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My Google Internship

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Re: My Google Internship

#221

Post by ocdtrekkie »

cromwellian wrote: post #216
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny that Googlers like to cite China as proof AOSP is really a thing and that competition exists. But the only reason it works is that as you point out: Google exited China. It's impossible to compete with an illegal monopoly, but we can easily see how much better the market works when Google is gone. So Europe and Russia's argument is, AOSP will thrive when Google (or at least, their blatantly illegal contrac…

Android's lack of Google services in China isn't because Google "exited" (and by "exit", means moved servers to Hong Kong), it's because the great firewall blocks them. If you take a phone purchased in Europe or the US into China, Google Play Services won't work without a VPN. Do you think the Great Firewall is an example of "how much better the market works"? You know, where BAT (Baidu/Alibaba/Tencent) are the oliga…

Having not used phones in China, I won't comment on quality, but at the very least, it does prove the point: The only place Androids not controlled by Google exist in substantial number is where Google is banned. Not exactly a shining argument for your claim Google isn't a huge antitrust problem.

Re: My Google Internship

#223

Post by [deleted] »

dragonwriter wrote: post #212
edblarney wrote: post #167

"It’s Googley to stand up for diversity and inclusion, such as protesting against binary gendering on toilets" This is BS. 99.99% of the world is find with the 'binary signage' on toilets, and it is absolutely not 'anti trans' or 'anti anyone else' frankly, to do so. BTW - this is not like a 1960's movement - you're not in the 'right side of history' here. 'Binary Gender' is, and will always be normative, simply beca…

> 99.99% of the world is find with the 'binary signage' on toilets [citation needed] AFAICT, even many people that see gender as binary favor gender-neutral restrooms. > The number of people who actually have issues with 'binary' is very, very small. The number of people who identify outside of the classical binary distinction mau be small (or it may be that lots of people simply lack vocabulary to explain non-binary…

[deleted]

Re: My Google Internship

#224

Post by hota_mazi »

dragonwriter wrote: post #212
edblarney wrote: post #167

"It’s Googley to stand up for diversity and inclusion, such as protesting against binary gendering on toilets" This is BS. 99.99% of the world is find with the 'binary signage' on toilets, and it is absolutely not 'anti trans' or 'anti anyone else' frankly, to do so. BTW - this is not like a 1960's movement - you're not in the 'right side of history' here. 'Binary Gender' is, and will always be normative, simply beca…

> 99.99% of the world is find with the 'binary signage' on toilets [citation needed] AFAICT, even many people that see gender as binary favor gender-neutral restrooms. > The number of people who actually have issues with 'binary' is very, very small. The number of people who identify outside of the classical binary distinction mau be small (or it may be that lots of people simply lack vocabulary to explain non-binary…

It's easy to test: remove the entire distinction and have only one type of toilets where everybody can go.

Let this experiment run for a few months.

Then compare the number of people who complain about that experiment with the number of people who complain about binary signage.

I'm betting the former number will dwarf the latter. And no, I don't have a citation for that, just giving my opinion.

Re: My Google Internship

#225

Post by hota_mazi »

edblarney wrote: post #169
Shank wrote: post #65

I love reading accounts like this. As someone who had an internship in high school, I'm always happy to hear what other people's experiences were going into and out of the process. I think my immediate reaction is that Google creates an environment that simply doesn't exist at most other places. I interned at two companies in the defense industry. You could argue that our experiences were different because of securit…

One one side: yes. And BTW - this has nothing to do with defense industry, it's just 99% of business is like this. Business could do a lot more to make a more fun environment. On the other hand ... Google is a 'de-facto' monopoly, and they print money. They are super, super rich, and literally have billions more than they know what to do with. So it's easy to justify a lot of extra expenses. And these things can be e…

> 'Free lunch' was a cold, hard, Google style calculation: the time it took to 'drive to resto and back' was wasted time, it was cheaper to give people food than have them waste this time.

No, it's not. If it was, all companies would do it. And they would probably just give away sandwiches and call it a day instead of setting up dozens of gourmet cafeterias with different themes and chefs at the helm throughout their campuses.

Google loses millions of dollars every day in free food.

Why do they do it? Because that's how the company started and even after the IPO and the accountability that came with it, the founders stuck with their decision to put the employees first and the shareholders second

Re: My Google Internship

#226

Post by wsh91 »

coldcode wrote: post #188
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hate reading people believe they aren't skilled enough or won't be good enough to work at Google. When you realize all of the toys are part of an extremely successful strategy to keep you at the office as long as possible, and that Google is a huge company that has to hire thousands of people every year, you realize that this view that Google is "the best place to work" or that everyone who works there is a…

I have 35 years of programming experience in many varied things (and currently iOS Swift). The changes of Google hiring me is 0. The chances of Google hiring a bright young guy willing to stay at work 14 hours a day I expect is pretty high.

Respectfully, I don't know anyone here who works 14 hours a day. Anyone. And two of my teammates are more than twice my age (and I'm 25).

Don't get so down on yourself. :) The chances of Google hiring you are zero if you don't apply, but if you do, they're definitely positive.

Re: My Google Internship

#227

Post by wsh91 »

edblarney wrote: post #167

"It’s Googley to stand up for diversity and inclusion, such as protesting against binary gendering on toilets" This is BS. 99.99% of the world is find with the 'binary signage' on toilets, and it is absolutely not 'anti trans' or 'anti anyone else' frankly, to do so. BTW - this is not like a 1960's movement - you're not in the 'right side of history' here. 'Binary Gender' is, and will always be normative, simply beca…

Speaking as a genderqueer engineer at Google, I'm really glad to work with supportive cis colleagues. I'm sorry that you take such a negative view, but at least for me, as someone who has rarely felt included in tech, it's a tremendous relief to be here.

If going to great measures to make sure people who break the mold feel comfortable constitutes "social extremism", well, I'm glad we're extreme.

Re: My Google Internship

#228

Post by tptacek »

edblarney wrote: post #191
Bartweiss wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Three big causes: First, home bathrooms are reliably single-user. Some people are deeply uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bathroom with people of another gender (though exactly which people they would not want to share with is a complicated question). Interestingly, this seems to be a bigger deal in the US, where our stalls are shoddy and easy to see into. Second, cleanliness. Mostly, home bathrooms stay clea…

"gender doesn't seem to be the strongest predictor of bathroom hygiene" It definitely is when you have very few elements to chose from. When the 'men's' one-ey is 'in use' in Starbucks, I often go into the 'women's' - and it's very consistently cleaner. It is what it is.

So you're saying we should have binary signed toilets so that you can ignore the signs?

Re: My Google Internship

#229

Post by id »

danspencer wrote: post #102
Veelox wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think 19guid has a problem with using a toilet or being an asshole. I think the question is why is dissent from specific political views looked down upon? I have been in Silicon Valley for almost a year now after moving from the Midwest. I have been able to talk freely with my coworkers about some of my conservative views. Yet when I have shared what would count as "traditional values" on internal forums I ha…

You have a good point. A friend of mine works at Yahoo and he regularly gets emails from management encouraging everyone to show up at the Yahoo booth at Gay Pride Parade. Sure, Yahoo wants to be at Gay Pride Parade because they want to be seen as an open and accepting place. If Yahoo does not participate, it looks bad because every other big company (read: Yahoo's competitors) attends Gay Pride Parade too. But now w…

>Being against Gay Marriage rights is a political opinion, just like being FOR Gay Marriage rights.

There is a difference. If you are for gay marriage, you support gays having the same rights as everyone else. If you are against it, you want them to have less rights, just because they are gay, even though it doesn't affect your own rights in any way.

Now, it's still a political opinion, but it's reasonable for other people to not like it. Being in favor of segregation is also a political opinion but would provoke similar backlash.

Re: My Google Internship

#230

Post by ozy123 »

wsh91 wrote: post #227
edblarney wrote: post #167

"It’s Googley to stand up for diversity and inclusion, such as protesting against binary gendering on toilets" This is BS. 99.99% of the world is find with the 'binary signage' on toilets, and it is absolutely not 'anti trans' or 'anti anyone else' frankly, to do so. BTW - this is not like a 1960's movement - you're not in the 'right side of history' here. 'Binary Gender' is, and will always be normative, simply beca…

Speaking as a genderqueer engineer at Google, I'm really glad to work with supportive cis colleagues. I'm sorry that you take such a negative view, but at least for me, as someone who has rarely felt included in tech, it's a tremendous relief to be here. If going to great measures to make sure people who break the mold feel comfortable constitutes "social extremism", well, I'm glad we're extreme.

What does it mean to be 'included in tech' ?
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