Google Mows With Goats 466
Kelson writes "Google's Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. 'It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers,' wrote Dan Hoffman."
Whatever (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
But, they taste better than lawnmowers...
Re:Here we go! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, please don't start that. All that stuff is just baaaaaaad.
Alright. Sorry for the stupid joke. I'm feeling a bit sheepish now.
Okay. Seriously. I'm done ramming these jokes down your throat.
What? Don't be angry. You're just mad I got this in before ewe.
wasting time... (Score:2, Funny)
Google evil (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but they use quite a bit of carbon making more goat mass. What do you think goats are made of?
They just need to sequester the goats in a salt mine or something once they reach a certain size.
Re:Whatever (Score:5, Funny)
GAL DERN GOAT STOLE MY JOB! (Score:1, Funny)
They should all just go back to goatland and stop stealing our jobs!
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
Goats are made of food, just like cows, chickens, sheep, and pigs :)
technical possiblities (Score:5, Funny)
Hiring only one herd seems very un-google like. Perhaps they should have hired a second herd for from a proper RAIG (redundant array of inexpensive goats) array. Scottish researchers have already proven technologies that could be used to form a common RAIG-1 array. Simple genetic manipulation with the common Equus quagga [wikipedia.org] would create a RAIG-10 (Stripped - Mirror) array.
I would say that a RAIG-5 array would offer the best performance, but I am wholly unaware of any current methods for calculating goat parity. I also have no desire to try and troubleshoot RAIG-Controller corruption...
Wait.. (Score:1, Funny)
GOATS can work for Google?!?! Screw college!
"Cuter than lawnmowers"? (Score:5, Funny)
If they think goats are cuter than lawn mowers, then I think they're hiring the wrong people to mow their lawn...
They should have just put ads out: "Wanted: cute people to mow lawns." They could arrange to get some kids dressed up like they're out of a Rockwell painting, or some tasty co-ed types... I know these aren't the usual things one looks for in a lawn mower, but if you're taking goats as the aesthetically pleasing alternative then I have to think you can do better.
Re:How were they transported? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:wasting time... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
News for Herds? (Score:5, Funny)
Nevermind the news. Google's grass is eaten by goats.
Fire hazards (Score:5, Funny)
...Native plants still produce a fire hazards ...
Fire hazards are part of nature though. If your home or office building isn't burned down in a lightning-caused brush fire every 10 years or so, you're not doing your part for the environment. Why do you people all hate the Earth so much?
"Cute" my ass (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Side Effects? (Score:5, Funny)
Want to know something totally fucked up? Rabbits have a simple two chamber ruminant stomach so they cannot digest cellulose in one pass. hey are forced to re-eat their shit in order to fully digest it. They are copraphages or literally shit eaters. Much like Microsoft employees forced to use their own software.
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
I learned something today !
My plan to make a cow-dragon is now one step closer to reality.
Re:Side Effects? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Whatever (Score:5, Funny)
Re:wasting time... (Score:5, Funny)
"and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers"
How much time do you spend watching lawn mowers or ..now.. goats ?
Aren't Google employees required to spend 10% of their time staring out the window?
Re:Whatever (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A goat can be used as a browser? (Score:3, Funny)
Goats are browsers
So I can use goat in place of a flaming fox to view webpages?
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
Could you milk me?
Re:Here we go! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Whatever (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Here we go! (Score:5, Funny)
These jokes really get my goat.
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:2, Funny)
Congratulations, you just helped me name my new band.
Watch for the hit new album from
"Goat Mass"
called
"sequestered in a salt mine"
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
No, you use cows to carry the goats to the field, and you get Gorillas to herd the cattle, then winter comes and the Gorillas freeze to death.
Circle of life.
Re:Here we go! (Score:1, Funny)
Cute, but every one of those is a sheep joke.
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
I *do* know what you mean!
Goat hair (mohair) is terrible for making sweaters from unless you use a breed specifically bred for the purpose, and those breeds are even worse for mowing than the meat or dairy breeds.
I'm so glad there is someone else on slashdot who understands the advantages of sheep over goats. You've really made my day.
[rolls eyes]
Re:Sounds Like An Awesome Business Plan (Score:2, Funny)
I think the google lawn is now taken care of but I'll give you a couple buck to watch you eat my lawn.
Re:Slashdot now lags by 2 days (Score:2, Funny)
"News for Herds... Stuff that Matters."
There, fixed that for you.
Re:Here we go! (Score:4, Funny)
There's no pulling the wool over your eyes!
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:4, Funny)
If you really want to use ruminants to mow for you, sheep are a much better choice than goats.
Agreed, and then there's the associated pleasures that come with sheep, if ya know what I mean :-). Not that goats are bad, but it's a different stuff all together, though that also depends on your local climate, I guess...
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Whatever (Score:1, Funny)
maybe he works at some large, unnamed software company that provides enough bugs to keep the cats full ?
Re:Here we go! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:1, Funny)
What, change his name from Horst Draper?
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Still less CO2 than mowers. (Score:2, Funny)
Yeah, the most carbon neutral thing google could do with that land would be to burn it.
(Score:1, Flamebait)
Did anyone else see the humor in this?
Re:Here we go! (Score:5, Funny)
We're just going to keep milking this one, aren't we?
Mow it with lasers! (Score:4, Funny)
I've always thought it would be cool to have a sprinkler-like system of laser beams mow the grass once a day.
Downsides:
1) Lawn must be perfectly flat
2) Safety precautions needed
3) Possible fires
But still. Lasers, eh?
Re:"Cute" my ass (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Here we go! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:mow-boys (Score:4, Funny)
That's weird -- your sig implies that you are not a Mac user...
Re:Here we go! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Here we go! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:A Word of Warning to Larry and Sergey ... (Score:1, Funny)
Yes, they weren't bread for Google.
Re:Whatever (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excuse Me But... (Score:3, Funny)
And google should be getting paid to feed thew goats, not the other way around.
Wait, the goats are getting paid to feed google? I knew there was a goatburger subplot in there somewhere!
Re:Here we go! (Score:3, Funny)