Gawker: valleywag

Hidden Forces Baffle the Twitterati

Ryan Tate — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:47 EST

Neel Shah got his scandal-phone returned; Kevin Marks got retweeted by ghosts and Al Yankovic was surrounded by nobodies. The Twitterati were haunted, in a good way.

Neel Shah, Page Six gossip and former Gawker and Radar-ite, was glad his phone didn't end up with the likes of his present or past employers. (He should be.)

Tech pundit and Berkeleyite Andrew Keen articulated an ideology of what might be called, if you're avoiding Rush Limbuagh-isms, "femifascism."

British Telecom's Kevin Marks hopes that's an iPhone you're discreetly working in your pocket.

Singer Weird Al Yankovic does this every time he flies.

Wired's Dylan Tweney is bookmarking your comments for future reference, haters.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets - or send us more Twitter usernames.

Microsoft Let NSA Spooks 'Enhance' Windows 7

Ryan Tate — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:47:47 EST

A National Security Agency director just bragged to a Senate subcommittee about his agency's close "cooperation" with Microsoft to, err, "enhance" how Windows 7 guards a user's privacy. Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

The spooks at the NSA are, of course, notorious for their role monitoring internet activity, and for their use of warantless wiretaps to monitor U.S. phones, often illegally. So computer users could easily be worried to hear that the NSA has "partnerships" with Microsoft, which makes their operating systems; Intel, which makes their wireless chipsets; and McAfee, which makes their antivirus software (so-called!).

From NSA Information Assurance Director Richard Shaeffer's testimony to the Senate Judiciary's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security:

Working in partnership with Microsoft and elements of the Department of Defense, NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to engance Microsoft's operating system security guide without constraining the user's ability to perform their everyday tasks... All this was done in coordination with the product release, not months or years later during the product's lifecycle.

Shaeffer also talked about his agency's "trusting relationship" with the private sector, including a "partnership" with Intel and McAffee to promote a security protocol — or should we say, "security" protocol? — from the federal government.

These IT companies all want to do business with the government, so it's to their advantage to be seen as cooperative in implementing federal protocols in their products. But should consumers distrust these ties? The general consensus among private-sector security experts canvassed by ComputerWorld was, in the words of one, "I can't imagine NSA and Microsoft would do anything deliberate because the repercussions would be enormous if they got caught."

Right, because if there's anything that clearly motivates these two massive organizations with virtually guaranteed near-term revenue streams, it's fear of public shame. This is why we have not seen either entity doing anything embarrassing, recently.

(Pic: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, by Getty Images.)

Regretsy Book to Be Not Quite as Good as Regretsy.com

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:28:29 EST

The heretofore anonymous founder of Regretsy, the blog that appropriately mocks your dumb arts-and-crafts projects, has been outed. Because she got a book deal! New blog-to-book trend: Saying right up front the book will be more paltry than the blog.

Speakeasy reports that the Regretsy mastermind is April Winchell, well-known comedic human. Notably, her new book publishers admit:

"We're not going to use everything from the Web site," said Jill Schwartzman, the purchasing editor at Random House. "The ones we're going to pick are the ones that work for a book-reading audience."

So read everything on Regretsy.com for free, or buy the book and read less, for a fee. Just mail April Winchell a check and continue to read her website!

Why Google's New OS Is For Losers

Ryan Tate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:57:53 EST

A Twitter engineer said Google's new "Chrome" OS is something you resign yourself to; a CNET writer said it's something you are infected with; and Mediaite might hang out awkwardly on Tumblr with it. The Twitterati were ruthless.

Twitter engineer Alex Payne is, needless to say, not impressed with Google's new "Chrome" operating system.

Financial writer Heidi Moore is, needless to say, as unimpressed with Best Buy as Alex Payne.

CNET's Rafe Needleman is, needless to say, as unimpressed with sleazy sales tactics as Hedi Moore, as unimpressed with Google Chrome as Alex Payne and, for all his angst, unable to even ask for a refund.

The Onion's Joe Randazzo wants you doing blow by the time he returns to this bathroom an hour from now, or there's going to be hell to pay.

The Huffington Post's Jason Links accused Mediaite of having ZERO Tumblarity. Or maybe negative Tumblarity. Ya, that bad.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets - or send us more Twitter usernames.

Yahoo's Lesbian 'Don Juan' Backhands Lindsay Lohan

Ryan Tate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:46:42 EST

Courtenay Semel, the sapphic spawn of former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, is quoted in the lesbian magazine Curve dissing former lady friend Lindsay Lohan. Then she complains that the media twists her relationships. The nerve of this one.

Courtenay Semel, for those who are not familiar with her heiress-level fameballing, is not a shy and retiring person. A person does not make out with her attention-craving girlfriend Tila Tequila on red carpets because she mistrusts the media; a person does not scream at a club bouncer to "just fucking Google me, you dumb fuck" because she mistrusts the media; and a person certainly does not "joke" to a magazine reporter that "I'm kind of like the Don Juan of the lesbian world," as Semel did with Curve, because she mistrusts the media.

So it's odd that Semel would tell Curve that the "media kind of ruined that relationship" she had with Lindsay Lohan by saying the pair were dating. Semel added: "I can't even have a best friend because I guess I'm going to be linked with them next." But maybe she also can't have friends because she gives underminey quotes about them, like this one, from the new interview:

I think, you know, everyone scrutinizes, Lindsay for everything she went through, but they should thank her, because it shows you exactly what not to do.

That's a fairly cutting quote considering that Lohan has yet to enter rehab per Semel's urging. Of course, when Semel only went to rehab herself after her dad cut off access to the trust fund, something she left out of her little zinger. Semel, it would seem, grasps the advantages of strategic oversharing as well as the rest of her internet-bred generation; if only daddy Terry had been so savvy, Yahoo might be in a better place today.

[via People]

(Semel with heiress Casey Johnson this past May, top, via INF; Semel-Tequila pic, lower, via x17online.com)

Twitter's New Prompt: A Linguist Weighs In

Ryan Tate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:55:47 EST

Twitter today announced it will prompt users to post by asking "What's happening?" rather than the old "What are you doing?" We asked a prominent linguist if this means anything. Turns out it does: Twitterers are no longer such loners.

In short, Twitter's new slogan reflects the microblogging service's evolution from a venue for self expression into a forum for conversation, according to Welsh linguist David Crystal. Crystal seemed an ideal expert to consult on Twitter's new phrasing: he has written or contributed to more than 100 books on language, including on internet linguistics, and examined the text-messaging culture from which Twitter was born in his most recent work, the appropriately-titled Txtng: The Gr8 Db8.

Here is what Crystal emailed us about the significance of Twitter's change in phrasing:

I'm not surprised. Twitter has become steadily more discursive, with people maintaining threads and introducing a great deal more interaction, rather than posting isolated tweets. As a result the focus has shifted from the individual to the group, and a more open question is required to capture this emphasis. What-doing looks inward. What-happening looks outward. It's a natural development, it seems to me.

So Twitter's users have, at the very least, moved beyond mere navel gazing and into arguing. Way to go, narcissists!

(Pic: Crystal, via DavidCrystal.com)

Facebook Named in Federal Class-Action Suit over Scammy Zynga Ads

Ryan Tate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:50:35 EST

Facebook and Zynga are the defendants in a federal class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday, which seeks upwards of $5 million for social network users scammed in online game ads. Neither company's top-drawer investors can be happy.

The suit was probably inevitable. As we first reported, the Sacramento-based firm of Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff has been looking for victims of scammy ads in games like Mafia Wars and Farmville to potentially file a class action suit. Less than a week later, the firm's suit has hit federal district court in Northern California.

You can read the initial complaint in full here.

Neither gaming startup Zynga nor social network Facebook actually originates the advertisements in question; instead, other companies take out ads in Zynga's games, which run on Facebook's network, and the two companies make reportedly large sums of money from the offers. Some of the ads trick users into signing up for unauthorized cell phone charges or expensive mail-order products like educational CDs, typically by disguising them as "free" offers or "free trials," or as part of an "online quiz." TechCrunch has run an aggressive series of articles, cataloged at the bottom of this post.

Zynga reportedly takes in close to one-third of its revenue from "commercial offers" like those, and Facebook does well too, as KC&R lawyers point out in their complaint. An excerpt (click to enlarge):

Swift's attorneys also point to Zynga CEO Mark Pincus' damning video confession that "I did every horrible thing in the book just to get revenues" in their complaint, indicating it will be a significant piece of courtroom evidence, just as we predicted.

The prospect of being on the hook for massive damages has to make both Zynga and Facebook's investors sweat. Facebook is the darling of Silicon Valley, with VCs having valued it in the billions of dollars, while Zynga counts the elite firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers among its major investors. Yet both companies have come to rely on greasy advertisers for much of their revenue; in addition to the game-ad scammers, Facebook is also sells ad to marketers who resort to tactics like using stolen pictures of apparent underaged girls to promote their products. If the company's are found to be liable of helping con customers by working with these sorts of slimeballs, it's hard to say where the payouts might end.

Below, an excerpt of the scams allegedly perpetrated on the lead plaintiff in the case, Rebecca Swift.

(Top pic: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, by Raphaël Labbé)

[Full court filing]

Initial Complaint in Swift vs. Zynga

Ryan Tate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:31:08 EST

Below, find the initial complaint in the federal class-action suit against online gaming company Zynga and social network Facebook, alleging the companies are liable for the scammy actions of their advertisers.

Click any image to enlarge.

The Incredible Shrinking AOL

Ryan Tate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:03:00 EST

Just in time for Christmas, AOL is asking 2,500 of its workers to volunteer for buyouts starting Dec. 4 (layoffs come after) as the company separates from Time Warner and a shadow of its former online conglomerate self.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong (pictured) said in a memo to staff (below) that the company is looking to lose 2,500 workers, or a third of its total staff. He'll be forgoing his own 2009 bonus, and is offering executives up to nine months pay if they volunteer for buyouts, according to Business Insider. Interestingly, rank and filers are being offered a weaker deal than their recent colleagues over at Time Inc.; AOL will pay them three months severance, whereas Time Inc.-ers get that plus two weeks for every year of service. Apparently unions are nice things to have in situations like this.

As it prepares to offer shares to the public next month, AOL has been on a diet plan in other ways, too:

After steady increases, ad revenue from a deal with Google started falling this year, according to Peter Kafka at All Things D. The deal provided $700 million in ad revenue last year, about one third of the total, but was off $42 million in the most recent quarter.
AOL surrendered bustling celebrity-news site and cable network TMZ to Time Warner; Tim Armstrong said as recently as July that he hoped to "actively" discuss whether to retain TMZ with Time Warner and that "‘If the value of TMZ increases, it's a really good thing for us."
AOL may sell MapQuest, according to Kara Swisher at All Things D.

Pic above by Yaniv Golan.

Armstrong's memo to staff:————-

AOLers –

"Employees First" is the way that we have run the company since April and that mantra is something I take very seriously because our company is a collection of people and our brands are the work of our teams. We started by working together to determine AOL's strategy, then the correct structure for the strategy, and, as we have discussed, we are now faced with making sure we have the correct cost structure for the strategy. You have seen daily and weekly updates on Project Everest and many of you have been involved in trying to align our resources to maximize AOL's opportunity.

AOL's cost structure is something we have worked on for the past four months, and we have spent hundreds of hours reviewing ways to fix the cost structure as well as the revenue growth engine. As we are coming to the conclusion of this work over the next few weeks, it is clear that we will need to have a significant reduction of costs at the company and across almost all functional areas and geographies. Headcount costs are going to be a majority of the cost reduction recommendations coming out of Project Everest.

As I mentioned in our last Project Everest update, the idea for a voluntary layoff was suggested and we agree that it is an option that gives people more choice and decision-making ability instead of waiting for the final cost recommendations and involuntary layoffs. Starting December 4th in the United States and ending a few days after we spin out from Time Warner, we will allow employees to choose a voluntary exit from AOL. Additionally, tomorrow we anticipate beginning the communication process for voluntary layoff programs in certain international locations. We will be looking for up to 2,500 volunteers. For context on the target volunteer number, over the next several months we will be looking to reduce approximately one-third of our overall workforce at the company. We will need to do an involuntary layoff if we do not reach the target numbers through the voluntary option.

The reduction in costs is aimed at making AOL competitive for the future of the Web and it will allow us to focus the company on growth in the non-access areas of the business. After the cost reductions, we will have a company that is aligned and structured to drive our strategy in a competitive way. The number of potential reductions isn't aimed at getting us through 2010; it is aimed at resetting AOL at the correct baseline for the future.

As a member of our team and the person who takes accountability for the results of the company, I am making the decision to forego my 2009 bonus. That decision is a personal one and is not a sign for the future payout of the overall bonus plan for employees. That plan is based on performance and overall company outcomes and it will be management's recommendation to the compensation committee of the Board to approve our performance-based bonus payouts for 2009. These are challenging times and today's news is difficult. But every day we are making changes and progress and we are on our way to re-engineering AOL for success. – TA

Condé Nast Is the Latest to Convert in Apple's Secret Tablet Faith

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:29:02 EST

Condé Nast says it is already racing to repackage its magazines for Apple's forthcoming tablet, starting with Wired, even while toeing Apple's line that the device doesn't exist. Publishers are clearly betting Steve Jobs can save their business model.

The Apple Tablet has been something of a holy grail for gadget fiends. Now print publishers are enlisting in the cause with just as much fervor. Condé Nast's plan, as described by company execs to Peter Kafka of All Things D: Port Wired to Apple's tablet by mid-2010, followed later by all 17 other titles. By using a special digital format now under development by Adobe — which makes the publishing software that Condé and most other magazine publishers use — Condé also hopes to gain compatibility with tablet and other touch-screen devices made by Hewlett Packard and others.

Jobs should be flattered that such a high-profile publisher is chomping at the bit to get onto his new gizmo. Condé joins New York Times editor Bill Keller in talking up Apple's device; News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch is another recent print-media convert to the tablet religion.

Condé, clearly eager, should keep its enthusiasm in check. The company has closed six magazines and slashed budgets 25 percent at its remaining titles this year, setting off a wave of layoffs. It's doubtful that even Steve Jobs can come up with a silver bullet to rescue businesses that have spent many years squandering past digital opportunities. Especially if the company rushes too quickly and turns out a slapdash tablet product that burns its readers on the format forever.

(Photo illustration by Photo Giddy on Flickr)

Just 'Chill' About Adam Lambert's Gayness

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:27:22 EST

Rachel Sklar went without pants, Julia Allison went without sleep/discretion and Adam Lambert said you can go without him being too obviously gay in your magazine. The Twitterati were deprived and depriving.

Singer Adam Lambert issued Out a non-dential denial about him purposely keeping lady fans in denial about his not-very-well-hidden-or-surprising homosexuality.

Writer and enthusiastic Michael Chabon sexer Ayelet Waldman cannot get over her ability to procrastinate. All thanks to Twitter.

Would-be lifecasting mogul Julia Allison is not above talking about her period if it means promoting her new TV pilot thing.

...and Mediaite's Rachel Sklar is not above talking about her lack of pants if it means promoting her sense of humor.

Dancer Lacy Mae Schwimmer dropped the phrase "ouivey." We can only assume that's what chic French Jews say when they stub out their clove cigarettes in an angsty but blasé manner. Explain it to us sometime, Lacey.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets - or send us more Twitter usernames.

Peter Thiel —

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:46:30 EST

the PayPal co-founder and artificial intelligence enthusiast, explaining to Business Insider that Luddites may well be the first up against the wall when the robot revolution comes. The new order "could be very good, it could be very bad."

Is Ricky Van Veen Spending Too Much Time with Ben Silverman?

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:34:43 EST

Ricky Van Veen announced the production schedule for his brand-new TV studio, and it would appear the CollegeHumor founder believes the future of the small screen lies in the past, because he's unleashing a mess of game shows.

Maybe Van Veen has been spending too much time with his purported bestie Ben Silverman, the former NBC executive who takes credit for the likes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Weakest Link. Because we can't imagine Van Veen's media sugar daddy Barry Diller envisioned this sort of thing when he funded Van Veen's studio, Notional, four months ago. It's such a retro format for a "multi platform" studio that's supposed to be inventing the future. Here's some of what's slated:

"READY, SET, DANCE!: In partnership with a major production entity, "Ready, Set, Dance!" is a first-of-its-kind dance competition series that seamlessly combines the web and television."
"YOU VS. AMERICA: Currently in development, 'You vs. America' is a ground-breaking game show that innovatively combines the immediacy of the internet with the excitement of a network primetime television game show."
"CHASE THE MONEY: "Chase the Money" is an epic scale reality game show that combines the pratfalls of a classic prank show with the simplicity of a child's game of 'Tag'."
"LOVE TAXI: The dating show that takes place entirely in a taxicab. "

Actually, now that we think about it, the dancing one was probably Barry "Twinkle Toes" Diller's idea in the first place.

(Pic: Van Veen, by Zach Klein)

Tattle-Tale Newspaper Costs Vulgar Commenter His Job

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:30:30 EST

A St. Louis schools employee made a juvenile, vulgar joke in the comments section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website, anonymously. Soon, he was out of a job because an offended newspaper editor hunted him down and called his bosses.

Way to win reader trust, Post-Dispatch!

The employee's comment was just one word: "Pussy." It was a stupid response to a stupid blog post, entitled "What's the craziest thing you've ever eaten?" The joke was a groaner, to be sure. And one that was annoyingly re-posted once after administrators deleted it. But the comment posed no threat to anyone or anything other than perhaps good taste. So it's bizarre how far the author of the post to which it was attached went next: The author, , Kurt Greenbaum,looked at the IP address on the comment, associated it with a local school, called the school and forwarded them all data on the commenter.

Then, Greenbaum later wrote, the guy got busted:

The school's IT director took a shine to the challenge... he tracked it back to a specific computer. The headmaster confronted the employee, who resigned on the spot.

Score one for Greenbaum! Now St. Louis-ians won't dumbly assume they can speak anonymously to the local paper, or that newspaper staffers, of all people, might have some sympathy for the soon-to-be unemployed. And we can't imagine anyone else hurling the word "Pussy" at Kurt Greenbaum again. Because this is clealry a guy with a thick skin.

(Pic from Greenbaum's Flickr)

[via Read-Write Web]

What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:42:26 EST

Despite its celebrity chefs and razor scooters, Google's New York office houses a surprisingly disgruntled workforce, judging from one informal survey: of 14 Gotham Googlers profiled by Business Insider, more than a third are said to be eyeing an exit.

And that's among so-called "movers and shakers;" life might be even tougher on the rank and file. On the one hand, they get copious and diverse free snacks, food from the likes of David Chang and a very competitive salary. But on the other, there's the chaos that results from Google digesting acquisitions like DoubleClick and losing top executives like former ad chief Tim Armstrong. Some of the purported fallout, gleaned from the gossip in Business Insider's post:

Advertising VP Penry Price is said to have lost power when Armstrong left and to be "looking for a way out."
Mike Steib, director of emerging platforms, supposedly lost an internal power struggle. One source told BI: "It wouldn't suprise me to see him leave after a while."
Director of media platforms Eileen Naughton won that aforementioned power strugle but supposedly wants to leave because she "thinks it's a crazy place and wants to get the hell out of there."
Google's first Gotham engineer, Engineering Director Craig Nevill-Manning, is so rich, presumably on Google options, that people wonder if he'd rather be "traveling around in Africa having a fun time."
M&A guy Jason Harinstein is said to be "poachable."

So there you have it: Google is a tough place to work in part because of the distracting wealth you earn there and because the awesome job offers you get as a result of working there. Sounds unbearable.

(Pic: Google New York, by Eddie Codel)

Reality Check: 80% Won't Pay for Online Content (And the Other 20% Are Probably Lying)

Ryan Tate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:47:30 EST

Forrester Research has a new study out that Rupert Murdoch should probably download: Of 4,000 people polled, 80 percent will not pay for online newspapers or magazines, and the rest are divided on how they want to pay.

That's bad news not only for News Corp. chairman Murdoch but also for all the other old media barons hoping online paywalls will save their bacon. Even those who will pay can't decide if they want to buy individual articles via micropayments, subscribe to print-online bundles or subscribe to just the website:

Then there's the anecdotal evidence collected by Ad Age's Simon Dumenco, who surfed the comments section of Murdoch's websites and found that most of his own readers thought his paywall would fail. Some were downright mean, like Times of London reader Robin Stack: "It will reduce your wealth and influence; please do it."

So, in order to have any hope of weaning consumers off free content, the likes of Murdoch will have to offer a diverse array of payment plans and work like hell to change the thinking of the vast majority of his existing audience. For moguls used to exploiting their readers' and viewers' basest instincts, that sounds like an awful lot of persuading.

Calling Out Anderson Cooper and Conan O'Brien

Ryan Tate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:14:59 EST

Playgirl's spokesman made a crack about Anderson Cooper's sexuality; Kirstie Alley went ballistic on Conan O'Brien and Kevin Rose dissed Mike Arrington. The Twitterati had their claws fully extended.

Playgirl's Daniel Nardicio turned the tables on CNN.

Kirstie Alley, meanwhile, wants a piece of a certain NBC redhead.

Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt passed along some good old fashioned bitching about Mike Arrinton, the TechCrunch publisher, from Kevin Rose, the Dig founder (and former CNET personality).

30 Rock's Grizz and Dot-com have a very specific niche within the show: bringing the funny.

Geek TV host Olivia Munn confirmed that it's an "ASS WORLD." So true.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets - or send us more Twitter usernames.

Will Evangelize Your Tech Company for Food

Ryan Tate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:23:19 EST

Don Dodge used to be an official evangelist for Microsoft, hyping the company's software and insulting its competitor Google. Then Microsoft laid him off, and Google hired him. Cue the bitter, flip-flopping blog post in which Dodge loudly switches sides.

According to quotes compiled by blogger Dan Lyons, Dodge used to say things like "Microsoft is a great company to work for" is "always putting employees first." But he's changed his tune, now that he works for Google. A new post on his personal blog starts with this dig at his old employer:

Laying off 5,000 people when you have $37B in cash and huge profits isnot cool. But hey, thanks for pushing me on to the Next Big Thing.

And suddenly, Dodge has a new viewpoint about Gmail. Before:

Even Microsoft's online version of Outlook called Outlook Web Access is far better than Gmail... Gmail... doesn't compare to Microsoft Outlook.

Now:

Outlook... was getting kind of tired. Gmail is new, fast, web based, and has all the features I need. I especially like the way it threads conversations making it easy to keep everything in context... One other subtle thing: no spam. I never realized how much corporate spam invaded my Microsoft inbox.

But he "realizes" now!

Dodge is also ditching a bunch of other Microsoft products. Here are the actual headers from his post, each followed by copious text promoting Google:

"Thanks Microsoft Office 2007, but I'm going to Google Docs." (Previously: "Google knows that on a feature comparison basis there is no contest. … Microsoft Office wins.")
"Thanks Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5, but I'm going to Google Android."
"Thanks Microsoft Internet Explorer, but I'm moving to Google Chrome."

Thanks for all the "thanks," Don, but the "fuck you" is still implied. Not that we're complaining.

(Pic: Dodge, by Jay Goldman)

Investors Punish Online Scam Trafficker with $15 Million

Ryan Tate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:56:57 EST

Just as the public was learning that a huge chunk of Zynga's social gaming revenue came from scammy "quizzes" and "special offers," Silicon Valley's most prestigious venture capitalists rewarded the company with $15 million. Hey, that's just how VC's roll.

TechCrunch publisher Mike Arrington began writing his high-profile posts exposing the misleading ads carried by Zynga on October 31. Four days later, according to documents filed with the SEC yesterday, Zynga began issuing shares as part of its latest $15 million round of financing that included firms like the gold-standard Silicon Valley shop Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (past investments: Google, Amazon, Netscape, etc.), as PaidContent points out.

Of course, it took until Nov. 6 for video to emerge of Zynga CEO Mark Pincus admitting that some of the ads his company ran were "horrible." But we'd venture to guess that Zynga's investors, now into the startup for at least $54 million, would still have gone forward with their investment even that video emerged earlier. They care no more about Zynga's murky origins than they did about those of Zynga's chief clients like MySpace (born from a spam and spyware operation) and Facebook (which paid $65 million to settle claims it was founded on stolen technology). In Silicon Valley, the sins of the past are regularly washed away by infinite promise of the all-important future.

(Pic: Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, by Joi Ito)

The Eccentric Office Mrs. Twitter Helped Build

Ryan Tate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:05:36 EST

Weird pictures continue to emerge from Twitter's new San Francisco HQ. But at least now we know where some of the outré decor is coming from: the CEO's wife, a designer, reportedly helped with the interior.

Not that we begrudge Sara Morishige, Ev Williams' glamorous and chic spouse, her design flourishes. After all, she did the interior for Twitter's last new office and was brought back to do this one, meaning, at the very least, there was no staff revolt about her prior work. And on balance, the level of quirk seems appropriate for a company whose unlikely success was built on the world-changing potential of 140-character status updates. (You can take the full official tour here.)

But the new batch of pictures, compiled by VentureBeat's Kim-Mai Cutler, contain the same sort of oddities as the last one, with its toilet-stall vanity mirrors and dining room DJ booth. And Cutler drops words that Morishige, seen yesterday decorating hubby's office, had a hand in the overall design. Highlights:

These sleigh chairs meld old-fashioned rocking chairs with a modern Ikea seats. Weird. Also, we want one. Via Twitter on Flickr.

Where have we seen these green, toy-soldier-esque deer before? Oh right, at the old office, which Morishige also designed. They became almost iconic. But not to the commenter who wrote, under this picture on Flickr, " this is what happens when you give the interior decorator a budget and no guidelines along with it. ;P " Zing! Via Twitter on Flickr.

The deer theme has been extended, with a hunting-and-death twist. Via Twitter on Flickr.

Not only does Twitter have a DJ booth, it also has a house DJ, apparently. Or maybe "Chief Wax Officer" would be a better term. Via Twitter on Flickr.

The very nice view from 795 Folsom St.