
Google sends reporter a GIF instead of a 'no comment' - wgx
http://www.wired.com/2015/03/google-sends-reporter-gif-instead-no-comment/
======
z1mm32m4n
My favorite Google "No comment" response is still their response to Randall
Munroe about his analysis of how big their data centers are:

[https://youtu.be/I64CQp6z0Pk?t=2m59s](https://youtu.be/I64CQp6z0Pk?t=2m59s)

~~~
probably_wrong
Those that already read the "What If?" section might want to jump to 7:10,
which is when he explains what happens _after_ he publishes the article about
punchcards[1]. I mean, it's a nice talk, and if you haven't read the article
then totally watch it, but as I already read it...

[1] [http://what-if.xkcd.com/63/](http://what-if.xkcd.com/63/)

~~~
throwawayaway
why are google the largest user of tape drives?

~~~
joshuapants
They have a lot of data, which means they have a lot of data to back up. Tape
drives are still the go-to method for backing up huge amounts of data.

~~~
throwawayaway
for paranoia reasons i thought they were using it for permanent storage.

maybe they are using it for some sort of rolling backup.

~~~
eitally
Rolling backup is at least one use case. This is why they only guarantee data
destruction after 180 days (at least per the last document I read about it)
for Apps customers.

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rmc
Gifs and memes are how we will get to "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" and
"Shokath, his eyes uncovered"

~~~
ambler0
For anyone who, like me, was unfamiliar with this reference:
[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Darmok_%28episode%29](http://en.memory-
alpha.org/wiki/Darmok_%28episode%29)

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downandout
I'm sort of confused by this gif. I wouldn't look at it and say "that girl
turning her head in one direction repeatedly means no comment". If it were
funny, and actually had some sort of "denied" slant to it, then fine, but this
particular gif makes no sense to me as a response to a request for comment. I
guess when you have as much money as Google does you can be as disrespectful
to reporters as you like, but at least try to be entertaining.

~~~
Drakim
I guess the gif could be read as "nuh uh! No telling!"

~~~
CatsoCatsoCatso
I read it as "I dunno", I can't see it meaning "no comment" at all. It's more
a shrug if anything.

~~~
jawr
I think this meme usually comes with the phrase 'dafuq?'.

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halflings
Reminds me of the GIF Detectify got from Google after getting into their
production servers because of a vulnerability in the "Google Toolbar" portal
[1] :

[https://s3-eu-
west-1.amazonaws.com/blog.images/google/niceme...](https://s3-eu-
west-1.amazonaws.com/blog.images/google/nicememe.gif)

[1] [http://blog.detectify.com/post/82370846588/how-we-got-
read-a...](http://blog.detectify.com/post/82370846588/how-we-got-read-access-
on-googles-production)

~~~
downandout
So the security team thought it was worth such a crazy amount that they made a
gif to describe it...and then they sent him $10K? That isn't very much for a
major bug like that.

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fcatalan
Well, whats good for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the
Judiciary should be ok for Google.

[http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm/2015/3/at-the-flick-
of-...](http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm/2015/3/at-the-flick-of-a-switch)

~~~
arcatek
How can an officiel website say "even when a president tries to unlawfully
refuse to enforce our laws" ? It doesn't seem very neutral, I wouldn't except
such an article to challenge the decision taken by the president of a country.

~~~
briandh
It's the website of the House Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by
Republicans, and hence can and does challenge the President. In turn, the
White House website, which is controlled by Democrats, can and does challenge
Congress.

Both sites could, of course, adopt a stance of editorial neutrality. I would
prefer they not, though -- both are fundamentally political organizations, so
to do so would be eliding their true nature.

~~~
pandler
Not to mention that the whole purpose for the three branches of government is
so that each branch will "check and balance" the other branches. The
fundamental structure of the system is based on the premise that each branch
_should not_ be neutral with regards to the other branches.

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nostrademons
Doesn't surprise me. I released a couple easter eggs when I was at Google
(notably [festivus] and [let it snow]), and the official response PR prepared
for one of them was a poem. It's part of Google's quirky culture.

~~~
dingaling
That's cute, but this instance is unlicensed commercial use of Disney's
copyright material.

Where I worked _nothing_ went to the press before legal review. It seemed
burdensome but I'm sure it saved the company's hide on numerous occasions.

~~~
icebraining
How do you know it's unlicensed?

------
jug
Google also did this when they had the Google Toolbar remote exploit
vulnerability reported and the guy asked about the reward, a good read on its
own:

[http://blog.detectify.com/post/82370846588/how-we-got-
read-a...](http://blog.detectify.com/post/82370846588/how-we-got-read-access-
on-googles-production)

------
nsxwolf
Google. Such an adorably hip, cool underdog.

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bshimmin
Am I alone in thinking this is utterly infantile behaviour?

It makes me rather sad that the art of correspondence (the beautiful letters
of bygone times) is now gradually being replaced with Facebook Messenger and
animated GIFs.

~~~
smanuel
If it's an exception - no. It's fun and it gives a new fresh look to big, evil
corporations (but Google is _not_ evil anyway [1]). If it were a rule - yes,
definitely infantile and weird.

[1] [http://www.cnbc.com/id/101923422](http://www.cnbc.com/id/101923422)

~~~
forgottenpass
If you're looking for meaningful answers about propriety, I strongly doubt
you'll find them on CNBC.

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deeviant
As somebody who has a SO who works at Google, thus giving me a bit of insight
into the culture, I can factually say that gifs and lolcat-like memes have
already started replacing the English language there.

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amelius
With all those broken email readers, how can one even assume that a gif will
animate when the recipient opens the email?

~~~
scrollaway
I'm sure Google would have been devastated to find out their joke answer
wasn't properly animated in their recipient's inbox.

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pgib
I, for one, fully support our gif-replying internet overlords.

[https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31250/gifs/thumbs_up.gif](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31250/gifs/thumbs_up.gif)

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grimmdude
Didn't wired.com just overhaul their site? Very slow and clunky on my end...

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arjn
I dont understand how that GIF represents "no comment". To me it looks more
like an "I don't know" or "I've no idea" statement.

Also, I don't see why this is news. GIFs have been used like this for several
years now. Reddit is replete with such usage.

~~~
Vaskivo
It's just that the official answer from a giant multinational to a journalist
is a funny gif. The typical answer is a LOT more formal.

It's like the President inviting me to dinner and I answer him with a "thumb's
up" gif.

~~~
ikeboy
No, it's like you inviting the President to dinner and he sends you a gif.

Or do you consider yourself more important than the president?

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dmachop
I usually get memes from Google official responses.

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attilak
I think this response is connected maybe to yesterday's facebook (f8) event...

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Borogravia
Google PR are such a bunch of fucking clowns.

~~~
krylon
Well, not that I get to deal with PR departments very often, but I much prefer
one that has a sense of humor over one that hasn't.

