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Google Executive Dan Fredinburg Among Victims of Everest Avalanche
alphadogg writes: Dan Fredinburg, privacy director for the company's Google X team, and an engineer who worked on many of Google's most exciting projects during his 8 years with the company, died over the weekend in an avalanche on Mount Everest. The 33-year-old worked on projects such as Google Loon, the company's balloon-based Internet access effort and self-driving car. He also was involved in Google Street View Everest, leading expeditions to gather imagery of the Khumbu region around Mt. Everest. Fredinburg's career began in a much less glamorous fashion as a "dock rat" and as a farm hand in Arkansas.
That's too bad. Why is this on slashdot?
Granted the other 1000+ who have died are mostly poor, but on the other hand, they have not done the social harm that Mr Fredinburg has in working for the biggest destroyer of privacy on the planet.
And the 10's of thousands of others who didn't die but were displaced and had their homes destroyed cannot easily afford to replace them. Possibly because they did not enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else's privacy.
With all due respects to Mr. Fredinburg, climbing Mr. Everest is now the "in" thing to do for the elites, to the point that the area is strewn with garbage and human excrement that would take years to be cleansed by natural means even if all climbing were to cease today.
2,500 people died and a poor country is devastated and all that makes the news is one dead American. Disgusting.
Climbing Everest is stupid, irresponsible, dangerous, pointless task for people with severe mental problems like constantly needing approval from others or pathological levels of arrogance or constantly feeling inadequate. So I have to wonder how he even got that job at Google with the personality of an Everest climber.
When these amateurs start climbing it again WITHOUT a slew of sherpas, and oxygen tanks and using ACTUAL expert mountaineers to hold their hands, then I'll be impressed.
Comparing the conditions under which people like Sir Edmund Hilary climbed to today's rich, trendy yuppies like this guy -- well, clearly times are different.
I climb mountains as a hobby, and know many climbers, a large proportion of whom are geeks who are disinterested in team sports. It's a hobby like any other physical hobby. It brings risk, but also enormous enjoyment from the combination of experiencing the raw beauty of nature where there are very few others with the challenge and thrill of reaching a summit. We climb a peak not to show off; we climb it because it is there. A tiny fraction of mountaineers are interested in bragging rights (except, perhaps, amongst themselves in a good-spirited manner), so your slight against us is rude and ignorant. Fuck you!
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."