For many of us, static electricity is one of the earliest encounters we have with electromagnetism, and it’s a staple of high school physics. Typically, it’s explained as a product of electrons transferred in one direction between unlike substances, like glass and wool, or a balloon and a cotton T-shirt (depending on whether the demo is in a high school class or a kids’ party).
Different substances have a tendency to pick up either positive or negative charges, we’re often told, and the process doesn’t transfer a lot of charge, but it’s enough to cause a balloon to stick to the ceiling, or to give someone a shock on a cold, dry day.
Google has finally unveiled Google+, the company’s top secret social layer that turns all of the search engine into one giant social network.
Google+, which begins rolling out a very limited field test on Tuesday, is the culmination of a year-long project led by Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president of social. The project, which has been delayed several times, constitutes Google’s answer to Facebook.
Nearly everyone has had some tech friend gush to them about how great Google is, not just as a search engine, but as a company. But a New York City woman is alleging that the company excluded her and six other potential applicants because of their weight.
The woman, who is remaining nameless, claims that she was at the Google offices for a test that was the second step in the hiring process — she’d already completed a phone interview, so all that was left was an exam that “contained LSAT-style logic questions, and… two of the three were about fitness — running, personal training.”
