| What Microsoft wants from Yahoo |
Jul 07, 2008 |
Microsoft has been chasing Yahoo for quite a while now. Most people think that
it all started with Microsoft's acquisition bid for Yahoo, but this is not so.
It is well-known that Microsoft and Yahoo have been negotiating since at least
May of 2006, and may have been negotiating since 2003. Clearly, Microsoft wants
something important from Yahoo; however, precisely what Microsoft wants has not
been clear until now.
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| How much was Kiko really worth? |
Oct 11, 2006 |
Ebay auctions can reveal a lot of interesting and
valuable information. Unfortunately, few people bother to study the bid
data generated by Ebay auctions and fail to benefit from the patterns
hidden there. The web calendaring startup Kiko's auction is a classic
example of an opportunity wasted because of insufficient analysis. In
Kiko's case, the cost ran into the millions.
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| Mindstorms NXT: Mindstorms Resurrected? |
May 03, 2006 |
Lego seems to have taken up programmable
construction toys again with Mindstorms NXT, but this is not so.
Mindstorms NXT signals only the continuation of Lego's long standing
strategy of keeping programmable construction toys confined to a niche.
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| Lego Mindstorms: What Went Wrong? |
Nov 27, 2005 |
In recent years, Lego Mindstorms has generated more
media buzz for Lego than all of its other product lines combined, but
astonishingly, Mindstorms seem to be out of favor at Lego. Why?
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| Google's Bid-for-placement Patent Settlement Cover-up |
May 31, 2005 |
Why did a well-respected, highly profitable company
that professes to do no evil choose to misguide potential investors and
shareholders? UPDATED!!!
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| Making Gmail Work |
Mar 02, 2005 |
Google needs to deal with Gmail users' ad blindness
before it can make money with Gmail. Ad blindness is a tough problem to
tackle, but Gmail's peculiar business model enables an interesting
solution.
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| Sun Microsystems' x86 Strategy |
Dec 20, 2004 |
The last few years have been quite scary for Sun
Microsystems, but the company is back on track. Sun is cutting back on
its proprietary hardware and has a sound plan to combat all the
competitive threats facing its business.
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| The Webmail Wars |
Nov 10, 2004 |
Microsoft and Yahoo are in a rush to copy Gmail's
functionality, but it makes sense for them to copy more than just the
interface, and storage quotas. Gmail's business model suits Microsoft
and Yahoo even more than it suits Google, and this is what Microsoft
and Yahoo will be copying next.
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| Business Lessons from Sialkot |
Nov 01, 2004 |
While writing this article it occurred to me that I
am running a most unusual startup in the guise of this website. The
startup has no capital, no revenues, and no business plan. Is the
experiment doomed? Well, I come from Sialkot, and Sialkot's
entrepreneurs are absolute masters at what I am doing.
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| Do Hits Matter? |
Oct 03, 2004 |
Bloggers care a lot about web-traffic, but not all
blogs can be popular. Fortunately, blog success and blog popularity do
not have any great correlation, and bloggers need to get over their
obsession with hits.
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| Has Google Blundered with the Gmail Beta? |
Aug 28, 2004 |
Google's Gmail service has brought a lot of
innovative ideas to the webmail scene, and webmail users are ecstatic
about the new functionality. Shockingly, Google is intent on missing
out on the financial rewards of the company's hard work.
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| Why Microsoft is to Blame |
Jul 18, 2004 |
Windows users are getting burned by the
non-existent security of Microsoft's operating system. But, instead of
addressing the real issues, Microsoft is out on a public relations
offensive to avert blame and disinform the public.
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| Why Windows is a Security Nightmare |
May 16, 2004 |
Microsoft has set aside a $5 million fund for
paying off informants on malware authors. In my opinion a good chunk of
this money deserves to be paid to individuals who help catch the
Microsoft employees behind the design of Windows Registry and Windows
Update.
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| Random KPermutations and KSubsets in O(k) space |
Mar 26, 2004 |
Generating KPermutations and KSubsets is easy, but
can be somewhat expensive if thoughtlessly implemented. This article
discusses some optimizations for efficient generation of these
combinatorial objects.
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| Why Good Ideas Fail, Part II |
Mar 14, 2004 |
The software industry is pretty harsh on innovative
ideas, but this behavior will have to change if the industry wants to
survive the onslaught of open source software.
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