Secret Facebook event at the Metreon tonight [Events]
While out and about, a possibly over-enthusiastic Valleywag correspondent heard rumors of a Facebook "prom" being held at the highly anticipated, but as yet unopened, new San Francisco branch of New York's famed Tavern on the Green within the Metreon in SOMA. Those lucky few on the inside remember: Pics or it didn't happen! Update: There is indeed a private Facebook party on the fourth floor of the Metreon, but of course the Tavern on the Green won't take over the space until at least next year.(Photo by Shiny Things)
May 9th, 2008
Frustrated by lack of Final Cut Pro skills. I know what I want to do, but not how to do it, and worried I have to cut new edit from scratch.
May 9th, 2008
Valleywag cares less about women in technology than Google engineering [Events]
Thanks to Google Calendar going down I forgot the Women 2.0 business plan challenge was happening tomorrow, Saturday, at Stanford. A competitor who'd kindly submitted the item for our calendar with plenty of notice was non-plussed to find no mention this morning. With my tongue in my cheek to make room for the foot in my mouth I borrowed her suggested headline for this little reminder to check it out. [Women 2.0]
May 9th, 2008
A week where we relished positive feedback [Recap]
While we don't worship with the local cult of permanent positivity, we're human, too. Thankfully, our tipsters should us love daily, and their spirit of giving warms our cold, cold hearts even more than bulldogs, so thanks. Hopefully Mark Zuckerberg finds humility in India, or at least a sense of humor like Brad Fitzpatrick's. Michael Arrington and Graydon Carter sure haven't. Ambition is a form of hubris, so show your love and let them go, Google. Or else there will be no room for the talent Microsoft wants to poach. Keeping delusional managers out of loyalty will lead to a terrible work environment that won't attract real sales talent. We certainly love Gawker's ad sales team at least as much as our tipsters, because there's no positive feedback like a paycheck.(Photo by Jim Reynolds)
May 9th, 2008
Blip.tv's Dina Kaplan saves Ryan's privates [Online Video]
New York-based online video distribution startup Blip.tv went weekend warrior on file-sharing startup Pando in a game of paintball. Pictured here are the bruises left from getting hit on the leg of COO Dina Kaplan. But her colleague Ryan Chambers really took one for the team — right in the, ahem, family jewels. Click through for Kaplan showing off more battle scars and Chambers describing his harrowing brush with infertility.
Sure, smart kids can gloat about how they're doing better now than all those popular athletes in high school who got fat and stuck in dead-end jobs, but at least jocks know enough to wear cups.
May 9th, 2008
More on effort by San Franciscans to rename a sewage treatment plant for the president, with artist's rendering: http://tinyurl.com/5k8zsp
May 9th, 2008
San Franciscans: Help rename a sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush
Yesterday evening I happened across some signature gatherers canvassing for registered voters who reside in San Francisco. While the sheer volume of such campaigns in the Bay Area, and the often misleading information they give about the cause they’re representing, I often decline as politely as possible and move on. But in this [...]
May 9th, 2008
Don't be photographed [Caption Contest]
We'd grown so accustomed to seeing Google CEO Eric Schmidt squiring girlfriends to events that we couldn't believe our eyes. Was that attractive blonde on his arm actually his wife, Wendy? The couple eschewed the red carpet when entering the Castro Theater for last night's Vanity Fair-sponsored screening of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson for the San Francisco International Film Festival, but our paparazzo still managed to snap a shot of the publicity-averse Mrs. Schmidt. (Some insiders suggest that Wendy, a graduate of UC Berkeley's journalism school, was behind Eric's temporary boycott of News.com after the website published their home address.) Can you suggest a better caption? Do so in the comments. Yesterday's winner: "Handvertising is the new banner ad," by loganvision. (Photo by Steve Rhodes)
May 9th, 2008
Work unpaid for the ultrarich [Careers]
Looking for a job with a company that regularly throws money down the startup drain? Don't care if all you receive in return is college credit? This internship listing on Craigslist is right up your alley!
We're looking for bright outgoing college students who can identify really cool new start-up companies ... You'll get a chance to understand the venture landscape, meet start-up founders, attend fun parties and create your own project.The company says it's located near Pier 23 in San Francisco's Barbary Coast neighborhood, which means surely one of our beloved commenters or tipsters knows the name of the company. Full listing preserved for posterity in a screenshot after the jump.
The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.
May 9th, 2008
$8 million for blimp rides from Google HQ to Napa Valley [Airship Ventures]
With a parking space at the giant hangar on Moffett Field run by NASA, Airship Ventures plans to buy a blimp and run pleasure cruises from the Googleplex's back yard to Napa Valley's wine country. To that end, the startup has secured $8 million in funding from wealthy sorts, including lead investor Esther Dyson. Airship Ventures can surely count on the legions of local steampunk fetishists to keep the waiting list for seats well padded, not to mention corporate-expensed junkets from Valley tech companies. After the jump, video of a Tokyo flyover in one of the Zeppelin NT airships the startup will use. (Illustration by Martin Luechinger)
RechargeIT, the plug-in hybrid publicity program sponsored by Google.org, the search giant's relatively poorly funded do-gooder initiative run by Larry Brilliant, is running a YouTube contest. The company wants anyone who has a plug-in electric hybrid, or wishes they did, to upload a video describing their obsession. The contest isn't official yet, but Earth2Tech found a submission page which doesn't list exactly what you might win by entering. A new car would be nice, but I'm guessing it'll be more along the lines of sitting through a press conference, a free meal at the cafeteria and maybe a test drive.
May 9th, 2008
Microsoft dashes hostile Yahoo takeover hopes [Acquisitions]
In a letter from software giant Microsoft's lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell to proxy board members, the company rescinded the agreements it had struck in case of a hostile take-over bid for Web search pioneer Yahoo. But hey, with Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang now begging for deal with tail tucked and head down, the companies may still agree to a friendly take-over bid. [WSJ]
May 9th, 2008
Berkeley scientists suggest a supercomputer made from iPod processors [Hardware]
A team of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working on climate-change prediction have suggested that a supercomputer made from thousands of inexpensive, low-power processors like those found in iPods and cellphones would be cheaper to build and require less electricity to operate than one built with more powerful chips. [AP] (Via Spidey Senses, photo by AP)
May 9th, 2008
Social network popularity just like high school [Quotable]
"Like the popular kids, Facebook will end up living in a trailer — just down the gravel road from Friendster." [Details] (Photo by AP/Jack Plunkett)
May 9th, 2008
I went to San Francisco for JavaOne, and all I got was this Norovirus [Conferences]
Giving every junketeer who might have over-imbibed a good excuse to blow off chores and work once they get home, conference organizers at Sun's JavaOne developer fest at the Moscone Center are now warning attendees that the City has released a public health warning about a virus on the loose.
Testing is still underway to identify the specific virus in question, but they believe it to be the Norovirus, a common cause of the "stomach flu", which can cause temporary flu-like symptoms for up to 48 hours.Full alert after the jump so you can study up on symptoms if called on to fake them for getting a spouse or boss off your back.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) was notified on Wednesday May 7, 2008, of several persons that became ill after attending or working at conferences at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from April 30, 2008 through May 8, 2008. The SFDPH is working with the organizers of the meeting facilities to make cleaning recommendations and to confirm the cause of the illnesses. The ill attendees/workers are suspected to have a viral illness called Norovirus. Noroviruses are a common cause of the "stomach flu," or gastroenteritis (GAS-tro-en-ter-I-tis).(Image from SFCDCP)What are the symptoms of illness caused by Noroviruses?
The symptoms of norovirus illness include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly and the infected person may feel very sick. The illness is usually brief, with symptoms lasting only about 1 or 2 days.Are Noroviruses contagious?
Noroviruses are very contagious and can spread easily from person to person. Noroviruses are found in the stool or vomit of infected people. People can become infected with the virus in several ways, including:
- Eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with Norovirus;
- Touching surfaces or objects contaminated with Norovirus, and then placing their hand in their mouth;
- Having direct contact with another person who is infected and showing symptoms (for example, when caring for someone with illness, or sharing foods or eating utensils with someone who is ill).
- Persons suspected of being ill with Norovirus should abstain from attending or working at any Moscone Center conferences until 48 hours after symptoms have resolved.
How can Norovirus infections be prevented?
- Frequently wash your hands, especially after using the toilet and before eating or preparing food.
- Carefully wash fruits and vegetables, and steam oysters before eating them.
- Thoroughly clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces immediately after an episode of illness by using a bleach-based household cleaner.
- Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated with virus after an episode of illness (use hot water and soap).
- Flush or discard any vomit and/or stool in the toilet and make sure that the surrounding area is kept clean.
- Persons who are infected with Norovirus should not prepare food while they have symptoms and for 3 days after they recover from their illness.
Information on more Frequently Asked Questions on Norovirus can be viewed on the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) website at http://www.sfcdcp.org/norovirus.cfm
May 8th, 2008
Dragged to Le Club by the fabulous Beth. Good consolation prize instead of Vanity Fair's 'VIP' party. Catching up with Art Bruzzone.
May 8th, 2008
Jackson Cell017.jpg
Jackson West posted a photo:
Alex gibney, director
May 8th, 2008
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Jackson West posted a photo:
T-Mobile
May 8th, 2008
Jackson Cell015.jpg
Jackson West posted a photo:
graydon carter at the castro theater
May 8th, 2008
Old media figure Graydon Carter spotted at San Francisco premiere of old media [Nerdspotting]
Vanity Fair, which is a New York-based operation distributing expert-written content on biodegradable media — a "magazine" — via premium subscriptions and bricks-and-mortar partners known as "newsstands," is sponsoring the West Coast premiere of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Gonzo is being displayed on a screen considerably larger than any made by Samsung or Panasonic — using a technology which does not require any LCDs. Our spies snapped a photo of Vanity Fair's chief content officer, Graydon Carter, entering the specially designed facility. Much like Apple does with iPods and Macs, Vanity Fair is expecting a "halo effect" from its sponsorship of this screening to boost sales of its "magazines." (Photo by jacksonwest)
May 8th, 2008
Did my part to get a local sewage treatment plant renamed in 'honor' oe George W. Bush by signing a petition to put it on the ballot.
May 8th, 2008
Nothing like that feeling of paying off all your bills on pay day and still having money in the bank. Maybe I'll upgrade my cellphone...
May 7th, 2008
Shadow and Cut Chemist
Not since the Invisibl Skratch Picklz has a local head dominated like DJ Shadow. I'm currently listening to the 45-inspired Brainfreeze, co-produced with Cut Chemist. That shit is hot, like Amanda Shaw, but I worry about the turntablists and selectors of tomorrow. Will cats survive the Traktor and Ableton revolution? Because it's all as roots as far as augmented chords and syncopated beats go, I swear.
May 7th, 2008
Mike Gravel Sings for Obama Girl's Vote.
May 6th, 2008
Worlds collide: I wrote "Jeff Zuckerberg" in a post, attempting to refer to NBC CEO Jeff Zucker. Fixed moments before being published. Phew.
May 5th, 2008
TSA Gangstaz