Slashdot Mirror


Google Geek's Photos of the Famous

kiracatgirl writes "The NYTimes has a fun story about a relatively unknown Google employee and his hobby — taking photographs of himself with famous visitors to Google's headquarters. Tan Chade-Meng 'is a household name only in his own household,' but his gallery is posted on the walls at Google HQ. It's also available for our viewing pleasure at his Picassa photo album."

62 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Cool hobby! by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thats a really cool hobby to have.

    I have however noticed something which might get Linus and Stallman (not difficult really) seething.

    Chade-Meng has a number of different albums, one being "Tech industry Titans" and another being "Other Famous people".

    Try to guess which folder they are in...

    Is it because Stallman smells?

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
    1. Re:Cool hobby! by feyhunde · · Score: 5, Funny
      --
      I'd say more, but my guild is raiding.
    2. Re:Cool hobby! by garcia · · Score: 1

      Technically speaking, they may be tech giants, even tech field giants, but they're not really tech *industry* giants, so I would agree with the given classification.

      Agreed, Stallman and Linus wouldn't fit in with the likes of the CEO/Founders of Google, the head of Intel, or the co-founder of Apple. They do fit in with the most influential people in the US/World, Happiest Man Alive, and the winner of 74 consecutive episodes of Jeopardy.

      Personally? I'd rather be on that list too but if I was ever there, I'd expect to be lumped among the "Most Worthless 4 digit UIDs in Slashdot history." That would be cool ;)

    3. Re:Cool hobby! by hansamurai · · Score: 1

      It's interesting how many random "celebrities" end up there. Like you pointed out, Ken Jennings. What the heck was he doing there? The world's greatest female marathon runner? I'd like to hear the stories behind these visits too, they'd probably be just as interesting as the pictures themselves.

    4. Re:Cool hobby! by lastchance_000 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is this what he spends his 20% time on?

    5. Re:Cool hobby! by Pathwalker · · Score: 1

      Ken Jennings. What the heck was he doing there?

      He was talking about his book - you can see a video of his talk here.
      You can see more talks by various authors here.
      You might also want to check out the engineering talks that have been made public.
    6. Re:Cool hobby! by chrisd · · Score: 1

      We could have our own section!

      --
      Co-Editor, Open Sources
      Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
    7. Re:Cool hobby! by cymen · · Score: 1

      I can join you. I'm totally worthless :).

    8. Re:Cool hobby! by Saint+Stephen · · Score: 1

      I have a four-digit UID:

      http://slashdot.org/~DireWolf

      but I can't remember the password! That's why I created this guy.

    9. Re:Cool hobby! by stirbu · · Score: 1

      20% of time ought to be enough to find Matt

      --
      :wq
    10. Re:Cool hobby! by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Google are a marketing company, there is nothing random about loading up the place with celebrities, or 'random' feel good google stories, ah, modern viral marketing buzz at it's most salubriousness.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    11. Re:Cool hobby! by Kwesadilo · · Score: 1

      I have however noticed something which might get Linus and Stallman (not difficult really) seething.
      Chade-Meng has a number of different albums, one being "Tech industry Titans" and another being "Other Famous people".
      Try to guess which folder they are in...

      Makes sense. Linus and Stallman are "Tech Titans," certainly, but they aren't in industry per se.

      --
      This space reserved for administrative use.
  2. Communication by Joebert · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder if he was able to understand the words that came out of Chris Tuckers' mouth.
    http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/viewPhoto?uname=cha demeng&aid=5057433436812075729&iid=505759944588800 0946

    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  3. Re:Non-News by mordors9 · · Score: 1

    That was sort of my reaction to this breaking news. How many old restaurants in a big city have you gone to that didn't have the same types of photos on the walls with every celebrity that had ever walked into the place.

  4. Fun Times? by Double+Entendre · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mr. Tan, his photo gallery and the company's endorsement of his little side project, said Eric Schmidt, the company's chief executive, are "representative of much of what is right and fun about Google."

    Google is doomed. That sounded too much like David Brent pointing at the monkey and saying, "those are the kinds of laughs we have around here."

  5. Did you notice? by b1ufox · · Score: 5, Funny

    He has exactly same hairstyle and same smile ,not even a single inconsistency in the number of teeth brandished in all snaps, whoa!!... man this guy is amazing. Same pose all snaps ... its remarkable.

    --
    -- "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" - TAE --
    1. Re:Did you notice? by mobby_6kl · · Score: 5, Funny

      So, he's basically the Paris Hilton of the IT world?

    2. Re:Did you notice? by Loke+the+Dog · · Score: 1

      Some of my (female) friends apparently practice their camera smile, and they also tend to look the same in all pictures. If your hobby is to end up on pictures with celebrities, I guess you should practice it and that probably means you'll eventually develop your standard smile.

    3. Re:Did you notice? by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      If there's a skill Paris has perfected outside the bed, it has to be maintaining that look and angle of her face. I bet there are as few people having seen the other side of her face, as there people having seen the other side of the moon...

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    4. Re:Did you notice? by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      Sorry for replying to myself (why is that a bad thing considering it's impossible to edit a post?), but I just couldn't resist making an animated gif of the dude. Only seven frames and one of them seems to be a little off (too bright perhaps), but everyone's free to mess with it.

    5. Re:Did you notice? by The+One+and+Only · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You know, I honestly doubt Paris has even perfected any skills in bed. Experience does not necessarily lead to talent.

      --
      In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
    6. Re:Did you notice? by saskboy · · Score: 1

      "it has to be maintaining that look and angle of her face."

      Perhaps she's just 2 dimensional? That's not hard to believe.

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  6. Heh by KeepQuiet · · Score: 1

    I guess sometimes he just snuck behind celebrities for photos. See here

  7. And then there's stallman by archen · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know, I have respect for Richard Stallman. And I find it amusing when people call him a hippie or whatnot. But this guy really wears outfits like that in public? I mean he looks like he fell out of the VW van used to sell crystals on the way to the next Greatful Dead concert.

    1. Re:And then there's stallman by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 1

      This is a little know secret, but I'll let you in on it.
      RMS normally wears suits and glasses. Under his suit he has these hippie outfits.
      In normal public he wears the suits, but when he's needed in action he'll switch to the hippie outfit in a phone booth.

      By now you should have guessed it. RMS and Bill Gates are the same person.

    2. Re:And then there's stallman by British · · Score: 1

      RMS normally wears suits and glasses. Under his suit he has these hippie outfits.

      So if I want to find the almighty RMS I should start ripping off of suits of old men with glasses? That could get me in trouble just to get a digg.

    3. Re:And then there's stallman by SpringRevolt · · Score: 1

      the same fondness for weird change-the-world schemes Yes... he should know by now that the rest of the world will never use Lisp and instead will be using python...
    4. Re:And then there's stallman by Plutonite · · Score: 1

      You know, I have respect for Richard Stallman. And I find it amusing when people call him a hippie or whatnot. But this guy really wears outfits like that in public? I mean he looks like he fell out of the VW van used to sell crystals on the way to the next Greatful Dead concert. Dude, you just don't get it - it's part of the culture. How the hell do you go about convincing the world that all software should be free and that the economics driving the MSFT stock is plain BS..while wearing a suit? Neckties don't cut this sort of stuff man, you need to stand out. facial hair, long mane, second-hand arabic/north african robe with bad choice in colors. You've got to shake the crowd, show them you mean business. If RMS wore normal human attire and used deodorant I wouldn't listen to a word he said - we all know that crap anyway. It's all about the spirit. Us and them. The cavemen and the borg. We live underground and draw solid computing standards up on cave walls and spread the source code and flowers to the world, while they ruin human civilization with sad, DRM'd, broken software. We die in shabby robes, they die drowned in lies. We prevail, information prevails.

      But what I don't understand is why he refuses shampoo, pretty harmless I would've thunk. Oh well.
    5. Re:And then there's stallman by invalid_user · · Score: 1

      the same fondness for weird change-the-world schemes, and the same ignorance of real-world economics.

      I would like to hear more of your interpretation of real-world economics. Let's talk Keynesian, Reaganism, or Krugmanism. :)

      Whatever it is, I think we are a long way from Eric Raymonds' "Bazaar" theory. In my humble opinion, liberal ideals are sometimes counter to laissez-faire economic liberalism.

    6. Re:And then there's stallman by MrCopilot · · Score: 1
      You know, I have respect for Richard Stallman. And I find it amusing when people call him a hippie or whatnot. But this guy really wears outfits like that in public?

      It is amazing that he looks more hippie than the guy in the next pic, Wavy Gravy.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavy_Gravy

      --
      OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
  8. I'm with those guys ... by Gopal.V · · Score: 1

    I have no idea what this guy does or what his individual talents are (thank you, nytimes), but this seems somewhat reprehensible hobby to pursue ?

    I mean, it's not that I'm not guilty of the I'm with those guys syndrome, but I've felt guilty for having gone out of my way to get a picture with Tanenbaum or Linus.

    I've often wondered why I did it and can only put it down as "Celebrity by Association". And made a mental note to be in the same frame as these people by effort & hard work rather than by mere geographical coincidence.

    1. Re:I'm with those guys ... by Cut'n+Paste · · Score: 1

      Isn't Tan just doing on a very small scale what Eric Schmidt, Larry Page et al are doing? I don't imagine that all those disparate people are there because of a genuine interest in Google, or because Google thinks they have important wisdom to pass on (despite the talks by some). They are trophies. And I would expect paid trophies at that. At least Tan isn't paying them for their picture. That makes him cooler than either Google or their celebrities picking up appearance fees. He is the only one who genuinely wants to be there.

  9. Successor to the Tourist Guy? by tuxlove · · Score: 3, Funny

    I kinda miss the Tourist Guy. This guy sort of reminds me of a Tourist Guy where everything comes to him instead of the other way around.

  10. Robert Thurman = Terminator by DeepZenPill · · Score: 1

    Who would have thought one of the most prolific Buddhist scholars was a cybernetic organism from the future?

    http://picasaweb.google.com/chademeng/OtherFamousP eople/photo#5076559326112465170

  11. He's no geek by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 1

    He was less than an inch from "Carly 'HP... is that some kind of sauce?' Fiorina and didn't beat her to death with an RPN calculator. He is obviously some kind of business weenie or something.

    --
    Beep beep.
    1. Re:He's no geek by deek · · Score: 1

      It looks like he just doesn't care what the people have done, he just thinks "wow, famous people, I want a picture with them".


      Or, he could just be doing it for fun, and not in a way to inflate his ego or status. How sad it is, or how funny it is, depends on his reasons for doing, and you can't gather that just from his picasso page. Personally, I think it's pretty funny.

      There's nothing wrong with celebrities, just as long as you don't feed them.
  12. In the presence of greatness by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 1

    Can I touch you?

    I once stood in line behind CmdrTaco and Hemos to play BattleTech.

    (The pods filled up though, and I had to settle for griefing timothy.)

  13. Who's the most geeky... by Jugalator · · Score: 1

    ... Who's the most geeky -- the geek, or the geek who follows him?

    I'm not sure I even want to know the background of that picture... *shakes head*

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    1. Re:Who's the most geeky... by LauraW · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure I even want to know the background of that picture... *shakes head*

      I suspect it has something to do with this.

  14. Re:Hmmm... no George W. Bush by Jugalator · · Score: 1

    And I think we should be happy for that; the whole place might implode, akin to how antimatter annihilates matter. :-p

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  15. Not reprehensible by Gonoff · · Score: 1

    I think it is an excellent hobby. Some people travel everywhere and get themselves in pictures - Buckingham Palace, Eiffel Tower, The Alamo and do on. This guy just waits until the world walks past him and gets a picture. Sounds a lot more environmentally friendly.

    It's his collection so he can order them how he likes, but I would have put people like Linus and RMS in the "Tech Giants" section rather than Carly.

    --
    I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
  16. Why were Linus and Carly not in tech? by rjschwarz · · Score: 1

    Does the guy filing this stuff even know who all of the famous people are?

    1. Re:Why were Linus and Carly not in tech? by LauraW · · Score: 1

      Ken Thompson, that is in the "award winner" category deserves more than Linus to go in the Tech one.

      Except Ken has won a Turing Award, which apparently trumps just being a techie.

      FWIW, my favorite part of Meng's Presidential Gallery (the real one in B43 at Google, not the Picasa page) is the photo of his daughter labeled "Future President of the United States".

  17. Re:Hmmm... no George W. Bush by loftyhauser · · Score: 1

    Could it be, just possibly, that the sitting president is too busy to visit Google?

  18. Re:Hmmm... no George W. Bush by tftp · · Score: 1

    Too busy doing what?

  19. Re:Hmmm... no George W. Bush by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 1

    The president who has taken more vacation time than any other is too busy? Actually it's probably because they didn't want him to open a speech by saying something like "It's a pleasure to be here with all of you at The Google."

    --
    This space available.
  20. His only anomaly : Howard Dean by DaftShadow · · Score: 1

    The only pic I've found where Meng isn't smiling is with Howard Dean. In fact, I'm pretty sure that neither of them is smiling. Weird.

  21. Christ, Wozniak has gotten FAT! by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1

    He's way fatter than I am!

    Uma Thurman's father Robert Thurman - that was interesting. Rather odd that a top Buddhist was there. I would have preferred Uma myself.

    And what the hell was Gwyneth Paltrow doing there? That would make my day!

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  22. Re:Hrrrrm. by MojoStan · · Score: 1

    I wonder where this guy went to school. University of Cocky Slashdot Bafoons?
    --
    TO START
    PRESS ANY KEY

    Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...

  23. Amore by evilviper · · Score: 1

    Looks like skeletor... I mean Maria is getting a bit friendly. The Governator better watch out for this guy: http://picasaweb.google.com/chademeng/PoliticalLea ders/photo#5070138831866093442

    Then again... http://picasaweb.google.com/chademeng/PoliticalLea ders/photo#5057603753740198978

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  24. I assembled a collection of famous geek photos by saskboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've included myself, but the list is fairly accurate, and not at all biased.

    Why take photos with famous people, when you can just take photos of relative nobodies for free?

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  25. Re:Non-News by legoman666 · · Score: 1

    I'd rather (and so would most of the readers here I imagine) read about some random tech at Google than read about the latest killing, rape, robbery, threat of global warming or whatever the hell is passes as news these days.

  26. Re:Picassa and javascript by nate+nice · · Score: 1, Funny

    Turn on Javascript and quit being such a dork. It's 2007, Javascript is here to stay. Learn it. Use it. Love it.

    As it turns out, you can actually create entire sites of Javascript and dynamically style them. Turn on Javascript or shut up. In fact, turn it on AND shut up.

    --
    "If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer ..."
  27. Picasa, not Picassa - common mistake by ElliotLee · · Score: 1

    It's Picasa, not Picassa. This is a very common mistake.

  28. Re:Hmmm... no George W. Bush by Swampash · · Score: 1

    What, you think Bush has even HEARD of Google?

  29. It's plain what he is up to. by Circlotron · · Score: 2, Funny

    He's just gathering material for a resume for his next job :-)

  30. Re:Hmmm... no George W. Bush by smurfsurf · · Score: 1

    Clearing brush, of cause.

  31. Re:Non-News by kiracatgirl · · Score: 1

    It's not intended to be "breaking news" so much as "something that most geeks would be interested in reading". Most geeks aren't interested about a restaurant with photos of famous people on the walls. Photos of a random engineer at Google and said random people are far more relevant, and therefore more interesting.

    The long and short of it is: I found it entertaining, and thought that most geeks/nerds/like-minded people would also, and therefore posted it to the one site where I knew they'd be. Judging from not only the comments but the fact that it got accepted at all, I'd have to say my judgement was corrent. :P Your loss if you don't like the article.

  32. Re:Fake but accurate by tv_dinners · · Score: 1

    Did he Photoshop that picture or him and Dan Rather. Fake but accurate is usually good enough for Dan. Ya, and take a look at the pic of him with Bill Clinton. Definite chop, look at the light reflecting off of Clinton's right-side hair and face.

    I call Shens...
  33. New Sub-Album Idea... by Dunkirk · · Score: 1

    Hot chicks of Google!

    --
    Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
  34. People visit for all kinds of reasons by Wee · · Score: 1
    Isn't Tan just doing on a very small scale what Eric Schmidt, Larry Page et al are doing? I don't imagine that all those disparate people are there because of a genuine interest in Google, or because Google thinks they have important wisdom to pass on (despite the talks by some). They are trophies. And I would expect paid trophies at that. At least Tan isn't paying them for their picture. That makes him cooler than either Google or their celebrities picking up appearance fees. He is the only one who genuinely wants to be there.

    Wow, that's cynicism.

    And you're completely wrong. We get folks over all the time who aren't paid trophies. We get people over who just want to have lunch, see what the place is about, etc. There really are people who come over because a genuine interest in Google. It's a cool place, and has a lot of "different" things about it. People want to see it. (What's really funny is the new college grads with their parents. You can always spot them. I'd say we have several hundred pairs of parents a week walking around. I've never worked at a place that had so many visitors, and I'm guessing there's more to it than a free lunch.)

    The other day I was walking through a building and saw Robin Williams. He was just standing there with an employee looking at the GeoDisplay. Why? Wanted to see the place (he was dressed differently than in Chade-Meng's picture, so I guess it was another visit). Another common one is people over at Shoreline Amphitheatre coming over to have a look. I've seen all sorts of celebrities wandering around because of that.

    I think the people who give talks (Clinton, Friedman, McCain) get whatever their normal appearance fee is, but I don't know for sure. It would only make sense that we'd pay them like with any other speaking engagement, since we do think they have wisdom to pass on. And it's kind of weird that you'd bag on Google for paying someone their fee for coming to talk to us. You feel that universities and talk shows and whatever should also get the same treatment? It's a pretty standard thing, you know...

    -B

    --

    Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.

  35. Re:His only anomaly : Howard Dean by The+One+and+Only · · Score: 1

    It looks like they were taken by surprise.

    --
    In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199