Chef and Food Network host Tyler Florence whined that the New York Times' Frank Bruni is a whiner.

Blogging pioneer Dave Winer gave some free microblogging advice to the New York Times' shamelessly vapid style blog.

Writer and San Francisco Chronicle Web producer Zöe Stagg has had it with "greige."

Google exec Dick Costolo found his summer reading wasn't very lively.

Rod Corddry, Daily Show guy, famed misanthrope.

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Taken as a whole, the Googlers' cash is one of the largest corporate donations to Obama's inaugural committee. Marissa Mayer, an early Google employee who now oversees its search engine, and David Drummond, the company's top lawyer, also donated, as did YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley and Dick Costolo, the former CEO of FeedBurner, an advertising startup acquired by Google last year,

Unlike election spending, donations to cover the expenses of an inauguration are relatively unlimited. Obama's committee has capped donations at $50,000.

It's a time-honored way to win influence. Michael Dell, CEO of the eponymous computer maker, gave $250,000 for George W. Bush's second inaugural in 2004.

That the Googlers are paying up shows the IPO-borne wealth of the company's top executives; the closeness of their ties to Obama, who has cited Google's management style as an inspiration for the structure of his campaign; and the company's maturation as a political player in Washington, D.C. Eric Schmidt's oddly late endorsement of Obama, weeks before the election, was the culmination of this process. And this injection of inaugural cash is just a down payment.

What do they want in return? One of the last acts of the Bush Administration's antitrust cops was to nix a deal for Google to sell ads on Yahoo's websites. With Google set on expanding its dominance of online search advertising into other fields, is it any surprise that its executives would welcome their new best friend to the White House?

Dick Costolo from dick costolo on Vimeo.

• Boston — A literate city, where Technology Review editor Jason Pontin would make an excellent host.
• Chicago — Local entrepreneur Dick Costolo has a lot of time on his hands after Google acquired FeedBurner.
• Montreal — Oh, Canada? Why not! Austin Hill of Akoha is the go-to guy for startups north of the border.
• Raleigh, N.C. — Likewise a college town. ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo is plugged into the local tech scene.
• San Antonio — After South By Southwest, Lacy's had enough of Austin, and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. But why not San Antonio, headquarters of AT&T, where they're just starting to hear about this "Web 2.0" thing? Brad Mays, AT&T's blogger-wooing PR guy, can organize it.
• Seattle — No sense in skipping this town if Lacy's going to Portland.
• Washington, D.C. — Or more properly, northern Virginia, the cluster of technology companies sprawling between the Beltway and Dulles Airport. Brian Loew, CEO of health startup Inspire, is a good local contact.