Welcome to another week of Buzzblog, The Newsletter:
* LATEST BUZZBLOG ITEMS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
5 reasons ‘virtual marriage’ won’t happen
A Gartner analyst insists that binding “virtual marriage” will be a reality within eight years. He says such couples — including those who have never met in person — will enjoy the same property rights and legal responsibilities as the rest of us. Fat chance.
Gore joining venture firm Kleiner Perkins
In a move that may finally silence those who want him to run for president, Al Gore has decided to take his Nobel and Oscar awards to venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, where he will concentrate on — guess what? — green technologies. Gore apparently intends to be an active member of the Kleiner Perkins team, as opposed to a glad-hander.
Bridge players vs. Bush supporters
It’s not enough that competing in online poker may result in imprisonment, now we have to worry about the fate of a team of female bridge players who had the audacity to criticize the president.
AT&T pitches ‘domestic spying’ for SMBs
One day after a surprising resurrection of the federal domestic spying investigation in which it has played an ignominious role, ATT today announced a different sort of domestic spying program – this one completely above board (at least for those doing the spying).
10 reasons you shouldn’t believe in UFOs
Former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington and his band of others last week were out beating the drums so loudly about UFOs that they might have been heard on another planet. The stories these men tell are remarkable; just not remarkable enough to convert me from a lifelong skeptic into a believer.
Spare me the toilet-seat prodigy, time-shifting twins and $25K carat-cake
We’re talking about three pseudo-news stories – two of them widely circulated – on which I’m calling BS. None is about networking or high tech, but that’s not going to stop me from labeling them what they are: three crocks of Shinola, served up by my fellow members of the media who take literally the old joke about never letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
* BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:
– Verizon: $1,800 for fire victims ‘an advance’
– Applause and advice for FTC as it continues “Do Not Call” crackdown
– When the patient is a Googler and the doctor is a pompous ass
– Google co-founder’s search is over
– VeriSign planning fire sale
– Mass. governor wants to jail online poker players while building 3 casinos
– Even if innocent, execs under investigation should find new work, experts say
– Even Google’s masseuse made millions
