Big Blue To Buy The Dot In .COM

Remember the we are the dot in .com ads? Of course later it became we are the dot in the .com crash :-)

So IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc for 6.5 billion dollars. Sun is up 3.42 or 68.81% in pre market trading today. A while back it was noted that Sun's stock was basically worth 0 dollars because their market cap was the same as what they had in cash.

This acquisition probably makes sense to IBM because it will take out another Unix vendor and IBM also has a heavy investment in Java with a variety of products.

Sun bought MySQL not too long ago and butchered it, MySQL 5.1 was released with crashing bugs and Monty Widenius left Sun. This is going to be interesting since IBM already has a database product DB2

The Sun acquisition could also be because of the announcement that Cisco Systems Inc would be selling their own servers and stepping on IBM's turf.

This is going to be very interesting, after this downturn/recession/depression is over I think we are going to have a lot less tech companies. I am wondering if Oracle, HP, Microsoft or Google will make any major acquisition s in the coming months.

Senator Charles Grassley to AIG execs: Resign or commit suicide

A prominent U.S. senator has intimated that executives of the troubled insurer American International Group Inc might consider suicide, adopting what he called a Japanese approach to taking responsibility for their actions.

The first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them (is) if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide," Grassley said.

"And in the case of the Japanese," he added, "they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.

Okay, come on, that is a little harsh, I know that these people should not get bonuses but you can't tell them to kill themselves?

You can read the complete story on Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE52G3BQ20090317

Buy-n-Hold Rhapsody

Here are the lyrics if you want to sing along with this classic song


Buy-n-Hold Rhapsody
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a stockslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
At Bloomberg and CN-BC….

I’m now a poor boy
I need advisory
Because it’s easy come, easy go
Bubble high, Crash low
Never sell my broker told
Doesn’t really matter to him
To her

Suze, told me not to sell
Put more funds into my plan
October bottom Warren said
Mama, retirement had just begun
But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away

Boggle
Did ya’ mean to make me cry?
If m’funds not back again this time tomorrow
HOLD on, HOLD on
As if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come
Losses up and down the line
Wallet’s aching all the time
Goodbye, everybody
I’ve got to SELL
Got to leave buy-n-hold behind to face the truth
Cramer
I don’t want to lose
I sometimes wish I’d never invested at all

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche
Will you watch the Mad Money?
Buy-n-Sell and lightning-round
Very, very frightening to me
(Noriel) Roubini
(Noriel) Roubini
Roubini, Noriel
Magnifico
I’m now a poor fund and nobody loves me
(He’s just a poor fund from a poor family
Spare him his loss from this monstrosity)
Easy come, easy go, will you let me Sell

Bismillah!
No, we will not let you sell
(Let him sell!)
Bismillah!
We will not let you sell
(Let him sell!)
Bismillah!
We will not let you sell
(Let me sell!)
Will not let you sell
(Let me sell!)
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Oh, mama mia, mama mia
Mama mia, let me trade
Beelzebub has a devil buy-and-hold for me
For me
And for you…

So you think you can fool me with buy-and-hold lies?
So you think you can charge me and watch my money fry?
Oh, Broker
Can’t do this to me, broker
Just gotta get out
Just gotta sell right outta’ here
Nothing really matters
Anyone can see

Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters but the fee

Any way the market blows……

This is why I love living in New Jersey, They always find a way to generate revenue

STATE POLICE - NJ TICKETING

Here's the latest NJ State Police Initiative
(Radio Station 101.5 FM confirmed this info).
Starting today, New Jersey will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy.
The state estimates that 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding
tickets. One million dollars will go to pay state troopers over-time.
There will be 50 state troopers on duty at all times patrolling the 9
main intersections and highways as follows:
I-295 North and South,
I-95 Jersey Turnpike North and South
I-80 East and West
I-287 North and South
I-78 East and West
I-195 East and West
I-280 East and West
Route 130 - North and South
Garden State Parkway - North and South

5 MPH above the limit can justify a ticket and every state trooper is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 to 20 minutes.
They have issued 30 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and are bringing in all of their part-timers on full time. If you work in NJ, NY, DE or CT, you will probably be on one of these
highways. So, please be on guard and drive safely!
Starting August 15, the price of a violation to show your driver's license, registration or insurance card at the time you are stopped, increased from $44.00 to $173.00. (Keep these documents in your car).And the fine for not having all three documents is $519.00! The fine for hand-held cell phone use while driving will be going up to $180.00.

Dexter is a real killer, productivity killer that is

So a friend of mine was so kind to let me borrow the Dexter: The First Season and Dexter: The Complete Second Season. Let me tell you, once you start watching this you can't stop. I just finished the first season and it is probably one of the best things I have seen in the last five years.

My plan was to mess around with jQuery this weekend. I created a jQuery wiki page on our site to document what I come across so that it might help others. Unfortunately I didn't add anything since I was watching Dexter. Oh well I have only one season left to watch, that should be done by the end of next week.

Are You Going To See Avatar The New James Cameron Movie?

Avatar, it will be out this Christmas

Who is going to see this?

In a distant future, humanity discovers the planet 'Alpha Centauri B-4', and for those scientists and astronauts who've traversed the gulf between neighboring suns and arrived on its alien soil know it as 'Pandora'. A world filled with an incredible diversity of beautiful and deadly ammonia-breathing lifeforms. Its also a world that harbors treasures and resources almost beyond price. But just as the original Pandora's Box wrought devastation on those who would use it for their own gain, so too this world may destroy not just the Pandorans home, but ours as well.

Avatar is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

Here is the teaser trailer.


I always liked Aliens (Alien 2), probably my favorite from the Alien series. Avatar looks promising so I will probably see it

An Interview With Kevin Kline About SQL In A Nutshell Third Edition

I have interviewed Kevin Kline about SQL In A Nutshell Third Edition

You can find that interview here: An Interview With Kevin Kline About SQL In A Nutshell Third Edition


Also check out my All the interviews I did with the SQL legends post which has about 10 other SQL people