Twitter, you see, has created a "list" feature which it is testing on a small fraction of its userbase. Lists are collections of accounts, like "College friends" or "Work sites." They're also a new way to keep score: One writer did a random sampling of lists, and has created a new Twitter ranking, based on who appeared on the most lists, which restores geeks (sorta) to their rightful place atop the Twitter food chain. Said geeks — including "#1 individual" Robert Scoble (above) — are, of course, thrilled about this.

And so it is that the new media recycles the status obsessions of the old. How refreshing.

(Pic: Scoble, by Thomas Hawk)

Google doesn't have its own corporate jets — good thing, since that transportation perk is so déclassé these days. Instead, the company leases planes, including a set of jets jointly owned by Schmidt and Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Peter Kafka at MediaMemo notes that Google paid for $106,201 worth of travel to have Schmidt's "family and friends" accompany him on business trips.

Which made us think: What happened in Schmidt's life last year? Schmidt, who is married, has had a series of girlfriends on the side. (Good for him!) But he started getting serious with his most recent one, Kate Bohner, in late 2007. Bohner, who was briefly married to author Michael Lewis and is said to have inspired the character of sex-crazed Samantha on Sex and the City, lived in south Florida until she relocated to Los Angeles last fall. During the presidential campaign, she was spotted escorting Schmidt to at least one YouTube-sponsored debate.

I asked a Google spokesman if Bohner was one of Schmidt's passengers, but he declined to comment. So did Bohner fly free on the Google party plane? If so, good for Schmidt: Not every executive, in this perk-hostile times, gets to fly such friendly skies.

We have scant details, but a tipster sent in this picture of the Googlers' flight crew at a party in Auckland, New Zealand. (Another planespotter recently sent us a sighting of the Google Jet down under (right) in late December, so the location seems to check out.) The woman on the left, we're told, is named Colleen, and chose to expose herself in front of the camera. A bit nippy, though, considering the nearby ice sculptures.

It's hardly a surprise Google's dynamic duo, known for attending the sex-infused Burning Man festival in Nevada, picked a racy bunch to steer the plane. Page was famously photographed canoodling aloft with his future wife, Lucy Southworth. And Brin demanded that his private bedroom in the sky be fitted with a king-size bed. Colleen seems like the type who wouldn't blink at mile-high-club antics.

Does anyone recognize the rest of Larry and Sergey's aeronautical servants? Please let us know.

The Prius features an extended battery for all-electric operation — how green! (Unless you count the coal which more than likely generated most of that electricity.) MyRide says that Dharmaraj's outré choice of scissor-wing doors means "the Lamborghini-door trend is officially over." (Photo by MyRide)

Two words: Homeless shelter. With homeowners failing to make mortgage payments, and the Bay Area known for a seemingly intractable homeless problem, the Falcon could provide part of the solution. And Perkins has admitted to being embarrassed by its expense. After all, it shares a name with a book by noted socialist (and alcoholic) Dashiell Hammett. The onboard "hotel" only accommodates twelve guests, so it would only be a symbolic gesture — at least 5,000 homeless live in San Francisco alone. But as it stands, it's a symbol of unrepentant greed, which at the moment is about as trendy as mortgage-backed securities. (Photo by AP/Lionel Cironneau)

Limited Brands CEO Leslie Wexner, for example, spent much of his $1.25 million 2007 security allowance toward "protecting" his corporate aircraft, yacht and 22,371-sq. ft. home. "Security has become a convenient excuse for getting shareholders to pick up the cost for the CEO's lifestyle,' corporate watchdog American Federation of State's director of corporate governance and pension investment told the Wall Street Journal. (Illustration by Richard Blakeley)

It's hard not to notice Serge's brand new, white BMW convertible that he drives around. A 650i costs $82,000 base, and one can only imagine how jealous and frustrated the rest of the team is when they are working long hours and someone with no knowledge of technology (he can't even program in HTML) has a substantially higher equity stake yet offers nothing substantive, and still splurges on a new sports car.

• The Falcon at sunset.
• The Falcon turning, chased by a smaller boat.
• Perkins built this yacht to wake one morning off the coast of France and hear, amid the puttering noises of the dock, a man with a thick accent say: "This is the Maltese Falcon, the biggest sailing yacht."
• Ha ha. Your Rolex boat looks tiny.
• "I just wanted the biggest boat. Do I have an ego? Yes. Is it big? Yes."

I'm largely to blame for several innovations on the web including, cookies, the blink tag, server push and client pull, HTTP proxying, proxy authentication, HTTP byte ranges, HTTPS over SSL, and encouraging the implementation of animated GIFS into the browser.

Last July, the Golden Gate Yacht Club sued Cup defenders Société Nautique de Genève [PDF], accusing the Swiss of hand-picking an unqualified challenger, the newly formed Club Náutico Español de Vela. The Deed of Gift, which outlines the terms and rules of the race, requires that a challenging club hold an annual regatta — CNEV held a regatta, with boats crewed by children, only after being selected as challenger.

Now it's SNG's turn to accuse the GGYC of trying to tilt the field. GGYC wants the race to be held in October, giving the Alinghi team only seven months to build their boat. The BMW Oracle team, meanwhile, started building their multi-hulled vessel three months ago. SNG wants the race held in 2009, and says that the GGYC originally agreed that any race would be held ten months after the legal decision had been handed down [PDF].

We are disappointed that GGYC is backtracking on this agreement and launching a new legal campaign seeking to undo what GGYC previously agreed to. Why not simply meet us on the water and settle this there?