The situation is not quite so dire as some reports have suggested: the short version is simply that, in the course of its work, Zivity managed to spawn two creations—the TopFans website and "War of the Roses" MySpace application—that were seen as, well, more immediately profitable than Zivity (we can't imagine why). Rather than watch Zivity wither away as its resources were diverted to other projects within the company, the powers that be decided to split the company in two, allowing Zivity to wither away grow at its own pace all on its own.

Porn Valley has long looked to Zivity for clues to mainstreaming: after all, if Zivity was able to managed to secure venture capital, shouldn't the rest of Porn Valley (arguably a more profitable enterprise) manage to interest mainstream money? Alas, it's not that simple: Zivity got the funds because it was a not very risque not-porn site started by Silicon Valley insiders. Very risque enterprises, started by Silicon Valley outsiders (or hey, even insiders) just have too many strikes against them to attract the VCs. But hey—given the fate of Zivity, maybe that's not so bad.

· Zivity (zivity.com)
· Amicable Split for Zivity and VC Investors (dailyfinance.com)

· "Bare-clays Bank...High Street giant bids for Russian bank with a very saucy staff calendar" (dailymail.co.uk)
· Expobank (expobank.ru, though you won't find the rest of the pinup calendar here ... if anyone knows where we can see more, please let us know!)

Because we here at Fleshbot have always believed that a well-rounded porn consumer is a happy porn consumer, we're glad to have added The Money Shop Blog to our list of regular reads: where else can you find up-to-date financial news and tips and penetrating stock market analysis along with a daily dose of hot amateur smut? Just be careful when you're sharing your new found investment acumen with your fellow Masters of the Universe—not everyone's going to believe you when you tell them you were checking out GoldmanSex just to see how that whole domain name dispute is affecting your portfolio value.

· The Money Shot Blog (moneyshotblog.blogspot.com)
· Thumbnail via Public Invasion (publicinvasion.com)

Previously: Trading Playmates, Financial Domination, Send Ashley To College, Play The Pimp

Considering the two are time-honored he-man activities, we're surprised that no one's thought of the idea of combining playing the stock market and ogling hot naked women before, but that's exactly what the folks at TradingMarkets have done with the launch of their 2006 Playboy Stock Picking Contest earlier this month, in which ten models will compete for a $50,000 donation to their favorite charity based on which of their stock portfolios sees the greatest gain by the end of this year. We're not surprised that 2005 Cyber Girl of the Year and registered nurse Amy Sue Cooper thinks that pharmaceutical companies are "fun investments", but we're a little less sold on Miss December 2005 Christine Smith's financial acumen; she's picked Google as a stock to watch simply because "it is always good for finding stuff". Still, we'd rather take brokerage advice from any of these hotties than a crusty old geezer like E.F. Hutton any day.

· 2006 Playboy Stock Picking Contest (tradingmarkets.com)
· " 10 Playboy models trading the stock market" (galleries @ triplewitchingfriday.com - thanks BF)

Previously: Financial Domination, Send Ashley To College, Play The Pimp