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Breakdowns: BusinessWeek goes off its (RSS) feed
At McGraw-Hill's business newsweekly, someone decided, apparently, to do some late-summer database cleaning. BusinessWeek accidentally updating its RSS feed with some really thrilling stories. Headlines include: "More news today than ever," "Headline bla bla," and "just another headline that we need to fill in." Subheads -- known in the news business as "decks" -- also suffered: "Deck bla Deck bla Deck bla," "But this time we are testing FedEx campaign handling," and "testing the pp9 ad."

Exclusive: Interview with the accused Burning Man arsonist
Paul Addis, the man accused of setting torch to The Man, the wooden totem at the heart of the Burning Man festival, has drawn his share of fans and detractors. Chris Radcliffe, who's tangled with the organizers of Burning Man over various issues, even paid thousands of dollars in bail money to spring Addis from jail. But aside from a statement sent to blogger Scott Beale of Laughing Squid, he hasn't spoken to defend his actions. Until now. In an exclusive interview, Addis, who's been charged with the felony of arson, spoke to Valleywag as a friend drove him from Fernley, Nevada, back to his home in San Francisco. The full interview follows.Valleywwag: When did you first get involved with Burning Man?Addis: I first attended in 1996 with [a group called] Cyberbus. I went in 1996, 1997, and 1998. In 1997, I helped build The Man, and I participated in the burn as security.Valleywwag: Why did you stop going?Addis: I started to believe that because of the way the event itself was...

Blogging For Dollars: "I should redesign my blog, but I'm playing with video instead"
Robert Scoble, ostensible PodTech videoblogger, is at it again: Armed with magic marker and whiteboard, he plots the "blog of the future" -- on video, alas, not in an actual blog post. His dream features for the uberblog boil down to two categories: First, visual elements and themes readily available today, no time machine required, but Scoble, not "a pretty expert HTMLer," can only draw imaginary boxes to represent them. Second, a utopian merger of Facebook, blogs, and desktop apps that we've already heard about before from Scoble. Along the way, Scoble uses a few books from his desk and swooshing sound effects to simulate Apple's popular Cover Flow media-browsing technology. And from this, we learn that PodTech hasn't gotten him an eraser for his beloved whiteboard. We were spared the hour Scoble could spend "just talking about comments" -- thank you. Oh, and his readers are still complaining about his use of video and Kyte.tv. The full, and fully unwatchable, video after the jump.

Geeks Gone Wild: CNET's missed connections
Hey New York CNET employees, have a good time last night? Some of you did, from what we hear. Whomever you were, um, "entertaining" posted a missed connections ad on Craigslist. Behind the scenes research (er, IM chats with employees and former employees) has revealed that the "CNET girls" in question are not on the editorial side of things, which rules out our best guess, New York-based reporter and sometime CNBC pundit Caroline McCarthy. So far, speculation centers on the ad-sales department, known to insiders to include at least one "perverted, young girl-chasing alcoholic" figure who reportedly inspires most of the wild nights out. We're dying to know if the missed connection was made, and if the alleged girl-chaser was a factor. Fill us in.

Burning Man: Black Rock City's first-ever suicide
Death is always a possibility in Nevada's high desert, the site of the annual Burning Man festival. But heat, dehydration, and drugs are the causes one would expect. Not suicide. But local coroners have confirmed the festival's first suicide, SFGate reports. The still-unnamed dead man's body hung from the top of a two-story tent for hours before someone thought to check after him. "His friends thought he was doing an art piece," said a federal agent on the scene.

Robert Scoble: "I should redesign my blog, but I'm playing with video instead"
Robert Scoble, ostensible PodTech videoblogger, is at it again: Armed with magic marker and whiteboard, he plots the "blog of the future" -- on video, alas, not in an actual blog post. His dream features for the uberblog boil down to two categories: First, visual elements and themes readily available today, no time machine required, but Scoble, not "a pretty expert HTMLer," can only draw imaginary boxes to represent them. Second, a utopian merger of Facebook, blogs, and desktop apps that we've already heard about before from Scoble. Along the way, Scoble uses a few books from his desk and swooshing sound effects to simulate Apple's popular Cover Flow media-browsing technology. And from this, we learn that PodTech hasn't gotten him an eraser for his beloved whiteboard. We were spared the hour Scoble could spend "just talking about comments" -- thank you. Oh, and his readers are still complaining about his use of video and Kyte.tv. The full, and fully unwatchable, video after the jump.

Navigation: Google and Yahoo have partnered with automaker ...
Google and Yahoo have partnered with automaker Mercedes-Benz to add "send to car" to their online mapping tools. Driving directions found on the Web can be forwarded to Mercedes navigation systems. BMW and Google Maps announced a similar feature last March. [News.com]

Robert Scoble: "I should redesign my blog, but I'm playing with video instead"
Robert Scoble, ostensible PodTech videoblogger, is at it again: Armed with magic marker and whiteboard, he plots the "blog of the future" -- on video, alas, not in an actual blog post. His dream features for the uberblog boil down to two categories: First, visual elements and themes readily available today, no time machine required, but Scoble, not "a pretty expert HTMLer," can only draw imaginary boxes to represent them. Second, a utopian merger of Facebook, blogs, and desktop apps that we've already heard about before from Scoble. Along the way, Scoble uses a few books from his desk and swooshing sound effects to simulate Apple's popular Cover Flow media-browsing technology. And from this, we learn that PodTech hasn't gotten him an eraser for his beloved whiteboard. We were spared the hour Scoble could spend "just talking about comments" -- thank you. Oh, and his readers are still complaining about his use of video and Kyte.tv. The full, and fully unwatchable, video after the jump.

Piracy: Almost 100 percent of digital music downloads ...
Almost 100 percent of digital music downloads in China are illegally acquired, reports BusinessWeek. Search engines Baidu and Yahoo China both offer MP3-specific searches alongside traditional image and video queries. [BusinessWeek]

Burning Man: The arsonist of Black Rock City speaks
Blogger Scott Beale of Laughing Squid has obtained a statement from Paul Addis, the man accused of setting fire to The Man, the wooden statue which provides the Burning Man festival's raison d'etre. Addis, who has a one-man show devoted to the life of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, portrays himself as the spiritual heir of Thompson. "Most of you are newbies who have been drawn in by the semi-religious nature of the event, or maybe just the easy drugs and easier sex," writes Addis to his critics. Well, duh. Here's the rest of what the premature incinerator, released on some $3,000 in bail, has to say for himself from the outskirts of Reno, Nevada:Hi, folks. This is the *alleged* arsonist/douchebag/attention whore himself, writing you from Fernley, NV, where I have been chilling out for a couple of days.Having read your various comments, a few things should be addressed. First, this operation was extensively planned well in advance, and the number one thing to Black Rock...

To Do: Are you hot enough for TechCrunch20?
Want to get into TechCrunch20, the upcoming startup conference held by Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis and TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington? Are you "RELIABLE," between 5'7" and 5'9" and have "long hair and a petite frame?" This is could be your chance. According to an ad on Craigslist, two models are needed to work all day on September 18, the second day of TechCrunch20, doing promotions for a "media company" in San Francisco's "Financial District." Interested? Just send in your resume, headshot, and full body shot to techcrunchmodel@gmail.com. But which "media company" is it?We suspect the company is one of the startups presenting in the DemoPit, or some perv trolling for pictures. (Possibly both!) It's not the conference organizers, that's for sure. We checked with Arrington, who denied placing the ad. "Not us" he remarked, adding that he'd never heard of the ad before we brought it to his attention. The people who posted it, he surmised are "probably looking for a post...

Hackers: Google blogs hacked by malicious miscreants
Google's blogging tool, Blogger, is suffering from a severe case of hackeritis. Hundreds of blogs were updated with short posts containing links to virus-laden downloads that either mine hard drives for personal data or turn the PC into a zombie to help propagate the attacks. Google is mum on the attack, and security experts haven't determined whether the hackers discovered a security flaw in Blogger or simply set up false blogs. It's apparently impossible to make the distinction, which should tell you something about the quality of most of the posts on Blogger.

Digital Music: Sony is closing its Connect digital music ...
Sony is closing its Connect digital music store early next year. Why? Apparently no one was interested in a proprietary audio format that only plays on the manufacturer's devices. Apple, it seems, is the only merchant that can get away with that. [Gizmodo]

Rumormonger: Google founders spotted at Burning Man!
BLACK ROCK CITY -- A rumor has just reached our ears that Google's cofounders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are here at Burning Man, the ever-dusty counterculture and arts festival taking place in the Nevada desert. We even have their purported addresses on the playa.Your intrepid girl journalist will be putting on her pith helmet shortly to track these elusive creatures, their habits, their plumage, and what they do when they aren't doing what they usually do -- i.e., ruling the search world from their squishy exercise-ball perches. We speculate that we will be able to spot the camp relatively easily, due to the crushed bedding and the presence of huge-ass cyborg-hippie bodyguards making sure the friendship of the playa comes close, but not too close.

Digital Music: LimeWire hypes music-blog tracker
LimeWire, the file-sharing software maker that's attempting to go legit, is starting a "Better Know A Blogger" series on its corporate blog. The first victim is Anthony Volodkin, founder of the music blog aggregator The Hype Machine. Never mind that the Hype Machine was cool, like, a year ago. Volodkin briefly discusses his inspiration for the site, which gathers up links to currently popular MP3 files on music blogs, as well as plans to roll out some social media features. Heads up: volodkin is the guy with the long hair in the Firefox shirt. his interviewer fails at introductions 101.

Bruce Judson: My reputation is as valuable as this free crap
Bruce Judson has a long-held reputation as a successful Internet marketer and business leader. So why is his new venture, Free for Today, so lousy? Judson cofounded Time Inc.'s storied Pathfinder website back in 1994. At the time, it was a groundbreaking media portal, unlike anything else on the Web. He's written popular business books about the Internet. He's founded several Internet businesses. He's been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and Advertising Age. Judson even holds a senior faculty fellow position at the Yale School of Management. But Free for Today has all the marketing finesse and business savvy of a low-brow, late-night infomercial.Free for Today is a free newsletter (available by email or RSS feed) that promises consumers deals on, well, free crap. Of which, of course, there's plenty on the Web. Just like that question-mark guy, Matthew Lesko, who you may remember polluting late-night airwaves in the '90s with his over-the-top promises of free stuff, the...

Media: Who's bidding on Business 2.0?
The writing is on the whiteboard for Business 2.0, the tech-focused monthly magazine published by Time Inc. (and, I should note, my former employer). The October issue is definitely the last one to be published by the current staff, some of whom have already secured new jobs. But could Business 2.0 live on in some fashion? Time Inc. is ostensibly still entertaining offers to buy the magazine, if only for form's sake. But even if the sale process is a charade, some serious bidders have nevertheless emerged. Who are they?The bidders, sources say, include CNET, the online tech publisher, and Mansueto Ventures, the publisher of Inc. and Fast Company. CNET's interest likely extends to the brand and the articles archive, while Mansueto might be more interested in Business 2.0's 600,000-strong mailing list of subscribers, which could bolster Fast Company's print circulation. But a sale of those assets while it might generate some cash for Time Inc., would also strengthen the buyers...

Great Moments In Pr: BlackBerry, startup CEOs pimp each other
Not convinced you need a BlackBerry? Research In Motion has corralled a slew of professionals, who in true "Real World" form, reveal what is so tantalizing about their sidekick (if not their Sidekicks). Not only can you listen to a variety of presidents and CEOs espouse the obvious virtues of an email-capable smartphone, but you can also hear predictable sales pitches for their companies. Premal Shah, president of the nonprofit microloan site Kiva.org, spends half of his 2 minutes and 35 seconds telling viewers about the site. In between elevator pitches, he says, "The first thing I do is I look at my BlackBerry when I wake up. In the morning, it's almost like my motivation to open my eyes." Wow. For us, coffee does the trick. If you're looking to pimp your business, submissions guidelines are located in the page footer. If you don't have a BlackBerry, just borrow a friend's and pretend.

Burning Man: The 8 types of Burning Man attendees, according to Jonathan Grubb
BLACK ROCK CITY -- Jonathan Grubb, maverick something-or-other of software developer RubyRed Labs, had an informative and enlightening column about the many types of Burning Man attendees published in ">The Black Rock Beacon. The Beacon is one of many carefully edited, lovingly printed, well-researched news outlets on the playa, and they use the interesting and charmingly old-fashioned medium of actual paper to get their message out. But they use an interesting technique to get their content out: copy and paste. Grubb's column, you see, was taken verbatim from a blog post he wrote last December. Ah well. After the jump, nonetheless, a quick list of Grubb's eight Burning Man archetypes, with our comments.Hippies Absolutely.Yuppies Tragically.Rednecks Surprisingly.Software engineers See "Yuppies."Retirees They already have RVs, after all.Frat boys See "Yuppies."Fetishists See "Software engineers."Burners See "Frat boys."

John Furrier: PodTech contemplates "best tech show" -- too late
PodTech founder John Furrier, now that he has dethroned himself as CEO of the troubled Web-show network, has time to finally review the online-video competition. Referring to John Dvorak's CrankyGeeks, Furrier says, "Is this considered the best tech show on the net??? Time to think about doing a new tech show." John, while CrankyGeeks may not be the "best tech show on the net", it is better than PodTech's lineup of more than twenty tech shows. The time to think of a new tech show was a year ago, before you started firing your best tech-show video producers.

Valleywag Jobs: Today in Valleywag Jobs
Shakeup in your office? Get a fresh start at Valleywag Jobs: Account Director - AKQA Mobile - AKQA , San Francisco, CA Software Engineer - Wikispaces, San Francisco, CA VP Sales & Marketing - Fuzzi Bunz, San Francisco, CA Software Engineer - online business simulations - Forio Business Simulations, San Francisco, CA (south park / SOMA) Sr. Java Engineer - NileGuide, San Francisco, CA (SoMa District)...and moreFor only $25 your job could be here! Submit it today.

Burning Man: Black Rock City remains no Man's land
BLACK ROCK CITY -- Despite the best efforts of many sleep-deprived hippies with the Department of Public Works, The Man itself, the centerpiece of the Burning Man arts and counterculture festival in Nevada, is still not back up. Crews have been working around the clock to restore the festival's iconic sculpture after it was prematurely burned by local antihero Paul Addis early Tuesday morning. The area has been strictly cordoned off by some very pissed-off volunteer Black Rock Rangers, with no one except for officials allowed entry. The featureless desert, normally dominated by the giant wooden statue, is sad and eery, especially in the frequent dust storms.In other news, a two-story tall pink birthday cake with flaming-candle sails just drove past, its full complement of fur- and leather-clad passengers lustily singing choruses of "What Do You Do With A Drunken Raver?" So it's not all bad.

Wireless: EarthLink drops the San Francisco Wi-Fi project
Following yesterday's daily dose of EarthLink doom -- the Internet service providerlaid off 900 employees, including municipal Wi-Fi networks president Don Berryman -- the copmany has decided San Franciscans aren't worthy of free Internet after all. CEO Rolla Huff called up god-mayor Gavin Newsom to say, as a Newsom spokesman put it, "they were not going to be able to fulfill their end of the bargain." The mayor's office says it's still committed to blanketing San Francisco with Wi-Fi, and is counting on Google to remain an "anchor" while the city shops for more vendors. Newsom is also placing a measure on November's ballot asking to use public and private funds to get the network of the ground. Good luck with getting free Wi-Fi, you dirty hippies. As we've said, you don't deserve it.

Copyfight: Viacom runs Web video, claims copyright
Nothing demonstrates the ridiculous state of copyright law better than this episode. North Carolina filmmaker Christopher Knight created a commercial as part of a campaign for a seat on a local school board last fall, and posted it on YouTube. Viacom's VH1 cable channel featured the clip -- without Knight's permission -- on its "Web Junk 2.0" TV series. Knight then posted the VH1 clip on Google's YouTube, only to have Viacom's lawyers demand the video's removal. Let's get this straight: Viacom is asserting that Knight is infringing its copyright by posting a video in which Viacom allegedly infringed on his copyright.It's silly, of course. But it's not clear that Knight is actually correct. Viacom's lawyers could, conceivably, argue that broadcasting Knight's video for the purpose of commentary is protected by the concept of "fair use" under copyright law. Knight's reposting of the clip, on the other hand, has no "fair use" defense. He wasn't commenting on the video; he was...

Media Relations: Google is inviting "consumer and broadcast ...
Google is inviting "consumer and broadcast media" -- but not hardbitten business and technology reporters -- to an October party for the press. "It's a party for horny tech nerds who want cute girls to show up," says one invitee. [New York Post]

Yahoo: Sue Decker's ex-lieutenant speaks
Mark Rubash, the Yahoo finance executive who recently left the troubled Web giant -- this, despite having the favor of new president Sue Decker -- emailed Valleywag to deny that he lost a turf war with Rachel Glaser. If anything, he won the turf war, he says, getting offered a job in which he would have overseen Glaser's group. Instead, he turned down the job and left altogether. He's now CFO at Rearden Commerce, a startup in Foster City. In his note, though, he leaves a tantalizing hint about Glaser.Rubash noted that, though the new job would have given him authority over Glaser's group, he believed life would be "more enjoyable and rewarding elsewhere." Wow. As unpleasant as Glaser is to work for, could she really be that unpleasant to have as an underling, too? Apparently. Rumor has is that former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel banned Glaser -- like Semel, an air commuter from L.A. to Yahoo's Sunnyvale HQ -- from the corporate jet.

Monster: Safe to say that your data is not safe
After stalling for five days before addressing the theft of 1.3 million user profiles, executives at the job site Monster now admits the theft may have occurred earlier and been more extensive, but they still do not know: "We're assuming it is a large number. It could easily be in the millions," CEO Sal Iannuzzi told Reuters. "To be safe, he said, each Monster.com user should assume that his or her contact information has been taken." Yes, it is safe to assume a Monster user profile is not safe.

Yahoo: Kara Swisher gives a complete rundown of ...
Kara Swisher gives a complete rundown of Yahoo's new management lineup. [AllThingsD]

Feuds: Yahoo's new grudge match
After yesterday's hastily announced reorganization, there are, besides president Sue Decker, two executives at Yahoo who matter: Hilary Schneider, newly crowned queen of ad sales and partnerships, and Jeff Weiner, king of content. Not all Yahoos are happy about Schneider's ascension, though. When Schneider first joined Yahoo, she was handed Yahoo's floundering "marketplace" businesses -- local ads, classifieds, auctions, personals, online stores, and job listings. Most of those were businesses Weiner used to run -- and more effectively, insiders say, than Schneider did."Revenue is down 10-15% in this group year over year," says one tipster, of the marketplace unit. As part of the reorganization, Weiner's getting most of those businesses back, except for Yahoo's job-listings site, HotJobs. But here's the rub. To do any moneymaking deals, Weiner's group will have to "partner" with Schneider. That's unlikely to go over well, given the clear rivalry between the two. So much for...

Monster: After stalling for five days before addressing ...
After stalling for five days before addressing the theft of 1.3 million user profiles, executives at the job site Monster now admits the theft may have occurred earlier and been more extensive, but they still do not know: "We're assuming it is a large number. It could easily be in the millions," CEO Sal Iannuzzi told Reuters. "To be safe, he said, each Monster.com user should assume that his or her contact information has been taken." Yes, it is safe to assume a Monster user profile is not safe.

Burning Man: Playa pests? Ply them with liquor!
BLACK ROCK CITY -- Volunteer organizations of all stripe keep lawlessness at bay at Burning Man. Here, members of Black Rock City Animal Control apprehend their latest victim. Their ceaseless mission? Keeping the playa safe by inoculating all loose creatures -- or people dressed as creatures -- with vodka. Sober furries, beware.

Burning Man: Welcome to the real-world Wackyland
BLACK ROCK CITY -- The foofaraw surrounding the Great Burning Man Arson Escapade -- the attempted torching by prankster Paul Addis of The Man, the giant wooden centerpiece of the Burning Man festival here in Nevada -- has started to die down. And at last, we can get back to the subject at hand, which is, of course, Wackyland here in real life. You remember Wackyland of course -- that fanciful place Porky Pig visited while hunting for the elusive dodo in the old Looney Tunes cartoons. Burning Man, that festive bastion of self-expression and artistic endeavor, simply bleeds art and creativity into the hard-packed desert floor of Black Rock City. And, yes, wackiness. Some examples follow.Our day began in the usual Black Rock fashion. We awoke to the sound of Reverend David Apocalypse, a campmate, San Francisco ne'er-do-well, and former carnival freak, shouting "Fire in the Hole!" This, of course, right before his miniature black-powder cannon exploded somewhere near the breakfast...

Burning Man: The Man will rise again tonight
BLACK ROCK CITY -- Whipping like playa dust through the temporary streets of this temporary city in the high Nevada desert is that The Man, the wooden statue at the center of this "countercultural" yuppiefest arts and self-expression event, badly damaged by an arson attempt Tuesday night, will be re-erected sometime this evening. The Man's resurrection comes thanks to to the diligent, if somewhat cultish, dedication of the Black Rock City Department Of Public Works, a volunteer organization which builds all of Burning Man's public structures. But what of the corporate-sponsored displays of "green" technology at the man's base?To everyone's great relief, the pavilion at the base of The Man remained unscathed after Tuesday's incident. Yeah. Right. We were real worried that the corporate green-technology advertisements at the foot of The Man might have been damaged, because you know, in this noncommercial atmosphere of free expression, it's vital that the sponsors are satisfied.For...