Here is a very cool mashup regarding the Washington Capitals -courtesy of Japers’ Rink. 

I am proud of the Mystics players and organization; we played tough to the end, yet couldn’t overcome very talented Connecticut Sun powerhouse. Connecticut looked every inch the pre season pick to win the championship with size and a very tough defense.

So ends a successful and enjoyable year for the Mystics. We have established ourselves as a playoff team and now we need to get tougher and a bit bigger to become an elite team that can move deeper into the playoffs – onto the off-season and to more improvement.

The new Netscape.com has an interesting take on the news regarding John Karr and his confession in the JonBenet Ramsey case.  I think it’s great the way news stories are voted to the top by the readers at large and how the anchor has activated the community and the posts that follow. 

Good news for Loudoun County and AOL employee hockey fans - the Washington Capitals will practice and conduct free open sessions at the Ashburn Ice House, just a few blocks from AOL headquarters in Dulles, Virginia. Attending some of the sessions is a great way to meet the players, get autographs and have some fun.

The Caps will move into our new offices and practice facility sometime in October.

The other day a friend told me how great it was to see me being so upbeat about the new AOL. I told him that I didn

With apologies to the Stones, let’s admit right here and now that AOL customers and users might be forgiven if this was their chosen theme song for the past few months.

From stories about inappropriate customer service (nod to Vincent Ferrari), to recent missteps on customer search data, we’ve taken our licks at AOL. And rightly so. But I am a sports guy, and I keep score.

One reputable and prominent study out this week, the University of Michigan’s "American Consumer Satisfaction Index", shows a remarkable comeback story for AOL’s customer service – something I view as having tremendous importance to our Company. In 2000, the ACSI gave AOL a mediocre 56 rating out of 100. The lowest of all portals and much lower than MSN and Yahoo! Two years later, not much better: 59 (that’s an "F", by the way, in my high school days). By 2004, AOL climbs to 67 – still below average. In this week’s 2006 report – AOL checks in at 74. Tied with MSN. Just 2 points behind Yahoo! That’s a more than 4% increase over the previous year – more than any of the other major portal. And that’s a 32% improvement over our original 2000 score – the biggest jump of anyone else in the category. And that’s almost double the improvement score of all other portals in the category. It also represents the sixth consecutive ACSI study showing improvement in AOL’s customer care score. Yahoo! and MSN have flat-lined over the same period. With the challenges we’ve faced, the fierce competition in the industry, and with the stumbles (we’ve brought upon ourselves) all over the media recently – I think this is a noteworthy result.

We’ve got a lot of improvements to make, and we must atone for our mistakes. And there is no study that can take the place of what our members tell us they want and need – they are the ultimate scorekeepers and judges. But as we head into a new direction for the Company, it’s nice to know that – quietly, diligently, resolutely – thousands of customer care consultants are doing the right thing every day…helping our members take the next steps on the ‘net. And, by the way, those are now free steps on the ‘net for millions of consumers.

So, AOL puts some points on the board. Now, let’s win the game…

The Mystics have got to feel proud of all of their accomplishments this season: Making franchise history with a second winning season, going to the playoffs, and having Nikki Teasley named WNBA’s peak performer. Game 1 of the playoffs series will be this Friday at the Verizon Center.

This was my favorite headline today – from WebProNews. Because it its about marrying an internet phenomenon with great news for our Company. Userplane is both. And, its our latest acquisition.   Today, we announced this deal that has to do with a very exciting space – the nexus of instant messaging and newly emerging social networking sites. Userplane of Los Angeles will be integrated into the AIM franchise, and allow us access into the wildly popular and constantly growing arena of social networking and third party sites. Userplane already serves such sites as MySpace, Friendster, Tagged, IGN, Date.com and even Marvel Comics. Now, Userplane’s more than 100,000 sites and communities in over 25 countries will be able to interface with the AIM network and take advantage of the rich features and tools – and networking – that is a hallmark of AIM. This is the kind of deal that demonstrates that the Web 2.0 isn’t a future destination for AOL – its the here and now. And that’s thanks in no small part to Userplane – its technology, and its great talent, and its promise of bringing people and communities together online. At AOL, that’s something we know well.

Congratulations to the Washington Mystics for breaking the franchise record for victories.  The team has one more game to play and then the playoffs start on Friday.  you can purchase tickets here.

Back in March, I wrote a blog post about Art Buchwald, a man I’ve long admired.  At that time, his kidneys had failed, and he had moved into a hospice in Washington, DC where everyone expected him to die.

But to everyone’s surprise (including Art’s), his kidneys started functioning again, he left the hospice, and this past weekend, he hosted his annual charity event on Martha’s Vineyard. 

It’s an amazing turn of events – for an even more amazing and impressive man.  I hope he continues to grace us with his presence for a long time to come.