beans_again?
Mountain View California Google street sign 004
Mountain View, California, is a company town. I say Google, and parent company Alphabet, own Mountain View. Yes, they donate a lot of money to make the community a better place. They chip in to provide free, public shuttle buses. They pay taxes and lease square footage. They buy catered meals and rent event space. They also jam the roadways with cars: driven, Ubered, and self-driving.
I suggest: they can do better. What do I mean? There is a Google Class and there are the rest of us. Take this photo, for example. Google drives Street View vehicles down the street where I used to live in Mountain View. They take photos of me, the neighbor's cat, my cars, and the home I lived in.
I went for a walk one night on Charleston Road, the public street in front of the Googleplex. I wanted a photo of the street name sign, shown here, that says, "Google." Two Google Security officers quickly approached in a defensive position, one 90 degrees from the other. "Company regulations do not allow photos of our building," one of the officers said. I'm being confronted while minding my own business on a public street and told I must comply with Google's company regulations. Can you see anything wrong with this?
If it had been a fast food franchise, some words might've been said. These guys have money. Lots of money. They have money for all of the above. They have plainclothes security staff who do surveillance of people including guys with cameras and tourists. Even if you're quite wealthy, they can afford to spend you into the dirt, if they choose. So I packed up my tripod and camera and walked off into the night.
How is it honest to tell me I cannot photograph from a public sidewalk in front of your building when Street View is doing surveillance on all of us? In the United States, money is a form of license. How does this fit into, "Don't be evil?"
My biggest problem with modernity may lie in the growing separation of the ethical and the legal.
— Massim Taleb
…I continue to believe that, in this country, the opposite of poverty is not wealth. I really don't think that's what we're talking about. I think, in America, the opposite of poverty is justice.
— Brian Stevenson
Journalism grade image.
Source: 4200x2800 16-bit TIF file.
Please do not copy this image for any purpose.
Mountain View California Google street sign 004
Mountain View, California, is a company town. I say Google, and parent company Alphabet, own Mountain View. Yes, they donate a lot of money to make the community a better place. They chip in to provide free, public shuttle buses. They pay taxes and lease square footage. They buy catered meals and rent event space. They also jam the roadways with cars: driven, Ubered, and self-driving.
I suggest: they can do better. What do I mean? There is a Google Class and there are the rest of us. Take this photo, for example. Google drives Street View vehicles down the street where I used to live in Mountain View. They take photos of me, the neighbor's cat, my cars, and the home I lived in.
I went for a walk one night on Charleston Road, the public street in front of the Googleplex. I wanted a photo of the street name sign, shown here, that says, "Google." Two Google Security officers quickly approached in a defensive position, one 90 degrees from the other. "Company regulations do not allow photos of our building," one of the officers said. I'm being confronted while minding my own business on a public street and told I must comply with Google's company regulations. Can you see anything wrong with this?
If it had been a fast food franchise, some words might've been said. These guys have money. Lots of money. They have money for all of the above. They have plainclothes security staff who do surveillance of people including guys with cameras and tourists. Even if you're quite wealthy, they can afford to spend you into the dirt, if they choose. So I packed up my tripod and camera and walked off into the night.
How is it honest to tell me I cannot photograph from a public sidewalk in front of your building when Street View is doing surveillance on all of us? In the United States, money is a form of license. How does this fit into, "Don't be evil?"
My biggest problem with modernity may lie in the growing separation of the ethical and the legal.
— Massim Taleb
…I continue to believe that, in this country, the opposite of poverty is not wealth. I really don't think that's what we're talking about. I think, in America, the opposite of poverty is justice.
— Brian Stevenson
Journalism grade image.
Source: 4200x2800 16-bit TIF file.
Please do not copy this image for any purpose.