This 'n That
Morning Message Well, we have completed our first week back as the editor (and flunky) for the MM daily humor newsletter. Sister Dawn needed a break since the break she gave me lasted non-stop for some 20 months a a couple of weeks.
I needed retraining. But found I just needed to do it once to be able to say "Oh, right. That's how I did it."
You can check it out here. BTW, we also do a naughty humor newsletter that goes out a couple times a week. You can subscribe to either by sending a request to dc@darlcomm.com.
Bush in the Hand
Seems Bush's flunkies in the Justice Department have thrown in the towel on the Microsoft anit-trust case. Damn. The government never gave up on me when I owed a small amount to the IRS back when. The rich definitely get treated differently than the poor in this country.
Arm Chair Detective
How can you tell if your secretary has been using your PC?
From the White Out on your screen.
Friday, September 07, 2001
Tuesday, September 04, 2001
Bigger = Better?
HP is merging with Compaq. They will keep the HP name. Although I've seen several interesting combinations to tout the merger. Methinks that HPaq is the best of the lot.
I won't hold my breath about the merger. Bigger seldom equals better (unless you are a sumo wrestler).
Thousands will lose their jobs, of course. It comes with the territory. Only a select few will enjoy being separated from either company. Only those that will need and can afford Brinks trucks to haul their golden parachutes, will come out of this smelling like a rose.
What a lot of people don't know and the companies that are merging never tell you is that when the merger closes, all of the billions in the acquired company's bank account belongs to the victor. Selling out is the only legal way that the top brass of the company can lay claim to a good sized portion of that money.
That's what happened when About.com was acquired by Primedia. About had had a second successful stock offering and had $125 million cash in the bank. Primedia wanted (and needed) that cash bad! The chairman and CEO of About wanted to get his hands on that money too.
So he sold About. Primedia got the $125 million cash. The About CEO got a cushy salary and title and stock options. Only months later did the rest of the story come out. His contract guaranteed him $25 million for his PRM stock that he got in the sale. Last I heard, it was worth only about $9 million and Primedia is having to fork over the $16 million difference. Want to bet whether Primedia is looking to acquire another company with millions in the bank?
Sounds like a Ponzi scheme, doesn't it?
HP is merging with Compaq. They will keep the HP name. Although I've seen several interesting combinations to tout the merger. Methinks that HPaq is the best of the lot.
I won't hold my breath about the merger. Bigger seldom equals better (unless you are a sumo wrestler).
Thousands will lose their jobs, of course. It comes with the territory. Only a select few will enjoy being separated from either company. Only those that will need and can afford Brinks trucks to haul their golden parachutes, will come out of this smelling like a rose.
What a lot of people don't know and the companies that are merging never tell you is that when the merger closes, all of the billions in the acquired company's bank account belongs to the victor. Selling out is the only legal way that the top brass of the company can lay claim to a good sized portion of that money.
That's what happened when About.com was acquired by Primedia. About had had a second successful stock offering and had $125 million cash in the bank. Primedia wanted (and needed) that cash bad! The chairman and CEO of About wanted to get his hands on that money too.
So he sold About. Primedia got the $125 million cash. The About CEO got a cushy salary and title and stock options. Only months later did the rest of the story come out. His contract guaranteed him $25 million for his PRM stock that he got in the sale. Last I heard, it was worth only about $9 million and Primedia is having to fork over the $16 million difference. Want to bet whether Primedia is looking to acquire another company with millions in the bank?
Sounds like a Ponzi scheme, doesn't it?
Monday, September 03, 2001
Time Flies
Can't believe I didn't get any blogs up in the past week. Will have to work on doing that more often.
Busy week at work. Real busy. Nice project with HIGH visibility -- course that means we'd better do it right. And, it does look like it is working well.
Sister Dawn palmed off the Morning Message on me again. Been almost 2 years since she took it over. I'm still doing the naughty Castaways too.
Went to Orlando Saturday to daughter that was hosting a baby shower for the other daughter. Traffic was a dog on I-4 going over. Was relatively light on the way back.
Dawn and crewe went to the shower, then followed us back to Tampa Bay and stayed at our place while trying to find a house to buy. No luck yet.
BTW, Dawn is a lousy shot. She tried a half dozen times to hit me with a rubber band without success. And, yes, she started it!
Can't believe I didn't get any blogs up in the past week. Will have to work on doing that more often.
Busy week at work. Real busy. Nice project with HIGH visibility -- course that means we'd better do it right. And, it does look like it is working well.
Sister Dawn palmed off the Morning Message on me again. Been almost 2 years since she took it over. I'm still doing the naughty Castaways too.
Went to Orlando Saturday to daughter that was hosting a baby shower for the other daughter. Traffic was a dog on I-4 going over. Was relatively light on the way back.
Dawn and crewe went to the shower, then followed us back to Tampa Bay and stayed at our place while trying to find a house to buy. No luck yet.
BTW, Dawn is a lousy shot. She tried a half dozen times to hit me with a rubber band without success. And, yes, she started it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
