To prevent sounding too much like Jack Handy, I will save you from Design as Propaganda part four. Instead I will write about things that just need to be lifted from my poor brain without all the philosophy. In the spirit of our commercialized Valentines Day, it comes straight from my heart.

Remember Corel? I do not understand how this company has survived for all these years, but apparently they have shifted their focus. I have been following them because they purchased the software rights from the dying Metacreations. The CEO writes:

Under the plan, Corel will leverage its solid foundation as a global technology leader with over 15 years experience to enhance our relationship with existing customers and equip new customers in emerging markets fueled by the rapid expansion of the Web and the increasing demand for graphics-rich visual communication.

After reading that iVillage aquired women.com, I found this quote strange,"The companies said they will use their combined resources to develop additional revenue streams, such as subscription plans, and perhaps create a separate research company. " hmmm...a research company? Maybe they could research why they lost 9.8 million last quarter and that women will not pay for their horoscopes online.

This eLance concept could not be good for the design community. How can ExpertSoft get 93 bids on a logo project that had a 40 word proposal? This can only reinforce design as a commodity. Stick the name in Photoshop and bam! An instant logo. A few interesting comments from the bidders:

Bidder Comments : "Hello, the bid submitted is for creating your logo with unlimited revisions and all the work needed above..." (unlimited?)

Bidder Comments : "Please review our attachment (link dead) of logo, business card, letterhead and envelope layout proposal design for ExpertSoft." (uhhh...how about getting paid.)

Bidder Comments : "I'LL DO THIS WORK FOR FREE!!! DO NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!!!" (...he got the job)

"The next version of our site will allow users to turn off the pop-ups if they wish. However, in that case, it will be a paid subscription or they will have to accept more ads in their e-mail. We are going to figure out how much money we will lose by not having the pop-ups. We haven't made any final decisions," said Sanford about PassThisOn.com (remember this annoying site that I mentioned back on dec 27?). Paid subscription for what? Spamming me?

...and something to waste away your time. Perhaps this is what the internet is all about-apparently it was for me today.