Skype might have to shut down because of a dispute over the core technology used to make the internet telephone system work.

EBay, which paid $2.6 billion (£1.6 billion) for the voice-over-the-internet system in 2005, is facing a court battle with the original founders of the company who retained the rights to the technology at the heart of the system.

EBay admitted in a regulatory filing that it might have to close down the company. It said it was trying to develop alternative software but if that did not work, or if eBay lost the right to the original software: “Skype would be severely and adversely affected and the continued operation of Skype’s business as currently conducted would likely not be possible.”

The dispute also threatens eBay’s plan to spin off Skype, scheduled for next year.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this. I”m an occasional Skype user, but the main reason I went ahead and put out for a number and voicemail is that I use it when I teach online classes and I don’t want to give out my home or cell number. Google Voice makes that a bit of a moot point. So I’m not sure I know what I’m going to do.

Posted via web from Crankybear

Posted via web from Crankybear

“Patience everyone, patience. The best way to correct a liar is to let him talk in front of as many people as possible.”

I think there’s a lot of wisdom in that.

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Rick Warren? Really?

(image courtesy of the must-read “Edge of the American West“)

So here they are:

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville
Baltimore @ Dallas
Cincinnati @ Cleveland
New Orleans @ Detroit
Arizona @ New England
Pittsburgh @ Tennessee
San Fransisco @ St. Louis
Miami @ Kansas City
San Diego @ Tampa Bay
Buffalo @ Denver
New York Jets @ Seattle
Houston @ Oakland
Atlanta @ Minnesota
Philadelphia @ Washington
Carolina @ New York Giants

Monday
Green Bay @ Chicago
TOTAL: 52 points

“While the fallout from Mr. Madoff’s suspected con game shook investors around the world, perhaps nowhere was there a higher concentration of victims than in this room. Investors were said to have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to remain members of this club in hopes of an introduction to Mr. Madoff, usually by Mr. Jaffe or Mr. Shapiro. Mr. Madoff has been a member since 1996.

But more than wealth, these people seemed to have lost a sense of trust and prestige. During a visit to the club on Saturday, many members, asked for their reactions, requested not to be named because they did not want to ruin their standing among friends.

In Mr. Madoff’s fall, their world turned upside down, they said. Those who prided themselves as financially savvy suddenly seemed gullible. The trusted friend, sage adviser and model philanthropist they thought they knew was now charged with being a multibillion-dollar swindler.”

It’s worth the read, but the money quote at the end is priceless:

At Green’s Pharmacy, a popular lunch counter in downtown Palm Beach, a man who said two of his relatives were founding members of the country club wondered aloud whether the club’s unusually exclusive nature, especially among the wealthiest investors, is what enabled the suspected scheme to go on so long.

“There was such insularity of this inner circle of an already pretty exclusive club,” he said. But then he observed that lots of investors who were not members of the club had been duped, too.

“I don’t know,” he said. “The whole thing just makes you question your assumptions.”

Oddly enough, mine haven’t changed.

You should too

My dear friend Jeff Nucera — who ought to blog every day as far as I’m concerned — is clearly busy doing other things, but he’s hit on the trip blog as a way to whet our appetite for all things Uhjeff. They’re freaking hysterical. See this one, and this one and this one. Go read them and then come back. I’ll wait.

Welcome back, funny stuff, right?

In a weird way it’s sort of inspired me to take this blog in a whole different direction. But I couldn’t learn Hebrew or Arabic fast enough to go right-to-left and vertical writing only looks good when it’s kanji written in calligraphy. So I decided to change the focus of the blog. Now you’ll need glasses to read it.

OK, not that either.

What I’m going to do is write about myself (possibly my least favorite subject). But I’m going to write about something very specific (mostly). My own journey, if you will.

In just over a week, my wonderful wife and I are going back on a liquid diet through a local hospital. I weigh over 400 pounds (as far as I know, typical scales not going that high and all). We did it 5 years ago, and it worked. Except I was looking for a magic bullet, and when it was hard I gave up.

Not gonna happen this time. And talking about it in this blog is part of the plan this time. See, I don’t process stuff too well unless I write it down. I think it’s because my reasonably slow seek-and-ye-shall-find typing makes me slow down.

The reality is I’ll write about more than how I’m doing on the liquid diet, because food touches the way I live a lot of different ways. But I’ve got to change some of them. And I’m going to. This time it’s different. This time I’m sick of how I am, not just sick of other people being sick of how I am. Couldn’t give a shit what anyone else thinks — hell, anyone who changes their opinion of me because I’m doing this is earning my contempt. Here’s a bit of truth: I want Carla to be successful at this because I know it’ll make her happy, and if I can be encouraging in any way I’ll do it. But I’m doing this whether she makes it or not. (I’m pretty damned sure she will). I just can’t be this way anymore.

I’m tired of being tired. Of it being hard to get out of a chair. Or off a toilet. I’m tired of looking at a flight of stairs as a challenge. Of thinking it’s a big deal to walk half a mile at a clip (a mile? I can do it now — if I rest. To do it without resting is beyond my comprehension right now). I’d like to be able to wear a fucking t-shirt that someone gives away. Not look for a chair without arms when I walk into a room. I’m sick of all of it. Food tastes good, but it doesn’t taste that good. It’ll still be good when my head and body have adjusted to the right portions and I’m able to get decent exercise.

I think we decided to do this a month or so ago. Carla’s heading out of town for a week, and that’s been on the calendar a while so we timed it to start July 4. I’m looking forward to it.

I don’t know that anyone but Carla is reading this blog. I’m going to miss her like crazy this week. And I’m so looking forward to starting the journey with her.

See you in the funny papers.