Gawker
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public relations
Staring Into the Craigslist Cesspool
"Craigslist killer" Philip Markoff was arraigned on grand-jury charges that include first-degree murder, robbery and two counts of armed kidnapping. As if Craigslist users needed another reason to feel jumpy. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by uncivily obedient: I once made a fake Craigslist post in "casual encounters" just for fun and I got 34 responses in 24... 4 Responses | Other threads
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scams
Nigerian Scammers Adapt to the Recession and Are Now Targeting the Unemployed
As if it's not hard enough being unemployed right now, Nigerian scammers are trolling Craigslist, wasting the jobless' precious — OK, not so precious — time with fake employment offers. Hopefully no one's gullible enough to send money. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by TempleDrake: I know a guy who just sold a piece of computer equipment on Craigslist and ended up getting a money... 5 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
Craigslist's Brilliant Defense of Its Hookers
Law-enforcement officials have been slamming Craigslist's prostitute ads for years. CEO Jim Buckmaster's response has been benign: We don't profit from the ads, we're very nice and friendly with the cops, etc. No more. Push Buckmaster too hard, and he will cut you, as South Carolina just learned.
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By Ryan TateComment by Ohcaptainmycaptain: Thank God for this guy. For a secod there I thought I'd have to settle for sex with my girlfriend. 2 Responses | Other threads
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odd jobs
Which 'Creative/Tech Entrepreneur' is Seeking a 'Muse, Confidant and Life Coach' on Craigslist?
Looking for a job? Has anyone ever told you that you have muse-like qualities? Do you have a driver's license and 8-24 hours free each week? If so have we got the job for you! More »
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Comment by smithhimself: Read the ad carefully, Gawkerites. "Pluses include artistic, performance and/or training/massage experience. Candidate must be comfortable exploring any creative material, including... 6 Responses | Other threads
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servicey
Get Paid to Tweet, Facebook and Comment on Blogs!
Jobs! Everybody needs one to pay for booze and porcelain figurine collections and such, right? We can't all be Ben Silverman and douche our way to the top! So we've been keeping an eye out! More »
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Comment by Private Hangnail: Crass marketing like this makes me feel dirty. It's time I wash with Dial™ brand hand soap. Dial™, the soap that... 4 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
Craigslist Clarifies: It Wants to Be Paid to Get You Laid
Here's the backwards result of the legal crusade against Craigslist: The site never used to make money from its "erotic services" ads. But the service tells Valleywag that it's now planning to profit from porn. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by pooks: Just legalize it already. Perhaps then we can clean up the industry a bit. Make these "professionals" get certified in... 2 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
Craigslist Employees Will Be Paid to Read Sex Ads All Day
Under pressure from state officials after a Boston medical student reportedly killed a masseuse he met on Craigslist, the classifieds site is cancelling its racy "Erotic Services" section with a new one reviewed by employees. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Private Hangnail: Sex workers just need to create a new and exciting set of euphemisms. Might I suggest two hundred barnacles to... 4 Responses | Other threads
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craigslist
DABA Girls Find Exciting New Option for Romance
We don't think this Craigslist ad from a supposed Goldman Sachs banker is real. For one thing, whoever heard of an employed investment banker? Still, his kink is a real kick! More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by WaterTart: "inducing lactation in you using wholly natural means" Wait- I have to have a baby? Gross. 6 Responses | Other threads
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rants
Oh, Sure, Like Anyone's Going to Boycott Craigslist
Troubled by reports that accused murderer Philip Markoff found his alleged prey through Craigslist, a do-gooder has called for a boycott of the classifieds site. 61 out of a hoped-for 500,000 have signed up. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by SultanaEleusis: The 62nd signer will be the straw that breaks Craigslist's back. 2 Responses | Other threads
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crime
Craig Newmark to Speak at Tribute to Craigslist Victim
What on earth will Craigslist founder Craig Newmark say at a memorial service for Katherine Olson, the 24-year-old Minneapolis woman shot by a killer who found her using a Craigslist ad? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by AramisHorse: This girl who was killed was a friend of my cousin's. This murder hit everyone there really hard. ... 1 Responses | Other threads
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law and order
Feel Free To Hire Hookers Off Craigslist Again
Law-abiding citizens, tremble in fear: the NYPD is no longer secretly patrolling the hooker ads on Craigslist. Are we safe without undercover cops trying to lure horny men into motel rooms and arrest them? More »
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Comment by Private Hangnail: I'm looking for a hot commenter to spend some time with. A hot, generou$ commenter, y'all. 13 Responses | Other threads
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san francisco chronicle
Who Would Fund America's Largest Nonprofit Newspaper?
San Francisco Chronicle journalists are trying to talk investors into buying the foundering daily newspaper and restructuring it as a nonprofit, writes the SF Appeal. Who are the ink-stained wretches courting? More »
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By Ryan TateComment by dell123: The Chron is a piece of crap; I mean, its book editor Weigand (white boy and rice queen who's... 3 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
Why the Police Pretend to Hate Craigslist's Whoring
For vice squads, Craigslist personals, home to many a paid hookup, make prostitution busts as easy as buying a couch. So why is an Illinois lawman suing the website? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by saythatscool: Owen- Tom Dart is focusing on Craigslist because it's becoming a growing problem in the City. His investigation has resulted... 13 Responses | Other threads
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craig newmark
Craigslist founder uses ink and paper to find glasses
Craig Newmark, the hypernerdy classifieds-site operator who's destroying the newspaper industry, has found the limits of Craigslist. After repeated appeals online, he's taken to looking for a pair of lost glasses using old media.
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By Owen ThomasComment by MrDo: what kind of moron carries their passport around with them? 2 Responses | Other threads
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Culture of Complaint
Colorado man faces jail for being a commentard
The Internet has numbed us all to insults. That's what's so scandalous about the news that J.P. Weichel, a 40-year-old Colorado man, could land in prison for calling his ex-girlfriend a whore.
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By Owen ThomasComment by bluelines: OK, I get that technically he did "call his ex-girlfriend a whore", but that makes it sound like the kind... 3 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
Craiglist to start taking money from hookers
Everyone's favorite blowjobs-for-hire site has pledged to appease 40 state attorneys general by "curbing prostitution ads." You can read Melissa Gira Grant's in-progress response, but the kicker is CEO Jim Buckmaster's promise to start charging $10 a pop or so for Erotic Services ads. It's not pimping, it's protection — haha! I knew I couldn't say that with a straight face.
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By Paul BoutinComment by Alaska Miller: she looks kind of hot if not for the vampire teeth 1 Responses | Other threads
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craigslist
Mystery startup admits it's overspending on office space
In a Craigslist post titled "R.I.P. Good Times? Save Money by Sharing our SoMa Office," a San Francisco startup seeks a cotenant to defray its monthly lease. It's an allusion toVC firm Sequoia Capital's times-are-tough presentation, which called on startups to cut their burn rates. What the ad doesn't say: The fact that this startup has space to spare means it rented an oversized office, likely in the hopes of making more hires, and now realizes it can't fill it. Any guesses, based on the details in the ad — a top executive named Justin, an office at 7th and Mission — who it is? Leave them in the comments. Here's the ad, with more pictures: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Wavewash: Looks like the Justin.tv offices because I vaguely remember that red couch in a picture? Man what a great deal. They'd... 4 Responses | Other threads
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craigslist
Armored car robber uses Craiglist to create a decoy
More than a dozen workers seeking $28.50 an hour for a job advertised on Craiglist showed up at a designated site in Monroe, Washington. Most wore, as requested, a "yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt." They didn't realize they were set up as decoys to confuse police, by a similarly dressed robber who pepper-sprayed an armored car guard at a nearby bank. The robber grabbed a bag of cash from the guard, then escaped down a local creek on an inflated tire inner tube. (Photo by KING-TV)
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By Paul BoutinComment by hackajar: Robber uses InterTubes to get away in an inner tube? Cleaver I say. more » | Other threads
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blogging for dollars
Craigslist to critic: Don't make money
Tim White, the operator of Craigslistblog.org, an unofficial blog about the free classifieds site, is throwing in the slightly soiled towel. Craigslist, which launched its official blog well after White launched his in March, threatened him with legal action over its name in April. Craigslist's lawyers and White have been going back and forth since then. White tells Valleywag Craigslist has now offered him a settlement: If he agreed not to sell the domain name or run advertising, they'd let him keep the site. Instead of agreeing to it, he's shutting down the site. More » -
sex trade
What Craigslist can actually do about underage prostitution
A Sacramento-based "high-tech pimp" who advertised sex with underage women for pay on Craigslist is now in custody. Federal investigators were able to bust 22-year old Stephen McKesson after one of the young women's friends saw her photo in Craigslist's Erotic Services section for panderers. Nobody will see the benefit to the community in this: In terms of ensuring the health and safety of teenage prostitutes, or in terms of good publicity for Craigslist. CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark get all the blame for offering a space for sex trade ads, but none of the credit for the accidental public service such space offers. As if there were no unwilling minors in prostitution before abusive but charismatic hustlers got laptops? More »
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Comment by sample032: Zuckerberg's 23 and this dude's 22? I have some wantreprenuring to do. 4 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
Craigslist cops bust up another sex-extortion scam
Another trio of small-time crooks have been charged with extortion for threatening to expose a California client of an online prostitute. These Fresno-based operators, working with an escort who used Craigslist to meet her client, demanded cash in exchange for keeping his prostitution habit a secret. Is this a copycat crime, inspired by the three scammers who told a Bay Area tech executive they'd leak a sex tape of him with a prostitute unless he paid them off? If the accused Silicon Valley extortionists were reminiscent of The Big Sleep, with their requested $250,000 bribe, the Central Valley guys are more The Big Lebowksi. They said they'd keep mum for a mere $3,000, to be left "in a shopping cart in a parking lot" of a local mall. -
craigslist
Startup seeks full-time coder to put on no-pay lockdown
There's so many reasons to run away from this as-yet-unknown Portland startup's "gigs" ad on Craigslist. The founders say their app was written "I think [in] C#." They're "so disruptive" that they've "already been approached by TechCrunch" — without a product release yet. And for the right full-time programmer, they'll give you a nice room, Wi-Fi, and food. Stock? You can find as many sheets of that as you like in the bathroom. "No drugs or alcoholics!" Good god, how else are you supposed to blow off this sweatshop steam? The full ad continues: More » -
jackpot
Craigslist's "nerd values" don't include $16 million payday from eBay
We need more gushy "Internet rich dudes, they're just like us!" star profiles, don't we? The problem is, in the Valley, too few are willing to flaunt their success. Take this piece of fiction about Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, in the Times of London: "He lives in a modest, rented apartment not far from the company’s global headquarters, a rickety 19th century house tucked between a pizza restaurant and a junk shop in San Francisco." If a "modest apartment" is a freestanding house — a rarity in San Francisco — which can accommodate 40 people for Thanksgiving, then sure. The article also repeats an old canard about how Newmark doesn't have a place to park his car — when he's had parking behind the house he owns for years. More »
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Comment by Internetguy2008: While I don't know all the details, pretty sure Craig didn't "broker" the deal. Another investor sold their shares to... 1 Responses | Other threads
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crime
Cheap stolen solar panels, now on Craigslist?
A rash of solar panel thefts has hit the Bay Area and Sacramento according to a report from local news station KPIX. Recently hit was the Hearst Elementary School in Pleasanton. Best part of the story? The main suspect in the case, a Pittsburg, Calif. resident, is alleged to have used Craigslist to fence the goods. According to reporter Jeffrey Schaub, each panel can fetch from $800 to $1000, much more than stolen copper piping or the platinum from catalytic convertors in car mufflers, which are also hot items. Putting it all together — the East Bay, late-night theft and Craigslist — my money is on meth addicts.
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By Jackson WestComment by loslosbaby: Its true. The little meth monster is constantly grinding its teeth...they would steal a life-support machine, anything. ... more » | Other threads
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sex trade
Bay Area cops use Craigslist to make 57 sex arrests
Happy holiday weekend from the Alameda County Sheriff's office! They're already ahead of your Labor Day discount sex-shopping plans. Police answered Craigslist ads in the "erotic services" section and set up appointments in Dublin and Castro Valley hotels, posing to the prostitutes as clients looking for a late-night session. At 2:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Wednesday, between both stings, the cops made 57 arrests, the majority for prostitution and "suspicion of aiding or facilitating prostitution." More »
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Comment by guyger: Its a good thing Alameda County is using their limited resources to appease the hypocritical right wing while the streets... 2 Responses | Other threads
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Internet Trolls
Why Jason Fortuny thinks it's OK to expose Craigslist sex-seekers, the 100-word version
In 2006, Jason Fortuny — one of the so-called "Internet trolls" featured recently in the New York Times Magazine — placed an ad on Craigslist in which he pretended to be a woman seeking sex. Later, he posted photos and emails sent to him by the ad's respondents. Now, one of them — image and response pictured above — is suing him for $75,000. This John Doe claims Fortuny's post caused him to "suffer and continue to suffer from humiliation, embarrassment, lost opportunity of keeping his family together, and emotional distress." The plaintiff claims Fortuny violated his copyright, wrongfully disclosed private facts and intruded upon his seclusion. By way of response, Forturny wrote an eight-page letter to the judge in his own defense . It's much to long for even the most concerned citizen to read, but since its contents so seriously affect the legal system of our nation-state, we've shortened it down to the crucial bits, below. More »
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Comment by Fanning: The copyright is created when the image is cast in media.(when the dude took the picture of himself). If he... 1 Responses | Other threads
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sex trade
How Craigslist's Erotic Services helps cops stay busy — and get busy
"Police have arrested 16 men in a prostitution sting in which they posted an ad for sex on Craigslist.org." "Craigslist prostitution sting nets 8 arrests." "10 men arrested. The department launched the sting using an advertisement for "sexual activities" on the online classified site Craigslist.org." I see one of these stories every few hours, every day — and recognize them for what they are: Your local police department's press releases. Here's how it goes when law enforcement go laptop to laptop with prostitutes, in your neighborhood! More »
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Comment by Ken: prostitution is legal.. take a girl out, feed them some food, show them a good time, put some alcohol down... more » | Other threads
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sex trade
Ballot measure to promote Internet over jail for San Francisco prostitutes
An addition to the Barackathon at the San Francisco ballot box this November: a measure to decriminalize prostitution among consenting adults. City officials are already complaining it will hinder their efforts to prosecute related crimes, or that its passage will be "a welcome mat for prostitutes and pimps to come and hang out in San Francisco." Such talk conjures images of throngs of pimps 'n' hos crowding SF sidewalks. But most prostitution is now hidden indoors, and marketed on the Internet, as a member of the organization sponsoring the vote, the Erotic Service Providers Union, explained to local CBS news reporters. (I don't expect anyone from Craigslist to weigh in on the topic, but the site links to ESPU atop its Erotic Services section — making Craig Newmark a very low-key sugar daddy.)
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Comment by Moonshine Mike: So if someone was going to be in The City for work, where would they best 'find someone compatible' ? asking... more » | Other threads
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geek love
Grabbing some love upstairs at Google
"You asked if I was headed upstairs for a meeting and I said, "not exactly. I am here for GoogleApps." Oh, Pink Scarf Girl. We want to find your Missed Connections "Moment" Man, too. White, male, 20s, dressed casual? Who could that be? Just be sure to use protection with what you're grabbing "downstairs," too. The best in daycare is so pricey these days.
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Comment by colonelpanic: They're screwed if the engineering team ever discovers girls. more » | Other threads
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m4w4iPhone
Man seeks woman who seeks iPhone on Craigslist
Why wait in line for a 3G iPhone when a "5'10 Italian, clean no drugs no std's" "m4w" will give you one in exchange for a little creative action in bed? Interested parties need only check out the Craigslist ad for more details. We'll echo the words of this m4w: "Good luck ladies."
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Comment by raincoaster: "I got your new iPhone...right here!" I wonder if that line works for him. more » | Other threads
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sex trade
How not to get a girl to kiss you with Craigslist
Aw, it's so darn cute when it's a twentysomething straight white boy looking to pay-for-play on Craigslist that no one even mentions prostitution. The Georgia Tech student just wants a girl to teach him how to kiss better, so he might please some other college girl he's got a crush on, but not, like, get all hung up on him. A guy's got to leave his options open for the inevitable midlife crisis that'll send him right back to the one most obvious section of the site he overlooked in his initial search. More »
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Comment by Blackjack: He's going to be thrilled when his special co-ed rolls in from Maryland and looks like the terrapin mascot. more » | Other threads
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sex trade
What Craigslist can and can't do about "daughters selling their bodies"
After last week's FBI sting conducted in concert with local law enforcement, in which 389 arrests netted 21 underage prostitutes, including four in Sacramento, Craigslist is again in the sex-panicked spotlight. In a familiar routine, law enforcement give stories of how they use the site's Erotic Services section to launch investigations, and CEO Jim Buckmaster gives good onscreen time in voicing the Craigslist company line that it is aiding in efforts to monitor teen prostitution: More »
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Comment by valleywagfan: I just heard that Elms is out of jail... he beat the rap - it was all made up anyway. more » | Other threads
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sex trade
In the "Wild West" of Craigslist's Erotic Services, does community policing prevail?
On the sex worker message board mypinkbook, escorts are working their nerves over some messy moderation on the Craigslist help forums. Like when one woman's ad got flagged for being "a little hookerish." Pot, kettle, black patent pumps, we know. The escort, DameKelly, shares the now-deleted Craigslist moderator response: More »
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Comment by ciscokidinsf: Here is a tip: If your listing says you're willing to browse Valleywag and TechCrunch for your clients on a... more » | Other threads
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geek love
Valleywag fetishist seeks same on Craigslist
Our secret girl admirer writes, "The perfect, shared Sunday for me would consist of..." among other things, fighting over the Sunday Times and fondling iPhones. After an art flick, "[w]e could catch up on blogs like Valleywag and TechCrunch." Ooh, dreamy! As the only one on the masthead with a scant few degrees of sexual separation from both blogs' founding editors, I have some words of — well — we have not even begun to overshare. More »
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Comment by raincoaster: @alekzzz: Yes, but this is why god invented RSS feeds. more » | Other threads
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craigslist
Would an in-house attorney keep Craigslist in line?
Hookers and eBay, shares and cops. If Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster, had an attorney on staff with them, would that have prevented questionable legal moves by the founder and CEO of the world's most reliable housemates and hookups platform? More »
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Comment by Marcos-El-Malo: OK, I just thought of one more. I'll stop now. "Tesla Roadster? More like Tesla CHOADster!" more » | Other threads
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hires
Jeremy Zawodny left Yahoo for Craigslist
While former Yahoo database engineer Jeremy Zawodny might prefer FriendFeed to Twitter, he'll be commuting to the offices of Craigslist from his home in San Jose. He was recruited via email by CTO Eric Scheide while still at Yahoo, and met with founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster before leaving Sunnyvale for the Inner Sunset. He'll help maintain and expand the company's ever-growing MySQL database. Because the last thing someone trying to sell a baby needs is for a PHP mysql_fetch_array() call to fail when posting their ad. (Photo by David Weekly)
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By Jackson WestComment by Spy from the Land of Rainpeople: @Michael Arrington: But this photo was taken in a glider. I don't think termals in NorCal are reliable enough for... more » | Other threads
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sex trade
To end online prostitution, Chicago cops call for Craigslist boycott
In the biggest sting of its kind, Cook County police have made 76 Chicago-area arrests using Craigslist's Erotic Services section as their dragnet — the fourth such sting in an 18-month-long investigation. In an interview with CBS 2 Chicago, Sheriff Tom Dart accused Craigslist of operating "a free advertising network for prostitutes and pimps." More »
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Comment by tigerbeat: I wonder if they're also considering taking legal action against the Chicago Reader? [classifieds.chicagoreader.com] more » | Other threads
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sex trade
Craigslist the "training wheels" of the online sex industry
"Free, popular and easy to use," says the Riverfront Times, Craigslist is "as close as America currently comes to the decriminalization of sex work." As part of an investigation into Internet prostitution, the St. Louis alt-weekly newspaper got on the same page with women in the trade who run client/escort message boards. Along with doing the usual decoding of acronyms (GFE, anyone?) and explaining what you get for $300 an hour, they got an earful from sex workers about where to get your start as an online escort. Valleywag readers won't need to even guess. More »
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Comment by UlvaDrury: You might have pointed out that Riverfront Times' online classified section is a competitor of Craigs list, in particular one... more » | Other threads
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sex trade
Israel to jail online brothel owners in actual prisons
Good news for Second Life! Israeli legislator Zahava Gal-On has been so taken in by the illusion of sex offered in fake online worlds that she's proposing mandatory five-year jail terms for the operators of "virtual brothels" — websites "offering women for sale," she says. If only! Sites like Craigslist, The Eros Guide, MyRedBook, and The Erotic Review advertise real sex for hire, but law enforcers prefer to log on to track down working girls, rather than take the sites offline for pimping. If Gal-On took a moment to understand the economics of virtual vajayjay, she'd see her concerns were misplaced. More » -
death of print
Bloggin' journos want to bring sexy back to classified ads
Steve Outing, a former editor at the Poynter Institute and self-described "new-media visionary" Christopher Ryan have started a blog to brainstorm ideas for new classified advertising business models. While quotes from the likes of new media pundit JD Lasica assert "Craig Newmark of Craigslist is not the devil incarnate," the level of obsession is evidenced in the site's popular categories. One cure for the classified ad revenue decline fever suggested? More Seesmic! [ReinventingClassifieds]
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By Jackson WestComment by raincoaster: Whatever happened to that Dilbert Guy's website? He had one like that, didn't he? more » | Other threads
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Fri Jul 10
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