The Google Interview: Internet Giant Muscling Its Way Into Presidential Campaign

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

05-05-2007 6:29 AM
The Google Interview: Internet Giant Muscling Its Way Into Presidential Campaign

By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Associated Press) -- For all Sen. John McCain's debate preparation, for all the speeches and chestnuts he has polished in his presidential campaigns, he was not ready for the opening question at the Google Interview.

"How do you determine good ways of sorting 1 million 32-bit integers in two megabytes of RAM?" wondered Google CEO Eric Schmidt. More than 1,000 geeks in the audience roared, and a stumped McCain laughed with them.


Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, sits next to Google CEO Eric Schmidt during a visit to the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, May 4, 2007.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

It was a quirky start to what is becoming a fixture on the presidential campaign _ a grilling by the fresh-faced Googlers who are trying to revolutionize the Internet.

In addition to free buffets and a volleyball court, Google employees are getting a political perk: A chance to personally grill the presidential candidates. Company executives, meanwhile, get precious face time to press cherished issues with the politicians who want the White House.

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[rock]

1. External sort?

What's the problem?