Gawker
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technical difficulties
Our New Commenting Technique Is Loading and Loading and Loading
Trapped office workers forced to run Internet Explorer, we are hearing you loud and clear: our new comments are not loading for you. The tech team is hard at work coming up with a fix. More »
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Comment by HiredGoons: Or you could, you know - NOT use Internet Explorer. 21 Responses | Other threads
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ch-ch-changes
Gawker Comments Are Made of Stars
The new Gawker commenting system is here. And, if everything works out as planned, it will let us highlight the brilliant, witty and informative comments. Welcome to a new hierarchical era.
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Comment by BadUncle: All of this is well and good. But can you please bring back Friday executions, commies and - for the... 16 Responses | Other threads
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LET FREEDOM RING!
"We Can't Be Consumed By Our Petty Differences Anymore"
True story: tomorrow's my second day not working in 62 days! Take a wild guess what I'll be doing tonight! Meanwhile, if any news breaks, uh, just read the comments in this thread. We'll be back on Sunday. More »
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By Foster KamerComment by MisterHippity: "Meanwhile, if any news breaks, uh, just read the comments in this thread." Ok, here's the first BREAKING NEWS ALERT: Speculation... 21 Responses | Other threads
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programming note
The Holiday Weekend Is Upon Us
Because it's our patriotic duty, we won't be publishing on Saturday. However, Foster will be around tomorrow and Sunday. Also, we're making some changes to comments next week: stars are about to become much more powerful, rare. More on Monday.
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Comment by Uncle_Billy_Slumming: I hope this means that Altman will be coming back. 25 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Sorry: we're experiencing some tech problems, so you might encounter some errors loading pages.
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clarifications
Update: That advertorial Bloodcopy post below is now clearly and accurately labeled as sponsored. Phew.
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housekeeping
About That Vampire Blog Thing
Something else you might have missed if you, like a normal person, enjoyed the Memorial Day holiday without following online media industry news: Gawker found itself in the middle of an advertising-blurring-with-editorial controversy after our sales department and HBO pretended that an advertorial blog was a Gawker editorial property. More »
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Comment by narnio: oh who cares? the ad/edit line no longer exists, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. 13 Responses | Other threads
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pic of the day
Happy Memorial Day
A programming note: No, we're not going all Condé Nast with summer Fridays (memo for next week: is Condé still getting summer Fridays?) but because of the holiday, we're cutting today short. Foster and T.A.N. will be around this weekend and then the site's going dark on Monday. Happy weekend.
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Comment by Mutley: Almost NSFW photo, if you happened to work at a buggy repair shop in 1908. 8 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Valleywag: An Instruction Manual
Dear Ryan:
As I head to NBC to run its Bay Area site, I'm leaving you one Silicon Valley gossip blog, used but in good condition. A few thoughts on how to keep it that way. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by RheaPollstry: Is that Owen? Mmmmmm, I do luv me some bears. And working in a bar, no less! My heart is... 4 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Meet the New Valleywag: Ryan Tate
After terrorizing tech managers, Owen Thomas has decided to join 'em. Emerging from the shadows to replace him as the Valleywag is Ryan Tate, who's already relishing the idea of life in the sunshine. More »
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Comment by Ryan Tate: In fairness, I only look this pissy when I'm in France, drinking bad coffee. Hello, daylight people! Please explain this bright... 22 Responses | Other threads
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introductions
Meet Your Saturday Afternoon Guest Host
On this rainy Saturday, we're going to try out something new in Gawker weekend programming: for the next couple hours, Patrice Evans, a/k/a The Assimilated Negro (or T.A.N. for short), will be your guest host. More »
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Comment by Mike Jahn: "Axe" for "ask" is a common colloquialism that isn't exclusively black or white but goes back to medieval England. 4 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
In Case You Were Wondering How Our Traffic Is Doing
Compete.com released their monthly unique visitor numbers today and Gawker had another strong month, staying ahead of old-line (and much larger) outfits like ABCNews.com and NYMag.com. More »
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Comment by Wonderland: You would never last on this traffic if you were actually producing your own content. 5 Responses | Other threads
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self-referential
What Do You Know? We Won an Award
You may have started the day thinking you were reading any old gossip rag, but the people have clicked and Gawker is your best group blog of the 2009 Weblog Awards. More »
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Comment by Aaron Altman: And I'm afraid to ask what "8Asians" is all about. 5 Responses | Other threads
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defamer
Defamer Folds Into Gawker; Editors to Pursue Careers in Bearded Hip-Hop
Like a waffling yard sale lady who, push come to shove, simply couldn't part with her prized collection of People "Sexiest Man Alives," Nick Denton has succumbed to a crippling case of seller's remorse.
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too insidery
Time's Report of Our Demise Is Overrated
Oh, look. Time has one of those annoying click-here-25-times-to-see-the-best-of-something lists and evidently they don't like us very much. What did we do to fall out of the newsweekly's favor? More »
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Comment by Zorica: But the economic downturn and the near-collapse of Wall Street has made Gawker's snarky worldview seem not only cruel but... 9 Responses | Other threads
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jobs
Gawker Would Like to Pay You Very Little to Watch TV
Attention screen-addled young (or old, whatever) folk: Gawker Media is looking for a television-obsessed intern to watch TV a few days a week, in search of newsworthy clips for social commentary. There are two qualifications: More »
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Comment by katastic: You mean I could be getting paid by you people? 3 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Gawker Commenters, Meet Facebook Users
You know what we need more of around here? Change. Though it's purely coincidental to our recent redesign, we got the go-ahead today from Facebook to flip the Facebook Connect switch. More »
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Comment by Uncle_Billy_Slumming: May I have a gold star before the hordes descend? I think the only reason I don't have one... 8 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
What's with the redesign?
Valleywag, along with other blogs published by Gawker Media, has adopted a new, condensed format, making the page faster to load and headlines easier to scan. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Suril Amin: I have mixed feelings on the redesign...still needs a little tweaking... 1 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
The Spiffy New Look of Gawker
We've come a long way from our days as a one-person blogging operation and this redesign reflects our evolution into a news operation that now posts some 50 stories a day. More »
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Comment by Smitros: So far, so good. But have our PMs been eated? 9 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
New post types on Gawker sites
Alert style
Top story
Big picture
Standard post
Standard post — but with video thumbed. In this case, a Youtube video.
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self-referential
Comings and Goings at Gawker
You may have noticed a lot more of Owen Thomas on the site today. That's because we are pleased to officially welcome him into the Gawker fold. He'll continue to write under the Valleywag banner as well as supply a West Coast perspective as Gawker continues to take on a more national flavor. There was much hand-wringing after the announcement that Valleywag would be merging into Gawker — much of it a testament to how much of a must-read Valleywag had become in Silicon Valley — but the good news is that he'll still be keeping a close eye on tech gossip and news, except now for a larger audience and with the chance to spread his wings a bit to cover other topics. Of course, given the times and our overlord/benefactor Nick Denton's cost-cutting mode, as we expand, we also have to shrink. As others have already noted, the talented Sheila McClear will be departing the site at the end of the year, when her writing will be missed.
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Comment by ian spiegelman: Ug. This is fucking disgusting, Sheils. Your page views were consistently as good as anyone's. That's a fact. Nick Denton... 182 Responses | Other threads
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clarifications
What just happened at Valleywag? The FAQ
I love Owen, but he has trouble writing in English during a crisis. So here's the basics on what's happening at Valleywag: More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by sample032: What about the intern and the calendar girl? 6 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
How to catch Valleywag's big stories
Valleywag offers email subscriptions. If you're an RSS obsessive, updating feeds every 15 seconds, this option's not for you. The email goes out once a week, with rare exceptions for big, breaking stories. But if you're the type who likes to make sure you haven't missed anything big, we recommend subscribing to Valleywag's email newsletter. -
housekeeping
Valleywag recommends
It may shock some of our most fervid readers, but there are other websites on the Internet. Valleywag's editors even read some of them. We're experimenting with a new feature: A "Recommended Stories" post, culled from some of the sites which frequent our RSS feed, will appear daily at 9 a.m. The post will have links to the original stories, and also an excerpt page on which you can discuss it with other Valleywag readers. We'll also feature some stories from around the Web on our homepage, throughout the day. Some stories require a debunking or explication from Valleywag; others are worthy of a simple link. Please let us know what you think of it; suggestions for sites we should watch
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By Owen ThomasComment by WagCurious: Can't we just post our links in the comments? Like my scathing report on SXSW's hardball tactics: [greenscreencinema.com] 1 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Meet the editors of Valleywag.
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the gawker tipline
646-214-8138
Never in the last decade has there been more workplace gossip to leak than now. But—for the same economic reasons—everybody's more paranoid than ever that the boss' IT agents are snooping. Some Gawker tipsters are reluctant to send email from work computers. So we're opening a telephone tipline. Dial *67 to obscure the caller ID and then 646-214-8138 to leave Gawker's editors a voicemail. For the rules, read on.
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By Nick DentonComment by American Dreamer: Does George Clooney (pictured) actually answer your tip phone line himself or was that just a clever advertisement. I'd love... 6 Responses | Other threads
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about
Gawker Draws Level With New York Magazine
Gawker has had a reasonably friendly rivalry with Bruce Wasserstein's New York magazine. At least three former editors of this site—Elizabeth Spiers, Jesse Oxfeld and Jessica Coen—have found refuge there after their sentence in the blogging mines. This history makes the latest audience numbers from Compete.com particularly satisfying. In September, gawker.com alone—not including any sibling sites—drew level with New York's nymag.com.
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By Nick DentonComment by Larry Fine: Good job Nick. Btw, is that spike in NYmag's traffic in Feb '08 when Bruce posed nude for the website? 3 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
Track the global financial apocalypse from one easy site
The Valley has a peculiar lens on the market meltdown. For an outside perspective, check out the Consumerist's Wall Street meltdown microsite. The site wraps together coverage from several blogs published by Gawker Media — including Valleywag's own contributions. -
magazines
Introducing The Unspiked Files
The publication of a relatively juicy interview with Jennifer Lopez—rejected by an unnamed fashion magazine—reminds us that magazine articles are often dropped not because they're bad but because they're good. Or—more often—simply because they've been overtaken by events or clash with some other article or because an insecure editor has over-commissioned. (Tina Brown, who published Kevin Sessums' J-Lo profile on her new Daily Beast website, was notorious for assigning three times the articles she ran.) Anyway, here's an alternative for journalists who've spent weeks slaving on an article only to see it spiked: Gawker's unspiked files.
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By Nick DentonComment by El_Feo: For reals: This is what N+1 started out doing 4 Responses | Other threads
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jobs
Searching For New Gawker Video Interns
Hello layabout, TV-watching young people! Gawker is looking for a television-obsessed intern to sit around and watch TV to find newsworthy clips for social commentary. The job requires a good eye and the ability to sit. The schedule is flexible but requires a minimum of 15 hours a week over the course of 3 months. College internship credit available to those who qualify. Pay is less than minimal. Email Richard Blakeley at tvinternship@gawker.com with proof of addiction to television; no attachments please. Must be able to work from our NYC based office. -
housekeeping
What I learned from the Alleywag
Even before he worked at Valleywag, Nicholas Carlson had taken "Alleywag" as his commenter name. I always saw that passion for the site shining through his posts. True, he sometimes exhibited the inevitable traits of his hard-to-manage millennial generation, but he's unique — unique, I tell you! — among the precious snowflakes of his generation in being able to look at his peers' self-involvement with a wry glance. He covered the beat of online advertising adeptly, and made lists smart. What Here's what I think were some of his best pieces. Name your favorite Alleywagiana in the comments. Like me, you can keep following my favorite Gen Y-er on Tumblr. Natch. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by sample032: It's pretty cool of Owen to write letters of recommendation for the fireees so quickly and post them so publicly. more » | Other threads
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housekeeping
Why we couldn't stop reading Melissa Gira Grant
Go ahead, call Melissa Gira Grant a "hooker." From the first, she hooked Valleywag readers with her provocative insights into how sex, money, and technology collided. We first hired her to write a column on the sex trade, and she became a sought-after expert when the Eliot Spitzer-Ashley Dupré scandal exploded on the Web. But her talents soon overflowed the confines of that narrow subject. What's next for Melissa? She's in the market for a programmer for her sex-map startup, Boffery, and she'll continue writing at melissagira.com. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by sysero: Good riddance. Posts about whores all the time only detracted from the interesting commentary on Valleywag. There is... more » | Other threads
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housekeeping
Jackson West's greatest Valleywag hits
Though he only joined Valleywag in March, Jackson West made a lasting impression with his sharp wit, good humor, and wicked visual imagination. As fluent in Photoshop as he is in Foucault, our token communard laced his posts with insights into the inner workings of the Web. Listed below are my favorite pieces by Jackson. Leave your own in the comments — and keep following him at jacksonwest.com. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Jordan Golson: I didn't get a "greatest hits" list when I was unceremoniously canned. WTF, I got screwed. more » | Other threads
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housekeeping
Most Active Comment Discussions
We've introduced a couple of new features to Gawker comments. (1.) If you're checking for the latest discussions to be started on any post, just click the Newest first link. You'll see the discussion threads in reverse chronological order. Like this. Just refresh the page to see new discussions as they pop up rather than having to page through to the end of a chronological list. (2.) If you're coming to a post for the first time, try viewing by Most active first. That way you'll see just those comments that have elicited the most replies. Like this. We're going to make use of the two new features during this evening's first presidential debate which will be liveblogged here from 8.30 ET.
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By Nick DentonComment by riskybusiness: I'm going to play a drinking game with myself tonight while I tune into the debate. I'm going to drink... 11 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
That was fun while it lasted
Saner heads have prevailed, and we've bowed to the wisdom of the crowds who populate our comments: Valleywag will retain its new thread features, announced yesterday, but we'll display comment threads in chronological order, oldest to newest.
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By Owen ThomasComment by bluelines: Any reason why you didn't use a third-party commenting system like Disqus? 2 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Chronological Comments Return
After reading your feedback about our new commenting format that went live yesterday, our able tech crew has made some changes. Hopefully they will make the new system more user-friendly. Essentially, the comments will once again be displayed in their old chronological order. Replies to comments will be collapsed, but still in chronological order. Read about the new changes here. -
commenters
All About the New Gawker Commenting Features
Though we at Gawker Media (and here on Gawker, in this case) love our comments and commenters (well, not always), we've decided we need to shake the format up a little bit, allow for more conversation than simple one line posting. To that end, today we're introducing an entirely new commenting structure: threading!
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Comment by imjustskinny: Whatever. I'm pissed off, I cannot find the comments I want to respond to, I cannot find ANYONE for that... 100 Responses | Other threads
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housekeeping
Thread or menace? Valleywag comments are changing
THE GAWKER MEDIA OFFICE, NEW YORK — The rows of sleekly designed desks to my left are suspiciously quiet. The technical corps of our publisher, Gawker Media, is feverishly working on an update to our comments. And I'm here to witness it all! The big change: Related comments will be displayed together, as a "thread."And instead of being displayed oldest to newest, comments will be grouped by relative activity; the most tangled threads will get shuttled to the top.Update: We've decided to undo this change, displaying threads in chronological order, oldest to newest. The theory behind this: Threading is a way to make comments read more like conversations instead of a bunch of disconnected single replies. Participating in a thread is easy; instead of replying "@" another user, you can now join a thread by clicking the large circular "reply" arrow. And if you want to start a new thread? Just comment as usual. More details: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by emnem: Who will be the first person to write a GM script to make the comment backgrounds greenish again - and... 2 Responses | Other threads
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jobs
Gawker Managing Editor
The deadline for applications is this Friday. The job spec is here. (Please read it before you respond.) Email me if you're interested.
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By Nick DentonComment by overunderover: Dammit, maybe I'll apply. Yeah! While I'm an illiterate who can barely write, let alone speak, my editing (refer to years... 7 Responses | Other threads
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jobs
Gawker Managing Editor
The week of Labor Day is as good a time as any for a change: we're inviting applications for the post of Managing Editor of Gawker.com. The last eight months have been both exhausting and invigorating. I couldn't have asked for better stories—or a stronger team of up-and-coming writers. But I need to get back to my other job. More »
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By Nick DentonComment by ian spiegelman: Dear New Person: Weekends are an Open City. Leave us alone. 14 Responses | Other threads
housekeeping
New York, 8:30 AM
Thu Jul 16
56 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@gawker.com
Tipline: 646-214-8138
Editor-in-Chief:
Gabriel Snyder | Email
Contributing Editors:
Valleywag:
Ryan Tate | Email
Media:
Hamilton Nolan | Email
Politics:
Alex Pareene | Email
Investigations:
John Cook | Email
Entertainment:
Richard Lawson | Email
Weekends:
Foster Kamer | Email
Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley | Email
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
