Google's Chief of Fabulous Opens a Disco — In His Penthouse

We couldn't persuade Orkut Büyükkökten to invite us to his opulent birthday-and-housewarmingparty Saturday, but we won't hold it against him. After all, Google's ambassador to the gay party scene had to fit several billionaires between his new dance poles. More »

The Best Google Commercial You're Never Going to See Air

Slow clap for Slate V, who put together the following theoretical Google "commercial" that's ostensibly—at the least—just a concept, and at best, a successful meme. Truth be told, though, Google should consider buying it. More »

Google Might Be Investing in Electric Cars

Tesla wants to go public. But the electric car company, loved by California celebrities and nerds alike, had to first bare all to the SEC. So now we know Tesla is funded by a mysterious front company linked to Google. More »

Googlers Fire Back at Steve Jobs 'Bullshit' Jab

If Steve Jobs keeps this up, he may yet set off the biggest corporate flamefest in Silicon Valley: Googlers past and present are pushing back against the Apple CEO's trashing of their corporate motto. More »

Steve Jobs at Apple Employee Q & A: Google's Evil Tagline "Bullshit" and Flash is "Lazy"

Wired's Epicenter blog posted last night on an employees only post-iPad conference at Apple HQ with Steve Jobs, where the iJefe got feisty on matters regarding Google's iPhone battle, and the failings of Adobe. In other words: REAL TALK. More »

Founders Back Away from Scary New Google

It's official: Google's co-founders will relinquish their voting control of the company over the next five years via stock sales, netting $6 billion in the process. Which begs the question: Are they getting bored? More »

Sergey Brin Escalating War Against Chinese Oppression

First Google refused to continue censoring its Chinese search engine. Now the company is helping a Congressman rebuke China's authoritarian regime for human rights violations. It all just confirms that Sergey Brin is by far our favorite top Googler. More »

Journalists in China Totally Switching Back to Yahoo

At least two foreign reporters in China, including an AP television reporter, discovered that their GMail accounts have been hacked (by the government??). Oh, ChinaGuy69@aol.com was just not "professional" enough, right? You had to switch to Gmail. Fools. [NYT]

Google Makes Its Replicant Phone Even Creepier

It was unsettling enough that Google named its Nexus One after bio-mechanical humanoids from the dystopian future. Now it's rumored to be issuing the smartphone to secretive genetic scientists inside its office. Chalk up another cozy, kooky 23AndMe deal. More »

Internet Survival Guide for Traveling Where Privacy Isn't Respected

Ed. note: On Tuesday, Google responded to cyber attacks aimed at Chinese human-rights activists by ending search-result censorship in China. An anonymous reader with experience living where privacy isn't respected writes in with tips for keeping your data safe in these situations. [Lifehacker]

Google China's New Take on 'Tiananmen Massacre'

Google announced it will stop filtering its China search engine — or shut the site. And already, once-suppressed results are showing up on Google.cn (see screenshot; top is current, bottom from June). That's the good news. The bad news? More »

How Google Can Lead the Fight Against Chinese Oppression

Google is putting its profits and growth on the line to stand up to China's authoritartian practices. Whatever we might suspect about its motives, the company deserves applause for that. Maybe now it can lead an allied, anti-repression tech force. More »

Google's Sudden, Self-Serving War with China

In an extraordinary blog posting, Google has all but accused the Chinese government of coordinating hack attacks on its servers, not just in China but in the U.S. and globally. And it's decided to finally push back against the regime. More »

Lady Who Oversaw McCain's Fall from Grace Now Represents Google

It was inevitable that Republicans would invade Silicon Valley, for where there is wealth and corporate influence, there is GOP. Jill Hazelbaker, who oversaw McCain's 2008 transformation into a confused, media-phobic mess, will be Google's new spokesperson. More »

A burning house, a flooded road, and a man with a gun. The images captured by the Google Street View van's automatic camera are poignant and weird. According to one artist, they're also how future historians will study our world.

The attached picture, of a Facebook playboy's sweethearted proposal to his Googler girlfriend, did not come cheap: It was shot in a private air taxi above the Maldives, a remote haven for wealthy tourists. Dave Morin has struck again. More »

Did Tech Geeks Rip Off Sci Fi Geeks?

Ha, the family of sci-fi writer Philip "K" Dick is threatening to sue Google for stealing its "Nexus One" phone name from the Dick story that inspired Blade Runner (it also featured Androids, get it??). Google's response: "Nerds." [WSJ]

Ladies Love Google's Ivanka Trump Ex

Is Salar Kamangar the most eligible bachelor in Silicon Valley? Well, he is fabulously wealthy, sleekly handsome, and — all too rare in nerd central — a smooth operator. His downside? More »