Thank God They Have Layers of Editors Around to Prevent Simple Mistakes from Hitting Print . . .

Whether you're a MySpace addict or a Luddite who logged on once to see what all the fuss was about, you've likely met Tom. As the public face of MySpace, cofounder Tom Anderson has become a celebrity since the site launched in 2003 because he's every user's first "friend": when you join MySpace, your profile is automatically linked to his. But it turns out that Tom, who, along with cofounder Chris DeWolfe, made a fortune when News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, may have a secret: his real age. According to public documents obtained by NEWSWEEK—including professional license information, voter registration and utility and telephone service applications—Anderson is five years older than he claims. His online profile currently lists his age as 32, but it appears he was actually born on Nov. 8, 1970, meaning he'll turn 38 next week, not 33. (Happy birthday, Tom!)

From the Nov. 5, 2007 print edition of Newsweek (or Newsweak, as the case may be, and Hat Tip goes to Keith Uhlich at The House Next Door). Notice anything wrong with that paragraph above? Other than a big fat dollop of who cares, there's the matter of what age Mr. Anderson will be turning next week. If I'm not mistaken, we are in the Year of Our Lord, 2007 currently and when subtracting 1970 from 2007, the sum you come up with should be 37 and not 38 as stated in the article. Maybe they are in such a hurry to get to after Hillary is elected president, that they are hoping the election is a week away rather than 53 weeks remaining.

I realize this sort of number crunching alludes many folks out there in MSM-land, but let's not make him a 38 year old any sooner than we have to (I'm there right now, and I wasn't born in 1970, I arrived on the scene slightly before Woodstock and the Moon Landing, not after like poor Tom Anderson). I love the phrase, "According to public documents obtained by NEWSWEEK", so pompous, and typical. Funny, when checking up on this, notice it was mentioned earlier this week on Tech Crunch, and they credit WSJ reporter Julia Angwin with digging up the dirt (intra-News Corp warfare going on, I guess). Where's the hat tip, Newseek?

When I was a returning student at UCR a few years back, I enjoyed freaking out people by telling them how old I really was (I lived in the dorms my first year, which added to the strangeness). Never occurred to me to lie about my age. But then, I wasn't trying to get in bed with any of the kiddies or try and convince them that I was 'with it' or 'cool' or that they should check out my social network, either. So that might have something to do with my forthrightness.

And sad but true fact, Tom is my only friend on Myspace (partly cause I forgot I created a myspace account, and also, whenever I get unsolicited requests for 'friend' status, I reject them).

But back to why this post exists, I don't really care about the founders of Myspace, the service they provide, or whether or not some guy named Tom here in Santa Monica is 1 year younger than me, or 6 years younger than me. But I do like catching a publication like Newsweek not being able to do some simple math. That's golden, right there.