Google Opens Sydney Office, Internship Program

An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet is reporting that Google has kicked off an internship program that will see Australian university students work in projects in the company's Sydney office. Google's local head of engineering, Lars Rasmussen, said 5-10 spots would be made available, with both technical and non-technical positions on offer. ZDNet Australia also has pictures of the official opening of Google's Sydney office."

Comments

Australia still not on the Google Map(s)

[ynotds]

At 2% and falling of the affluent world market, we are used to having our patience tried by new kids on the technology block, but after reading the iTWire report from Stuart Corner, who has been around the local industry as long as I have, it suddenly makes a lot less sense. Best to just quote Stuart quoting Lars Rasmussen, head of engineering for Google Australia:

The company's R&D in Australia started in late 2004 when Google acquired Where 2 Technologies, a mapping company founded by Rasmussen, his brother and two Australian friends.

"We formed about half of the team that put out Google Maps about a year ago and once we had done that we started lobbying to have a fully-fledged engineering centre in Sydney, Rasmussen said.

"The Sydney engineers still form a very significant part of the team that is working on Google Maps and I think that fact is going to make Google Australia an extremely attractive place for the top programmers and computer scientists to seek employment.(")

So Google acquires an Australian outfit with mapping expertise so they can put their technology into Google Maps, and nearly a year after Maps was launched the maps view of Australia contains nothing more than a monochrome continent dotted with unlikely bodies of water. No roads, no cities, a status which only our indigenous community are entitled to dream about.

Yes, I do have a prototype application using the Maps API which has had to rely on satelite/aerial images to place pins and, no, this isn't a job application, at least not unless they have a need for some very part time context analysis.

Google Notebook also?

[Richard_at_work]

I havent seen it announced anywhere, but Google seems to have just released an online notebook with Firefox and IE integration - http://www.google.com/notebook/

Food

[Yag]

Why (americans companies, usually) are so excited by free drinks and good food facilities INSIDE working place? I mean, in europe we are used to go out of office for lunch, every day, possibly changing place anytime possible, or even going at home if close enaugh, so what's the good points of having free coke inside work? It's nothing healty, nor expensive if you want to but it yourself, so, i can't really understand why google and other big companies tries to gain people attention showing this bonuses (i'm referring to the photos). I can't just understand, here in italy it doesn't make any "plus" having free coke inside the office, it's just useless, at lunch, you go out, you sit down, and eat, possibly with people different from the ones you see at work. It's just better than anything inside my workplace.

Re:The food at Google

[timothy]

I ate at Google once, thanks to Chris DiBona: it was indeed excellent. Like a mall food court in paradise; a wide variety of well-prepared food, plus a huge wall cooler of drinks from mundane to interesting, obscure stuff. Venison rounds. Asparagus. Super cake, delicious cookies. Great salad. And a sushi stand near the exit to the building, where the chef said "Sure, have a box! Enjoy!"

It was dreamlike :)

Tim