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!
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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.
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!
No it shouldn't. I don't remember any of the Google lot having been convicted for anything - there's quite a difference there. Also, I'm not American so I don't know who the Tyco guy is, but Ken Lay and Martha Stewart in the same breath? Wouldn't you think there was just a little bit of difference in the level of scam pulled...?
I'm not a Google fan really. In fact, if someone would give me as clean an interface I'd switch away from its search in a heartbeat, as I find it too heavily spammed and blogged these days. But really...it might show something about the Google boys' characters, but it doesn't show them as criminals.
Cheers,
Ian
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*
Besides, if you're phenomenally wealthy I don't know of any law that says you shouldn't enjoy it. I mean ... what would be the other reasons for acquiring lots of money? Granted, a 767 does seem a bit grandiose, but no worse than the hundreds of millions that Bill Gates' has spent on his various homes.
... okay ... now swing back to the left ... ahh, now you got it. Keep doing that for a while."
Frankly, I think a hammock on a jetliner sounds like fun.
"Okay Bob, a nice gentle bank to the right
It wouldn't surprise me if Brin and Page get a little miffed at this guy for discussing their private jet in public, though.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
You are assuming that no punitive damages will be awarded.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Bill may have taken commercial airlines but shall we talk about he or his partners yachts? You know, the ones that are in magazines almost constantly because they are so big and so decked out? Or the small islands they own?
Just because you are jealous someone else has more money than you do not tell them how to spend it. They made a successful business, and now are spending the fruits of their labor. How is that evil? Sounds like every American or European's wet dream to me.
I fail to see where it is evil except that it makes you green with envy.
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.
If I had a few billion in cash in the bank I would act like a spoiled child too.
This is on their own money, not the companies.
--
WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
How you spend money for yourself, and how you spend money for your company are two completely different things. Bill may have spent many millions on his own home, but he was notorious for flying coach, and only in '97 did he buy a personal jet, with his own money. I don't know who is footing the bill for google's new toy, but google has definitely always been about excess.
...Snakes on a motherfucking Google plane.
And since the plane was purchased by the founders not by Google you are an idiot it seems.