Slashdot Mirror
Lawsuits Fly Over Google Founders' Party Plane
Mr. Soxley writes to tell us that the Boeing 767 recently purchased by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page is at the heart of what promises to be quite a legal battle. From the article: "Now the Delaware holding company that technically owns the 767, Blue City Holdings LLC, is embroiled in multiple lawsuits with an aviation designer hired to plan and oversee the massive plane's interior renovation. [...] But last October, Blue City terminated Mr. Jennings's contract, saying he wasn't doing his job properly. Mr. Jennings then filed a nearly $200,000 lien against the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration for payment he hadn't received. He later filed a complaint related to the matter against Blue City and Gore Design Completions Ltd., the San Antonio executive-jet outfitting firm that worked on the plane, in District Court in Bexar County, Texas."
"Mr. Jennings says allegations that he wasn't sufficiently involved in the project or accessible to the plane's owners are false, and has over 1,200 emails related to the project to disprove them."
Just because you have 1200+ emails relating to a project doesn't necessarily mean you are doing your job. With a project this size it could be argued that fewer emails mean you are doing your job better. This is the kind of project that requires a fair amount of oversight on a local level.
I reserve the right to think for myself. Others' opinions are optional. Puppy on lap = typos...not illiteracy.
If the plane wasn't even remotely related to Google, the story wouldn't even be here. Am I missing something?
How the hell is this YRO?
Seriously. Why should anyone care? Lawsuits and construction go together like oil and oil. A $200k contract dispute is non-news.
WGAS tag?
...for the rest of us concerning our modified 767s. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
I also hear Mr. Brin also had a dispute with his home gutter contractor.
And let's not ever forget this gem from the article:
Mr. Jennings says Messrs. Brin and Page "had some strange requests," including hammocks hung from the ceiling of the plane.
I think stockholders should be quite wary of corporate executives reckless enough not to require aviation-class hammocks with wicker seatbelts.
arguing over who outfits my fuck off jet, its a problem I would be happy to have.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
What does Star Jones think of all this, and is the northeast still flooded?
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
The idea of hammocks in a big jet doesn't sound unsafe.
It takes real guts to use a hammock in an ornithopter.
Whoo, signature!
DesireCampbell.com
Yeah it just a plain stupid suit about a plain stupid plane.
No cellulose wing, or X-prise, or other techno gear.
(Sigh)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
The Slashdot editors... Faithfully bringing you last weeks Reg stories today!
The Google team does the best PR/image creation in the industry. This article shows us the truth about the Google guys. They make a big fuss about their $1 salaries and get it hyped in the press to create an image. They've been trying to keep the 767 quiet, but their own pettiness and delusions of grandeur have lead to the story leaking out. Note that Bill Gates flew commercial when he was worth more than both of these guys put together and he still doesn't have a 767. Isn't a 767 a bit of overkill??
At least this start to lift the viel. The "do no evil" is merely PR hype. Google is collecting an enormous amount of informaiton about you and what you are searching on, who you email and IM with and about what, about where you go and when (calendar), etc. If the govenrment was doing this we'd have a revolution. Goole is a commercial entity and is a whole lot less accountable. This 767 story should remind us that the Google guys are no better than Ken Lay, the Tyco guy, or Marth Stewart.
Don't trsut them with all this information about yourself. They intend to use it commercailly and there are NO limits on what they can do. They are secretive and don't tell anyone very much, claiming they need to protct their busines ssecrets from competitord. And since their privacy policy says that they can change the policy at any time, without notice and without your further consent, they can use what they've collected in the past in any way they want and share it with whomever it suits them to.
Not worried? Still believe the "no evil" hype. Just look at how fungible their moreals are in China.
And congratulate them on their newest innovation -- gAss.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
People think this doesn't matter, but one thing is for certain, there is no stopping them, Brin and Page will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our customized-767-hammock-flying overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted member of Slashdot, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground server caves.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
old news... http://discussions.flightaware.com/viewtopic.php?t =94&start=125
links to:
http://discussions.flightaware.com/viewtopic.php?t =1762
unlike every digg article
You know that a company is on the way down when its founders buy a 767. Buying a 767 indicates that being rich is beginning to occupy their thinking, rather than management.
From the WSJ article: Mr. Jennings says Messrs. Brin and Page "had some strange requests," including hammocks hung from the ceiling of the plane. At one point he witnessed a dispute between them over whether Mr. Brin should have a "California king" size bed, he says. Mr. Jennings says Mr. Schmidt stepped in to resolve that by saying, "Sergey, you can have whatever bed you want in your room; Larry, you can have whatever kind of bed you want in your bedroom. Let's move on." Mr. Jennings says Mr. Schmidt at another point told him, "It's a party airplane."
Now you all know why Google signed the deal for office space at NASA Ames. It's not some expansion into the orbial launch business or some plot to be the intergalactic search engine. They signed a deal with NASA Ames so they could land their 767 on Moffett Federal's nine thousand foot runway biking distance from the Google campus. Must be nice to be all special like that.
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
Guess FuckedGoogle was right about their 767 being up in flames, albeit of the legal kind ;) .
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Why does this remind me of Austin Power's psychedelic 747 with bachelor pad interior?
Sergey: "Do I make you horny, baby?"
Cute chick: "Sergey, it's not the 90's anymore."
Sergey: "What do you mean, baby? Of course it's the 90's! As long as people use the internet mostly for porn and piracy of music and software, the 90's will always be alive!"
Dr. Evil: "I'm going to fucking kill Google!" *throws henchman's chair*
Dr. Evil: "So, about those Killer Chair Robots With Lasers I ordered..."
Henchman: "Well, it's about that, sir."
Dr. Evil: "Yes?"
Henchman: "We... could not complete the LongChair project. It kept crashing on us, I mean more than usual, in fact the prototype blew up spontaneously."
Dr. Evil: "Well, okay, what do you have?"
Henchman: "Ottomans."
Dr. Evil: "Ottomans?"
Henchman: "Ottomans, sir."
Dr. Evil: "Do they have frickin' lasers on their heads?"
Henchman: "No, sir."
Dr. Evil: "Saw blades?"
Henchman: "No, sir."
Dr. Evil: "Flamethrowers?"
Henchman: "No, sir."
Dr. Evil: "Well, what the fuck do they have?!"
Henchman: "Sir, we have integrated a Google search bar into their sides. It's really quite useful, you can Google while you lounge in-"
Dr. Evil: "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL GOOGLE!!!!" *throws chair with henchman through window*
Sergey and Larry are Billionaires... To put that in perspective, if you had a net worth of 1 million dollars this would be like being sued for $200.
Apparently TechGranny thinks Google is trying to invent a new kind of internet plane.
TechGranny on the internet planes.
Make the world better. Quit hating.
You are assuming that no punitive damages will be awarded.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Haven't you heard? Jets help stop global warming! They're just doing their part to save the planet ;)
Alright, I'll admit it-- I didn't read the article, and I barely read the summary.
But I did see "$200,000", "party", and "lawsuit" -- and I think we can all conclude the stripper's probably lying.
...because two ridiculously wealth guys who happen to run a search engine many people prefer own the plane that's at the heart of the lawsuit? Google is (mostly) a media darling, granted, but I really could care less about a lawsuit involving their plane. A plane? Good grief.
he's filing a 200000$ lawsuit against an aircraft?!?!
I don't know where you get the google boys being evil from this.
The main princriple is sueing the holding company above him and he also has action against the subcontractor below him that actually did the work.
"He later filed a complaint related to the matter against Blue City and Gore Design Completions Ltd., the San Antonio executive-jet outfitting firm that worked on the plane, in District Court in Bexar County, Texas."
That seems to indicate that the work was indeed improperly done and as lead contractor he is being held responsible. His response sue above and below and try to pass the buck.
I see no evil from the google guys here.
I believe that the parties involved might be of interest to some people, and for variosu reasons. For example, Google has been touted ad the "omni-beneveloent corporate goliath" of the internet. One of the reasons *I* liked Google (aside from having a good search engine) was the fact that its founders seemed to be well-grounded - in other words, their pursuit wasn't based on the "status" it might afford them, but in being able to do something useful (and very well) with internet technology.
When stories like this surface, it makes me wonder if the money has changed some fundamental aspects of their initial vision. If money can serve as a catalyst to *this* kind of change, what other changes can result? Will they, at some point in the future, adopt an AT&T-like mentality where money is more important than integrity?
Why not burn 12000 gallons of fuel per capita to get to the next great party? After all, they will be dead on 50 years so it doesn't effect them.
Ever wonder why American troops are fighting for Iraqi oil? Bush just sells it - it is clowns like this that burn it up.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Pretty sure the idea was, "Look, Google is doing evil! The founders have their own jet and they sue the little guy! ZOMG! The Evil!"
that mr gates apparently had to be convinced (with some difficulty) that using charter planes would be more productive than taking commercial flights. while the google guys are buying an enormous 767 with hammocks to "party" on. interesting
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
You can't have a pimped out airliner in your hangar and still be "not evil". In fact, you can't have a hangar in the first place and retain not-evil status, unless you're a South American drug-lord, in which case you're just badass.
This is common knowledge.
I just find it... I dunno... sad? offputting? ...that billionaires pretty much choose to blow off steam about the same way Bubba in the trailer park does, just more expensively. Booze and drugs and whores. Outside of technical endeavors, we are ultimately an uncreative species. :(
Sergey and Larry are Billionaires... To put that in perspective, if you had a net worth of 1 million dollars this would be like being sued for $200.
Thanks for putting that in perspective for us little guys who are only worth $1 million.
Just work hard and you too can have a plane with a piano and a California King bed in it too.
Isn't the Boeing 767 the same type of plane that was flown into the WTC buildings?
I've got 1200 emails about Viagra - I'm not involved in cock-pills.
And Jennings has 1200 emails about the airplane, proving Google's position that he was not involved!
paintball
Why doesn't Google just send the plane over to Galpin Auto Sports and let Xzibit and Mad Mike film a gonzo Pimp My Jet special for MTV?
Complaints about the choice of title for an article, or the moderation system are offtopic at best. When they are worded as inflammatory, they should be moderated as troll.
I am flabbergasted that a company worth billions actually allows both head honchos to travel in the same plane. This might kill both. In the business world the "board members etc. travel apart"-rule is quite a common policy and it is for sure not a new aspect to Brin and Page. Which is even more un-understandable as it shows that they are acting against what their advisors must have told them.
Kissing a little ass there? Slashdot has outlived it's usefulness. For now this place is best off as a trollfest.
...but I do, and apparently so do the Slashdot editors who chose this title.
They're going to be digitizing it (like in Tron) so that they can fight viruses personally. They'll also be improving the searches by overseeing the programs responsible through direct communication rather than through programming.
Its thought that it'll be a little safer for them to do this in a plane since all the programs only have bikes. A plane will also help avoid the dangerous lines emitted by the back of the bikes, which can cause deresolution to those who don't have lightening reflexes.
Not that it's all going to be for business, of course. They've hired some playboy girls to write a few of the programs (well...they're only visual basic, but it counts), since all programs end up looking exactly like the person who writes them while inside, and all users are viewed as gods when they enter the internet.
Point is, they're impeding google's ability to improve it's searches, which impedes my ability to have better google searches.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
Pssst. Fucktard. Digg stole the headline off the article in question. Complaining about that makes you look stupid.
...Snakes on a motherfucking Google plane.
Great people talk about ideas
Average people talk about things
Small people talk about other people
and Slimy people PATENT ideas.
I'll bet green money that the dispute involved lava lamps in some way. As in, the airplane couldn't safely achieve liftoff due to the sheer volume of lava lamps. Or the pilot couldn't see, because of the giant lava lamp in the cockpit. Lava lamps are probably involved here.
lolTERRORISTS!!!!
Everyone has 24 hours in every day. Google is growing VERY rapidly in complexity. Every hour spent preparing for extreme partying is an hour not spent managing Google, which is slowly getting out of control. For example, Google's human resources department has become abusive.
1) they ripped off "Current Contents" citation index
2) pretended that they knew what they were doing just because they were at stanford
3) got tons of money, which validated the rip-off in peoples minds
now look at them. A couple of turds arguing over how to decorate they fancy plane.
i'll askjeeves from now on.
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
BG has been a long time owner of a 767 for his personal flights. In fact, Paul Allen owns a 757 . They bought them in mid 80s. And have rarely flown anything but those since. If you wish to see them, go to Boeing Airfield.
The big difference is that both Bill and Paul bought them when they were expensive. No, they were not worth more than the Google Guys (in fact, I would guess that if MS had not just built their monopoly at the time, they could not of afforded it). And more importantly, the "Google Guys" are not buying it, but the company is, for company use. Considering the situation after 9/11, it may actually be cheaper to fly than to use commercial.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
switcher \'swi`ch &r\, n.
A person who thinks that they are a Mac user but are really just trying to be. The mistake they make is to try to become a Mac user, when real Mac users are all about not trying to be anything and following your own rules. There is no fashion code to being a Mac user. There are no rules as to what applications you have to run.
Recent converts like you are ruining the old school Mac community because you are posers. Apple releases one OS that popularizes Fitts' law and the Genie effect, and suddenly people assume being a Mac user is all about owning a Mac. But a real Mac user is born, not made. You "switchers" are misrepresenting yourselves and the Mac platform. You're giving people the wrong idea of what Macintosh is.
switcher: shops at hot topic, thinks Firefox is a good Mac app, waiting for OS X port of PayrollPro 2000, follows any hint of a fashion trend (instead of setting them!), wouldn't know Clarus from Carl Sagan.
real Mac user: someone true to who they are, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world.
Is it true that Bill Gates travelled on scheduled airlines until relatvely recently, say the mid-90's? I heard that he did so because he wanted the experience of the average businessperson, (presumably) so that he could help guide software development to meet their needs. It seems incredible now, but Gates was not well known back then and could probably travel without attracting too much attention. Could be apocryphal, but if true, it's the sort of dedication and obsessive focus that has made MS so successful while other firms flame-out.
to err is human, to forgive is divine, to forget is... umm...
begin $0.02
Just because an article contains the word Google does not mean that it is news for neards or stuff that matters.
end $0.02
GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social exper
If they need a party vehicle, it should be a train!! Not another planet destroyer!!
Google is like the Sharper Image. At first you are very impressed with them. You go in the store and see all the fancy gizmos and gadgets. Walk around and play with some, watch others play with them, have a good time and then leave without buying anything. You comment about the cool factor but never intend on buying anything because it costs too much. Pretty soon they actually come out with a mainstream product and people soak it up. They keep hawking it over and over, trying to sell it because it is really all that they have got. Just be wary when that search engine advertises "Now with ozone guard" and the founders are on TV holding a baby during the commercial. That will really be the indicator of the stock going down.
As far as flying and fitting out a party barge, that's just a good investment. They will be able to unload it on some other rich person or company when ever they want to. It will be like Elvis' Cadillacs; everyone will want it so selling it won't be an issue.
Where's the 0xBEEF
It's a stupid reason, but it's basically that and the lack of other appropriate categories...
It's sad that people even read this stuff. I mean, really, the only reason that anyone would care about this is simply to let people know that they can afford to go to court with a contractor. Contractors are brought in to do work. Most the time the founders of the companies themselves (especially on this side of the globe) have no idea what it is that they want. And as for the very first argument. It said they had 1200+ emails that what was it.... "Mr. Jennings, 67 years old, says the allegations are groundless. He says he was wrongly fired after trying to alert Mr. Schmidt that Blue City was going to be overcharged for some materials used in the interior of the plane. Mr. Jennings says allegations that he wasn't sufficiently involved in the project or accessible to the plane's owners are false, and has over 1,200 emails related to the project to disprove them." I believe that's what Kevin J. Delaney at the WSJ wrote. So, there probably weren't just 1200 emails that was just the amount of emails that disproved their publicly stated reasoning that lead to his termination. So apparently he was involved in the project and accessible to the plane owners. I would almost guaruntee that it doesn't matter to these individuals, as they have money. So instead of acting like descent individuals with money and letting someone they signed a contract with finish their obligation to the company, they blame the contractor for internal problems with the project and let him take the fall instead of themselves. Isn't that how it always goes? Wouldn't they have so much more to lose for overspending and breaking budget on a party plane for the company? If he actually accounted for his time on contract using activity based accounting principles I wonder if he would have truely even been being paid enough for his time. It certainly would clear up any judgement the judicial system could not radicate. So yay for the corporation once again. For stepping on the little people. For knowing where to place blame. For being more of an anonymous coward than any man righteous enough to be independent. Where are the leaders and why is it that every time we get one we lose them to wealth, politics, media, and their own ego. I don't know what to make of the situation, but it definitely sounds familiar.
wilsonke "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." -- Socrates
Whatever hapened to the pro-enviromental attitude from Google founders. A private 767 jet for their use is just environmental nonesense.