October 31, 2003

Friendster's not a business

With Friendster pulling down dough likes it's 1999, it bears repeating that there's no business here. Social netowrks are useful when they're small and you actually know the people! Asseting that people will learn to use these systems just like they learned online dating is guessing, not informed enlightenment.

John Paczkowski very accurately nails it:

Stephan Paternot still waiting for call back from Friendster recruiter: Is Friendster this year's theglobe.com? It really looks like it. The "social networking site" has no revenue-producing services whatsoever. It hasn't even officially launched yet. But that hasn't stopped it from banking $13 million in VC financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital. The company is now valued at around $53 million, which is quite a bit less than theglobe.com was worth in 1998. But Friendster hasn't gone public -- yet. "Does it feel like 1999 again?" Andrew Anker, a general partner with August Capital, asked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "In social networking, yes. I haven't seen anything like this in four years. It's very bubblesque."

October 29, 2003

I'llSign Up For This....

Bush Rice '04: the dream becoming reality!

October 28, 2003

Valueless Network

This E-Commerce News article has it about right:

Telling the truth -- no, I don't want to be your friend -- is uncomfortable, so most people acquiesce. But the worth of networks built on such dubious or unwanted connections likely isn't terribly high. "I'll get friend requests from people I haven't spoken to in over a year," says Wade Tinney, a sometime Friendster user and co-founder of video-game company Large Animal.

These social networking sites will always run into depreciating value of the node links, and, sooner or later, some nebbish spam-bombing the network and turning everybody off to even healthy networking behavior.

Bubble bubble.

First Citiwide Change Bank

For all of your change needs.

All the time, our customers ask us, "How do you make money doing this?" The answer is simple: Volume. That's what we do.

October 26, 2003

A Good Sign

The Governator, I suppose not surprisingly, has a finely-tuned sense of drama. That's good for leadership, and good for California.

October 24, 2003

Cosmic

Jesus actor struck by lightning. Twice!

You would think he'd get the hint.

Thanks to AS.

Today's Obligatory Google Story

They're planning on a novel online auction for their IPO. That's risky.

Well, At Least the Cocktail Lines Will Be Shorter

Most Americans do not expect to experience Hell first-hand: just one-half of 1% expect to go to Hell upon their death. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe they will go to Heaven. One in 20 adults (5%) claim they will come back as another life form, while the same proportion (5%) contend they will simply cease to exist.

THis according to Barna Research Online. Who are the 1/2 of1% self-identified hell-bound?

One of the intriguing findings from the research is that education and income are negatively correlated with belief in Heaven and Hell. In other words, the more education a person gets or the more income they earn, the less likely they are to believe that Heaven or Hell exists. While most high-income households and college graduates maintain belief in Heaven and Hell, the finding reinforces the popular notion – and, indeed, Jesus’ teaching – that people of economic means and those with considerable education struggle to embrace biblical teachings on such matters.

It's easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye, I suppose.

JetCool

reveries has a nice little blurb on JetBlue, my favorite airline, today:

Bumpless JetBlue. Four hundred and twelve thousand, four hundred and forty-seven (412,447) -- that's the number of ticketed passengers bumped by 13 major airlines, voluntarily or otherwise, in the first half of this year, reports Chris Woodyard in USA Today. It's "enough to fill nearly a thousand new Boeing 747s." Ten (10) -- that's the number of passengers bumped by JetBlue during the same period, and all of them were volunteers.

Simplicity -- that's how JetBlue manages this feat. Quite simply, unlike other airlines, JetBlue does not overbook its flights. Part one of that simplicity is that JetBlue "encourages passengers to book directly with the airline instead of through travel agents." That way, the airline knows exactly what's been sold, for real. Part two is that, like almost every other kind of ticket, JetBlue's are not refundable. If you need to change your flight, you must call in advance and pay a $25 fee. This policy, which most folks seem to find reasonable, has proved effective in reducing the number of no-shows.

Stress -- that's the real story here. "People want to go to the airport knowing they have a seat," says JetBlue ceo David Neeleman. "We also don't want our people to get beat up when customers find out the plane is overbooked ... We have lots of stress in this industry, and trying to figure out who to bump only adds to the stress of these jobs." JetBlue did briefly consider "scrapping its no-overbooking policy as recently as six months ago." However, Neeleman, himself a father of nine, was dissuaded by a public relations person who pointed out it could wreak havoc on traveling families. And so, Mr. Neeleman's JetBlue, http://www.jetblue.com, is content to let each fully-booked flight take off with one or two empty seats. "Why get greedy?" he says.

Unlike the other airlines, that cynically view their passengers as marks available for fleecing, JetBlue takes the short-term money-losing, but long-term trust-winning position.

napster gets it

This is a rocking e-mail campaign from the soon-to-be-revived Napster. "Reggae" in particular.

Tune In In 2074...

For the revocation of Maureen Dowd's Pulitzer. We can only hope!

Anticipation

He's making us wait:

"Deep Throat is a source who lied to his family, to his friends and colleagues denying that he had helped us. In a sense his identity is embedded in not being a source," Woodward said. "Once he dies, it will be disclosed, and the full story will be told."

Iraqis Wisen Up

A good sign: the Iraqi leadership isn't going to take French and German intransigence any more.

October 23, 2003

Worst Album Covers Ever

Please wait while you are redirected to "Worst Album Covers Ever." If you are not automatically re-directed, please click here.

How to Find $100K+ Jobs

Well my new site, SalesLadder has really taken off -- we've topped the 10,000 subscriber mark.

THe idea is pretty simple: we collect all of the $100K+ sales jobs out there and e-mail them to our subscriber base. We're currently sending around 300 - 350 each week, so, Readers, if you know anybody looking for a $100K+ sales job, please make sure to send them to us.

Worst Album Covers Ever

Thanks to reader Brad B. for turning me on to the work of Nick D. who collected these priceless old album covers from the musical greats of the past.

Send your disturbing album masterpieces to news AT cenedella D0T com and tune in on Monday for next week's edition of "Worst Album (or CD) Covers Ever"

You can buy Orleans' album at Amazon.com here. Check out the "5 star" review titled "A must for any Orleans fan"!




If you'd like to buy Millie's CD (cleavage included) you can get it at Amazon here. Read the review titled "THE COVER PHOTO PERSUADED ME TO LISTEN !!!" signed "A 17-YEAR OLD MUSIC FAN".

Want more bad album covers? Click here to continue!

Will The Last One Please Turn Off the Computer?

At present trend lines, August 17, 2013 will be the day the last AOL subscriber quits.

Bitter Babies

I love this guy's auction.

Let me begin by explaining some very important details, this way I do not get 100's of silly emails asking me to photograph the hind end of some stuffed animals. I DO NOT KNOW crap about these things. This belonged to my ex-wife who had about a 1000 of these Beanie Babies and when she moved, this one box of these got left behind, and now I am selling the goofy little things. Whatever money I make from them will be spent at the local Home Depot on tools and other cool stuff. I do not know which of these babies is retired or new, or whatever. I will list them in no particular order. I will tell you what its name is on the tag, if it has a plastic box or something. All these critter have been stored indoors, and are from a non-smoking home. Again, please do not send me emails asking me to photograp this or that. I am starting the auction at $10.00 and at that price I figure you all can take a chance. I understand from a friends wife that people are afraid to get fakes. FAKES? Fake plush toys? I was amazed. I thought people forged money, not childrens toys. Well I can only say, that 99% of these goofy toys were bought with my money, from eiter the local Hallmark Store, or one of the dozen or so Southern Craft/ collectibles stores I had to go to on a weekly basis buying these ridiculos toys years ago. Happy Bidding! Please take these critters from me so I can buy tools.

Final Notice and Disclaimer: I know nothing about these stuffed Beanie Babies. I offer no proof of anything. It is a stuffed animal, get over it! I don't think my ex-wife was in the Black Market Beanie Trade..but then again, I didn't know she was having an affair either! Thus no gauruntees! All have theior little Heart Shaped tags on their ears.

From GMSV.com.

A Sculpture from a Distant Cousin

Pietro Cenedella's work on the internet.

I'm using a cool new tool called GoogleAlert (different from Google Alerts) at www.googlealert.com. You set up a Google search that you want to track, and ths site sends you the new results each day. Hence, I found Pietro.

Pretty cool, huh?

October 22, 2003

Google Local Not As Good As Overture Local

My Wine 10003 test failed at Google.

UPDATE: The Yahoo! local search beats Google local search.

More Cool Stuff From Google

So Google will now define neologisms, slang, and jargon for you.

I tried "shizzle" and the results worked pretty well:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=define+shizzle

October 21, 2003

The Turn-Around Cometh

So says Craig.

October 20, 2003

The First Grandlady

A refreshing bit of straight-shooting from the former First Lady. She says the Democratic contenders are a "sorry group" while her husband reminds us that "hey I did not ride in here on a watermelon cart. "

But Babas best line on 43 is this:

"He still doesn't take my advice, that dirty dog."

Sounds like they are enjoying their dotage.

Run Away From the Dots

What happens when you combine modern kids with the video games of our youth? Disdain, disbelief, disrespect.

Brian: What's this supposed to be?
EGM: Football. It's one of the first great portable games.
Brian: I thought it was Run Away From the Dots.
John: I don't see how this has anything remotely to do with football.
EGM: Which team are you playing?
Kirk: The red lines.
Tim: They could've just as easily called this game anything: Baseball, Bowling, Escape From the Monsters.
EGM: Did you score?
Kirk: I bumped into a dot.

Big Old Jet Airliner, Don't Carry Me Too Far Away....

Competing early for next year's Ig Nobel prize is this researcher studying "No Cure for Songs Stuck in Your Head".

"People with higher neuroticism scores tend to react to the onset of an earworm by saying 'Oh no, here it goes again, I wonder how long this is going to last,'" Kellaris said. "That fretting about it, I think, exacerbates it."

Have a nice day.

October 19, 2003

SR. PHARMACOKINETICIST

That's a cool job title.

Gloating

Red Sox Haiku:

Going, going, gone
In the eleventh inning
Winter has begun

Low Cost Sales Channel

This is a brilliant sales strategy. Turn all of your customers into resellers.

October 18, 2003

Top Search Terms

That have led people to Stone this month:

earth station 5
cubist architecture
marc cenedella
future of yellow pages
giantism
manhattan census
bambi francisco
man walks on the moon
overture local
public key cryptography explained
stone to kilograms
wish i was worth remembering
woogle
alaudin abdul-shaheeb al-alwan
amish tax*
bambi ball
bambi francisco -cbs -cbsmarketwatch
bambi francisco -marketwatch -stock
bmw 325i 1992 review australia
daniel gilbert happiness

um.... interesting.

That Was Then

Foreign Affairs has run this excellent piece from 1946 written by Allen Dulles.

In thinking about the reconstruction of Iraq, many have looked for insight to the American experiences in rebuilding Germany and Japan after World War II. Optimists point to similarities across the cases and argue that they bode well for the Bush administration's efforts today. Pessimists point to differences and draw the opposite conclusion. In truth, some aspects of the occupations look familiar and some do not. As the saying goes, history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. What is most striking about the comparison is that in all three cases, several months into the postwar era the future of the country was still hanging in the balance

Via Instapundit.com.

October 17, 2003

The Amazing Parallels

You'd think this would be parody, but it's not.

"We have swept away Hitlerism, but a great many Europeans feel that the cure has been worse than the disease."

This, from a 1946 Life article by noted leftist novelist John Dos Passos!

Read the whole thing for these tidbits:

Friend and foe alike, look you accusingly in the face and tell you how bitterly they are disappointed in you as an American.

Never has American prestige in Europe been lower.

We’ve lost the peace.

And, yes, don't ever forget:

The skeptical French press

Thanks to Instapundit for the link.

The Gun Stuns

I didn't see this today, but it's almost as bad as the New York Times' "We'd like to see a Red Sox - Cubs Series" editorial.

Nice Guys Finish

An awfully nice Amazon keeps the payout coming to laid-off emnployees 30 months later!

Social Bubble

I agree with this guy. The whole social networking thing is a fun fad, but there is no real business there.

October 16, 2003

Bartman Enters The Legends

I saw this bit of buffoonery live on DirecTV while flying JetBlue this afternoon. It was kind of funny.

And if that bit of bizarreness isn't enough, ESPN apparently landed an interview with Bartman and spoke with him by phone for the 5 p.m. "SportsCenter." Anchor Dan Patrick asked the questions and ESPN put a still photo of Bartman on the screen. At one point, Patrick asked Bartman if he was seriously going to have to leave Chicago. The voice on the other end of the phone made a crude reference to Howard Stern. It was yet another live on-air hoax pulled off by listeners of Stern's radio show. The call was disconnected and an embarrassed Patrick paused and said to the audience, "We've been had."

October 14, 2003

A Moving Experience

Like Bill Buckner this fan has years of vituperation to look forward to. Might I suggest he visit Uhaul.com now?

Chicago Cubs left fielder Moises Alou reaches into the stands unsuccessfully for a foul ball against the Florida Marlins in the eighth inning during Game 6 of the National League championship series Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Cubs were unable to get a fan interference call.

Diller's New Digs

This Ship of Glass should helped spice up a neighborhood that has always been on the dge of making it into the big time. The Park restaurant is there, Chelsea Piers is there, but there's always been too many wind-swept parking lots and deserted streets to give it the feel of a real community.

Now if only they could change the name back form the unmemorable IACI.

Creeps

This missive from the Family Research Council would be amusing if it were, say, a parody. But as full-bore homophobia from a puffed-up self-righteous bigot, it makes the skin crawl:

Mr. Sullivan also asks how a homosexual union could "undermine the heterosexual marriage of the people who live next door." One answer is: it could destroy it. Forty percent of the people entering "civil unions" in Vermont were previously in heterosexual marriages--just like the new Episcopal bishop, Gene Robinson, who left his wife and children for a homosexual lover.

! Whaaa? I mean, how can you believe that? Does this guy have any gay friends? (Of course, not.) Is he really positing the presence of some type of gay "cooties" that infect the nice, normal, heterosexual into becoming a drag-wearing drama queen?

But he continues:

An indirect effect is more likely, however. As the transient, promiscuous, and unfaithful relationships that are characteristic of homosexuals become part of society's image of marriage, fewer marriages will be permanent, exclusive, and faithful--even among heterosexuals. Mr. Sullivan is optimistic that legal unions would change homosexuals for the better; it seems far more probable that homosexuals would change marriage for the worse.

Ummm, sure. We have to stop gays from getting into long-term stable marriages so we can prevent their promiscuous, short-term flings. That does not clear even the first hurdle of logic.

As in all things, life imitates The Onion :

Spokespersons for the National Gay & Lesbian Recruitment Task Force announced Monday that more than 288,000 straights have been converted to homosexuality since Jan. 1, 1998, putting the group well on pace to reach its goal of 350,000 conversions by the end of the year.

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of our missionaries nationwide, in the first seven months of 1998, nearly 300,000 heterosexuals were ensnared in the Pink Triangle," said NGLRTF co-director Patricia Emmonds. "Clearly, the activist homosexual lobby is winning."

If ony the bigots were joking.

October 13, 2003

Gone Daddy Gone

The Yahoo Sign in SoHo bites the dust.

Silicon Alley Sleuth

Well, well, Jason Calacanis, former of Silicon Alley Daily, is off to great start, scooping this eUniverse rip-off story. I'll wish him the best on his second act.

What Gender is Your Spam?

Interestingly, as in so much else, men and women view spam differently:

Significantly the study shows that men have a much broader definition of spam than women. Sixty-five percent of men cited "an email from a company that I have done business with but comes too often" as an example of spam, while only 56% of women agreed with this statement. Sixty-one percent of men cited "an email that may have been permission based but comes too frequently" while only 55% of women agreed that that statement defines spam. Thirty-six percent of men cited "any email that tries to sell me a product or service" should be considered spam, compared with 32% of women. Correspondingly, women are more sensitive than men to emails of an offensive subject matter with 94% of women considering offensive email to be spam, compared to 91% of men. These differences suggest that women are more sensitive to pornographic and offensive emails than men, but also, as the primary shopper in most households, women may be more tolerant of email marketing in general.

October 12, 2003

Snopes The Arbiter

For even-handedness, you really can't beat Snopes. The site, which started out life as a debunker of all legends urbane and hoaxes internetical, has spread its wings in recent months to cover political topics in an always fair way.

Most recently, Snopes took on the subject of:
Did Leading Anti-War Democrats Really Say Saddam Was a WMD Danger? And after saying that the answer was substantially yes, adds this caveat:

All of the quotes listed... are substantially correct reproductions of statements made by various Democratic leaders regarding Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's acquisition or possession of weapons of mass destruction. However, some of the quotes are truncated, and context is provided for none of them — several of these quotes were offered in the course of statements that clearly indicated the speaker was decidedly against unilateral military intervention in Iraq by the U.S.

And now, for the roster of the prevaricators:

(though, to be fair, President Clinton (!!!!! of all people!) has remained a Profile in Courage on this issue throughout)

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998.

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998.

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998.

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destrution and palaces for his cronies."
Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999.

"There is no doubt that . Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001.

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
Sen. Carl Levin (d, MI), Sept. 19, 2002.

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seing and developing weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002.

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002.

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force — if necessary — to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002.

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years . We also should remember we have alway s underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Jay Rockerfeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002,

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002.

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction. "[W]ithout question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he has continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ...
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003."

I'd love to see Tim Russert use his slo-mo quote replay machine on these two-faced talking-out-of-both-sides politicos!

October 11, 2003

UI Games

Dvorak is entirely correct. In demanding that common users have memories, capabilities, and proficiencies unseen in even IT professionals, UI designers are making systems that are less useful and too complex.

Microsoft really should reconsider its horrid "drill-down" concept. This is the process whereby you click through a series of screens to a point where you can fix a problem or change a simple setting. The company seems enamored of tabbed dialog boxes as well as the Advanced Settings button, which hardly ever reveals anything truly advanced. This is nothing more than playing hide-and-seek with users. And worse, because of the series of drill-down clicks needed to make a simple change, users often can't recall the exact sequence and must click over and over, hoping to find something recognizable.

Putting the entire menu on one page, especially when combined with use of the scroll and find functions, make a superior interface to today's search- and dialog-box-driven methodologies.

Salon Update

The "Buy Salon for Glenn" campaign gathers accolades and questions....

Some readers have asked for a better explanation of why this makes sense.

Let's take Salon's financials. As this quote shows, at a $0.05 price, Salon has a market capitalization of $707,750. Now, because of their financial distress, we'd never have to pay that much for the assets. It looks like, with the CEO leaving, and the company repeatedly requiring cash infusions in the six-figure range, that Salon will soon file for Chapter 11, or more likely, Chapter 7, protection.

At that point, here's what would be on the table:

Salon's traffic Salon's audience Salon's $4 mm in annual revenue

And here's what wouldn't be:

Salon's high public company costbase Salon's unattractive leases Salon's almost $5 mm in debt and accounts payable

The assets would go to auction, but with this beast being a money-losing monster for 7 years, no sane publisher is going to try and pick it up. As little as a few grand to a few dozen grand could pick up the property for us.

So why does it make sense for the blogosphere and for Instapundit?

Salon was trying to create a web-based magazine, and did two things wrong. First, it recreated all of the things that make magazines possible -- leases, writers, editors, etc. In short, a lot of expense.

Second, it left out what drives a web audience -- open-source, free-wheeling content.

Banding together Glenn and a few other of the stars of the blogosphere would enable us to:

1) Drive traffic to the point where revenue sticks around the $4 mm / year level
2) Without fancy office, receptionists, and editors, keep costs way low

Thereby generating significant dough to keep our favorite bloggers well supplied with electrons, caffeinated beverages, and gas for the Mazda.

Send your thoughts my way!

UPDATE: For the folks who want to know why I think this is possible, I was head of Mergers & Acquisitions at HotJobs.com and led our teams on the Monster acquisition, followed by Yahoo!'s successful $436 mm hostile offer a few months later.

Instalanche

The future CEO notices. Thanks Glenn!

October 10, 2003

Consolidation

Wow. ValueClick, which I was a fan of back when it was at $2 / share, has agreed to acquire Commission Junction, it's more technologically advanced competitor. I'm interested to see if CJ is making any money at the moment, or if the $58 mm is a kind of opportunity-cost transaction for VCLK.

This further reinforces the value created when ValueClick and BeFree agreed to merge last year. Great job all the way around.

Let's Buy Salon for Glenn

With Salon's CEO leaving the company, a wonderful opportunity has resented itself for the blog community to install one of its own. With Salon perpetually near death's open gaping door !!! !!!!, the site is just about to go under. How come on $4 mm in revenues, they are unable to make it?

Now, at first glance, it might look like Salon.com would be too much for The Tennessee Typer to run:

But the more relevant detail is reach per million users, a better gauge of traffic.

For Salon, their 3-month average is 1,120 users per million on the net, whereas Glenn's is 311 users per million. So Salon's traffic is only 4 times as big. WIth a little help, that should be no problem.

Could Glenn really be better at running Salon than the current team? Let's dig in.

First, have a gander at Salon's most recent 10-Q Quarterly Report:

Look at the their cost of producing the stuff:

Production and content expenses were constant at $1.2 million for both three-month periods ended June 30, 2003 and June 30, 2002.

$1.2 mm??? For typing??? Why, the Prolific Professor puts out as much as all of Salon on a good Saturday. And that only costs a few Starbucks coffees and a biscotti or two.

Advantage: Instapundit.

Now, let's look at revenues:

The Non-stop Knoxviller declaims any formalized attempts to generate dough from his blogging:

I'm all for amateurism. Despite numerous suggestions that I institute a pledge week of my own (my favorite involved a thermometer-like graphic with a 350Z at the top), I won't be emulating Andrew. I have a dayjob. It pays pretty well -- by normal standards, not compared to the obscene amounts of money I'd be making now if I had stayed at the bigshot law firm where I used to work. (And I know exactly how obscene because one of my friends there who stayed and made partner helpfully informs me of what I would be making had I done so. Thanks!) I appreciate the donations -- particularly because a nice note with money attached outweighs any number of nasty emails from people who aren't putting their money where their mouths are. (Message to hatemailers -- if you want me to take your hatemail seriously, attach it to a $100 Paypal donation! I promise, I'll read it.)

But this is a labor of love. It's free. And it'll stay that way.

Whereas Salon might not be rolling in it, but does ring the register:

As of June 30, 2003, Salon has approximately 66,200 active subscribers... Net revenues were constant at $1.0 million for both three-month periods ended June 30, 2003 and June 30, 2002.

Tip o' the scales for Salon!

Finally, let's look at sex. Salon's Sex site is rather, um, limp.

We know that under a new regime, we could count on Rachel Klein to come out of retirement.

Advantage, Game, Set, and Match: Instapundit.

So, in short, my friends, fellow bloggers, and blogosppherepeople of all shapes, ages, colors, and creeds, it is time for action. Send your thoughts for raising the dimes and nickels, bits and bytes, necessary to buy Salon.com for Glenn Reynolds to: salonforglenn@cenedella.com .

October 09, 2003

Taking the Battle to the Enemy

It's generally a good sign for the company putting up the billboard -- it shows that buracracy and timid legalisms have not gotten in the way of fun marketing -- and a bad sign for the billboardee.

Schwarzenegger Margin Larger

I linked yesterday to a vote tally for Arnold just a bit over 3.5 mm. Today's New York Times bumps that number higher:

Unofficial results show the recall of Mr. Davis passing by 55.4 percent of the vote to 44.6 percent. On the replacement ballot, Mr. Schwarzenegger finished first with 48.6 percent, or 3,744,132 votes.

Extraordinary. So, we can soon expect those Californians dismissing the legitimacy of the recall to recant, right?

October 08, 2003

So Biased They Don't Know It

Here is a classic bit of liberal blinders. A "study" purports to show that Fox News viewers hold 4x as many demonstrably false views as NPR listeners.

The pat-myself-on-the-back quote:

"It proves that what we're doing is great journalism," says NPR spokeswoman Laura Gross. "We're telling the truth and we let our audience decide."

Now, Stone readers, I'm sure you've picked up on the error here. In order to do an unbiased study, the researchers would have had to include 3 "demonstrably untrue" beliefs likely to be held by liberal sympathizers, such as: 'Hans Blix has stated that he received full cooperation from the Iraqis' and 'The UN demanded in 2002 that Saddam prove he did not have WMD'.

CA Recall: what's next

The facts from the SF Chronicle:

-- The new governor likely won't take over for at least 28 days and potentially as long as 39 days. Before results are final, local election officials are given 28 days to canvass the vote and up to seven more days to report to the secretary of state, who in turn has up to four additional days to declare the election official. Once certification is complete, the governor can be sworn in. If there is no legal challenge, that would occur no later than Nov. 16.

-- The new governor will immediately assemble a transition team to help put together his administration. Schwarzenegger has already contacted several former Pete Wilson administration officials about jobs.

-- By mid-January, the governor must present a budget plan that balances and erases a projected gap of some $10 billion between cash and spending commitments.

-- The new governor will serve out the remainder of Davis' term, which ends in January 2007. Because of term limits, the new governor can only run for one additional term.

-- After he's sworn in, look for Schwarzenegger to call a special session of the Legislature. He said he wants to call a special session to focus on things such as "spending cuts, streamlining government and constitutional amendments to get control of the budget."

-- Even though Gov. Gray Davis has been recalled, he remains governor .until his successor is sworn in. He still can sign legislation waiting on his desk and fill about 200 vacant appointments.

-- Opponents of the new governor could launch a recall as soon as he takes office.

Although my read of Proposition 140, which passed in California in 1990 and limited terms, is that Arnold could run again. The relevant wording is "No Governor may serve more than two terms".

Special-Ed Student Voted Homecoming King

Heart-warming in all the right ways.

Special-Ed Student Voted Homecoming King

Heart-warming in all the right ways.

Planning for the future, Arnold?

From the Smoking Gun, this July 1991 STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCHWARZENEGGER clause:

...may destroy any of such photographs and negatives of such photographs, as well as copies thereof, which.. are either embarassing to Schwarzenegger or in any way reflect negatively on Schwarzenegger's professional or private life.

Good job on thinking ahead.

Good for China

China's back in my good graces after censoring a US Senator last week. Happy news that they're orbiting the Earth next week. It's good for the Middle Kingdom to be assuming her proper place in world affairs.

Arnold Beats Davis

And the interesting thing is that Davis received 3,127,588 votes last November, while Arnold got 3,500,184 yesterday. So the meme about a minor sliver of Californians chossing the next governor is unsustainable.

Together with McClintock, Republicans took 61% of the vote. Now California's a Democratic state these days, so that shows how Schwarzenegger pulled from across the aisle.

May you live in interesting times!

October 07, 2003

We;re Not Gonna Take It

Only in California. Only in the Republican Party.

P/E and Market Value

A suprisingly thorough and interesting piece on valuation from the fellas at the Fool.

Ugh! It's Krug.

An interesting slicing and dicing of the increasingly wretched Paul Krugman.

The Mighty Bulldogs

Yale Football Website: Schedule

2003
DATE OPPONENT
Sept. 6 PRINCETON 2:00 scrimmage

Sept. 20 TOWSON 1:00 Youth Day
Sept. 27 CORNELL* 1:00 Employee Day
Oct. 4 at Holy Cross 1:00
Oct. 11 DARTMOUTH* 1:00 Parents Weekend
Oct. 18 at Colgate 1:00
Oct. 25 at Penn* 3:30
Nov. 1 at Columbia* 12:30 TV - The Football Network
Nov. 8 BROWN* 12:30
Nov. 15 at Princeton* 1:00 TV-YES Network
Nov. 22 HARVARD* 12:30 Fill the Bowl

That Other Day We'll Never Forget

A new book details Media secrets surrounding JFK's death. Tidbits:

* Because so few people showed up at Lee Harvey Oswald's funeral, seven reporters assigned to cover the event had to serve as pallbearers. "I refused," Associated Press correspondent Mike Cochran recalls in the book. "Then Preston McGraw of UPI stepped up. So then, there's one thing I knew, stupid as I may be, inexperienced as I may have been, if UPI was going to be a pallbearer, I was damn sure going to be a pallbearer."

* Reporters aboard Air Force One for the flight from Dallas to Washington, which carried Kennedy's body and newly sworn-in President Lyndon Johnson, were so busy keeping up with the details of the day that they practically had to kick Johnson out of their compartment several times because he kept bothering them while they worked. "This was the only time in my life that I ever felt like saying to the President of the United States, 'I've got a lot of work to do,'" Newsweek's Charles Roberts recalls in the book.

* Aboard a State Department plane carrying six members of Kennedy's cabinet and several staffers to Tokyo for trade talks at the time of the assassination, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger helped the nervous occupants pass the time as the plane headed back to Washington by organizing a poker game, in which he won $800. "I shouldn't have won," he remembers. "I should have lost. I was apalled."

Equanimity

There is something fantastic about the Nobel Prize winners. I had the pleasure of congratulating Robert Merton on the day he won the Nobel Prize in Economics. The combination of success, intellectual endeavor, and the singular recognition of a life's work is compelling beyond words.

I enjoyed the Physics winners particularly this year. I love the reasonableness of this winner:

Leggett said he was surprised. "I guess it had occurred to me that it was a possibility I might get the Nobel Prize, but I didn't think it was particularly probable."

Good for him!

Speaker Bracelets

Slashdot asks, and answers, What's Wacky with Google? this morning.

By the way, who is typing in "candle truck" to Google?

UPDATE:
And there's this excellent discussion of the Google search counter issue.

October 06, 2003

In Their Own Words

And then I recieved this Google News Alert which just goes to prove the point. Who thought we'd see the day that Google became furtive and creepy?

GOOGLE is keeping count of frequent search users
International Herald Tribune, France
The Web search service Google has quietly started placing a counter on its home page for a small number of its most frequent users. ... article here

FURTIVE Google has your number
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
The web search engine Google has quietly started placing a counter on its home page to help people keep track of how much they use the service. ... article here

WHAT'S Wacky with Google?
Slashdot
... a pattern. For several weeks at least, Google has been returning zero results or "1-1 of about xxx,000" for common searches. One ... article here

GOOGLE'S gettin' creepy(ier)
Infoshop News
By LISA NAPOLI. The Web search service Google has quietly started placing a counter on its home page for a small number of its most frequent users. ... article here

Google floogle

These guys are actually falling apart faster than I thought they would.

There's been some odd behavior out of senior management before (like trying to install no phones in the new development building; or suggesting that customers who were lucky enough to buy advertising on their site should pay a premium if they bought in bulk), and each additional eccentricity is costing them their goodwill. Watch for more and more of these negative Google articles to come out.

You know, I think Ted Meisel and the crew at YahooOvertureFastWebInktomi might actually have a shot at beating this gang.

Only 100 in a Day?

Pikers!

October 05, 2003

Horrors in North Korea

Evil.

October 04, 2003

86 ESPN QB 411

I was going to post on the McNabb imbroglio with this Slate background piece that Rush, rather pompously cites in this cri d'couer but then I decided not to because I really know nothing about the substantive matters.

Life Imitates Onion

Very weird. You may have seen prior items like the Onion's joke "Nation's Lawyers Sue Chocolate Industry over Obesity", which, sure enough, came true.

Now there's this:

The Onion | Thank You, But That Was Siegfried's Idea

Yahoo! News - Tiger Attacks Las Vegas Magician Roy Horn

Good luck to him.

October 03, 2003

You Gotta Fight

For your right to eat in quaint bistros.

The Press Mess

The Grasso Hassle is trying to sprout new legs in this WSJ story:

The unusual move involving buying of one of the Big Board's largest stocks raises questions about whether Mr. Grasso favored AIG because of Mr. Greenberg'sprevious role as an NYSE director and member of the board's compensation committee. Mr. Greenberg was on the NYSE's compensation committee when the controversial employment contract that ultimately led to Mr. Grasso's ouster was developed and approved.

Um, isn't that exactly what the specialist system is supposed to be?

From the NYSE site:

In the balance of transactions, a specialist participates as principal by providing capital and, thereby, adding liquidity to the market. While they do not supply all the liquidity for