Prostituting Craigslist

It looks like our crack law enforcement officials have finally figured out how prostitution works in the 21st century. Four women got busted near DWI in Maryland after a bunch of hard working (read: lazy) officers found their ads on the monster classified ad site.

Frankly speaking, in these perilous times of terrorism, students on the loose, and the recent DC crime wave, it's good to see that time is still being made to clamp down on the world's oldest profession.

Read More: Craigslist, Prostitution, Terrorism

eBay's Dropping Stock Price

Has anybody noticed eBay's stock price lately? This thing is dropping like a rock. As mentioned in this blog earlier, it really hasn't been good for shareholders (not to mention option holders) of eBay.

The question that comes to everybody's mind is why? Well, there's no short answer to that question, but, I'll try to give a reasonable explanation:

- First, word on the street is the core Auction business for eBay is slowing. Unfortunately, I don't have a link to share about this, only an 'insider' who happens to work at the online giant.

-Executives are jumping ship left and right. First, Jeff Jordan bounced and then, there was an announcement that Maynard Webb would be leaving before the end of the year. When asked if she was leaving by Maria Bartiromo on a recent edition of Wall Street Week, CEO Meg Whitman simply shrugged her shoulders, smiled and said "I'm in it for the long-haul".

- eBay's recent snub of Google and refusing to allow sellers to use Google Checkout as an online payment method didn't score any points for it with people outside the company.

- Lastly, eBay recently raised prices for users of its online stores program.

All of these issues (at least IMHO) seem to contribute to a dropping stock prices. It should be intersting to see how low it will go.

Read More: eBay, Google, Meg Whitman

Google Thinks MySpace is Hot...or Something..

Google dropped $900 Million today for in an advertising deal and to become the sole search provider for MySpace. Somewhere, Rupert Murdoch is sitting back in a chair, lighting a Cuban, and saying to himself, "Suckers."

So what does Google get out this deal? Sure, they get to add their logo to MySpace search boxes and they get to serve PPC ads when Fox runs out of ads to serve, but is the deal worth nearly a Bill? Currently, MySpace is the second most trafficked website on the Web (trailing only Yahoo) in the United States, but who's to say that will stay that way?

Call me a cynic, but I'm not sure I agree with Google's logic on this one. Sure, MySpace is a great site, and lots of people use it, but how is it sustainable, and more importantly, how are they going to grow it? Not only that, but what happens if a few state governments decide to start regulating how MySpace is used.

Eric, Sergei and Co. were fortunate (i.e. smart enough) to make sure that Fox's MySpace meet certain traffic goals along the way in order to get paid.

Read More: Google, MySpace, Fox

Rambling Reading

A couple thoughts about what I've been reading lately:

- Jigga's got a new album dropping this winter .

- eBay's stock price is blowing chunks (more to come on this next week).

- Israel still denies it's collaborating with the US to take over the world.

- News flash: Home sales are down. Someone clue in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Read More: Jay-Z, Israel, eBay, Housing

Republish Humpday: MySpace Tom's Porno Past

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WWIII

I spent a lot of time over the weekend contemplating the latest drama in the Middle East involving Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, et al. Some of the questions that I've been asking myself are mostly rhetorical in nature, however I think they are valid. Some examples:

-Why is Israel reacting the way it is? Sure, initially it had two soldiers brutally kidnapped and seven soldiers killed, never a good thing, but is right for them to retaliate in the manner that it did? I put my country in its shoes - if the US had two soldiers kidnapped by Iran (which it had), would the United States respond by bombing them? I can honestly answer that question no. Granted, bombing Iran in such a scenario would definitely be an option, but I think that we (the US) would respond with more diplomatic measures before becoming so hostile.

-What are the long-term implications of the Israeli action? There was an interesting interview on NPR this morning (sorry no link) that asked a similar question. And the respondont answered that because of Israel's action, the status quo in Israel could never return. I disagree. Although Israel's retaliation in this situation is a bit harsh, I think that the situation could be quickly diffused Israel stopped the bombing, and the hostages were immediately returned.

One of the most interesting questions that was asked over the weekend was asked on a Sunday morning talk show to Senator John McCain. The question was whether or not Sen. McCain believed we were in the middle of World War III. He answered that given the number of countries involved in conflict, and the fact that there is no end in sight, that yes, history will ultimately refer to this as WWIII.

In my opinion, this 'war' is small potatoes compared to WWI and WWII. Essentially you, there are no more than 10 countries that have actually exchanged gunfire (though the words Cold World War, would be very applicable). Could the violence in the Middle East explode into a legitimate World War? No question. The reference to the Middle East as a powder keg is no coincidence.

Rocky Balboa

Not sure if you have seen this, but the new Rocky movie looks fantastic!

No Surfing For You!

In Boston, cafe owners are getting quite upset at the locals who are taking advantage of WiFi access in coffee shops, but not purchasing much while they surf the web. Some have even gone to the point of shutting off their WiFi or kicking web surfers out of their shops.

I understand that nerds taking bandwith from legitimate (read: paying) customers is cause for concern, but owners shouldn't get their panties in a bunch over the issue. I'm fine with the fact that customers much purchase something in order to use the WiFi that's available, but I think they're going a little overboard if they're kicking customers out of the store who spend a couple hours surfing the Web.

The fact that people are at your store (instead of say, Starbucks) should be a cause for celebration for you - and give you some sort of sense of entitlement. Let's face it, people in your stores are a hundred times more likely to buy something from you than someone who is not in your store.

Einstein the Player...Not the Hater

Today it was revealed that Einstein was not quite the loner that he made himself out to be. Besides providing us with all of our modern wisdom on relativity, and space, time and matter as we now currently understand it,he was also busy hooking up with some of Europe's finest ladies.

Good for him. Until this came out, I thought all he did was sit around trying to figure out ways to make our society better.

Cha Cha Changes...

A story that received far too little attention today was the fact that Jeff Jordan walked away from eBa -- err PayPal --err one big online marketing company today. Jordan was with eBay since 1999 and recently was given the task as President of the PayPal unit.

There is rampant speculation as to why Jordan is leaving. Could he not handle the heat from Google's new payment/checkout feature (along those lines, great story today from AuctionBytes about how eBay won't allow sellers to use Google Checkout)? Is he really leaving to spend "more time with his family." Jordan was speculated to have be CEO-in-training for the time when Meg Whitman decides to call it today.

ex-CFO Rajiv Dutta takes over for Jordan at PayPal (interestingly, after only 2 months as president at lackluster Skype).

After approximately one week of having a legitimate threat to it's (cough, cough monopolistic) online payment system, two words describe how eBay is taking it's new-found competition: not well.

Who Killed Kenny? Enron

As to be expected, Enron frontman Kenneth Lay had a major heart-attack today. Why this was a big surprise in the news is very curious to me. This guy was facing life in prison, was convicted of several felonies, and is only five years removed from fumbeling away almost $60 Billion dollars and destroying thousands of lives in the process. A heart attack in this case should have been expected.

Looking back at Enron, it's kind of amazing that the whole thing unfolded under all of our noses the way that it did, without anyone doing much about it. Sure people knew about it, but ultimately money kept them quiet. I'm not trying to sound naive - I understand that money makes the World go 'round - all I'm saying is that it's unfortunate that we as a society have sucommed to sacraficing our ethics in exchange for a few extra zero's in our pay check.

Forgive me as I am in a bit of a philisophical, cynical and fatalistic mood tonight. I would be interested in hearing the comments of Plato, Socrates and others on the current plight of our society. We pay athletes millions of dollars, all so we can be entertained for a couple hours. Yet, at the same time, a teacher somewhere in America just finished spending 11 hours trying to teach American Civics to a bunch of unappreciative high-school students, and is trying to figure out how in the hell he's going to pay for the Prada bag his wife just purchased on a whim.

Don't get me wrong, normally I'm a capitalist who whole-heartedly believes in every last word that Adam Smith wrote, however, I believe that somewhere along the lines we may have missed the point when it comes to who gets paid what in our society, and those who pirate money shouldn't always get away with it.

Rambling Reading

Didn't post for a week because I was on a business trip and my WiFi connection was spotty at best. In any case, here's what I've been reading

-A conservative gone limp.

-Sports Guy loves YouTube.

-The New York Times has a drug problem.

-The New York Times should be criminally prosecuted. (Note: I love the NYT)

-Another pro for drinking coffee.

-Warren Buffet is giving his money away (to charity).

-You can't ask Ask.com about everything.


That's it for now.

Republish Thursday II: Memo to the RIAA: Don't Screw This One Up Too

From John Battelle:

According to this report, which is light on confirming details, the RIAA is considering action against the YouTubes of the world, because there are so many videos of kids hamming it up to songs where rights have not been cleared. Like this one, for example, on Google Video.
Good f'ing lord, RIAA. Wake up. This is how we use music in the real world. Get over yourselves.

Well said, John. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Republish Thursday: Don't Fuck withy MySpace Tom - Literally

Today from ValleyWag:

If earlier reports are true, that Tom Anderson sure
loves the ladies. But the co-founder and public face of MySpace doesn't always impress, according to an acquaintance.
One of Tom's lovely ladies, says the tipster, left a between-the-sheets romp
unsatisfied. And she was anything but quiet about it. And Tom wouldn't take that
lying down. He cock-blocked her the hard way -- every time she built a MySpace
profile, Mr. Humps-a-lot kicked her off the site. Deleted her whole profile.
"You'll never sleep in this town again!"
It might be a harsh punishment, but
hey, the guy has a reputation to keep. It's not so bad -- who hasn't locked an
ex-lover out of the house?

Hmm..Seems like a great guy.

Another Day, Another Thinking Liberal Fired in Utah

Jeffrey Neilsen, a non-tenured professor at BYU was recently told that his contract would not be renewed (read: fired) because he recently wrote an op-ed piece in the Salt Lake Tribune that spoke out against the LDS Church's position on Gay Marriage.

For those of you that live outside this bubble called Salt Lake, let me bring you up to speed: a few weeks ago, the LDS Church demanded that all Bishops (think: pastors, priests) read the following statement during Sunday services:

We are informed that the United States Senate will on June 6, 2006, vote on an amendment to the Federal constitution designed to protect the traditional institution of marriage.
We, as the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, have repeatedly set forth our position that the marriage of a man and a woman is the only acceptable marriage relationship.
In 1995 we issued a Proclamation to the World on this matter, and have repeatedly reaffirmed that position.
In that proclamation we said: "We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."
We urge our members to express themselves on this urgent matter to their elected representatives in the Senate.

Because BYU is a privately owned institution of the LDS Church, it is generally expected of its faculty and staff that they will not have any opinions that differ from the 'Official' position of the LDS Church, and if they do have a different opinion, they are expected to hold those opinions silent. Unfortunately, for this professor, he will no longer be teaching philosophy at the tremendous institution that is called by some "The Harvard of the East"

Folks (specifically, morons in Utah), people in life will occassionally not agree with the LDS Church 100% of the time. When they do, that does NOT give you the right to dissassociate with them, nor does that give you the right to end their employment.

I empathize with Mr. Neilsen; however, I'm sure he realizes that better days are ahead of him. Perhaps a real school that allows the free flow of ideas and idealogical thought to flow freely will offer him a tenured position.

eBay Getting Wiki wit' It

eBay announced they will start promoting more UGC (User Generated Content) by announcing the use of a Wiki.

This is a great idea, and actually one that I discussed a couple months ago with former eBay executive.

The purpose of the Wiki will allow buyers and sellers to describe more about what their purpose is on eBay (which I have no doubt that it will replace the lame 'About Me' pages) and will allow eBay to seamlessly generate more content that will get picked up by Google and Yahoo more easily.

Click here to check out the article in Forbes.

Bye Bye to Net Neutrality

The House of Representatives yesterday passed up the opportunity to keep the Web neutral, essentially giving cable and phone companies the green light to charge users of their broadband services more depending on how many users are coming to their website.

This is kind of a big deal as phone companies will now be able to give certain favored (read "high-paying customers") versus those who don't pay quite as much (and thus causing them 'access problems').

Google, eBay, Amazon, IAC, etc all teamed up and lobbied Congressmen in the Nation's Capitol to try and get them to keep the Web neutral. Unforutnately, it didn't work. The phone/cable companies (i.e. AT&T, Comcast, PacBell, etc) essentially now control who sees what on the Web and at what price.

Our trip down the slippery slope continues.

Stock Market Doldrums

Anybody notice the hhhoorrriiibbbllleee market performance lately? Just in case you've been living in cave for the last month and a half our so, the Market is down approximately 800 points.

Lots of reasons one could assume as towhy the market is down, for example:

-Iran's on again, off again decision to suspend nuclear enrichment

-Interest Rate worries

-High Oil Prices (currently hovering on $70)

- Continuing uncertainty in Iraq.

Etc, etc, etc. It's pretty east to say that the market was overdue for a correction, following a torrid rise above the 11,000 mark to 11,600. However, there doesn't seem to be a particular sticking point as to what's causing the downturn.

The WSJ offered some helpful suggestions as to what to invest in while the market continues it's spiral downwards. They were traditional products - toothpaste, oil, food, utilities, clothing companies - the basic necessities that everyone still needs, even in market downturns. Of course most investors should already have these stocks if they're fully diversified.

Rambling Reading

Because today was such a slow news day (and because it's something that I'm going to start doing more often), I thought that I'd pass along a few news articles that I found interesting:

-The NBA Finals start on June 8, with two newbies to the Finals, the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. Yahoo had a story with five reasons that you should care.

-A 15-year old qualified for the U.S. Open next week.

-Mitt Romney promises that polygamy won't be legalized, but universal health care might become mandatory, if/when he becomes president.

-Just in case you hadn't heard by now, today was 6/6/06 and a good day if you were in the marketing profession.

-A 22 year old New York kid robbed (read: scammed, punked) investors out of $7 Million.

Republish Thursday: Big Brother is Still Watching

Incredible story from USA Today:

Top law enforcement officials have asked leading Internet companies to keep histories of the activities of Web users for up to two years to assist in criminal investigations of child pornography and terrorism, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller outlined their request to executives from Google, Microsoft, AOL, Comcast, Verizon and others Friday in a private meeting at the Justice Department. The department has scheduled more discussions as early as Friday. Last week's meeting was first reported by CNET, an online news service.

Wow. I really can't say anything to that, except, happy web-browsing!