NEW YORK - Hours after internet search engine Ask.com jettisoned its long-time corporate mascot, Jeeves, the dainty butler who helped build the search engine into a household name took his own life in the same Hollywood motel where Janis Joplin died. Jeeves' best friend, the dog from dogpile.com, found the well-known corporate icon hanging from the ceiling of Room 105, the room where Joplin died. "I figured we'd find him there," said the little dog. "I knew he was despondent, but he promised me he was going to call some people he knows over at Yahoo! to see if they'd take him in." The dog said that Jeeves' ouster came without warning. "He reported to work Monday morning, on time as always, but some punk security guard wouldn't even let him walk onto the screen. This kid told him that the company 'is going in a different direction.' Just like that," the dog said. "And you can bet that decision was in the works for months." The dog noted that he had urged Jeeves for years to "take the stock options the company offered him, like I did with dogpile.com. Hell, today I'm the largest individual shareholder in the company. Whoever tries to dump me will be out on his ass."
