Post ASyl94Ir2lk40V7FT6 by wyre@social.dms100.net
(DIR) More posts by wyre@social.dms100.net
(DIR) Post #ASyjHdP6DxAnHJzg3s by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T17:51:18Z
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I am concerned for #Google. I consider them to be a great firm, one of the few truly great firms I've ever worked with (two others are AT&T Bell Labs during their pre-divestiture heyday, and Digital Equipment Corp.)I also feel that despite some faults -- because no firm is perfect -- Google represents the best hope of users going forward in this incredibly toxic political environment. And I don't want to see Google taken down by haters or by problematic decisions.
(DIR) Post #ASyjSSbMj6gIxftRq4 by neobscura@artisan.chat
2023-02-23T17:52:59Z
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@lauren I'm so glad this is a single user instance
(DIR) Post #ASyk8QAOAdAJZVHe2S by timbray@hachyderm.io
2023-02-23T18:00:14Z
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@lauren Assume you've read https://medium.com/@pravse/the-maze-is-in-the-mouse-980c57cfd61aI spent 4 years at G and am pessimistic, the cultural malaise leaves no good platform for all those technically excellent people to stand on.
(DIR) Post #ASykSiLCJBIDjK12XY by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:04:31Z
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@timbray The reality remains -- in my opinion -- that compared with what else is out there G still stands the best chance of doing the most good for the most people in this sphere. Both the Right and the Left have turned into anti-tech haters to a major extent, and their ersatz "solutions" will leave the vast majority of people out in the cold. Perhaps part of my attitude is forged from the fact that I've been around long enough to have watched multiple cycles in tech and the fall of many firms, and what the aftermaths turned out to actually be.
(DIR) Post #ASyl94Ir2lk40V7FT6 by wyre@social.dms100.net
2023-02-23T18:12:07Z
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@lauren Google is in real trouble. I hear it’s much worse than we know.
(DIR) Post #ASyltQu7LVEHQKeaYq by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:20:33Z
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An aspect of #Google that makes things even more complicated is -- again, this is just my one guy opinion -- is that Google has never really been effective at speaking to the public at large, and explaining to the public -- not just techies and other high-level stakeholders -- in ways that will be understood and appreciated. And this leaves an information vacuum that gets filled with misinformation and disinformation from others. That's why so many people still think Google sells users' personal information to advertisers (they don't and never have) or that advertisers can buy organic search result rankings (they can't and have never been able to).When I explain these kinds of issues and many others (e.g., relating to #YouTube) I almost always get "gee, how come nobody ever explained this to me this way before?" responses.I've been bugging Google about this situation for many years and unfortunately have made very little headway. And now this problem is more important than ever for Google to solve.
(DIR) Post #ASymeNd5L4GosU4af2 by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:29:03Z
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Sidenote: I was once sitting in the office of a Google exec at MTV pushing my oft-quoted concept of a Google Ombudsman. He pushed back but asked if I was volunteering for the job. Given the totality of my situation at the time, I said no. I've often wondered what would have happened if I'd said yes. I really should have.
(DIR) Post #ASymfMK3gQIP78dkyO by GluedToTheScreen@noagendasocial.com
2023-02-23T18:29:35Z
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GENERALLY speaking, I've admired Google from the very start... @lauren ... daring and imaginative tech stuff, it was exciting. I've been a user, then customer, for many years.I am not under the illusion they are pure but am certain they aren't quite as bad as most think.MY OWN biggest question mark, despite the company's success, has been ERIC SCHMIDT. He carried a lot of personal baggage over from Novell. But I have no evidence of anything...
(DIR) Post #ASymqDDFtRjs2vdKIy by arvrrob@twit.social
2023-02-23T18:31:10Z
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@lauren Or maybe we should subscribe to @MikeElgan assertion that Sundar Pichai is really bad at his job.
(DIR) Post #ASymwTIJ12Jzewyq2q by wordshaper@weatherishappening.network
2023-02-23T18:32:15Z
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@lauren Done it? Yeah. Volunteered? Hell, no. It's a position that has been long-necessary and absolutely should be compensated for.
(DIR) Post #ASyn3zf74TSE4dEdI8 by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:33:41Z
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@wordshaper To be fair, I don't think he was talking in terms of "doing it for free."
(DIR) Post #ASynGvlCtArZjmFp8S by wordshaper@weatherishappening.network
2023-02-23T18:36:00Z
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@lauren Oh, good.This is something that's also long-enraged me in our godawful lack-of-communication policy. Even moreso when I was in search logs because I knew how we handled search and ads logging and data and.... the assumptions are so wildly different than the reality it's really annoying.
(DIR) Post #ASynLPmDEOqlzOrYIa by Computeforloot@twit.social
2023-02-23T18:36:48Z
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@lauren I worked at DEC in Maynard…my hometown
(DIR) Post #ASynqo5IuAOuM8lHEG by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:42:31Z
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@wordshaper I think of it more in terms of one of those "forks" in a life where a different response could have made a lot of changes down the line. Or not -- it's quite possible that my saying "yes" would not have resulted in that position being created -- in fact it was probably quite unlikely. But today I'd handle that situation differently for sure.It's hard to see how to get past this problem when there's such a fear of the Streisand Effect in play. And by depending on third parties so much (typically technically oriented third parties) for most comms, ordinary people are left behind so often. For example, Google has gotten a bit better in terms of terminology in help docs but still is way over the head of many users, and I don't think truly understands how many people that depend on Google every day are not at all well served by this.
(DIR) Post #ASyntm8WbWJ5BPgRnM by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:43:03Z
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@Computeforloot The Mill was one of the most fantastic places I've ever been in my life.
(DIR) Post #ASyo2BEv9fzZM7gPb6 by Computeforloot@twit.social
2023-02-23T18:44:33Z
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@lauren yup, that’s where I was…I worked there while I was in High School - I used to fish in the mill pond! Used to be the old American Woolen Mill
(DIR) Post #ASyo8Uy8iNUKHaqXrc by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:45:40Z
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@wordshaper Saying this again is so Groundhog Day for me, but it drives me absolutely nuts *knowing* from the inside how excellent G's privacy and security protocols are -- absolutely world class -- but most people don't have a goddamned clue and are fed hateful disinformation by others as a result.
(DIR) Post #ASyoCAItUPy9LhIpEG by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T18:46:23Z
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@Computeforloot It was totally out of the experience of this L.A. Boy. Never had seen anything like it before or since.
(DIR) Post #ASyoK6B6iE4us1RYOm by Computeforloot@twit.social
2023-02-23T18:47:45Z
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@lauren I’ve been in SoCal and NorCal (now) for the past 42 years
(DIR) Post #ASyp4fmqeUfkd6IxXc by Computeforloot@twit.social
2023-02-23T18:56:09Z
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@lauren yup
(DIR) Post #ASyqddfGdOpk8YznOq by timbray@hachyderm.io
2023-02-23T19:13:42Z
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@lauren I think you and I are of comparable vintage. I'm a heavy user of G products and admirer of their tech and technologists, generally; My problem with G is the corrupting influence of AdTech and the monopolized structure of that marketplace. There is pure evil there and I just can't get past it.Symptom: I worked at Google for 4 years in fairly senior outward-facing roles and never met a customer. That is weird and dysfunctional.
(DIR) Post #ASyto19MTG4tjZiF7Y by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T19:49:14Z
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@timbray As you probably know, I have long been a critic of key aspects of G's communications policies, which I feel cause problems in a wide range of ways, both for users and Google.
(DIR) Post #ASyv6Br9VIC46cQOO0 by jimcarroll@futurist.info
2023-02-23T20:02:59Z
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@lauren @timbray Well, starting out the fact their soul was deemed to be 'Don't Be Evil," and then they became inherently Evil. Bit of a branding problem there. And that culture sort of infuses into the sinew and muscle of the organization.
(DIR) Post #ASyv8dAsuEhPPXombg by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T20:04:12Z
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@jimcarroll @timbray That kind of hateful hyperbole is really of no interest to me. Feel free to try it elsewhere.
(DIR) Post #ASywbgkslwecrt4jwG by timbray@hachyderm.io
2023-02-23T20:19:39Z
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@lauren @jimcarroll FYI for some reason I can't see what you're responding to? Fediverse weirdness? Looked at the @jimcarroll feed and drew a blank there too. Hmm…
(DIR) Post #ASyxrBeIIBQmytwpGq by wordshaper@weatherishappening.network
2023-02-23T20:34:31Z
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@lauren There is a general fear of saying anything because we think the lawyercats may be upset about it if we do. (Not that they have *actually* been upset, or that anyone has even asked) Also I suspect there's just no stakeholder willing to push a public statement to completion on what we do and don't do with people's data so we're left with nebulous random accidental statements and a lot of misinformation.
(DIR) Post #ASzAjWU6F0Wmgmr5mq by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-02-23T22:58:52Z
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@wordshaper Yep, yep, and yep.