Slashback: Cutbacks, Oz, Furniture

How to get a cheap, slick box that can run NetBSD; more on what went down under there, down under thanks to modern Rennaisance man Marc Merlin; and a note from the world of corporate English. Read on, soldier.

But are there any good submarine games for it? Tairan writes: "In an effort to sell off 2 million Dreamcasts before jumping out of the hardware business, Sega has lowered the prices of Dreamcasts to $99.00. If you don't already have one, better get down to your local gaming store now!"

Frankly, I'd really rather have an Aeron chair The tri-voweled reader nettdata writes: "Remember this old article that talked about a dot-commer including a Lego desk in his contract? Well, I think I've found the guy! Sun's Dot Com Builder page is doing a feature article on Blue Nile, and the picture in the article shows their CTO sitting at a Lego Desk.

Look here[1][, then look here[2] and tell me they aren't the same!"

Mr. Harshbarger's work continues to amaze, astound and befuddle. Where are all the Lincoln Log sculptures, and desks made of bright yellow Tonka truck metal?

Tell me again how sheep's bladders may be used to prevent earthquakes ... Geoffrey S. Zub of Vistaource passed on that company's Official Word on the Applix spinoff, which he says "can be attributed to Allison Antalek, Marketing Communications." It reads thus:

"In December 2000 the Company entered into discussions with several possible buyers and expects to consummate a divestiture or otherwise discontinue the business in the first quarter of 2001.

If you have consistently followed VistaSource through 2000, you will recall two key announcements:

• April 24th press release launching VistaSource as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applix.
• October 19th press release announcing the engagement of FAC/Equities to explore strategic alternatives for VistaSource, including its possible divestiture.

VistaSource has been on a path to divest from Applix throughout the year 2000. In December, this culminated in discussions with possible buyers. The term 'discontinued operations' is a common legal and finance term used in these situations and should not raise concern about VistaSource's long term viability. Our Anyware offering is a leading technology from which we offer customizable, web-enabled, server centric, real-time solutions, and we will continue to focus our business to grow in this market segment. The exercises over the past twelve months have further focused our business on our key differentiators as we look to grow to prominence in 2001. We look forward to your continued support and to your business in the future.

Best Regards,
Allison Antalek
Marketing Communications
VistaSource, Inc."

Pop quiz, no cheating: Would you be likely to buy a new car from a company that had just "discontinued operations"?

Please don't throw another penguin on the barbie, 'K, mate? Last but not least, the indefatiguable Marc Merlin posted word of his newest wrap-up / conference report, with pictures, of the recent linux.conf.au 2001. Marc braved jetlag, the dangers of flying, and proximity to dangerous creatures like kangaroos and awful jellyfish to bring you these pictures and words, but he's dedicated. (Check out his license plate for proof.) As his report puts it, "If you noticed the absence of Showfloor pictures, it's simply because there was no Showfloor. This was a hacker's conference, not a tradeshow, and I'd say that it was just as well." Some great pix in here! Thanks, Marc.

Comments

Regarding furniture

[unicorn]

I asked Eric, and he confirmed that it was Blue Nile that he built it for.

And I do find it terribly ironic, that Sun implies that the CTO built it himself, given that Eric worked for Sun for several years out here in CA.

Re:An extra Slashback

[lizrd]

This whole thing strikes me as kind of silly. To get the facts right, Wired News and Wired Magazine are not the same thing. Wired news is now a Lycos property, while Wired Magazine is owned by Condé Nast Publications. Several years ago Wired News was run by the same people as Wired Magazine, but it was since sold off and there is no business interaction between the two besides sharing the domain name.

The MacNN article only seems to contest the statement from Wired News that Mr. Jobs used profanity in every sentance. Obviously this isn't true, we all know this. It's called hyberbole, the stretching of the truth to emphasize your point. Hyberbole is a fairly common device that writers use to make their writing more vivid and we should all know when it is happening and how to interpret it. When Wired News says in an editorial piece "Every sentence he uttered -- every single one -- contained an expletive" we should be able to interpret that as "Mr. Jobs used profanity in quantities that many would consider excessive." The fact that Mr. Jobs may have uttered a sentance during the session which did not contain an expletive is neither news nor grounds for discrediting Mr. Kahney's article on Wired News.
_____________

Rock on, Blue Nile

[sulli]

I just knew that Blue Nile would also be on FuckedCompany.com when I saw that Sun ad...

Fact checking at its best

[Migrant Programmer]

From the Dreamcast article:

One analyst said the company sold 4.5 million game units in the United States since its introduction -- well off the company's goal of 7.5 million systems sold by March 2001. Another analyst said North American sales were even more anemic, amounting to a mere 3.9 million units.

Appears they had to buy back 600,000 units from Canada and Mexico. That *is* pretty bad.

O Slashdot, Where Art Thou?

[Sheeple Police]

In an effort to sell off 2 million Dreamcasts before jumping out of the hardware business

Slashdot | Sega Announces Dreamcast Sucessor

This is starting to get to become like the MIR issue. Are they in the devel business, or are they out? In, or out? Please, please please, Oh All Powerful Editors, make up your mind.

As for a good Dreamcast game, an upcoming one (according to IGN) is based on the hugely popular Blue Submarine 6 series, which is also one of my favorite. If you haven't seen the anime, go rent/buy/download it somewhere.

An extra Slashback

[imac.usr]

I submitted this, but it didn't make the cut, and since I fell below the 26-karma level (for no apparent reason; I haven't moderated in a while, got modded up a few times, and still it falls....but I digress) I have no fear of posting it here.

Remember the Wired article talking about how profane Steve Jobs was at a recent reseller meeting? We even talked about it just the other day. Well, MacNN has a different take on the subject after talking to some of the attendees.

Er, if you care.


--