Robert Scoble and TechCrunch are among the big names not invited to test-drive news-filtering service Persai, which launched this week as a private beta. If you read Valleywag obsessively, you may know Persai is the full-time project of the mean, mean kids behind Web 2.0 smackdown site Uncov. Did they leave Arrington and Scoble out as a PR strategy, I asked? Was the idea to build a groundswell of online coverage before appearing on TechCrunch? Were they seeking more technical reviewers? "No," CEO Kyle Shank replied. "It was just spite."

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