One insider told us three staff were let go Wednesday; another says that the total is seven — mostly writers — when you include permalancers. That's out of maybe 17 staff and permalancers, give or take, the second tipster said.

The staff-permalancer split may explain conflicting reports over what happened at Wired.com. Gawker and Silicon Alley Insider heard the site was gutted, but Condé is now saying only three staff members were let go. Perhaps that number is higher when you throw in people who were technically contractors. (We've put in an inquiry with the company.)

It's sad to see Ars so severely reduced. Not only for Condé, which not one year ago paid as much ($25 million+) for the site as it did for Wired.com, but also for the art of publishing online. Old-school print editors complain about at a certain lack of depth in Web-only publications; Condé Nast's own Graydon Carter said that the medium is weak at "telling long stories."

Ars proved that wasn't the case. One hopes it can keep doing so now that it's been thoroughly chopped up by an older, supposedly wiser firm.

SAI says that Wired.com was "gutted." We've heard the same, although exact numbers are hard to come by (we still hear 20 or so layoffs total). One layoff victim, we hear: Wired.com managing editor Leander Kahney, who was once mistakenly fingered as the writer behind Fake Steve Jobs, by Nick Denton.

There seems to be some feeling that Wired editor Chris Anderson protected his print side at the cost of his online team. Choosing sides is guaranteed to make somebody mad. If you know more, email us.

Also gone: Kourosh Karimkhany, the VP of corporate development for Wired.com's parent company, CondéNet. (The magazine is run separately by Condé Nast, a sister company to CondéNet.) Karimkhany did the deals to buy Reddit, an online news-discussion site; Ars Technica, a rival tech blog; and Webmonkey, a Web-technology how-to site. With no further deals planned, there wasn't much reason to keep him on, we hear. (Photo by Jackson West)

Hansen shows that Wired is reprising all of its mistakes from the last bubble. "Our vision is to not just be a magazine publisher covering technology, but to be a developer of these things," he says. Of a photo-gallery tool for the website, he says: "We’re hoping to have something to show that will blow people’s minds." Has he been eating Wired founder Louis Rossetto's chocolate?

If I sound like a grumpy old fellow who's seen this all before, it's because I have, first-hand. The sports venture isn't the only repetitive pattern I've spotted. In 1996, Wired bought Suck.com, giving the cultural-critique website enough of a budget to hire unskilled 24-year-olds as copy boys. In 2006, Wired bought Reddit, which lets anyone build their own version of Suck.com (except not as good, because none of Reddit's users are as funny as Joey Anuff, Carl Steadman, or Ana Marie Cox).

What's different now? Oh, sure, we can talk about Internet adoption, broadband, open-source software. Whatever. What has really changed is that now, instead of public shareholders funding Wired's wild experiments, advertisers are willing to foot the bill.

And that is perhaps the biggest reason for Hansen's newfound enthusiasm. He's looking forward to putting ads for sugary electrolyte drinks on his new sports blog. Which only makes us think of OK Soda.

He's Back!
Webmonkey was the original Web-developer's resource. now it's reborn as the go-to destination for programmers of all levels. Flex your skills at Webmonkey.com.