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TechCrunch50

caption contest

Grandpa, no!

Powerset founder Barney Pell brazenly reaches past former TechCrunch contributor Calley Nye's first available knee for an extra helping of frottage during the TechCrunch50 conference festivities. For Pell, the "Hot Chicks with Douchebags" joke has already been made, so you'll have to come up with something better in the comments if you want to win the honor of rewriting the headline. Yesterday UncleSalty took home the trophy with "How to make a baloney sandwich."

conflicts of interest

Was TechCrunch50 rigged?

The anointing of Yammer as the winner of TechCrunch50 has raised questions about how the startup-launch conference operates. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch, has made much of the fact that he and fellow event organizer Jason Calacanis don't charge startups to present at the show, as established rival Demo does. But people who attended the show are saying behind his back that the contest was rigged in favor of a pet startup of Arrington's with ties to one of the event's sponsors. More »

craigslist

Startup seeks full-time coder to put on no-pay lockdown

There's so many reasons to run away from this as-yet-unknown Portland startup's "gigs" ad on Craigslist. The founders say their app was written "I think [in] C#." They're "so disruptive" that they've "already been approached by TechCrunch" — without a product release yet. And for the right full-time programmer, they'll give you a nice room, Wi-Fi, and food. Stock? You can find as many sheets of that as you like in the bathroom. "No drugs or alcoholics!" Good god, how else are you supposed to blow off this sweatshop steam? The full ad continues: More »

Loïc Le Meur, Segway instructor Please tell me someone has pictures of Seesmic founder Loïc Le Meur giving small-time technology investor Michael Arrington Segway riding lessons outside 330 Ritch for the TechCrunch50 conference's closing party. For now, I'll have to settle for Siqi Chen, left, and Alex Le, right, the guys behind Facebook widget Friends For Sale, at the Plista party at Fluid. Where's the afterparty? It's not at the W or the Four Seasons. Maybe Mahalo chief Jason Calacanis is drinking responsibly tonight and has turned in early, but I'm pretty sure Arrington is up drinking scotch somewhere. MORE »

Cal Henderson sighting at 330 Ritch Stubblicious Flickr developer Cal Henderson and his "fake wife," Pownce community liaison Ariel Waldman, were sharing a precious booth with their entourage at yet another overpacked Seesmic party. Here, Waldman tries to chat with Laughing Squid founder Scott Beale over the din. Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis and Twitter cofounder Evan Williams, probably fed up with the crowds, have ditched 330 Ritch for the Plista party at Fluid. MORE »

Michael Arrington almost made to wait in line with plebes TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington just wants to get a scotch and hit on girls at the Seesmic party at 330 Rich, but ended up stuck in the multi-hour-long line outside the closing night party. Dutiful Seesmic founder Loïc Le Meur personally came out to escort him past the velvet ropes. For a second there, people might have come to the conclusion that TechCrunch50 was some kind of democracy. MORE »

ashton kutcher

Actor assures tech reporter he's not a puppet, but a real business boy

In a short interview for Yahoo, giggly Tech Ticker reporter Sarah Lacy gave model-turned-actor-turned-investor Ashton Kutcher a chance to let everyone know that he's not just a pretty face as a company founder, but "isn't getting much sleep" while managing every facet of his new startup, Blahgirls. This week he's been at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco promoting his new celebrity gossip and humor site, where cheeky, animated teenage girls keep a blog and appear in two short videos a week — in the first batch, we meet the character Stewart, a fey online gossip who, purely coincidentally, has a pink fauxhawk. Full interview after the jump. More »

techcrunch50

Jason Calacanis has no idea how much vodka he drank last night

The closing party for TechCrunch50 kicks off tonight, and our spy will be bringing us live updates as the evening unfolds. Hungover organizer Jason Calacanis, who got so sauced he couldn't remember what city he was in last night and showed up late this morning, was offered a bottle of Finnish vodka from a wantrepreneur, soliciting a bit of a reprimand from TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington — who also demanded that Calacanis delete his drunken postings to Twitter (Calacanis complied). More »

party report

Valleywag spy goes to TechCrunch50 so you don't have to

A Valleywag spy attended the second day of TechCrunch50 and then followed the crowd to a dinner, a party and an after party. He learned that blondes love Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis likes to drink, and flack turned TechCrunch blogger Calley Nye knows how to leave with a billionaire. Also, our spy reports that the startup that's getting everyone's attention at the show itself is doing it "through the use of hot and semi naked booth girls." All that and more in his bullet-point recap, below. More »