A 19-year-old entrepreneur has been caught living and working out of AOL's Palo Alto, Calif. offices, putting in long hours to get his startup off the ground. Sure, companies pride themselves in having employees with intense work ethics, but this guy wasn't even an AOL employee at the time.
Eric Simons — who stayed at the office for two months, crashing on office couches, eating the company's food and exercising every morning at the gym — was previously a member of a tech incubator program called Imagine K12, which is how he gained access to the building.
The AOL squatter stayed at the facilities while working on his own company, Class Connect, a startup he pioneered to help teachers teach more effectively.
Simons only spent about $30 a month squatting at AOL offices. His stay ended when he was finally caught by a manager.
Image via Flickr, MarioAnima
BONUS: Exclusive Look Inside the New Facebook HQ: You'll Like This
The company is now completely moved out of its Palo Alto pad, and into the much more spacious Menlo Park facility it broke ground on last year.
Yes, Facebook really lives on Hacker Way.
That, Facebook staffers told us, was the joke name for the facility, which was previously owned by Sun Microsystems -- as seen on the reverse of the Facebook HQ sign. It was said to be drab and prison-like, but ...
... Facebook has brightened the place up considerably.
Facebook doesn't like to dress its campus in any kind of monolithic corporate way -- no blue decor everywhere. But it does like quirky art, such as this Facebook 'F' made out of circuit boards.
The aesthetic of the cafeteria, as with much of the campus: bright and spacious, with a deliberately unfinished look. Zuckerberg likes to say Facebook is "1% done," and the campus is in constant flux to represent that.
An example of how the campus is still in flux: there's an outdoor BBQ shack being built next to the dining area.
We can confirm the food in the cafeteria is delicious. Here's a random sampling. Notice there is no tray -- Facebook thinks you'll eat too much unless you only carry a plate.
Some of the graffiti that is encouraged on the walls -- and a tech support vending machine where you swipe your company pass and get the gadgets or chargers you need.
One of our favorite pieces of art on campus -- it reminds us of Mashable Connect.
This is where Facebook's billionaire founder takes his meetings.
How to get engineers to actually finish their product: motivational stencil.
Here's the pitch -- cover the whole wall with employees and visitors marking their height and writing their names next to it, just like you used to do as a kid.
Yep, that's Jeremy Lin, Palo Alto kid, coming to visit the campus in February. Go Knicks indeed.
Believe it or not, this wall-sized mural was done without the aid of stencils or guides of any kind.
Deep aphorisms mingle on the wall with fun cartoons.
Enter the Insanity Wolf Room, and there it is: Facebook's treadmill desk, available to all.
Even though Philz Coffee (a San Francisco institution) is available free throughout Facebook HQ, Philz is also doing a roaring trade with a paid cafe. Never underestimate the desire of engineers for fresh, well-made joe.
This crane-like industrial object was transported from the Palo Alto office, simply because Facebookers had gotten used to meeting underneath it.
A giant interactive screen shows you all the conference rooms on the floor. Red ones are taken, green ones are available.
There are a lot of Harry Potter fans at Facebook. All the Hogwarts-themed conference rooms were taken when we came to visit.
Extra-tall product designer at Facebook or famous golfer? You decide.
At the Temple Bar, where technology comes to get fixed, the wall is covered with favorite Internet memes.
First built at Palo Alto HQ, now replicated at the Menlo Park facility. Note the guy casually skating by.
Facebook is planning a whole other campus, the West Campus, across the street. This plan was sketched out on a whiteboard. Note the pedestrian tunnel to be dug between the campuses.
Many of the conference room names at Facebook are mixtures of two themes -- in this case, song titles and computer terminology.
Many of the conference rooms are named for memes. Note the tablet beneath each name, where you can reserve the room.
This conference room is a nod to the infamous description of the Internet by the late Senator Ted Stevens: "a series of tubes."
The international section of Facebook's cubes. There are no private offices in the whole facility.
We saw plenty of this Bill O'Reilly stencil -- and plenty of random spray paint art.
On the stairway, stencilled tributes to "FB Women."
What do geeky engineers love to do? Play boardgames! There are plenty of our favorites here, including Battlestar Galactica.
Another conference room music-technology name mashup.
The company is now completely moved out of its Palo Alto pad, and into the much more spacious Menlo Park facility it broke ground on last year.
Yes, Facebook really lives on Hacker Way.
That, Facebook staffers told us, was the joke name for the facility, which was previously owned by Sun Microsystems -- as seen on the reverse of the Facebook HQ sign. It was said to be drab and prison-like, but ...
... Facebook has brightened the place up considerably.
Facebook doesn't like to dress its campus in any kind of monolithic corporate way -- no blue decor everywhere. But it does like quirky art, such as this Facebook 'F' made out of circuit boards.
The aesthetic of the cafeteria, as with much of the campus: bright and spacious, with a deliberately unfinished look. Zuckerberg likes to say Facebook is "1% done," and the campus is in constant flux to represent that.
An example of how the campus is still in flux: there's an outdoor BBQ shack being built next to the dining area.
We can confirm the food in the cafeteria is delicious. Here's a random sampling. Notice there is no tray -- Facebook thinks you'll eat too much unless you only carry a plate.
Some of the graffiti that is encouraged on the walls -- and a tech support vending machine where you swipe your company pass and get the gadgets or chargers you need.
One of our favorite pieces of art on campus -- it reminds us of Mashable Connect.
This is where Facebook's billionaire founder takes his meetings.
How to get engineers to actually finish their product: motivational stencil.
Here's the pitch -- cover the whole wall with employees and visitors marking their height and writing their names next to it, just like you used to do as a kid.
Yep, that's Jeremy Lin, Palo Alto kid, coming to visit the campus in February. Go Knicks indeed.
Believe it or not, this wall-sized mural was done without the aid of stencils or guides of any kind.
Deep aphorisms mingle on the wall with fun cartoons.
Enter the Insanity Wolf Room, and there it is: Facebook's treadmill desk, available to all.
Even though Philz Coffee (a San Francisco institution) is available free throughout Facebook HQ, Philz is also doing a roaring trade with a paid cafe. Never underestimate the desire of engineers for fresh, well-made joe.
This crane-like industrial object was transported from the Palo Alto office, simply because Facebookers had gotten used to meeting underneath it.
A giant interactive screen shows you all the conference rooms on the floor. Red ones are taken, green ones are available.
There are a lot of Harry Potter fans at Facebook. All the Hogwarts-themed conference rooms were taken when we came to visit.
Extra-tall product designer at Facebook or famous golfer? You decide.
At the Temple Bar, where technology comes to get fixed, the wall is covered with favorite Internet memes.
First built at Palo Alto HQ, now replicated at the Menlo Park facility. Note the guy casually skating by.
Facebook is planning a whole other campus, the West Campus, across the street. This plan was sketched out on a whiteboard. Note the pedestrian tunnel to be dug between the campuses.
Many of the conference room names at Facebook are mixtures of two themes -- in this case, song titles and computer terminology.
Many of the conference rooms are named for memes. Note the tablet beneath each name, where you can reserve the room.
This conference room is a nod to the infamous description of the Internet by the late Senator Ted Stevens: "a series of tubes."
The international section of Facebook's cubes. There are no private offices in the whole facility.
We saw plenty of this Bill O'Reilly stencil -- and plenty of random spray paint art.
On the stairway, stencilled tributes to "FB Women."
What do geeky engineers love to do? Play boardgames! There are plenty of our favorites here, including Battlestar Galactica.
Another conference room music-technology name mashup.
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