[Am-info] GETTIN' MY MOJO BACK(OT)

[Fred A. Miller]

Ol' Cring frequently has an accurate "leak."

=46red

GETTIN' MY MOJO BACK

By Robert X. Cringely(R)

Posted June 16, 2003

In all the commotion lately, I somehow forgot to book a
plane ticket to Anchorage, Alaska, for the marathon next
week. So, the small fortune I spent for last-minute airfare
is simply adding to my nervousness about the race. Oh well,
I guess I can't back down now.

Now That's the Ticket

Speaking of expensive tickets, one of my moles reported
that Team Redmond might be looking to buy Accenture, the
$11 billion consulting company. Apparently, Microsoft and
Accenture have been engaged in some intense talks, with
folks frequently flying back and forth between Redmond and
New York, particularly during March and April. Even big bad
Ballmer was spotted walking through Accenture headquarters
recently in The Big Apple.

These companies would make good bedfellows - what with
Accenture building and selling .Net tools and all. A deal
like this would certainly boost Microsoft's quietly growing
services unit. But given the software giant's vows not to
compete with its army of partners in the services realm,
such a deal is bound to create turmoil. Hmm. Even with my
financial straits, I don't think I'd apply to Accenture for
employment as a consultant anytime soon.
AT&T Eyeing SCO

Without even knowing it, SCO may have started a war of
attrition with much larger enemies that have deeper
pockets. Within the halls at AT&T, folks were chattering
just last week that AT&T still has reserved rights on Unix.
Naturally, the company is paying close attention to the
various legal claims that SCO is making and may join the
battle soon. My spy said the word around AT&T is that this
will all be resolved shortly. But one has to wonder how
long SCO could survive if it had opponents in multiple
courtrooms - those being, of course, IBM and AT&T.

My friend Reilly commented the other day that I appear to
be getting my mojo back. I hope he's right, because I am
going to need it for this race. I just wish Apache could
run with me.

Send tips to cringe@infoworld.com.

=2D-=20
Planet Earth - a subsidiary of Microsoft=AE.
We have no bugs in our software, Never!,=20
We do have undocumented added features,
that you will find amusing, at no added cost,=20
to you, at this time.