 Steps to Optimize Local Search Rankings Here are best practices to maximize your business’s local search and Maps presence: - Update openness across Google platforms when needed, down to the minute. Include special dates like holidays. - Spot check accuracy, especially on weekends. Don’t let old hours linger. - Mark closures in advance whenever possible, even for one-off days. - Use reporting tools to monitor local packs and identify ranking drops, then diagnose why. - Respond to user-submitted edits if they flag incorrect hours. This shows you stay on top of fresh information. Ways to Enhance Your Local Search Presence Beyond openness, a few other signals can amplify your Google local visibility: - Earn positive local reviews to demonstrate customer satisfaction. - Expand online menus, services, photos to showcase what you offer locally. - Update GBP name, address and website fields to build citations consistency. - Generate links and mentions referencing your location and offerings. Key Takeaways on Local Search Ranking Factors Google confirms accurate and current open business hours are a critical local search ranking factor. Listings with incorrect hours now risk reduced visibility. To maximize local findability: 🟢 Maintain precise open hours on Google, down to the minute. 🟢 Avoid suspension risks by listing real hours, not inflated ones. 🟢 Monitor local search visibility and optimize regularly. Keeping your business openness or working hours perfectly dialed in takes some extra effort. But the reward of increased local visibility delivers higher engagement and sales from searching customers. Listing accurate open hours should be a top priority for multi-location brands, franchises and SMBs alike. Read the full article

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in BOSTON with Randall "XKCD" Munroe (Apr 11), then Providence (Apr 12), and beyond!

#20yrsago EZBake Oven for your PC https://web.archive.org/web/20040613185610/http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/ezbake.shtml

#15yrsago Ant slaves’ murderous rebellions https://web.archive.org/web/20090402193006/http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/the_rebellion_of_the_ant_slaves.php

#10yrsago Rob Ford and Canada’s neoliberal agenda https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-passion-of-rob-ford-or-the-neoliberal-making-of-torontos-municipal-crisis/

#10yrsago FCC adds 100MHz of spectrum to the commons https://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/202170-fcc-votes-to-boost-wi-fi/

#10yrsago German labor ministry bans after-hours email from managers to employees https://web.archive.org/web/20140401101146/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/germany-bans-managers-from-calling-or-emailing-staff-after-work-hours/461070-79.html #10yrsago Bizarre, paranoid warning about imaginary predators choosing victims through bumper-sticker-ology https://www.freerangekids.com/that-sticker-on-my-car-is-not-endangering-me/

#10yrsago The Internet should be treated as a utility: Susan Crawford https://www.vox.com/2014/4/6/5587138/susan-crawford-internet-public-option

#10yrsago Rich, admitted child rapist granted probation because he “would not not fare well” in prison https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2014/03/28/sunday-preview-du-pont-heir-stayed-prison/7016769/

#10yrsago Expiration Day: YA coming of age novel about robots and the end of the human race https://memex.craphound.com/2014/04/01/expiration-day-ya-coming-of-age-novel-about-robots-and-the-end-of-the-human-race/

#5yrsago Internal files reveal how US law enforcement classes anti-fascists as fascists, and actual fascists as “anti-anti-fascists” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/01/intelligence-law-enforcement-report-leftwing-terrorists-charlottesville

#5yrsago Wells Fargo is looking for a new CEO https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/01/investing/wells-fargo-ceo-tim-sloan/index.html

#5yrsago The strange tale of Runescape’s Communist republic https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/29-03-2019/free-armour-trimming-the-communist-revolution-inside-runescape

#5yrsago Slovakia’s first woman president is an anti-corruption, pro-immigrant environmental campaigner https://www.kgou.org/world/2019-03-31/the-erin-brockovich-of-slovakia-is-elected-the-countrys-first-female-president

#5yrsago The weird grift of “sovereign citizens”: where UFOlogy meets antisemitism by way of Cliven Bundy and cat-breeding https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/business/sovereign-citizens-financial-crime.html

#5yrsago Citing transphobic policies, 172+ googlers call for removal of Heritage Foundation from Google’s “Advanced Technology External Advisory Council” https://medium.com/@against.transphobia/googlers-against-transphobia-and-hate-b1b0a5dbf76

#5yrsago America’s best mobile carrier is also the first phone company to back Right to Repair legislation https://www.vice.com/en/article/eveezj/a-cell-phone-carrier-breaks-with-big-telecom-announces-support-for-right-to-repair-legislation

#1yrago Flickr to copyleft trolls: drop dead https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/01/pixsynnussija/#pilkunnussija

#pluralistic

[devilsfromloudun]

i love being the best googler around, ppl ask me question about problems for class and i have the answer googled in 5 minutes, the 25 year old googler that’s me

[nickgerlich]

A Place I Want To Visit

Well, it’s about time.

How’s that again, DrG?

It was back on the 4th of September 1998 that Google launched. No one knew then that the upstart search engine would become not just a household word but a verb in its own right. Founded in a garage like so many other tech start-ups, it crushed its multiple competitors by simply doing the job best. It’s hard to argue with the jury of public opinion, as well as consumer choice.

So powerful is Google that it has about a 90% share of the search market, and has attracted DOJ scrutiny. But that’s a story for another time, because our focus today is that Google finally got around to doing something it should have done years ago: open a visitor center. Actually, it is more than just that, as it includes a cafe and retail store. It’s all at their corporate headquarters in Mountain View California.

And while visitors won’t be able to peak into the nerve center behind the curtain to see Googlers in their native habitat, it should suffice to at least let folks feel like they are welcome at the brand that has become so deeply entrenched in everyone’s lives.

Who knows, people may also leave money. Those shiny new phones, door bells, and digital home assistants may be hard to resist.

Now please know that I am not saying Google should plunge into retail. Actually, last year it opened a store in New York City, so its big toe is already in those waters. But Google knows nothing about retail, unlike Apple, which has long been a symbol of marketing success in that arena. There’s always a crowd inside an Apple Store. Microsoft tried and failed to emulate Apple’s success, and I bet Google would flop similarly were it to open a slew of shops across the land.

But a Visitor Center? That’s golden. The very phrase sounds welcoming. Of course, it’s not like you’re going to meet Sergey Brin or Larry Page as they grab a coffee, but it will no doubt evoke warm fuzzies. It’s almost like going to Tupperware headquarters in Orlando, because who among us doesn’t have at least one of their bomb-proof plastic storage containers in their cabinet?

This is also a shrewd move given the DOJ investigation, even though Google swears they have had this thing cooking for a while on a back burner. It shows a level of transparency at a time when others swear Google’s opacity is evidence of their guilt. Visitors may not see much, but at least they see something.

As for the retail, once again I must say that whenever any company ventures into uncharted waters thinking their good name will keep them floating along merrily in the current, they better be watching for icebergs. Retail is a very different animal, and Apple was lucky to find the secret sauce and run with it. I don’t think there is anywhere near the demand for Google products that there is for Apple’s.

Here is the difference. Google is a service that happens to dabble in hardware. Apple is hardware with just a smidge of homegrown software. When you say Apple, you think of phones, laptops, ear pods, and the like. When you say Google, you think of search. It’s hard to package and sell that.

Still, next time I find myself in Silicon Valley, count me in. This will become a pop culture shrine for many, even if all they buy is a t-shirt. It will be the national park of search. Let the pros handle the real retail, and have just enough on display to satisfy visitor curiosities.

And as for Google, maybe they can keep the DOJ off their back for another 25 years.

Dr “A fridge Magnet Would Also Be Nice” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Google #Visitor Center

[alyosiuscreightonward]

Dear Diary. Sigh. Deep breaths.

Recently I had been scrolling through the social media and I found a post that upset me to the nth degree.

The post was from a dear friend who I absolutely adore and worship and as foolish as it sounds, I’ve been known to hang onto to her every word.

As I begin to share this story about my life and very much like Tina Turner once said, “I’m done with this and I’m just not going back to ancient history anymore because I’m done talking about it.”

The post talked about rape.

I was 13 years old when I was raped by a family friend. Without going through the process of getting my nerves worked, I was upstairs in the 4th floor and a raucous party was happening on the 3rd floor.

I remained silent about this for years until during a screening match with my mom, I blurted it out and then as I once told my lawyer, I was about to testify in a courtroom, “I can tell you that I am able to relive that experience with explicit detail.” His jaw dropped to the floor. However that’s a story for another time.

Back in 1974, apparently only women are able to be raped. Yet it was not spoken about as much as it is today. Almost 50 years later, I still get pissed off.

Little boys and men had never been sexually assaulted before or at least it had never been reported before.

I was raped in February 1974 and then I had moved to NYC in March 1974. I had a nervous breakdown because I was silent. I didn’t even mention it to the various shrinks I was going to at the time.

Years later, I found out about Tawana Brawley and Reverend Al Sharpton. I dare you to get on the Googler Schmoogler and look at what happened.

Now we have learned about E. Jean Carroll.

In between then and now, I had appeared in the audience of The Geraldo Rivera Show. The topic was about men who were survivors of sexual violence in their lives and in prison. I think that there just might be a video of me talking about it but I’m not gonna look.

I also remember a movie starring Jody Foster, it’s called “The Accused,” from 1991. To the best of my knowledge it is a true story that took place in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Sigh. Deep breaths.

Over the years I learned how some people had lost their shit and screamed rape, and ultimately we came to learn that it was all a lie. One incident that was so shocking to me was the person who had said that they had been raped by person or persons known or unknown to them. The truth was ultimately revealed to the world. The person had been rejected, denied and dismissed but still had no moral compass. Yes, it does happen that people get it twisted and they feel some kind of way about being rejected and shit goes down.

Motherfucker, I’ve been rejected and I’ve cried and wondered why I couldn’t give it away. For fucks sake, I opened up the store and practically gave the goods away, I mean I’ve exposed myself in public and still was told, “No fucking way. It ain’t gonna happen.” I felt crushed like a cockroach.

Yet I have empathy for the survivors and my heart breaks for them and the luggage that they carry around with them over the years. Some like me have lost their luggage and have moved on with their lives but others haven’t. I’m not just going to shoo them away but I’m going to embrace them and hopefully offer them the tools to help them find peace on their journey.

The one of my many issues is that I personally have the tools in my toolbox to do things and I give a wide berth to those who are still working and struggling.

I certainly don’t judge et cetera because I’ve been there before and have people looking at me and questioning. I think about Tawana and in between to E. Jean. Like a dodecahedron, each one of these things have twelve distinct sides to look at and examine and then, in some cases, jump to conclusions. I don’t. I believe in the person who told the story and I believe it is up to me to decide yet I’m here for you regardless. I’ll be that pit-bull terrier with lipstick and I won’t let go.

Maybe I’m just not making sense here and I’m being pretentious probably and trying not to sound as if I’m projecting my male toxicity on you but in my head I’m able to tackle this subject and tell you that I’m in a better place now because the person who hurt me is dead. I have the knowledge that I know that he died. It was a slow painful death and he suffered greatly. I’m not sure if I was his only victim or had this been a pattern that was perpetrated on others. I’ll never know and I forgave myself first and I’m hoping that he at peace with himself and his family on the other side.

In conclusion, I feel horrible that I had to learn this about you. I want to hold you and let you know that I am here for you and if I had a magic wand to make it all better, I’d go >>poof!!<< I’d also help you plan your revenge in anyway shape or form or fashion.

Let me shut the fuck and go back to my little corner of the world where you can dismiss me for being a twit or a twat waffle but I’d like to invite you to listen to a song by Otep called, “Kisses and Kerosene”

If your opinion changes based on my experience and you don’t want to be bothered with me anymore, I will accept it and your wrath, but I won’t mention this subject ever again because I want to be able to say, I’m happy to be alive and be able to talk about it without losing my shit and that just might piss some people off.

That lonesome whistle has various connotations and I hear it now.

[hotgirl5040]

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Google has been repeatedly listed as one of the best companies to work for by Fortune magazine. Google jobs from home online and change the world  Engineers looking for a job should consider posting a position on Google's job chat. Every year, Google creates products and services to promote future financial growth, which means that it will continue even in the current economic situation. Fortune magazine stepped in by listing Google as one of the 100 best places to work in 2008. Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin as part of a research project at Leland Stanford University. Dr. Eric Schmidt became CEO in August 2001 and in 2004 the company went public and reached a valuation of $23 billion.  As of September 2008, Google has 20,123 employees at various levels in companies around the world. From India to Switzerland, Google wants to understand the experience of every internet user from a cultural perspective. You might also like: Easy Call Center Jobs Required position  Google is hiring software engineers, project managers, network administrators, human resources managers, and sales and marketing professionals. Candidates should be able to highlight their past achievements and gain some knowledge of Google's services and products before the interview. According to Google's work ethic, "Happier people are more productive". This forces Google to focus more on the interests of its users. Google wants to state that the users do not work for the company, but that the company works for the users. Here are some reasons why every graduate should try Google Jobs from home online. Why should you try Google Jobs? Profits are like free food  One big advantage Google has is its free feed. About 200 recipes are served in Google Cafes every day. A variety of options from vegetarian dishes, organic food, and ethnic food from around the world. The best matter is that all are totally free of charge. Even when you go for an interview at Google, you can also enjoy free food. There is no workplace, but a university. Many Googlers start working right out of college. So unlike other companies, walking into the Googleplex feels like walking into a college campus. The Mountain View Googleplex has one million square feet. Think about how big a stadium is two and a half years old; it's Googleplex. Google Home has different names. This name includes 'π' (pi). Bicycles are parked in the building to get around the school grounds. No "size limit"  It may seem strange. Some multinational companies require strict dress codes in their work schools. Even in some universities, t-shirts and jeans are not allowed. They argue that students should follow the same dress code as the company. But on Google, there is no specific dress code. Employees can wear whatever they feel comfortable wearing. Listen to millions of heartbeats. Think! The product you are working on will reach millions of people. isn't it scary? Your opinion is respected. At Google, employees can use 20% of their work week for any work unrelated to their workload. This gives the impression that users do not work for Google, but that Google works for users. In fact, Google says that most of their Google Labs products start with 20% of their user time. Your idea will be the next Google product!   Apply for Google jobs from home online Read the full article

[productsreviewings]

Retrenched tech employees really feel they've been mistreated by their former employers after years of loyalty. Former Googlers and meta employees say they have been laid off or instantly locked out of the system whereas on maternity go away. HR consultants instructed Insider that many corporations are unprepared for the supply of mass layoffs. loading One thing is loading Thanks for signing up! Entry your favourite subjects in a customized feed whilst you're on the go Obtain the app Why does the most recent spherical of layoffs in tech appear significantly brutal?In March, a bunch of greater than 1,400 Googlers petitioned CEO Sundar Pichai to respect employees and never "be evil" as the corporate minimize its workforce by 12,000. The outrage got here after numerous former workers publicly shared how they felt the corporate dealt with their layoffs in a distinctly un-Google-y approach. Some found they'd been laid off whereas on parental go away. Present workers stated they realized they have been let go after emails from co-workers bounced again.Then there's the difficulty of severance packages: Some former workers begged the corporate to grant them accepted parental go away or paid go away, whereas others lamented the miscalculation of their inventory choices. These unlucky conditions are a part of a rising refrain of laid-off tech employees throughout the business who really feel their once-beloved employers are giving them the chilly shoulder. When Meta started its first spherical of mass layoffs, some workers realized their destiny after they could not log again into their laptops whereas working from house. One laid-off Meta worker described the expertise as "chilly" and "impersonal."After years of abusing — some would say robbing — their workers, why are the layoffs being dealt with in such an impersonal approach that leaves employees feeling alienated? The Insider spoke to a few human sources consultants about the best way corporations strategy layoffs. Consultants say that whereas a few of what we have seen in layoffs is a part of a well-planned technique, the remaining is probably going an oversight. And within the case of Google and Meta, who've by no means completed a mass layoff earlier than, a few of that may be chalked as much as inexperience."Lots of people should be communicated with about firm choices. And most corporations are unprepared to take care of the logistics round that," says David Lewis, CEO of Operations Inc., a human sources consulting agency. No plan is flawlessFirms sometimes plan weeks or months prematurely of any layoff announcement.As soon as the finance division determines that steep cost-cutting measures are so as, management meets with HR, authorized, and consulting groups to develop an motion plan. They may attempt a hiring freeze and restrict journey amongst comparatively easy money-saving measures.

However when that does not work, they will attempt the quickest route: minimize the workforce, says Jaime Klein, CEO of Encourage Human Assets.Firms are then pondering who to let go. "Final one employed, first one fired" is a standard phrase, however consultants inform Insider it is by no means that easy. Lots of the current layoffs included individuals who had been with their corporations for years. It might be that the worker had the very best wage in a single function, making them costlier than others. Or perhaps the function is lastly going to be phased out and the corporate has chosen to start out the method with layoffs. Regardless of the purpose, solely the individuals behind the layoffs know the complete story.Regardless of all of the planning going into the massive announcement, there are nonetheless hiccups. Layoffs are generally accelerated due to the urgency to chop prices, Klein stated. In keeping with Lewis, it doesn't matter what technique is tried, there will probably be errors – even if you name within the professionals. "You have seen corporations lumped collectively. It appears impersonal and chilly and disrespectful and disrespectful. You have seen corporations by way of corporations like mine, by way of full strangers on this equation." He stated.Lewis additionally stated that corporations typically neglect about people who find themselves on trip or who name in sick and should not have a plan in place to get the message throughout. This may occasionally sound disgusting, nevertheless it's normally an actual oversight.There isn't any heat and caring strategy to defend firm knowledge No person likes strolling out of their office, saying they can not get again to their workstation to gather their stuff, or instantly locking out their laptop computer. However consultants say a couple of incidents the place issues went horribly mistaken throughout layoffs ruined it for everybody. "Nobody takes this information evenly. Some individuals react very emotionally and should begin sending inappropriate emails, ruining some work," stated Lauren Winan, chief HR guide and CEO of Subsequent Degree Advantages. Winan describes a shopper who waited 24 hours to show off entry so their employees may say goodbye and assist switch their work to a different colleague or group. Various workers benefit from the time to ship e-mails containing obscenities, or destroy information.Lewis recalled a shopper who instructed her it was impolite to disclaim workers the precise to return to their desks to gather their very own belongings. So, he allotted a number of hours for employees to do exactly that. Just a few days later Lewis and his group realized from IT information that an worker had downloaded a whole shopper record from the corporate and commenced reaching out to clients.However, along with defending the corporate, there may be additionally an curiosity in defending the laid-off employees."You do not need them to finish up in a state of affairs the place they do one thing they remorse, as a result of that might comply with them for some time of their profession," Winan stated. These attainable explanations don't communicate to each layoff. There are all the time exceptions. However for many layoffs, corporations attempt to decide on the lesser of all attainable evils, with minimal potential for legal responsibility for all events concerned, Lewis instructed Insider.But, even in that, everybody should keep in mind, as Klein factors out, "We're all going to stumble upon one another once more in life, in our careers. And other people will keep in mind who handled them with respect or not."