Valleywag, Silicon Valley's Tech Gossip Rag

exits

Terry Semel leaves Yahoo for good, gets street named after him

Terry Semel has stepped down as chairman of Yahoo and will leave the board of directors, more than six months after he left his post as CEO of the company. Board member Roy Bostock will assume his role as non-executive chairman. Don't think they let Terry leave without some lovely parting gifts though: Valleywag has learned that the entrance to Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters will be renamed Semel Drive "out of appreciation for everything he's done" for Yahoo. Sweet! That's the kind of golden parachute everyone can enjoy!

A tipster sent us the oddly e.e. cummings-esque internal email from Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang announcing the departure:

More »

6:20 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Jordan Golson
3,250 views, 14 comments

Latest by Oxycontinmoron: "Semel Dr.", otherwise known as, "Up the ol' dirt road." more »

Bloggers

Jakob Lodwick claims he'll behave like a normal human being. Right.

Wacky entrepreneur-turned-egoblogger Jakob Lodwick has vowed that from here onward, he'll reveal "less, not more" about his life online. A wise move that would prevent him from, say, deleting entire blog entries as soon as they're reported on. Buried deep within his Normative nonexplainer is his new philosophy of revealing "a morsel" rather than his whole "lunch" because he's learned some sort of lesson. The real reason? Without Julia Allison, he's just not that interesting.

5:00 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Mary Jane Irwin
838 views, 13 comments

Latest by mandarin: With a more chunkier body, he can be Thelma in Scooby Doo.... more »

TiVo

If in case you don't succeed, patent, patent again

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a ruling against satellite TV company EchoStar, saying the company infringed on a DVR patent owned by TiVo. The ruling, which included an $94 million damage award and bans EchoStar from selling the product in question, says that EchoStar infringed on the "software" claims of the patent, but not on the "hardware" claims. EchoStar says that no customers will be affected by the ruling and that it already has a fix in place. After the ruling, TiVo's stock rose almost 30 percent to a new 52-week high. Why? More »

4:40 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Jordan Golson
341 views, Comment

Your Privacy Is An Illusion

Intelius has your cell phone number -- and is selling it

That mobile-phone barrier you've built between yourself and telemarketers is about to crumble. The nice chaps over at Intelius, who provide services like name, address, and Social Security number searches, are compiling an online mobile-phone directory they'll sell to anyone willing to pay them a measly $14.95 a number. They're operating on the philosophy that if you're willing to give your mobile number to the IRS or Domino's, you've opted in to an early-Saturday-morning game of phone tag with telemarketers. The dastardly sorts have ensured that the only way to get off the list is by faxing in a written request alongside an ID card. A fax machine: So low tech, it may just stop the Web 2.0 crowd in their tracks. More »

4:20 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Mary Jane Irwin
991 views, 3 comments

Latest by BartKela: Naaah, I only out give my GrandCentral number and block all the bad guys. more »

Amazon.com

Amazon.com's search results promote Kindle

For years, retailers have given preferential shelf space to certain products — sometimes because they are higher margin, or because the manufacturer has paid for that placement. Should Amazon.com be any different? During the holiday season, the online retailer listed its Kindle e-reader at the very top in search results for "sony reader." Clever! Even better, a search for "kindle" doesn't mention its Sony competitor at all. My personal favorite? A number of customers have tagged the Kindle with "sony reader." That's what loser-generated content gives you, I guess.

4:00 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Jordan Golson
409 views, Comment

Real Estate

Redfin's shaky real-estate math

Online real-estate brokerage Redfin has revamped its website, promising "freakish depth" of data about neighborhood home sales. If only it provided such rich, clear data about its own finances. The company is notable for kicking back two-thirds of the commission it earns back to buyers, keeping a third to fund its operations According to an article on finance blog Seeking Alpha, CEO Glenn Kelman reels off a series of seemingly impressive stats: More »

3:40 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
708 views, 3 comments

Latest by Owen Thomas: @xander76: Thanks for clarifying the sales transactions. That, at least, makes sense. more »

Wireless

A less wireless Motorola?

What's Motorola minus the cell phones? One might as well speak of Ford without the cars, or Starbucks without the coffee. That unfathomable equation is on the drawing board, apparently, as the company faces pressure to improve its performance. The Wall Street Journal reports that Motorola is considering selling or spinning off the troubled division, which accounts for half the company's sales. But selling the company's cell-phone division makes no gut sense. It would, by itself, do nothing to improve the company's sales of handsets. And it would be crushing to the company's identity. Did you know Motorola also makes set-top boxes, walkie-talkies, and networking gear? Exactly.

3:22 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
177 views, 6 comments

Latest by kg4vma: motorola has been in the radio business for years--cell phones were simply a smart spin-off from their primary business model. rewind more »

breakdowns

Twitter abruptly dumps Web host Joyent

Some users of Twitter, the addictive microblogging service, noticed that it abruptly stopped working for them over the past 24 hours. The reason? An abrupt switch away from Joyent, the company which hosted — past tense — Twitter's servers. Companies change Web hosts all the time, and the moves are always wrenching. But Joyent and Twitter had just happily announced that they were working together to keep Twitter up through this Sunday's Super Bowl. More »

3:00 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,201 views, 6 comments

Latest by flakattract: Not sure where DAVIDU got this information about NTT/Verio but it appears to be way off base. Verio is a wholly more »

normative

Jakob Lodwick reveals his musical ambitions

Jakob Lodwick's brief, one-sided spat with fellow Web-music entrepreneur Peter Rojas was just a warm-up act. Lodwick has announced his new project, Normative. We'll make this short, since Lodwick squanders endless words on a heart-wrenching tale of the music industry's slide and his efforts to purchase normative.com from a cybersquatter. More »

2:49 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Mary Jane Irwin
1,874 views, 7 comments

Latest by vulturesquadron: He will do for music what he did for video: register a domain, spend jackpot money and hook up with more »

Bloggers

AOLer: Don't say silly things about AOL, or we'll track you down

Will Morris, AOL's man in Silicon Valley — they still have someone in Silicon Valley? — is mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore. His peeve? Commenters who say "silly" things about AOL. He's vowed to track them down and respond to their comments. The response on Morris's blog has shown off the scintillating intellect AOL users are known for. The latest comment: More »

2:40 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,334 views, 16 comments

Latest by Aweekinthelifeofaredhead: I started my blog on AOL in the hope that they might do something different with the platform. After more »

silicon valley users guide

How not to get fired by your VC

VCs have a habit of replacing founders with their own handpicked CEOs. And they like to do it over lunch, according The Great Startup Game blogger Peter Ireland. Here's how it works: They'll get the founder a little lit and then explain that the startup has this great chance to bring a game-changing "star" onto its board. Founders typically cave. And of course the new board member goes on to become the vote needed to fire the founder. Oops. Here's how not to cave.
More »

2:20 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
2,267 views, 6 comments

Latest by Tiki Tonga: Usually the ones who get the boot like this are first-time founders. While I don't encourage bootstrapping by credit cards more »

Live Coverage

Google's fourth-quarter 2007 earnings call

Apple can have its missing iPhones. Let Yahoo worry about a softening economy. Google just reported its business grew 51 percent in the last year. Expect Larry, Sergey and Eric to gloat even though revenues after traffic acquisition costs missed expectations. Stick with us for live coverage of Google's fourth-quarter 2007 earnings call. More »

2:07 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
1,266 views, 2 comments

Latest by macbeach: 1:48, Brins turn. "I want to talk to you about ne ne? NE? N.E.? Knights who say Ni? more »

Semel, Decker and Yang rally the troops in 2006

Poll

Should Decker and Yang be layoff victims No. 1,001 and 1,002?

Yahoo will fire 1,000 employees soon, mostly from its Yahoo Network Division and offices in Europe, according to rumors. Meanwhile, CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker said on this week's earnings call that investors and employees need to be patient. (Haven't they already?) By 2009 Yahoo's display advertising business will have finally turned around. But some are sick of waiting. Yang has been with the company from the start; Decker joined Yahoo as CFO in 2000. The two have had their chance, skeptics say. In this Valleywag poll, tell us: Is it time for this pair to go?
More »

2:00 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
2,831 views, 7 comments

Latest by Nicholas Carlson: @ripopgome: Looks like Ballmer votes "yes." [valleywag.com] more »

toogle many googlers

Still toogle many Googlers

Google added 889 people this quarter, bringing the total to 16,805. The company notes that the pace of hiring has slowed. Are we supposed to applaud Google for expanding headcount at the rate of 24 percent a year? And what, pray tell, are all those 889 new people doing?

1:50 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,243 views, 6 comments

Latest by FakeZuck: better question is what are the thousands of pre-IPO googlers doing... sources say nothing whatsoever and collecting handsome paychecks. more »

Earnings

Amazon.com rakes in $1.4 billion in cash, but blogs blather about bandwidth

Under Jeff Bezos, Amazon has ever played the chameleon, morphing from bookstore to discounter to supermarket. Most recently, it's tried, through the guise of its Amazon Web Services arm, to get people to think of it as a supercomputer to rent. Amazon's earnings were financially solid: The company raked in $1.4 billion in operating cash flow, and by more conventional measures, it earned $207 million on $5.7 billion in revenues. You won't read about that in the blogs, though, because Amazon earned that money the old-fashioned way — by shipping books and other physical goods to customers. More »

1:38 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
463 views, 3 comments

Latest by ScalaWag: Give'em time. You do not become material to $20B revenue overnight. more »

Earnings

Google's 51 percent revenue rise falls short of expectations

Google reported revenues of $4.8 billion for the quarter ended December 31, representing a 51 percent increase over fourth quarter 2006 revenues of $3.2 billion and a 14 percent increase over third quarter 2007 revenues of $4.2 billion. Net of payments made to partners who carry Google's ads on their websites, the company's revenues were $3.39 billion. Those numbers fell short of expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who believed Google would post earnings of $4.44 a share on $3.45 billion in revenue. Google reported fourth-quarter profits of $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2007.

1:11 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
817 views, 11 comments

Latest by hmorton: @BartKela: Howard Jones? more »

Road Warrior

SFO hates nerds

Our days of carting around our entire gadget collection (Wii, PSP, digital camera, iPhone, external hard drive, portable Wi-Fi router, and so on — what? Like you don't take all that stuff with you?) are coming to an end. Laughing Squid's Scott Beale reports SFO now demands all electronic gear be removed from your carry-on. Word of advice: If flying out of San Francisco, limit your kit to the bare essentials. Otherwise you're likely to get mutilated by all those hidden pen knives for holding up the line. (Photo by Justin Hall) More »

1:00 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Mary Jane Irwin
697 views, 2 comments

Latest by sc1olist: This new policy is absolutely outlandish. From a national security standpoint, the benefit gained by taking electronic equipment out more »

Scientology

Google screenshot is newsworthy, and we will not be removing it

Put a little squiggle in front a search term in Google and you get results for both that term and the terms Google considers synonyms. So as you can see here from this screenshot, Google considers Scientology to be a synonym for cult. Which is totally brave of Blogoscoped and us for pointing it out. Bring on the 2.5 million page views.

12:40 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
1,560 views, 5 comments

Latest by BobDope: Scientology is great. L. Ron Hubbard built my hot rod. more »

Myspace

Slowing MySpace gets quit on by angry horde

MySpace only added 8 million users in the last year and in the U.S., the social network has actually lost users in the months since October, by some counts. Well, add another slew of quitters to the score. Wednesday was "International Delete Your MySpace Account Day," according to fed-up MySpace user Simon Owens. On his blog, Owens lists 10 reasons he started the movement. My favorite: "You're tired of seeing Tom stare out at you from millions of friends lists and just wish he would change his fucking profile picture." Here's the rest. More »

12:20 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
837 views, Comment

Exclusive

Glam Media raising a round -- but far less than it hoped for

Samir Arora, the Valley's most talented flim-flam artist, has convinced investors to put in a fresh round of financing into Glam Media, his online-ad network. The deal could be announced as soon as tomorrow. The amount raised: Between $30 million and $100 million, we hear, valuing the company at as much as $400 million. A lofty figure, given Glam's scant sales — but Arora had sought a $200 million round, and a valuation in the range of $800 million to $1 billion. The premise of that valuation: The 25 million monthly visitors to sites in Glam's network, many of them female. But investors likely figured out that Glam doesn't own most of the sites those people visited. More »

11:59 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,133 views, 2 comments

Latest by clubvoila: I am a one of Glam's Bloggers and know people there that know what's going on. They tell me more »

online advertising

Google print ads: Return of the CueCat

The reinflation of the tech bubble has revived old business plans, but here's one that should have stayed dead. Google wants to bring back scannable barcodes on printed ad pages that could be read with its Android phone software. Sound familiar? More »

11:40 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
763 views, 10 comments

Latest by DaveMathews: My CueCat was never about the hardware. It was a necessary evil until we all had pocketable devices that more »

Google

Will we never be rid of Eric Schmidt?

Fortune has revealed a pact made by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin: The three agreed, in 2004, to work together for 20 years. Two decades is an unbelievably long time in the technology world. And the thought of Schmidt still wandering the halls of the Googleplex and flying around the world chasing skirts at the age of 69 is harrowing. But the pact, no doubt strategically leaked, has a useful purpose: It reminds Google's executives and rank and file that Schmidt, as much as they might wish otherwise, isn't going anywhere. The pluses and minuses of that? More »

11:19 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,630 views, 7 comments

Latest by Mike Snow: At the executive level, great talent knows that you don't necessarily make it to the top as an internal candidate. more »

valleywag calendar

Three bashes to crash

Rule-abiding citizens may be SOL for attending some of tonight's events, but Valleywag readers know crashing is half the fun. Don't let us stop you from trying to RSVP, however — there are just no guarantees. Tonight if you're in Mountain View, join the Girl Geek Dinner (girls, go wild, but dudes, don't show up alone without being invited — big mistake). In San Francisco, you've got three choices: the Freelance Designers Meetup at Sugar Cafe on Sutter, the Akamai social at ubiquitous party venue 111 Minna, or Fast Company's self-promoting discussion on being a standout startup.

Got something to add to the calendar? Send it to calendar@valleywag.com.

11:00 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Dianne de Guzman
153 views, Comment

Amy Iorio

Yahoo GM's nepotism irks as layoffs loom

Poor earnings and looming layoffs mean there are daggers in Yahoos' smiles. The latest potshot comes from a tipster taking aim at Yahoo News GM Amy Iorio. Word is, Iorio loves Yahoo for its family environment. You know, her family. Our tipster offers a litany of accusations of how Iorio has taken nepotism too far in troubled times. More »

10:40 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
5,991 views, 13 comments

Latest by techguy_03: DROBERT, you must be Amy or one of the Iorio's that mooches off of Yahoo. You are right lets put more »

Acquisitions

Amazon.com buys Audible.com for $300 million

What's the value of the spoken word? $300 million, according to Amazon.com, which just purchased the leading digital audiobook reseller, Audible.com. The amount is a premium of more than 20 percent on yesterday's closing price. The purchase of Audible, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, shows that Amazon is serious about digital content. Amazon has sold Audible's audio downloads since May 2000, and the purchase is a natural fit as Amazon offers more content via digital delivery. But what does it mean for the consumer? More »

10:20 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Jordan Golson
386 views, 4 comments

Latest by macbeach: My theory is that there can never be another Microsoft (and that's a good thing(tm)). The world has learned that locking more »

Bracing for the big one

Underage Chinese gymnasts -- an obsessive Internet investigation

5 ways the newspapers botched the Web

Nuclear power? You're soaking in it

Leave Sheryl Sandberg alone!

No, she won't go "Facebook Official" with you

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Valleywag team