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NYT Exposes the Identity of Fake Steve Jobs
Posted by
Zonk
on Sun Aug 05, 2007 08:18 PM
from the hard-to-be-anonymous-if-someone-is-determined dept.
from the hard-to-be-anonymous-if-someone-is-determined dept.
mattatwork writes "NY Times writer Brad Stone figured out the real identity of Fake Steve Jobs. With classic nick names like 'freetards' and 'beastmaster' Fake Steve captured an audience of 700,000 visitors to the site and around 50 emails a day. According to Daniel Lyons, the senior editor at Forbes magazine who maintained the blog, there is no definite plan for the future of the site. 'Mr. Lyons said he invented the Fake Steve character last year, when a small group of chief executives turned bloggers attracted some media attention. He noticed that they rarely spoke candidly. "I thought, wouldn't it be funny if a C.E.O. kept a blog that really told you what he thought? That was the gist of it." Mr. Lyons says he recalled trying out the voices of several chief executives before settling on the colorful Apple co-founder. He twice tried to relinquish the blog, but started again after being deluged by fans e-mailing to ask why Fake Steve had disappeared.'"
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Solved? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Solved? (Score:5, Funny)
Break out your magnifying glass kids, we're off to solve the Mystery of The Fake CEO Blogger!
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Re:Solved? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Solved? (Score:4, Insightful)
I feel a bit pissed at the NYT for spoiling the party, but I guess it was going to get spoiled sooner or later, and if not the NYT, then some other rag. The race was on.
I pretty much can't stand Mr. Lyons as a journalist, but as a parody SJ he was awesome. Thanks for the lulz, Dan. You'll always be FSJ in our hearts.
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Solved? Or handed on a platter? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, it makes a lot of sense... (Score:5, Informative)
Finding out that he's been out trolling some more only makes sense. I mean, the guy is one great big douchbag and he loves getting people riled up. Doesn't Forbes want him publishing under his real name any more? I don't blame them. He's like a Dvorak clone who likes to rile anti-SCO people instead of Apple fans.
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Re:Actually, it makes a lot of sense... (Score:5, Informative)
Don't have much of a memory do you? Try reading some Groklaw. In fact, PJ posted about this just today [groklaw.net]. Mr. Lyons has quite a history around the SCO case. He's also attacked bloggers for being largely anonymous and lacking credibility. Pot calling the kettle something...
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Re:Bill Gates (Score:5, Funny)
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And as they say on Ebaum's World (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Link NYT article@news.com (Score:5, Informative)
John Howard: Prime Minister (Score:5, Funny)
Re:John Howard: Prime Minister (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:John Howard: Prime Minister (Score:5, Funny)
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Darn. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's rather like running around Disney World and pulling the heads off the characters. We know they're fake... but do you have to completely ruin it for everyone?
Re:Darn. (Score:5, Funny)
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Good job, New York Times. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
We have Pakistan (our ally) collaborating with the Taliban [indianexpress.com], there are Over 20 million displaced homeless [npr.org] due to floods in India, and let's not mention the hypocrisy of the government at home.
If The New York Times feels that this is a worthy exercise for their investigative reporters.... what has the world come to. Rupert Murdoch owns the WSJ, a
Re:Good job, New York Times. (Score:5, Insightful)
You do know that the New York Times has more than one reporter, right? And that it's possible for them to write stories on silly little things like this and still cover the Taliban, homeless, floods, and government? Oh, and even give us a nifty new crossword every day?
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Re:Good job, New York Times. (Score:5, Insightful)
If The New York Times feels that this is a worthy exercise for their investigative reporters....
Maybe it's the only kind of investigative reporting that they can do these days without being arrested.
Don't scoff - Bush himself went on a rampage after the NYTimes outed his little "go around the courts" wiretapping program.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That was old news in 1999. The Taliban are what happens when the kids that grow up in brutal refugee camps back over the border from Pakistan and come home to turn the entire country into a brutal refugee camp. The links are very deep to different factions in Pakistan - but you can't blame the entire country for it. Other allies such as Algeria get up to far nastier things.
When it comes down to it this article probably only needed a few hours of
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You've got to be kidding. Perhaps you can find some good journalism there, underneath all the bile, slant, and anonymous sources.
He had one big story, and has been trying to recapture the magic ever since.
Re:Good job, New York Times. (Score:5, Funny)
Well, none of us have real Jobs.
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Re:Good job, New York Times. (Score:5, Insightful)
That its did this says nothing about the quality of its coverage of other items. You can't look at every use of a resource as wasteful just because it's not devoted to the single most important item of the day; the breadth of coverage is important too.
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Re:Good job, New York Times. (Score:5, Interesting)
So, if I were an investigate reporter trying to find out who minimsft is, I'd start by moving anyone who is not a current or former blue badge to the bottom of my suspects list. The stuff about being a manager and being male may be true or may be obfuscation, so I wouldn't put too much stock in it It's not hard for a non-manager there to make the same observations mini-msft makes. I accept that minimsft is probably male, if for no reason other than most of the people working there (at least in coding jobs) are men.
Minimsft may well be exactly what he describes himself as. OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if he were actually a mid or senior-level manager. Turning an oil tanker can be hard, even for someone with a lot of clout, and revolution is sometimes easier to start from the bottom than from the top. Microsoft is certainly an oil tanker, or perhaps an aircraft carrier might be a better description. They, too, take a lot of time and space to turn, but once turned can move pretty quickly and bring a lot of power to bear on the target.
Can Microsoft be turned? Now that's an interesting question. The corporate culture there so powerful, pervasive, and seemingly immutable. Turning Microsoft may not be impossible, but it would be very, very hard.
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Tragedy (Score:5, Funny)
Next assignment: (Score:5, Funny)
This needs quoting (Score:5, Informative)
"You put the pieces of the puzzle together. You went through my trash, hacked into my computer, and put listening devices in my home. Now you've ruined the mystery of Fake Steve, robbing thousands of people around the world of their sense of childlike wonder. Hope you feel good about yourself, you mangina."
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
A better quote (Score:5, Funny)
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thanks NYT! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Secret Diary of Bill Gates (Score:5, Interesting)
This is borderline lolcat! (Score:4, Funny)
“Fake Steve Jobs is fake!” Shocking!
The Real Question /.ers Want to Know... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Dan Lyons (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And other than the abusive language, what fault do you find with his reasoning? Perhaps you find the name calling so offensive that you don't even want to try and decipher his point. Fair en
The original true fake Steve Jobs' blog (Score:4, Interesting)
Oy - mod parent up, y'all! (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, given who it turned out to be, the motives and biases are rather clear in hindsight. I'm almost willing to bet that Steve Ballmer wasn't among the "other CEO voices" Mr. Lyons tried out...
But then, maybe it was a means for ol' Dan to get out his juvenile side?
I dunno - this is starting to sound too much like a flamebait -ish pack of conspiracy theories. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was funny here and there - but seeing who's behind it makes me wonder if it wasn't just a larger propaganda campaign on Lyons' part.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Somebody should start a Fake Dan Lyons blog...
Re:Best known. (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070805
sums it up pretty well.
An "analyst" who supported SCO Group and is suspected as an MS front man. You wonder why there are conspiracy theories about MS being behind SCO Group's actions?
With 20/20 hindsight, it had to be Lyons, MOG or Dildio.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
FSJ used the term "People Ready" once in a blog and Bill Gates mentioned FSJ in a recent interview so
of course the whole thing is a conspiracy on Microsoft's part and Bill Gates was in on it?
I don't see how that necessarily follows.
The way I read the Groklaw article, they are merely reporting on the guy that's throwing this theory out there. I don't see Groklaw themselv
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The point PJ made was about "unbiased" journalism. She was stalked and outed in a mean-spirited attack. Lyons, MOG and Dildio have been consistent supporters of SCO Group in the face of community debunking of SCO Groups claims.
PJ has voiced a valid concern that one of the SCO Group's supporters and a possible MS shill was caught in a fake blog, as he wrote about bloggi
Re:NYT guy wanted revenge (Score:4, Insightful)
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