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Google to close engineering office in Russia

reuters.com

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Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#281

Post by moo »

vadman wrote: post #165
bad_user wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Romanian, a country that's pretty close to Russia and I am one that suffers for what the Ukrainians are going through with Russia, because I can see how the same thing could happen in Basarabia (Moldova) and there are already signs of that. Russia historically has been occupying territories, getting rid of any political dissent by effectively killing or deporting people, while crushing their national identity.…

Your country was of enormous help to Hitler while attacking the USSR, and the retribution you had to "endure", given everything you did, was astonishingly mild. So spare me your complaints.

A lot of the fascist collaborator countries, including Baltic states and Ukraine, are still proud of their support of fascism. The West turns a blind eye to this as its promotion of democracy is a political tool, which is a farce considering the dictatorships it creates and supports like Saudi Arabia.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#282

Post by notjackma »

trhway wrote: post #256
notjackma wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has none of the above and is now the world's largest economy. Doesn't seem to be an impediment to doing business, does it? http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-america-is-now...

>China has none of the above and is now the world's largest economy. Doesn't seem to be an impediment to doing business, does it? sounds like you've never did business in countries like China or Russia, or did business at all.

Western companies have no problen doing business with China or Russia.

If you have a problem then that's on you. The politics in China has not stopped entrepeneurs from heading east.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#283

Post by [deleted] »

adventured wrote: post #261
notjackma wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has none of the above and is now the world's largest economy. Doesn't seem to be an impediment to doing business, does it? http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-america-is-now...

The US is the world's largest economy, roughly 70% larger than China in fact. That's a bogus article, that is more link-bait than substance - which is why nobody has taken it seriously. The author is patting their self on the back for forecasting an event they then self-proclaim to have taken place. "So a Starbucks venti Frappucino served in Beijing counts the same as a venti Frappucino served in Minneapolis, regardl…

[deleted]

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#284

Post by dreamweapon »

nemanja wrote: post #114
schrodinger wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but I really don't buy the argument that USA is worse than Russia in this respect. Snowden, while I totally applaud what he did and would love to see him pardoned, or protected under whistleblower laws, leaked a ton of highly classified information. Again, I think he did the right thing, but him being prosecuted is not the same as "if anyone speaks about the actions the U.S. takes in secret they are hunted to…

If Snowden blew the whistle (to the minimum extent possible to inform the public about what was happening) and stayed in the U.S. to face the music, I could buy the argument that he was a hero and deserves a pardon. What he did instead is that he fled to our biggest foe and revealed publicly a lot of tactical information that only serves to hurt U.S. intelligence operations abroad. Further, we will never know what he…

What he did instead is that he fled to our biggest foe ..

No, what happened was that he attempted to fly to a relatively neutral country in South America, and the U.S. government (rather stupidly) revoked his visa while in transit.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#285

Post by danmaz74 »

trhway wrote: post #260
danmaz74 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but what does that 82% actually know? When there is no freedom of the press, when the government controls practically all news outlets, it's difficult to judge what people think. This even without considering that those Russians who think Putin is evil will think twice before telling so to a random pollster.

>Yes but what does that 82% actually know? When there is no freedom of the press, when the government controls practically all news outlets, it's difficult to judge what people think. they know what they want to know. Your argument was valid in Iron Curtain times. As of today most of the Russians have been to foreign countries and have the Internet access (my family back there (not a in central city) has fiber with c…

I think you underestimate the sheer power of propaganda, when it's well organized and all-penetrating. Moreover, how many Russians can read anything but Russian?

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#286

Post by trhway »

danmaz74 wrote: post #285
trhway wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Yes but what does that 82% actually know? When there is no freedom of the press, when the government controls practically all news outlets, it's difficult to judge what people think. they know what they want to know. Your argument was valid in Iron Curtain times. As of today most of the Russians have been to foreign countries and have the Internet access (my family back there (not a in central city) has fiber with c…

I think you underestimate the sheer power of propaganda, when it's well organized and all-penetrating. Moreover, how many Russians can read anything but Russian?

>I think you underestimate the sheer power of propaganda, when it's well organized and all-penetrating.

you're telling this to a person who was born and raised in USSR :) Yes, man, i was accepting what i was told and didn't ask questions, didn't seek the truth. This not asking, not seeking, is a matter of personal failure, it can't be blamed on propaganda. And such failure is what the Russians are guilty off because this is what enables the propaganda in the first place.

>Moreover, how many Russians can read anything but Russian?

You can find all the sides of any issue presented in Russian language today. The major news like BBC have Russian version. Ukraine, with all its anti-Russian fervor, is still talks and writes a lot in Russian so Russians can easy read the Ukrainian side - that of course if they were interested in it. Again, this is their personal choice.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#287

Post by danmaz74 »

trhway wrote: post #286
danmaz74 wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you underestimate the sheer power of propaganda, when it's well organized and all-penetrating. Moreover, how many Russians can read anything but Russian?

>I think you underestimate the sheer power of propaganda, when it's well organized and all-penetrating. you're telling this to a person who was born and raised in USSR :) Yes, man, i was accepting what i was told and didn't ask questions, didn't seek the truth. This not asking, not seeking, is a matter of personal failure, it can't be blamed on propaganda. And such failure is what the Russians are guilty off because…

> This not asking, not seeking, is a matter of personal failure, it can't be blamed on propaganda

I think you're too harsh on yourself - and on most ordinary Russians. Exiting the Matrix is really hard, not just because of propaganda, but also because Putin's intimidation technique and systematic use of corruption are very effective.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#288

Post by skj »

rurban wrote: post #56
skj wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe anyone is getting fired, though it's true that a mandatory relocation will mean a lot of people choose to leave the company.

I assumed that they will not fire their best engineers. But will their families relocate to Europe, having to speak weird languages and spend a lot of money? Zurich is super expensive.

Right, I expect many will choose a severance package instead.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#289

Post by Raphael »

pfortuny wrote: post #46
tribaal wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's been on position 1 of best standard of living in the world pretty consistently, and Switzerland is geographically central, well interconnected, business-friendly, and not part of the EU? Just a guess :) EDIT: It seems Vienna is on top since 2010, my bad. But position 2 is not so bad, and the other points still stand :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Quality_of_Living_Surve...

The NOT part of the EU is not to be considered lightly. It is possibly a great factor.

What's the advantage to being outside the EU?

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#290

Post by pdkl95 »

merlincorey wrote: post #271
yuncun wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McDonald’s CEO, James Skinner, is interesting. I like their chicken mcNuggets, but I am always aware that their CEO is US-Navy trained, and maintains a good relation with armed forces. Seriously though, everybody was China is PLA - it doesn't mean anything. Back in the day, PLA is one of the few ways to get an education and not be a farmer.

On a semi-serious note, McDonald's is positioned at major intersections in nearly every city and town in the United States. If you wanted to go full-militarized police state, locking down all the major intersections seems like something you'd want to do.

A friend of mine once heard a talk by one of the CxOs of McDonald's (was a while ago, and I can't remember which). He asked the question, "What business am I in?"

Obviously, he rejected the naive answer of "selling food". Smarter answers were "licensing franchises" or "marketing/branding", but he rejected those answers as well.

What business was he in? Land

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