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  • July 30th, 2012

    Critic Of NBC Olympics Coverage Has Twitter Account Suspended for Posting Exec’s Email

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    Twitter shut down Independent reporter Guy Adams after he tweeted a top NBC executive’s email address. Adams has been a staunch critic of NBC’s Olympics coverage, tweeting up a storm about NBC’s factual inaccuracies and other broadcast shortcomings.

    Adams tweeted the corporate email address of Gary Zenkel, President of the NBC Olympics.  → Read More

    July 27th, 2012

    Pinwheel Changes Name To Findery Following Injunction

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    Location-based note-sharing app Pinwheel has changed its name to Findery, after the U.S. District Court of New York granted Pinweel, a photo-sharing app, a preliminary injunction over the similar names.

    In February, Caterina Fake (yep, last name Fake involved in a naming-rights lawsuit…I can’t make this stuff up) launched Pinwheel. The older Pinweel demanded that Pinwheel change its name… → Read More

    July 25th, 2012

    Greek Athlete Kicked Off Olympic Team For Tweet

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    Voula Papachristou, Greece’s triple-jump champion, was barred from competing in the London Olympic Games by the Hellenic Olympic Committee after an offensive tweet on Monday.

    She tweeted, “with so many Africans in Greece, at least the West Nile mosquitos will be eating food from their own home.” → Read More

    July 20th, 2012

    LessAccounting Claims They Turned Down Acquisition Offer From “Low Moral Fiber” GoDaddy

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    On Wednesday, I reported that GoDaddy acquired cloud-based financial management application company Outright, with all 24 employees joining GoDaddy. Now, web and mobile app developer LessEverthing tells me they turned down an offer from GoDaddy in 2009. → Read More

    July 11th, 2012

    How Not To Deal With The Media Part 94: Entitlement Edition

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    We interrupt our normal programming to bring you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the daily lives of your friendly neighbourhood tech writer. Now, over the years TechCrunch has grown up a little more, but even to this day we enjoy being a little punchy from time to time. Why else do you think we have a “Drama” category? But day-to-day we try to act professionally, even when things don’t go to… → Read More

    July 6th, 2012

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    The tech news cycle is a desperate bitch, as we’ve brought up before; A brief rundown of yesterday’s bitchmeme sparked by a mere tweet from my colleague MG Siegler once again proves how absurd it is.

    “I used to love to plant one really weird bit of random information (sometimes even false) into stories to catch the rewrites,” MG wrote in response to developer Marco Arment’s concise analysis… → Read More

    July 3rd, 2012

    Please Welcome Alex Williams, Greg Ferenstein, Christine Ying And TechCrunch Interns Billy Gallagher And Natalie Swope

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    You may have noticed some new bylines popping up these past couple of days. You’re not hallucinating! We’ve quietly made several new additions to the TechCrunch roster this summer and hiring continues to be our first priority across all departments.

    In addition to specialist writers like Alex Williams and Greg Ferenstein, we’ve added a couple of interns and a rockstar product manager to our… → Read More

    June 29th, 2012

    Alexia’s Headphones: How We Used CrowdTilt’s Group-Funding Platform To Replace Stolen Property

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    On the 25th of June, our dearest Alexia Tsotsis had an incredibly rough day.

    First, her car was looted by very bad people in San Francisco, who stole her laptop and a pair of excellent Bose headphones that were near and dear to her heart. And as if that wasn’t enough, her car then got smashed by someone running a red light, totaling her vehicle and leaving her in quite a bit of pain.

    When… → Read More

    June 22nd, 2012

    We Need A Whole Section On TC Called “Intern PR”

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    Pro tip: Don’t let the following happen to your PR pitch/intern.

    So I know this is a particularly egregious case of “pot calling the kettle black” (I personally am a Black Belt in typos) but, instead of being psyched up to “Party Our Apps Off!”at Google i/o next week, our team has been discussing the simple grammar mistake in the subject line of the below email for at least 30 minutes this… → Read More

    May 22nd, 2012

    Tim Armstrong — I Love TechCrunch And It Made AOL Cool Again

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    A panel run by TechCrunch’s Josh Constine with with Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL and Melissa Brenner of the NBA was billed as being about how social advertising is working for those content brands. In the end, we heard a lot more about the future path of AOL and TechCrunch perhaps. But let’s review.

    Armstrong admitted that AOL was originally built as a portal and on a subscription model but that… → Read More

    May 9th, 2012

    Status Update

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    So first things first: We’re not being sold! Instead, we’ve just hired a bunch of brilliant writers and a new COO. Also, we have seen a resurgence of community support (with over a thousand people attending our NYC meetup last night, for example), are back at around 12% on the much-lauded Techmeme leaderboard and are gearing up for our NYC Disrupt conference.

    Our traffic is up with regards… → Read More

    May 4th, 2012

    Please Also Welcome Ryan Lawler, TechCrunch’s Newest New Star Writer

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    We’ve been writing so many “please welcome star writer” posts lately that we’re having to work hard to think of new versions of that headline. But that’s the only painful part of this one, as we’re very excited to announce that pro blogger Ryan Lawler will be joining the team on Monday.

    You might know him for his work over last five years covering various media, telecom, online video, and — as… → Read More

    April 25th, 2012

    Please Welcome TechCrunch’s New COO, Veteran Exec And Entrepreneur Ned Desmond

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    There’s lots going on behind the scenes here at TechCrunch — not only are we hiring top writers and putting together a kick-ass lineup for Disrupt in New York next month, we’re also getting a chief operating officer (among other moves soon to be announced).

    Ned Desmond, a veteran media executive from Time Inc and more recently an entrepreneur, will be joining us as COO on May 7th. He’s… → Read More

    April 10th, 2012

    Please Welcome Peter Ha, Frederic Lardinois And New Co-Editor Alexia Tsotsis

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    Sure, legends like Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle don’t play for the Yankees now, but the team hasn’t just survived the ups and downs over the years. Hate it or love it, the franchise attracts many of the best players in baseball today, and wins championships.

    That’s TechCrunch, too.

    Peter Ha is returning to us after a few very solid years of editing successes under his belt. He started out as… → Read More

    April 5th, 2012

    Arianna Huffington No Longer Runs The Aol Tech Sites

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    You know every once in a while you come across news about your company and it turns out your boss is no longer your boss anymore. If you’re me this probably happens to you every three months.

    Anyways this morning I read in the media that Arianna Huffington (who I think used to be my boss) gained more control within Aol and then subsequently read that actually she had been “demoted.” Okay truth… → Read More

    April 4th, 2012

    I’m Back

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    Hey! So TechCrunch Disrupt New York is just around the corner on May 19-23. So, what, you say, you don’t work here any more, right? (for the newer TechCrunch readers, I’m the guy who founded the site)

    Well, yeah, I don’t work here any more because Aol fired me last year. Lots has been written about that. No need to rehash it all here. We’ve all moved on. → Read More

    March 31st, 2012

    Tired Of Straight Tech News? Check Out Techcrunch.com/Drama

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    We know that many of you visit TechCrunch on the regular for a hearty dose of startup coverage, general tech news and opinionated coverage of the tech zeitgeist. But we also know that the trainwreck posting on our hirings and firings, Aol spats, tech gossip and quibbles between staff is what really gets your fingers clicking and blood boiling.

    I mean, it’s like a car accident, you can’t help… → Read More

    March 2nd, 2012

    Please Welcome Kim-Mai Cutler, TechCrunch’s Newest Star Writer

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    TechCrunch has been staffing up with writers who have worked at top publications in Silicon Valley and around the world – we’re not new to this, we’re true to this. And, Kim-Mai Cutler, our newest hire, is particularly true.

    Like Josh and I, she was brought to TechCrunch from Inside Network by Erick Schonfeld. In her last job, she directed coverage of the mobile app ecosystem and became an… → Read More

    February 28th, 2012

    Esprit De TechCrunch

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    If there’s anything to be learned from the past year, it’s that media people are mostly power vultures — pulling out their forks and knives at the slight sign of vulnerability from those that have influence. Oftentimes some are so eager for the kill that they slip up and impale themselves on those very knives — the pattern repeats over and over again.

    Earlier this month, after being beat up… → Read More

    February 27th, 2012

    Goodbye Erick, Hello Eric

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    TechCrunch has been through a lot lately, and we need to focus on what truly matters: covering startups and innovation. So, this post is going to be short.

    But here is what’s going on: Erick Schonfeld is leaving and Eric Eldon is replacing him as editor.

    What can you expect from TechCrunch now? → Read More

    February 24th, 2012

    Jason, May The Force Be With You

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    One of the marks of a great blogger is following your convictions and convincing the world of the truth you know in your heart. Jason Kincaid is that blogger, whether he is calling out Apple for enabling patent trolls or VEVO’s hypocrisy in using pirated video at an event. Jason joined TechCrunch in 2008 straight out of college. He learned fast and just kept getting better, even veering off into… → Read More

    February 14th, 2012

    Goodbye Robin (And Greg)

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    Here’s why I love TechCrunch; because I’m going to just post this a little before midnight, and I dare someone to take it down while I sleep.

    I. triple. dog. dare. you. :P

    Anyways today we hired a bunch of people (Hi Colleen! Hi Ingrid!) and made some existing people Super Ninja Princesses or something, but in the meantime we lost two crucial members of our team to competitors, Mobile Editor… → Read More

    February 3rd, 2012

    Arianna Wants To Put A Nap Room In TechCrunch HQ. LOL.

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    Silicon Valley absolutely, positively doesn’t need a nap room because in theory we don’t sleep, let alone nap (and if we do need to nap — like in an emergency — we take that shiz home, far far away from hungry competitors!).

    Please Aol Mr. Sr. Facilities Manager, take that money and buy us a bunch of Diet Coke to drink late at night or that great beef jerky we used to have or a copyediting… → Read More

    January 16th, 2012

    TC Alum Sarah Lacy Launches New Tech Blog, PandoDaily

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    In case you hadn’t noticed, the state of technology reporting isn’t exactly refreshing these days. There’s a lot of the same news getting rehashed over and over. There’s a lot of interesting stuff that isn’t getting discussed at all because it doesn’t have the word ‘Apple’ in the headline. And there are some bylines that used to appear on this site that have been unceremoniously pushed out of the… → Read More

    January 13th, 2012

    Tech News Can Be So Dramatic

    So I tend to think of news in this industry as falling into two basic categories 1) Boring as fuck 2) So hyper-dramatic I feel like I need to take a ton of anti-anxiety medication just to read Techmeme.

    While tons of crap posts this week have fallen into the former category, a few have fallen into the latter, mostly MG Siegler’s work surrounding Google’s failed efforts at, well, anything→ Read More

    December 21st, 2011

    Aol Shareholders Freak Out Over Exec Departures — As They Should

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    More than a fair amount of business success hinges on telling stories about the future. The reason Yahoo’s market cap is down to $19.83 billion from a high of $55 billion is because shareholders don’t believe that it has a future. The reason Aol bought Bebo for $850 million (a little over half of Aol’s current market cap!) is that at the time it essentially believed — after processing analysis… → Read More

    December 16th, 2011

    Goodbye, Heather

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    Heather Harde, the business brains behind TechCrunch, will be stepping down at the end of the year as general manager of AOL’s technology properties (including TechCrunch, Engadget, Joystiq, and TUAW). AOL GM Jay Kirsch, who oversees Autos, Finance, and Industry on the business side, will be adding Tech to his responsibilities. Editorially, TechCrunch will remain independent under me. (Editorial… → Read More

    November 18th, 2011

    The Rumors Are True. I Am Leaving TechCrunch.

    This won’t come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I am leaving TechCrunch.

    My departure is something people have speculated about since Michael Arrington’s ouster two months ago, but it wasn’t an easy decision for me. This isn’t a knee-jerk reaction out of loyalty for my friend, nor is it about making a big “F-you, AOL!” statement. I’ve spent the bulk of my maternity leave agonizing about… → Read More

    October 3rd, 2011

    MG Siegler Will Become Our Apple Columnist, And Join CrunchFund As A VC

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    When I first reached out to MG Siegler to join TechCrunch two and a half years ago, I knew he was an amazing talent who could help cement our place as the premier technology blog on the Internet. Ever since Michael and I hired him, he has not disappointed. As his TechCrunch power has grown, others have noticed his talents as well. Everyone from the New York Times to every one of our… → Read More

    September 21st, 2011

    The End Of TechCrunch: The Song

    At the risk of not only beating a dead horse, but cremating it with self-reflective posts, this video is too good not to post. Jonathan Mann, our favorite singer/songwriter is back with a song about what else: the end of TechCrunch.

    As we begin this new era, it’s a fitting tribute to the old one. TechCrunch is dead, long live TechCrunch. → Read More