Valleywag
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Social Networks
Why Facebook wants to spam your News Feed
Social networks have a lifecycle: They start with a small core of early adopters, swell as mainstream users get pulled in by their friends, and then see growth taper off as people get turned off by spam. That's why Friendster is forgotten and why MySpace is looking increasingly stagnant. The price for reaching an audience advertisers care about seems to be a site users can't stand. Facebook, however, isn't following the fashionable trend. More »
9:00 AM on Mon Dec 1 2008
By Owen Thomas
696 views, Comment -
valleywag calendar
Go forth and network
Now that the calendar is walking out of your life, here is a quick and dirty guide to how you can stay up to date on tech: More » -
We Read Twitter So You Don't Have To
On Mumbai tragedy, Twitter proves useful in its uselessness
Can't stand CNN? Don't want to keep Googling for news? Pop open a browser window and leave a Twitter search for "mumbai" running. People are posting photo links and group-sulking, rather than the usual sort of "if only they had used Twitter more in Mumbai, none of this would have happened" chatter. You can always go to Poynter for that stuff. -
Jason Calacanis
Mahalo motormouth to launch mystery product in December
I'm taking guesses now. What's "Project A," the seekrit product being talked up by Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis on his private mailing list? A recap of recent events: He launched a human-powered news feed at a time most companies were planning layoffs. After that, he performed a layoff, then trolled for new engineers to hire. Why do I like the often-blustery Calacanis? Because when I briefly worked for him as an Engadget stringer, I saw his approach to running a startup: Operate the business on a shoestring, but splurge on little things to make employees feel spoiled — a second monitor, a killer espresso machine, free dinners at places the staff can't afford. Don't hate him because he's rich. He always picks up the check. Anyway, here's his vague product pre-announcement: More » -
Sometimes atoms are better than bits
"If you've ever tried to download a dildo, it probably didn't take you long to realize the futility of the task." — AVN blogger Tom Johansmeyer, on the resilience of sex toys and strip clubs to piracy.
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Yahoo
Icahn buys more Yahoo shares, considers H-P exec for CEO gig
Jerry Yang's least favorite investor bought nearly seven million more shares of YHOO. BoomTown reporter Kara Swisher did my homework for me again: Todd Bradley, head of H-P's $28 billion Personal Systems group, has been added to the list of potential Yahoo CEOs. Just to keep things complicated, the board my appoint an interim CEO to give off the appearance of someone actually doing something at Yahoo.(Photo by AP/Charles Rex Arbogast) -
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Most Popular Stories
- Which founders frolicked in Cancun while you cleaned out your desk? (2,430 views, 14 comments)
- It's Wall Street Journal official: we're all gonna die (1,539 views, 7 comments)
- Is the Demo conference still worth $18,500? (675 views, 8 comments)
- New York Times lays off "Shifting Careers" columnist (5 comments, 507 views)
- Woman who hoaxed suicidal teen found guilty of three misdemeanors (4 comments, 367 views)
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MySpace Suicide
Woman who hoaxed suicidal teen found guilty of three misdemeanors
Lori Drew (right), the 49-year-old Missouri mom who posed as a 16-year-old boy on MySpace, has been convicted of three misdemeanors, but no felonies, in the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier — a former "best friend" of Drew's own daughter Sarah — who committed suicide after being rejected by the fake boy. In short, the only charges prosecutors could bring involved off-topic acts such as "accessing a computer without authorization." Drew's real crime — cruelly manipulating a vulnerable child for four weeks — isn't proscribed by law. (Photo by AP/Nick Ut) -
Summit Series
Which founders frolicked in Cancun while you cleaned out your desk?
Last weekend, around 60 entrepreneurs under age 35 flew to Cancun for a retreat informally dubbed Summit Series. CNET reporter Caroline McCarthy was one of the press attendees who agreed not to name names. Nice try. The list of attendees identified below includes Dave Morin from Facebook, Joe Green who roomed with Mark Zuckerberg in college, and Sam Lessin who just got back from lip-dubbing Journey at Camp Cyprus. Tony Hsieh just laid off 8 percent of his Zappos staff. Ex-Googler Chris Sacca may or may not be rich, but I'm jealous of him anyway. More » -
Conferences
Is the Demo conference still worth $18,500?
For nearly twenty years, the Demo conference has been considered the place to be for tech startups seeking attention for their new products. Instead of speeches, companies are required to give live demos of brand-new products, basically launching them onstage. Demo organizer Chris Shipley has a reputation for picking products worth flying to a conference to see. But in this economy, Demo has a problem: The show makes money by charging participants $18,500 to get onstage. The rival TechCrunch50 doesn't charge. What does $18,500 buy? Shipley has published a list of conference benefits. Don't bother reading it. Instead of checking off fluffy perks like "an online microsite" and "invitation for one senior executive of your company to attend the invitation-only CEO/Dealmaker's dinner," Shipley should write another post: List all the successful products that were launched at Demo. Because right now my stomach hurts too much to remember them, and I know I'm not alone.
San Francisco, 9:27 AM
Mon Dec 1
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