Congratulations to Sheila Johnson for being so honored last night at the opening ceremonies of the US Open tennis tournament.

In 1978, I purchased a couple of ads for Wang Labs (my first employer out of college) in a small trade publication called Data Communications. I met with the publisher of the magazine, Sheldon Adelson. He was a very driven sales executive with a clear vision of the importance of networks to the computer business.

 Later in my career, I rented several booths at his budding trade show DataComm, which eventually turned into Comdex, a fixture on the Las Vegas convention scene. I would meet with him and he would be huffing and puffing and running through the pathways of the convention center barking instructions through his walkie talkie. His trade show was so successful that he was able to buy a hotel in Las Vegas; implode it; sell off his trade shows and magazines; and eventually build the Venetian Hotel on the strip. Mr. Adelson is one of the ten richest men in America and is now turning his sights to China and all of Asia by building the world’s largest casino in Macau. Sheldon has also become one of the world’s great philanthropists as well focused on Jewish-Muslim relations. What an amazing second act. Perhaps the greatest second act in business: from trade book publisher selling ads to one of the world’s richest men and the largest operator of casinos in the world. America, what a country!

I enjoyed watching the game yesterday and seeing some of our prospects play on the big international ice. I thought Alzner played well and he sure looks stylish sporting the big furry hat.

I enjoyed watching the game yesterday and seeing some of our prospects play on the big international ice. I thought Alzner played well and he sure looks stylish sporting the big furry hat.  I spent a couple of hours phoning many of our best customers to talk hockey and help them to make a decision to renew their tickets for the coming season. I even instant messaged with a few of our most vocal posters to ask them to consider buying tickets as well.

My bet? Mark wins it all. He can hoop so I bet he can dance. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Kudos to the folks at SocialMedia, a next generation network of company developed applications and third party applications made for Facebook.

Kudos to the folks at SocialMedia, a next generation network of company developed applications and third party applications made for Facebook. The company — which was co-founded by Seth Goldstein — is the early mover in this space. They make and distribute the applications. They cross promote on their own properties and then they sell the space as an ad network. I also appreciate how they are transparent in their publishing the number of downloads of their applications off of their home page. This network bears watching as it scales users and then starts to monetize the low cost real estate it is generating. The company name was donated to Seth and his partners by his wife, Tina Sharkey, who trademarked the name back in 1997. Tina is a long term executive in the business, having worked at QVC, iVillage and of course AOL. If Facebook is the environment, then SocialMedia plans to be the network programmer on top of it. It

I have asked for and have been granted permission to use the title Vice Chairman Emeritus, AOL LLC. I am very grateful that the company has approved of this change in status for me and my family. Emeritus is a Latin term that means “to gain one’s discharge through service”. As you know, I stepped down from day to day management at AOL in December of 2006. Since that time I have remained active; coming into the office; helping employees; helping customers; giving industry speeches and doing what was asked of me.

I have asked for and have been granted permission to use the title Vice Chairman Emeritus, AOL LLC. I am very grateful that the company has approved of this change in status for me and my family. Emeritus is a Latin term that means "to gain one’s discharge through service". As you know, I stepped down from day to day management at AOL in December of 2006. Since that time I have remained active; coming into the office; helping employees; helping customers; giving industry speeches and doing what was asked of me. It is now time for me to spend more quality time on my sports franchises; my multiple film projects; my philanthropy and on some startup investments that have me quite excited. I also want to spend more time with my family and travel the world a bit more. I will still remain connected to AOL. I have my office here and I am available to consult and help when and where I am needed. I will remain a positive public proponent for AOL but it is time for me to start pushing away from the Company that I have been so closely associated with for 14 years.

We just bought a Slingbox from Best Buy for my son’s laptop computer. He will now be able to watch all Caps and Wizards games on Comcast as he matriculates at UPenn. This is an amazing device and service. It is cheap, efficient and delivers a high

Here is an article from a major Japanese American publication quoting Violet Du Feng, our co-producer of "Nanking".

Great progress is being made on the new stadium. Check out the time lapse. This is very impressive and as a season ticket holder, I cannot wait to see the new digs.

Great progress is being made on the new stadium. Check out the time lapse. This is very impressive and as a season ticket holder, I cannot wait to see the new digs. Also — talking about stadiums — while I was working out this morning, I was watching a documentary on HBO. They referred to the 1971 opening of the Oakland stadium that was used by the Raiders and the A’s at a cost of $30 million. The new Dallas Cowboys stadium and the new NY Jets stadiums will each cost more than $1 billion to construct. How times have changed!

Here is a quick Q&A from me regarding Facebook via Robert Seidman.