31
Aug
2009

disney marvelThe Walt Disney Company has agreed to purchase Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock.

Wow… just… wow.  This is huge news in the entertainment industry, and just business in general.  Here is the official announcement:

August 31, 2009
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT

Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger said.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.

This just blows me away as someone who has been in and around the comic book industry for decades now. I remember when Marvel was trading below a dollar a share and it looked like the company was going to completely collapse. If anyone had ever told me this was coming, I would have laughed my behind off.  (If I also had bought shares like I considered at one point, I would be dancing a jig right now…)

Marvel was truly on its last legs there for a while, and then thanks to some new owners coming in, the company turned around and started to grow like crazy.  The core business is no longer the comic books, but that is still the base upon how all of the other properties grow.  It is no exageration that Marvel has a stable of 5,000 characters, and what Disney can do with them could be massive.  You thought the Marvel movies were doing well before?  Just wait until you see what happens with them now that the Disney marketing machine will be behind them.

After the initial dust settles here, it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

  • Will we see Marvel properties on TV?  Disney owns a slew of television property, they could fill time slots until our eyes bleed.
  • How will the theme parks settle out?  Universal Studios currently features Marvel characters, so will they have to relinquish those licensing agreements, or will they now be paying a license fee to Disney?  (something I am sure they will hate doing)
  • Will all current movie plans stand as-is for now?  I.E. will we still see the mondo Avengers movie that is being planned?

This is absolutely huge, and honestly somewhat difficult to wrap your brain around.  The deal prett much came out of nowhere, and everyone seems to be going “wha…?”  The concept of Disney owning characters like Wolverine and the Punisher IS highly amusing though…

I am sure this won’t be the last post you see on this.

30
Aug
2009

airplane seatbeltI finally feel that my weight loss has settled, and I can officially tell you all that I have lost over 105 pounds.

Ever since I took my first airplane flight in 1988, I have asked for exit rows due to my height.  Being just under 6’4″, I need the extra leg room, and so I have always wanted to make sure I was in the row with as much room as possible.  In 2001 I was flying to Los Angeles to catch a plane the next day for Tokyo, and I had procured my precious exit row seat, but then something happened on the flight that changed things for me.

I asked for a seat belt extension.

I honestly had not realized how much weight I gained, and I was informed if I needed an extension that I could not sit in the exit row for other passengers safety.  I was moved to a normal seat and enjoyed the embarrassment of not only being moved, but realizing I had allowed my weight to spiral wildly out of control.  The seat belt extension was set at its tightest setting, I barely needed it, but need it I did.

For the next couple of years I played at losing weight, but was just never serious enough.  I also came to realize I had hit 400 lbs.  Seeing as I am built like a football linebacker, I never thought I looked that weight, but I was.  In 2004 I was on my way to Japan again, and I still needed a seat belt extension, but just barely.

In late 2006 I got serious about my weight loss, but it was a slow build, and I still wasn’t making a ton of progress.  Through out 2007 I built up more and more momentum, and I added in lifting weights towards the end of the year.  Also, when I began professionally blogging in July of 2007, I knew I would be sitting down more than ever.  I decided if I was going to be sitting that much that I had to get serious about exercise to counteract the stagnation of all that sitting.

As 2008 dawned, I got super serious (partially due to endless cheerleading by my friend M, which was always said with love and never, ever in a hurtful way).  When I learned I was going to Seattle in July of that year, I decided to try my hand at an emergency row again.  I was down to 365, and I knew at worse they would just move me again.

I sat down in my exit seat, fished for the ends of the seat belt… and they connected.  I’m man enough to admit I almost cried.  I had done it, I was back in the seat I wanted, but if anything, this just energized me more to work even harder.

By March of 2009 I hit 325, but I was having a heck of a time breaking through to a lower weight.  I went to the doctor and talked with him, and he ran blood tests on me which came back surprisingly good.  (To the point he admitted he had checked my name twice to make sure it was my results)  He suggested I take up walking, something M had been cheerleading endlessly, but I have problems with walking outside due to my allergies.  He suggested I join a gym, and he told me to set a temporary goal of 300 lbs, but an ultimate goal of 250.  I called him a couple names for setting the bar at 250, but I accepted it as a challenge.

My personal goal all along had been 300, and both my doctor and I laugh at the height/weight chart that says my optimum weight is 212.  We laughed to the point that he informed me if I ever came in the office at 212, he would be sending me to the hospital to see what was wrong with me.  So on May 1st of this year, I started going to the gym three times a week, and working out with free weights at home three times a week.  When I learned I would for sure be going to Boston to visit M in August, I decided to set a personal goal of 295 before I met her.  (105 lbs being an inside joke between her and I for reasons I won’t go in to)

A week before I left for Boston, I did it, I had hit 295.

I wanted to make sure it held before I said anything, but the new weight held.  I was ecstatic… and then realized I had to buy some new clothes before I left.  D’oh!

musclesSo, when I got to the airport in St. Louis,  I once again asked for an exit row, and not only did the seat belt work for me, I could tighten it.  (the picture above is from my return flight, I forgot to take one on the way there as I kept falling asleep)  My waist has gone from 60″ to 48″, and by golly I can fit in any airplane seat I want now!

The first night I met up with M was an endless stream of compliments from her over my weight loss.  And for the first time ever, I showed her a picture from my heaviest time period… even I could tell now how bad I had gotten when I look back at it now, and the compliments only increased after that.  I figured I might come back from Boston with a few pounds added on from all the eating out and such, but instead I came back at 294.  I blame the endless walking around the city with her for that.

Last night the scale read 291, but I never mark a new weight as official until I get the same reading three days in a row, there are just too many variables: water weight, what you eat, etc.  So, for now, I am still considering 294 my new official weight, and that means I have lost 106 lbs and have 44 lbs to go to my doctor’s goal weight.  I would imagine I have actually lost more than the 106 lbs in fat because I have more muscle mass than I have ever had in my life.  I actually have veins starting to pop out all around my wrists, my calves have gotten extremely defined and my neck has increased by an inch.

While there are days where I curse the working out, and the foods I have to skip eating (I haven’t had ice cream in well over a year… and I love ice cream), the results are obvious, and I feel better than I think I ever have in my life.  With each pound lost, it only motivates me more to keep on this path and get to that 250 lbs goal.

At the end of the day I do not blame any one but myself for the situation I got myself in to.  No one forced me to super-size those meals, no one pried my mouth open and shoved double quarter pounders with cheese in there, one hundred percent of what happened with my weight is my fault, and one hundred percent of getting myself in to shape is my own responsibility.  So as much as I may whine at times about it, it is myself I am whining at, and I have no delusions about that.

This hasn’t been a solo journey though, and I would like to take a moment to thank a few people who have helped along the way.

My parents – They have been extremely supportive, and while I know at times they have wished I would stop talking about this journey of mine, they have congratulated me as each new milestone has passed.  Thank you.

F – F is a friend of mine I meet each week for lunch, and while I am sure he would rather keep his name off my blog, I have to thank him.  After some changes in his life, and in what he eats, he has taught me much by example in how to make the correct food choices no matter where I am.  So, thank you, F, you have taught me more than I think you realize.

M – You have already been mentioned through out this post, but your constant concern and caring has meant the world to me.  No one has been a bigger cheerleader for me and this quest of mine, and for that you have my eternal gratitude.  I know I say the compliments don’t sit well with me because I did this to myself, but they really have been a huge help, and don’t ever think otherwise.  (Don’t worry, no one reads this blog any way, your reputation as an evil genius will not be tainted by this)

Some time this week, hopefully tomorrow, I will be writing up tips on what I’ve found works the best for me, and maybe it will inspire some of you.  Each person is different, but as I have pieced together my own program as opposed to following some cookie-cutter diet plan, perhaps you can find one or two suggestions from me that will help in your own weight loss journey.

29
Aug
2009

writingSmaller week than the usual for me on the writing front.  I had some computer problems while in Boston and had to sacrafice some slots to other writers.  Next week will be back up to full speed.

Photo.BLORGE.com

SeanPAune.com

SitePoint.com

StarterTech.com

Tech.BLORGE.com

28
Aug
2009

Scattercast is 58… and I’m back from Boston!

- A long and detailed explanation of my trip to Boston.

- Links to pictures I talk about in the podcast:

- Things I’d like to change about my life.

- Just some general rambling about my trip.

Here’s

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for those who wish to download it, subscribe to Scattercast via iTunes.

27
Aug
2009

sextingIt seems Houston, Texas schools wanted to make sure their students had heard of “sexting” by banning it.

For those who haven’t heard the word endless brandied about it, “sexting” is the slang term for texting sexually suggestive text or pictures to someone else via mobile phone.  It has led to some embarrassing moments for students, and it has become a favorite past time of teachers involved in sex scandals.

According to Breitbart, the Houston, Texas school district, which has over 200,000 students, and is one of the largest districts in the country, was so worried about it that it opted to ban it before the new school year began. “Some principals raised the issue, so we included a provision saying sending, receiving, possessing sexually suggestive messages is forbidden,” Hans Graff, assistant general counsel at the Houston Independent School district, told Breitbart.

See, while this may seem like a way to protect the kids, all they have done is to now make it “cool”.  Any time any authority figures bans something, kids there were never aware of it are now acutely aware of it, and those kids who already knew about it, but had the resisted the urge, will now want to give it a go.  What a way to show “the man” that the kids know better!

This also crosses some lines for me on privacy issues as this rule extends in to the children’s private lives, which their phones are unquestionably part of.  This is like schools that have tried telling kids what they can and cannot blog about.  If it happens off of school grounds, then the school should have no say in it.  Yes, if the phones are brought on to school grounds with the photos, or the photos are taken on school district property, then, yes, they have every right to comment on it.  However, Mr. Graff’s description sure makes it sound like the school district will have a say no matter where it happens.

So, kudos to the Houston school district for making this “cool”, and also for possibly tying up a court room as someone tries to sort this whole thing out after the first kid gets punished for it.  Personally I find sexting disturbing, but there is a point where school districts really should just keep their collective mouth shut.

26
Aug
2009

jacob wirthSo, I am back from my journey to Boston, and all I can say is… it wasn’t nearly long enough.

I got back from vacation last night around 7:30 PM and I just was not ready at all to be back.  Boston was a ton of fun, but of course the highlight was finally getting to hang out with The Dastardly Miss M of Scattercast fame.  Living up to her evil reputation, I am fairly certain she had an evil plot to walk me around Boston until my feet bled.  Luckily she had warned me of the amount of walking and I had actually started going to the gym to use a treadmill back on May 1st.  I can only imagine how bad it would have been if I hadn’t done that.

A lot more will be covered of what we did in this week’s episode of Scattercast, but in general, I had a blast, and I will definitely be looking to take a vacation more than once every 13 years.  It won’t necessarily involve M, though we did discuss possible scenarios for a second get together, but just in general I do plan on taking more time off in my work if for no other reason than to preserve my sanity.

I actually spoke with Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins about this via instant message on Monday night after M and I had parted ways for the final time before I left on Tuesday.  He and I both agree that while we love blogging, we are just working far too hard, and we have to both find more time to relax.  We also both agreed to remind each other of this on a regular basis so we don’t just slide in to our usual habits of working non-stop all the time.

So, yes, I admit it, I’m not getting any younger, and I need to take more time for myself.  Finding that time may not be easy, but I have to do something lest I go mad.

Thanks to M for snapping the accompanying photo of me.  Any picture of me is a rare occurrence, so enjoy the fact it actually happened!

25
Aug
2009

classmatesClassmates.com can burn in Hell for all I care at this point.

You are sure to have seen their ads all over websites over the years.  They always depict some lousy yearbook photos with some tag line such as “He married who?!?”  You know the ones.

Well, two years ago, on July 8, 2007, I decided to sign-up for a gold membership with the site which would give you some extra features.  It cost $59 for two years, and seemed a decent deal since a one year membership was $36.  Now, mind you, this was before Facebook really took off and became the way it seems all old school friends meet up, so this really didn’t seem all that crazy.

Well, after just a few months of belonging to the site, Facebook exploded in popularity, and I totally forgot about my Classmates account, not even bothering to log in to it for a year or more.  Of course, I was quickly reminded of my membership on July 8th of this year.

I logged in to my PayPal account and saw that Classmates had authorized a charge of $59 to my account.  For those of you unfamiliar with how credit cards work, an authorization means they have ear marked the funds to be taken, but they have not actually been removed yet.  If the charge is not completed with in so many days (it varies) the funds are released back to your account.

Now, the interesting thing about this whole situation is that I had originally paid with my PayPal debit card, and not just from my account.  My card expired in May of this year and I had been issued a new one with an expiration date of 2011.  I was quite puzzled how they charged my card as my card had expired and I had not updated my information with them.

I went to their website and tried to initiate an online chat with them to see what was going on, but the chat wouldn’t start, so I decided to try to call them.  My hunt for a phone number took some time (it’s 425-917-5005 if anyone ever needs it), but I finally found it.  I called them and to say the girl who “helped” me was surly would be an understatement.

Basically I told her that I had no interest in renewing my account with them and that I would like them to release the funds backs to me.  She told me in no uncertain terms that there are no refunds and that I had agreed to auto renewal when I signed up.  She would turn off the feature for me so that “this wouldn’t happen again”, but that for this year I was out of luck.  I informed her she needed to speak to a manager about this or I would put the charge in to contention and I wasn’t sure they really wanted me to share this little story with the Internet.  (Yes, I used social media as a weapon, get over it.)

classmates operatorShe was unmoved, and we ended our call.

I called PayPal, and they couldn’t have been nicer about the whole thing, but they said there really wasn’t much they could do about it as I had been warned at sign-up of there being auto-renewal.  I was still bothered by the fact that they had changed my expiration date without my permission, but it seems they are allowed to do that.

So, I figured I would give Classmates one more shot, and I gave them a call.  I got a different operator, and this gentleman seemed a tad more sympathetic, but all he said that could be done was either knock me down to a $36 one-year membership, or refund my entire $59… for a $9.95 service fee.

They wanted me to pay for a refund?  Yeah, that wasn’t happening.  I told him that he could tell his bosses that I hoped they enjoyed all of the advertising their $59 had just bought them and hung up.

I’ve waited until now to write this as I hoped I would calm down somewhat about the whole situation, but I really haven’t.  I’m still as angry as I was on July 8th.  Yes, I was warned of auto-renewal, but let me just say as someone who has taken credit cards in his own business for 23 years, I would never change someone’s expiration date without their express permission.  Tat is in extremely poor taste in my opinion.

This does speak to a common problem online, though, and that is the entire auto-renewal process.  I have always felt that these programs should be an “opt-in” situation as opposed to the “opt-out” as they tend to be.  This means that when it is opt-out that I have to go and manually change a setting that basically says “I do not want this.”  When it is this type of set-up, you get the type of situation that I just encountered.  Opt-in means that I would have to go and tell the site that I wanted to participate, and that would remove a lot of the trouble like what I encountered.

There is of course a reason that websites prefer the opt-out model, and you just read why that is.  With opt-out they can hopefully get you to pay for another month before you notice the situation, and most people will go “Oh well, lesson learned,” and leave it alone for that month.  This tactic is distasteful at best, and one that should be stopped.

I’ve learned my lesson, hopefully it won’t happen to me again, but what about all of the other unsuspecting people out there on the Web?  This practice needs to be ended, and the Web needs to move to a totally opt-in style of billing.  Will it happen?  Doubtful until there is enough consumer pressure placed on these companies.

As for Classmates, I am sure they are feeling the burn of Facebook becoming the main spot for old classmates to find one another, so it’s doubtful they will be needed as a tool for much longer, but until then, if you join, make sure you opt-out out of the auto-renewal billing.

24
Aug
2009

grim reaperI’ve always had an odd fascination with death, and more specifically famous deaths.  No clue why, I just do.  Typically I’m more interested in graves and stories that have to do with bizarre circumstances, famous murders, etc, but when The Diabolical Miss M offered me the chance to see the graves of famous people from the time of the Revolutionary War, who am I to say “no”?  (besides, saying “no” to one of her suggestions might have her dumping me in to a pool of her sharks… they have frickin’ laser beams on their head!)

So as we wandered Boston today, we hit up a couple of the famous graveyards in the downtown area that have some of the founding fathers of the United States, and the grave of Elizabeth Pain, the woman The Scarlet Letter was based on.

Besides seeing these amazing people who formed our country, I was struck by how much the tombstones seemed like something out of a Tim Burton film.  The iconography on them seemed like something right out of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and you almost have to wonder if Burton was influenced by seeing these or similar tombstones.

First up, Mother Goose… I’m not sure I was ever even aware she was a real person!

mother goose

Samuel Adams… thanks for the beer, man. (Yes, I know he didn’t create it)

samuel adams

Ben Fanklin’s parents

franklin parents

Paul Revere’s tomb, couldn’t believe how tiny it was!

paul revere

Apparently I wasn’t alone in my shock as they added a second marker next to the original.

paul revere

Okay, this is John Hancock’s grave, and I’m sorry, but I will leave it up to your imagination why I could NOT stop snickering.

john hancock

Elizabeth Pain… do you see a subliminal “A”?

elizabeth pain

And finally, the moment you have all waited for… a picture of “M” on this very blog!

m1

What can I say? She’s quick… like a cheetah.  (and, yes, this “picture” of M is only funny to longtime readers of this blog or listeners of my podcast)

23
Aug
2009

writingThis is a weekly post idea I have been toying with as I write at so many different blogs now. I’m not sure if I will actually do this every week, but seeing as I’m on vacation, well, I needed an easy post at least one of the days!

Photo.BLORGE.com

SeanPAune.com

SiliconANGLE.com

SitePoint.com

StarterTech.com

Tech.BLORGE.com

22
Aug
2009

mashable hyattYes folks, that is an actual picture of me in Boston. This photo is a rarity for two reasons: I can’t remember the last time I posted a picture of myself on this blog, and it is also serves as evidence of me being on vacation.

I’ve talked about the vacation on Scattercast, but not in a post.  I haven’t taken an actual vacation since Labor Day weekend in 1996, and even then I ended up doing work.  My trips to Tokyo, while fun, were always about work.  Any trips elsewhere in the USA were about work.  This trip to Boston is all about relaxing.

As you may or may not know, depending on how much you read the site, Boston is the home of the Diabolical Miss M, my best friend and occasional guest on Scattercast, so hence why I chose Beantown.  (It is amazing how many odd looks people have given me about choosing Boston for a vacation… deal with it)

Due to unavoidable circumstances, she had to be out of town one day while I was here, and that just happened to line up with my former employers at Mashable hosting an event at the downtown Hyatt.  For lack of anything else to do, and wanting to meet more of the people I worked with there, I headed on over to the #hyatt4good event.

It was nice to finally meet Adam Hirsch (COO of Mashable), Sharon Feder (Managing Editor), Brett Petersel (events director) and Josh Catone (features editor).  Funny story about Josh, he and I basically switched jobs when I left Mashable.  I went to SitePoint.com where he had been working, and he came to Mashable as Features Editor, my old job.

Thanks to Brett for taking the picture of me last night, and, yes, the green strap across my chest is my 24 bag, i.e. the “Satchel of Doom”.  Sadly I was lacking explosives in its current load out… however, it is handy for carrying your camera, notepad, spare business cards and so on!  So I was kind of like “executive Jack Bauer”!

It was nice to get out and actually talk technology and trends with people face-to-face.  Big thanks to Michael Sprague from CommUniversity for sending me some info on a nifty new BlackBerry app that is in closed Beta.  (and check out his site, great idea for people trying to select what college to go to)

Anyway, I’m here until Tuesday, and then back to the grind.  Although it may be hard to tell I’m on vacation since I am still doing all my blogging jobs each day, I really am!  I mean, I actually sat down on the dock behind my hotel yesterday, and just… sat.  I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve done that.  No laptop… nothing to write with… I just sat and looked around for about 10 minutes.  Then the humidity drove me away, but hey, at least I did it!

21
Aug
2009

Scattercast is 57… and I’m actually not here!

- I’m actually not t home, but I’m in Boston on vacation… spooky how I did this, huh? (not really, I just recorded 3 days earlier than usual…)

- I ramble for an oddly long time about luggage…

- Chargers and memory cards for devices need to become more universal.

- The Dancing With The Stars 2009 Lineup is a weird one.

- Chima Simone Quits Big Brother 11 was fun if you got to watch it actually happen… which I did.

Here’s

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for those who wish to download it, subscribe to Scattercast via iTunes.


20
Aug
2009

dirty dancing logoIt was only a matter of time before Hollywood went to this property to give it the remake treatment.

Lock up your daughters, folks! The classic story of an adult man having sex with an underage girl is back!  Lionsgate has announced its intent to remake Dirty Dancing.

No word on who will star in this abomination as of yet, so we have no clue yet who will utter…

Nobody puts Baby in the corner!

Oh come on, folks, you know that line is going to make it in to the remake!  How can it not?!?  Whatever schlub gets to deliver it will probably over do it to death to try to live up to the “greatness” of  Patrick Swayze’s delivery.

As I stated previously, I despise this property mostly because every one overlooks the fact that it is a story of an adult man having sex with an underage girl.  Yet people go on and on about how “sweet” and “romantic” it is.  No, it is dirty and wrong if you give it more than two seconds of thought.

Hopefully this will fall flat on its face like Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights did.  Just leave this alone for everyone’s sanity!