Valleywag, Silicon Valley's Tech Gossip Rag

Your Privacy Is An Illusion
Privacy advocates nearly publish guide to carjacking Google executive
In a response to Google's recent assertion that "complete privacy does not exist," the National Legal and Policy Center released a step-by-step guide [PDF] to finding an unnamed "senior executive" from the company. While it doesn't reveal the home address, it does show a number of intersections where one might lie in wait to assault or kidnap said executive. Using Google Search, Maps and Street View, naturally. More »

6:00 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Jackson West
7,998 views, 22 comments

Latest by prsiii: Actually, it's an artificial beach, complete with sunlamps and a wave generator more »
silicon valley users guide
How the analyst racket works
Technology beat reporters have a problem: They're required to quote experts, rather than making their own assessments of who's what is why. Armchair advice on business intelligence software flows like water out here, but readers want someone with implied credibility. Enter the analyst. Companies like Forrester or Jupiter — which Forrester just bought — create hefty reports punctuated by easy-to-grasp "magic quadrants." The one shown here ranks 14 companies by their "completeness of vision" and their "ability to execute" on business intelligence software. Since no one reads the full reports, it's important to upstart companies to get analysts to mention them to the press and add them to their magic quadrants. Gee, if only you could buy your way in. Good news: You can! More »

5:00 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Paul Boutin
3,038 views, 27 comments

Latest by kimbjo: @MrMann - There is more evidence of analysts being full of BS and being bought, than there is evidence of more »
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4:53 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
Commenter Of The Day
mrfomoco
In a post showing slides from IBM's 1975 presentation, commenter mrfomoco deftly explains the genius behind Big Blue's marketing, complete with visual aides: More »

4:40 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Alaska Miller
398 views, 1 comment
Great Moments In Pr
1 in 5 marketers think they've bought news coverage
I'm sure I'll be hearing this one at parties for months: 19 percent of American marketers say their organizations have bought advertising in return for a news story, according to a survey by PR firm Manning Selvage & Lee. 1 in 12 say they've sent a gift to an editor or producer to place a news story. 1 in 10 say they have an "unspoken agreement" to trade coverage for ad buys. Take a few seconds to pump your fist and shout I knew it! Now spot the hole in this story: Marketing people don't meet with editors. Marketers meet with the sharks from ad sales, who'll tell them whatever opens their checkbooks. 1 in 5 American marketers has totally been had. (Photo by yomanimus)

4:20 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Paul Boutin
461 views, 12 comments

Latest by michaellamb: @Cynical Tech Media Bitch: I think I'm in love.... more »
Caption Contest
One bubble Pete Cashmore would like to pop
Careful, Pete — get too handsy and we hear Niles could happy slap you back to Blighty, as when she's not appearing in Californication or on French Maid TV, she practices kung fu and holds a second degree black belt. Maybe next time she can torture him into confessing what, exactly, he does besides show up at parties to pose with hotties. Can you come up with a better caption? Do so in the comments. The best one will become this post's new headline. Yesterday's winner: "Lectroid Julia Bigboote's pheromonic camouflage fails at the worst possible moment " by matto. (Photo by Marc Salsberry)

4:00 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Jackson West
2,806 views, 15 comments

Latest by Shadowlayer: "Hi, I'm Peter Cashmore. I invented a website that republish PRs from flacks but call it content. Have you heard more »

oversharing
Experts agree: Twitter makes you crazy
Renaissance marketer and professional conference attendee Tara Hunt made the iffy judgement call of allowing San Francisco magazine to document her highly public relationship with open source jihadvocate Chris Messina. The article ended up detailing the pair's breakup instead. Worse, Hunt says laying her soul bare 140 characters at a time backfired on her in a way she didn't expect. I bolded the fun parts: More »

3:40 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Paul Boutin
2,078 views, 4 comments

Latest by jsavimbi: Please remind me to cockpunch myself if I ever even consider opensourcing my busygets with a cougar. This is something more »
Earnings
CBS wants 50 percent revenue growth from digital in three years
In a conference call to discuss CBS's quarterly results, CEO Les Moonves pointed to the recently announced selloff of radio stations and acquisition of CNET as an effort to jumpstart growth. Profits for the quarter were up a measly 1 percent, and the stock price was down slightly on the news. Moonves is looking for the CBS Interactive division to grow its annual revenue to $1 billion in three years. More »

3:20 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Jackson West
401 views, 4 comments

Latest by Sir Winston Thriller: Well, maybe if they move Big Brother 11 to the CNET mothership down by the Embarcadero... more »
death of print
Newspapers have a fever, and the only cure is more Playboy
On Portfolio.com, Playboy CEO Christie Hefner, daughter of founder Hugh Hefner, spends a few hundred words patting herself on the back for breaking the story behind a Hollywood script and "Playboy's ability to grow its combined print and online audience and advertising." That, she seems to think, qualifies her to condescend to newspaper executives across America. Except "Playboy’s digital revenues have been flat or shrinking over the last few quarters, and the growth even before has been slower than industry average," according to PaidContent's Rafat Ali. (Photo by Getty/Jamie McCarthy)

3:00 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
By Jackson West
2,568 views, 7 comments

Latest by raincoaster: She's just not a very good editrix/CEO. She really is not. HOw could you lose money on porn in the more »
Rumors of Mac cloner Psystar's demise greatly exaggerated Psystar, the Florida-based maker of computers which can run Apple's OS X operating system, has hired Carr & Ferrell, a Palo Alto-based law firm, to respond to lawsuits from the (official) Mac manufacturer. The firm previously managed to squeeze a settlement from Apple on behalf of its client Burst, a video-streaming technology developer. If Psystar loses the court battle, it willl likely have to recall all the computers it has shipped — all 10 of them. If Apple loses, we might see more clones in the future. [Computerworld]

1 comment