Valleywag
ted dziuba
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ted
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Skateboarding bulldogs key to website success
Sure, Dogster founder Ted Rheingold thinks that a "call to action" in a cross-promotion between the Web site and CBS's new show Greatest American Dog helped drive traffic. But I'm pretty sure it was all about the skateboarding bulldog. [Dogster]
ted dziuba
silicon valley users guide
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman needs Ted Dziuba's guide to weight loss
In today's Los Angeles Times, reporter Jessica Guynn calls LinkedIn founder, Facebook investor and PayPal veteran Reid Hoffman "Silicon Valley's biggest social networker." Guynn means that just the way you'd think, reporting that Hoffman gains about 10 pounds per year, refuses to see a trainer and "doesn't step on scales." Some might deem Guynn's language rude, but since Hoffman's unhealthy-seeming weight is exactly the kind of thing everyone in the Valley won't admit they talk about, we're rather glad she called attention to it. Fortunately for Hoffman, Persai cofounder Ted Dziuba is ready with an intervention. Lately, Dziuba's been writing servicey items about coder life on TedDziuba.com instead of eviscerating TechCrunch-covered startups on Uncov. A recent post is perfect for the rotund Hoffman. But at 725 words, "An engineer's guide to weight loss," the busy Hoffman will never take the time to read it. Below, a slimmer, 100-word version Hoffman can squeeze into his schedule. More »
America, Fuck Yeah
Mahalo enables Freedom of Speech
We hold these Truths to be self-evident: Wikipedia's Tyranny of the Mob sucks. Every time I run an item about Jimmy Wales, my page gets hacked. So what about Jason Calacanis's pursuit of happiness over at Mahalo? Former Uncov blogger and army of one Ted Dziuba has posted a step-by-step pictorial guide to practicing your First Amendment rights using the search index's new open editorial system. Try this on Wikipedia, and someone from the armed and unregulated Militia of Truth will likely kill your edits on sight. But on Mahalo, only Calacanis's paid mercenaries will bother to fix pages. At $10 an hour, there's no way they'll be able to keep up. Let freedom ring!
comebacks
Terry Semel to bid $2 billion to $3 billion for talent and marketing agency IMG
With money from Warner Bros., private equity firms, and the United Arab Emirates, former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel wants to buy talent and marketing agency IMG. Semel's plan: Turn the agency, currently owned by buyout guy Ted Forstmann, into a media and content company with a focus on digital distribution — more or less the same thing Semel wanted to do with Yahoo. The difference this time? No one on Wall Street will ask why Semel and IMG aren't throwing money at catching up with those pipsqueaks Larry and Sergey in search.
caption contest
"How many of you got burnt by Pets.com? Nobody? Great!"
Dogster founder Ted Rheingold preaching to the choir at the Web 2.0 Expo. Got a better one? Leave it in the comments. (Photo by Randy Stewart)
unconferences
TED's Chris Anderson invites Kevin Rose, assuring his conference's irrelevance
Has TED organizer Chris Anderson lost his senses? He has invited Digg founder Kevin Rose to TED 2009 — an honor Rose announced on Twitter in hackerspeak. (If you're a regular TED attendee, you may not know that "woot" is an exclamation of excitement; spelling it with numbers is supposed to make it more impressive.) With the arrival of Rose and teenage wantrepreneur Jessica Mah, more TED oldtimers are sure to flee the annual Valley-meets-Hollywood schmoozefest. More »
social networks
To track the frequency of words in Facebook Wall posts, the social network has created a Lexicon feature. Programmer-gadfly Ted Dziuba suggests this search: "pregnant, tequila."
Facebook's new Lexicon feature lays site demographic bare
To track the frequency of words in Facebook Wall posts, the social network has created a Lexicon feature. Programmer-gadfly Ted Dziuba suggests this search: "pregnant, tequila."
Uncov editor switches to photo art
Terrible Ted's Photoshop remix of an Owen-and-Julia party shot is so good I had to pull it up out of the comments.
software
Why Microsoft wants Yahoo -- it's losing at paintball
Can Microsoft's army of programmers write software for the Web? Judging by a spate of recent outages, no. Hotmail, Messenger, and other services targeted at developers and partners have broken down recently. Which is bizarre: Writing an operating system is a vastly more complex affair than coding a website. "Like war versus paintball," says Ted Dziuba, the programmer and former editor of startup-debunker blog Uncov. Therein lies Microsoft's problem. Once you've trained to fight a real war, you can forget about winning at paintball. More »
caption contest
Leah Culver gives Kyle Shank the cupcake treatment
Former Uncov guy and Persai CEO Kyle Shank, at center, recovers from an unsolicited cupcake smearing by Pownce's Leah Culver. The attack, likely motivated by Uncov accomplice Ted Dziuba's frequent gibes directed at Culver, took place at Flickr's fourth birthday party. Flickr's Cal Henderson, right, is said to have served as Culver's accomplice. Speaking of, can anyone confirm whether Henderson and Culver are dating? The two were inseparable at SXSW. If so, snaps to Culver: We hear Henderson's website is highly scalable. (Photo by magerleagues)
quotable
We don't need your Internet marketing, say music labels
"I need more marketing and promotion on the Internet like I need a root canal without anesthetic," Capitol Records' Ted Mico told an audience at the "Ad-Supported Music, a New Hope for the Industry?" panel today at the South by Southwest conference in Austin. Fledging music startups seeking licenses from major labels frequently try to offer "marketing and promotion" in exchange for concessions on deal points. But as Beggars' Group's Simon Wheeler said, "Promotion is great, but only when it's built on a sound commercial base." The song remains the same: Show them the money.
quotable
Why one guy fled TED
A 10-year veteran of the TED conference just told me he's not going back next year. "I'm tired of going into rooms to get berated that I'm not doing enough," he said. "Next year I'm just going to give $6,000 to starving kids in Africa instead."
caption contest
Arrington's surprise appearance in Austin
Sure, he missed out on TED, but that's not stopping Michael Arrington from popping up at SXSW. We got a glimpse of him when pet-repreneur Ted Rheingold bounded in as a surprise guest during Battledecks II, a sort of PowerPoint karaoke where contestants narrate zany (!) slides on the fly. Now the whole gang can play from home: Suggest your headline for this photo in the comments.
rockets
BOOM! VC Steve Jurvetson talks about "the joy of rockets"
Steve Jurvetson, the venture capitalist behind Hotmail, loves to play with his rockets. (Specifically, Nazi-era replicas.) Here's a very short talk he gave at last year's TED conference about his weekend hobby. Memo to Chris Anderson: Next year, fewer "ideas," more rockets, please.
call for help
Michael, listen to me. Don't do it. It's not worth it. Yes, you weren't invited to the TED conference. Yes, 17-year-old entrepreneur Jessica Mah, a 17-year-old best known for blogging about how she "sucks at running companies," is going to TED next year. But you still have so much to give us still. If not at TechCrunch, then another startup blog.
After 17-year-old gets into TED, Michael Arrington now on suicide watch
Michael, listen to me. Don't do it. It's not worth it. Yes, you weren't invited to the TED conference. Yes, 17-year-old entrepreneur Jessica Mah, a 17-year-old best known for blogging about how she "sucks at running companies," is going to TED next year. But you still have so much to give us still. If not at TechCrunch, then another startup blog.
breakdowns
TED website makes its source code another idea worth spreading
The TED conference is over, leaving uninvited tech journalists with 51 weeks to find something else to complain about. Its favored attendees are no doubt reminiscing about rubbing shoulders with John Cusack, Jeff Bezos, and Marissa Mayer's boyfriend. But this year's TED left another memory — its website source code. 9rules cofounder Mike Rundle says the failure exposed a database password, among other things. A suggestion for TED organizer Chris Anderson: Instead of complaining about having your attendee list published, why not make sure your website is secure?
conflicts of interest
