ShadowRAM: May 17, 2004

"Some idiot Atkins Diet spammer just posted 53 bogus comments in this blog. I'm disabling comments (globally) shortly and figuring out if there's any recourse. They don't know it yet, but they picked the wrong person to do this to."

It appears Networld Interop is slimming down. Organizers of last week's conference told vendors that the show is moving out of the Las Vegas Convention Center and into a smaller space at the convention center in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Siemens Information and Communication Networks injected a little pep into its N I keynote with a musical number about the trials and tribulations of call-center agents. The company also channeled the Chairman of the Board with a Frank Sinatra impersonator, who continually referred to the audience as "crumbs." He also delivered one of Old Blue Eyes' signature lines: "I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."

More than a few eyebrows were raised when Michael Fister, the so-called godfather of the Itanium, took a walk to become president and CEO of Cadence Design Systems. Is that a sign that Itanium has been a big, fat bust? Some say neither Fister or Intel is happy with the onetime highly touted 64-bit product, thus the split. Interesting to note, though, that the Cadence announcement came just before Intel's annual analyst meeting in New York. Are you listening Wall Street?

Computer Associates International interim CEO Ken Cron, the original publisher of CRN, has several times maintained that he's not interested in taking on the tough job permanently. That hasn't stopped industry observers from speculating that Cron may end up in this role, depending on how the job search goes.

One sign that Cron is true to his word and is not likely to take the post was the announcement last week that media mogul Sumner Redstone has requested Cron be nominated to the board of interactive game maker Midway Games. Redstone and his company, National Amusements, are the largest shareholders in Midway. Cron was previously the CEO of Vivendi Universal Games.

So just who is CA talking to? The rumor mill is working overtime on who the CA search committee (itself a secret) is courting. Among those reportedly on the list are IBM Software boss Steve Mills and HP Services poobah Ann Livermore.