"I only know 'skinny dipping,'" writes Woba4502. "What's theetymology of 'skinny' as in 'get the skinny'?"
My knowledge of etymology is a little thin, so let me instead relate how Ibecame Skinny. My parents--French-Canadian counterintelligence officers whodied together under mysterious circumstances when I was very young--wereardent fans of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret. So ardent,in fact, that our library was choked with Simenon's compelling novels and Iwas christened Maigret DuBaud.
But when I came to the United States as a teenager, my functionallyilliterate classmates at Attrition Valley High teased me soruthlessly--calling me everything from "Margaret" to "Maggot"--that mynearly bilingual grandmother translated the "maigre" in "Maigret" as"Skinny," and thus I have been called ever since.
If only Microsoft had my grandmother on its payroll! Instead, thesoftware giant is in the grips of a naming debacle of its own that'sthreatening to hold up the release of the new Office suite. The troublestarted when Microsoft decided to name the new Office for the Mac "Office 2001."
That puts the new Office for Windows, the successor to Office 2000, in atight spot. It's also going to ship this year--and there can't be twoOffice 2001s. The company's chief software architect is rumored to have rejected as premature thedesignation "Office 2002." Another trial balloon said to have been shotdown was to call the new suite "Office.Net," since Microsoft has alreadysaid this won't be the first .Net version of Office. And so the new Officeremains, for the time being, nameless.
So what's in a name, or in this case, a lack thereof? Skinsiders say thenomenclature impasse has reached the "critical path," meaning that unlessMicrosoft comes up with a decision pronto, the product launch will have tobe pushed back to accommodate the printers.
Independent publishers of Office-related materials are on the sametenterhooks waiting for Microsoft to get this straightened out. Microsoftdeclined to comment on the issue.
All of which reminds me of one of our other favorite Redmond companies,Crossgain, which you read about here first and which, according toThe Wall Street Journal, this week caved to Microsoft "pressure" infiring 20 former Microsoft employees until their non-compete agreementsexpire. Fact of the matter is, another five Crossgainers who weren'tMicrosoft veterans also lost their jobs when their projects ended thanks tothe departures.
Meanwhile, the newly unemployed workers, including CEO Tod Nielsen,who resigned, have until their non-compete agreements start expiring inJune to ponder what is being thought of as breathtaking pettiness onMicrosoft's part--particularly objections from the software giant's lawyersto Crossgain's use of "competing" technologies such as Java and Linux. Although sentiment is strong at the start-up that theex-Microsofties would probably have prevailed in a court of law, thedecision to fold their collective hand was a no-brainer. Ultimately it camedown to a choice of a three-year trial or a six-month sabbatical.
I'm not being offered either one at present, so back to your mail.
"To hell with your rumors about companies and layoffs," writesNetshopr. "Don't you think people get upset when they read thingsabout what could happen to them?...Your Rumor Mill is just an excuse to rununsubstantiated news...Report it all you want when it happens. But stopyour disgusting dumpster-diving in the meantime."
Dumpster-diving! I will confess to having gone through a wastepaper basketor two in my time, but a dumpster? Jamais! One outsources that sortof thing.
Presumably the reader was upset over last week's item about this week'sAltaVista layoffs; andtherefore he or she will not be pleased to read that similar rumors areswirling about Amazon.com. The online seller of drill bits and plantfertilizer will be laying off staff after the company's post-holiday partythis weekend, suggesteth the rumor mill, but preceding its earningsannouncement Jan. 30. The company laid off 150 workers during thecomparable time frame last year and is under considerably more pressure toshow profits this time around.
Amazon declined to comment; but surely Netshopr will not be so stingy withhis or her remarks.Help prevent layoffs at the Rumor Mill--share what's in your dumpster.