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Larry And Sergey: Google Jet en route to Spain?
If Wednesday's sighting of the Google Jet -- the converted 767 privately owned by company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin -- was accurate, we may know where they Google duo are headed next. Commenter smpte tips us that the plane, operated by TAG Aviation, took off from Moffet Field earlier today and is, at this moment, flying over Maine en route to Seville, Spain. Anyone know what kind of Andalusian adventure Page, Brin, or both might be up to? Let us know.

IPod: My internal monologue as I agonize over which new iPod to buy
Oh neat oh neat oh HOLY CRAP! Wait, really? I didn't expect that. The iPod touch looks pretty sweet, but won't I just feel stupid when I have to pull out my other phone? I'm all "whee, I'm surfing the Internet in a cafe on my iPod," or I'm all listening to music, and then ring, there's my phone, just like always, only this time I also have a big-ass minicomputer in my pocket. And there's no camera. Actually this looks like a raw deal. Okay, how about the iPhone? What's new there? Hrm. Not much, I guess.I mean, there'll be a new one next year so I might as well still wait. Man, at least I'm not one of those dudes who paid six hundred bucks for it this summer. Gotta suck to be them right now. Especially when they get their 130-page phone bill. Okay, how about the iPod classic?Looks kinda...pudgy.Dang, it's just a slightly neater version of the last one, except...yeah, it looks like it has baby fat. Man, why you even got to do a thing? They could have made it all svelte like the...

Format Wars: Make discs, not war, Sony says
Extending an olive branch in the midst of the high-definition movie-format wars, Sony has cordially invited HD-DVD rivals Microsoft and Toshiba to join the Blu-ray Disc Association. It is pretending HD-DVD backers didn't just shell out a ton of cash to get Paramount (and Michael Bay) on board.

Larry And Sergey: Google boys' jet sighted at Moffett Field?
We haven't heard much about the Google Jet, lately -- the converted 767 airline that serves as Larry Page and Sergey Brin's party palace in the sky. But we were intrigued by this tip: "Could have sworn I saw the Google Jet yesterday sitting on the tarmac at Moffett Field at about 6:30 p.m. How convenient for the boys!" Convenient, indeed, since Moffett Field is practically adjacent to Google's Mountain View headquarters. But last we checked, the airport was owned by the government and run by NASA, and not, as far as we're aware, available for private use. Google, however, has had a deal since 2005 to develop offices and housing at the NASA site. Could landing rights for Page's and Brin's private jet be part of the deal?

Loser-generated Content: A new Wikipedia tool redefines trust
We love Cal Tech graduate student Virgil Griffith's Wikipedia Scanner -- a tool that has revealed to the public what we've always known: That people working at corporations, government agencies, and mass media outlets are duplicitous bastards. For instance, a State Farm employee buried commentary on its Katrina policy, a Fox News reporter erased aggregated battery charge, and someone at the Israeli Embassy sorted out the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to his satisfaction. It's certainly good gossip to learn who's blotted out petty grievances, but you have to know what you're looking for. And therein lies the problem with Wikipedia Scanner.You likely already suspect the worst from, say, Wal-Mart and just want to know what its employees may have sanitized -- but you don't question any other contributors to the page, who may or may not be trustworthy. That leads to what persnickety researchers call an "observational bias." Which is why University of California at Santa Cruz professor...

Your Privacy Is An Illusion: Stern man in cheap wig wants your DNA
Lord Justice Sedley, pictured here looking prim, has ruled that every person living in or visiting the United Kingdom ought to submit his or her DNA to a nationwide criminal database, to offset the presumed bias against "ethnic minorities" who make up the bulk of the existing database. Apparently, this guy is a high-ranking official in the United Kingdom's judicial offices, though you wouldn't guess that based on the ill-fitting getup. (Seriously, polyester hair is so ugh.) Note: An unnamed Valleywag colleague originally misread his name as Smedley, not Sedley. We are all in agreement that the Lord Justice should look into changing his surname for our greater amusement. He can skip the DNA sample, though.

Media: A turnabout for Business 2.0's former boss
Time Inc. has officially announced Business 2.0's closure in an internal memo obtained by Jossip. In it, Time Inc. executive John Squires explains that folding in some of Business 2.0's staff into Fortune will give it "the largest San Francisco bureau of any major business publication." The Wall Street Journal bureau will still be twice its size, but never mind -- we assume Squires meant "magazine." No, what's interesting in the memo is what's not said.Former B2 editor Josh Quittner, left, will get the title of executive editor, and Squires gives props to his tech chops in the memo. But Squires doesn't mention that as such, Quittner will be outranked by his predecessor, Jim Aley, right, who departed B2 abruptly in 2002 to rejoin Fortune after Quittner arrived to take over the magazine. From what we hear, Aley, an assistant managing editor and the director of Fortune's technology coverage will be the de facto boss of the tech-focused bureau, not Quittner. (Full disclosure:...

Search: Facebook's threat to people search
There are two possible side effects to Facebook's decision to let just anyone traipse through its student-union grounds. Since Facebook is easily one of the largest repositories of personal information, it creates a one-stop shop for such data. This means, hopefully, that people-search startups like Spock and the rest will be kicked to the curb, as users pass them up for Facebook's superior interface. Or, in another scenario, Facebook's move could be adding fuel to the fire. Next thing we know, Spock will be rolling our Facebook networks, complete with information about our school, work, and personal interests, into its profiles. And unlike Facebook, there's no control over what gets added to your Spock profile.

Online Advertising: Electronic Arts is jumping into the ad-supported ...
Electronic Arts is jumping into the ad-supported videogame field with a new title called Game Show. The free sports-trivia game is launching in October. Videogame publishers have been experimenting with the free-to-play business model as an alternative to the traditional model of charging for games, but EA's move is one of the biggest yet. [GameDaily Biz]

Google China: Peeking inside Google China
The San Francisco Chronicle has another look into Google's China offices. The pictures come from inside the Googleplex Zhongguancun (say that five times fast -- hint, the "c" is pronounced "ts"). Most importantly, there's a rundown of a typical lunch menu -- seafood pizza, pumpkin risotto, braised mushroom with bamboo and steamed crab. The most interesting takeaway? Google China's head, the underemployed, noncompeting Kai-Fu Lee, has his workspace on the traditionally unlucky fourth floor, though he pooh-poohs any talk of bad luck. "We don't believe in superstition." Good for you, Kai-Fu. We've always thought that "don't be evil" was an old engineer's tale, too.

IPhone: Add another layer of losers to Apple's iPhone ...
Add another layer of losers to Apple's iPhone price reduction announcement -- the hordes of eBay resellers trying to profit from the no longer quite so divine Jesusphone. [eBay]

Venture Capital: Kleiner searches for a little Google magic
VC blogger Paul Kedrosky points out that famed venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has revamped its website to highlight a search box squarely on its front page. This, of course, a mere eight years after it invested in Google. Kedrosky notes that there are no results returned for "business plan" -- good luck searching your way into Kleiner's portfolio -- but we noticed something else that struck us as amusing. While searching for mentions of Kleiner partner John Doerr's infamous, tear-drenched appearance at this year's TED conference, the result was topped off with a sponsored ad for Ted, United Airlines' low-cost carrier. Well, that's one way to boost the value of Kleiner's Google holdings.

Your Privacy Is An Illusion: Facebook gets greedy for traffic
It was inevitable the moment Facebook let any old Internet user sign up to stalk friends, acquaintances and strangers. The social network is now opening up its walled garden to the masses -- and the Web. Unregistered guests will be able to search through limited profiles from the site's homepage, and soon Google and other search engines will start indexing the site. A sensible ploy by Facebook, of course, to boost traffic by getting your second cousins, great grandmother, and neighborhood bully onto Facebook's site, without the bother of registration. Facebook is giving its users a month to set their privacy settings and limit their ability to be found. You may be able to control what unwelcome visitors see, but that doesn't make them any more welcome.

Ipo: Sony's continued financial woes -- a projected ...
Sony's continued financial woes -- a projected loss of $630 million in its fiscal fourth quarter -- have led it to offer up Japanese insurance subsidary Sony Financial as a sacrificial lamb. It's selling off 33 percent of the company in an initial public offering on October 1, and will use the proceeds to fund its electronics and gaming divisions. Wait: Why was Sony in the insurance business in the first place? [Bloomberg]

Great Moments In Journalism: AllThingsD blogger John Paczkowzki, he of ...
AllThingsD blogger John Paczkowzki, he of the hypnotic eyebrows, outdid the rest of the geek press corps at today's Apple iPod event. While others used souped-up EVDO-equipped laptops, Paczkowzki liveblogged the event entirely on his now-outdated, overpriced iPhone. [AllThingsD]

Great Moments In Pr: Google kicks out the nerd media
Google has summarily disinvited Dan Frommer, editor at New York-based tech blog Silicon Alley Insider, from its October 3 press soiree. The excuse? A Google spokesperson told him that "this event is very much consumer-focused and based on your coverage, the content does not seem aligned with your topic area." As if Google itself fits in better with the content produced by invited guests W and Women's Wear Daily? Right. Sounds like an insecure college freshman, trying to associate with the sorority girls and cut ties from longtime nerd friends, lest she seem uncool by association. Watch out, though, Google PR. You think by inviting people from "consumer-focused" women's magazines, you're going to avoid hard tech questions and be able to give them the cutesy party line about the greatness of Google? It's not going to work that way. You're just opening yourself up to questions about Eric Schmidt's gal pal Marcy Simon. These magazines don't know much about tech, but they sure do...

Conflicts Of Interest: Arrogant Googlers tempt the gods
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. I'm not sure if Euripides, the Greek playwright, had Google's management team in mind when he wrote that, but it sure fits. Google, despite the occasional lost deal, billion-dollar lawsuit, and PR black eye, continues to succeed spectacularly as a business. "Somehow they continue shitting more money than you or i could realistically comprehend," writes one Valleywag reader. Indeed. And that money is driving the people who run Google insane. CEO Eric Schmidt's cosseting of girlfriend Marcy Simon with a plum PR job is just the latest, most blatant sign of that madness.When Google went public, it set up a two-class system of shares, ensuring that Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, not Wall Street, would rule the company. Intended to shield the company from short-term pressures to goose earnings at the expense of long-term growth, this structure has encouraged a tendency to insular thinking that, in turn, has lead to arrogance....

Your Privacy Is An Illusion: Big Brother is driving cabs off the road in New York
How typical of Gawker to report on a story -- in this case, the New York taxi strike -- and obliviously miss the tech angle. Why are some New York City taxi drivers going on strike? Why, they're protesting a requirement that cabs be outfitted with GPS transponders. The GPS devices, some contend, could be used to track drivers' movements. Corporate employees endure similar snooping of their every move on the Web, thanks to email-scanning and Web-tracking software installed by their overlords -- and yet you don't see them going on strike. Our guess is that access to porn and Flash games isn't as important to tech workers as the threat of vehicle tracking is to cabdrivers. Whatever. If this means that we'll actually be able to get a cab in Brooklyn, we say track those bastards down to the last foot. (Photo by sposnick)

Surly Adopter: Apple slashes iPhone prices
Did you rush out and buy an iPhone the moment they went on sale? Then there's a word for you: SUCKER. After rolling out a new line of iPods, including touchscreen models that do everything an iPhone does but make calls, Apple has dropped the price on the cheapest iPhone to $399, a 20-percent slashing. Of course, Apple's iPhone is competing with heavily subsidized cell-phone models, which rapidly drop in price after soaking the early adopters for everything they're worth. It should come as no surprise to the technically adept, gadget-lusting geeks who splashed out for an iPhone early on. We just hope that paying $100 for two months of insufferable smugness was worth it.

Apple: The fanboys are amazed by Apple's completely ...
The fanboys are amazed by Apple's completely new iPod lineup. Wall Street? Not so much. Apple shares are down almost 3 percent. [Yahoo Finance]

Venture Capital: Google goes from sugar daddy to supplicant
How quickly things change. In late 2005, Google's Chris Sacca bragged to Business 2.0 about how the company was buying young startups outright, snatching them out of the hands of venture capitalists. Unsurprisingly for a Sacca-led initiative, that approach has seemingly faltered. Now, BusinessWeek writes, Google is seeking to make venture investments of its own. BusinessWeek spins it as a new rivaly for Google -- but it's actually a comedown. Once able to buy a startup in toto, and absorb its engineering talent into its ceaselessly expanding ranks, Google must now settle for a piece of the action. It's also a sign of the expanding pool of venture-capital cash, the increasing ambitions of entrepreneurs, and the inflating value of tech stocks. Why take a Google buyout offer now, when you can entertain dreams of an IPO?

Real Estate: Make room for Marcy Simon! Google is expanding ...
Make room for Marcy Simon! Google is expanding its offices in West Chelsea, taking space in the Chelsea Market building across the street from its current digs. [New York Observer]

Confirmed: A Google spokesperson obliquely concedes, ...
A Google spokesperson obliquely concedes, in a follow-up item on Valleywag's scoop, that Marcy Simon, CEO Eric Schmidt's gal pal, is working as a consultant at the company. [New York Post]

Palm: Remembering the Foleo
Were you actually looking forward to the release of the Foleo, Palm's underpowered Linux laptop meant to be a companion to its Treo smartphones? Crushed that it was cancelled? Relive the Foleo's brief glory days thanks to this clip of Jeff Hawkins demonstrating the device on AllThingsD.com.

Palm: The folly of Jeff Hawkins
For years now, Palm cofounder Jeff Hawkins has been promising his company will come up with "a new product category" -- some leap of the imagination, akin to the original PalmPilot handheld organizer, that will define an entirely new submarket of gadgets. The Treo smartphone was, genuinely, such an advance. And the way Hawkins talked up the Foleo, the lightweight, underpowered Linux laptop he revealed at the D: All Things Digital conference earlier this year, you'd have thought it, too, was a real breakthrough. Hawkins may have fooled himself, but he fooled no one else, including, at long last, Palm's own management. Palm is taking a $10 million charge against earnings to cancel the development of Foleo -- and this on the eve of its release.Palm CEO Ed Colligan, a longtime associate of Hawkins, blogged the news yesterday, less than two weeks after Engadget editor-in-chief demanded the Foleo's cancellation -- a screed for which Colligan, masochistically thanked Rojas. (I'm not...