Let's Talk Shit! |
Saturday, November 15, 2003going hungry on an engineer's salary:we visited today with a former coworker in louisville, kentucky. seeing the offices there reminded us of how glad we are to be out of the software business for now. but they definitely had the feel of cnet, especially the huge logo on the outside of the building. but we had no idea that one of the longest running mysteries of interoffice scandals had finally been solved! yes, the notorious CNET food thief, as reported here, has finally been caught. details are still trickling in, but the employee was a huge surprise, to be sure. we'd always suspected that previous rumors of a high-level ego at the company was truly the culprit. and we still doubt that this was the work of one individual. but we're still blown away by the news. the captured employee was fired, which is pretty amazing given how careful HR groups are in this day and age. they must have had some pretty serious evidence. we remember one day walking into the small kitchen on the fifth floor and seeing a female employee sneakily hiding a computer under the sink with a wire to a camera, but it had disappeared soon after. we think the fired employee may have talked under duress. hope he can still make payments on that new BMW! |
Wednesday, January 8, 2003is gossip still gossip if we're too lazy to spread it?we're about to talk more shit about cnet, since we still know about it (and the people who work there). apparently, with earnings, comes another round of layoffs. we care, really we do. And with layoffs, comes dreams of a better life. but anyway, we're slipping into a daydream. really, what we want to talk about is a coworker, once married to another coworker...a story where they did not live happily ever after. as a matter of fact, hoola girl exchanged her husband (and old boss) for another coworker. double dipping at work is not a good thing, but hell, it makes the day more interesting. an ex-cnetter, ex-industry-standard guy is moving out of the country. so we hear. is this true? invite letsgossip (i mean, letstalkshit) to the going away party. meanwhile, the cnet tech dept continues to go no where except into the marshland of x. some of you have asked what the x stands for. it used to mean something like "top secret" or "great" but really, it is just the roman numeral for the number 10. 10 being the number of years it will take to complete. we need a theme for the winter. it was the summer of fun and now it's the winter of what? maybe just the winter of what.
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Wednesday, September 11, 2002summer of funhasn't been much to post this summer. at least not any real gossip that we care about. cause it's the summer of fun! and also the summer we go for broke. literally. as in, no more savings, huge wall of debt. but it's worth it. don't even care any more that that lying idiot mullin stole our domain name. trash like that gets sorted by itself. haven't heard from him for a while, so he may already have been run over by a truck. today's been about getting bombarded by images and stories of september 11. even going to a ballgame today, i'm sure there will be a tribute or something to remind us. check back in a month. there might be something worth writing about. mabes. |
Monday, July 1, 2002as the world turns...life repeats itself with cnet's announcment of a 10% compay-wide layoff happening on July 8. What we've heard so far: To cnet broadband, "Buh bye. You're all gone." CNET radio, "Ouch. Enough left to have a radio station, but not much more than that." CNET technology, "15-20%, which probably means 50%, which is what they said last time and what actually happened." And to the rest of the company, the package is great, volunteer. And thanks to our letstalkshit fans who yelled, "What a fucking Mullin!" when cnet announced the layoffs. We agree.
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Friday, June 7, 2002Mullin pulls a mullinGive us letsgossip back, dude. When we asked Brian if we could buy back our domain, he pretty much said screw you. what a fucking mullin. From Brian: Anyway, I got a few requests to buy it b/c on a whim I got an appraisal on the domain at an online appraisal site. Surprise surprise, they alerted people somehow that it was possibly up for sale and so I have recieved a few requests. Anyway, I don't want to feel like gouging you, but people want to buy it for more than the $ I registered it for, I'd feel a little silly just giving it back...I'm not really in the business of reregistering people's domains for them. I'm also a little bristled from being called a fuck, accused of stealing it and then having my name printed on your other weblog Obviously he's in some kind of business for selling domains (we didn't even know appraisal sites existed)...and being silly is different than common courtesy. We can no longer be courteous. If you know anything about this guy, send us an email! He's in our "one to watch" column now. Hi Brian! i just have to chime in here... this guy is completely full of fucking bullshit. he's a total fucking mullin. he's openly and blatantly lying. even someone outside of the situation can tell from the language it's complete bullshit. fucking joke. -- editor
cnet and c6
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Thursday, May 2, 2002Let's Talk More Shit...As it turns out, Brian Mullin used to work for gamespot/zdnet/cnet and sat a couple of cubes away from the co-ceo of let's gossip, which leads us to believe that he was a regular uninvited visitor to letsgossip and decided to make it his own. We hear he's a square-type marketing guy, nine-to-fiver (but never works a minute later than 5 and our source said he was all slime outside of work and inside), but quality we might disagree with. Quality is thinking outside of the box and coming up with your own ideas; quality is NOT stealing domains and web ideas. Brian, please give it back...
Let's Talk Shit so here's the new home. only took a day to get the new one set up. and i kinda like the new domain, though i still want the old one back. i did a whois on letsgossip.com and it was registered to a Brian Mullin. we called him up and he said, "i'll call you back, the electrician's here." never called back. checked whois on letsgossip.com this morning, and what do you know?!! he changed the owner name to: Joe Blow, 123 Main St. funny. i guess he doesn't want to give the domain back. so, readers, why did he take it? what does he plan to do with it? i don't think it's just a coincidence. did he work for the standard? cnet? hmmm, just learned some more information: the thief used to work at Gamespot. interesting. gonna get on the horn and find out some more. |
Thursday, April 11, 2002CNET. Attrition. Soon."There's no spark for the ordinary worker anymore. Upper management is all worried about the upper management." -04/11/02, CNET Employee.
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Monday, April 1, 2002SPRINTPCS sucks ass. We hate them a lot. Try AT&T if you agree...but if you call and try to cancel your plan, they'll offer you the same plan at a lower price, plus next month free. Fuck that noise, but it's worth it if you want stay with them and get some back from the man.
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Thursday, January 10, 2002death march IIfeeling a little bitter right now. this damn marketplace. you know, it's nice to have a job. but fuck, it's a dirty time to work. |
Tuesday, September 25, 2001jupiter media metrixif there is nothing to analyze, do you need analysts? the answer is obvious: no, lay them off.
cnet...
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Monday, August 20, 2001Bye bye bye, industrystandard.We were forced to censor bits of info on the standard when they threatened to fire a "Friend of Letsgossip" if content remained on the site. Note: "Friend of Letsgossip" was not the "Source of Letsgossip," just a drinking buddy. Now that he's laid off, without severance (but hoorah, he gets a cellular phone with no service!), letsgossip, the new standard, is back.
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Thursday, August 16, 2001the company we can't mention is kaput.natch. censored edits will return shortly.
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Friday, July 20, 2001standard operating procedureif you've been reading us the last few days, you're aware that we've taken down some material due to 'conflicts.' we're looking int o a resolution that should straighten this all out shortly. might have to call it 'operation obi-wan kenobi.' | the company we can't mention (based on illegal a
nd unconstitutional threats)...
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Tuesday, July 10, 2001Hi Greg!inside.com.
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Tuesday, April 24, 2001bye! bye! bye!Eden's (see december 1999) last day is on Friday (wait, did he give 2 weeks notice? I don't think so. Tsk Tsk). He (aka Colorado Guy) leaves the big blue, or is that, red ball, and makes the move back east. addendum: poor guy had no one from his department but his boss -- the main reason he quit -- show up to his going away lunch. what's up with those ZD people??
an even longer line at the unemployment office
new kids on the block not singing any top 40's this week
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Friday, April 20, 2001glamorous life, it ain't muchLast night's netledger.com party was a throwback to the sort of all you can eat/drink/smoke/dance/hear parties of November 1999, back when the beer flowed like Niagra Falls after a storm. Sheila E played second fiddle (not literally) to her father, Tito Puente*. In fact, a few party crashers thought a good use of their time would be to yell out "Go Tito!" between every number. The lowpoint of the evening came when (oh) Sheila asked if anyone in the audience could sing a diddly...unfortunately for everyone with ears and a soul, one PR-esque woman volunteered, singing a Joe Cocker song or something in this incredibly aggro growl/lounge style (her attempt to channel Ella Fitzgerald failed). The paint peeled from the walls, the glasses sprouted holes, and our shoes got wet from the booze. When that passed, one partycrasher may or may not have taken a big swig of a certain hoppin' partycrasher's dip cup; either way, let us never speak of the incident again, because it makes me I mean him feel really ill just thinking about it. As for the rumors that there was a Juvenile Diabetes benefit occurring, those seem to have been a face-saving attempt on the part of Sheila E, who didn't want to disappoint her one remaining fan that she was playing a dotcom party. Whatever, Sheila, we are so sure. P.S. To the people smoking all that hash on the second floor...what were you thinking??? * not Tito Puente |
Thursday, April 19, 2001party to crashshiela E, netledger.com, and juvenile diabetes at ruby skye, from 6-11. |
Thursday, April 5, 2001ribbit...croakSadly (and we are sad to report layoffs, these days), Frog Design laid off a slew of people yesterday afternoon. Another emotional dot.blah-layoff day.
there's nothing quite as vivid as a blowjob...
We hear that Nathan Shedroff, the co-founder of vivid Studios and all-around swell guy, brought down the flame of righteousness upside the head of a certain Modem exec in a fiery email, but alas, it looks like Modem showed their punk-assed colors and sold out. Probably because they couldn't spell Experience Design if they tried, or so we hear.
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Tuesday, April 3, 2001why you should avoid sprintpcs customer service late into the night...After I received a monthly cell phone bill that amounted to $154.47, I called to change my service: A lengthy "discussion" with the customer service rep ensued, who breathed heavily (with no keyboard sounds in the background, just a "beating" sound) for about 40 minutes, and every once in a while, I'd say, "All set?" and he'd say "Just a sec," and at one point I heard him whisper, "Oh baby." Isn't that nasty? Anyway, I have a new service (2000 minutes) and he had a good time signing me up (I think those late night guys get to work from home or something).
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Monday, March 26, 2001March lastdid MarchFirst go out of business like some thought? MEMO |
Tuesday, February 27, 2001ode to my little bug-eyed green and blue insect friendyyou almost left i brunged you back now you talk to me nicely and you're happy and buzz a lot and i like the way your tail shines
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Tuesday, February 13, 2001Standardized Testshit, it's getting harder and harder to think of a witty headline for The Standard now-adays. we have good reason to believe that The Standard is about to make another huge round of layoffs, probably by the 20th of this month. And possibly as many as 100 or more people! what'll that leave 'em with? a couple engineers and the CEO? |
Tuesday, February 6, 2001CNET follows suitCNET just sent an internal memo announcing its intentions to lay off approximately 10% of the staff. i guess no one's immune to this shite. |
Wednesday, January 31, 2001A new standard at The StandardThe Standard is laying off more folks, again. This time it's a bunch of people from the IS department ('helpdesk' type folks). From what we hear, some people in the company feel they weren't qualified anyway. |
Wednesday, January 17, 2001you know it's bad when...jupiter media metrix starts laying off people. according to several message boards, pink slips are in the works as you read this. if our sources are indeed correct, we'll update you (shortly) on the layoff packages.
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Friday, January 12, 2001image of present and futureYou no longer have to schmooze at a "dotcom" party to get business contacts. Here, we picked up several Industry Standard cards on what looked like Wall Street after the ticker party...
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Tuesday, January 9, 2001I'll have the Frog's legs...More layoffs! Seems that Frog is having its first layoffs in 30 years. Why is it that no one can manage company growth these days? They'll be eliminating less than 15 positions (14) and refocussing efforts in Israel... When we last visited Frog, they assured us that recent investments would help them along. Sources tell us that that is one of the divisions hit hard with layoffs. These New Economy economics are fucked up. |
Monday, January 8, 2001slaughter today...3 weeks after we predicted it, thestandard.com is cutting back in online, marketing, and conferences. it is rumored that between 10% to 20% of the staffers, one by one, are leaving the company. The good news is those in possession of the pink slip are exiting the building with 2 months severance pay and their computer equipment.
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Friday, December 15, 2000the standard soon to be listed on fuckedcompany.comlayoffs are hitting most companies, but we thought the standard would make it through the cuts. not only do the rumors of layoffs hang above employees heads like rotten mistletoe, but today the standard started axing the contract workers (on the night of a dinner celebrating the projects they worked on and the day before the annual holiday party which is at 550 barneveld. crash it before the parties end.) dec 21st is the big executive meeting to determine the goals of the first quarter next year. our guess is they will determine the resources and quite possibly some staffer cuts.
on a more cheerful note.
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Tuesday, November 14, 2000wedding bells will ringit couldn't have happened to a nicer couple. and explains why one CNET director was out of the office yesterday: he proposed to his longtime girlfriend and ex-CNET editorial staffer. we wish them the best. and all i'm saying is, we better be invited to the soire! |
Monday, October 30, 2000Well it's about time...First ZDNET ex-employee, 'developer' (see 12/21/99) , moves out of his parents house (at age 24) and now, we're proud to announce that (fully vested) hackerwannabe (age 23) has finally cut the umbilical cord from mommy and daddy and followed in AG's baby steps. Puberty has hit and ZDNet is sad to see the departure of hacker-wannabe, as we're sure his parents are as well. Once again, we break open the bubbly and say farewell, with one last request: "Get your hair cut!" Oh and, who's going to do your laundry now that mom isn't around?
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Monday, October 23, 2000you can't crash it, but you're most likely invitednow that CNET and ZDNET have merged, will the two companies have a combined xmas party? if so, where would it be? with a company that large, only the Bill Grahm Civic Auditorium would be big enough! and what band could possibly perform up to the standards set two years ago by Red Snapper? seems like only Superbooty could pull that off. |
Friday, August 25, 2000spreading like a case of the clapthe epic cnet/zdnet drinking contest may be history, but the ripple effect is just getting started. here in new york, land of ziff davis' crumbling paper press empire and home of way-too-many ex-cnetters, rumors abound that we may see similar drinkoffs erupting throughout silicon alley. when one old-school cnetter was asked if he could lead his new nyc company to victory on the nascent circuit, he replied in the affirmative. "i've traded shots with [CNET drinking legend] Matt Rotter. no button-down, punk-assed, "messaging"-as-a-verb-using, wanna-be east village hipster ad agency scrub can touch me. bring that weak east coast shit on! details to follow, but our bet's on the Holiday Cocktail Lounge for a venue.
hatchet buried (both teams claim victory, but observers agree zdnet led the evening's competition) and that challenge may not be too far away. the 'industry standard' was there talking a big game all night. cnet and zdnet say, "put your mouth where your mouth is!" blurb from CNET:make sure to check out 'inside dope's' take on the games, posted yesterday. if you're lucky, you might be able to get one of the team tshirts. ask us how. |
Tuesday, August 22, 2000ever heard of volume.com?obviously we have, barely. the hbo-owned company is on its way out even before the launch party. the projected launch day is july 15 -- uh wait, was july 15. shortly before "launch," hbo execs decided not only to lay off 20% of the staff, but give the company 18 months to show profits instead of the dotcom standard of 36 months. looks like inside.com won't have any competitors, if that's the market volume.com decides to target...who knows, since it's still in the works. hbo, why don't y'all stick to sex in the city. of course, this is all just gossip.
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Monday, August 21, 2000friendly competitioneven though CNET bought it's competitor ZDNET, there's still a healthy rivalry between the employees. this may have started when CNET demolished ZDNET in a drinking competition a few years back. now that the companies must work together, they've decided to bury the hatchet. and what better way than to have another friendly drinking competition? the competition will be held this Thursday, August 24, starting around 7:30PM. if you'd like to be there, why not sign up for Let's Gossip! email notifications at the top of the page? we will post the location to that list soon. |
Wednesday, August 9, 2000jesse berst's anchordesk is anchorlesswho is zdnet's "jesse berst?" a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend to jesse berst claims the big man himself (we call him jb) is no longer with the seattle-based outfit. what we want to know is, who's writing the newsletters he spams, er, sends out every day? and once we uncover the new "jesse berst," will zdnet plaster his photo as often as it does the xcam ads? quite possibly considering the topics this ghost writer addresses (we've added the bold, to emphasize the utter brilliance of this piece):
editor's note: text by zdnet's "jesse berst" Commerce juggernaut? Uh, ok. seems that JB somehow ended up at some company called Popmail.com. what's that all about? |
Friday, July 21, 2000ex-zdnet director begs to stayafter the cnet announcement, one director who recently quit asked HR if he could remain on board (sad to lose all those options, eh?). HR wasn't so forgiving to this ex-patriot and we hear her paraphrased-by-letsgossip answer was, "not a fucking chance."
last year's breaking news story, hidden from the media...
letsgossip.com makes the news!
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Wednesday, July 19, 2000cnet acquires zdnetDamn. We didn't break the news (which was apparently 'broken' at a ZDNet exec outing to the SF Giants last night), but from the internal emails flying through the Lotus Notes system, it seems as if the employees at ZDNet are tickled pink...
10. Actually seeing commercials with your company name on it 9. Getting into the builder.com conference free 8. Leaving 650 Townsend 7. Letsgossip.com will finally get some news 6. No more gestapo building security 5. Instead of trying to hack cnet, they'll just give us a login 4. 50 Francisco St., nuff said 3. No more malathyon spills 2. Stock options vest and the number one reason cnet buying zdnet is good.. 1. We'll win the drinking contest this year
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Monday, July 10, 2000internet securitybeing an employee at CNET, especially in the 50 Francisco building, means getting a lot of internal facilities and spam email. a lot of the email revolves around security issues. seems that the occasional stranger fancies stealing into the office and stealing people's personal belongings. happens so much that they put new combo locks on many of the doors. one thing it didn't stop was the infamous 'food thief' of CNET fame. it's one of the favorite topics of the heated email threads. someone in the company (who, unfortunately for those left hungry, has the combinations to the doors) routinely has lunch on the company, err the employee, dime. no sooner does the food thief let out a belch, the internal email is filled up with threats of revenge. Let's Gossip! was informed (anonymously, damnit, so we can't be sure it's true) that the food thief actually had the nerve to casually tell another coworker about their lunchtime habits! we have no idea if the admission actually happened, or if it was just a joke, but if the story is true, it's not likely that anything will come of it. the accused food thief is too high in the company for a public outing. editor's note: do you know who the food thief is? at least some of you think so. we're going to build a polling service to let you vote. for now, just keep sending email. |
Thursday, June 22, 2000what happens when......cnet has a company picnic? The site goes down. Our sources tell us that as a back up plan for the up-and down-service pg&e offers, the servers are run by monkeys who hand turn the generators...not a good idea when all the monkeys are out bobbing for apples in beer buckets and line dancing to bluegrass.
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Monday, June 19, 2000record volumes at CNETSeems that cnet's Outlook email server was taken out today by the LIFE_STAGES virus that's going around. Most of the company wasn't able to read email all day, which meant that important notices couldn't be sent around to employees. one employee had the urge to send out the following note, but couldn't. we thought we'd do them a favor and print it here: "To all 3rd floor men -- the rest of you, look away: We need to get a couple points clear about the men's restroom. Namely:Maybe it's something in the new coffee tureens. |
Tuesday, June 13, 2000if you lick it, you'll get highFrog has become a big topic for us recently because, well, the people who work there like to talk shit! (thanks all!). The other day we got a tip that Frog, which had a long tradition in Industrial Design, was starting to lose its edge in that field. A very young chief strategist from Frog sent us an email in response. Basically he said that the acquisition of Alchemy Labs would bring them back to the forefront ... sometime in January 2001! Well, here's something to start strategising about: we know for a fact that certain designers are interviewing at outside studios. good luck
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Friday, June 9, 2000people shouldn't gossip in elevators...especially when gossiping about breaking news. you never know who might be listening. letsgossip breaking news: word (word.) on the street is buy.com bought reel.com and the plan is to lay off all the non-content/producer people. to all you techies/designers, if you need a job, drop us a note: we have a tiki bar and rum.
jumpin' til dawn
the first big exodus
learn how to host a party, ah-ite?
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Thursday, June 8, 2000end the waitwe've been slow to add gossip lateley, and we're working on it. to reward you for coming back, we've added a new feature that will notify you when we add new stories. and that should be soon since we've now got a New York associate writing for us. to get this notification, just enter your email address in the box in the upper left. stay tuned. |
Monday, June 5, 2000Sex in the cityIn an effort to protect themselves against the kind of sexual harassment that finally gave purpose and identity to NY Net wannabees Pseudo and Juno, employers all over the city are launching sexual harassment education programs to teach their employees how to artfully cop a feel without getting caught. What's more, they're involving satellite offices, as well. After a member of one New York media compay's European offices went through the mandatory session, he replied "This may work for you Yanks, but over here, I'd be guilty at least ten times a day!" |
Friday, May 5, 2000show me more of your stuffas we mentioned earlier, CNET's staff had to attend 'sexual harrassment training' last year, so you think they'd all be incredibly P.C. and careful. but what's this? a press release says that they will be hiring Playboy Playmates to roam around the E3 convention center distrubuting CNET demos! the internal spam list got a mouthful from one of the sysadmins crying 'double standard!' we'll keep you posted on this one. |
Wednesday, April 26, 2000show me your stuffCNET's technology department held a Tech Summit at Tenaya lodge in Yosemite this week and we're trying to get the dirt. we only have this one little tidbit so far, but i'm sure we'll get more. one of the attendees thought it would be a good idea to 'flash' a non-CNET guest, and in the resort's restaurant of all places. HR is still looking for the culprit.
minor news on Minor? Monday, April 24, 2000a good Bourbon buzzseems we may finally see some drinking action between CNET and ZDnet after all. we here at Lets Gossip! have been aggressively trying to get the companies to have a followup to the famous first match, to no avail. guess we were going about it wrong! a personal beef between two columnists may finally get us what we want. here's a letter we just received: ZDNet Music columnist Frank Bourbon was accused of intellectual property theft by a certain CNet Music staffer after launching his "Frank Bourbon's Insider Buzz" column about the dirty dealings in the digital music industry. The CNet staffer claimed that the words "Insider Buzz" were obviously ripped off from the CNet music areas MP3 Insider and MP3 Buzz. Turns out, though, that Bourbon had never so much as checked out CNet's music site -- let alone read the Insider or Buzz sections. Bourbon's column has since been renamed to "Frank Bourbon: Hard on the Street" -- but a drink-off duel has since been accepted: Bourbon vs. Van Buskirk, Zeitgeist, Tuesday pm. Senior editors from CNet Music and ZDNet Music will also be in attendance.we're not sure how true the rumors are, but do they mean Tuesday, Apr 25? tricky date. much of CNET talent will be out of town for an offsite. we're hoping for a rescheduling. Tuesday, April 4, 2000COMING SOON (like, in a few months? we're currently in stealth mode):Gossip to get greasier. Let's Gossip, the leading provider of wireless-enabled, broadband B2B tech gossip for the new economy, today announced the future launch of Let's Gossip 2.0, a fresh look at the not-so-fresh doings and "done hims" that make this industry boil like a bad hoagie pitching in stomach acid. Let's Gossip 2.0 will enable dot.com losers who hate their own lives to enjoy the misfortunes, mishaps and general mayhem of others working for the man while they are shackled to their stock options. Whether they sell cell phones in the B2B marketplace or allow fast broadband connectivity for enterprise-loving CEOs, Let's Gossip readers will benefit from the fun that comes from mocking other people's idiocy.
About Let's Gossip
Tuesday, March 14, 2000free booze all week...tomorrow: radiate.com, rsvp here. it's at the spectrum gallery, and starts at 6pm. also, e-color at the glaskat supper club (this the letsgossip pick of the week: "Come styling to Wildcard in your hottest Donna, Calvin, Versace, or John Bartlett--but please leave the high maintenance attitudes at home--Or show up in your most absurd fashion *victim* attire! The Finlandia Vodka Guys & Girls will giving away t-shirts & cool prizes o those tarted up in outfits exhibiting the most SWOON factor, outrageousness, or cleverness. Ambience-wise, we'll have a live jazz band in the front room and lounge cat music in the center room/dance floor. Late in the night, we'll switch over to more danceable grooves..."). thursday: viant launch party rsvp--it's at the spectrum gallery (is this the most popular spot to have a tech party, or WHAT? must be cheap). friday: metzoa at the loft and beenz mardi gras party. but really, how popular do you think a friday-night tech party is? as if we don't have better things to do. and it *is* st. patty's week...
to anon, with love and squalor...
Wednesday, March 8, 2000rumors do come true, they just take a while...Halsey Minor gets bored fast. so there were always rumors that he would leave CNET some day to go start something newer. you know, the new new. well, that day has come, and the new company is the number Twelve. you built a great company, Mr. Minor, can i get some options in the new one?
Well, working 12-hour days, must be nice when...
Thursday, February 24, 2000let the games beginfrom the trenches: seems that cnet has taken the brewing competition pretty seriously. a nice, big batch of beer was brewed at the whitehouse on presidents' day. no word yet from the zdnet front, but even a 'friendly' competition needs the other side to show up. ball's in your court people. Wednesday, February 16, 2000typical corporate fashionso, cnet employees finally get their Xmas bonus in the form of a jacket -- with a cnet logo on the chest, natch. mulling over what patch he was going to cover the red ball with, one employee walked from one building to the main building to grab his jacket. they'd sent out about 43 emails telling employees when and where to pick them up, so there shouldn't be a problem, right? he gets there and all that are left are mediums and larges. on his way back from the waste of time he's thinking: why couldn't they have sent out a 44th email and informed us of which sizes were left? and, is it true then, that the jackets are only meant for the sales group? is cnet like a shoe store where they buy tons of the wrong sizes because they are out of touch? Wednesday, February 9, 2000that je ne sais quois...not long ago we mentioned some exec from gamespy macking on some girl. well, that same girl is now being pursued by the dj of a music site who can't seem to let go of the telephone. what is it with this woman hoarding all the action? where did she find the "intangible it" and how can i get some? anyway, she's passively fighting this one off by keeping her cell phone number on the DL.
(sekrit) outback rendevous?
Monday, February 7, 2000it's a merger...another big company, already with 2 or 3 names in its title (one of which almost sounds like Calvin Klein Sports) is merging with yet another. it's been announced by the management and and denounced by the employees, who are preparing for the giant reorg that starts today...
speaking of re-orgs
Friday, February 4, 2000from an internal email (and recent graduate of the barbizon beauty school of booze) at ZDnetWell at first we had thought there could possibly be a brewing competition between us and c|net, which i guess, with your dual-citizenship, you would be the one to arrange. But now I think we may be more leaning towards an internal ZDnet brew of between the offices. That is if you guys aren't chicken "bok bok bok bok" (imagine here, me making chicken gestures) Then the winner goes on to compete against c|net, kind of like the America's Cup. We could always combine this with a drinking competition, since I hear we were poorly represented in the last one, and make a big annual thing of it. We also considered the idea that we could brew the beer that the other team would have to drink, but that might be ugly. It's all fun and games 'til somebody's poisoned. Editor's note: after talking to employees at both companies, it sounds like this competition may come to fruition. we hear ZDNet (WEST COAST) has the edge.
Thursday, February 3, 2000this disturbs meour favorite source just woke up from his one-month hangover to let us in on the webTv holiday party, where our source says "bikeboy" was approached by his hooped manager only to be complimented (and in front of the manager's wife too!) and nearly offered a BbeepJbeep ("And I'd really like to give you a BbeepJbeep.") Apparently the wife was also smitten with young hunky bikeboy as she gazed into his eyes (luckily, her gaze didn't go south where her hubby was trying to shove his hand down bikeboy's cords). Not only did bikeboy flee the party, but also the company. the only parties he feels safe attending are the thursday il pirata happy hours...
another from the 'Now i've seen everything' department Tuesday, February 1, 2000"i'm outie scoutie"...tooted the most recent vp to leave cnet and head over to the cornerhardware(.com) store. what i want to know is, are free tools/hardware included in the benefit plan? for a power tool and a bit of plumbing advice, i might be tempted to give notice at letsgossip and get to work.
the Industry [sub] Standard
because i can
Monday, January 31, 2000and baby makes fourit's rumored that a cnet director is preggers again and waiting for the right time to announce her leave. it's a weird time with a new reorg in the works for the company and not enough talented managers in its ranks.
i see not Monday, January 24, 2000blushing exec, exposed ('cept we won't tell you who, unless you send us gossip)ever had an employee quit? ever tried to hire a dominatrix and met your ex-employee (new job as a dominatrix)? well, it's never happened to me, thank the freakin' lord, but one multimedia exec (and we're talking exec for a super-already-public-big-huge company we've all heard about) , interested in the world wide wonders of fetishism found himself in this awkward position when he unknowingly emailed his ex-staffer about hiring her for a bit of smackin' and mackin' (s&m). his ex-staffer, dominatrix that she is, led him to a fetish ball and showed him the ropes, without directly involving herself.
another stupid exec
not tech-related, but who cares, if you do, we don't care...
what's all this about?
hold on there!
Wednesday, January 12, 2000how many employees made nye resolutions to QUIT?if you were to judge the exodus at alexander oglivy public relations "worldwide," you'd think 50%, but i think those stats are company specific. if you're one of those people, check out the job listings at the company website--do what everyone else does: get a job, then quit because you think you're so damn hot that you'll making millions...in pr. good luck!
if you had to, who would you choose as your life-long partner?
Tuesday, January 4, 2000Happy New Yearwell, the site's still running, guess that it's a good thing we didn't waste time/resources checking for Y2K bugs! this year, same as last, we'll be bringing you some juicy gossip. read on for the first post of the 21st century.
can you say 'whoa!' Tuesday, December 21, 1999revisitated: i kiss youunfortunately, we couldn't make it to the mahir/etour party but our sources say two unfulfilled netscape and yahoo vixens were spotted not only groping mahir, but stealing from the party! they threw back a few free drinks served up by flirtatious boys, and with beer courage, these little darlings* stole from the party: t-shirts! film! life-size cardboard posters of mahir (dirty birdies)! not to worry, they were apprehended (except for the mahir etour poster spotted driving off in their yellow golf). on the same scandalous note, an older web guru insisted that his signed t-shirt would warrant a fine packet of cash when flogged off on ebay--nice try. * we weren't there; they could be ugly.
break open the bubbly mom & dad
Friday, December 17, 1999playing more than games...the notorious gaming company (can you guess? if not, read the last word of this paragraph) is now even more so, with one of the (married) big wigs dipping his finger in the pie of his former PR agency rep. she's not talking, but more than one eye witnessed the attractive account exec slinking out of mr. big wig's car early one morning and creeping into her office. 3DO.
Tuesday, December 14, 1999i kiss you!!!!!!that's right, Mahir's on his eTour of America. if you're as suspicious as we are about this guy's authenticity, you'll want to be one of the more than 800 people already RSVP'd to check out Wednesday's event at the Hamm's Building at 1550 Bryant. apparently he's been invited out and there's a party for him. and you're invitated! we'll see you there.
the Big Sleazy
lab 'ratt'
down on his luck Monday, December 13, 1999mahir or big yellow recruiter?i wasn't sure, especially after 4 beers (builder party in n'awlins, where wine and beer were free flowing for 6 minutes), but when he alluded to big yeller buying out zdnet, i knew it couldn't be mahir. if the price is right, cnet will buy it. rumor has it (from separated-at-birth-mahir), morgan stanley said "the price will be right, since it will be the last property to go." personally, i think it's a 6-minute-beer dream...keep recruiting, honey.
eden kiss slapped
great debate: sink v. toilet
help wanted Friday, December 10, 1999will he still be able to cuss?good ol' Tom Melcher. we loved how he would awkwardly throw a cuss word into every other sentence just to make it seem like he was on our level. but know what Tom? you aren't. you're a step above. in fact, you're up There. as in, There.com. that's right, Tom is now the CEO of there.com, which we have no idea about, but it's good to see he's on his way 'there'. Thursday, December 9, 1999my hangover is legendarycnet's party was a success. they took over the Mercury restaurant on Howard street. my hangover is making it hard to write, but i'll try and recount some of the event. spotlights greeted us on the drive to the door, and as soon as we got out of the car, we were mobbed by strangers with headsets. after proving we were invited by showing the party pass, we muscled into the door and dropped into the line for the bar. getting a drink was not hard with the multitude of bars, but lining the stomach with food wasn't that appealing with the choice of spread. upstairs was a ballroom with a band, but it was downstairs that people were really cutting up a rug. there were 2 djs downstairs spinning decent party music, and the cnet'ers took to the floor. it was hard to find your friends with all of the alcoves and dark passes. more of a club atmosphere than a company party. cnet still plays young. we heard that one employee was 86'd for being too drunk. unfortunately, that's about as scandalous as it got.
don't know what it means Tuesday, December 7, 1999another one bites the dustwe always thought it was weird that cnet built out its Technology dept. in New Jersey of all places. i guess it was there way of having 'coast to coast coverage'... so, when the VP of technology left the company a while back to take care of wild cats we figgered, 'no more New Jersey.' but, no, too much talent in this tight market. but there are rumors out there that another big player from the Jersey office is hanging up his hat. and only a few months ago, one of the smartest engineers on the East coast moved out to the SF offices. if i worked in the Jersey office, i'd start looking for a house in the Bay Area pronto! Monday, December 6, 1999death of print?well, like we all knew would happen, Ziff-Davis sold off its print magazine division today. but no one's surprised, nor do they care. poor kids at zdnet, they were hoping that zdnet would get sold off, too, so that the recent options given out would vest instantly. that's a group of folks ready to run, not walk, the minute they make a buck.
a grand farewell
not a good sign I'm living 2000' up Fickle Hill Road in Arcata in a one room cabin with a woodstove. It's on ten acres of land. I have to draw water up from a well, take baths in the ice cold stream below, and just constructed the Latrine. For food I am hunting the occasional deer and am eating roots.he claims to have left cnet out of Y2K fears more than anything, but admitted to having spent his stock option money on survival gear. he asked us to keep his name sekrit or he'd send letters with razorblades in them. ... not only are we disturbed by his living arrangements, but if an ex-cnet'er is scared of Y2K, is there something we should know? maybe he'd be better off in Montana? but, if he went to Montana, it'd be harder for him to maintain his romance with another 3rd year cnet vestee who fled her editorial job and has no interest in working. seems that the 'hideaway in the hills' is also a romantic retreat... Friday, December 3, 1999a Snap! of the fingersWell, it's been a busy week. how's this for uncanny? NBCi, the company formed by the combination of Snap! and Xoom, finalized the merger this week and what timing they have. the Christmas party is tonight. and everyone's ready to celebrate, but probably not how you think. most of the kids from Snap! are celebrating their departure dates as the mass exodus occurs. "thanks for the stock, Peacock." And we'll be attending tonight's party, so tune in again Monday for some juice and details. Tuesday, November 30, 1999"Sorry" no tamales todayRecent censorships have led me to say, "Look buddy, chill out." If I write about you, I like you. Although one subject was spotted running around, chasing the editor, screaming, "Take down the stuff about my crush on the recently-promoted director." Okay. Okay. I was nice. I took it down, but don't ask me to do it again. Actually, I don't want to ever talk to you. You bore me.
Tuesday, November 23, 1999from the 'Where are they now' file:This man has the moves. First he was the Production Manager at cnet, then his urge to move to Vegas made him a freelancer, now he's in New York as an analyst with Jupiter. So we weren't surprised -- simply elated -- to see him on CNNfn explaining why there will be less people shopping at the Mall this xmas.... Speaking of cnet, I'll bet the disgruntled designers on the 'c-not' list were jumping for joy when on Monday night football the announcers called it "the cnot play of the game" and then joked around if it should be CNOT or cnet. This is what $100 Million gets you? Speaking of 'c-not', we were sad to see one of San Francisco's best designers leave town and head for New York. Ta ta for now Stephanie. Wednesday, November 17, 1999another silicon perv?Rumor has it one of the Young Presidents keeps a bevy of beauties in his stable of employees for after hours lick-n-nibble. One such blond bombshell was recently ostracized to the Big Apple following rumor that she was going public with their torrid love affair. Apparently you don't get ahead by giving head in this town.
stay with me here, this one's a doozy.
I guess it is true love. One of the AD's closest pals sent a note out today with a link to a website that will be devoted to their wedding: http://www.higherlove.com. We adore this couple.
and what's this? already?
so you think you're The Man, huh?
we get info...ok?
Monday, November 15, 1999Recently sighted: Divine dish 'roo (as in Kanga) renting four -- count 'em, four! -- movies with tall, dark limping fellow at Potrero Center Blockbuster on Friday night. Sly spies think they saw the start of a naughty passion-filled weekend in front of the tele for Kangaroo and l'homme fatale -- aka TJ. but maybe not~Erumor has it her boy toy had something of a swish to his step. Is TJ Kanga's injured beau or just another FOD (friend of dorothy)? Only Kanga knows for sure. |
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