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As he sipped Listel, Le Chat noted that the cloudy rosé seemed a perfect contrast to the clear Mediterranean sky above his perch on the Côte dAzur. Here, the years stresses melted away as smoothly as the cocoa butter he applied to a lovely young heiress named Capucine. Only the rare memories of 2003 remained. Was it only a year ago El Gato was reporting the controversy surrounding the Meta Groups wild client advisory that Microsoft would begin moving some of its proprietary technologies to Linux by the end of 2004? “Me-ouch!”
As the journaliste extraordinaire poured his companion another glass, his mind drifted back to spring, when he thought hed stumbled into a Tracy and Hepburn movie as Judge Diana Gribbon Motz recused herself from hearing Microsofts appeal of a ruling that Redmond must provide compatibility with Suns Java in its software. The ruling had come down from her husband, Judge J. Frederick Motz. Spence was on the edge of his seat a month later when Microsoft couldnt decide whether to commit or get off the pot about its fabled Web-enabled iLoo commode.
Come June, the Jaunty One was ready to pitch CEO Boxing to HBO after attending Salesforce.coms Sforce launch party in the Big Apple. He was ringside when Mike Doyle, CEO of rival Salesnet, was ejected from the gathering by Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff after a nudging match at the door. Benioff confirmed that Doyle had been invited due to an address list error. The summer got steamier when Renato “Ron” Zambonini, CEO of Cognos, promised to hold Cognos fourth-quarter earnings call in the nude if Cognos new ReportNet product didnt hit target numbers. The Scottish-born Zambonini, whos not a model candidate for voyeuristic “up-kilt” Web sites, may have found the perfect way to move product.
Attending XML Web Services One in Beantown, Spence got a lesson in modern headhunting. While Don Box, a lead architect from Microsoft, was giving his keynote address, he spotted Ximian Chief Technology Officer Miguel de Icaza in the audience and yelled, “Miguel, I brought an employment application. Your ass is mine!”
Fall found the Feline Fabulist fidgeting over Melanie Crafts upcoming third novel. The authors Web site touted the book, “Man Trouble,” as the tale of a romance authors attempt to make a family man out of a billionaire playboy whose “bad-boy image is losing its luster.” Crafts real-life fiancé, Oracle boss Larry Ellison, must wonder where she finds such characters.
Spencers reverie halted when his chum invited him for an aperitif. Heading for the hotel, she suddenly stormed off when El Gatos cabana bag fell and a “Star Wars” action figure tumbled out. “Oh well, theres always next year,” sighed the lonely Lynx.