"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence; go for greatness." Johnny Martin

"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." Chretien Malesherbes

Mr Softy gets Face time: Kudos to Team Redmond on getting the deal done. Seems most folks were dead wrong when they gave the advantage, and best odds, to Google. Now Microsoft wins the day with $240 mil in equity and an exclusive third-party ad deal. The quick back of the envelope arithmetic says Facebook's evaluation is in the $15 billion range. My sense remains there are major three players in the ad space (and more to be named later). Google leads. Microsoft is the fast follower, as ever. Yahoo is the sleeper. What is your Mountain View strategy? You do have one, don't you? Your last meeting in Redmond was when exactly?

The wayback machine: It was way back in the winter of 1996 that my then employer purchased hundreds of copies of a hardcover book written by the founder of MIT's Media Lab. Among our professional staff the book was a big hit. Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte is an edited version of eighteen articles first published in Wired. We sent the books to major players in the broadcast space our clients included. Over a lunch in his office I presented a copy to Dan Mason. The difference between Dan and others that were provided with the reading? Dan spent the time to read it. In fact, years later he told me he had studied it. Smart guy. Today, I noticed that Michael Rosenblum, another smart guy, is chasing Negroponte's writing with his latest post Internetski here. Kudos Michael, right on the money! Closed circuit to NAB staff: Book Rosenblum for the Spring show, now.

Doing the right thing: For eight years in a row, no less. Jeffrey P. Myers founder of PSP (also a pal and former CBS colleague), continues to do exceptional work. His firm helps organizations to improve their performance by developing their people. Great to hear that the RAB has again engaged Jeffrey. This time around he and his team will present materials from PSP's celebrated Media Sales Institute.

Congrats & cheers: Programming ace Tom Poleman signs again with CC and remains ops manager of Z100 and SVP, Programming for CC properties in the city. Beantown's Baron of wireless networks Gary Bernstein named programming prexy for Syndication One. Chicago entrepreneur and wireless whiz Chris Witting launches TalkZone.com a 24/7 online talk radio net. Programming ace Andy Bloom returns to the wireless dodge to helm product at WIP. Wunderkind Jamie Friedman named associate publisher for Pursuits, WSJ's new glossy book.