In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Yahoo! is buying Inktomi for $235M. There has been a lot of discussion both outside and inside the company about search engine competitor Google, so clearly Yahoo! is doing this to stay competitive in the search space. Whereas Yahoo! has something like 74 different properties in 25 countries, Google […]
Will McDonald’s follow United Airlines?
One of the nation’s biggest airlines recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Now I read this headline from Investor’s Business Daily: McDonald’s Expects Its First-Ever Loss As Chain Retrenches Amid Weak Sales. Another sign of the weak economy? Hardly. Maybe McDonald’s is losing money because they’re not vegetarian-friendly. I completely stopped giving Mickey D’s […]
Permission-based burglary
Former co-worker Derek Balling writes, “You know you’ve made it in the world when NPR quotes ya…” Derek, sign me up! To make it a little easier for you, I’ve reset our the combination to our safe to 9-24-66 (YAHOO). 🙂
FTC do-not-call list
I always love it when government goes above and beyond the private sector. The Direct Marketing Association already provides a do-not-call list called the Telephone Preference Service (which I discovered via Operation Opt-Out). But only telemarketers that belong to the DMA actually use the TPS list. The FTC wants to make a mandatory do-not-call list […]
Daring to Rebuild
Here’s something stunning: Nine New Visions: Architects Propose Soaring Buildings, Somber Parks For WTC Site. Check out the video. (From YudelLine)
The Metaverse for $9.99/month
The metaverse, more-or-less as described in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, now exists. It’s called The Sims Online. As mentioned in the Wired article, game’s inventor is playing acharacter named Alan Greenspan. Maybe I could play Terry Semel?
DMCA and Instant Messaging Patent
A couple of interesting developments in the IP space today: Russian Company Acquitted of Digital Piracy. In the first test of digital piracy law, a jury acquitted a Russian company accused of selling software that allowed users to circumvent security features in an electronic book. By Matt Richtel. [New York Times: Technology] Patent creates IM […]
Creative Commons: a real alternative to GPL
Creative Types: A Lot in Common. The Internet is teeming with creative people who aren’t famous or rich. A new set of licenses from Creative Commons will allow copyright holders to share their work according to conditions they specify — and boost their profiles. By Kendra Mayfield. [Wired News]
Stripping: it’s a living
I was having an IM conversation with a co-worker this evening and somehow we managed to get a little off-topic. In talking about my my alma mater, I was reminded of the book Ivy League Stripper by Heidi Mattson, who started stripping to pay her college tuition. Brown University — the ultimate small-town girl’s dream […]
Rain, Rain, Go Away
It’s raining again in LA. A significant storm system is forecast to move into southwestern California today. This system will bring rain to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties thi morning…Then the precipitation should spread quickly South through Los Angeles county in the afternoon. gusty South winds will also accompany the storm system as […]