A One-Two Punch at the Old Guard of Gossip
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The arrest of Lisa Nowak and the death of Anna Nicole Smith strained even the tabloid press last week.
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If there's anything Atlanta hates, it's bad publicity.
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I just figured something out, and it's the kind of thing that's best said publicly, even though it's likely to: 1. Be misunderstood and 2. Upset some people. But since it's all about this blog it really is best to air it here. First what triggered the epiphany. I was over at Loic Le Meur's house in San Francisco yesterday having lunch with his family and friends. We were all drinking wine (very good wine of course), enjoying the view, and talking about this and that, when the subject turned to Mike Arrington. Loic said that Mike told him that we used to be best friends. I couldn't figure out what that meant, because our friendship was the business kind of friendship not the personal kind. What does it mean to best friends in that way? And how does that relate to having a blog? It never occurred to me that friendship meant that (here's the epiphany) that I would only say positive things about Mike's business. It didn't occur to me until I heard Loic's side of a blog-fight that I saw happen from a distance, with Sam Sethi, Mike and Loic.  Complicated? You bet. Too complicated. An unspoken deal that I never agreed to. When Mike was starting TechCrunch, I pointed to his blog all the time, with glowing phrases. Because I was truly impressed with what he was doing and because I wanted to encourage other people to do it too. I wanted people to write about technology products based on how they used them, not based on alliances, investment, posturing of execs, the crappy stuff that means almost nothing to users, and imho is just a substitute for actually understanding the technology. Mike was approaching products the way I felt they should be approached. Hence the praise. Fact is, my opinion of Mike, as a person, hasn't changed much in the last couple of years. He has a personal charm and charisma that not everyone finds appealing, but I do. I like hanging out with the guy. However, that doesn't mean that if my opinion of TechCrunch, his business, isn't uniformly positive (and of course these days it is actually fairly negative) that I will withhold it. But it's also part of Mike's way of dealing with people that he sees criticism as betrayal. I just don't see it that way. I've had the shit kicked out of me so many times, and as a programmer I understand that criticism is necessary to perfect a user interface, even to get the damned thing working, that even when it hurts, I have to push the hurt aside and listen to what people are saying, and try to respond to it. Professionalism demands it.  Anyway, one of the reasons I want to write this now is that I've written about Loic's business here a couple of times in very positive terms. I don't want anyone, esp Loic, to assume that this will always be so. If they get in the way of other creative people, or otherwise act as a poor example of entrepreneurship in technology, of course I will write about it, and will say what I think. I would expect Loic and people at his company to take what I write to heart, and consider it. My feelings won't be hurt if they don't do what I say.  Same as when I said Facebook sucks. Or when I criticize Techmeme. This isn't in any way meant to reflect on the quality of the people at Facebook (some of whom I know to be outstanding people of high principle) or Gabe Rivera who I know to be a very smart and competent and honorable person. It's possible to critcize someone's work and still admire the person. My epiphany is that a lot of people who thought were my friends, didn't understand this very basic thing about me.
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The coaching genius knows how quickly his reputation can be tarnished.
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I asked for advice in reducing vitriol on this blog, and a couple of readers helpfully identified a source of the problem: me. They and many others didnât like my suggestion to require commenters to use their real name. Tartuffo wrote: âAs someone who has been on the Internet since 1981, from alt.flame to the [...].
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A love-hate relationship between a magazine and its readers ends.
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Mike Elgan reports on a device that lets you rat out fellow movie-goers for being annoying.
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One indicator can steer you away from small-cap shenanigans.
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The latest in a long year of literary scandals just isn't that scandalous
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Gossip markets are flooded with news that aren't even half confirmed and one such news is about Dhoom II...
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Following the news can really get you bruised.
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What was supposed to be A Public Affair has ended up being   pretty hush-hush.
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Secrets are at the center of a number of ad campaigns, a trend inspired by the growing preoccupation with celebrity gossip.
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What kind of E-mail is landing in Martin Taylorâs in-box right about now? Itâs probably not unlike some of the messages Iâve been getting in response to a story I wrote about Steve Ballmerâs Oct. 27
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Why do we gossip? Evolution may hold some surprising answers.
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Competition to publish the nastiest, most breathless and up-to-the-moment celebrity gossip has always been fierce, but the Internet has pushed it to a new level.
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Tycho:  I can really do without a lot of the corporate sniping that happens in this industry.  Plus, as a licensed demagogue, they're horning in on my territory when they say ridiculous things or make baseless verbal assaults!  I mean, I have mouths to feed.  Seriously, I have more than one mouth.