Gossip

So apparently Larry Ellison’s 13-year-old house in Atherton is on the block. The property now boasts: — Approximately 8.000 sq. ft. of living space, 7 bedrooms, and 2.81 acres — Japanese style strolling gardens, with decks, ponds, waterfalls, koi pond and in-ground spa off the master suite — Authentic Japanese tea house — A dark-bottomed, free-form swimming pool which blends into the landscape Perhaps this is to fund either his new yacht, or his new donation to Harvard. Place your…

Ok, I get the fact that X is clearly the new W, which was the new black, but really. At least any of those are better than 802.11a/b/g/n. “Demonstrating that broadband wireless communications can occur at such micro-power levels in the presence of interfering signals overturns long-held industry ideas,” said xGTM President Joe Bobier in a statement in May. “What is really exciting, however, is that xMax’s unique signal profile is a perfect fit for low frequency channels that have…

That’s right, a quick check of my referral logs show that the good folks over at WookieFetish.com, or more accurately, their forum, seemed to pay attention to my post about Greenlighters. Welcome, friends. (More below the fold)

San Francisco Missed Connections: i was walking along market street towards powell, you were headed in the opposite direction. i was with a friend; stood 5’7′ (cause of my sandals) wore a denim miniskirt, and had a black cap on.. you were about 6’1′, wore blue jeans and a green shirt. you have the most gorgeous eyes, and i wish i said something, but was too shy.. we looked at each other, i looked away, and when i looked back…

We all knew this, but Johns Hopkins and Stanford had to go and prove it. TV makes you dumber, and computers make you smarter. The press release goes on to describe how third graders in Northern California do better on standardized tests if they have a computer in addition to a television at home. (Duh, better hand-eye coordination!) Overall, children who had a television set in the bedroom but did not have a computer at home scored the lowest, while…

The NYT also proves that while technology journalism can make for good writing fodder, it makes for bad photography. How many pictures of guys in collared shirts sitting in front of computers do we need? Also, I’m totally starting “The Long Tail” drinking game. 1 drink – If someone mentions “The Long Tail” 2 drinks – If someone mentions “The Long Tail” incorrectly 3 drinks – If Chris Anderson mentions “The Long Tail” 4 drinks – If Chris Anderson mentions…

So our good friends over at Popgadget have figured out a foolproof way to get women to take their shirts off, in the name of “technology research.” When I saw NuBras at a boutique store at the beach and loudly expressed skepticism at their gravity-defying properties, the nice shop owner responded by demonstrating one for me right there behind the counter. Is that really all it takes? NUBRA, FLOATING, STRAPLESS BRA

Silicon Valley’s favorite VC, Steve Jurvetson, just might want to be a little more careful next July 4th. Instead of taking photos, you might want to warn your guests to stand a little further away from the fireworks next time. 😉 Oh, and Steve: Please rememberÉ.All fireworks, except professional public firework displays are illegal and are banned in Menlo Park, Atherton, East Palo Alto, and Redwood City as well as many other cities in San Mateo County. Anyone who possesses…

Wow, IDG managed to get three sexual references in two paragraphs — in an article about Rising Sun, Ellison’s new, erm, “pleasure craft”. At some point during construction, Ellison’s yacht became 18 meters longer; exactly why is not known. Some observers speculated that the length of the vessel was increased during construction to ensure it would be bigger than the 126-meter Octopus, another yacht being built by LŸrssen for Allen. Others said the lower number may have been used to…