The match is over. Finally, we get some peace. Well, as much peace as possible, because Yahoo's story continues, and it shows some signs that may take a nasty turn already, but at least Microsoft's out of the game. Are you happy? I don't know about you, but Yahoo's shareholders are not happy, for sure, and we're going to see why right away...


Yesterday, Microsoft withdrew its $33 per share offer for Yahoo, and today, the value of of the Internet search giant's shares went straight down. After closing at $28.67 on Friday, today Yahoo's shares fell about 14 percent until 12:20 PM, when a share was priced at $24.65! Anyway, that's slightly better than what happened in early morning, when Yahoo's shares were 20 percent lower than Friday...

While most people inside Yahoo consider Microsoft's withdrawal a victory, shareholders expect now for Mr. Yang and the team to unleash some magic and prove that the company is worth $37 per share, the price Jerry Yang was willing to sell for, or even more.

For example, Darren Chervitz, co-manager of the Jacob Internet Fund, which owns about 150,000 shares of Yahoo, said "I don’t believe that Jerry Yang as a founder, as someone who is emotionally attached to the company, was really looking out for my interest as a shareholder. I don’t think anything Yahoo puts out there is going to be comparable with what Microsoft was offering."

Now, there are a lot of paths to choose for Yahoo, and the fact that they are now trying to outsource some of the searches to Google, with the first tests in this direction proved successful, is a good sign, in my opinion. After all, I guess everyone would like to see Yahoo and Google working together, rather than a Microsoft-controlled Yahoo!

Oh, no, they didn't stop! The titans have started their battle once again! In fact, it's more like a mind game than a battle between two titans, but what's certain is that Yahoo may be taken over by Microsoft, after all...or not. Well, let's see what is this all about today, shall we?


Less than an hour ago, AFP got some tips from an insider close to the problem that Microsoft and Yahoo are again talking about the bid, and Microsoft may even increase its offer!

AFP's source said "They are talking -- there are no guarantees. Microsoft signalled it might raise the price and the question is how far. It could still fall apart."

I thought this is over. I was hoping someone else would show up and give Yahoo a helping hand. I really hope Microsoft won't buy them. I am sure I'm not the only one. But... it seems we have to wait for the official announcements regarding this matter, if there is going to be such a thing.

As time passes bay, more and more commercial products move on and become open source. In the end, it seems everyone starts to recognize the advantages that an open development model can bring. Obviously, there are also exceptions, but we're not going to talk about them now. The best part is that, even when certain software producers choose to keep their products as closed source, a move towards opening up is still being made, and the last example is Adobe and their Flash Player...


Until now, to look at the SWF specification, you had to sign a licensing agreement with Adobe. That agreement required you not to create competing players, but now Adobe is trying to expand the reach of the Flash Player, so starting today, all restrictions on the use of the SWF specification are going to disappear!

All the above is a part of a bigger picture, called Open Screen Project. The Open Screen Project has a very nice goal, to enable a consisten runtime environment across a wide range of devices and desktops, improving Internet experiences on every device you can think of, from computers to digital video recorders.

So far, so good, but let's hope the Flash Player for the iPhone will also be ready in time for the 3G iPhone...what do you think? Am I aiming too high, or I'm not the only dreamer?