AOL Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis announced today that on January 1, he'll "retire from active management" while keeping his job title.

• A must-read on Workspace Design for computer programmers. [Joel on Software]

• Ex-Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble may miss out on Burning Man, but he'll have fun visiting the Googleplex today with Googler Matt Cutts. Insert cruel "don't empty the snack room" line here, and send phonecam pics of Scoble to tips@valleywag.com. [Matt Cutts, photo by ~C4Chaos]

Bloggers, caught stalking Smugmug CEO Don MacAskill, expertly pretend to be "just hanging out:"

Yesterday, I wrote that from the outside, Jason Calacanis looks as likely to head AOL as anyone else. But a reader who's seen him in action disagrees. "Calacanis the next AOL CEO? No way."

Steve Case was not the soul of AOL. The founding chairman was squeezed out because, frankly, he didn't fit the culture. The real man running AOL was vice chairman Ted Leonsis. Dot-com scribe Michael Wolff writes in his book Burn Rate that when AOL brought in Leonsis,

Just a few weeks ago, Netscape head Jason Calacanis offered to pay top users from other social networks like Digg if they defect to Netscape. Jason maintains that he's doing this to reward his best users, not to save a struggling brand by cannibalizing its competitors.

• The Wall Street Journal tries hard to find a contrarian view for Wired editor Chris Anderson's book, The Long Tail. Chris Anderson, amused, topples it like a sadist at a domino exhibition. [WSJ and The Long Tail]

If today's lengthy introduction to the Gillmor Gang didn't explain who Steve Gillmor, Michael Arrington, Nick Carr, and Jason Calacanis are, this simple chart ought to do it. Below are the names, positions, and recent exploits of four highly respected members of the tech industry.

So the weekly podcast "The Gillmor Gang" is in limbo as members Michael Arrington, Steve Gillmor, and Nick Carr fight their personal demons. I'm wondering the same thing you are about this tiff: Who are these guys, what's their problem, and why should I care?

Right, Netscape head Jason Calacanis will try to spin this one way, and Digg founder Kevin Rose will try to spin it the other. But the real story behind the latest battle of the social bookmarking sites started like this:

I see it's true you've left Time Inc.

• The Inquirer likes the idea that AOL's Jason Calacanis was handed Netscape by someone seeking his failure. But everyone knows Calacanis will fail spectacularly, which is the Dogbert-endorsed fast track to success. [Inquirer]

Just like Christmas in July, New Year predictions deserve a mid-year refresher — especially since Valleywag wasn't here for New Year's. Valleywag predicts that by the end of 2006:

The new tech bubble's totally going to be a movie some day (who owns the rights? Adam Curry?), so we may as well pick the cast ahead of time. Today's casted character is Jason Calacanis, the AOL exec who built Weblogs, Inc. and turned Netscape into a high-profile junk drawer.

After just a few months, the new head of Netscape wants out. That's why he's fomenting controversy over his newest job offer — paying his competitors' top users to seed Netscape. When the smoke clears, the site will have a shot in the arm, and Netscape's boss will be closer to leaving for a better gig at AOL.

Two web portals, figuring out new ways to hemorrhage money, are paying people to play on the Internet.

Need to make fun of someone this morning? Try the curmudgeons from Netscape who came to AOL exec Jason Calacanis's blog to tell him they don't like what he did to their site. How did they find his blog? By reading the new Netscape.

The New York Times documents the backlash against AOL's new interactive edition of Netscape.com in a story of dubious worth. Sure, a little ribbing's fine, but is it really news that the relaunch led by Weblogs, Inc. king Jason Calacanis caused a petition signed by under 2000 members? Not really.

• Bill Gates says Vista will be ready in January. Unless it won't. [MSNBC]