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Pastimes : Discuss Go2Net's acquisition of our beloved SI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SI Brad who wrote (99)	4/25/1998 6:35:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 446

There is a significant basket of people that have been logging in for years without ever posting a message. I personally don't believe the group should be grandfathered, as the lifetime membership is intended to be classification for those who contribute content to the site on a regular basis. That's a fair deal! Personally, I don't see the advertising banners as a big issue... As long as they don't fill 50% of the screen! There's no free lunch after all. I'm an SI member since it was free-for-all and I've always found it very useful and very gratifying. As far as some new features have to be added to SI, I think that real-time quotes as well as a full availability of SEC files (144,...) might trigger some extra revenues for you. Best wishes, Gustave.

To: SI Brad who wrote (99)	4/25/1998 12:09:00 PM
From: TFF	Respond to of 446

NEWS - Red Herring sees NSCP/InfoSeek likely deal By Peter D. Henig April 24, 1998 The Red Herring Online has learned that Infoseek is holding a companywide meeting on Monday -- and with speculation rife that Netscape (NSCP) will forge stronger links with a single search partner, it's likely that a deal is on the agenda in the search engine's Santa Clara headquarters. Netscape's existing contracts with the major search engines -- Yahoo, Excite, Lycos, and Infoseek -- are expiring. While the company has stated it's in active negotiations with all four partners, Dow Jones has reported that Netscape will make an exclusive deal with -- and take an equity stake in -- a single search partner to power its Netcenter portal to the Web. No. 2 with a bullet While Netscape and Yahoo (YHOO) have a longstanding relationship, Yahoo's lead in the online audience make it unlikely the two traffic titans will score a deal. Although Lycos (LCOS) and Excite (XCIT) remain viable options, Infoseek appears to be the most likely choice for several reasons. Infoseek's stock remains the most reasonably priced among the search engines, and therefore in an all-stock or partial-stock transaction, has the greatest room to appreciate. The company has also just completed a secondary offering of 3 million shares to better position the company's cash reserves for acquisitions and partnerships. Inside sources at Infoseek have confirmed that there is a company goal to increase monthly pageviews by 100 million this year -- a sizable increase that would have to come through outside traffic deals. Chief Executive Officer Harry Motro also told the Red Herring Online that he's made it his company's mission to jump into second place behind Yahoo by the end of 1998 -- and landing all of Netscape's Netcenter search traffic would make that goal easier to reach. The Red Herring Online has also learned that Infoseek and Netscape will be announcing deals with AT&T (T) to play some role in their respective Web sites. Infoseek sources also claim another acquisition is in the pipeline similar to its recent purchase of community chat service Webchat Broadcasting System. Infoseek's earnings also offered some surprises.

To: SI Brad who wrote (99)	4/25/1998 12:27:00 PM
From: Lonnie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 446

Congratulations to the 3 of you. Well earned. I have some concerns as I feel this is the best of all of the chat sites that I visit. It is the easiest and cleanest to get around. Motley Fool, Stock House and Yahoo take forever to scroll around and the next button is always in a different place. I think the ads create that problem and hope that won't be the case with SI in the future. The quality of posts on the SI is higher and much less profane compared to yahoo and that is probably due to paying membership. Also is the personal information that we gave to become a member going to remain personal? I do not wish to see a bombardment of advertising at my home because go2net is selling our names to a mailing list!!! As someone posted earlier, we came here in a hurry and we can leave the same way. Without our contributions this site would be dead air space and the new owners should keep that in mind if they start to tamper with this site too much. Good luck. PS why didn't you go public yourselves, God knows there are enough people here that would have supported you, analysed the stock to death, shorted it, hyped it etc..(g)

To: SI Brad who wrote (99)	4/25/1998 7:28:00 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (6) \| Respond to of 446

Brad, I've been with SI for about two years now. This is the very fist time that I ever felt the urge to post. I was most dismayed to read about your view of lurkers. -------- "...if you have been posting/contributing to the site, it's safe to assume that you are a lifetime member. There is a significant basket of people that have been logging in for years without ever posting a message. I personally don't believe the group should be grandfathered, as the lifetime membership is intended to be classification for those who contribute content to the site on a regular basis." -------- What you seem to be saying here is that POST = CONTRIBUTE. I have a very different view. When I first signed on, I don't recall there being any fee. I opted not to post because I was a newbie and because I have no special knowledge of technology, tech companies, or finance and didn't think I would have anything to say of sufficient value to other members. There are some very knowledgeable people posting on SI. I have learned a lot from them. But so much of the posting is useless blather, some of it agreeable or amusing chit-chat, the rest of it boring or even distasteful. Since I would rather not have to wade through a lot of junk every day to find a few snippets of useful information about the stocks I hold, I choose not to add to the burden of other readers with blather of my own. I have always tried to minimize my use of your resources and I resent us lurkers being unfavorably compared to people who fill up your disk drives because they like to hear themselves talk. I particularly resent being unfavorably compared to those who "contribute" vile and racist comments as recently occurred on the WCII thread. It was only a few months ago that I discovered there was a membership charge when I read some discussion about it on one of the threads. I had seen no announcement that you had begun charging. I felt a bit guilty, but not $125 worth of guilty, particularly when I had seen no campaign to get a payment from us old timers and could find no instructions on how to pay if i wanted to. My comments here aren't intended to influence any decision about how lurkers such as I should be treated in the future regarding membership fees. I simply want to make the point that although we don't "contribute" useful information, neither do we consume many of your resources nor the time and energy of other members, and we do not deserve derision.

To: SI Brad who wrote (99)	4/30/1998 3:06:00 PM
From: the navigator	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 446

hi brad, well, i guess i wonder into what basket i may fall? like kholt, this is my first post, though i've been lurking for about 6 mos. unlike kholt, i went ahead and pd the fee to join, just bec i saw the value of si and wanted to be a part of it. i got my first online computer about one year ago (meant replacing an 8088 that's now parked in the garage). and even though i've owned an ira for 10 years, it's been on autopilot in a loaded fund. it wasn't until i got online and found si last summer that i even began to understand some of the terms of trading (you know, like short and long). i probably spend over 20 hrs per week reading si, this is in addition to a full time job and having a life on the side (i'd like to spend more time here, but the job and the life keep getting in the way. initially, i felt very much like the new kid on the block. lately, i've noticed more of an inclination to express an opinion on some of the threads i follow when i read various posts, but i never felt any pressure to do so...until now. i'm sure there is an evolution a person experiences, in learning how to interact in such lofty company as si, (Tastes Like Chicken and Ibexx are two of my favorite posters). i certainly want to contribute, but was kinda waiting until i felt like i had something of value to contribute. btw, si is the best. thanks, lanni