How Life Should Be: Using Gates Money to Learn Mac

Although the messed-up Mousers memories of grade school consist mainly of his teachers using his noggin as a blackboard eraser, he can still see the value in Maines plan to distribute 36,000 iBooks throughout its public school system over the next two years. The Apple laptops are slated to be handed to every 7th and 8th grader in the state. Of course, Spencer couldnt help chuckling at the divine irony of Gov. Angus Kings statements that Maines schoolteachers will receive excellent Mac training thanks to a million-dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Me-ouch,” moaned the Mouser. “Thats like Ford paying people to learn to drive VWs.”

As Peregrine Systems attempts to restate its financial reports for the last three years, the Kitty heard whispers that the software company also might be up for sale. A Katt crony claimed that BMC Software could be a likely suitor. The friend of the Furry One speculated that the company could spin off its Remedy division. Peregrine acquired Remedy in August of last year and has been letting the group operate as an independent unit since May.

Peregrine acquired Tivolis Service Desk product suite last year for $105 million in cash and stock. At the end of last month, Peregrine announced that it had been delisted by Nasdaq because it had not been filing periodic reports with the SEC.

Plumtree Software might be a bit red-faced over the buyout offer it received from investment bank Sutter Capital Management. Although Sutter has been derided by one market analysis company as a “bottom feeder,” its $5-per-share offer was an 80 percent premium over Plumtrees closing price at the time, yet still fell well below the software makers $8.50-per-share IPO price just three months earlier. Plumtrees stock was bid up to more than $4 per share on the news, before falling below $3.50, presumably after investors checked Sutters Web site to find a page that read, “This site is under construction.” The last acquisition the companys Sutter Opportunity Fund 2 attempted to make was investment trusts holding clearly worthless WorldCom stock. “Try to take that to the bank,” laughed the Lynx.

French company BVRP Software might be finding that its moniker, which is based on founder Bruno Vanrybs name, might cause confusion here in the States. “Well answer to Burp Software,” said Bob Lang, president of the U.S. branch. “But were going to change our name.”

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