More Videos- Tommy Lee, Medical Tourism and Nasty Santa, Your Emails
- Tommy Lee Wants You to Be a Rock Star
- The Gift That Stops Giving
- Smile Though Your Head Is Breaking...
- How Low Will You Go?
- The Perfect Job On 'The Go'
- Balloon Boy Flies Again — As Halloween Hit
- Barbie's Sugar Daddy?
- What Ribbon To Wear For National Toilet Month?
- Does Uncle Sam Want You To Get The H1N1 Vaccine?
MOST SHARED
- Future of Marketing
- Obama Says Will Raise Currency Issue with China
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Priceline Crushes Profit Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Oil Tomorrow
- Dow Up Over 100 After G20 Stimulus Pledge
- Maria's Market Message
- Trial of Ex-Bear Stearns Managers Goes to Jury
- Investors Should Limit Exposure to US Equities: Gross
- Why Google is Paying $750 Million for Ad Mob
- Warren Buffett to Sell Stakes In Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern
- Nov. 9: Unusual Volume Leaders
- The Battered Businesses Behind Housing
- Modern Warfare 2's Record-Breaking Launch
- Merck’s Mega-Monday Morning
- Why are Traders Bullish on This Food Company?
- Profiting From Natural Gas: Strategists
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Surcharge Appealing to Limit Bank Size: Fed's Tarullo
- European Commission Objects to Sun Micro-Oracle Deal
- Obama Sees Strains Unless US, China Balance Growth
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Buffett to Sell Stakes in Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific
- Cramer: 5 Stocks to Play the Next Bull Run
- Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- Electronic Arts Beats Street, Announces 1,500 Job Cuts
- Time Is Here to Look at Overseas Stocks: Bill Gross
RSS FEED
Funny Business
Text Size 
Stephen Chao got an MBA from Harvard, went to work for the National Enquirer, and then Rupert Murdoch brought him on to help Barry Diller create the Fox network back in the '80s.
Chao was famously fired by Murdoch, who was almost a father to him, after a speech on sex versus violence in the media at an event which included Murdoch and Dick Cheney. Legend has it that during his speech, Chao had a naked guy come out on stage, and then pointed a gun at him--asking the audience which was more disturbing.
That was the end of his tenure at Fox, even though he'd brought such hits as "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted" to the network.
Chao eventually worked with Diller again at USA Networks, before leaving TV. He re-emerged in January as co-creator of www.wonderhowto.com, and I'm doing a story on him and the site today. WonderHowTo hopes to be the next YouTube, but do Google one better--be cash flow positive on the site in three years.
The site links to 120,000 how-to videos all over the web, and that pretty much covers ANYTHING you would want to learn, plus thousands of other things you'd never imagine learning. Here's the playlist Chao made for me, which includes everything from how to make an air conditioner for $40, to how to potty train your cat on a toilet, to how to tell the difference between a hooker and an undercover cop.
The "not the escort" part of his reference to me refers to a DIFFERENT Jane Wells on the internet.
But speaking of hookers and undercover cops. I first met Chao back in 1987 when I was a reporter in Miami. He was looking for new "talent" to bring to the fledgling Fox network, and he saw a story where I posed as a hooker at the height of the AIDS crisis trying to find out what kind of "johns" were picking up streetwalkers and risking so much.
 |
CNBC.com Jane Wells with Miami Vice Officers in 1987 |
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE BEST FAKE BLOG!
Vote here. Vote here. Vote here.
Voting ends at noon eastern today.
Questions? Comments? Funny Stories? Email
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes