Microshaft? No

Yes, I am still employed. Thanks to all of you who have expressed concern over my situation. Yahoo is still an independent company as of this post. That could change any second, but for the time being, I’m still a Yahoo.

This whole Microsoft acquisition thing is a bummer. While Yahoo has had a few rough quarters, the company was fundamentally headed in the right direction after Jerry Yang took the reigns as CEO.

Have we made mistakes? Certainly. Is it all doom & gloom at the company? No, it’s not, but there is lots of concern with the potential of having a company like Microsoft acquire us. I’d be more disappointed then scared. The thing is, there are some incredibly talented people that work at Yahoo. So talented, that I’d say that a majority would have no problem finding work elsewhere.

I’d be disappointed, because many of those talented people would voluntarily leave to work elsewhere. I suspect that a large majority of Yahoos have no interest in working for Microsoft. The place would be decimated by self inflicted departures. That means, Microsoft would be buying a technology, but losing the talent that devised developed and deployed it.

So they’re going to pay $41 billion for some software and a few customers who want nothing to do with Microsoft either? What were they thinking when they decided to tender their public offer?

MS has a history of trying to solve problems by throwing cash at it, yet, many of those problems go unresolved. Can they risk $41 billion on the chance that they might become competitive in the search space? I doubt it.

We’re working on some really cool things. I just hope we have the opportunity to deliver on some of those things. Yahoo is a great place to work. I’ve had plenty of offers to leave, but there never was a reason. I love the culture, the people and the location. A Microsoft acquisition would likely change all of that.

He's Back!

Watch the Trailer on Yahoo! Movies

May the Force Be With You

One of the things that the family has been doing more of lately is having family movie night. We pick a flick that we think everyone will enjoy, which is no easy task when you’re talking about serving the taste of two kids under 10. The odd thing is, it’s been pretty fun trying to come up with movies the kids will enjoy (and find something that’s suitable for kids).

Some of the early winners have been Sand Lot, The Goonies, and Gremlins. These are all favorites of mine because they remind me so much of my youth. Sand Lot may as well have been the story of my youth. Boy spends the summer playing baseball with his buddies, turning simple events into childhood adventures.

Gremlins, or “Grmeb-a-lins” as Ry Ry says, is still a riot. If you haven’t seen it in a while, I highly recommend it. How can you go wrong with mischievous mini-monsters who take over a small town and reek havoc on Phoebe Cates (yes, the Phoebe Cates of the high school classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Last weekend, I decided it was time to unveil the greatest movie series of all time…In a galaxy far far away….

Yes, Star Wars.

“Which one are we watching first?” Karsyn asks.

“The 4th episode, A New Beginning,” I said

“Why don’t we watch the first episode?”

“Because, the 4th episode was the first movie.”

“Huh? Why isn’t the first episode, the first movie?”

“Well, that’s how they released them…and that’s how we’re going to watch them. Because that’s how we watched them.”

She looked at me like I was an idiot. Reminds me of that look I often get from her mother. But I digress.

We decided to start it after 8pm on Saturday night, which was a mistake. Ry fell asleep 5 minutes into the movie. Karsyn found it so-so. I question her loyalty to the family. How could she openly criticize one of my favorite movies. She’s been on a Harry Potter kick and found it less interesting than the Potter movies. What does she know.

Ry wanted a second crack at it, so he watched it on Sunday. It was a huge success with him.

It was a film tailor made for a 3 year-old boy however. Lasers, sword (light saber) fights, space creatures, space ships, heroes and villains. What else could you ask for? Oh, I know. Explosions!

Ry was talking about JaJas (Jawas) and Luke Skywalker for hours after watching the movie. I let him on the fact that there are 5 more movies in the series, and his eyes lit up.

“Can we watch them now?” he says.

“Uh, no. We’ll watch the next movie during the next family movie night,” I replied.

“But, can we watch it now?”

“No buddy, sorry. You can’t ruin it by watching them all at once,” I weakly countered. I knew how he felt though. It’s one of those things that you just can’t get enough of.