Google Building Tech Center Near Portland

jdray writes "It seems that everyone's favorite search powerhouse, Google, is building a tech center in The Dalles, Oregon. About 45 minutes by interstate highway from Portland, The Dalles is a small, economically depressed city near the world-famous Columbia River Gorge. The $60,000 average annual salary of Google employees is about double the average for Wasco county. With all the outdoor sports (windsurfing, hiking, mountain biking, skiing) in the area, sports-minded geeks should be flocking to apply for a job at the new facility."

Hmm?

[Faust7]

sports-minded geeks

Who what now?

Google building a new complex...

[Capt'n Hector]

Will they call it a googleplex?

Ow, stop throwing things at me!

Sports geeks?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that some sort of oxymoron? True geeks play video games most of the time.

eh?

[ImTheDarkcyde]

Did i spy geeks and sports in the same sentence?

Not that we windows users don't enjoy living dangerously.

Re:Welcome to GoogleRecruiting.com

[grazzy]

Hey, ssh, quiet down, they're "searching".

Re:eh?

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Did i spy geeks and sports in the same sentence?

Not that we windows users don't enjoy living dangerously.

Using Windows isn't sport, it's masochism.

Google moves to The Dalles

[mctk]

Locals wonder about "internet" phenomenon.

Oregon = The Anti-Microsoft

[rsmith-mac]

Is anyone else noticing an interesting trend here as far as company location goes? Though Oregon already has a ton of high-tech companies(including Intel R&D), this is the second major Microsoft competitor to set up shop there in a year(the first being the OSDL). As an Oregonian I certainly welcome this, though I'm starting to wonder if I should get a bomb shelter should MS want to obliterate the competition in more ways than one.

Re:45 minutes?!?

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

If you drive 120 miles an hour, maybe. It's at mile marker 82 or so. Do the math.

Okay...

82 miles take 41 minutes to make at 120mph. Driving at 109mph will get you there in 45 minutes.

one catch

[Anonymous Coward]

You have to float your wagon down the Columbia and avoid the rocks.

Re:45 minutes?!?

[Brian Knotts]

Since we're being pedantic...that only gets you to the exit. You still need a few minutes to get to the actual location. :-)

Re:$60,000 isn't that much

[nybble_me]

**AVERAGE** That means that 1/2 of their people make more than $60,000/year. I'm sure they have receptionists and janitors making way less.

Little-known irrelevant fact

[Limburgher]

The Dalles was a point along the oregon trail.

CmdrTaco has cholera.

Found 32 pounds of food.

You broke a wagon tongue.

Ah, those were the good old days.

Re:Hopefully desks, not servers

[shine-shine]

> Putting lots of people in the Dalles makes sense. Putting lots of computer doesn't.

It's good to know what we value most.

Re:45 minutes?!?

[fatcow]

My thoughts, exactly

Why, let's ask GOOGLE! [google.com]

What are these "outdoor sports"

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure I understand this concept of "outdoor" actually. I tried looking for the IETF RFC on "outdoor sports" and came up blank. Can someone help me?

- Typical Slashdot Reader

Re:Welcome to GoogleRecruiting.com

[tricops]

Indeed. Some geeks nurse a desire, others desire a nurse.... everyone has their own wants and desires!

It's a big, big world..

[floridagators1]

Why do they have to build a center so close to that cursed state of Washington, where you know who develops you know what.

Re:Give me a job!

[Doppler00]

Come to California! We got both!

Re:Welcome to GoogleRecruiting.com

[mattspammail]

Dear dummy,

Next time you plan to speak derogitorally about us, we'd suggest you post anonymously.

Sincerely,

Google

P.S. You know that GMAIL invitation you just got? You can forget it now (unless you like spam). Whooo hoo haa ha ha ha ha.

Re:Hmm?

[Anonymous Coward]

and mouse covers for intense porn sessions.

Re:Expect more of this

[iamlucky13]

While I guess what you're saying is true, it has always puzzled me. Then again, I left a very rural area to go to a school twice the size of my hometown (2500 students). I guess the environment breeds different sets of interests. I for one don't find wandering aimlessly around downtown at all interesting. The theatres here are all owned by the same poorly operated company (Regal), you have pay most stores just to use their parking lots, and there's no place to mountain bike. The only real advantage I've experienced so far is that Portland has a pretty well organized adult rec soccer league. Well, plus I get a pretty good laugh from city people joking about cow tipping. What a bunch of uneducated concrete-dwellers.