Google VP Bradley Horowitz (pictured) explained things at the annual Supernova conference in San Francisco the other day. He said the company intentionally (and selflessly!) leaves some brainpower outside its walls, according to the Register.

"I recently had a discussion with an engineer at Google and I pointed out a handful of people that I thought were fruitful in the industry and I proposed that we should hire these people...

But [the engineer] stopped me and said: 'These people are actually important to have outside of Google. They're very Google people that have the right philosophies around these things, and it's important that we not hire these guys. It's better for the ecosystem to have an honest industry, as opposed to aggregating all this talent at Google.'"

This is very generous of Google, given that it hires "the world's best engineers" via a grueling interview process, complete with quizzes. Some of its best employees had to short-circuit the system, but that only makes it more perfect, right?

Thankfully, Google is using this system for good, rather than evil, by turning down job prospects, for being too awesome. Now that's Christmas spirit: It's a sort of gift to the world. Not to the possible hires, of course, but in this economy they'll be working for an awesome company like Google in no time, right??

(Pic by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten)

Lose yourself in art, rich tech people; the proceeds go to charity. Kataoka, an entrepreneur and Julia Allison-grade protocelebrity, has announced her participation in a charity auction. The prize? "Sit back, relax & ... Leave your mark on a conceptual work of art by prominent artist Drue Kataoka... on a private jet across the Bay." That certainly sounds immersive. And if there's any time left over after the art session, you can ask Kataoka about fashion, and her recent conversation with designer Yigal Azrouel for her site Culture Lick (see video below, which opens with Kataoka's trademark ice cream lick.)

Hopefully Kataoka will bring her camera onto the plane, as well. Can't wait for the footage!

Working with his publisher, beer-buying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, xkcd creator Randall Munroe will sell tickets to his book readings through a Dutch auction of the sort that powered Google's IPO, in which the price is set by lowest of the top X bids, where X in this case corresponds to available seats. Complicated! Then at the event there's an auction for some more stuff, including lunch with the author and a custom XKCD cartoon. Then the proceeds are used to build a school for kids in Laos, which sounds great, but it's going to be named "XKCD," so good luck bragging to your friends or whatever.

We love the humanitarian impulse and will probably buy a book. Helping poor kids is great. But come one, internet geeks: Did you consider a simple strategy, like doing a reading, selling the books (proceeds are already earmarked for charity), and maybe having a donation jar? Not everything necessarily has to be a complex, game-like system!

[XKCD Book Tour]

(Pic via)

Just as Milken sought to reform his image as fraudster by quickly founding the Prostate Cancer Foundation upon his release from prison in 1993 and its 2003 follow-up, the DC-based think tank Faster Cures, Quattrone is playing up his contributions to the technology museum, affectionately referred to as the Tech.

Defenders of both high-profile financiers marred by legal scutiny would quickly point out their philanthropic endeavors predate any alleged wrongdoings. (Michael Milken co-founded the Milken Family Foundation in 1982 and the Milken National Educator Awards in 1985 while Quattrone has been involved with the Tech since its inception, a board member for over 10 years, and contributes to numerous other charities.) This only goes to show that if you harbor any intentions of engaging in legally questionable practices, you should make an early start in philanthropy. Certainly the mustachioed Quattrone must have found the 2004 Fortune cover story profiling Milken as the "The Man Who Changed Medicine", during the height of his legal battles, heart-warming and reassuring. [Updated.]

But 28 people at the Institute are now jobless, ten months after Ellison promised the money to pay them. While would-be Institute members at Harvard still express hope, Larry's spokespeople won't comment to the press. Which means that not only is Larry stiffing his beneficiaries — he's delivered them a big "fuck you."

Hey, it's not like the mogul is made of money. Those yacht payments take a big bite from the billionaire budget, and sometimes there's not enough left to feed the dog.

Er, sorry, feed the charity.

Harvard left in lurch Ellison over donation [MSNBC, who probably meant "over Ellison donation"]

Gates stepped down in an attempt to convince [eBay founder] Pierre Omidyar that Gates shares all the same values as Pierre in terms of charity. It was a huge signal to Pierre that Gates is following in Pierre's footsteps by stepping down and focusing on word issues full time and remaining Chairman of MS like Pierre has done. The premise is that with a combined MS-Ebay they can do more for the world together.

MS should hope Pierre gets the message and can still influence decisions like this. EBay CEO Meg Whitman just told the Financial Times that big-time mergers are unlikely right now. In other words, she just needs a sweeter deal.

Ebay cautious on web mergers [Financial Times]