A commenter on our previous coverage of Rackspace's Texas datacenter outage last month had some pretty harsh words about Rackspace's recovery effort. I called Rackspace for comment and got slightly less alarming spin on the situation. Our tip, and the company's story, after the jump.

The wonderful thing about Digg? Critical thinking is not required. You can vote for stories based on your personal belief system, not whether they're, say, true. Take, for example, a brief New York Times story about UPS's cost-saving route software. Digg users translated this into a tall tale about UPS saving 3 million gallons of gas by elminating left-hand turns. Computers save the environment! It's a tale that comforts geeks who believe software will fix everything.

Despite a plug from Jim Romenesko's widely-read blog for overly serious journalists, not a single reporter has stepped up to collect Valleywag's $100 prize for anyone willing to back eWeek editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols' claim that "all reporters" cut and paste whole paragraphs from press releases into their articles without noting it to readers. We don't care that he's lazier than us, but we do find it creepy that Novell publicists are writing parts of eWeek. No biggie, though: Valley workers already claim they knew it all along.

The Entertainment Software Association, a videogame lobbying group, was searching for a new PR agency earlier this year. After the ESA declined Hill & Knowlton's advances, the firm released a poll stating that 60 percent of respondents agree the government should regulate videogames — exactly the kind of thing the ESA fights. Hill & Knowlton says it's all just a coincidence. Just like in high school, when you coincidentally write nasty things in a slam book after some other girl steals your boyfriend.

When a reporter gets called out for doing something questionable, such as eWeek senior editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols running Novell press releases as his articles, there's usually at least the appearance of concern at the publication. You know: Whoops, sorry for the misunderstanding. But eWeek has let Vaughan-Nichols dismiss complaints as some sort of grudge by another writer who posted a dozen or so examples of directly cut-and-pasted paragraphs. Grudge or no, what I see is eWeek — whose 400,000-plus readers include a lot of senior tech people I hang out with — publishing statements written by Novell publicists in a way that makes them look like eWeek's independent findings and analysis to me. Vaughan-Nichols claims it's OK: "Like all reporters, I write stories based on press releases." Like all reporters? I'll send a $100 iTunes gift certificate to the first reporter besides Vaughan-Nichols who posts 3 links in the comments to his or her own work, each of which contains at least one paragraph provably lifted without attribution from a press release, to which you must also point. Or heck, just email 3 links to paul@valleywag.com and I'll post 'em for you.

Valleywag has been officially disinvited from the Google holiday party. They're at "maximum capacity" for the "relevant, innovative and interactive experiences that bring the Google brand to life" they had planned. Or so they say. Anyone else get the boot? After the jump, the original invite forwarded to us.

Every year Google sends out gifts to certain AdSense publishers and AdWords advertisers to show it knows who butters Larry and Sergey's bread. Prior years' gifts included a nifty pack of Google gear including a mouse, USB cables, a memory stick, and earphones. Last year's was even cooler: a digital picture frame. This year though, the gift is considerably lamer — perhaps Google is trying to cut costs?

I remember, distinctly, when former Business 2.0 editor Josh Quittner's love affair with Facebook began this spring. He couldn't stop talking about it, and I could hardly avoid hearing about it, since my office was next door to his. With all the zeal of a late convert, Quittner evangelized Facebook for most of this year — and now, feeling betrayed by Facebook's Beacon ads, he has attacked them with all the betrayed fury of a new apostate. Facebook is dead — to him, at any rate. Quittner's fickle rage perfectly captures the Silicon Valley hype cycle, and the press's complicity in it. Having built up Facebook, Quittner and his fellow reporters must, inevitably tear it down. But in this latest episode, it's Facebook's critics, not Facebook, who have jumped the shark.

Videogamers have been accusing CNET of shredding its editorial credibility by firing GameSpot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann after Eidos allegedly threatened to pull "hundreds of thousands of dollars in future advertising." That, of course, is conspiracy theory entirely typical of the blogosphere. Has anyone thought that Eidos has as much to lose as CNET here, with customers turning against the games studio over claims it muscled out a popular reviewer? We hear Eidos is "freaking out" over l'affaire Gerstmann; top management there, an insider says, sincerely believes they didn't prompt CNET to fire Gerstmann, but fears they'll get the blame anyway. Michelle Curran, Eidos's director of public relations, says, "Yeah, we're not commenting on that right now." That's all right, Michelle. If we were you, we wouldn't comment, either.

Monica, Monica. First you rob me of all that I loved about PR — the illusion that you labor over each email you send to make it personal to me, just me. Now you're threatening to kill our relationship entirely by bringing in lawyers. Monica, how am I supposed to write the news without your help? How will I learn of the glories of your clients? But I think we can still make this work, Monica.

This letter came into my inbox, editing marks and all, and I feel like I swallowed the red pill. Let me get this straight. You PR flacks don't actually hold me "dear" when you send your story pitches and briefing offers? Does this mean it's all templated lies? Your casual hey-I-thought-this-might-interest-you tone, wholly manufactured? Your regards, often the "best," "kind"? Next will you tell me your client isn't actually "premier" or even "leading"? Quick, somebody unplug me!

"Once every hundred years media changes." With those inane words, at 2:37 PM Eastern time yesterday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg flipped the bozo bit on himself among Silicon Valley techies. But East Coast cynic Nick Carr got the last word:

Yes, PR flacks are typically mindless automatons programmed to spout the company line. But sometimes I feel for them. Take Viacom's Jeremy Zweig, for example. Man's got to be dizzy from all the spin. First, he tells us that Viacom general counsel Michael Fricklas is "delighted" with Google's new YouTube Video Identification tool. Then we spot him telling others the lawsuit is still on. Because Viacom sues people it's "delighted" with? Not exactly.

When I got home from covering the Web 2.0 Summit keynote with News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe, I found the following email in my inbox: "This information is not for on-the-record use, it’s simply a background overview for your reference if you‘re planning to cover tonight’s discussion." Funny, I never recall asking for this document, let alone agreeing to keep it off the record — an arrangement that, in my experience, requires the mutual consent of reporter and source. So here, forthwith, are News Corp.'s official talking points about Wednesday night's event. Contrast them with my live reporting. Of most vital interest: The new San Francisco office is hiring 200 people.

Do you blog? Want to go to the CTIA wireless trade show in San Francisco? All you have to do is accept a blind invitation to a media briefing, and the mystery company will foot your hotel bills. Classy. [Silicon Alley Insider]

Pity the underworked and lonely Apple PR staffers. Whenever they have a chance to do their job, the boss takes all the action for himself. Following the iPhone price drop and Steve Jobs's Marie Antoinette-esque "That's technology" declaration, a reporter at a major newspaper put in a call yesterday to the the PR department asking for comment. A mere half-hour later, Jobs himself returned the call. Shortly thereafter, Apple posted Jobs's iPhone-credit announcement to its website. Has the man never heard of delegating?

Google has summarily disinvited Dan Frommer, editor at New York-based tech blog Silicon Alley Insider, from its October 3 press soiree. The excuse? A Google spokesperson told him that "this event is very much consumer-focused and based on your coverage, the content does not seem aligned with your topic area." As if Google itself fits in better with the content produced by invited guests W and Women's Wear Daily? Right. Sounds like an insecure college freshman, trying to associate with the sorority girls and cut ties from longtime nerd friends, lest she seem uncool by association.

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin hired Eric Schmidt as Google's CEO because, among other reasons, he'd been to Burning Man, they must have known they were getting a boss with alternative values. But did they know that their newly hired grownup would prove to be Google's adulterer supervision? Schmidt is famous for having a series of girlfriends, despite being married, to whom he's reportedly promised marriage. Ones known to Valleywag include Rita Koselka and Marcy Simon. But it's Simon, his current fling, who might concern Page and Brin. Why? Because Simon has apparently wangled a desk and a phone line in Google's cramped New York offices.

Not convinced you need a BlackBerry? Research In Motion has corralled a slew of professionals, who in true "Real World" form, reveal what is so tantalizing about their sidekick (if not their Sidekicks). Not only can you listen to a variety of presidents and CEOs espouse the obvious virtues of an email-capable smartphone, but you can also hear predictable sales pitches for their companies. Premal Shah, president of the nonprofit microloan site Kiva.org, spends half of his 2 minutes and 35 seconds telling viewers about the site. In between elevator pitches, he says, "The first thing I do is I look at my BlackBerry when I wake up. In the morning, it's almost like my motivation to open my eyes." Wow. For us, coffee does the trick. If you're looking to pimp your business, submissions guidelines are located in the page footer. If you don't have a BlackBerry, just borrow a friend's and pretend.

Rumor among the tech press corps is that Yahoo was set to hand the announcement of Sue Decker's big reorganization to Miguel Helft of the New York Times. It's a standard move, when a company has delicate personnel matters to unfold, to find a friendly, prominent outlet, and hand them an exclusive in exchange, it's hoped, for kinder treatment. But the PR strategy, executed by a department that's seen considerable turnover recently, failed. Unfortunately for the Times, but fortunately for our readers, Valleywag broke the news of Decker ally Hilary Schneider's rise and sales chief Gregory Coleman's fall, while AllThingsD reported other details of the reorg. The Times, a day late, now has a mostly inoffensive report. The story doesn't say this, however: You read it here first.