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By The Editors 5/17 5:36pm

shameless rumormongering

(Photo: Tumblr)

Rumor Roundup: Betabeat Becomes a Bunch of Glassholes, Prince Harry Hails a Hailo and Zuck Celebrates a Bday

Glasshole Missed Connection Betabeat finally had the distinct pleasure of trying the dorky looking face computer we love to mock so much at a party last night at Meetup HQ. We (only slightly drunkenly) approached a tall white dude donning Google Glass and timidly asked if we might be able to try it on. When we slipped on the device (in slate!), the display was incredibly blurry–not due to our eyesight, but because Glass specifically calibrates to the wearer’s eye. It was hard as hell to see, but the voice commands worked almost seamlessly, impressive since we were at a loud party.

The device’s functionality is fairly limited: you can take a picture, record video and get directions to and from places. It also has the added benefit of making you look like a complete dork while somehow also attracting swaths of attractive ladies to get up real close to your face. Read More

By The Editors 5/10 5:11pm

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The picture of despair.

Rumor Roundup: Dave McClure Calls Big Omaha Attendee a ‘Lying Bitch’ and Zynga Employees Run Into Traffic

Lying Bitches 500 Startups founder Dave McClure, known for his rather dirty mouth, made a big slip-up at the Nebraska-based thinkfluencer festival Big Omaha today. According to Valleywag, Mr. McClure was giving a talk at the conference when he asked someone how good her iPhone battery life was. When she responded with a presumably positive answer, Mr. McClure called her a “lying bitch.” On stage. In front of tons of people. Read More

By The Editors 5/03 5:44pm

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(Photo: Instagram/aubrey)

Rumor Roundup: An Ex-Tumblr Storyboarder Gets a Job and a Foursquare VP Gets Hitched

Leaning Out of Tumblr Jessica Bennett, the Tumblr employee who was laid off with the shuttering of Storyboard, announced today on Twitter that she’s taken a job with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. “Turns out being fired ain’t that bad,” she tweeted, along with a link to a Facebook post by Ms. Sandberg herself announcing Ms. Bennett’s hiring:

“So excited to welcome Jessica Bennett to the Lean In team! Jessica is joining us to run Editorial – helping us connect women all over the world with their passion for leaning in! Special thanks to Nell Scovell and Rachel Sklar for introducing us to Jessica!”

How much leaning in was required to land that job? Read More

By The Editors 4/26 5:16pm

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(Photo: Instagram)

Rumor Roundup: Zuck’s in Hawaii, While Kevin Systrom Looks So Maj Next to Rachel Zoe

Hawaii Zuck-O Look who ditched the hoodie (but kept the Adidas sandals). Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was recently spotted indulging in a little Hawaiin R&R with wifey Priscilla Chan. US Weekly reports the pair “looked excited to be spending quality time together,” which makes sense since it’s pretty easy to be happy when you’ve escaped the maw of Silicon Valley. The Zucks also “chowed down” on something called “beachside burgers” at a “picnic table.” Stars: they’re just like us (but rich). Read More

By The Editors 4/19 6:30pm

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Rumor Roundup: Eric Schmidt Had a Long Talk With Julian Assange, Plus Randi Zuckerberg Went to Japan

Cold as Schmidt Here’s a little digital memento from AllThingsDigital’s D: Dive Into Mobile conference: This is what it looks like when, rather than answering your question, Google chairman Eric Schmidt slices to the proverbial bone.

Speaking of Mr. Schmidt, goodies from his upcoming book, The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business are beginning to trickle out. Today WikiLeaks released the transcript of a five-hour conversation between Mr. Schmidt and Julian Assange, used for the book. It opens with some really riveting stuff. Mr. Schmidt: “Well do you want us to start eating?” Mr. Assange: “Well, we can do both.” Guess there’s not much time for leisurely meals in the life of a WikiLeaker. Read More

By The Editors 4/12 3:46pm

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Rumor Roundup: In Which an Angry Reader Hopes We Are Forced to ‘Work on a Land Line Forever’

A (literal) letter to the editor: When Betabeat freelancer David Shapiro wrote a damning review of the new BlackBerry Z10, saying that people would think less of you if you opted for it over an iPhone, we expected to receive some angry feedback. What we did not expect, however, was to receive a real paper letter, mailed to our offices, lamenting the “hugely irritating and pompous and dumb and plain silly” post. We suppose it’s appropriate, however, that such an impassioned BlackBerry user would take to the mailbox instead of email–does email even work on that thing? (JK) Read More

By The Editors 4/05 6:05pm

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Rumor Roundup: Jason Calacanis Appoints Himself Obi-Wan to Michael Arrington’s Darth Vader

The Chat-rooming Classes Today, seemingly every tech reporter in the business tuned into Jason Calacanis‘s “This Week in Startups,” presumably in the hopes that Mr. Calacanis would tell all re: the allegations of abuse against Michael Arrington. But as familiar names chattered away in the chat room, Mr. Calacanis had little to say beyond comparing himself to Obi Wan. That would make Mr. Arrington Anakin Skywalker, of course; Mr. Calacanis said he taught him how to be powerful in media, and “I regret that.”

As for the allegations themselves, Mr. Calacanis was quick to say he wouldn’t be commenting on whether they were true, citing his lack of direct knowledge. (He did, however, openly discuss the time that Mr. Arrington called a PR honcho “the c-word,” thereby outing someone who’d never mentioned the incident publicly!) [Correction: Mr. Calacanis first mentioned the incident and the PR exec (Brooke Hammerling) by name in the comments of his Facebook post, prompting Ms. Hammerling to confirm the story, also in a Facebook comment.] All in all, it sounds like he (kinda sorta) regrets getting involved. He apparently thought writing a Facebook note wouldn’t go very far. “I thought that that would be a place where it just lived there,” he said. (Paging Randi Zuckerberg!) “I got a little P.T. Barnum in me and I feel like me commenting on all this stuff actually detracts from it,” he added. Read More

By The Editors 3/29 5:45pm

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Rumor Roundup: Ryan Gosling Loves His Warby Specs (Sent From My Night iPhone)

Morin needs a Mophie Path founder Dave Morin, he of Gosling Parker Economically conscious walking Internet meme Ryan Gosling was recently spotted looking dashing in his Warby Parker frames. The company humble-bragged about the royal sighting on its Facebook page earlier this week noting that the frame is the “Preston.” We share their exuberance. This is one piece Read More

By The Editors 4:54pm

shameless rumormongering

SMDH (Photo: Complex)

Rumor Roundup: Writing Slideshows About Hot Tech Ladies Sucks, But ‘It’s Hard to Say No to $500′

40 Sexist Stereotypes It was not a great week for women in tech. Between the Adria Richards fracas and Complex deciding the best way to contribute to the discourse was to throw up a slideshow of the “40 Hottest Women in Tech,” it’s almost as if the takeaway from Sheryl Sandberg’s book was Lean In… with yer boobs. The good news is that in order for the gender disparity in tech to shrink, we need to have conversations like this–even if they turn ugly or mean-spirited or upsetting. Read More