Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 06:02 PM) It's all about users and recurring revenue. Ummm...revenue isn't all that great of a metric if you aren't turning a profit. They have thin margins and aren't profitable.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 06:10 AM) Unfortunately, the most pleasant experiences are often on niche airlines that don't fly many places - JetBlue is good, I like Frontier a lot as well. AirTran was good, but are being eaten up by Southwest slowly. As far as major airlines, none of the big 3 (AA/US, UAL/CONT, DELTA/NW) are particularly good. I'm 6'3" and leg room matters a lot, so I avoid Delta at all costs, as they consistently have the least leg room. Plus Delta is the one of the big 3 that doesn't hub in Chicago. AA is usually my slight preference over United because I find AA's customer service better when something does go wrong... But, United offers Economy Plus for a little extra, and I take that every time so I'm not so cramped and could, in theory, actually use my laptop. Southwest is a unique animal, and we use it regularly when we fly with your young kids. With little ones you always get, at worst, boarding between groups A and B, so you'll get to pick a row... they don't charge for checked bags, and when flying with little kids, you have a lot of stuff... and when we plop down in a row or two with kids, people almost never take the remaining seat next to us, LOL. And they have far and away the best customer service of any larger carrier. I used to have a job where I travelled every week. Greg, are you saying that AA now has an Economy-Plus type deal, where you can pitch in $30 or so and get more leg room? If so, that's fantastic. I haven't flown much in the past year or two. Yep - AA has it. It is a nice touch and if you have gold status or above it is included for free, although I think they are dropping that in time and are going to offer a 50% discount or something. I pretty much always fly AA but that is because they seem to have one of the best combinations of locations and I try to keep my points consolidated since I fly enough to get some benefit.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 23, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) Sorry bro! The thing about weddings is that a good portion of people there will be talking s*** about it. Whether is location, colors, food, booze, music. Someone will think something you did was stupid. My wife and I weren't crazy about spending our money on much but food booze and transportation. I'm sure people were taking s*** about our homemade centerpieces. Fact is, it's my wedding so I don't care. As long as your family and the wedding party have fun, the rest is bulls***. Completely agreed.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 05:04 PM) Your last paragraph pretty much proved you don't know much about the space. And that's ok. Is it an insane valuation? Maybe. But you need to learn more about their value and what it does before you make that judgement. Just having something on the internet is a laughable comparison. My last comment was sarcastic. You need to understand there is a difference between knocking a company and knocking the valuation of the Company. I have no issue with either company and i happen to use dropbox. I just have a problem with the absurd valuation and acquisition costs which are indicative of a gigantic bubble. That is all.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 01:42 PM) I meant the what's app revenue Both are absurdly overvalued.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 11:38 AM) Sounds like what Siebel said about salesforce.com years ago. They were very wrong. "Cloud stuff" is incredible over generalization. Do you realize how much a $20B valuation is? I'm not saying its a bad company or anything along those lines. I'm saying that based upon its performance and upside its not even close to what it is. The tech multiples are absurdly overpriced compared to everything else on this planet. At some point...profitability doesn't support ridiculous valuations and a massive bubble implodes. This is no different then a housing bubble...tons of s*** sells at ridiculous prices, not supported, eventually appreciation goes away and people realize the shell doesn't fit/work and thus, huge crash. That said, it isn't like there aren't other multiple supporting this...those multiples are all absurd. People need to take steps back and realize a lot of what is driving this is there are some tech companies with a lot of cash and very few ways to invest it. s***...I need to find some tech company to buy soxtalk based upon these absurd revenue multiples. I could retire before they figure out it doesn't actually make money. Afterall, my website is hosted on the "cloud".

This is such a big bubble that is going to burst and send our economy crashing right back into the over inflated pile of crap it really is.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 08:24 AM) Cloud software companies are very valuable, of course that's what Facebook is. Dropbox has entered the enterprise space in the last couple of years which is why they are valuable. Cloud intelligent content management is hot. There is nothing all that special with the cloud stuff as far as I'm concerned. Only way you can really differentiate yourself is through excellent security and that is primarily all handled by similar outside parties anyway from my understanding. It isn't like this companies have some sort of patent or just ingenius thing that they do that makes them worth the mega multiples. My point is nothing will prevent others from succeeding in the space and even the big tech companies from getting involved and that will keep margins down and really make it hard to turn these things into the cash cows and profitability machines that those insane multiples indicate.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 21, 2014 -> 07:18 PM) I thought I read $20m. I read $10B was the proposed multiple for DropBox and I crapped myself. Its a f***ing cloud. Maybe I'm a newb, but what the hell is such a difficult barrier to entry. Yes, they have market share, but how the hell are they a $10B (or even worse if it is truly valued at $20B) Company? Where is the logic. Earnings have been growing at a pretty high clip but you or I could start a company up and figure out how to do what they are providing and there are a lot of different people who have big server space out there that could jump into the cloud game to really keep them from ever having enough margins to be extremely profitable. Plus...I think even with all of their sales growth, DropBox is a $200 - $300M per year company in revenues. I can't imagine what Net Income is and EBITDA has to be significantly lower. The multiples of these tech companies are absurd and there is zero logic to them.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 21, 2014 -> 02:56 PM) Yeah, apparently it's big internationally where SMS text plans are often expensive, especially if they're international messages. But still, $19B? For a messaging app? User bases come and go all the time. It's hard to see how they could make their money back on this. Don't they generate like 400M in revenues. That is an absurd multiple. None of this recent tech stuff makes sense. Drop box valued at $10B.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Feb 20, 2014 -> 07:19 PM) Great stuff. enjoyed the research and analysis you put into it. If I had to rank them as most likely to make it to US Cellular Field, I'd go this way: 1. Thompson -- best overall offense to date and chance to be a plus outfielder. 2. Hawkins -- power potential to separate himself from the others. 3. Walker -- ability to play multiple spots and not consumed with HRs. 4. Mitchell -- honestly don't see any way this guy ever becomes who sticks on a big-league roster. I'd flip Walker and Mitchell but otherwise completely agree. Thompson is a major league bench player at a minimum due to his speed and defensive ability although I still think his bat, overall tools, and periphs will help him be an everyday starting centerfielder. Here's to hoping this is the year it all finally clicks. He definitely goes through periods where it looks like everything comes together.

Awesome stuff. I hope Carroll comes back strong!!!

I had a similar issue a year or two ago and sent an email to customer support and they cleared it up no problem.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 20, 2014 -> 08:00 AM) Think you guys are severely overrating this Heat team. I agree with you. With Wade, sure, they are better then everyone else. Without them, they have one of the two best players in the world who is pretty incredible (and still the best player in the world in my opinion) and he could singlehandedly do it (w/Bosh's help) but they don't have a strong supporting cast.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 18, 2014 -> 05:28 PM) But LeBron. I don't think Lebron and Bosh, without Wade, can win a title with the team currently constructed.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Feb 18, 2014 -> 04:26 PM) He'd easily land a max deal. Most people recognize that he's just not used to half his potential in Miami. The thing is, he seems like he's okay with that and wants to stay in Miami. Wade's issues might end up blowing up the Miami think. It is very possible that they lose and Wade isn't the same and they'll still have all of their money tied up and all of a sudden things won't look so attractive.

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Feb 18, 2014 -> 01:20 AM) Bears have signed former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Austen Lane to a 1-year contract. Looks like this is Julius Peppers replacement. If this is his replacement, I might as well plan on not watching next year cause that would be a disaster.

Have I seen some of those things said...sure...but with the consistency and assholeness...never. That is the epitome of bullying and being a complete and utter prick. Pouncey and Incognito are classless bums and should never get another NFL job again.

Baseball America is the best place to follow it. I'm hoping this is the year my Titans break through with another championship. Tons of depth and a great recruiting class. Preseason #1 in 3 polls...hopefully they finish the year in Omaha as the World Series Champs!!!

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 10:27 AM) There is literally no reason for the Knicks to do that deal. Not without finding a way to get Boozer elsewhere and not without Melo basically putting a gun to their head saying its either this or I walk in the off-season and you don't get Snell + picks.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) Back to Melo talk, it's actually possible to retain Taj/Jimmy/Noah/Mirotic It requires a desperate, forced hand Knicks team. Boozer, Kirk, and Snell have to go out. Felton has to come in from the Knicks as well. Bulls In: Melo, Felton Bulls Out: Boozer, Kirk, Snell, Picks on Picks on Picks Throw in Okafor as a possibility to be swapped in if the Suns do find they want Booz. Knicks wouldn't want Boozer, so you have to find someone else to take Boozer and basically make this all about cash savings + draft picks. And melo would have had to force the issue.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) Who said that he wasnt a great player in College? I loved Oden and likely would have taken him over Durant (unless of course there was a red flag with his knee but Im just presuming the Blazers arent that dumb after the Bowie incident.) The point is its easy now to say "Why would you pick Oden", its much harder when you dont have the luxury of hindsight. So youre basically making my point, its easy now to say "Why did someone pick Oden", it was much harder back then. And if I went back in a time machine, given all the facts, everyone would have taken Oden. I remember early in Durants career in Seattle people were labeling him a potential bust too (during the first half of his rookie year).

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 08:09 AM) He doesn't have the athleticism to be a top 5 pick in this draft. I don't see it. I don't know. The footage I've seen he looks awful tough. Its like all those people that say Dirk isn't athletic. He's probably one of the most athletic bigs of all time. People just don't realize it cause they forget how big he is. Mirt has range, can play in side, seems to be a solid shot blocker, and has quite a few low post moves and hook shots. His euro game should transcend well and there aren't many people in the league with his size and skillset. I drink the Mirotic cool-aid.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 07:59 AM) Remember two months ago when we were all told that Deng wasnt going anywhere? Boozer is getting mouthy because he sees the writing on the wall, and he isnt happy about what it says I can't see how Boozer stays unless they think Taj is a piece that is moved for someone like Melo (or another star). With Taj / Noah / Mrotic it just doesn't make sense to spend the cash on Boozer and makes more sense to find another guard who can stretch the floor and make plays.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 07:59 AM) The reason they won't trade him is because they can't. The Knicks are over the cap if Melo walks. Taking Boozer's $16 million next year is $16 million + luxury tax penalty. And the penalties become much more severe next year. What cost the Lakers $29 million this year would cost $75 million next. He can't be amnestied by any team other than the Bulls. Any trade rumor that includes Carlos Boozer is totally made up. Lance Stevenson and/or Danny Granger. Those are guys who realistically might be Bulls next year. And his contract can't be bought out. It is guaranteed. If the Bulls amnesty him, he still gets paid, it just doesn't count against the Bulls cap. I think how it works is they have some sort of auction and the Bulls pay the difference between the high bid and his contract figure. The only one that maybe made sense was the Phoenix rumors but It would be quite a bit of salary for them to take on. Bulls would have to give something to sweeten the offer. To be frank, I could live with Stephenson (replacing Boozer) joining the Bulls and staying as is (hoping we get some other quality players through the draft) + Mrotic. Rose / Stephenson / Butler / Gibson / Noah (+ Mrotic) is a nice looking young core (+ Snell and other draft picks coming in). This team is dependent on Rose being a star and Mrotic stepping up but it is possible.