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FSJ: Damn, I am so busted, yo

fakesteve.blogspot.com — Well it had to happen. Honestly I can't believe it's taken this long. But as you may have heard, I've been busted by a newspaper reporter. My cover has been blown. Guy named Brad Stone, who works for the New York Times. Have you heard of him? Well, tip of the hat to you, Brad Stone. You did the sleuthing. You put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Bury
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  • dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -1/+20it's pretty obvious once you find out but it was nice having some sort of parody in the tech world, bring on his book.
    • GoodOldJacob, on 10/10/2007, -42/+3Hermoine dies on page 400!
      • dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -1/+24no, she doesn't.
        read the book.
      • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16anyone who gives a ***** already read it
      • LexisNexis, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Fake spoiler fag ^ ^ ^
      • shawnz, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8It would never be on such an even page as 400. You should have picked 412, or so.
  • 13thKid, on 10/10/2007, -1/+45here's the link the the ny times article that outs him: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/technology/06steve.html?ex=1344052800&en=df82de5e78cf8dc0&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

    damn, the times' permalinks are pretty jacked up
  • nitrousconsumed, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1Im surprised that its taken this long to uncover his true identity.
  • jackwaters, on 10/10/2007, -4/+110Why.... This is really stupid. Why couldn't they just leave it be.... They've ruined it for everyone....
    • Daniel591992, on 10/10/2007, -14/+3I don't really see why it matters. We knew it was fake anyways, so what's the difference?
      • SupaFupa, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Anonymity of an author lends purity to their writing. Plus, since he is an established author in other venues, his columns written as himself now take on a different meaning. Its sort of like curiosity killing the cat.
    • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Is not the same anymore. Sometimes I really get impressed of how insightful about Apple the writer of the blog was and I wonder who the hell could be but now the mystery is gone and I don't see the point on keep reading the blog, doing it somehow makes me feel stupid/foolish.
    • volacide, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Aren't you kind of asking to be lied to in all facets of the news when you only want the news to be convenient and interesting to you? I agree sometimes it's kind of fun to believe in stuff that isn't real, like God, but there should be a limit to everything and you can't have your cake and eat it too.
  • superwick, on 10/10/2007, -5/+80indeed. way to ruin another good thing, douchebag reporters.
  • leomyhero, on 10/10/2007, -9/+63from the NY Times article
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/technology/06steve.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    "As for Mr. Jobs himself — the real one — he did not seem all that interested when told the identity of his online doppelganger. He said in an instant message conversation that he had no interest in reading Mr. Lyons’s novel."

    Jobs is such a dick head...C'mon Steve, have a laugh!
    • 13thKid, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22from the same article: "The acerbic postings of 'Fake Steve,' as he is known, have attracted a plugged-in readership — both the real Mr. Jobs and Bill Gates have acknowledged reading the blog."

      i don't think jobs would admit to reading fsj if he didn't see the humor in it.
    • turpenine, on 10/10/2007, -2/+23didn't jobs at a keynote come on and say, hello, I am fake steve jobs? I think he can have a laugh.
  • Reliant, on 10/10/2007, -21/+2So we either praise Jobs or hate him. Does it really make it worth our time to then go read a website that admits he is a fake steve jobs?
    • iFungus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14I think you're a bit confused.
    • ismith, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Clearly you have not spent the time to read some of the posts. They made me laugh out loud, which is very rare for something I read on a computer screen.
  • chris9902, on 10/10/2007, -27/+12what is FSJ and why does anyone care?
    • outhouseinput, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5Exactly what I was thinking!
    • Zalyster, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Fail
    • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3But here you are posting for something you claim to not care about! How how ironic in a post millennium kind of way.
  • HAKdragon, on 10/10/2007, -5/+87I just love how neither the title nor the summary inform anybody as to what the hell the story is about.
    • fiberspy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11I didn't even know fake Steve Jobs existed until he was outed....damn
    • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I can't stand digg submissions that don't clearly explain what they're about.
  • TFGeditor, on 10/10/2007, -17/+11The summary sucks. Who the hell is FSJ? Should not have to read the article to know that.
    • mastaphoo, on 10/10/2007, -6/+7you really set it up for yourself, RTFA lazy ass.
    • Murdats, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7no he is right.
      I spent half the article trying to figure out wtf I was reading about, the only hint they give you is they mention Apple once about half way down.
    • mcduckov, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1It is on blogspot.com. Do you REALLY need to know more than that?
  • jonbruc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19I really liked reading FSJ. Now that the author's outed, I don't think its as interesting. Also, now that the blog will be part of Forbes.com, how long before Apple Legal sends them a nastygram to cease & desist?
    • whistlerpro, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I'm scared it will be soon. He can't criticise other magazines as easily anymore.
  • gregmo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7first lonelygirl15, then [insert popular fake internet persona], now fsj. damn
    • CheeseheadDave, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The difference is that everyone knows the FSJ is fake. It's right there in the title of the blog. It sucks now because without the veil on anonymity, I wonder if the blog will lose a bit of its snarkiness because he'll be afraid of being sued?
      • anonym41414, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Yeah, but the fun thing about Fake Steve Jobs was the possibility, and everybody considered it sometimes, that maybe it was the REAL Steve Jobs.
  • Rageous, on 10/10/2007, -0/+21It really won't be the same now... but it was fun while it lasted. This about sums it up:

    "Recently someone claiming to be Mr. Jobs’s daughter, Lisa, wrote to tell him, 'You don’t sound at all like my father, but your blog is hilarious.' "
    • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Actually I had read that it was Fake Steve Jobs fake daughter Lisa (or FSJSDL) that wrote that...anonymously.
  • snowwrestler, on 10/10/2007, -8/+7It makes sense that a blog about a narcissistic, cynical, poorly informed technology executive would be written by a narcissistic, cynical, poorly informed technology journalist.
  • mrblue182, on 10/10/2007, -9/+5Buried as even after reading the article i still haven't got a clue what happened
  • parafish13, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5RIP FSJ. You made us laugh.
    • whistlerpro, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You'd be great at writing grave stones.
  • toetagger, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3*yawn*
  • tucsonwc, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5damn that is bad news. I really enjoyed reading it, mystery intact. The NYTimes sucks. One can hardly wait till Murdoch devours you.
    • gcnaddict, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Murdoch owns the New York Post. Times != Post.
  • bobcrotch, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Bomb the blogshpere.
  • Legolover64, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9It's kind of like Santa,

    Once ruined, it takes out all the magic.
  • pandafood, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Come on guys, can't you see it's just steve paying this person to take the fall for him. its the old.... a good offense is the best defense thingy..
  • FrameShift, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Seriously, can someone tell me why this guy needed to be unmasked? I'd really like to hear the argument.
    • p0tent1al, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4There is none. But there is always going to be someone who wants to cover the mystery. This is the truth for Magic Tricks and Wrestling also. They are all fake, and most people know that, but some people want to get to the bottom of it, but it is kind of human nature to wonder.
  • flowaus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Woah - Fake Steve Jobs was actually fake?
  • Sautechef, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1Who?
  • Metal_Hurlant, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8This is the same Daniel Lyons that writes articles for Forbes that have a persistent tendency to bash open-source software and proponents, and sometimes bloggers at large.
    Some say (yes, that's a wikipedia NPOV "some say") he amounts to little more than a troll to generate traffic for forbes.com.
    Others say (see, I'm trying here) his views are so consistently pro-Microsoft he might as well be taking a paycheck from them.

    For example:
    "Is Linux For Losers?": http://www.fo rbes.com/technology/2005/06/16/linux-bsd-unix-cz_dl_0616theo.html
    "Linux Scare Tactics": http://www.fo rbes.com/home/enterprisetech/2004/08/02/cz_dl_0802linux.html
    "SCO Vs. Blogger": http://www.fo rbes.com/2007/02/13/groklaw-sco-ibm-tech-enter-cz_dl_0213sco.html

    There are many more similar articles that aren't free to see on forbes anymore.
    • raynevandunem, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/search/label/Freetards

      Even though it makes sense that he would exude such an attitude about the FOSS fandom, it's still disconcerting that a *senior NYT editor* would use this cloak of anonymity to provide an outlet for such unprofessional descriptions of his supposed "foes", most of which he couldn't ever put onto his employer's front page.

      What's more ironic is that Lyons has referred to blogs as the platform for an "online lynch mob". http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2005/1114/128.html

      So, if he's an overall technophobe (nothing wrong with that, we all have different degrees of it), then why is he using the pseudonym of the CEO of a technology company that sells their products using a partially open-source Unix platform and web rendering engine to angrily and sarcastically criticize other companies and organizations which produce or make use of similar Unix-like platforms and web rendering engines (including his namesake's own)? Was he thinking that most recent tirade through before he posted it? http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/07/freetards-in-deep-denial.html

      I don't think that he's being paid by Microsoft, or is a paid troll for ads; I think the guy just hates technology, loves anything that makes money through exclusionary, proprietary means (whether its Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, whoever), and doesn't read.
    • gregfadein, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Um, none of those articles bash open-source or Linux at all.

      The first one is a story about BSD, a lesser-known Linux competitor. The second is a story about OSRM, a company offering insurance for corporate Linux users in case Microsoft did in fact threaten lawsuits. The third is about SCO suing the Groklaw blog.

      These are news items—none of them contain any of Lyons' opinions, let alone make him a "Microsoft supporter." Actually, to be honest, how you even came to that conclusion from those articles has me a little dumbfounded—by your logic, any news article that mentions any product, whether positive or negative, must be receiving kickbacks from all the corporate players in that market.

      In his own blog, Floating Point, Lyons regular bashes rms, Groklaw, Eben Moglen, and others—but really, who doesn't. Lots of Linux users hate the above, too. And he's spot on in calling the Stallman an IBM shill.
  • ocha, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Ugh... If he's on Forbes.com will we have to pay to read his no blog?
    No thank you. The magic is gone.
  • Atomic1fire, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Busted forizzy on the hizzy
  • CraigJ, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Meanwhile if anyone can think of a cool way to use the name "Brad Stone" (all or part) as a verb, let me know.

    Maybe this:
    brad, v.i.:
    1. To bust a fellow filthy hack without mercy and spoil the fun for everyone, in a quest for personal aggrandizement.
    2. To urinate in a pool.
    • gglynn07, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Brad Stone can replace Bogard as a verb, for example, instead of saying, "Hey, quit Bogarding the Chips!" you could say, "Hey, quit Brad Stoning the chips!"
      • anonym41414, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That's "bogart," and you're a moron.
  • Zalyster, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2What's with no one knowing who FSJ is?
    I thought the URL in my address bar read http://digg.com...
  • importjap, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Down with the NYT on this one. Go find something worth writing about like taking some US congressmen to task, rather than ruining a good thing.
  • skyfire1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2My cat, FBG, cannot stop laughing.
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Wow, good to know that Reporters can do investigative journalism when they want to.

    Now go out there and get some news that matters -- rather than 10,000 reporters chasing Brittany around.
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm an Apple fan -- and I think Lyons was far from making Apple look bad. I liked his fake Steve Jobs and I think it was more of an outlet for having to stuff in his shirt at Forbes. Some really funny writing with quite a bit of insight. I don't think he was any harsher on Open Source than he was on Microsoft -- but I suppose I could go back and look for that slant. It was just funny to read his attack on premadonnnas.

    However -- I would be unhappy if he was the standard; "bash the intellectual elitist (who is himself a corporate elitist)" which wouldn't be a stretch working for Forbes magazine-- God knows this country has suffered enough from the Assault on Reason (or Modernity, for that matter). But you can't go after someone just because he was good or hard on a particular point of view. He didn't drag his company into it, and he didn't benefit from any relationships. So his comments live or die on their own accord -- which is perhaps, a fairer form of writing. For instance, I might have put forth the same writing, or I could have been really anti-Microsoft. Does it make it any less right or more right that I'm not working for Forbes?

    I'm kind of a fan of free expression. You don't get "owned" by a corporation. So if you express opinions on your own -- it should be your concern.

    I'll miss his writing, regardless.
  • 2oonhed, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1what a stupid blog....how was this news?....you could have saved me some time by saying "The title says it all"......then I could have just read the stupid title & moved on...except, nowhere in this stupid blog did I see the word "yo"...or even "what up".....so imparting a somewhat hip hop tone in the title to a story that has absolutely no Hip Hop references in it, whatsoever, is misleading. dugg down for stupid title & stupid non news blog nonsense.
  • rogermugs, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2buried because this is obviously the work of one of those "bust digg" thingys...
    lamo
  • shoonya, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3dugg for the mug shots of the dog
  • asw66, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Dugg for the word "mangina"

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
  • Aeric, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1This is the dumbest ***** ever. Stupid fanboys. I want 1 minute of my life back and 1 top 10 story replaced.
    • kballweg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Be proactive, stop reading Digg if you want to save those minutes. Not too many contributors are able to anticipate your interests and post accordingly.

      It must be a terrible burden to be the center of the universe and not have people recognize it.
  • tjreck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Bummer
  • mikeuram, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I am just waiting for someone else to say that they guessed it right too. No one saw it coming.
  • erdorf, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0It is a pity that Brad's Wikipedia has not been updated to include the new meanings of his name.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Stone_%28journalist%29
  •  

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