Predictions

Girl Talk Takes Copyright Issues Mainstream with Compelling Mashup Dance Tracks

August 16th 2008

I’d encourage you to steal Girl Talk’s breakthrough fourth album, but you can’t. It’s pay-what-you-like, so if you like, pay $0.00 to start listening and return to toss in a payment later. Start your download during this golden time before DMCA takedown notices and TROs make this a coveted, though still free, file. Under the name Girl Talk, Greg Gillis creates […]

Slydial: Sneaky Voicemail for the Seinfeld Generation

July 24th 2008

Slydial is a free voice message service that directly connects you to someone else’s mobile voicemail. Their phone never rings, and you get to leave a message without actually speaking with them. (Wait for the legal angle; it’s coming.) Their wonderfully written weasely website spells it right out. There are people you must phone: bosses, significant others, […]

Strong-Arm Tactics Revive Yahoo Deal and Regulatory Concern

July 8th 2008

On the day Microsoft announced its plan to acquire Yahoo back in February, I posted my doubts that Microhoo would be established within a year, which was then the media and company line. While supporting Carl Icahn’s proxy fight and pressuring Yahoo’s board may get a Yahoo deal on the table, this will also underscore the anti-competitive […]

Done Deal: Microsoft Withdraws Yahoo Bid

May 5th 2008

Three months ago, on the day when this offer was announced, I made the post Microsoft Purchase of Yahoo Won’t Happen as Predicted.   Over the weekend, Steve Ballmer withdrew MSFT’s offer. Yahoo stock is trading about 20% below where it closed Friday; Microsoft is up. The Wall Street Journal‘s Deal Blog dissects Ballmer’s letter to Yang […]

Yahoo Rejects Microsoft’s 44 Billion Dollar Offer

February 11th 2008

Yahoo’s board concluded on Friday that Microsoft’s unsolicited offer “massively undervalues” the company. The Wall St. Journal noted Yahoo’s position in the online display advertising market, where it leads both Google and Microsoft. Additionally, it suggested the board would cite that Microsoft underestimated the risk of regulatory approval, and its effect on Yahoo’s business.  The […]

Microsoft Purchase of Yahoo Won’t Happen As Predicted

February 1st 2008

Today, Microsoft confirmed what years of speculation predicted, they will attempt to buy Yahoo. While this is an obvious move from a business sense, there are formidable regulatory hurdles ahead. Yet, sources as objective as Yahoo News and MSNBC minimize the risk of regulatory review. To be fair, so does most of the US media which echos them. […]

Facebook’s Social Ads: Risking a Huge Privacy Slapdown for a Big Ad Upside

November 13th 2007

Facebook’s latest roll-out saw CEO Mark Zuckerman flanked by a cadre of blue-chip advertisers, new Microsoft investment, and a big new idea. Facebook says it’s positioned to drive “product demand” and create a potential new 400-billion-dollar-a-year marketing channel through Social Ads. The plan is to use members’ online statements and actions as content, to be included […]