Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elpolvo who wrote (20649)	6/19/2003 1:16:27 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Microsoft is going after Google's market... ______________________________________________ Microsoft to build search engine for its MSN service By DINA BASS BLOOMBERG NEWS Thursday, June 19, 2003 Microsoft Corp., whose MSN is the No. 2 U.S. Internet service, is building its own programs for searching the Web to rival Google Inc., which runs the most popular Internet search service. Microsoft in the past week began using a prototype program that indexes Web pages on the Internet to help develop a future search program, MSN group product manager Lisa Gurry said yesterday. Google spokesman David Krane declined to comment. MSN is seeking ways to fuel sales amid a decline in paying subscribers for basic Internet access as customers switch from MSN's traditional dial-up service to faster Internet connections sold by competitors. At the same, time MSN is trying to cut costs in order to turn a profit after almost eight years in the market. "Competing with Google sounds good, but from a business perspective, it doesn't make much sense," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, a Kirkland-based market research firm. "Doing this doesn't necessarily match MSN's business goals. What MSN needs to do is make a profit." Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, sees a search engine as a "very smart investment," Gurry said, because it's a popular Internet activity, and Microsoft data show 50 percent to 70 percent of search requests don't result in the user finding what he or she was looking for. "Certainly we recognize that Google has done a good job in this space," Gurry said. "But we think there is room for improvement and growth." MSN currently relies on Inktomi Corp. and LookSmart Ltd. to power its MSN Search. Overture Services Inc. provides MSN with paid search services, which lets businesses bid for prominent placement in search results. Microsoft has no plans to develop paid search technologies, Gurry said. It will confine its work to the area that Inktomi, which was acquired by Microsoft competitor Yahoo! Inc., and LookSmart work on. Gurry said that although Microsoft has no plans to end agreements with those companies, "we do think we can make additional improvements to our search by adding our own technology." seattlepi.nwsource.com

To: elpolvo who wrote (20649)	6/19/2003 11:09:05 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Having some issues finding people _______________________________________ By Jon Carroll Columnist The San Francisco Chronicle Monday, June 16, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am beginning to get worried about the men and women of the U.S. government. Oh, I know they're big boys and can handle themselves in a fight -- I'm just afraid that handling themselves in a fight is about the only thing they can do. They can't seem to find people. The most obvious example is Osama bin Laden, for whom we launched the most massive manhunt in the history of manhunts. Hell, we tore apart an entire country looking for him, but he slipped through our fingers. And now it seems as if we've stopped looking. The best guess is that he's up there in Weirdville, the rugged (I believe that's the traditional adjective) country on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, a place that doesn't even have a government. We can't bomb it, because we currently love Pakistan. And our general policy is that we never invade a territory until we've whomped the bejeezus out of it from the air. So, have a nice life, Osama, and good luck with that kidney. Then there's Saddam Hussein. We bombed another country to get him, but we didn't. Where is he? Syria? Iran? Something-istan? Maybe he's hiding with all those weapons of mass destruction that we also didn't find. Wherever, he seems to be safe for the moment. Still, we pulled down his statue. That felt good. But those are commonplace examples. Here's a more obscure one: Ken Lay. Remember him? He was the president of Enron back when it was cheating its own shareholders, many customers and the Internal Revenue Service. He used to be a good friend of President George W. Bush, but that stopped after the scandal broke. "Ken who?" said the president, or words to that effect. Maybe that's why we can't find him: Someone destroyed his Rolodex card. I'm assuming we can't find him, because surely by now he would otherwise have been required to answer questions before some judicial body or other. He might even have done a perp walk. I'm not asking for anything exotic like a conviction. I just want him to be compelled to show up somewhere. Are Ken and Osama and Saddam all hanging out together somewhere? Maybe they're staying with the guy who sent the anthrax letters. Remember those? That was 12 orange alerts ago. The FBI is currently dragging a pond in Maryland, but no one thinks the guy is in the pond. Maybe he left a signed confession in a waterproof jar. "Dear FBI: I did it. (signed) The Guy." If the U.S. government is looking for malefactors, maybe it should check around the office. Remember WorldCom? Little matter of an $11 billion accounting fraud and subsequent bankruptcy and more cheated stockholders and suppliers. The WorldCom story didn't get as much play as the Enron story because of scandal fatigue. (Last week, it was announced that Freddie Mac, the government- created home mortgage company, was being investigated for accounting fraud, and no one raised an eyebrow. So 2001, all that.) Anyway, WorldCom (or MCI, as it now wants to be called) was recently awarded a $45 million contract by the Defense Department to rebuild the phone system of Iraq. Isn't that lovely? Lying and cheating just don't have negative connotations anymore. WorldCom and the Securities and Exchange Commission have reached an out-of- court settlement for $500 million. See, all better now. We can go to the seashore. If only the president of WorldCom had been caught growing marijuana, then the Justice Department would have really thrown the book at them. Or if Ken Lay and Saddam Hussein had tried to get married in Texas -- man, they'd be behind bars so fast your turnstiles would blur. Maybe next time. sfgate.com