In Brief

Adrian Dix on election loss: "I take full responsibility. No ifs, ands or buts."

villeneuve — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:20:00 -0700

Adrian Dix on election loss: "I take full responsibility. No ifs, ands or buts.":

The leader of British Columbia’s New Democratic Party has released a statement commenting on the party’s defeat in last Tuesday’s provincial elections, in which the NDP was expected to win, but lost badly. Dix is promising a comprehensive internal review as the party seeks to pinpoint what went wrong.

Lines in the sand: Obama’s Keystone decision

villeneuve — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:45:16 -0700

Lines in the sand: Obama’s Keystone decision:

Elizabeth Kolbert makes the case for why President Barack Obama should reject TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

Incredible, stunning footage of today’s tornado in Moore,...

villeneuve — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:56:10 -0700

Incredible, stunning footage of today’s tornado in Moore, Oklahoma (Courtesy of Basehunters)

"We can’t give up. In fact, now’s the time to work harder and faster. The environmental movement is..."

villeneuve — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:15:53 -0700

“We can’t give up. In fact, now’s the time to work harder and faster. The environmental movement is bigger and stronger than it’s ever been, and the planet just lit a fire under us”

- Greenpeace’s Cassady Sharp: Despite four hundred parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere, renewables are steaming ahead

The women of Congress, in fabulous watercolor infographics

villeneuve — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:30:05 -0700

The women of Congress, in fabulous watercolor infographics:

Fast Company: “The sitting Congress has the most women of any in history. Artist Emily Nemens is capturing each of them in paint, and using their likenesses in graphics to show how far we still have to go to bring gender equality to Washington.”

A gorgeous view down river from above the Grotto in Zion...

villeneuve — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:27:27 -0700

A gorgeous view down river from above the Grotto in Zion National Park. Photo: Tom Morris/U.S. Department of the Interior (via America’s Great Outdoors)

Yahoo's board signs off on Tumblr acquisition

villeneuve — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:20:01 -0700

Yahoo's board signs off on Tumblr acquisition:

The board of Yahoo has approved CEO Marissa Mayer’s proposed acquisition of microblogging pioneer Tumblr, which has a lot of potential but not a lot of revenue.

Tumblr, do you really want to sell to Yahoo!? After what happened to GeoCities?

villeneuve — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:16:00 -0700

Rumors are flying this evening that Yahoo! is on the verge of acquiring Tumblr. A deal may be finalized this weekend, so long as Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer can get approval from Yahoo’s board of directors.

Yahoo is thought to have offered $1.1 billion for Tumblr. The company apparently considers itself worth more than that and is trying to get Yahoo to pony up even more, even though it has paltry revenue compared to more established tech titans.

The report about the behind the scenes negotiations reminded me of a news item from fourteen years ago: the sale of GeoCities to Yahoo for $3.4 billion. Yahoo spent more than three times the amount of money on GeoCities in 1999 that it is proposing to spend now to acquire Tumblr. What happened to GeoCities? It was ingloriously shuttered a few years ago. So much for that acquisition.

The rationale for buying GeoCities was that it would add a lot of value to Yahoo. That’s what geniuses like Scott Appleby said at the time:

Analysts say the potential acquisition of GeoCities, or a company like it, is a must for Yahoo!.

“I really think it’s the only strategy,” says Scott Appleby, an analyst with ABN Amro, adding that the growth cycle of the Internet is still in its infancy.

”Customers and consumers are still building behavior patterns,” he says. “Now is the time to build your network, now is the time to build your brand and AOL has proven that now is the time to build your business.”

In retrospect, the Yahoo-GeoCities deal doesn’t look so rosy. Yahoo is still around - but GeoCities is not. So much for GeoCities being a must-have.

Research has repeatedly shown that most corporate mergers and acquisitions fail to create value for shareholders. The business press loves to report on deals and rumored deals, but that has no bearing on whether they make business sense. That explains why dealmaking generates more headlines than returns.

Which leads us to ask: Tumblr, do you *really* want to sell to Yahoo? This is the company that bought Delicious and was going to close it before it found a buyer to keep it running. This is the company that let Flickr go into a stall. And this is the company that bought GeoCities for a whopping $3.4 billion in 1999 and then extinguished it ten years later. Don’t think the payout you’ll be getting will be any kind of insurance against a similar fate for Tumblr down the road.

So, David Karp and team, think long and hard before you decide to sell. Look at what happened to the other companies that Yahoo bought.

And heck, ask Yahoo about it. You might want to drop the word “GeoCities” during the negotiations and see what kind of reaction that elicits.

CBO says the federal deficit has shrunk - but the traditional media isn't reporting it

villeneuve — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:11:06 -0700

CBO says the federal deficit has shrunk - but the traditional media isn't reporting it:

Media Matters: “Following months of media calls for deficit reduction, cable news channels spent just over 7 minutes reporting on a revised Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projection that the 2013 deficit will decline by more than previous estimates. Broadcast network news evening shows did not cover the new report.”

Sacramento group, Maloof family reach deal for Kings

villeneuve — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:18:21 -0700

Sacramento group, Maloof family reach deal for Kings:

The Maloof brothers have reportedly agreed to sell their controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings franchise to a local ownership group that will keep the team right where it is. The deal leaves Chris Hansen and his group with no stake in the franchise.

Paul Otellini's Intel: Can the company that built the future survive it?

villeneuve — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:45:18 -0700

Paul Otellini's Intel: Can the company that built the future survive it?:

The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal: “As the CEO steps down, he leaves the Intel machine poised to take on the swarming ecosystem of competitors who make smartphone chips.”

"We wish Seattle the best. Great sports town, great ownership group, and Chris Hansen and (Steve)..."

villeneuve — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:45 -0700

“We wish Seattle the best. Great sports town, great ownership group, and Chris Hansen and (Steve) Ballmer, and those folks — I hope they get a team at some point, I think they will. And this is just me, but I’m rooting for Seattle. If there is any way we can be helpful, you know, we will. They were awesome.”

- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, expressing hope that Seattle will get an expansion NBA franchise before too long.

Meet a farmer who uses horses to plow his family farm

villeneuve — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:45:06 -0700

Meet a farmer who uses horses to plow his family farm:

Call them old-fashioned, but some farmers still prefer to manage their fields with horses rather than fossil-fuel burning tractors, as the New York Times’ Anne Raver found out.

"If the NDP wants to form government, they need to stop relying the belief that the Liberals will..."

villeneuve — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:15:28 -0700

“If the NDP wants to form government, they need to stop relying the belief that the Liberals will simply play themselves out of power in British Columbia and find their nerve. Offer clear policies which promise change in and of themselves by addressing the concrete needs of British Columbians; not vague promises that someday, things will be better.”

- Michael Stewart: Eby and Heyman offer answers to NDP heartbreak

Attorney General Eric Holder slams Darrell Issa for "unacceptable and shameful" conduct

villeneuve — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:33:22 -0700

DARRELL ISSA: Yes, you didn’t want us to see the details. Mr. Attorney General…
ERIC HOLDER: No, this is what you typically do.
DARRELL ISSA: Knowing the two…
ERIC HOLDER: I’m not going to stop talking now. You have characterized something as something…
DARRELL ISSA: Mr. Chairman, will you inform the witness as to the rules of this committee?
ERIC HOLDER: It is too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of Congress. It’s unacceptable, and it’s shameful.

"There’s very little legislating going on the House floor."

villeneuve — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:30:23 -0700

“There’s very little legislating going on the House floor.”

- GWU political science professor Sarah Binder. The House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans, is holding yet another vote to repeal the Patient Protection Act, instead of bothering to work on pressing issues.

"I think when one analyzes the results on a riding by riding basis, one notes that there were 12..."

villeneuve — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:01:02 -0700

“I think when one analyzes the results on a riding by riding basis, one notes that there were 12 ridings where the combined NDP and Green vote was larger than the Liberal candidate who won in each one of those ridings. So, in other words, if there had been some strategic agreement between the Greens and the NDP, the NDP would’ve formed government with somewhere in the neighbourhood of 45 seats.”

- Grand Chief Stewart Phillip: ‘Gold rush mentality’ trumps human rights and social needs in B.C. vote

Kings sale: Talking Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer off of the Maloofian ledge

villeneuve — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:51:02 -0700

Kings sale: Talking Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer off of the Maloofian ledge:

California sports radio host Tim Montemayor says his NBA sources tell him that key people within the league have been talking to Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, trying to get them to understand that allying themselves with the Maloof brothers - who are reviled in Sacramento and disliked by the other owners - is not a good idea and hurts their prospects of landing Seattle a team.

"Going with the “Let’s Sing Kumbaya”/Wasn’t Jack Layton’s Legacy Great?..."

villeneuve — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:07:00 -0700

“Going with the “Let’s Sing Kumbaya”/Wasn’t Jack Layton’s Legacy Great? approach to the rough and tumble of BC politics was never smart. The NDP came into the election armed to the teeth with issues and hardly fired a shot. Yet, it’s not just Topp and it’s not just Broadbent. The NDP has to stop talking to itself and its long term supporters and start talking to Canadians of every kind.”

- Georgia Straight commenter James G, assessing the B.C. NDP’s disastrous 2013 performance. The B.C. Liberals and Christy Clark won a fourth consecutive majority government on Tuesday night, shocking pollsters.

Geography of Hate: A map of geotagged tweets laced with hate speech in the United States

villeneuve — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:05:38 -0700

Geography of Hate: A map of geotagged tweets laced with hate speech in the United States:

Worth checking out: “The Geography of Hate is part of a larger project by Dr. Monica Stephens of Humboldt State University (HSU) identifying the geographic origins of online hate speech. Undergraduate students Amelia Egle, Matthew Eiben and Miles Ross, worked to produce the data and this map as part of Dr. Stephens’ Advanced Cartography course at Humboldt State University.”