] Software maker Roxio announced Monday it has acquired
] online music service pressplay for about $40 million, in
] preparation for the relaunch of a new service under the
] Napster brand name.
]
] Santa Clara-based Roxio bought pressplay for $12.5
] million in cash and approximately 3.9 million shares of
] Roxio common stock. Pressplay, based in Los Angeles, is
] the joint venture of Universal Music Group and Sony Music
] Entertainment, record companies that were seeking a legal
] alternative to Napster.
]
] Roxio bought the Napster brand on the cheap after the
] company dissolved, and appears ready to relaunch the
] brand as an online music store.
]
] "With our acquisition of Napster we obtained the most
] powerful brand in the online music space. Now, with our
] acquisition of pressplay, we have the most complete and
] scaleable legal technology infrastructure to use as a
] platform to relaunch Napster," said Roxio's chairman and
] CEO, Chris Gorog.

Napster to relaunch

] Marijuana, pornography and illegal labour have created a
] hidden market in the United States which now accounts for
] as much as 10% of the American economy, according to a
] study. As a cash crop, marijuana is believed to have
] outstripped maize, and hardcore porn revenue is equal to
] Hollywood's domestic box office takings.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | With pot and porn outstripping corn, America's black economy is flying high

As they are attempting to screw with our freedom of speech, lets take a molment to single out the people and organizations behind Blackboard.

Senior Management:

* Matthew Serbin Pittinsky, Chairman
* Michael L. Chasen, CEO & Director
* Stephen Hoffman, President & COO
* Peter Repetti, CFO
* Andrew H. Rosen, Esq, EVP, Corporate Development & General Counsel, General Manager, International
* Ken Krushel, EVP, Business Development
* Todd Gibby, General Manager, Course & Portal Solutions
* Jim Hermens, General Manager, Commerce & Access Solutions
* Susan Katz, Senior Vice President, Sales

Board of Directors:

* Doug Alexander, Internet Capital Group
* Robert E. Grady, The Carlyle Group
* Dr. Arthur Levine, Teachers College, Columbia University
* Roger Novak, Novak Biddle
* William L. Jacobs, The New Power Company
* Mark L. Walsh, VerticalNet Inc.

Alliance Partners:

* AOL Time Warner Inc.
* Datatel
* Dell Computer
* Harcourt College Publishers
* Houghton Mifflin
* McGraw-Hill
* Microsoft
* NextEd
* Oracle
* Pearson Education
* PeopleSoft
* Sun Microsystems
* Thomson Learning

Anyone have any background info on any of their senior management or board that may be of interest? What other companies share board members with Blackboard, etc..

Blackboard Facts

] Over the last two weeks, nobody has been paying much
] attention to economic news; even the ups and downs of the
] Dow have reflected reports from the battlefield, not the
] boardroom. But the economic news is quite worrying.
] Indeed, the latest readings suggest that our recovery,
] such as it is, may be stalling.
]
] Actually, the recovery can't officially stall since it
] hasn't officially begun: the committee that rules on such
] matters still hasn't declared the recession that began in
] March 2001 over. There are good reasons for the
] committee's hesitation: while G.D.P. started growing in
] late 2001, the job situation -- which is what matters
] to most people -- has more or less steadily worsened.
] In particular, fewer people are working now than were
] employed a year ago. Since the working-age population
] continues to rise, jobs have become steadily harder to
] find.

Gun, Germs and Stall?

] In fact, history will look back and see gain and gain.
] That's because profits are not the same thing as social
] value. Just because a group of firms, an industry
] segment, flopped as a profitmaker does not mean it failed
] as a producer. Profit is primarily a signal about the
] size of a set of enterprises: If too small, then
] customers are desperate for your products, prices are
] high, and profits abundant; if too large, then customers
] are satiated, you can barely give the stuff away, and
] profits are absent. If profits are high, the industry
] segment should grow; if absent, it should shrink.

I agree with the article.. I just dispute the title.. The "rest of us" assumes you didn't work in technology. Its not just the VC that got screwed out of their money, many of us non-ruling class folks have been screwed out of our careers and lives. Its alot like starting over, only the exuberance of youth is just as dead as the irrational kind. So all-in-all, this may be grade-a peaches for America, but it still sucks for me. We are most likely still a good decade away from the point where "gain" and "bust" can be said in the same sentence without a very uncomfortable laugh from most of us who had a part in it all..

Why the bust was good for America

] Federal investigators have arrested an enigmatic Wall
] Street wiz on insider-trading charges -- and incredibly,
] he claims to be a time-traveler from the year 2256!

] Carlssin declared that he had traveled back in time from
] over 200 years in the future, when it is common knowledge
] that our era experienced one of the worst stock plunges
] in history. Yet anyone armed with knowledge of the
] handful of stocks destined to go through the roof could
] make a fortune.
]
] "It was just too tempting to resist," Carlssin allegedly
] said in his videotaped confession. "I had planned to make
] it look natural, you know, lose a little here and there
] so it doesn't look too perfect. But I just got caught in
] the moment."
]
] In a bid for leniency, Carlssin has reportedly offered to
] divulge "historical facts" such as the whereabouts of
] Osama Bin Laden and a cure for AIDS.

Hahaha..

If the guys managed to nail 126 trades, taking $800 to $350m, he clearly has oodles of inside information. So much so, that time travel is about the only explanation for it.. It is eerie that there is no record of him.. Of course, he might not be using his real name.

What stocks did he buy? Thats the information I want..

Oh yeah.. And that one peice of information that the Weekly World News always leaves out that conclusively proves its all bullshit..

'TIME-TRAVELER' BUSTED FOR INSIDER TRADING

] "It's a phenomenon that's not on the mainstream radar
] quite yet, but it will be in six months."

Wait a minute.. I know the date up there says 2003, but this feels so 1999. Tech company buyout, The Valley, dude with laptop wearing Dead Kennedys t-shirt, something about advertising, where Lycos and AOL stand, etc.. I bet someone got nostalgic when doing this article. You could almost forget that the tech industry is a disaster and many people trying to innovate can barely afford to keep food in their mouths.

Blogging goes mainstream - Mar. 10, 2003

] So who will perform the function of Microsoft in the
] Linux world?

More Sony CEO interview. Mostly stating the obvious, in reference to Linux, IBM, and Sun. In short, they need their OS partner to manage the entire OS chain and be able to work closely with them..

Sony's Idei - Part 2 :: AO

I like currency thats different colors and sizes. Its easier to deal with, sort in your wallet, in the dark, etc.. When you are in a dark club, telling the difference between bills can be a pain in the ass. I'd rather see different sizes then colors. Different sizes also sounds like it might help with the counterfeit money angle too.

Color change to $20 bills imminent - Mar. 5, 2003

] A strong majority of companies surveyed for a recent IDC
] study expect to maintain or increase their IT spending in
] 2003, but those plans are tightly tied to worldwide
] economic stability, according to the research firm.
]
] The survey covered around 1,000 chief information
] officers (CIOs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) in 12
] countries throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia/Pacific.
] Of those polled, 85 percent say they expect their IT
] budgets to either remain flat or grow in 2003 over last
] year.

Good news? [rubs eyes, looks again] I don't see the phrase "cut spending" or "additional layoffs" in there..

ITworld.com - IDC: Worst may be over for IT cutbacks