Archive for May, 2007

Yahoo! Offers Unlimited Storage

It’s always bugged me that Yahoo! makes the exclamation point part of their name, but for now, I’ll give in. I discovered that they’re now offering unlimited storage for all Yahoo! Mail accounts, even free ones. Old ones, new ones, old interface, new interface, USA and abroad– they’ll all get unlimited storage.

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Make Windows Snap to Edges?

Is there any way to make windows snap to edges in Windows XP? That includes both screen edges and the edges of other windows.

Finding housing in Santa Monica

For the past several weeks, I’ve been looking for housing in or near Santa Monica. I’m not picky. I’ll take pretty much anything. So that has given me a lot of options. And the fact that I was looking so early seems to have made things harder, because many of the places I looked at were taken before the date I wanted to move in. I want to move in tomorrow, May 29, 2007. It’s a short term deal. I’m just looking to get one room for three months, and I don’t care whether I have a roommate (I somewhat prefer one so that we can split the rent). Here’s where I’ll be going every day:

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Why I love Google

It was Sunday, so I went to church. While there, a few people asked me about my internship with Google, so I talked about it. One thing that struck me is that people actually care about money. I can honestly say that I don’t. What matters about money is not how much you get, or how it compares with others. It’s what you can do with it. I was reminded of this idea when I finally got around to reading about Google as Fortune magazine’s #1 Company to Work For. In it, Fortune asks founder Sergey Brin:

As it gets bigger, does Google risk becoming less zany?

“Definitely,” Sergey replies, “At the same time, we have more resources. If we decided that we need to have a big island for some operation tomorrow, we could afford to buy an island. We have no such plans. But the resources do give us opportunities.”

Very true. And the magazine also quotes Sergey as saying, “It’s important for people to always ask, ‘Why not?’ What’s accepted is often arbitrary.

My friend Phillip mentioned this article, too, asking whether it’s all true. You can do what you want? The company is flexible? There are swimming pools and great food?

google-food.jpg Continue reading ‘Why I love Google’

Last day in Mountain View

I loved hanging out at Google so much that I stayed until 10 PM. Even so, there were a couple things I didn’t get a chance to do: take a picture of the white Google sign near Charlie’s Cafe and take a picture of the “pink dinosaur.” It probably wouldn’t've hurt to take a picture of the SpaceShipOne replica, too. But that’s okay– none of those are going away in the foreseeable future, and I’m sure they’ve been photographed in the past (and probably by more competent photographers).

There were some cool pictures I did manage to take, though. Like this one of the USC printer in building 40 at the Googleplex.
usc-printer.jpg Continue reading ‘Last day in Mountain View’

Third day at Google

As my time in Mountain View has approached its end, things have gotten bit more scattered. I’ve also been attending more intense classes here, which means information overload– and a lot of it is really interesting information, too.

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My ThinkPad died in its sleep

Today was my second day at Google. It’s hard to believe it’s the end of my second day already. I’ve done so much, and yet there is so much I haven’t done. In particular, I think I should meet up with Hanah, who was my contact for the Google Ambassador Program. Also, I should meet up with the members of my team who work in Mountain View. It seems that there is just not enough time in one week. The Mountain View interns have less time, because they have hosts and may be assigned small projects already, but they also get to be here for the entire summer, so that’s less of an issue.

One thing I forgot to mention about yesterday are the t-shirts I picked up. As I mentioned in my first day post, I was randomly talking with Mike. In case it’s confidential, I won’t say what he works on. But it’s somewhat clear from the free t-shirts, which are totally awesome. Just take a look:

green-google.jpg Continue reading ‘My ThinkPad died in its sleep’

First Day at Google

Here’s a summary of how I landed an internship with Google. I feel compelled to write this out for the first time because the vibe I got at Google is that people are really friendly, really honest, and one heck of a lot smarter than me. So the least I could do is be honest.

I didn’t actually get one of these Noogler hats, but they do consider us Nooglers around here. I saw a few of the hats around, although they weren’t generally being worn by anybody. It sounds like if they had TGIF this Friday and I went, I would get one. But unfortunately this Friday’s TGIF is cancelled due to Monday’s holiday. Maybe I’ll ask someone if I can still get the hat; they’re so cool. Although we did get a Google visor already, this Noogler hat has a propeller on top (which you can’t see in the photo), so it stands out.

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Image by “Moblog” (source)

As I’m writing this down, I’m quickly finding that the connections are quite a bit more twisted than I thought! It’s really interesting to look for my old emails and reconstruct in my memory just what happened. I believe it started with submitting my resume on Google’s website for a summer internship. At the time, I was a freshman at USC. I received a reply from Heelie, who told me that no, the internship program requires at least two years of college. That’s fine, so I inquired about the Google Pizza Program which I discovered online somehow and read about on Google’s website. Continue reading ‘First Day at Google’

Prayer Seminar at Camp Maranatha

Last week, I went to IVTCF’s Summer Conference at Maranatha in Idyllwild, CA. As part of that experience, I went on their new Guided Prayer Walk an decided to document their experience. Take a look at the horizontally-scrolling site and let me know what you think.

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John McCain Interviews with Google CEO Eric Schmidt

I was reading my Gmail when I spotted a post on the Official Google Blog called “Presidential campaign trail winds through the Googleplex“. Just four days ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt interviewed Senator John McCain, who is running for the 2008 presidential election. It’s a truly amazing interview, and was very eye-opening for me. Previously, I knew almost nothing about Senator McCain. But I really enjoyed watching the interview, and I was repeatedly impressed by his answers. He seems to align closely with my beliefs, and I’m fascinated by how well and how honestly he answered all of the questions thrown his way. Watch the interview yourself:


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