Microsoft has paid a ridiculously expensive price and taken a massive hit on their share price to buy out Skype... Far more money than Skype could bring in. There's no doubt that Microsoft have big plans for Skype in the future, but what do they really have up their sleeves. Some say they're falling behind in the technology race and are just desperate to catch up with the rest of the crowd.

Skype Said to Have Demanded More Than $7 Billion in Microsoft Buyout Talks

Skype Technologies SA’s owners refused to entertain offers of less than $7 billion, the value they expected the startup to get from a planned initial public offering, before agreeing to a buyout from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), according to people with knowledge of the talks.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer clinched the $8.5 billion all-cash agreement May 9, just more than a month after his initial overture to private equity firm Silver Lake, one of Skype’s biggest owners, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.

“Microsoft really wanted this,” said Matt McCormick, a money manager for Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Inc., which oversees $3.6 billion, including Microsoft shares. “Microsoft right now is trying to do things to keep up with other faster- growing technology companies.”

Ballmer, 55, is making Microsoft’s largest acquisition on a wager he can use Internet calling to play catch-up in mobile and Web advertising. He offered more than $7 billion to cover Skype’s debt and keep a rival from gaining a business that would add calling features to games, e-mail and software on computers and handsets. While Google Inc. (GOOG) expressed interest, neither it nor other bidders made formal offers, the people said.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, is making the biggest Internet takeover in more than a decade, part of an effort to lure Web users and advertisers and help it catch Google in online advertising and Apple Inc. in mobile software.

‘Needed Kick-Start’

Ballmer plans to connect Skype, which boasts 170 million active users, to Microsoft’s Outlook e-mail, Xbox game console, Windows mobile phones and corporate-phone software. Skype offers voice and video calling over the Internet.

“This could give Microsoft a much-needed kick-start” in telecommunications, said Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at CCS Insight in London. In voice services, “Skype has certainly set the benchmark and gained a lot of traction.”

Microsoft was already negotiating a partnership with Skype when Ballmer kicked off takeover discussions. He said in an interview that he opted to pursue an acquisition after consulting with the leaders of the Office and Windows divisions.

Ballmer said he then directed Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein to make an unsolicited takeover offer to Silver Lake. Talks began in late March, the people familiar said.

Ballmer led Microsoft’s efforts and kept the plans secret outside of a small team, which included Microsoft Business Division Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood and Marc Brown, who oversees corporate development, one of the people said.

No-Shop Clause

Microsoft’s negotiators insisted on a no-shop clause, which barred Skype from seeking other bidders, according to one person familiar with the matter.

The parties agreed on a price in mid-April and signed the deal the night before it was announced. Microsoft paid a high premium in part because it expected the stock to rise after the IPO, meaning it would cost more to acquire Skype down the road, two of the people said.

“Microsoft was the only serious bidder at that number,’’ Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Skype investor Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, said in an interview.

Skype’s backers also talked with Google but didn’t get to discussing a price, and no formal offer was made, two people said. There were no other serious offers, one of them said.

The deal will add to Microsoft’s profit in the year after it closes, Ballmer said in an interview yesterday.

Microsoft slipped 16 cents to $25.67 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. That left it down 8 percent this year.

‘Deadly D’

Microsoft also may get a tax benefit from the deal. Klein said the company will pay for the purchase using cash held overseas, freeing it from having to pay taxes associated with bringing cash into the U.S.

The company may use a technique known as the “Deadly D,” named for a section of tax law, that can help reduce taxes in cases where a U.S.-based company makes a foreign acquisition, said Robert Willens, who owns a tax consulting firm in New York.

“As far as the tax implications, this is a sweetheart deal,” Willens said. “This will be seen as a real important aspect of deal and will make Microsoft investors more comfortable with the transaction.”

Skype CEO Tony Bates will be president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting to Ballmer. The agreement was approved by the boards of both companies. Microsoft expects to receive regulatory clearance for the purchase this year.

Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. The founders sold the company for $2.6 billion in 2005 to San Jose, California-based EBay Inc., which in turn sold off most of its stake four years later. Current investors include EBay, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.

IPO Plans

A purchase by Microsoft would divert unprofitable Skype from a plan, announced in August, to sell $100 million of shares in an IPO. The company has struggled to convert users of its free PC-to-PC phone services into paying customers, according to a March regulatory filing. The company has 663 million total users, most of whom aren’t active callers.

The purchase of Skype surpasses Microsoft’s acquisition of AQuantive Inc. for about $6 billion in 2007. It’s also the biggest takeover of an Internet company since the dot-com bubble 11 years ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Microsoft abandoned an unsolicited effort to buy Yahoo! Inc. for as much as $47.5 billion in 2008 and instead struck an agreement to provide search services on Yahoo’s pages.

Microsoft offers corporate telephone services through its Lync product, as well as consumer video-chat products as part of its instant-messaging software and Xbox online service.

Skype as Verb

Tightly integrated Skype services could be an added selling point for Windows Phone, the mobile operating system Microsoft is promoting as to vie with Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners LP in New York.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) advised Skype on the deal. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP provided legal advice to Skype’s founders. Microsoft declined to disclose its bankers. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Covington & Burling LLP are providing legal advice to Microsoft, and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is advising Skype and Silver Lake.

Bloomberg LP, which owns Bloomberg News, is an investor in Andreessen Horowitz.

Skype has more than $800 million in annual revenue, Ballmer said yesterday. His forecast for Skype’s impact on earnings refers to profit excluding certain costs.

Microsoft is planning to keep and promote the Skype brand.

“We love the Skype brand -- it’s a verb, for gosh sakes,” Ballmer said in the interview.

Original source

why will this guy do such a horrid thing?

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Man-drives-over-girlfriend-20110510

it seems like she is in a serious condition - the gf that is

* shakes head * Some guys... seriously...
Pity it's not properly written. But that's beside the point.
Hope she'll be fine.

ah ive heard of that kinda thing a lot, its pretty scary and sad

Wow and we thought SA had brazen criminals!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/xperia-play-shipment-to-new-zealand-stolen-vodafone-launch-dela/

The first coldfront for Gauteng is going to be a big one so get your winter warmies and hot water bottles out!

Cold front approaching Gauteng

A cold front will bring very cold weather to Gauteng by late on Wednesday, the SA weather services said.

"There is a cold front over the western and southern parts of the country today (Tuesday) and this will reach Gauteng by late Wednesday and will be fully upon us on Thursday," forecaster Lulama Menzi said on Tuesday.

He said Johannesburg could expect a minimum temperature of 1C and a maximum temperature of 15C on Thursday. Pretoria could expect temperatures of between 3C and 16C.

Ah CARP! That's when we will be at the Sterfontein caves!
Quick! Produce fire!

Volcanic Ash Prompts European Flight Cancellations
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 4:30 am UTC
Posted 4 hours ago

An eruption by Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano has caused some airlines to cancel flights over parts of Europe, where clouds of volcanic ash could affect planes.

British Airways said Monday it has canceled all Tuesday morning flights between London and Scotland. Easy-jet, Dutch carrier KLM and several regional airlines have also suspended flights to Scotland and northern England.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the volcano, which lies beneath the island's largest glacier, continued to shoot plumes of smoke up to nine kilometers into the air. Officials said the eruption has eased since it first began on Saturday.

Forecasters are uncertain of the path of the ash cloud as it drifts across the continent, but they expect it to touch Scotland, Ireland and Britain by early Tuesday.

They say the cloud could travel as far as Scandinavia, western France and Spain by later this week.

But experts say the impact of the eruption will be far less severe than last year's eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano.

The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April 2010 produced an ash cloud that winds blew toward northern Europe, causing airports in the region to ground all planes for several days as a safety precaution. Around 100,000 flights were canceled, and at least 8 million passengers were stranded worldwide.

Grimsvotn last erupted in 2004.

Iceland reopened its airports late Monday, after they were closed Sunday because of ash concerns.

Source: VOA News

250+ flights grounded over volcanic ash.
Brussels - European air traffic controllers said on Tuesday morning that 252 flights had been canceled as a volcanic ash cloud covered Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"Most airlines have canceled flights today - 252 flights," said Brian Flynn, head of operations at the Brussels-based Eurocontrol via Twitter. "Parts of ash-cloud to cover Scotland and Northern Ireland today (Tuesday)."

The eruption of the Grimsvoetn volcano in Iceland forced US President Barack Obama the previous day to revise travel plans for a state visit to Britain and threatens to affect Barcelona's preparations for Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in London.

Flynn warned that the ash cloud "will continue possibly southwards to France and Spain but hard to say now because (weather) forecasts are not precise for the end of the week (sic)".

He said that by the end of the day, the cloud "will cover southern parts of Scandinavia, Denmark and northern parts of Germany possibly". This raised the prospect of major travel disruption across Europe due to Icelandic volcanic eruption for the second time in little over a year.

Last year, the plume landed first in Scotland before spreading quickly across Britain and Ireland, then drifting across most of Europe.

The biggest shutdown of airspace in the post-war era left many airlines deeply unhappy over halting flights.

A fresh confrontation loomed on Tuesday between aviation authorities and carriers - who face substantial costs and lost revenue associated with cancellation and passenger rights.

Source: News 24

(yes, both articles are about the same thing.)

Last week, an explosion at Foxconn's Chengdu factory ended up with three dead and 15 injured. The incident, which occured in one of the Chinese company's iPad 2 case polishing facilities, has led to the closure of the affected area as investigations into the blast continue.

The facility's closure has led to worries about iPad 2 production. The device, introduced by Apple in March, is already suffering from the "mother of all backlogs" after Apple failed to satisfy initial customer demand. The shortage led to lower iPad 2 sales than expected.

Foxconn, however, has asserted that there will be no delays in iPad 2 production since it already has about a week's worth of inventory. The company claims this gives them enough leeway to let the investigation continue without affecting production.

Foxconn is Apple's manufacturer for iPods, iPads, and iPhones. The explosion is the most recent problem the contract manufacturer is facing. In the past, it had come under fire for employee mistreatment which eventually led to numerous suicides.

http://www.qj.net/ipad/ipad-news/foxconn-factory-explosion-wont-affect-ipad-2-production.html

what kind of equipment do they use that can get ppl blown up, making ipads

Harold Camping says May 21, 2011 was ‘invisible judgment day,’ world will end October 21, 2011
By Elizabeth Tenety

An organization run by Harold Camping of Oakland, Calif. has purchased billboards all over the country proclaiming May 21st would mark the end of the world. (Chris Pietsch) You’ve been warned.

Radio evangelist Harold Camping said in a special broadcast Monday night on his radio program Open Forum that his predicted May 21, 2011 Rapture was “an invisible judgment day“ that he has come to understand as a spiritual, rather than physical event.
“We had all of our dates correct,” Camping insisted, clarifying that he now understands that Christ’s May 21 arrival was “a spiritual coming” ushering in the last five months before the final judgment and destruction.

In an hour and a half broadcast, Camping walked listeners through his numerological timeline, insisting that his teaching has not changed and that the world will still end on October 21, 2011.

“It wont be spiritual on October 21st,” Camping said, adding, “the world is going to be destroyed all together, but it will be very quick.”

Camping had previously pointed to October 21 as the last day on earth for all humanity.

His former assertion was that a faithful three percent would be physically pulled into heaven by God through the Rapture on May 21, to be followed by a five month period of great suffering known as the Tribulation, ending, finally, on October 21. On Monday’s broadcast, Camping speculated that perhaps a merciful God decided to spare humanity five months of “hell on earth.”

Camping’s belief system is one part mainstream Christian teaching and another part pure Camping. While many Christians accept similar teachings on the end times, (Pew has found that 41 percent of Americans think Jesus will “definitely or probably return to Earth before 2050”) most reject the idea that you can either know God’s timeline or that the Bible is embedded with secret codes.

See you in October.

Satori said ...

Volcanic Ash Prompts European Flight Cancellations
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 4:30 am UTC
Posted 4 hours ago

An eruption by Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano has caused some airlines to cancel flights over parts of Europe, where clouds of volcanic ash could affect planes.

British Airways said Monday it has canceled all Tuesday morning flights between London and Scotland. Easy-jet, Dutch carrier KLM and several regional airlines have also suspended flights to Scotland and northern England.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the volcano, which lies beneath the island's largest glacier, continued to shoot plumes of smoke up to nine kilometers into the air. Officials said the eruption has eased since it first began on Saturday.

Forecasters are uncertain of the path of the ash cloud as it drifts across the continent, but they expect it to touch Scotland, Ireland and Britain by early Tuesday.

They say the cloud could travel as far as Scandinavia, western France and Spain by later this week.

But experts say the impact of the eruption will be far less severe than last year's eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano.

The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April 2010 produced an ash cloud that winds blew toward northern Europe, causing airports in the region to ground all planes for several days as a safety precaution. Around 100,000 flights were canceled, and at least 8 million passengers were stranded worldwide.

Grimsvotn last erupted in 2004.

Iceland reopened its airports late Monday, after they were closed Sunday because of ash concerns.

Source: VOA News

250+ flights grounded over volcanic ash.
Brussels - European air traffic controllers said on Tuesday morning that 252 flights had been canceled as a volcanic ash cloud covered Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"Most airlines have canceled flights today - 252 flights," said Brian Flynn, head of operations at the Brussels-based Eurocontrol via Twitter. "Parts of ash-cloud to cover Scotland and Northern Ireland today (Tuesday)."

The eruption of the Grimsvoetn volcano in Iceland forced US President Barack Obama the previous day to revise travel plans for a state visit to Britain and threatens to affect Barcelona's preparations for Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in London.

Flynn warned that the ash cloud "will continue possibly southwards to France and Spain but hard to say now because (weather) forecasts are not precise for the end of the week (sic)".

He said that by the end of the day, the cloud "will cover southern parts of Scandinavia, Denmark and northern parts of Germany possibly". This raised the prospect of major travel disruption across Europe due to Icelandic volcanic eruption for the second time in little over a year.

Last year, the plume landed first in Scotland before spreading quickly across Britain and Ireland, then drifting across most of Europe.

The biggest shutdown of airspace in the post-war era left many airlines deeply unhappy over halting flights.

A fresh confrontation loomed on Tuesday between aviation authorities and carriers - who face substantial costs and lost revenue associated with cancellation and passenger rights.

Source: News 24

(yes, both articles are about the same thing.)

Last year the airlines lost something like 17 billion for the couple of days they were closed, so there was lots of squealing about how safe it was to fly, proving yet again money is more important than people's lives.

Total lunar eclipse for SA
15 June 2011
Between 21:22 and 23:03

full story

Apparently News24 got some facts wrong, try here http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/randburg/randburg-announcements-general?oid=4443078&sn=Detail&pid=217602&Get-ready-for-a-rare-astronomical-sighting

Time to make sure your traffic tickets are paid and your licenses are up to date etc...

End road carnage now - Ndebele

Cape Town - Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele on Wednesday called for a halt to the carnage on South Africa's roads.

Speaking during debate on his department's 2011/12 budget, he told MPs that 14 000 people were killed and tens of thousands injured on the country's roads each year.

“Worldwide, 1.3 million people are killed annually; total of 14 000 people are being killed in South Africa, with more than 50 000 injured.”

Ndebele said South Africa was a participant in the recently launched United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety campaign, over the period 2011-2020.

“We seek to halve the deaths and end the carnage on our roads by 2015.”

In terms of the campaign, all provinces would report monthly on their accident rate. They would also be taking strong enforcement measures.

“It was agreed by all that at least one million drivers will be stopped per month; 250 000 drivers will be stopped every week; 45 000 motorists will be stopped each day.

“Something must be done so that the business as usual, in terms of road safety, and the lackadaisical approach to road safety, comes to an end,” he said.

The targets would ensure that at least half the motorists on the country's roads would be stopped over the next six months and checked for compliance with road traffic regulations. - Sapa

Source

"The Duke is out in the open". I repeat, "THE DUKE is out in the open!"
Duke Nukem Forever,the game that has been in development for 14 years has been leaked a week early. Only the xbox360 and PS3 versions have been leaked so far. Most likely gonna affect sales - duh.

Source/Sauce >>
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/technology/duke-nukem-forever-leaked-on-bittorrent-57367.html

Corrosive said ...

Total lunar eclipse for SA
15 June 2011
Between 21:22 and 23:03

full story

Snow said ...

Apparently News24 got some facts wrong, try here http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/randburg/randburg-announcements-general?oid=4443078&sn=Detail&pid=217602&Get-ready-for-a-rare-astronomical-sighting

This is happening tonight...

starts 8.22pm

*thumbs up* Cant wait, should be awesome

Google search by image and voice on desktop

Google introduced new features to their web search, including voice search, search by images, and instant pages

At Google’s Inside Search media event yesterday (14 June 2011), the search giant introduced three new features to its web search: voice search, search by image, and instant pages.

Google Voice Search is a feature that has been available on mobile devices for some time now, but according to Google Fellow Amit Singhal, voice recognition should be available wherever you are.

Voice search is rolling out to Google desktop search for Chrome users and Google said that you should start seeing a little microphone in every Google search box.

Google also announced Search by Image which will allow you to upload an image to Google Image Search to ask Google to figure out what it is.

Search by Image is rolling out globally in 40 languages, Google said, along with Firefox and Chrome extensions to allow you to search any image on the web by right-clicking.

In an effort to decrease the time it takes to get to your search results Google launched Google Instant which guesses what you’re about to search for before you’ve typed it.

Yesterday they announced Google Instant Pages which will fetch and pre-render the top search result for you. To try this feature users will have to get hold of the next beta release of Google Chrome or the latest developer version of Chromium.

Google Search by Image
Google Voice Search

Source

nice

Gauteng road tolling likely to go ahead

Johannesburg - The Gauteng's e-toll system is here to stay and the proposed tariff of 66c/km for ordinary cars may not change, The Star reported on Monday.

This is according to the department of transport's steering committee report which was sent out to various organisations that publicly opposed the toll fees.

The SA National Roads Agency announced in February that it would start charging 66c/km at the 42 electronic toll gates erected on the N1, N3, N12, N17, R21 and R24. The tolls cover a distance of about 185km.

Concern was raised by businesses, labour and political parties, about the effect toll fees will have on the poor, the economy and alternative routes.

The report does not say what the toll tariffs will be but it defends the calculation used to determine the original tariff of 66c/km.

It defended the proposed tariff and, one by one, dismissed every proposal made by civil society organisations.

According to the daily newspaper the report went into detail on why the open tolling structure was decided on as the best strategy. There were also no recommendations or alternatives provided in the report.

The final decision on the e-tolling was expected at the end of next month.

Source