Facebook HQ: Eerie night photos of social networking base show a darker side

By
Lee Moran

Last updated at 11:29 AM on 26th July 2011

It could be straight out of a James Bond movie.

With its laser defence systems, industrial style corridors and exposed aluminium air pipes, Dr No would seem perfectly at home as he plotted his route to world domination.

But while this eerie establishment is indeed in the midst of grabbing a grip on global affairs, its not with its military might – it is, instead, as the new California HQ of social networking site Facebook.

Futuristic: ‘The turnstiles use lasers to detect if you walked through without badging in. Lasers!’ posted Aaron Sittig on his Facebook group

Strange: ‘Standard seating. Not sure why all the desks have recycling bins rather than trash cans,’ he said on his photography

These spooky snaps of its new 57-acre Menlo Park campus at night are in stark contrast to the shots, released in February, showing spacious, brightly coloured offices bathed in Silicon Valley sunlight.

The latest set of pictures, uploaded by designer Aaron Sittig and obtained by the TechCrunch website, show Facebook’s darker side – and it is not just because they were taken after hours.

Alongside the turnstiles that use
lasers to tell if visitors are not badged up and the factory-style floor
lines, the campus’ Building 10 also has purple-glazed windows and
chalkboard paint.

Instead
of a coffee table, designers will have to use upturned wooden boxes,
with some people actually facing walls as they work.

Back to the future: ‘In the IT help zone’ looks more like a pensioner’s living room

Hidden: A little nook where designers can meet up to talk shop

Industrial: The lines on the ground are supposed to recall factory floor markings

Upstairs, downstairs: There is a distinct lack of decoration on the walls

Exposed: The aluminium air pipes make the offices seem like a manufacturing warehouse rather than the HQ of the world’s biggest social networking site

Innovative: This is the screen for a new conference reservation system

There’s even a rusty iron girder with spray paint running through one of the boardrooms and wires dangling between the rafters.

The
photos have attracted criticism from online commentators who have
ridiculed the minimalistic setup in comparison to the sprawling couches
and soft furnishings its competitor Google has become known for.

Defamer Australia website said about the laser turnstiles: ‘Another Facebooker responded that they look like something out of Gataca. Right, except the evil corporations in Gataca only pried into your DNA.’

And on the sparse hallways it added: ‘Long hallways are a ‘Facebook tradition,’ according to the caption on this one. A creepy tradition! Sort of like reading people’s private data.’

Protection: Metal fences surround the offices

Although the building has the capacity to house 9,000 employees, Facebook is currently believed to only have around 2,000 staff.

But according to reports it has already started buying neighbouring buildings as it plans to expand even more in the coming years.

Facebook is predicted to see revenue
of between 1.2 billion dollars and two billion dollars this year.If it
goes public next year its value could be astronomical and dwarf the
$8.3bn LinkedIn was valued at in May.

Facebook bought the site from Sun Microsystems which moved out earlier this year after the firm was bought by Oracle.

Orange and yellow: The Facebook at night photos are in stark contrast to these colourful ones released in February

Office: A meeting room behind open windows has a whiteboard and a monitor on the wall, along with carpet tiles on the floor

Bare: This picture of what appears to be a relaxation room features a cold concrete floor and stools scattered around the room

Simple: A whiteboard in one of the open-plan rooms is next to two upturned boxes used as stools or tables and an odd crystal-shaped light hanging from the ceiling

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News to share around the water cooler

The United States’ largest organization dedicated to advocating for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families and survivors, the Disabled American Veterans, is asking Americans of all walks of life to join in the “Virtual March on Washington to Protect Veterans’ Compensation and Benefits” this Wednesday on the social networking site Facebook.

With thousands of virtual marchers already registered, veterans and their family members will be encouraged by DAV to record and publicly post a personal video message, explaining what their compensation and benefits mean to them.

The virtual march will take place primarily on Facebook at http://facebook.com/The.DAV, but the tools to participate will also be available at www.dav.org and on Twitter, using the hashtag.March4Vets.

The virtual march formally begins Wednesday at 8 a.m., but participants do not need to log on at any specific time as the “march” will take place over the entire day and night.

 

California mussels: First warming casualty?

 

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Scientists who grew mussel larvae in a bath of acidified water thought to match expected changes in ocean chemistry report thinner, weaker shells and smaller bodies in a newly published study.

“We’re interested in the California mussel because it is an ecologically critical species, familiar to many of us who live along the West Coast,” said Brian Gaylord, evolution and ecology professor at the University of California, Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.

But increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that climate scientists attribute to human activity are already showing signs of working their way into the oceans.

 

National gas prices jump 9 cents in past 2 weeks

 

The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped nearly nine cents in the past two weeks.

That’s according to the Lundberg Survey of fuel prices, released Sunday, which puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.70.

Of the cities surveyed, Tucson, Ariz., had the nation’s lowest average price for gas at $3.28. Chicago had the highest at $4.07.

In Erie, the price at most pumps is $3.69, but a few stations near the intersection of Peach Street and Interstate 90 are charging $3.59 a gallon.

– from staff and wire reports

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