Illegitimus non carborundum, Mike

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Posted by Mathew @ 3:30 pm on December 6 2006 | |

Nick Denton, the Gawker Media supremo who recently took over as editor of Valleywag (former editor Nick Douglas just popped up at Huffington Post’s Eat The Press), loves to take shots at a few people — including Jason Calacanis, who is apparently now an executive with venture group Sequioa Capital — and Mike Arrington of TechCrunch is definitely high up on that list.

Nick loves to use a graphic with Mike’s face and the logo “Red Herrington” (which is a shot on several different levels), and he never misses a chance to try and take the piss — as the British say — by making fun of TechCrunch or Mike’s various other interests. So it’s interesting to see Nick providing some friendly advice to his nemesis in a recent Valleywag post.

The reason for his advice was a comment by Mike in a recent profile in the San Francisco Chronicle, in which TechCrunch is described (somewhat breathlessly) as “Mr. Web 2.0,” a kingmaker among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.” At one point, when asked whether there is anyone against whom he holds a grudge, he says Nick Denton — because “Nick Denton is evil.”

And the advice from Nick? “If you’re in a good old-fashioned tabloid war, never let them get to you — and never ever let them know they’ve got to you.” In other words, chill out dude (which is exactly what Mike has said he plans to do, taking two months off to rest and ski at his parents’ place in upstate Washington). Or, as old military types like to say: “Illegitimus non carborundum” — which loosely translates as “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”

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Mathew posted this article under Blogs, Media, Web2.0 on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006 at 3:30 pm. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, and you can also view Technorati Linkbacks or check for other responses using YackTrack.