It seems even a crusty old newshound like me can get burned. My item last week about a couple naming their baby “Yahoo” turns out to be a hoax cooked up by a (now-unemployed) Romanian tabloid reporter. Reporters making things up just for a laugh? I am shocked, simply shocked.
Lawyers From Hell: Apple Computer has sued 19-year-old Harvard freshman Nicholas Ciarelli, aka Nick dePlume, owner of the Think Secret site, which has been generating hype for upcoming Mac products better than the Apple PR department. Some speculate Apple was using the suit to grab more attention for its new “headless Mac,” and will now quietly drop the matter. I’m not so sure. As reader David B. points out, Apple once threatened to sue the Church of Satan for slapping a “Made With Macintosh” sticker on its Web site. If they’re willing to take on the devil, what chance do mere mortals have?
Unkind Cuts: P***Soft employees aren’t alone in feeling the cold steel of an ax against their necks. An ex-Oracle minion says plenty of his own kind were cut, and that his deal was even less generous than those offered to former P-Softies. Worse: The return envelope for his termination agreement had no stamp on it — apparently Larry E. was too cheap to pay for postage. So that’s how he got to be worth $18.7 billion?
Stiff Requirements: Making your e-mail safe from prudish spam filters is a tricky business. Cringester Jeff D. points out that structural engineers have to be particularly careful when composing e-mail. Apparently the filters get all wiggly over phrases like “rigid member.”
Ogling Google: Meanwhile, reader Randy M. is shocked — shocked! — to discover even the strictest anti-porn filter is helpless against the forces of naughtiness and Google Image Search (especially when you scan for things like “rigid member”). He felt it his duty to go from office to office, asking co-workers to run image searches again and again, just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Ya gotta admire that kind of dedication.
Got hot tips or naughty innuendo? Send them to cringe@infoworld.com, and you may take home a snazzy yellow bag.
