Microsoft withdraws Yahoo! bid! One of the rare news where I can put two exclamation marks instead of one.
Microsoft Withdraws Its Bid for Yahoo
The about-face followed a meeting on Saturday morning in Seattle between Microsoft’s chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, and Yahoo’s chief and co-founder, Jerry Yang, according to a person familiar with the talks.
At the meeting, which also included Yahoo’s other founder, David Filo, and a Microsoft president who oversees its online unit, Kevin Johnson, Mr. Ballmer increased Microsoft’s offer to $33 a share, or a total of about $47.5 billion, from $29.40 a share. Mr. Yang told Mr. Ballmer that Yahoo would not accept an offer below $37 a share, this person said.
“Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer,” Mr. Ballmer said in a statement. “After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal.”
Microsoft’s decision to walk away casts a cloud of uncertainty over Yahoo and its shareholders. The breakdown in the talks is likely to send Yahoo’s shares plunging, and Mr. Yang and his team will have to decide how to placate investors. (Source: NYTimes)
I think this is good news for Microsoft shareholders. Yahoo isn’t that worth the money to purchase, plus Microsoft has the technology, they just need to work out their visitor numbers. For Yahoo!, it perhaps it a good thing too, but I just kinda have a bad feeling that Yahoo! won’t be doing too well in the coming months to come.
Selamat datang means “welcome” (Used as a greeting).
Selamat jalan mean “have a safe journey” (equivalent to “goodbye”, used by the party staying).
Selamat tinggal means “goodbye” (Lit translation: “Good stay”, used by the party going).
Selamat pagi means “good morning”.
Selamat petang means “Good afternoon or good evening” (note that ‘Selamat petang’ must not be used at night as in English. For a general greeting, use ‘Selamat sejahtera’).
Selamat sejahtera means formal greetings.
Selamat malam means “good night”.
Okay okay… Enough already. Selamat malam everyone. (More on Wikipedia)
Yet another shooting case in America, this time in Illinois:
6 shot dead, including gunman, at Northern Illinois University
DEKALB, Illinois (CNN) — A gunman dressed in black stepped from behind a curtain at the front of a large lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday and shot 21 people, five of them fatally, then turned shot and killed himself, said university president John Peters.
Four died at the scene, including the shooter, and two later died at the hospital, he said.
At least 22 people, including a graduate student who was teaching an ocean sciences class, were shot, Peters said.
Seventeen victims were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, its Web site said.
Of those, six were in critical condition and were flown to other hospitals. One fatality, a male, was confirmed — but was not the gunman, the hospital said. Two were admitted, and three others were discharged.
The gunman started shooting from a stage in the room shortly after 3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) in Cole Hall, officials said.
Police Chief Donald Grady said authorities do not yet know of a motive.
Suharto (1921 to 2008). Former Indonesian dictator Haji Muhammad Suharto — the “smiling general” who ruled his country with an iron fist for three decades — died Sunday at a hospital in Jakarta, said his doctor. He was 86.
Former Indonesian President Suharto dies at 86
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) — Former Indonesian dictator Haji Muhammad Suharto — the “smiling general” who ruled his country with an iron fist for three decades — died Sunday at a hospital in Jakarta, said his doctor. He was 86.
He was rushed to Pertamina Hospital on January 4 for treatment of a failing liver, heart and lungs, his doctors said.
He had been suffering at home for five days.
His death comes just a day after his doctors said he appeared to be making a remarkable recovery.
Suharto, who, like other Indonesians, only has one name, was president of Indonesia from 1967 until he was forced to resign — under immense political pressure — in 1998.
He is credited with shaping modern Indonesia by boosting the economy and making the sprawling archipelago a regional power.
However, he also reigned as the nation was beset by internal corruption and, at the end of his rule, economic decline.
“He was known as the smiling general. He could be very charming, but behind that smile was this streak of steel,” said Richard Woolcott, Australia’s former ambassador to Indonesia.
“In the short term, he’ll probably be judged fairly harshly by Australian critics and others in the West, but in the longer term, I suspect historians will see his contributions to Indonesia in a very positive light,” Woolcott told CNN.
Woman thinks she’s about to be fired, goes into office over weekend and destroys past 7 years’ worth of archives.
Angry Employee Deletes All of Company’s Data
When Marie Lupe Cooley, 41, of Jacksonville, Fla., saw a help-wanted ad in the newspaper for a position that looked suspiciously like her current job â and with her boss’s phone number listed â she assumed she was about to be fired.
So, police say, she went to the architectural office where she works late Sunday night and erased 7 years’ worth of drawings and blueprints, estimated to be worth $2.5 million.
“She decided to mess up everything for everybody,” Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ken Jefferson told reporters. “She just sabotaged the entire business, thinking she was going to get axed.”
It didn’t take Steven Hutchins, owner of the architectural firm that bears his name, much time to figure out who’d done it â Cooley was the only other person who had full access to the files.
Police arrested Cooley Monday evening and charged her with causing greater than $1,000 damage to computer files, a felony. She was bailed out the following afternoon.
The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion.
What Gizmodo did was to go around with this remote control and switch off the display sets. They disrupted a Motorola presentation, some gaming event and a lot of televisions on display. This is journalism at its worst. CES did what’s right to bar them from attending future CES event.
It’s a terrible prank and caused trouble from both attendees and exhibitors. I’m kinda disappointed when I saw the video of Gizmodo staffers switching off the televisions sets with a remote. Old prank and it wasn’t funny in my opinion.