What to make of a Yahoo! combination with Microsoft

After being out sick for a few days I wanted to get back in the swing of things by putting a few thoughts out there on Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!

While lots is being written about the financial implications for shareholders and the remaining Yahoos! what isn't being widely discussed is what Microsoft is likely to do with the assets that it garners from this acquisition. At this point despite the protests from Yahoo's management and board it simply seems like posturing to get a better price at which to close the transaction.

If you're like me I rarely use Yahoo's dated search engine (if I use it for 1 out of 10 searches - which arguably is 1 more than I ever use MSN) the loss of this part of the web really won't be any loss at all.

For my own use the biggest asset that Yahoo! has is the strength of the firm's Yahoo Finance brand. It's always boggled my mind that Yahoo never attempted to move to a more powerful subscription tool for this part of the service given the growth in equity investing among small investors. Frequently Yahoo Finance actually beats major firms with dedicated wire services to tracking and releasing company specific news. In fact, Google Finance sources a number of its articles from Yahoo Finance and typically lags Yahoo in terms of updating the news wire feed to its site. While the firm did leverage traditional click-through ads as a means of monetizing the traffic to Yahoo Finance myself along with others would have gladly shelled out for an annual subscription with the promise of a few extra features.

At this point I'm busy hunting for an alternative but must admit few good options exist that enable a personal investor to get a comprehensive wire service coverage across a portfolio of stocks. While we still have some time since the deal is not yet done you can clearly see the headlights of the approaching Microsoft train heading toward Yahoo!

Send in any alternatives you have and I'll update this post.

"God Save The Mark" By Donald Westlake

After reading a number of novels by Donald Westlake written under the pen-name of Richard Stark I opted to pick up another of his works. This time I chose "God Save the Mark" a mystery published in the late 1960s featuring the challenges a born "mark" named Fred Fitch faces. The interesting twist is that Fred Fitch inherits $300,000 from his long-lost Uncle Matt a former con-man. The mystery begins with the murder of Uncle Matt and a number of mysterious happenings taking place around Fred Fitch. Westlake takes this original premise and builds a strong plot with a solid pace of action and suspense as Fitch sets out to find his Uncle's killer and get to the bottom of the unexpected winfall in the form of the inheritance.

Overall, I would say the "God Save The Mark" is an enjoyable read but is not without its faults. The premise behind the novel is a little odd to say the least in terms of the character of Fred Fitch being the ultimate mark for con-men. I was skeptical about 20 pages in as to whether this novel was going anywhere but Westlake quickly turned up the heat as he begins to layer a strong plot-line around the mysterious inheritance and the death of Uncle Matt. If you're looking for an easy read and need a book to take with you to cottage to relax its worth adding "God Save The Mark" to your reading list.

A great web tie-in for LOST! fans

An interesting web tie-in for fans of T.V. show LOST! ahead of the launch of Season 4 the creators of the show have convinced ABC to create a specialized website:  Find815.com.

(Warning - if you're a LOST! fan this site is addictive and you'll end up sinking a significant amount of time into exploring this parallel story).  This site lays out an intriguing spin-off story line where LOST! fans get to be pulled further into the main story. The premise behind the site is laid out in a series of chapters and videos that document the efforts of Sam Thomas the significant other of a missing stewardess Sonya from Oceanic flight #815.  What is interesting about this Adobe Flash based site is that its very well designed with 5 separate chapters detailing the efforts of Sam to find out what happened to flight 815. Each chapter follows the same structure with a video recap, a video clip, a user challenge which involve a Flash based game that the user must win to continue with the story, a clue hunt that leads to a special preview of Season 4, and finally a video diary entry made by Sam.

Overall the site is very well designed and thought out and serves to draw you further into the story line and build buzz around the premiere of Season 4. My expectation is that we'll see more of these types of satellite websites in the future as networks seek to build and maintain an audience.