Twitter vs. Facebook: Who's Got the Most Superficially Cool Offices?
Photography Lounge wondered which of Silicon Valley's two hottest startups had the coolest office. A better question: If Twitter and Facebook are such game-changers, why do their staff work in such depressingly old-fashioned conditions? Sure, both offices offer the self-consciously hip common areas that have been endemic to internet companies since the late 1990s. Witness the pictures of video games, couches and even mattresses in some of the pictures below (via Photography Lounge). But it's been 20 years since the publication of Peopleware, the popular software productivity bible that showed how quiet, private offices made programmers more productive. Some software entrepreneurs, most notably New York-based Joel Spolsky, have managed to implement this humane, practical idea on a startup's budget. At Twitter in Facebook, the staff are smushed together in crowded, open-plan offices. And one of these pictures makes it look like Twitter has people working in the basement or something? For all the superficial nods to the sensibilities of their workers, neither Facebook nor Twitter appears to have invested much in the spaces where these people spend the lion's share of their days. Sure, these companies are growing fast. But Facebook just moved into a new HQ and is supposedly doing $500 million per year in revenue. Which just goes to show that while Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are constantly changing their game, like for the Valley's office drones remains all too similar, boom after boom. At least at these two companies some of the staff have a decent shot at earning a windfall off their stock options — and saying goodbye to Valley programmer pens forever. Some kind of... sitting bed? Sexxxy. At Facebook. DJ tables! W00t! At Facebook, obviously. Facebook is not just a social network, it's also your number one Palo Alto destination for INSANELY discounted HiFi components! The less cool side of Facebook. No view of the outdoors for YOU! Even more depressing, somehow. At Facebook. Surely Twitter's cooler, with this arcade game! And this cool TV room, with the green deer! (Twitter HQ) But it can get a little crowded... (Twitter HQ) ...especially near the precious, sweet sunlight.... (Twitter HQ) ...but also even in the cork dungeon! MORE >>
How Grace Coddington Stole The September Issue from Anna Wintour
When Anna Wintour agreed to the Vogue documentary The September Issue, she probably thought it would be the greatest stop on the Make-People-Like-Me-Before-My-Contract-Is-Up Tour 2009. Too bad she is cast as the villain to Grace Coddington's triumphant hero. Coddington is the magazine's creative director and is in charge of the majority of photo shoots. This former model—who worked at British Vogue and Calvin Klein before starting at American Vogue on the same day as Wintour—is often described as a "genius," including by Wintour herself in R.J. Cutler's documentary (out this Friday!). It appears that she is the only person willing and able to stand up to the Ice Queen of the fashion world and still escape with her life. A consensus seems to be quickly forming that Coddington is the unlikely victor is this glossy cage match. In the New York Times, Cutler says, "[Anna] is cool, [Grace] is warm and languid," he said. "Anna is all about 'next,' and Grace is most interested in a historical perspective on art and fashion. Every time they got together, sparks flew." The Associated Press writes, "Coddington seems to pump passion and artistic integrity into the pages while not being swept up in the celebrity frenzy that seems synonymous with fashion these days." Even Maureen Dowd calls it to attention "There is friction in the Mick Jagger-Keith Richards relationship between the 59-year-old Anna and her closest collaborator, the 68-year-old flame-haired creative director and former model Grace Coddington, who is the only one willing to tweak "the Pope," as Anna is dubbed by a staffer. Coddington tells French Vogue, "We have a real mutual respect for each other, even though sometimes I feel like killing her." The feisty, flame-haired visionary didn't want to be filmed and only relented at Anna's behest. But watching the documentary, you'd barely know it: she charms Cutler's (and thus, in some ways, Wintour's) film crew and soon is using them for her advantage by talking money with Anna on camera so that she can't cancel her budget. This dame knows how to play the game and isn't afraid to fight dirty, but she doesn't do it in the name of flighty Fashion (with a capital F) but she does it for art, which gives her a nobler cause. Here she is in full-on exasperation: At one point in the film, she counsels a junior editor who just suffered one of Anna's tongue lashings, "Don't be too nice, not even to me, because you'll lose. You have to beat your way through." And that is just what Coddington does. She admits that both she and Wintour are stubborn, adding, "I know when to stop pushing her, but she doesn't know when to stop pushing me." One of the greatest scenes in the movie comes when the two share a long, awkward, silent elevator ride together on the way to visit Jean Paul Gaultier. It seems the only reason these two tolerate each other is for the good of the magazine. Eventually, Coddington gets so palsy-walsy that she puts one of the... MORE >>
The Night Peggy Got Some
Don and Roger both deal with dramatic changes to their home life, Ken goes on the offensive against Pete, the Brits ruin everything, and Peggy got laid. We always knew she'd be good in the sack. If last night's episode is still lingering in your DVR like cigarette smoke in the Sterling Cooper office, read this later. Otherwise, inhale our fresh dissection of last night's happenings. It's better than Patio and Ann-Margret combined! 1. Peggy Goes Down: After being nearly ignored last week, it's great to see our favorite female copywriter steal the show. Thanks to a seeing how her male coworkers react to a sexy Ann-Margaret in Bye Bye Birdie (which is coming back to Broadway!) Peggy plays the part of a sexy vixen, first at home in the mirror and then at a bar where she picks up a nice, young gentleman. She masks her profession to land the engineering student, faking like she's a receptionist as to not put him off. After a steamy run-in on the couch, she leaves in the middle of the night. She behaves like a girly girl to get the guy, but then behaves like a man once she's had her way. Where This Is Going: Peggy is well on her way to becoming an emancipated woman. She's got the sex part down, next week she goes for the drugs, so she should be into rock 'n' roll by season's end. 2. Don's Father-in-Law Comes to Stay: Looks like the bun in Betty's oven isn't going to be the only new arrival in the Draper household. Don, the man who ditched his extended family, makes the decision to have his senile (or Alzheimer's-afflicted) father-in-law move in. Is this what Don is afraid of, being old and alone and alienated from a family that doesn't want to care for him? It was sweet to see the new Draper family portrait at the end of the episode (with Betty wearing her amazing shades), but we all know it's too good to last. Where This Is Going: The decision to bring Papa into the house made Betty happy, but how well is she going to deal with two children, a newborn, and her father who thinks the cops are coming for his hooch? And they let gramps have a car! This will end badly. 3. Roger's Family Troubles: Roger's daughter is getting married and doesn't want his child bride to be at the wedding. In a double blow to his ego, his ex-wife has a date to the shindig, proving that life can actually go on without Roger. Anyway, he insists that his family get used to Jane, whether they like it or not. Where This Is Going: Once a cheater, always a cheater. While his new wife becomes more inconvenient for his lifestyle, Roger will react the only way he knows how, by bedding more women. And female distractions are exactly what he needs, with his business crumbling around him. 4. The Brits Say "No" to Madison Square Garden: After Price tells Don to go after Madison Square Garden, which is facing public opposition to knocking down Penn Station to build the arena, Don naturally lands the account. However, Price says that the home office doesn't want the business after all. And... MORE >>
Skankblogger Is The Real Victim Here
All Rosemary Port (pictured) wanted to do was start an anonymous blog calling some skank a "psychotic, lying whore," and now Rosemary's reputation is being dragged through the mud! Outrageous. After alleged skank model Liskula Cohen went to court and got Google to reveal Port's identity last week, this case has become the Most Important Moral Question of Our Time. And since the Post has signed on as Liskula Cohen's official blowjob journalism provider, Rosemary Port ran to the Daily News to tell her sad, sad tale of woe. She says the following things! "This has become a public spectacle and a circus that is not my doing...I feel my right to privacy has been violated." Now she is suing Google! If anyone deserves millions in damages here, it is skankblogger Rosemary Port. One thing she has going for her is that Liskula Cohen and her attorney are none too bright. A man who passed the bar exam says: "If we had thought for a minute that the Google case would have brought more attention to the anonymous blogger's site, we never would have started it." It's like trying to pick sides in Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla! MORE >>
Scientology Jargon in Action: Squirrels, Locationals and Time Tracks
Scientology's quest to perfect humanity never rests, not even on the weekend. Which is why this member of the cult's elite "Sea Org" spent his Saturday yelling at an infidel about his inevitable and pathetic death. The guy with the camera, ex-Scientologist "Axiom142," spotted some Sea Org staffers getting off a van in East Grinstead, England, and pulled out his camera. The Scientologist he ended up talking to supposedly holds the church's highest ranking, OT-8, and advised him to "destimulate from your... electronic incident" or die in agony. Then the Scientologist called him a squirrel. This is a lethal insult, in his native Canada! One of the tipsters who pointed us to this video also included a handy translation guide: You might need a translator to understand what's going on there, but that just adds to the appeal. I'll do my best to try to explain the jargon: The "time track" or "whole track" is the entirety of all the lives a person's "thetan" (soul/spirit) has lived before. Being stuck on an "incident" means that something in this life, or more likely a past life is holding you back. Not only something that happened to you, but most likely something wrong you did. A common Scientologists find is in a past life they were a Nazi. "The Bridge" is the name for some one's rank or level attained in Scientology, such as the infamous OT III or Clear. It is said by ex-Scientologists on the web that the man in this video is George Baillie, an OT VIII, which the highest level one can attain in Scientology.[1] A "squirrel" is a derogatory term for anyone who perverts Scientology text or doctrine. The "Sea Org" is Scientology's paramilitary branch, which holds little parallel to any other religious group. The closest thing I can think of is a combination of joining a faux-navy combined with a clergy, but with way worse living conditions and far more abuse. "Re-stimulated" means being affected by an "incident" very strongly. A "locational" is attempting through Scientology methods to locate and discuss said "incident" until it is no longer a problem. An "S.P." is a "suppressive person" the general term applied to people who are against Scientology, or bad for society. The Scientology view holds these things are one and the same. OSA is the Office of Special Affairs, the Church of Scientology's private investigation's branch and internal intelligence agency. Like the CIA for Scientology. An "electronic incident" may refer to some form of brain washing implemented in a past life, likely by a psychiatrist and or alien. [1] http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/g/george-baillie.html [via YouTube] MORE >>
The Backlash Against Laura Ling and Euna Lee Begins
Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee automatically became heroes after being snatched up by the North Korean government, because that's just how things work, in America. But some activists overseas think the women hurt more than they helped. Activists in South Korea and China who help North Korean refugees flee their shitty country say that when Ling and Lee were arrested, the entire refugee-saving program was compromised. One South Korean pastor who had helped guide Ling and Lee on their reporting trip says that just days after their arrest, the police came knocking, and confronted him with video footage that the Current reporters had taken of his operation. He tells the NYT: The Rev. Lee Chan-woo, a South Korean pastor, said the police raided his home in China on March 19, four days after the journalists visited and filmed a secret site where he looked after children of North Korean refugee women. He said that he was then deported in early April and that his five secret homes for refugees were shut down. The children, he said, were dispersed to family members in China, who could not afford to take care of them. The organization in question, called Durihana, is pissed. They say Ling and Lee were reckless, and that Current didn't follow up with the group quickly enough to keep tabs on what was happening after the reporters' arrest. Understandable, but not fair. You can hardly blame Ling and Lee for having their records snatched after they were arrested. Could they have been more careful? Maybe. But they wanted to get a story in North Korea, and that involves risk. There's no getting around it. And just as the reporters take risks to get the story, organizations speaking to the reporters voluntarily take risks by speaking to the media. The reward is getting the message out about North Korean refugees; the risk is having what happened happen. Had Ling and Lee not been imprisoned in North Korea, they surely would have done everything they could to ensure the privacy of the refugee group. But they had this problem: they were imprisoned in North Korea. If you want to blame someone, blame Kim Jong-Il, for being a crazy evil bastard. Perhaps a kind soul will toss Durihana a book contract, too, to salve the wounds. MORE >>
Prison Snitches Say Madoff Has Cancer
Bernie Madoff's post-criminal career has been filled with indignities: house arrest, poverty for his wife, and unflattering penis size revelations. And now he may have cancer. Which would be worse than all of the above, yes. The New York Post has been working the attention-starved prison sources at Madoff's new home hard, and they're snitching, lots. They say Bernie is taking "20 pills a day for his cancer" and is "not doing very well." [His cancer had been rumored even before his trial—You may recall that Bernie's prison in Butner, NC has an entire hospital facility attached for old and/ or sick prisoners.] For all the hatred of Madoff and death wishes hurled at him during his trial, it's still sad to hear something like this now. He's become one of America's most pitiful figures. But perhaps he's finally found some real friends—prisoners tell the Post that he's taking part in sweat lodges, working painting fences, and being catered to by various prison cliques who'd like to recruit him, for some reason. He's apparently decided against the Nazi Low Riders or the Black Guerilla Family: Madoff is also making new friends at the prison complex through another unlikely clique — the homosexual posse, although the relationships are purely platonic, according to the sources. [Pic: AP] MORE >>
Does Gay Action Make AMC Nervous?
We noticed something queer about Mad Men this week. Well, actually, it was on last week's episode — and it has us scratching our heads over AMC's gay-related anxiety levels. Don't worry, we won't ruin anything about tonight's episode, but we will wonder, aloud, why last week's episode came complete with a "mature audiences" warning, while tonight's did not. Could it be that last week's episode featured some man-on-man action? Yes, the aforementioned action was a bit racy — hand down boxers! — but c'mon! AMC has been quite cutting edge in its original programming and we commend Mad Men's delicacy in dealing with a closeted character living in the Sixties, but this has us shaking our virtual heads a bit. There are so many other things that could have been warned against, like the rape, racism, possibly even the pot smoking. Even if we were to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that AMC put the warning up after receiving hell for the show's first two scandalous seasons, why didn't they warn against some of the "adult" topics in tonight's episode, including some slightly naughty language, an advertisement that read "Rape on 34th St." and little Peggy Olson getting randy with things "other" than sex? Thus, we're a bit astonished - dare we say "mad?" - about the singular notification. [Image via] MORE >>
Click here to safely unsubscribe now from "Gawker: Top Stories" or change your subscription or subscribe
| Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498 |
No comments:
Post a Comment