The FULL Mark Jen Google Blog - The Blog Google tried to Gag

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The FULL Mark Jen Google Blog - The Blog Google tried to Gag

twadmin on Wed, 2005-01-26 07:21.

Rumours & Scandal

14 comments

Thread Title:
NinetyNineZeroes

Thread Url:
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/WRJ?subid=6578013

Thread Description:

This morning we reported on the Google employee blog that it appears Google have tried to silence.

Now, courtesty of DaveN you can read the entire blog...

Deary deary me, whatever is the world coming to eh? Oh well, it may be the tabloid blog wheeze of the day but back to biz now...

Comments

Reliable?

Brian_Turner on Wed, 2005-01-26 08:03.

There's certainly a lot of detail in the blog - it's pretty convincing without suggesting any overt agenda (ie, defamation by rival).

That Google should have a human face without heavy marketing spin would be refreshing, but the key issue is whether the original post is genuine or prank.

Any further reports on the source and the apparent employee??

Original Blog

twadmin on Wed, 2005-01-26 08:06.

http://blogs.msdn.com/markjen/

That adds weight i think but short of a note from his mum i dont think you'll find much better right now...

Am I missing something, or is this totally NOT censorship?

ThatAdamGuy on Wed, 2005-01-26 12:03.

Er, at least not censorship by Google.

I have no inside info whatsoever; never met or chatted with Mark or even heard of him before this, nor heard anything about the situation other than that I've read in the blogosphere.

However, here's my take:

- Mark posts entries.
- Mark gets a note from friend saying, "Dude, are you off your rocker? You're just a few days into a new job, and you're blogging about stuff that's covered by your NDA?! And -- NDA aside -- you're blogging about your compensation? You've just printed a sign that says:

HI, I'M STUPID AND CANNOT BE TRUSTED

...right on your forehead. Take that *&@(! down, man!"
- Mark thinks, d'oh, I really am a moron, and then deletes all the stuff.

Of course, it's too late now. But I'm guessing that Google HR didn't even complain to Mark, or -- if so -- wasn't the first to do so.

Plausible

twadmin on Wed, 2005-01-26 12:17.

...if it were not for the Googe Cache being nowhere to be found Adam.

Personally i don't blame Google one little bit - i'd have nailed him to a stake for writing that if he worked for me but, it's news when Googe take action. Or, more accurately, it's news when Google appear to have taken action...

Thing

Brian_Turner on Wed, 2005-01-26 12:22.

That's the thing - it's the perceived action.

Ditto

NFFC on Wed, 2005-01-26 13:13.

>i'd have nailed him to a stake for writing that if he worked for me

Same here.

Sounds like the employee from hell, what a whiner [maybe thats the blogger side of him though].

Well, seems like a smart response here

ThatAdamGuy on Wed, 2005-01-26 13:23.

I just get annoyed when I see other sites making the fellow a martyr and Google the evil heavy. Whatever Mark's intentions, his actions were supremely stupid, and I'd think Google would be in the right to say, "Um, I'd remove this if I were you."

Not to jump on the anti-blogger bandwagon (I'm a blogger myself, dangit :D), but -- as with any medium -- sometimes peoples' brains leak out through their fingers when they start writing.

I still prefer

rcjordan on Wed, 2005-01-26 14:14.

flogging. 50 lashes, Cat O' Nine Tails.

>i'd have nailed him to a stake for writing that if he worked for me

You'd think that their long winded interview process...

edit_g on Wed, 2005-01-26 15:48.

...would go some way to weeding out people like this...

He's a ball

nuevojefe on Thu, 2005-01-27 00:30.

of happiness, that's for sure. What a great employee to have boosting the coworkers' morale all day.

Entitled to his Opinions

ukgimp on Thu, 2005-01-27 02:17.

The geezer is entitled to his opinions. True enough he should not have been such a numpty to put it online.

Google should know they work in an online world and should (probably will do now) make it 100% crystal what their employees should do and say.

http://www.legalweek.com/PrintItem.asp?id=22271

Quote:

Practical steps that an employer can take to protect itself and its reputation are several. It can amend its internet policies to cover blogging or any other internet activity irrespective of whether or not this takes place during working hours or on company equipment. Of course, access to the internet cannot be denied altogether, but an employer can make it clear that any actions on the part of the employee that potentially bring the company into disrepute may result in disciplinary action.

It is not like big companies have not known about these things, you just need to set the rules. Did google S P E L L it out or was it veiled on page 25 par 5 ?

This one springs to mind, partly because I like the picture :)
Queen of the Sky

This sort of thing has been going on for ages, since before the web. I knew of a woman who worked for a large company, who had a uniform. She was out of towm, got shitfaced, wearing said uniform and made and arse of heself. For her efforts she got her P45 for bringing the company into disrepute.

rcjordan, I am starting to get the idea you are looking for a bit of good ol' fashioned violence/justice.
http://www.threadwatch.org/node/1137#comment-4227
Have you ever been to York, you may get some ideas here:
http://www.thedungeons.com/images/dungeon-homepages/maps/york-map.htm