03.04.10
Firm Behind Novell Bid Has Shady Past, Could be Tied to Microsoft (Paul E. Singer’s ‘Vulture Fund’)
“…Microsoft wished to promote SCO and its pending lawsuit against IBM and the Linux operating system. But Microsoft did not want to be seen as attacking IBM or Linux.”
–Larry Goldfarb, Baystar, key investor in SCO
Summary: A detailed analysis of the pseudo-firm (Elliott) that wants to buy Novell and how the bid came about
OVER the past couple of days we have written three posts about the bid to buy Novell, namely:
- Novell May be Going Private, Hedge Fund Has Cash
- Analyst Expects Microsoft Bid to Buy Novell
- Ron Hovsepian Receives Another Large Lump of Cash as Novell Sale Looms
Few people appear to have actually paid attention to the source of the funds. We had a long discussion about this in IRC last night and we append the logs at the bottom (the relevant parts). While Novell’s whitepapers against Red Hat are being bumped up (we mentioned this twice last week and it still happens), there is also a great deal of distraction away from Novell’s trial against SCO. It is almost as though the bid came at a very strategic time, as we shall explain a little later.
Some Background
First of all, where did the bid come from? It’s a man called Paul E. Singer, who has a shady past; he also engages in some outrageous activities, which in some countries might actually land him in jail. Singer is the man behind Elliott and here is the type of things he is doing:
His other activities do not strike me as exactly praiseworthy, either. Buying up debt from poor countries and forcing repayment may make him rich, but it does not help out the masses in those places, people who are hardly to blame for the fecklessness of their leaders.
Men like Singer, operating under the radar, have distorted our national life and international reputation to such a degree that we are really having trouble figuring out what’s causing our current malaise. They simply do what they please and make the rest of us stick it. It seems like the NYT has finally done its job here of informing the public.
To put a long story short (in a nutshell), this guy probably belongs in prison. He is a parasite to entire nations. In the New York Times, Singer’s firm is described as a “vulture fund”. Here is another item about him, titled “Vulture Economics”
Elliott has done this in strapped developing countries such as Peru, Argentina, and the Republic of Congo where local press reports have labeled the company a “vulture investor.”
Peru, Argentina, and the Republic of Congo are all the countries we were able to identify as victims of Singer’s infinite greed. The word “vulture” in the name fits well also with Intellectual Vultures (another common nym for Intellectual Ventures, which we covered in the previous post). Intellectual Ventures is picking up patents from dead/dying companies, whereas Singer does that with national debt. He also preys on dying companies as we will show in a moment.
Novell’s Stake
Groklaw cites an article that says “Linux finally breaks even” [at Novell] and then it says: “So is that indicating that Elliott Management has it exactly backwards?”
“So… would that mean all the dirt on Microsoft or whoever else is behind the SCO attack on Linux that likely surfaced in discovery in SCO v. Novell would disappear from the planet?”
–Pamela Jones, GroklawNot really. We’ll get to that later. Linking to this article from a Microsoft booster, Groklaw speculates: “Taking profits… is that all this was about, maybe?”
Groklaw explored the background of Singer and his pseudo-firm (they contribute nothing). It links to many reports about Novell’s results and then comes to the realisation that Singer wants to take Novell private. “Private,” asks Groklaw, “They want to take it private? So… would that mean all the dirt on Microsoft or whoever else is behind the SCO attack on Linux that likely surfaced in discovery in SCO v. Novell would disappear from the planet?”
Nice timing, eh?
Here is the press release, which had Groklaw say: “What a coincidence. Just on the eve of trial in SCO v. Novell. Elliott says they own 8.5% of Novell’s common stock.”
The Inquirer links this disruptive news to the SCO trial as well:
JUST BEFORE the trial opens in the SCO v. Novell lawsuit, investment fund Elliott Associates has offered to buy Novell for $2 billion.
[...]
While Novell seems fairly likely to win, SCO seems to have a sympathetic federal judge on its side and will certainly try to sway the jury. Since the issue is over whether Novell actually owns the Unix copyrights then it could get messy.
For Elliott to benefit from its offer to buy Novell, it might be gambling either that the share price might increase dramatically after the trial is over and the inevitable appeals are decided, or that the shares might take a real battering during the judicial process, making the company relatively cheap to acquire, or both, in which case it might stand to make a lot of money.
Regarding this coverage from Boston, Groklaw says: “If this is a Microsoft play, I would imagine the antitrust complaints will be filling the sky in no time.”
Well, guess what? “Novell, Inc. Investor Alert: Offer under investigation,” says this new press release.
An investigation on behalf of current long term shareholders in Novell, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:NOVL) concerning shareholder claims over potential breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law in connection with an alleged unfair takeover was announced.
It’s not too crazy to assume or at least suspect that Microsoft is playing by proxy here. Microsoft did fund SCO in this way, in order to prolong the lawsuit against Linux. As we showed a few days ago, Microsoft is attacking Google by proxy and no longer hides this, either. “So Microsoft admits it is behind the investigations that have been initiated,” wrote Groklaw. “They make it sound like they just answered some questions, but the truth is, I remember very well Microsoft predicting this was going to happen. It *could* be a coincidence, I suppose. Snort. Anyone can lodge a complaint, and when that happens, it has to be investigated to see if it’s legitimate, I suppose, so anyone who wants to harass a competitor certainly can. By the way, would you like to know why more people use Google? I can tell you why I do. Because their algorithms work better and you can find what you are looking for reliably and quickly, and Google Search worked better FROM THE VERY FIRST DAY it was made available to the public, before there was any effect from any numbers of users.”
Watch Steve Ballmer and his buddies being a bunch hypocrites, suggesting that Google did not play by the rules. Who on Earth do they think they are to make such allegations? Wow. Just wow.
Let’s look at Singer again. Groklaw goes back to older articles from months ago. From December it pulls:
“Now the party is truly over,” Paul Singer, founder of the $16 billion hedge fund, wrote in a confidential letter to investors Oct. 15, obtained by MarketWatch. “The current economic and market environment resembles the one for which Elliott was formed.”
To do so, Mr. Singer is looking to to raise money from investors, the report said. Elliott could round up roughly $2 billion next year by inviting existing investors to commit more money, MarketWatch said, citing one investor who’s adding to positions and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Here is that magic number again:
Elliott, which Singer started in 1977, is looking to raise money to take advantage of the situation. The firm could take in about $2 billion next year by inviting existing investors to commit more money, according to one investor who’s adding to positions and spoke on condition of anonymity.
[...]
Most investment firms shun large, complicated bankruptcies and other complex situations, but Elliott actively seeks them out. As a former corporate-finance attorney and Harvard Law School graduate, Singer seems to relish the chance to control the outcome of investments through litigation.
The current bankruptcy wave should provide lots of complex situations for Elliott to delve into. Moody’s Investors Service counted 250 defaults by companies it rates, through the end of November. That’s already higher than any previous year.
$2 billion? What an interesting number. Coincidence? It was less than a month later (just after calling for raising of money) that Singer put money in Novell.
Elliott began acquiring Novell stock on Jan. 4 and controls about 8.5 percent of the company.
Almost exactly 2 month later he sent a letter offering to buy the whole of Novell, via someone called Cohn (see details in the log below). From late January we have this:
Hedge Funds Sue Porsche for Billion Lost on VW
A group of hedge funds filed a lawsuit on Monday against Porsche SE and two former executives, accusing the German sports car company of lying and illegally manipulating shares of Volkswagen A.G., thus costing the funds more than $1 billion in trading losses.
The funds — Elliott Management, Glenview Capital Management, Glenhill Capital Management and Perry Partners — say Porsche schemed to secretly corner the market in VW’s stock beginning in early 2008 as part of calculated attempt to eventually take over the company.
“Hedge fund Elliott accuses rival of espionage,” said Reuters on February 26th (less than one week before the Novell bid):
Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp sued Cedar Hill Capital Partners LLC on Tuesday, alleging its rival engaged in corporate espionage by misappropriating its proprietary software used for trading.
In February we find this:
Greenlight and Elliott Said to Help Ross Raise $1.1 Billion
[...]
Ross and his partners in the real estate firm Related Companies, Jeff Blau and Bruce Beal Jr., got the funds in a private placement managed by Deutsche Bank, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private.
Here is some more coverage about the bid which came less than a month later:
- Elliott Offers $2 Billion Buyout of Novell
- Hedge Fund Offers $2 Billion For Novell
- Elliott Offers to Acquire Novell
- Update: Hedge fund offers $2B for Novell
- Hedge Fund Offers to Buy Novell
- Elliott Offers $2bn To Buy Novell
- Hedge fund makes bid for Novell
- Elliott Associates Offers to Buy Novell
Elliott said it would pay $5.75 a share in cash for Novell, a price that is 21 percent higher than Novell’s closing stock price on Tuesday. Wall Street’s initial response to the bid, announced after the stock market closed, was to anticipate the possibility of a higher offer
It’s unsolicited, so it’s somewhat hostile. In the logs below we show the connections between Singer and Icahn, who helped Microsoft take over Yahoo! without paying much at all. “Elliott Associates makes $2 billion unsolicited bid for Novell,” says this article.
New York based Elliott Associates manages more than $16 billion of capital for large institutional investors and wealthy individuals, and already holds 8.5 per cent stake in Waltham, Massachusetts-based Novell and has offered to acquire the remaining 91.5 per cent at a premium of 21 per cent over Novell’s Tuesday closing price.
It’s important to remember that Singer only put his tokens in Novell two month ago. The takeover is a recent idea, which dates back to the latest round of SCO-Novell litigation. Here is an interesting new post from Reuters. It’s saying that “Elliot’s Novell buyout [has] approach to making money”.
In fact, Elliott is no stranger to this type of deal, having made similar offers to a handful of small tech companies in the past. Typically, it owns large stakes in the companies it goes after. Last year, it was part of a private equity team that acquired MSC Software for about $360 million.
Elliott also offered to buy Packeteer, another small Nasdaq-listed tech company it owned a large stake in, but it was eventually acquired by Blue Coat Systems in 2008. Another company Elliott went after was Epicor Software, but that bid was unsuccessful.
In 2006, Elliott was part of a group led by tech-focused private equity firm Francisco Partners that took bar-code scanner maker Metrologic private. Two years later, Honeywell acquired Metrologic for $720 million.
Novell and SCO
There is something similar happening in SCO at the moment, amid seemingly-endless litigation. Groklaw has some new articles that include Novell’s objection to Yarro’s proposed loan to SCO. We wrote about it last week. Former SCO executives offer to rescue SCO financially while the company sells whatever it has left, except the lawsuit against Linux. “SCO Proposes Selling its Mobility ‘Business’… to Darl McBride,” reports Groklaw. This is pretty major because SCO fired Darl McBride a while back. Had he not been fired, nothing would be sold to him for a cash infusion to enter SCO’s coffers.
SCO’s Chapter 11 Trustee Edward Cahn not only proposes to let Ralph Yarro “loan” some money to the company at what Novell calls egregiously inequitable terms — inequitable to everyone but Ralph Yarro and the gang, that is — but now he proposes to sell SCO’s “mobility business”, which not long ago SCO said was worth millions, if I recall correctly, to another SCO insider, Darl McBride, for $35,000.
[...]
Update 2: Get a load of the assets going for $35,000. Not only do the copyrights and the source code go to the buyer, but there are 12 servers in the deal, 13 domain names, and 10 developer smartphonees. You find the list in Exhibit C Part 6, which begins with a list of the source code products involved in this transaction, but I notice something else.
This has been covered by the British press [1, 2, 3] and by Slashdot. They all cite Groklaw.
BLUSTERING BAD-BOY SCO is the zombie of the IT industry. The outfit keeps getting pummelled in court but it keeps on coming.
For ages SCO and its lawsuits should have died, serveral times. The company has run out of cash and its claims looks deader than Ramesses III without the bandages.
However, according to Groklaw the outfit’s Chapter 11 Trustee, former federal Judge Edward Cahn, has asked the bankruptcy court to let SCO sell off its “mobility business” for just $35,000.
Groklaw then wrote about “Petrofsky’s objection to SCO’s Yarro ‘loan’ motion”
Novell objected vigorously to SCO’s Motion for PostPetition Financing, the proposed Ralph Yarro “loan” to SCO which also involves granting “security interests and superpriority administrative expense status”, and now there’s a second objection, from Al Petrofsky. This will not surprise us. What would surprise us would be the court granting the motion. To give you a taste of the flavor of this filing, here’s the first paragraph of the introduction:
SCO is running out of money (no money to even pay lawyers) and Novell is blocking a cash infusion to SCO. How timely is that takeover attempt by Singer and his new, unspecified funds that he rallied for?
Novell’s Finances
For completeness, we also wish to remind readers that Novell's financial results actually disappointed investors (Groklaw apparently gets it wrong). Here is a report titled “Novell Sales Fall 6% and Disappoint Investors (NOVL)” (also in Fox and in Trading Markets).
Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) reported fiscal Q1 EPS of $0.07, inline with consensus estimates.
Sales in the quarter fell 6% year-over-year to $202.6 million, and came in short of consensus estimates of $207.6 million.
Here is a video from a financial Web site that covers this and here is the discussion at LWN.
Other coverage of interest:
• Trading Update for Novell Inc
• Stocks Levitating Above Unchanged Mark In Mid-Afternoon Trading – U.S. Commentary
After the markets closed for trading on Thursday, software solutions provider Novell Inc. (NOVL) reported a higher profit in its first quarter, helped by lower operating expenses. Earnings for the quarter were in line with estimates, but revenues fell short. Looking ahead to the second quarter, Novell expects revenues to be flat sequentially.
• Novell Q1 Profit Rises – Quick Facts
Novell, Inc. (NOVL: News ) Thursday reported first quarter GAAP net income of $20 million or $0.06 per share, compared to $11 million or $0.03 per share in the prior year period. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $25 million or $0.07 per share, compared to $24 million or $0.07 per share in last year quarter.
• Novell Bids Farewell to NetWare
Novell NOVL reported mixed first-quarter results and our fair value estimate is unchanged. Total revenue fell 6% over the prior-year quarter, as a steady stream of maintenance revenue offset a 25% decline in software licenses.
• Novell says Linux now breaking even
• Novell profits increase in 2010′s first quarter
• Novell reports increase in profit despite sales decline
• Options Activity for Novell Inc
• Novell Q1 net revenues down 6% to $202m
A lot of people mention Novell’s cash reserves but rarely do they mention Novell's huge debt
Here is Novell India’s Country Head speaking about stimulus:
Sandeep Menon. Country Head, Novell India, said the budget reflects the governments confidence in the Indian economy. “I am particularly please to note that there has been no knee jerk reaction to withdrawing the fiscal stimulus, as I don’t think the time is right yet,” he said.
Last year we wrote about the rumour that Novell was selling at least parts of the company, but Novell probably didn’t see the Singer bid coming. Where did the money come from? To summarise the above, Singer sought $2 billion from investors back in December, then he bought part of Novell’s shares in January. He made the bid ($2 billion) just days before the SCO trial was supposed to resume; the funds he received remain secret because it’s a private firm and if he takes over Novell, then Novell’s secrets (including discovery in the SCO case) will also remain secret, unless they choose another route (which Singer et al can veto). █
IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: March 4th, 2010
| Chips_B_Malroy | Hello, some background on Eliot the hedge fund. Its run by Paul E. Singer http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/us/politics/22singer.html?_r=2&oref=slogin | Mar 04 00:21 |
|---|---|---|
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: The New York Times > Log In .::. Size~: 9.61 KB | Mar 04 00:21 |
| MinceR | schestowitz: the Free State of Indiana? :> | Mar 04 00:21 |
| DaemonFC | if some drunk breaks in, I’d want her to be able to shoot them before they did who knows what | Mar 04 00:21 |
| DaemonFC | MinceR, I’m not going to start something, but you better believe that I’ll end it | Mar 04 00:22 |
| DaemonFC | you better have a death wish if you break into my home | Mar 04 00:22 |
| *vermilionnnn has quit (Quit: Leaving.) | Mar 04 00:22 | |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Elliott Associates, L P is a “private” company, meaning I cannot find out who deposits money there | Mar 04 00:23 |
| DaemonFC | Chips_B_Malroy, I think that’s the point | Mar 04 00:23 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | But that in itself should be a problem for the Fund trying to try over Novell, shouldn’t it? | Mar 04 00:23 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | anti-trust | Mar 04 00:24 |
| DaemonFC | MinceR, If they fire the police and there’s nobody to “protect” me, I’m going to assume that leaves me to protect myself | Mar 04 00:24 |
| DaemonFC | and will do so | Mar 04 00:24 |
| DaemonFC | that’s what they’re saying | Mar 04 00:24 |
| DaemonFC | everyone for themselves | Mar 04 00:24 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Icahn and Elliot both conspired on one takeover | Mar 04 00:24 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | or should I say agreed | Mar 04 00:25 |
| DaemonFC | Chips_B_Malroy, I’d just sit back and see how this pans out | Mar 04 00:25 |
| DaemonFC | it’s a novel concept that Microsoft would like to buy Novell to make it Microsoft Suse | Mar 04 00:25 |
| DaemonFC |  |
Mar 04 00:25 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | also in that link, there is more on just the vulture stuff on the Congo, Singer hit Peru as well | Mar 04 00:25 |
| DaemonFC | Chips_B_Malroy, This is Ballmer drive-by bidding, like when he offered to buy Yahoo just to make their stock go down | Mar 04 00:26 |
| DaemonFC | make them weaker and more pliable | Mar 04 00:26 |
| DaemonFC | now he basically owns Yahoo and it cost nothing | Mar 04 00:26 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | I would bet money, that Gates, MS, the Gates Foundation, Ballmer, Allen, have money behind this fund | Mar 04 00:27 |
| DaemonFC | that’s what I think | Mar 04 00:27 |
| DaemonFC | drive by Ballmer bidding by proxy | Mar 04 00:27 |
| DaemonFC | to soften Novell up | Mar 04 00:27 |
| DaemonFC | I think he’s behind the offer | Mar 04 00:27 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | you maybe right | Mar 04 00:27 |
| *jono (~jono@ubuntu/member/jono) has joined #boycottnovell | Mar 04 00:28 | |
| DaemonFC | he chose an offshore private company so he wouldn’t call attention to himself | Mar 04 00:28 |
| DaemonFC | or have regulators blocking the bid | Mar 04 00:28 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | what is funny, is tht hedge funds have been shrinking the last couple of years, and only Elliot and a very few others grew, Elliot grew by quite a bit actually | Mar 04 00:29 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Elliot is actually two funds, one is international | Mar 04 00:30 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | but both founded and controlled by Paul E. Singer, who started out as a lawyer | Mar 04 00:30 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Harvard lawyer I think | Mar 04 00:30 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[schestowitz] These guys use an ancient #KDE for their “new” OS. http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-03-01/north-korea-cyber-weapon.html | Mar 04 00:30 | |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: North Korea’s “secret cyber-weapon”: brand new Red Star OS – RT Top Stories .::. Size~: 59.62 KB | Mar 04 00:30 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | There is a lot of dirt on Singer in that NY Times article | Mar 04 00:31 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | he is a big republican | Mar 04 00:31 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | not that this is bad by itself | Mar 04 00:31 |
| schestowitz | Any more info? | Mar 04 00:33 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | If Novell still has 1 billion dollar cash reserveres (what I seen in a link) and the offer was for $2 billion, its really only an 1 billion offer, isn’t it? | Mar 04 00:34 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | There is lots, actually | Mar 04 00:34 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | but mostly only a small fact here and there | Mar 04 00:34 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | What I really was searching for was a link between Singer and MS/Gates | Mar 04 00:35 |
| schestowitz | What does Groklaw say? | Mar 04 00:35 |
| schestowitz | It put many links there, I haven’t checked those yet | Mar 04 00:35 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | not sure | Mar 04 00:37 |
| *darkelite (adeff40068@bgp4.us) has joined #boycottnovell | Mar 04 00:37 | |
| *darkelite (adeff40068@bgp4.us) has left #boycottnovell | Mar 04 00:38 | |
| schestowitz | Let me check now… | Mar 04 00:38 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | I will keep looking for a link online | Mar 04 00:39 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Paul_E._Singer | Mar 04 00:39 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Paul E. Singer – SourceWatch .::. Size~: 29.87 KB | Mar 04 00:39 |
| schestowitz | Interesting | Mar 04 00:42 |
| schestowitz | It seems like SCO suitors | Mar 04 00:42 |
| schestowitz | Who were close to gates | Mar 04 00:42 |
| schestowitz | Norris, York, etc. | Mar 04 00:42 |
| schestowitz | Bunch of private shells | Mar 04 00:42 |
| DaemonFC | Chuck Norris Venture Capital | Mar 04 00:43 |
| DaemonFC | ahhh, yes | Mar 04 00:43 |
| *Ender2070 (~Ender2070@bas1-toronto12-1128666738.dsl.bell.ca) has joined #boycottnovell | Mar 04 00:43 | |
| DaemonFC | I hear they negotiate with roundhouse kicks | Mar 04 00:43 |
| DaemonFC |  |
Mar 04 00:43 |
| schestowitz | SHut yo mouth or Norris will shoot ya! | Mar 04 00:44 |
| DaemonFC | he doesn’t do that | Mar 04 00:44 |
| DaemonFC | he roundhouse kicks | Mar 04 00:44 |
| DaemonFC | my gun is useless in that situation | Mar 04 00:44 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | I say it might fail anti-trust in EU | Mar 04 00:45 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | but its a rubber stamp here in USA | Mar 04 00:45 |
| *bruce89 (~bruce89@78.33.73.43) has joined #boycottnovell | Mar 04 00:45 | |
| schestowitz | How so? | Mar 04 00:46 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | picture, if you need one: http://hattie.typepad.com/hatties_web/2007/11/paul-e-singer.html | Mar 04 00:47 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Hattie’s Web: Paul E. Singer .::. Size~: 44.09 KB | Mar 04 00:47 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/21/sco-infighting-and-infiltrations/ | Mar 04 00:48 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Just in Time: SCO Finds Another Cash Injection Proposal& from Former SCO Chairman | Boycott Novell .::. Size~: 108.35 KB | Mar 04 00:48 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | http://dailynews1001.blogspot.com/2010/03/elliott-offers-2-billion-buyout-of.html “In a letter to Novell’s board, Elliott portfolio manager Jesse Cohn said the offer, net of about $1 billion in cash in the company, implies a $1 billion enterprise value, a 49 percent premium to the company’s current enterprise value.” | Mar 04 00:50 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: DailyNews1001.Blogspot.Com: Elliott Offers $2 Billion Buyout of Novell .::. Size~: 154.83 KB | Mar 04 00:50 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | so Novell still has 1 billion in cash, if I read this right, and the offer really is only for another billion | Mar 04 00:51 |
| schestowitz | Yes | Mar 04 00:51 |
| schestowitz | But Novell also has debt | Mar 04 00:51 |
| schestowitz | About half a billion | Mar 04 00:51 |
| schestowitz | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/01/sco_mcbride_to_buy_mobile_assets/ | Mar 04 00:51 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: SCO’s Linux litigation architect angles for SCO’s mobile biz • The Register .::. Size~: 24.51 KB | Mar 04 00:51 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | So maybe Novell only has enough cash to last a couple of quarters then, without going into debt? | Mar 04 00:54 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Horseplan has not been good for Novell | Mar 04 00:54 |
| schestowitz | Horseplan? | Mar 04 00:54 |
| schestowitz | Trojan? | Mar 04 00:55 |
| MinceR | hovsepian | Mar 04 00:55 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | should have been shown the door long ago | Mar 04 00:55 |
| schestowitz | Yes | Mar 04 00:55 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | I like the Horseplan name better | Mar 04 00:56 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[schestowitz] #Dell #Fail http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/03/dell_mistakenly_charges_100k_for_linux_netbook.html | Mar 04 00:56 | |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Dell Mistakenly Charges $100k For Linux Netbook .::. Size~: 30.68 KB | Mar 04 00:56 |
| DaemonFC | well, they have a lot of patents | Mar 04 00:57 |
| DaemonFC | putting their future in question means “Who gets the patents?” | Mar 04 00:58 |
| DaemonFC | someone will get them, even in a bankruptcy sale | Mar 04 00:58 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | check out this site Roy, its a resource: http://www.nndb.com/org/774/000167273/ | Mar 04 00:59 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Bluegrass Committee .::. Size~: 14.23 KB | Mar 04 00:59 |
| schestowitz | I sometimes think of these people in Peru | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | Some are not literate | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | And some jerk in New York and ripping them off even more | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | Pretending to help | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | If only they knew how it works | Mar 04 01:01 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | they exploit the poor | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | This Singer guy belongs in prison | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | He seems to use proxies | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | Like the one in an Island for a Congo loan | Mar 04 01:01 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: yes, exploit the poor to get even more rich from millions of farmers | Mar 04 01:02 |
| schestowitz | Icahn seems like peanuts next to this person | Mar 04 01:02 |
| schestowitz | No wonder he’s keeping so discreet | Mar 04 01:02 |
| schestowitz | Voting Republicans | Mar 04 01:02 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | not all republicans are bad | Mar 04 01:02 |
| schestowitz | To turn a blind eye with “free market” BS while he commit white-collar crimes | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: neo-cons | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz |  | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | [00:56] <Chips_B_Malroy> I like the Horseplan name better | Mar 04 01:03 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | they use the law, to their own means | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | He’s from IBM | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Like Jaffe | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | But Jaffe left | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Levy too | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Before the bid | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | JIT | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Also Zonker and Friedman | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: yes, he’s a lawyer | Mar 04 01:03 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Eric Scmidt, who runs Google, used to run Novell? | Mar 04 01:03 |
| schestowitz | Yes | Mar 04 01:04 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | wonder if the link I should be using for Singer, since he went to Harvard, is Gates Senior instead? | Mar 04 01:04 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | They probably smart enough so no real link can be established | Mar 04 01:05 |
| schestowitz | Check their ages | Mar 04 01:06 |
| schestowitz | I think Gates Sr. is older | Mar 04 01:06 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | 63 I think | Mar 04 01:06 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | more Bill age | Mar 04 01:06 |
| schestowitz | Maybe they went to the same class or something | Mar 04 01:06 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | could be | Mar 04 01:06 |
| schestowitz | But Microsoft has other execs | Mar 04 01:06 |
| schestowitz | No Harvard grads I can think of | Mar 04 01:06 |
| schestowitz | Not even BillG | Mar 04 01:07 |
| schestowitz | He dropped out | Mar 04 01:07 |
| tessier | http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/04/201003040036.asp | Mar 04 01:07 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Billy G, wasn’t it Harvard he dropped out? and later got an honorary? | Mar 04 01:07 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: The Korea Herald : The Nation’s No.1 English Newspaper .::. Size~: 6.37 KB | Mar 04 01:07 |
| DaemonFC | schestowitz, he has an honorary degree from Harvard | Mar 04 01:07 |
| MinceR | so harvard sucks up to criminals too | Mar 04 01:09 |
| DaemonFC | http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/032207-bill-gates-to-finally-receive.html | Mar 04 01:09 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Bill Gates to finally receive his Harvard degree .::. Size~: 85.17 KB | Mar 04 01:09 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | DaemonFC, you see some of the candidates that Singer gave money to? | Mar 04 01:09 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: well, duh. I’ve fallen behind in Linux news | Mar 04 01:09 |
| schestowitz | brb | Mar 04 01:09 |
| schestowitz | DaemonFC: I knew that | Mar 04 01:09 |
| schestowitz | It doesn’t count | Mar 04 01:09 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | sorry, I distract with this | Mar 04 01:09 |
| MinceR | not just corvinus university of budapest does | Mar 04 01:09 |
| schestowitz | Maybe he committed crimes for a few decades, so he got the diploma | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | It shows he managed to hack the system | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | That grants him good honours | Mar 04 01:10 |
| DaemonFC | it’s a harvard degree | Mar 04 01:10 |
| MinceR | this is a new sense of “honor” to me | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | Some lawyers become patent trolls | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | Like Ray iNiro | Mar 04 01:10 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | its all about money | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | *Niro | Mar 04 01:10 |
| MinceR | i thought harvard was a reputable university | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: at someone’s expense | Mar 04 01:10 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: so was Stalin | Mar 04 01:11 |
| schestowitz | Reputable | Mar 04 01:11 |
| schestowitz | He had statues | Mar 04 01:11 |
| MinceR | lol | Mar 04 01:11 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | its seems Harvard is in busness of turning out some real heartless lawyers | Mar 04 01:11 |
| MinceR | if only they were heartless. | Mar 04 01:12 |
| MinceR | then their cells would quickly die of hypoxia. | Mar 04 01:12 |
| DaemonFC | schestowitz, Just ask MinceR what the Hungarians did to his statues | Mar 04 01:13 |
| DaemonFC | hint “He’s a little shorter than he used to be” | Mar 04 01:13 |
| MinceR | :> | Mar 04 01:13 |
| DaemonFC | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stalin%27s_Boots.jpg | Mar 04 01:13 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: File:Stalin’s Boots.jpg – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .::. Size~: 37.95 KB | Mar 04 01:14 |
| MinceR | sadly they didn’t do that to the soviet monument on Kossuth square | Mar 04 01:14 |
| DaemonFC | MinceR, is it still there? | Mar 04 01:14 |
| MinceR | and our corrupt russianophile government insists on protecting it | Mar 04 01:14 |
| DaemonFC | surely not | Mar 04 01:14 |
| MinceR | it’s still there | Mar 04 01:14 |
| MinceR | they say it’s protected by an agreement with the russians | Mar 04 01:14 |
| DaemonFC | defaced at least? | Mar 04 01:14 |
| MinceR | i say fuck the russians | Mar 04 01:14 |
| MinceR | there were defacements, but it was restored | Mar 04 01:14 |
| DaemonFC | no….. | Mar 04 01:14 |
| DaemonFC | damn | Mar 04 01:14 |
| DaemonFC | blow it up? | Mar 04 01:15 |
| MinceR | these spineless criminals don’t mind at all that we have a memorial that mentions the occupation by russians as “liberation” | Mar 04 01:15 |
| *qu1j0t3 (~FurnaceBo@BAS1-TORONTO10-1279748949.dsl.bell.ca) has joined #boycottnovell | Mar 04 01:15 | |
| MinceR | it should be blown up | Mar 04 01:15 |
| MinceR | preferably with our politicians neatly tied to it | Mar 04 01:15 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | so here is a lawyer trying to buy Novell with the hedge fund that he controls, which the investors are private. Should the question be, what does Novell have, or could have after the SCO trial, that certain companies, or patent trolls, would want? | Mar 04 01:15 |
| DaemonFC | MinceR, That’s a crime against the citizens that suffered under that regime and died trying to free themselves of it. | Mar 04 01:16 |
| DaemonFC | It should be bulldozed | Mar 04 01:16 |
| MinceR | it is | Mar 04 01:16 |
| MinceR | but you can see their agenda pretty clearly | Mar 04 01:16 |
| DaemonFC | preserving it should not be tolerated | Mar 04 01:16 |
| DaemonFC | storm the fucking thing and tear it apart before they can disperse you | Mar 04 01:17 |
| DaemonFC | don’t give them a choice | Mar 04 01:17 |
| sebsebseb | DaemonFC: jono By the way here’s an interview with one of the Ubuntu ops http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1988 | Mar 04 01:17 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Interview With Melissa | The Fridge .::. Size~: 12.48 KB | Mar 04 01:17 |
| MinceR | they effect censorship on talk about the holocaust but protect a monument that calls the russian occupation “liberation” | Mar 04 01:17 |
| MinceR | and they go around calling themselves democrats | Mar 04 01:17 |
| DaemonFC | MinceR, I noticed the Communists anywhere never invade or mass murder | Mar 04 01:18 |
| DaemonFC | it’s always “liberate” | Mar 04 01:18 |
| DaemonFC | liberate them from the way of life they previously enjoyed? | Mar 04 01:18 |
| DaemonFC | liberate them from their life? | Mar 04 01:18 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: oh you are in here, go on the above link I guess | Mar 04 01:18 |
| MinceR | liberate them from the previous oppressors… only to take over | Mar 04 01:18 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: the Democrats liberate them from the Democrats | Mar 04 01:19 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: the Democrats liberate them from the Democrats | Mar 04 01:19 |
| DaemonFC | jono, That’s terribly unprofessional and unsporting | Mar 04 01:19 |
| MinceR | they say the Democrats liberated us from the Nazis | Mar 04 01:19 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: the Democrats liberate them from the Rpublicans | Mar 04 01:19 |
| DaemonFC | you do know that? | Mar 04 01:19 |
| jono | DaemonFC, what is? | Mar 04 01:19 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: the Republicans liberate them from the Democrats | Mar 04 01:19 |
| schestowitz | Love choice | Mar 04 01:19 |
| DaemonFC | jono, http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1988 | Mar 04 01:19 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Interview With Melissa | The Fridge .::. Size~: 12.48 KB | Mar 04 01:20 |
| MinceR | one dictatorship after the other, with different logos | Mar 04 01:20 |
| jono | DaemonFC, what about it | Mar 04 01:20 |
| MinceR | and different affiliations | Mar 04 01:20 |
| schestowitz | Blackwater liberated Iraq from Saddam | Mar 04 01:20 |
| DaemonFC | jono, Just poor taste is all. Those CDs could have helped people. | Mar 04 01:20 |
| jono | DaemonFC, lol, I didnt do it | Mar 04 01:21 |
| jono |  |
Mar 04 01:21 |
| schestowitz | It looks like they are eaten, DaemonFC | Mar 04 01:21 |
| sebsebseb | DaemonFC: CD’s???? | Mar 04 01:21 |
| bruce89 | I think it’s called sarcasm | Mar 04 01:21 |
| DaemonFC | friendly competition, jono | Mar 04 01:21 |
| DaemonFC | |
Mar 04 01:21 |
| jono | |
Mar 04 01:21 |
| DaemonFC | FRIENDLY | Mar 04 01:21 |
| bruce89 | or something along those lines | Mar 04 01:21 |
| DaemonFC | means don’t steal |
Mar 04 01:21 |
| jono | DaemonFC, appreciate the advice | Mar 04 01:21 |
| DaemonFC | ceiling cat is watching you | Mar 04 01:21 |
| jono | lol | Mar 04 01:21 |
| schestowitz | “Ubuntu” means “CD-ROMs for others” | Mar 04 01:22 |
| MinceR | what’s with the stealing CDs? | Mar 04 01:22 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: remember that roved guy? | Mar 04 01:22 |
| bruce89 | no | Mar 04 01:22 |
| MinceR | the article doesn’t say anything about it | Mar 04 01:22 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: well anyway he has meet elky/melissa at the Sydney Lug a few times, and he said he took the photo in the thing I linked to | Mar 04 01:22 |
| bruce89 | I see | Mar 04 01:23 |
| DaemonFC | schestowitz, Have you read that lolcat bible? | Mar 04 01:23 |
| DaemonFC | It’s actually kind of funny | Mar 04 01:23 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: so I guess he has mett her more than a few times | Mar 04 01:24 |
| bruce89 | DaemonFC: “At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz. (Genesis 1, 3)” and so on? | Mar 04 01:24 |
| schestowitz | DaemonFC: no | Mar 04 01:24 |
| DaemonFC | bruce89, Leviticus chapter 18 | Mar 04 01:24 |
| sebsebseb | DaemonFC: so I wasn’t following, why exactly don’t you like that link | Mar 04 01:25 |
| sebsebseb | ? | Mar 04 01:25 |
| DaemonFC | read that and lol | Mar 04 01:25 |
| DaemonFC | sebsebseb, Snatching Fedora CDs | Mar 04 01:25 |
| schestowitz | take your lol and shove it up your cat | Mar 04 01:25 |
| *jono has quit (Quit: Ex-Chat) | Mar 04 01:25 | |
| DaemonFC | sebsebseb, http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Leviticus_18 | Mar 04 01:25 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Leviticus 18 – LOLCat Bible Translation Project .::. Size~: 21.74 KB | Mar 04 01:25 |
| sebsebseb | DaemonFC: snatching Fedora CD’s what? also now your linking to some sort of werid page or something, why? | Mar 04 01:26 |
| DaemonFC | Leviticus 18 | Mar 04 01:26 |
| MinceR | lol, “beej” | Mar 04 01:26 |
| DaemonFC | hilarious either way, but moreso in lolcat | Mar 04 01:26 |
| DaemonFC | MinceR agrees I think |
Mar 04 01:27 |
| DaemonFC | 16 No can has teh secks wif ur broes hoes. Dats ur bro d00d! | Mar 04 01:27 |
| DaemonFC |  |
Mar 04 01:27 |
| MinceR | yhwh seemed to be kind of obsessed with repeating his title | Mar 04 01:27 |
| MinceR | even in the original | Mar 04 01:27 |
| MinceR | confidence issues? | Mar 04 01:28 |
| DaemonFC | huh? | Mar 04 01:28 |
| MinceR | “i am the lord” over and over | Mar 04 01:28 |
| DaemonFC | oh right | Mar 04 01:28 |
| DaemonFC | all throughout the bible | Mar 04 01:28 |
| DaemonFC | 17 No can has gangbang wif grandma and granddawter. Has to big age difrns. Srsly. | Mar 04 01:28 |
| MinceR | lol | Mar 04 01:28 |
| DaemonFC | 19 No can get ur harbl wetted when ur hoes has teh bluds in hur harbl. | Mar 04 01:29 |
| DaemonFC | funniest chapter in the lolcat bible | Mar 04 01:29 |
| MinceR | |
Mar 04 01:29 |
| DaemonFC | 22 No can has ghey… srsly. srry, but no. | Mar 04 01:30 |
| DaemonFC | oh noez! | Mar 04 01:30 |
| MinceR | pwnt | Mar 04 01:30 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | http://www.thealphaninja.com/2010/03/novell-up-30-after-hours-on-buyout.html | Mar 04 01:30 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: AlphaNinja: Novell up 30% after hours, on buyout offer from Elliott International (NOVL) .::. Size~: 84.63 KB | Mar 04 01:30 |
| DaemonFC | don’t get why that makes them more valuable? | Mar 04 01:31 |
| DaemonFC | hmmmm | Mar 04 01:31 |
| MinceR | because they expect Elliott to pay more than novell is worth | Mar 04 01:31 |
| schestowitz | http://mac.blorge.com/2010/03/02/the-main-thing-is-not-to-install-flash-says-hacker-miller/ | Mar 04 01:31 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: The main thing is not to install Flash, says hacker Miller – MAC.BLORGE .::. Size~: 39.29 KB | Mar 04 01:31 |
| schestowitz | MinceR: Ellio^H^H^H^H^H^HSinger | Mar 04 01:31 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Since Elliot already owns 8.5% of Novell, a 30% increase is almost insider trading | Mar 04 01:32 |
| schestowitz | You mean if they fake desire? | Mar 04 01:32 |
| MinceR | do you want to keep your mac secure? upgrade to gnu/linux. | Mar 04 01:32 |
| schestowitz | They could have a mate do that | Mar 04 01:32 |
| schestowitz | That’s how it’s done, Chips_B_Malroy | Mar 04 01:32 |
| schestowitz | They put a mate in to reduce suspicion | Mar 04 01:32 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | quote from that link: ” Shares of enterprise software concern Novell (NOVL) are trading up sharply after hours, after multi-strategy Elliott International put out an offer to acquire the entire company for $5.75 per share. Elliott will now reap an instant windfall from the shares they’ve recently purchased between 4.30 and 4.75 in recent months.” | Mar 04 01:32 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | yes | Mar 04 01:32 |
| schestowitz | Then they make the announcement and have the friend dump | Mar 04 01:33 |
| bruce89 | one good thing to come of the whole iPhone thing is flash being not liked so much | Mar 04 01:33 |
| schestowitz | The stock market is more corrupt than casinos | Mar 04 01:33 |
| schestowitz | Some people had to wait till the mltdown to realise | Mar 04 01:33 |
| schestowitz | They put their whole savings/pensions/cash in there | Mar 04 01:33 |
| schestowitz | And got robbed | Mar 04 01:33 |
| schestowitz | Banks then looted what’s left in the form of deficit | Mar 04 01:33 |
| schestowitz | I.e. the kids and grandkids will pat bankers tomorrow for what they pocket _today_ | Mar 04 01:34 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | yes | Mar 04 01:34 |
| schestowitz | Bonuses. Yay !! |
Mar 04 01:34 |
| MinceR | bruce89: isn’t it balanced by lock-in and DRM being liked more? | Mar 04 01:34 |
| schestowitz | GS – 23 billion on bonuses this year | Mar 04 01:34 |
| schestowitz | Reward for bankrupting Greece? |
Mar 04 01:34 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Will Greece drag down the whole EU? | Mar 04 01:35 |
| schestowitz | It’s sad that the world’s biggest criminals walk away free | Mar 04 01:35 |
| schestowitz | Some are even admired as national heroes | Mar 04 01:35 |
| schestowitz | Like Trump | Mar 04 01:35 |
| bruce89 | MinceR: of course | Mar 04 01:35 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Then there’s Spain and Britian, neither one of them is in great shape either | Mar 04 01:35 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: well, we have to bail them out | Mar 04 01:35 |
| schestowitz | Some say that GS may have ‘pulled a Greece’ in the UK | Mar 04 01:35 |
| schestowitz | But I never saw much evidence, yet | Mar 04 01:36 |
| bruce89 | Britain’s currency doesn’t help | Mar 04 01:36 |
| schestowitz | http://www.hpcwire.com/features/Fixstars-Launches-Linux-for-CUDA-86044987.html | Mar 04 01:36 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: HPCwire: Fixstars Launches Linux for CUDA .::. Size~: 97.91 KB | Mar 04 01:36 |
| schestowitz | I have a quick question | Mar 04 01:37 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | what is happening in Britian, is starting to happen here in the USA. In that the second round of layoffs are now starting to happen at the State level, California is of course first. | Mar 04 01:37 |
| schestowitz | Now that Singer wants to conquer Novell… | Mar 04 01:37 |
| schestowitz | Should we call for Singer’s imprisonment? | Mar 04 01:37 |
| schestowitz | And at least exposed his crimes against socity? | Mar 04 01:37 |
| schestowitz | Like we did Monsanto? | Mar 04 01:37 |
| schestowitz | Or would that be a distraction? | Mar 04 01:38 |
| cubezzz | what bad stuff did Trump do? | Mar 04 01:38 |
| schestowitz | Google it | Mar 04 01:38 |
| MinceR | gn | Mar 04 01:38 |
| schestowitz | Also Buffet | Mar 04 01:38 |
| DaemonFC | Chips_B_Malroy, Califnoria is a bunch of money wasting uber-liberals | Mar 04 01:38 |
| schestowitz | The rich people have a great crime behind their great wealth | Mar 04 01:38 |
| schestowitz | Otherwise they don’t get their | Mar 04 01:38 |
| schestowitz | *there | Mar 04 01:38 |
| DaemonFC | they could tax 100% and not balance the budget | Mar 04 01:38 |
| schestowitz | *Buffett | Mar 04 01:38 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Its obvious that Icahn was a Ballmer/Gates puppet. Question is, is Singer? | Mar 04 01:39 |
| schestowitz | http://www.financierworldwide.com/article.php?id=6286 | Mar 04 01:39 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Elliott offers $2bn to buy Novell .::. Size~: 21.77 KB | Mar 04 01:39 |
| schestowitz | Check out publication name | Mar 04 01:39 |
| schestowitz | That word make me hurl | Mar 04 01:39 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: Icahn spoke to them | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | CNET reported it | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | Leaves little room for questions | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | BN has an overview for the whole thing | Mar 04 01:40 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Singer would not have a problem using Novell to sue others, like SCO is doing. But then, it could be he just will cut it back, and run the profitable part. | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | But for the media, it’s a quiet coup and story they won’t tell | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | Crime makes IT too go round sometimes | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | See SCO case foir details | Mar 04 01:40 |
| schestowitz | Almost 7 years now | Mar 04 01:40 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | obsence amount of time for a bankrupcy, 7 years SCO | Mar 04 01:41 |
| schestowitz | “New York based Elliott Associates manages more than $16 billion of capital for large institutional investors and wealthy individuals, and already holds 8.5 per cent stake in Waltham, Massachusetts-based Novell and has offered to acquire the remaining 91.5 per cent at a premium of 21 per cent over Novell’s Tuesday closing price.” | Mar 04 01:42 |
| schestowitz | http://www.domain-b.com/infotech/itnews/20100303_elliott_associates.html | Mar 04 01:42 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: domain-b.com : Elliott Associates makes $2 billion unsolicited bid for Novell .::. Size~: 11.2 KB | Mar 04 01:42 |
| schestowitz | It used to have about $5 a few years ago | Mar 04 01:42 |
| schestowitz | It sure attracts a lot of interest | Mar 04 01:42 |
| schestowitz | Like another IV | Mar 04 01:42 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Horseplan ran it into the ground | Mar 04 01:42 |
| schestowitz | http://techdirt.com/articles/20100301/0202228334.shtml http://www.law.com/jsp/PubArticle.jsp?id=1202444627585 | Mar 04 01:43 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Intellectual Ventures Lending Its Patents To Members To Sue Others | Techdirt .::. Size~: 54.83 KB | Mar 04 01:43 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Law.com – Verizon Case Marks a First for Patent Holder .::. Size~: 14.29 KB | Mar 04 01:43 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Again a quote from the last link I posted: ” It will be interesting to see what happens here. Elliott International has been a shareholder for literally days, something that won’t exactly win them favor with management. The letter they shared today does not cite a commitment to finance this deal, and they are quite clear about this being a very “casual” buyout offer. I’m left to wonder if they’re actually serious ab | Mar 04 01:47 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | ampaign to draw attention to management’s under-utilization of this company’s profit potential. The best outcome for Elliott – in my view – is interest from other parties or a big new cost-cutting commitment from management.” | Mar 04 01:48 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Maybe Miguel needs to look eslewhere for a job | Mar 04 01:50 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | cost cutting | Mar 04 01:51 |
| schestowitz | http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1594527/staff-cuts-ibm-alarm-union | Mar 04 02:00 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Staff cuts at ibm alarm union – The Inquirer .::. Size~: 57.45 KB | Mar 04 02:00 |
| schestowitz | http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/03/analysis-problems-with-enron-jury/ | Mar 04 02:05 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: SCOTUSblog » Analysis: Problems with Enron jury .::. Size~: 36.59 KB | Mar 04 02:05 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: I’m checking what PJ makes of it… | Mar 04 02:06 |
| schestowitz | In any case, I’ll post tomorrow | Mar 04 02:07 |
| sebsebseb | Spanish police arrest masterminds of ‘massive’ botnet http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8547453.stm | Mar 04 02:07 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: BBC NEWS | News Front Page .::. Size~: 86.94 KB | Mar 04 02:07 |
| schestowitz | I’ve asked another person who’s close to NOVL | Mar 04 02:07 |
| schestowitz | sebsebseb: they arrested Ballmer?? | Mar 04 02:07 |
| schestowitz | They need to get to the root of the problem | Mar 04 02:07 |
| schestowitz | “[PJ: What a coincidence. Just on the eve of trial in SCO v. Novell. Elliott says they own 8.5% of Novell's common stock.]“ | Mar 04 02:09 |
| schestowitz | Same in the INQ | Mar 04 02:09 |
| schestowitz | http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1594559/elliott-novell-private | Mar 04 02:10 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Elliott wants to take novell private - The Inquirer .::. Size~: 54.98 KB | Mar 04 02:10 |
| schestowitz | “JUST BEFORE the trial opens in the SCO v. Novell lawsuit, investment fund Elliott Associates has offered to buy Novell for $2 billion.” | Mar 04 02:10 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | yes, the timing is perfect | Mar 04 02:11 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: that article doesn’t mention that it’s Windows computers that get taken over, also the image they used, I think I seen that before in some other BBC botnet article | Mar 04 02:11 |
| schestowitz | ‘To do so, Mr. Singer is looking to to raise money from investors, the report said. Elliott could round up roughly $2 billion next year by inviting existing investors to commit more money, MarketWatch said, citing one investor who’s adding to positions and spoke on condition of anonymity.’ | Mar 04 02:11 |
| schestowitz | http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/elliott-eyes-assets-in-distress-report-says/ | Mar 04 02:12 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Error processing the URL: .::. Size~: 0 KB | Mar 04 02:12 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: however it seems that important companies as well as banks, have computers that have come part of the botnet, or did I read that wrong? | Mar 04 02:12 |
| schestowitz | ‘“Now the party is truly over,” Paul Singer, founder of the $16 billion hedge fund, wrote in a confidential letter to investors Oct. 15, obtained by MarketWatch. “The current economic and market environment resembles the one for which Elliott was formed.” ‘ | Mar 04 02:12 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: “It included PCs inside more than half of Fortune 1000 companies and more than 40 major banks, investigators said.” | Mar 04 02:13 |
| schestowitz | Hedge fund giant Elliott ramps up in wake of credit ‘party’ | Mar 04 02:13 |
| schestowitz | http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hegde-fund-giant-elliott-ramps-up-after-credit-woe-2009-12-09?reflink=MW_news_stmp | Mar 04 02:13 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Giant Elliott ramps up after credit crisis – MarketWatch .::. Size~: 86.38 KB | Mar 04 02:13 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | would those 8.5% of the stocks that Elliot has, be voting shares? | Mar 04 02:13 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | would guess yes | Mar 04 02:13 |
| cubezzz | found some not-so-good info on Trump | Mar 04 02:14 |
| cubezzz | http://www.arystoteles.pl/nmf/acn-scam.php | Mar 04 02:14 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: it’s a joke really, computers out there that are meant to be important/special and since they run Windows, and I guess have people who don’t know how to keep it secure enough after all, well those computers become part of a botnet | Mar 04 02:14 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Trump is small change | Mar 04 02:14 |
| cubezzz | he gets a lot of publicity though | Mar 04 02:15 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: oh if only most computer users knew, about botnets, and that they tend to be Windows computers the infected ones | Mar 04 02:15 |
| bruce89 | there would be lot more macs around in that case | Mar 04 02:16 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: Macs can become part of a botnet as well | Mar 04 02:16 |
| sebsebseb | I think that’s happended before even | Mar 04 02:16 |
| bruce89 | anything theoretically can | Mar 04 02:16 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: well yeah | Mar 04 02:16 |
| sebsebseb | except for really really basic OS’s for example I guess | Mar 04 02:16 |
| bruce89 | although Atari STs are probably safe | Mar 04 02:17 |
| schestowitz | http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/hedge-funds-sue-porsche-for-1-billion-lost-on-vw/ | Mar 04 02:17 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Error processing the URL: .::. Size~: 0 KB | Mar 04 02:17 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: Atari STs ??? | Mar 04 02:17 |
| sebsebseb | bruce89: There would be much more Desktop Linux around, if all of a sudden most computer users, stopped being so ignorant. | Mar 04 02:18 |
| cubezzz | duh duh DUH | Mar 04 02:19 |
| schestowitz | “[PJ: Private? They want to take it private? So... would that mean all the dirt on Microsoft or whoever else is behind the SCO attack on Linux that likely surfaced in discovery in SCO v. Novell would disappear from the planet?] -” | Mar 04 02:20 |
| schestowitz | This is like organised crime AFAICT | Mar 04 02:20 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | or someone else could use the Unix copyrites to sue IBM and Linux | Mar 04 02:21 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | if Novell wins | Mar 04 02:21 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | or sue MS | Mar 04 02:21 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | but mostly the money behind this is probably MS money | Mar 04 02:21 |
| cubezzz | business isn’t pretty | Mar 04 02:21 |
| cubezzz | it would be nice if everyone played fair | Mar 04 02:22 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Sun/Oracle could also be in the crosshairs | Mar 04 02:22 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | for open sourcing Solarous, and paying SCO to do it. | Mar 04 02:23 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Although, I think Sun would win that court case | Mar 04 02:23 |
| schestowitz | “Elliott began acquiring Novell stock on Jan. 4 and controls about 8.5 percent of the company. - AP on Google” | Mar 04 02:26 |
| schestowitz | bingo | Mar 04 02:26 |
| schestowitz | Cahn… | Mar 04 02:27 |
| schestowitz | For SCO | Mar 04 02:27 |
| schestowitz | Cohn for Elliot | Mar 04 02:27 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Suse needs to folk | Mar 04 02:28 |
| schestowitz | http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2010/tc20100228_486251.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories | Mar 04 02:31 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Fighting a Flood of Counterfeit Tech Products – BusinessWeek .::. Size~: 53.33 KB | Mar 04 02:31 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: yes | Mar 04 02:31 |
| schestowitz | Some read BN | Mar 04 02:31 |
| schestowitz | They’ll get the message about Novell one day | Mar 04 02:32 |
| -BNi/#boycottnovell-[sagarun/@sagarun] Just checked my weight, it is 66.6 – beast of the evil |
Mar 04 02:32 | |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Addresses for Elliot and Icahn are very close togeather on 5th Ave | Mar 04 02:33 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Elliot: 712 5th Ave Fl 36 Icahn Associates (Carl Icann): 767 Fifth Ave Suite 4700 | Mar 04 02:35 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: something about the buttons on the left in the new theme for 10.04 | Mar 04 02:35 |
| sebsebseb | schestowitz: yeah they are trying to copy OS X a bit here and there it seems | Mar 04 02:35 |
| sebsebseb | DaemonFC hi ^^^^^ | Mar 04 02:35 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | of course, that could just be coinincedence | Mar 04 02:35 |
| sebsebseb | in another channel I got someone that wants me to give proper reasons for why the buttons should be on the right | Mar 04 02:36 |
| sebsebseb | telling them that it should be on the right since that’s how Windows does it, doesn’t seem to be enough for this person | Mar 04 02:36 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] My brother has been working on Linux/mac68k port. He just booted 2.6.31 on a IIfx – 20 year old machine. #linux #kernel #mac #m68k #geek | Mar 04 02:36 | |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] Hm, why can’t I block ‘protected’ ppl? | Mar 04 02:37 | |
| bruce89 | both are equally valid, but right seems to be more normal | Mar 04 02:38 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] RT @JesusChristHere @DesseMundo There’s only 1 god Lord Jesus Christ He ws never caught lip-synching /gawd, what kind of twits have we here | Mar 04 02:41 | |
| -BNi/#boycottnovell-[sagarun/@sagarun] just checked my weight it is 66.6 – weight of the evil |
Mar 04 02:42 | |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] For those keeping score a #Mac IIfx does ~ 9.75 #BogoMips. An SE/030 does about 3.81 (friend tested in 2003). #linux #benchmarks | Mar 04 02:44 | |
| *jweyrich (~none@201-15-164-18.nhoce701.dsl.brasiltelecom.net.br) has joined #boycottnovell | Mar 04 02:45 | |
| schestowitz | http://www.prlog.org/10556630-novell-inc-investor-alert-offer-under-investigation.html | Mar 04 02:45 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Novell, Inc. Investor Alert: Offer under investigation .::. Size~: 32.99 KB | Mar 04 02:45 |
| schestowitz | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33802.html | Mar 04 02:47 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Book: HP eyed Fiorina as dad ruled on case - Josh Gerstein – POLITICO.com .::. Size~: 60.95 KB | Mar 04 02:47 |
| DaemonFC | “Good catch, let’s see if old Steve-o will work for free like he’s asking the firefighters to.” -Me on the mayor’s proposals | Mar 04 02:50 |
| DaemonFC | lol | Mar 04 02:50 |
| schestowitz | Ubuntu is still UBD (ugly by default): http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/03/ubuntu-dumps-the-brown-introduces-new-theme.ars | Mar 04 02:50 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Ubuntu dumps the brown, introduces new theme and branding .::. Size~: 29.08 KB | Mar 04 02:50 |
| schestowitz | DaemonFC: steve-o from jackass? | Mar 04 02:50 |
| DaemonFC | our mayor’s name is Steve and he is a jackass | Mar 04 02:50 |
| DaemonFC | B-) | Mar 04 02:50 |
| DaemonFC | Steve-o | Mar 04 02:50 |
| DaemonFC | hehe | Mar 04 02:50 |
| DaemonFC | hell, I’m an asshole but I’m not stupid, make me the mayor | Mar 04 02:51 |
| DaemonFC | I’ll fix his bungling |
Mar 04 02:51 |
| schestowitz | I know | Mar 04 02:51 |
| schestowitz | I was joking | Mar 04 02:51 |
| schestowitz | Do what steve-o did | Mar 04 02:51 |
| schestowitz | Plunk his eye blow | Mar 04 02:51 |
| schestowitz | *eyebrows | Mar 04 02:51 |
| schestowitz | Like in that episode where he’s hairless | Mar 04 02:52 |
| schestowitz | He looked an alien | Mar 04 02:52 |
| DaemonFC | schestowitz, You figure this is a good setup though? Pointing out the mayor is drawing a salary while he asks firefighters to work free and fires cops? | Mar 04 02:52 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] >@shoq you’re so cute when you’re outraged #hcr | Mar 04 02:52 | |
| DaemonFC | if the firefighters are expected to work free, so should the mayor | Mar 04 02:53 |
| DaemonFC | if there’s no money to pay emergency workers, there’s no money to pay him | Mar 04 02:53 |
| DaemonFC | I’m going to hit him with that at the next town meeting | Mar 04 02:54 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] But I can top the Mac IIfx running 2.6.31. That’s only 20 years old. I have #VAX es 10 years older than that which can in theory boot #Linux | Mar 04 02:54 | |
| DaemonFC | “What about the Mayor? Why can’t HE take a paycut? How much does he make? Why was he hiring his wife as “Executive Assistant” like this is frapping Chicago or something and he needed a secretary paid out of the town’s treasury?” | Mar 04 02:55 |
| DaemonFC | hehe | Mar 04 02:55 |
| DaemonFC | trying to incite some popular anger | Mar 04 02:55 |
| DaemonFC | I’m just going to let loose on him there with a stream of this stuff | Mar 04 02:56 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Roy, you can add Argentina to the list of Elloits victims http://blog.managingautomation.com/edge/2008/11/vulture-economics/ “Elliott has done this in strapped developing countries such as Peru, Argentina, and the Republic of Congo where local press reports have labeled the company a “vulture investor.”” | Mar 04 03:04 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Vulture Economics .::. Size~: 29.64 KB | Mar 04 03:04 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[qu1j0t3] Server consolidation getting to be a hot topic. #Sun hardware and software does this *really* well. #sun #sparc #solaris #zfs #green #energy | Mar 04 03:04 | |
| Chips_B_Malroy | ah, here it is, the tie-in with Carl Icahn: “But, like other well-known hedge fund investors, Singer also likes to throw his weight around. Last year, along with hedge fund mogul Carl Icahn, Singer invested in troubled Motorola and, after an unsuccessful takeover bid, forced the resignation of CEO Ed Zander.” | Mar 04 03:06 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: nice one | Mar 04 03:07 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Ballmer–Icahn–Singer | Mar 04 03:07 |
| DaemonFC | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DTjLG3usQo | Mar 04 03:08 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: YouTube- Worst Video Games Ever – ET .::. Size~: 122.22 KB | Mar 04 03:08 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | The same bid, then reduce the bid ploy Singer uses that Ballmer also does | Mar 04 03:09 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | lot of good material in that last link | Mar 04 03:09 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | I fear a sale of Novell to Elliot is not a good thing for GNU/Linux | Mar 04 03:10 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Icahn and Singer both were on the Rudy Giuliani’s national finance executive committee during the presidental election. Also big contributors. http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/04/romneys_straw_p.php | Mar 04 03:15 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: Romney’s Straw Poll Victories, Rudy’s Finance Team, Edwards Outapces Clinton In WNY – Hotline On Call .::. Size~: 38.05 KB | Mar 04 03:15 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | another tie-in | Mar 04 03:15 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | “Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani unveiled his national finance executive committee today and a list of three dozen regional finance chairs. Bigger names include Carl Icahn, ex-VA Gov. candidate Jerry Kilgore, MD developer John C. Reith, ex-IL Gov candidate Ron Gidwitz, Nat’l Assoc. of Wholesaler-Distributors pres. Dirk Van Dongen and Paul Singer, general parter of Elliott Associates.” | Mar 04 03:15 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | its obvious these guys know each other, and seem to be in lock step | Mar 04 03:17 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | Wonder if Bill Senior has offices nearby too | Mar 04 03:18 |
| -BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[aondo] Good memories from old track, Mahadeva by Astral Projection. Wonder if they are gonna play close to norway in the future. Last was denmark. | Mar 04 03:19 | |
| DaemonFC | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kot6JND1uQ&feature=related | Mar 04 03:21 |
| phIRCe-BNc | Title: YouTube- Worst Video Games Ever – Ring King .::. Size~: 115.86 KB | Mar 04 03:21 |
| *bruce89 has quit (Quit: What’s this button do?) | Mar 04 03:33 | |
| Ender2070 | haha | Mar 04 03:38 |
| Ender2070 | reiser4 owns | Mar 04 03:38 |
| schestowitz | Chips_B_Malroy: Gates has about 300 offices, IIRC | Mar 04 03:50 |
| schestowitz | Look it up at Wikipedia | Mar 04 03:50 |
| schestowitz | Gaats Sr’s firm also handles some of the SCO money | Mar 04 03:51 |
| Chips_B_Malroy | ok | Mar 04 03:52 |
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