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Google Summer of Code Expands
bakotaco wrote with news from the Summer of Code site: "We're Expanding the Summer of Code... After spot reviewing the applications we've received for the Summer of Code, we were struck with their high quality. As a result, we were able to increase the funds available to support 400 students, double our original number of 200. While this doesn't allow us to take all applicants, we thought that this would be a terrific thing to do for the mentoring organizations, the students, open source software and computer science."
The Dow do-no-evil index closed higher today on an announcment from Google...
The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
I'd rather have The Summer of Love. :)
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Google has been the darling of the tech world for who knows how long because sometimes they just do the right thing. Of course there's something in it for them, there always is, but for a publicly held company to continue the high reputation it held as a private company is admirable. Yes there have been changes there and no not everybody is happy, but the leaders of the company are still good leaders. That's a rarity these days.
...building their personal army of Google programmers. It's an excellent way to get the developer community on your side. I am anxious to see what type of innovations will come from all this.
"...if people respected copyright more, like you guys do with the GPL so religiously, [the DMCA] wouldn't be necessary."
Don't be a jerk. I'm a geek and this shit matters to me. Don't like what slashdot reports? Don't read it.
... those selected will only earn $2250 over the summer. But remember, having Google on your resume looks better than McDonalds! Have a nice day!
- sm
Squid is on the dinner plate, fried a delicious golden brown.
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
George: Yeah! Look at me! I was free and clear! I was living the dream! I was stripped to the waist, eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery!
Jerry: Before we go any further, I'd just like to point out how disturbing it is that you equate eating a block of cheese with some sort of bachelor paradise.
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
Could Google be the next Bell Labs? Next thing you know that will hatch from google would be the cure for AIDS.
----- You know you have ego issues when you register a domain in your name.
"Google has been the darling of the tech world for who knows how long because sometimes they just do the right thing."
Of all the things Google does right, this is one of them. They take the best and brightest -- and the get to know them well. So this year they are getting the value from 400 people working on cool Open Source projects that will benefit the whole world. Google gets props and free advertising for doing this, which is likely quite an endeavor. 400 computers networked... think of the Quake tournies!
Out of this piece of philanthropy (it really is philanthropy when you are paying programmers these days -- we need as much support as we can get!) -- Google will find at least TEN projects they can buy outright WITH the developer who they have ALREADY PAID $4500 to, making the deal SOFTER, turning $4500 into an investment perhaps saving them millions.
In my opinion, Google has really built the first known MONEY FARM known to man. All they have to do is water it and it will grow. Next summer, expect 800 people or more.
I'm doing an Open Source blogging/small business web services system called PHk (soon to be at phk.ca). The company I'm working for is paying me salary just to work on my own system -- because they want to be able to use it when it's done. And that's another success story with Open Source when your vocation is your vacation...
Anyone here working at Google this summer?
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
As long as I can wear poppies! I love poppies!
er, I mean . . .
Pretty Pictures!
They aren't taking more submissions. They are just picking twice as many people from the original batch of applicants.
Do *you* know where your IP is going?
...)
Or how your being made jobless first is now perhaps being used (in shades of hip and coolness of course, see also "street teams" for the music cartel, the military recruitment,
to put young folks into the geeks' version of an idol's competion where of course everyone loses even the winners., except... the organizers.
Perhaps I'm just too cynical, and no one wants to hear it anyway (which is a good indication that I might be on to something), but the whole google, gmail, recruiting, kool-aid I dunno it's starting to smell like a rat the more I think and read about it.
Maybe they can't think of anything someone could do?
I actually considered this for one of my projects, but didn't because (a) by the time I heard about it on slashdot they'd already picked all the projects, and (b) I normally only accept code from people who've proved their ability first... letting a student have free reign is damn scary.
Think of the time involved. Taking ~6000 applications and writing a 10 minute rejection: 60,000 person-minutes. That's 1,000 person hours, or half of a work year for some guy just to type up personal apologies. Who in their right mind _wants_ companies to pay people to do such things, that's like demanding that people have sucky jobs!
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
that's quite a bit of money they're giving away...
Chris
Co-Editor, Open Sources
Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
They are just picking ... from the original batch of applicants.
... Which implies that the original batch of submissions was better than they were originally hoping for.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
The Gallery project has a list of ideas for Google Summer of Code coders. This is a very nice, mature, PHP application used for managing pictures online.
Another great project that would be interesting to work with is Jinzora. Jinzora is a web-based music streaming/archiving application. It may be one of the best around.
Both applications are GPLed, fairly mature, actively developed and used, and are just plain useful tools to use.