The only thing more bitter than the frosty winds endured through last weeks cold spell in the Northeast was Spence himself for not having been picked as one of the young entrepreneurs to compete on Donald Trumps reality show, “The Apprentice.” The capitalist Katt knew he should have kept that failed attempt to open a Jenny Craig franchise in Borneo off his résumé. “Location, location, location,” sighed the scribe.
El Gato noted that Trump would be wise to keep a step ahead of whoever wins the shot at being his apprentice, as Computer Associates co-founder Charles Wang has probably come to realize since picking Sanjay Kumar as his protégé in the late 80s. The personal and financial strain on the relationship between the retired Wang and CA CEO Kumar was exemplified by the resignation from the company last week of Wangs wife, Nancy Li. After stepping down as CEO of iCanSP, a CA subsidiary she founded, Li was reportedly escorted from CAs Islandia, N.Y., headquarters by security guards, sans parting gifts from the house that Charles built.
“Me-ouch,” moaned the Mouser as he tried to escape the chill by warming his paws on the back of his monitor. The phone interrupted His Hirsuteness huddling against hypothermia. It was a telecom tattler who said the Bells plan to flex their lobbying muscle this year. The smooth operator said the Bells will push hard on a regulatory method they first sought four years ago that lets each carrier keep the revenue from its customers and not pay to use the other carriers networks. Industry players say this would be fine for the Bells, but it will hurt small, rural telephone companies, which rely on compensation from other carriers. Any enterprise with factories, plants or headquarters in the sticks would see a hefty phone bill hike.
The Kitty soon fielded an e-mail from an IBM watcher who thinks an upcoming reorganization that will see Tivolis storage management sales team assimilated into IBMs Total Storage sales force will be the first stage of a migration of all storage management responsibility to IBMs storage group. As the Mouser mulled that tidbit, along with cider, a call came from a Katt crony who had attended CES in the comparatively balmy Las Vegas. The biggest spectacle at the electronics show, said the crony, was 300 men and women clad in “Matrix”-like attire swarming the show floor repeating the word “Bluetooth” while handing out cryptically worded cards.
The phone friend filed a fillip for the Tawny Titans tasteless tip box when he noted a more prurient fashion statement made at the show. To tout its line of LCD Flat Panel Wall Mount devices, Vantage Point adorned its booth with babes in tight T-shirts that read “Mount Me.” “Only in Vegas,” cackled the Kitty.