What do you do if you have $44.6 billion in cash and stock? Buy Yahoo!. *gosh* how many zeros are there?

I'm sure this is a move to rival the increasing dominance of Google in the Internet space. What will happen to Yahoo! Mail, Flickr, Yahoo Groups after Microsoft has bought Yahoo!? *wondering*

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion...... Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition.

Read Microsoft PressPass announcement of this proposal to buy Yahoo!

What do you think about it? Is it for the better that instead of Google vs Microsoft vs Yahoo! now, it'll soon be Google vs Microsoft + Yahoo!?

From ChannelNewsAsia news about MM Lee visiting dying Suharto, I guess there are a couple of good points that MM Lee brought up. MM Lee said: "Yes, there was corruption. Yes, he gave favours to his family and his friends. But there was real growth and real progress. I think the people of Indonesia are lucky. And the younger generations – both in Indonesia and in the world – do not remember where Indonesia started. I do." It doesn't mean by doing so many good, that we ignore the bad things, coz two wrongs don't make a right. No amount of good can cover one bad thing (by the way, this is one basic principle of Christianity), but I think it's about giving credit where credit is due.

It's just a pity that his end and his legacy don't reflect well on what good he has done over that 32 years he has built.

About 7+pm Singapore time, there was an earthquake in Bengkulu province. I was having my dinner and I didn't feel anything. At 7.46pm, someone sms-ed me telling me there was an earthquake. I checked with my parents, but they said they didn't feel anything. Well, I guess it's good that nothing happened.

They were wary about the possibility of another tsunami, but until now I haven't read any further news on that, so I guess we're safe.

Powerful quake strikes Indonesia (CNN)
Singapore buildings sway after strong quake hits Indonesia (Channel News Asia)
BMG: Kepastian Tsunami Diketahui Pukul 20.00 WIB (Liputan 6)

On a totally unrelated side-post, we are no longer allowed to give money to beggars in Jakarta, or you will be fined between Rp. 10,000 to Rp. 20 million. (about S$1.60 to S$3,232) What do you think about this new regulation?