Exactly in 3 days, the Infospace corporation will hold its annual shareholder meeting in Bellevue, WA. It's going to boast with the number of $millions it earned this year. We will speak about Infospace in a minute, and today ...
Today is V-Day, The Victory Day, - an official holiday to salute the end of the World War II we won!
[Sadly enough, but it seems the world made every effort to remove this event from its memory: In the most popular web search engines top results for "V-Day" are about global movement to end violence against girls and women].
What is more, today is birthday of my father! And for the lucky coincidence, his first name is Victor too. So, it's going to be a really great holiday :)
Today I waked up early morning. In a cold unheated apartment. And as usually, because of a wild cry of my mother. She has became seriously ill since Infospace ... But I should not speak about it today.
Once the most popular song in my country is on radio now:
"This Victory Day has a smell of gunpowder. This is holiday through tears ..."
Thanks God, we (winners) live in a peace today. Quite poor, but without war!
Publishing my previous article was delayed because electricity blackouts in our area. Sorry, my readers. I've just recalled the following:
On May 1, I first introduced my Ads-FREE Web concept.
That day was a holiday in Ukraine too. But the last time I celebrated it was 22 years ago, - on May 1, 1986. At that day I took part in a big festive demonstration. I remember how I walked through central part of the capital of Ukraine, - Kiev City. Dressed in a T-shirt, and not knowing that at that moment a radiation level in Kiev was dangerously high, -- It was several days after the later famous Chernobyl nuclear station's accident ...
But in fact, I had no choice. The Head of the University I studied in, called all students shortly before May 1, and strictly warned: "You must go to the demonstration! To show the world that Chernobyl's accident is not a serious problem. To calm down other people". Then added, "Otherwise, you will be disgracefully send down from the University..."
On May 7, I updated design of THIS website, - to create the first "live" demo for Mini-News concepts. Without expensive promotion, this event went practically unnoticed by the world ...
But today is holiday! I'm heartily wishing my father good health, success, and much more. I'm wishing to him many happy returns of the day. And my father looks happy!
He is 78 today.
He believes that some day I will achieve he couldn't, - prosperity.
He still hopes for that.
Day by day, year by year ...
But was it really possible? Could I ever become rich? Was there a lucky chance in my life I failed to turn into the gold of success?
I had signed fantastically good job contracts in the US and Europe, but was simply rejected in a visa at the very last minute. Then, for years I've worked very hard to develop a really innovative software. And even created several original "Million Dollar Homepages", - obviously, not copycats. However, couldn't pay even for their initial promotion..
No Americans would choose to make a million through Million Dollar Homepage scheme. Why would they? They have a lot of REAL opportunities, e.g., good jobs.. It's not to say that in Ukraine there is no open job vacancies. Rather, there is no American salaries. Despite prices for most products are
higher, - sometimes twice as much as those in the US.
Twenty years ago my parents left for me a quite decent amount of money in the State Bank's savings account. At that time, I could buy for the sum at least one home, or several cars. But I was ashamed to spend it: I wanted to earn my own money, I wanted to build my own success. Fair! But shortly after that the former USSR was collapsed, and that money have been "frozen". Literally! Till this year, when Ukrainian government at last decided to start paying its debts and return its people the money they *already* earned! Well, ... only partly: Just the first $200 from each savings account have been allowed for withdrawing.
Thus, today I have for promotion my Mini-News.com almost $200 :)
What would I say to my parents this year?
Thank you for teaching me to live fair?
A person (or company) that lives unfair has a great advantage over other competitors. The rest of people (or corporations) are restricted in their actions by the issues of honesty and ethics. The unfair ones, - don't!
Should I make these problems a main topic for Mini-News.com?"Infospace vs. 2D-Infospace" domain war became the most destructive event in my life! Despite the 2D-Infospace.com was my first ever website ...
Infospace makes mega money on providing links for billions websites. But each particulat website means for them nothing?!!
Is it worth to continue developing my new web technologies from the first and the only PC in my life? Instead of making a unique brand name famous for SHUTIING DOWN a multi-national IT corporation?!!
Towards the Future
You can sell the things you created. But what about selling the ones you haven't created yet? While they are in our mind in the form of ideas, the margin between cost of efforts for their creating and price tag for the future product in the real world is fantastically high. Much higher that for the popular "get rich quickly" scams.
Then, why not to trade ideas in advance, - before they become famous.
A "secret" tip: Buy the Mini-News.com for 10$M now!
BEFORE it's priced a $BILLION!!!
I would like to spend a million for promoting my web projects. Is the only real way to achieve it through starting an anti-Infospace campaign? For example, create a competitive search engine for browsing collections of links for bad articles about Infospace?
The newest idea is to make the Mini-News.com popular. Then the price tag for my future anti-Infospace projects and campaigns will be even higher! (Obviously, not the minimal $10M).
I have no home, no car, no cash ... And if I loose my websites as well, it could be the only option.
What would be Infospace WITHOUT its trademarks?!!
Today Infospace's CEOs even don't realize that my 2D-Infospace name and concept was created BEFORE Infospace, Inc. was born. And that I discussed 2D-Infospace in public BEFORE Infospace registered its currently priceless trademarks!
For the last six years Infospace's CEOs haven't realized even the simplest fact:
The idea, in general, for their leading product, - Dogpile search engine that browses only within similar results from other engines, - amazingly resembles the main idea of 2D-Infospace: A "Concept Search Engine" that browses only within similar Instances of the same content.
Well, this can be a big surprise for INSP shareholders and investors. (Look at Sex.com: The guy got his money after all!). But I'm writing this article not to start reshaping the future of the Infospace's financial empire.
All I want to say today: Justice Must Exist!
Today should be holiday. But I'm writing this article instead ...
- to be continued -