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Code poetry
NOTE: I had originally posted this a couple of years ago and then took it down because I thought I might include it in my book "I'm Feeling Lucky" (henceforth abbreviated as IFL). It didn't make the...
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Video of the original Googleplex
About a week after I started working at Google in November, 1999, I brought my new digital videocamera to the office. Most of the footage includes the people working there at the time, and I want to...
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Some more Googleplex video from 1999
Thought I'd add a couple more clips. There's not much character development, but I've been told the car chase scene is very compelling.The office with the green and red fringe shown here belonged to...
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Sexy Butt
Looking at the video of the scrolling queries screen, shown here in its original Googleplex lobby incarnation, brings to mind a story I heard about events that transpired prior to my joining Google in...
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Two guys walking
Another bit of Google video vintage 1999. The space shown here was pretty much the entirety of the company excluding the Annex, the lobby, and the micro-kitchen. Engineering occupied the glass offices...
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Masterminds and a Master Chef
There hasn't been a day since I left Google that I've regretted my decision to retake control of my waking hours and how I spend them. There have been many times, however, that I've thought back fondly...
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The café life
More memories triggered by video of Charlie's cafe in the 1999 Googleplex. These anecdotes didn't make the final edit of the book, though plenty of other Charlie stories did.When the weather turned...
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Snack attack
Not much to say about this clip of Google's first micro-kitchen, other than it was pretty distracting to sit at my desk knowing that as soon as I hit writer's block I could get up and stroll twenty...
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No talent for talent
Nice piece in the NY Times on Google's HR metrics and the effort to build a better boss. I have a section in IFL on one attempt to restructure management and the fallout from that experiment. There was...
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Google does Dilbert
A couple of years ago, I posted a three-part explanation of how Google came to create a homepage Doodle with Scott Adams of Dilbert fame. I've edited it some and will repost the rest of story here over...
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There's no story, yet the plot thickens
Second installment of the Dilbert doodle story, reposted from the Xooglers archive.********************When last I posted, Scott Adams had just agreed to work with us on Dilbertifying Google’s home...
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Brilliant! Love it! Now, could you change it all around?
Final installment of the Dilbert logo saga, revised and reposted from the Xooglers archive.*******************The script Scott sent us for the Dilbert Google doodle seemed to pick up nicely on Sergey’s...
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The Parable of the Pompon
Kara Swisher recently mentioned IFL in her column on All Things Digital. A nice plug, though Kara doesn't remember me from her days covering Google's startup phase. I'm not surprised. The press rarely...
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Google goes electric
With the ruling against Google's boook agreement today, I thought it might be a good time to resurrect this slightly revised post from the Xooglers archive. ********************There's a lot in the...
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What Larry needs to fix as CEO
I found this post by Xoogler Steve Lacy very insightful. He gives a great view of what a long time Google engineer finds frustrating about the development process within the company, from an NIH ("Not...
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The King of Fools
April 1 is this Friday and I'm sure Googler Michael Krantz is sitting in front of a computer somewhere sweating bullets. I hired Michael after years of searching for a marketing writer who not only...
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An idea that's strictly for the birds
“You know what would be funny?” Sergey asked me five days before April Fools’ 2002. I hoped he was going to say, “Soul Search,” the joke I had written up and given to him the day before. It was about...
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Meet the Press Monday
Looks like I'll be cranking up the hype machine for IFL on Monday, the day Larry takes over (again) as Google's CEO. I did an interview with Reuters print and will be appearing on Bloomberg TV around...
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The Once and Future King
On Monday, Larry Page takes over as Google's CEO. Again. Larry was CEO for the first couple of years that I worked at Google, before the VCs won their battle to have a more experienced manager front...
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Whose shot? J.R.'s.
Jonathan "J.R." Rosenberg, Google's vice-president of product management announced today that he's leaving the company after nine years. I remember the first time I met him very clearly. Jonathan makes...
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