Mr. Google Goes To Washington

In Silicon Valley, there's generally a general dislike for the politics of Washington DC -- and the concept that firms should need to hire "lobbyists" is pretty distasteful. Unfortunately, though, it's very much necessary for a larger company these days. The NY Times is the latest to cover Google's efforts on K Street. However, while other industries and large companies have pretty well-defined lobbying agendas, reading over this article, it becomes pretty clear that (so far, at least), Google's lobbying agenda is pretty reactive. Basically, they're dealing with stopping legislation that could be harmful to them. That makes sense for a company whose culture is pretty much one of independence and expects (or, at least, hopes) for a hands off approach from the government. The problem is that other industries are proactively lobbying for beneficial legislation (often written by them). It's nice that Google hasn't necessarily reached that stage yet -- but can it last?

Police Use MySpace to ID Suspects

Associated Press

BOULDER, Colorado -- Detectives used profiles posted on the MySpace social networking website to identify six suspects in a rape and robbery that began when a party turned violent, leaving blood "in almost every room of the house," officials said.

Six men were arrested in connection with the Feb. 23 rampage, and a seventh suspect was being sought, Detective Ali Bartley said Friday. The victim, whose name was withheld, became acquainted with the suspects through MySpace, authorities said.

The group met for a party. "At some point, the victim was no longer aware of what was happening, and she was sexually assaulted," Bartley said.

She knew only their first names but their pictures were posted on MySpace. "Primarily, we pulled up her friends list. It helped us identify some of the players," said Bartley.

The men face charges ranging from sexual assault to felony theft. Some $40,000 in electronics, jewelry, clothing and other items were taken, authorities said. About $13,000 worth of stolen goods have been recovered.

"There was blood in almost every room of the house," she said. "There were broken pictures and statues. They stole stereo equipment. The media center was bare."

Nicolas Brison, 18, was charged with rape. The five other men ranged in age from 18 to 20. They were charged on March 7 and hearings are set for April 6.

MySpace drew 28 million visitors in December.

Yahoo Messenger Head Fake? It's Not About The Price...

Funny... I thought that Yahoo had announced their Yahoo-messenger-as-Skype-killer offering back in December. However, today they're getting more life out of the story by launching the beta along pretty much the same lines they had outlined before. As I noted at the time, this shouldn't be about "cheap calls." That's not a differentiation battle that can be won -- it's simply a race to the bottom. That's why it's a bit surprising to see Yahoo Veep Brad Garlinghouse say to the press that their differentiation is "aggressive pricing." That's not an advantage for long, and the folks at Yahoo must know that. It seems there may be two reasons for this statement, however. First, is that it's an easy "hook" for the press to get -- and they need one for a product like this. So, focusing on the cheap calls gets people to write about you. Second, and more interesting (if true!), is that this is really about Yahoo trying to head fake the competition into believing this really is going to be about price, while Yahoo actually recognizes that VoIP is just a feature of a more integrated personal communications platform. Given everything that the company is integrating into messenger, this makes a lot more sense. They're trying to make Yahoo messenger your "console" for communications (not just online communications). That's a lot more interesting and powerful than starting up yet another price war over cheap calls. Of course, focusing too much on the cheap calls aspect may mean that users don't see the overall advantages either... Cheap calls are great for a segment of the population, but for many people it competes with folks who have flat-rate calling for most domestic calls via VoIP or huge buckets of "free" minutes on mobile phones. "Cheap" calls still represent an incremental cost over bundled calls.

Former Hacker Irks Microsoft in EU Dispute

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes: "The Wall Street Journal profiles Neil Barrett, 'a former computer hacker who once infiltrated the system controlling a telescope at a Hawaii laboratory' and is now an expert witness causing problems for Microsoft in its antitrust battle with the European Union. Barrett 'has helped put the British glam rocker Gary Glitter behind bars for pedophilia. And he also has helped prosecute a teenage hacker from Wales, who claimed to have stolen Bill Gates' credit-card number and sent the Microsoft founder a shipment of Viagra. [...] In the corporate world, Mr. Barrett once met a challenge to hack into a large multinational company's system in four days to win a security assignment. He stole the company's undisclosed new logo as a trophy, he wrote.'"

Small Corporations....

I love my new job! I really can't say enough great things about it. I will have an opportunity very soon to head the Web Services division. During the next 60 days I'll be working on writing out everything. From RFQ process to Site Implementation. I have the freedom to work from home when neccesary by VPN to my office computer. I'm a single father remember, this is truely a beautiful option to have. These are exciting times, seems as though many things finally are falling into place again.



This coming Thursday I will be picking up a car. Yup you heard me right, I am the proud owner of a 99 Saturn; white 4 door. No longer will I be dependant on the rest of the damn world to get me around. There are many freedoms one takes for granted when they own a car. Stopping by the gas station on the way home, sure if you're driver isn't in a hurry! Not anymore! Well atleast not after Thursday! :)