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Googleplex
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Googleplex is the Google company headquarters, located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, near San Jose.
The name Googleplex is a play on words, being a combination of the words Google and complex, and a reference to googolplex, the name given to the large number 
.
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The four core buildings, totaling 506,317 ft² (47,038 m²), were originally used by SGI and leased by Google beginning in 2003.[1] In June 2006, Google announced that it would purchase the property from Silicon Graphics for $319 million.[2]
Although relatively short in height, the complex covers an extremely large area. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like shade lamps and giant rubber balls. The lobby contains a piano and a projection of current live Google search queries. The facilities include a gym (Building 40), free laundry rooms (Buildings 40 and 42), two swimming pools, a sand volleyball court, and nearly a dozen cafeterias. Google has even installed replicas of SpaceShipOne and a dinosaur skeleton.[3]
In late 2006, the company announced plans to install a series of solar panels, capable of producing 1.6 megawatts of electricity, by the following spring. It is believed that this could be the largest such installation in the country. About 30 percent of the Googleplex's electricity needs will be fulfilled by this project, with the remainder being purchased.[4] About one third of the panels will be in the form of "solar trees" mounted on poles above parking lots, with the remainder placed on rooftops. [5]
The Googleplex is located between Charleston Road, Amphitheatre Parkway, and Shoreline Boulevard in north Mountain View, California close to the Shoreline Park wetlands. Employees living in San Francisco or the East Bay may take a wifi-enabled Google subsidized shuttle to and from work. It is powered by domestically grown and processed biodiesel.[6]
Neighbors of the Googleplex include ALZA Plaza and the Mozilla Foundation to the west; Shoreline Amphitheatre to the north; Intuit to the northwest; and Century Theatres, Microsoft Corporation's Silicon Valley research complex, and the Computer History Museum to the south. Moffett Field lies nearby to the east.
Googleplex is also the abbreviated name of a very powerful computer in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a novel by Douglas Adams. Adams mentions it in chapter 25:
“‘...And are you not,’ said Fook leaning anxiously forward, ‘a greater analyst than the Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity which can calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard?...’”
- ^ Olsen, Stefanie. "Google's movin' on up", CNET News.com, CNET Networks, Inc., 2003-07-13. Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ Mills, Elinor. "Google buying its Mountain View, Calif., property", CNET News.com, CNET Networks, Inc., 2006-06-14. Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ Weinberg, Nathan. "Yes, Google Has A Dinosaur", InsideGoogle, 2007-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.
- ^ Baker, David. "Now Google sets sights on solar system", San Francisco Chronicle, 2006-10-17, pp. C-1. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
- ^ Graham, Marty. "Google Plans Solar Trees", Wired News, 2006-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
- ^ Spivack, Cari (2004-09-13). Worth the drive. Official Google Blog. Google, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- Life in the Googleplex Photo Essay
- The Google Culture
- A Glimpse Inside Google - Googlers at work & play
- Google Quick Information
- Googleplex at WikiMapia
- A visual tour of Google's NYC HQ
Chairman/CEO: Eric E. Schmidt • Director/Technology President: Sergey Brin • Director/Products President: Larry E. Page • CFO: George Reyes
Other Directors: John Doerr • Michael Moritz • Ram Shriram • John Hennessy • Arthur D. Levinson • Paul Otellini • Shirley M. Tilghman • Ann Mather
Major products
Search (PageRank): Books • Code • Finance • Froogle • Images • Maps • News • Patents • Scholar • Trends • Video • Web
Advertising: AdSense • AdWords • Analytics • Checkout
Communication & Publishing: Blogger • Calendar • Docs & Spreadsheets • Gmail • Groups • JotSpot • Notebook • Orkut • Page Creator • Reader • YouTube
Computer Applications: Desktop • Earth • Pack • Picasa • SketchUp • Talk • Toolbar
Corporate information
Google acquisitions • History of Google • Privacy Issues • Google China • Google.org
Stock Symbol: (NASDAQ: GOOG), (LSE: GGEA) • Annual Revenue: 
US$7.14 billion (2006)
Employees: 10,674 (December 31, 2006) • Website: www.google.com