I have been a great admirer of Andreesen since the mid '90s. He is no doubt one of the fathers of the modern internet. But really, he should can it about people using "his" ideas. He of all people should know that the internet abounds with ideas. Everyone has an idea.

Ideas are overrated and rarely original. The know-how to implement ideas, and to know which ones are good, that's where the real genius comes in.

I've edited down Om Malik's report on the talk.

• “Any desktop application that has not been implemented in the browser is now going to be implemented in the browser.”
• Chrome's speed, especially its advanced JavaScript engine, will push Firefox and Internet Explorer developers to make massive upgrades to their own products. “Microsoft can build good products when they want to."
• “If JavaScript gets any faster, then developers will question if they should develop in Flash or Silverlight."
• “Super interactive browser that sits atop a super-fast connection…now interesting things will happen over the next 5-10 years."

(Photo by Joi Ito)

"I have gotten none until now," he replied. "Which makes this one the worst by default."

The press corps may have forgotten Zawinski, but fans of his screensaver for Linux and Unix systems, XScreenSaver, haven't. One suggested that Google use Zawinski's Pipes screensaver for Chrome's "about:internets" Easter egg, which displays a series of tubes. If you don't get the joke, you probably don't remember who Jamie Zawinski is, either.

On Microsoft:

Microsoft can build software, when they choose to.

On investing in startups:

I usually put in $25,000 to $100,000 per company. My philosophy is to put in a small enough amount of money that I won't get mad at the founder if I lose it.

Translation: Marc Andreessen is so rich that he can lose $100,000 and feel nothing.

On the failure of Friendster:

Friendster was very restrictive on what users did. You were supposed to connect because you know each other in real life, not, as [founder Jonathan] Abrams said, 'because you both like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.' But sometimes you want to put your chocolate in her peanut butter.

Yes, he really said that.

On his deathwatch for the New York Times:

I don't want to become the crazy anti-New York Times guy. You have to do what Intel did in 1985. The Japanese chipmakers were killing Intel in the memory-chip market. It got out of memory chips and focused on the much-smaller microprocessor market. I would turn off the printing presses.

On his mentor and Netscape cofounder, Jim Clark:

I could tell you a lot of stories about his life [in Florida], but I won't. He's dating a 26-year-old Australian swimsuit model. I just ran into an entrepreneur who said, "I just ran into Jim Clark at a resort town in Italy. Jim was in a hot tub carved into the side of a mountain." I said, "Yes! That was Jim Clark."

On the iPhone's price:

Give it a year, it will be down to $99. Give it another year, it will be free.

On his motives for giving away his money:

My wife teaches philanthropy at Stanford Business School. I would be in big trouble if I weren't hugely committed to it.

On his relationship with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer:

He's my Facebook friend. He's my Facebook 'friend.' [makes air-quotes gesture] I'll stop there.

Because Zuckerberg doesn't have to. Microsoft owns 1.6 percent of Facebook; Li, even after doubling his take, only 0.8 percent. Neither stake is large enough to merit a board seat. Andreessen is, like Thiel, the former CEO of PayPal, an entrepreneur-friendly choice; he bypassed Sand Hill Road altogether to raise Ning's $100-million-plus in funding.

Just yesterday, we'd heard that Zuckerberg, who owns 27 percent of Facebook, had the right to appoint two board members. That leaves him one more seat at the table to fill. Anyone want to take odds on the moneymen getting left out once again?

Big mergers and acquisitions, particularly among public companies, particularly among public companies that have large shares of their respective markets, can take a year or more between the day the deal is signed and announced, to the day the deal is actually executed and closed. During that year plus, all kinds of things can happen that could cause the deal to fall apart.

Isn't Andreessen obviously thinking of AOL-Time Warner, a deal which faced intense opposition from competitors and regulatory scrutiny, and which Andreessen has called a "rolling catastrophe"? Come on, Marc, look on your keyboard. There's an "a" key on the left. An "o" on the right. And just below it, an "l." It can't be that hard to type.

Andreessen's conclusion is worth quoting in full:

We are learning that hostile takeovers have arrived in our industry. This is the second major hostile takeover so far — the other was Oracle's takeover of Peoplesoft — but there will be more.

This is significant because historically hostile takeovers practically never happened in technology. Potential hostile acquirors assumed that hostile takeovers wouldn't work because the target company's employees would bail and the target company's business would collapse.

It turns out that as technology companies become larger and more mature, acquirors are becoming increasingly convinced that neither of these assumptions hold. Perhaps employees of large tech companies aren't that bonded to current management, and perhaps many of them would actually prefer to work for a larger, more dominant combined company. And maybe as a consequence, the target's business would do just fine in the wake of a hostile takeover — in fact, maybe it would do better, due to advantages of combined size and scale.

My bet is that hostile takeovers, particularly of larger and more mature companies, are going to become increasingly common in our industry.

The excitement may be just beginning.

What has changed in the near-decade since then? Yahoo, which grew up alongside Netscape — at one point, Netscape hosted Yahoo's servers — is that much farther from being a startup. Working there offers less risk, and less reward. Andreessen doesn't come out and say it, but he strongly suggests the place has become infested with careerists who would be just as happy working at Microsoft.

After the Netscape acquisition, Andreessen worked briefly and unhappily as AOL's CTO. For Yahoos, wheeling and dealing may be fine; but for him, it's the startup life or nothing. Andreessen may feign nonchalance at the prospect of more hostile takeovers in tech. But that doesn't mean he personally wants any part in them.

A recent Fast Company article on Andreessen's current venture, Ning, went no better. You can practically hear the writer propping his eyelids open as Andreessen goes on, and on, and on, about "viral expansion loops."

What happened to the Andreessen who once ridiculed Windows as "a set of poorly debugged device drivers"? Why, he's gone online. Andreessen's blog is relentlessly entertaining. His verbal fisticuffs with the New York Times are must-reads; the vitriol oozes out of every line. And he posts just infrequently enough to keep us hanging on every word.

The only surprise, really, is that Andreessen took so long to start blogging. This world was not made for him. In the Web, he created one to suit.

(Photo by mathoov)

That was Jamie Zawinski, the Netscape engineer who helped "free the lizard" by open-sourcing Mozilla, even though he apparently offered up his SoMa nightclub, DNA Lounge, for the event. Zawinski did, however, build a time capsule of the early Web — including early iterations of the Mosaic browser and website — for those of you who couldn't make the party but would like to wallow in the nostalgia. Who did show up? Dozens who RSVP'd after Valleywag's calendar listing yesterday, forcing Mozilla to open up the bar when the drink tickets ran out. Photos, including our own Owen Thomas making nice with Anglosexual Flickr engineer Cal Henderson, by Randal Alan Smith.

I'm largely to blame for several innovations on the web including, cookies, the blink tag, server push and client pull, HTTP proxying, proxy authentication, HTTP byte ranges, HTTPS over SSL, and encouraging the implementation of animated GIFS into the browser.

"I never thought I was going to date an older man," Hinze told the Australian magazine. Clark's daughter Kathy is 10 years older than Hinze — and married to YouTube founder Chad Hurley. Hurley's site currently only has one video of his prospective mother-in-law, but that's sure to increase after her TV career takes off.

Eich credits Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus. The story goes that around the turn of the century, AOL agreed to spin off the Mozilla Foundation, but only wanted to fund it with a "get lost package," according to the Chronicle.

Eich says that Kapor, himself a victim of the Microsoft hegemony, leaned on a friend, AOL exec Ted Leonsis, to get the Mozilla Foundation a better sendoff. Eventually AOL agreed to set up the foundation with $2 million. It was enough to keep Mozilla alive and thriving.

Now, Mozilla's browser Firefox owns around 16 percent market share and Mozilla is more profitable than its new CEO would like you to think about.

The pair also face a potential lawsuit from residents upset at never getting the spa, restaurant and lounge Clark and Jermoluk promised for the building. "When we closed on the unit and walked through the lobby, we were like 'O.K., this looks kind of bland,'" one resident told the Times. "There's nothing for me to do but try and sell it." The buyer might have tried checking out the pair's full business records — something even the Times didn't bother to do. While he made a mint with Netscape, Clark's Healtheon struggled before merging with rival WebMD. SGI is on life support, a shadow of its former self. And Jermoluk is best known among Valley insiders for steering Excite@Home towards bankruptcy amid persistent rumors of a nose-candy problem.

Ram Shriram actually came in about a month after we closed our round. At the time we only had about $200k open in the round. Unlike most investors (who wait a week, talk to their friends, bring you back for multiple meetings), Ram said "Okay, I'm in" before I was done with the presentation. He then explained that he had no upper limit on what he could invest (good problem to have!), but that his accountants lose track if he doesn't invest at least $500k. So needless to say, we opened the round up a bit.

Netscape will revert back to what Drapeau refers to as a "traditional news" site — in other words, a portal site. But not the 2000-era portal design users mourn for. Instead, it's another AOL clone of Yahoo's My Yahoo personalized homepage, with a few Netscape logos tacked on.

Whether or not Calacanis's social news site dubbed "Netscape" remains — our sources say, "Yes!" — is immaterial. It is an also-ran. Everything under the "Netscape" name is a just a rebranded testbed for AOL's weaker Web offerings. Despite the warm assurances of current "Netscape" leader Tom Drapeau, AOL's attempt to revive a Netscape portal a year after doing away with it reveals either significant problems with the social-news strategy or continued management dithering.

"Netscape" may continue as a poor man's Digg, a poorer imitation of AOL's poor imitation of Yahoo, or some grotesque combination of the two. But whatever it is, let's face it: It's increasingly irrelevant. Has the Facebook generation, after all, even used a browser called "Netscape"? Use AOL Labs as the sandbox for new technology, redirect Netscape's remaining traffic to AOL.com, and let the brand — beloved browser maker, implacable foe of Microsoft, and fiery dragon of Web 1.0 — rest in piece.

Sorry, that's a big no. Of course, much of the feud was actually in the minds of Digg users and not the two entrepreneurs. Any animosity between the Web luminaries was simply "shit talking," as Rose put it on the show, not personal. But Calacanis and Rose are known for being outspoken and opinionated, and their approaches to business couldn't be more different. Surely, the two would inject some much-needed spice into the staid program — if only for their good friends Malik and Kim, Calacanis's sister-in-law.

Instead, the most contentious point of the interview came when Calacanis made this statement:

Netscape wasn't just a copy of Digg. It basically built on it. It did a lot of things that were much more innovative than Digg had done to date. And you've told me that before.

Well, I think it's a different direction ... I don't think I'd call it ... yeah, it's a different direction.

Malik should be ashamed of himself. If he can't deliver on a simple catfight, then he's sure to lose his audience to the Valley's new sex kittens.

(Photo of Calacanis, Kim, and Rose by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid)

To his credit, Netscape is still ahead of other social news sites like Reddit — for a couple more months anyway.

Netscape vs. Digg vs. Reddit vs. Wink vs. Newsvine [Alexa]

• AOL's Netscape team explains its process of preventing users from gaming the site. Meanwhile, AOL's Weblogs, Inc. team games Netscape competitor Digg. (One Weblogs, Inc. writer tells me that Weblogs, Inc.'s internal mailing list is clogged with requests for Digg/Netscape/Reddit/Del.icio.us votes.) All's fair in love and war, right? [Netscape and Diggforlife]
• Palo Alto, the movie: in which four friends remember the hardships of growing up in the hundredth-highest per-capita-income city in America. [Pictured; Official site via Adam Hahn]
• Best summary of a tech-based musical ever: "I think that Google: The Musical wasn't really about Google. It was more about the zombies that attacked the main characters." [Google Blogoscoped]
• The country of Cameroon finds its true economic calling: making millions off exploiting the ".cm" domain name. [CNET]
• For those who are keeping track, Ted Leonsis creeps ever closer to achieving his entire list of life goals (presumably updated since he posted it in January). Noticably absent is "not sound kind of like a prick by posting already-achieved life goals." [Ted's Take]

Save Digg (unaffiliated with Digg.com) lists the defectors' submissions to Netscape. (Submissions are headlines and synopses of a web page or article, along with a link). The site encourages Digg users to "fill in" for the ex-users (who go by Wayjer, Bloodjunkie, and dirtyfratboy) by submitting the same stories to Digg.

In other words, Diggers are stealing from Netscape what Netscape stole from Digg. And there may be nothing Netscape can do about it. After all, these stories are all someone else's in the first place. Even the headlines are usually lifted from the articles that Diggers and Netscapers link to.

It's an interesting legal situation, sure. But mostly it's just a hilarious idea from the "wise-asses of the crowds."

Save Digg [Official page; photo by urlyart.com]

But, he said, Netscape's staff (including manager Jason Calacanis, who was "being such a twat") had ignored his e-mails and his attempted news posts (which he submitted to Netscape and competitor Digg) about a vulnerability in the site's code. So he had no choice but to go ahead and hack it.

Yes, highest honors should go to the brave man who maturely demonstrated Netscape's vulnerability in front of all its users. Because, after all, better to slap a swear word on a high-traffic site than to post something more devious.

Did Netscape Ignore XSS Flaw? [Security Pro News]

• Now that you've seen cover boy Kevin Rose, check out the whole gallery of sexy young startuppers, including Yelp.com founders Russell and Jeremy, seen here about to sic their dog on some college co-eds. [BusinessWeek]
• Netscape names its first 10 paid users, the "Netscape Navigators." Kerchiefs and merit badges will be passed out at the clubhouse. [Calacanis.com]
• One of the top Netscape users not hired is a little bitter about the above. [Backstabbed by Netscape]
• San Fran videoblogger Josh Wolf was jailed this weekend for not handing his protest footage to the cops. More on this tomorrow. [SFist]
• Next time an Apple fanboy gets all macho in your face, show him these shirts. [IBloggedThis]

What happened to the nice Mike Arrington? We don't pretend to know, but now that the formerly friendly TechCrunch blogger has transformed into Fighting Mike, here's a round-up of his feuds and feuds-to-come.

Carr Wars: Mike insists that he doesn't avoid tech author Nick Carr because Carr called TechCrunch a whorehouse. Instead, it's Nick's bullying of others that gets Mike on edge.

Gillmor Gangbuster: A frequent guest on friend Steve Gillmor's "Gillmor Gang" podcast, Mike resigned during the last episode, claiming Carr's bully attitude drove him off. A week later, Mike says he's coming back. Steve says he's glad to have Mike back, even if that means the Gillmor Gang will turn into a trash-talking session instead of the comfortably boring tech talk it used to be.

No Valleywag at my party: After a certain gossip blog posted an e-mail from Mike, he banned that gossiper from his upcoming 500-person party. Now Mike's posted some of our mail in return, sending the hint that we'll have to pick up our beer and cake elsewhere.

You can't go Om again: Tech blogger Om Malik has more chops and a bolder attitude toward scoops than Mike. But he hasn't gained as much momentum, thanks to fewer and shorter blog posts. Now that Om has funding and a team of writers, will he stay friends with Mike, or will competition drive the two pundits apart?

Netscape scrape: Netscape's offer to hire away top users from other social news sites raises a red flag, says Mike. He thinks Netscape head Jason Calacanis is spinning a desperate move as an innovation in user economics. Jason counters, saying he'd planned to pay defectors from day one. So far, Mike let him have the last word.

Troll hunt: Like any blogger of stature, Mike's fighting an army of trolls, many of them anonymous, who leave nasty comments on his posts. Overwhelmed with the criticism, Mike's decided to delete comments at will. Nothing wrong with that — it's his blog, isn't it? — but so far the effect is like whacking a beehive with a baseball bat. Now the trolls are sending their deleted comments to anyone who will listen.

Honorable mentions
Ripping into Jigsaw
9rules don't play by my rules
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed

Ok, I left a comment on [Netscape head] Jason Calacanis blog a while back that I had an idea to get people to pay me to post their links to Netscape for a fee. On his blog I stated that I felt that it is was unethical to get to do this. I also sent [blogger-about-blogs] Duncan Riley and e-mail telling him about this business venture. He never responded about it, and thats good, Duncan is a good guy, and I really could not bring myself to actually start this little venture. Here is the reason I felt that it was unethical to do a business like that. Digg is corrupt and everyone knows it, now if I were to start charging people to put links on Netscape, I would be corrupting the system in much the same way. these social bookmarking sites are supposed to be a democracy, and digg just does not get that. My handle on Netscape is shane_coffey2, and I am one of the top contributors right now as we speak.

Having said that I don't believe getting a thousand dollars from Netscape themselves is unethical, because it is still me finding the links to stories placed on Netscape. To me it is not getting paid to put links on Netscape that they want to see, it is more about paying me for the time that I put into making a site good. To make it clear Netscape has not offered me any money at all and its not likely they will.

Which brings me to why I e-mailed you guys. I received a letter from dingo media, which is at the bottom of this e-mail. The more I read their offer the more it seemed fishy to me. It sounded like a pitch for viagra, or some fantasy trip that no one wants. So I did e-mail them back to get more info, like what website they are from. This what their reply to me was:

Good question—re-reading my original message, it sounds like I'm pushing porn or viagra websites.

In order to give you more details, I'd need you to sign an NDA.

So I then replied back to them there is no way for me to do this, it just does not smell right to me.

Shane Coffey

—-—-—-- Forwarded message —-—-—--
From: dingomed

Then before he pays carpetbaggers, he's already paying Netscape's top users, right?

No he isn't. One top Netscape user tells me that they and a few colleagues are exchanging e-mails, all wondering why Jason hasn't tapped them for his paid "Netscape Navigator" program. If they don't get an offer, they're leaving.

Maybe Jason just forgot — if so, he's known for quickly correcting issues like this. But maybe he's more interested in a high-profile offer than rewarding those who provided Netscape content from Day 1.

Earlier: Jason's gotta pay for what Kevin Rose gets for free

Now Almost Girl fashion blogger Phil Leif and his colleagues are trying to reach StyleHive for comment on the rising controversy. They want to discuss whether the program is ethical, especially since StyleHive seemed careless about having its users disclose that they're being paid.

As shown here, the StyleHive staff is less than responsive. And that's a dumb move, when bloggers might be won over if the company talks.

They've learned from Jason Calacanis how to fake a healthy social bookmark site, but they haven't learned Jason's other lesson: Always talk back to your critics.

Stylehive's Pay Per Post Program [Almost Girl]

Early this morning, a few (unpaid) Netscape readers were doin' their thing when two pop-ups...popped up. Tipster and AOL employee Conrad Quilty-Harper notes, "Wisdom of the crowds eh?!"

Either the fight between Netscape's and Digg's users has escalated, or someone from outside wants to foment a war.

Photo with misleading title: Digg defaces Netscape [Coneee on Flickr]

Right, Netscape head Jason Calacanis will try to spin this one way, and Digg founder Kevin Rose will try to spin it the other. But the real story behind the latest battle of the social bookmarking sites started like this:

Kevin Rose gets the sexy users. They love him. Oh, they love him. He's with another user every five minutes, gettin' it on, makin' that user crazy. That little user's begging for Kevin's sweet sweet link juice. Yes! Link it all over her! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Whereas with Jason Calacanis, it's more like "Hey, baby, get in my car, I'll make you a star, just go wild, and sign this consent form. I'm just paying you for what you already do free. And after we have our way with you, ya get a t-shirt."

"Okay," says the user. "Just please don't tell my parents."

Kevin Rose cracks (or "how to know when you've won the debate") [Jason Calacanis]
Calacanis [Kevin Rose]
Photo of Kevin signing a girl's boobs by Thomas Hawk [Flickr]
Digg this story [Digg]