So how are you holding up?  I am feeling better physically, and mentally, but can't help but be affected by the general tone of gloom and doom.  I guess you just batten down the hatches and keeping plugging away.  The sun will come up tomorrow.  My kids are still cute :)

Today I saw an email thread from one of Aperio's investors, about Sequoia's "all CEO" meeting which reportedly began with a tombstone labeled "good times, RIP".  The general message was access to capital will be tough, and everyone has to conserve cash and reduce burn.  There will be opportunities for the survivors, but first they have to survive.  Later I read an email from Bill Gurley of Benchmark with essentially the same message.  Whew.

It is becoming apparent that investor confidence is gone.  The stock markets are sinking like stones, and nothing seems likely to reverse the trend anytime soon.  TechCrunch notes the Brutal pounding taken by Apple (red), Yahoo (green), Google (blue), and Microsoft (yellow).  Nasty.  And we haven't reached bottom.

Drudge had this link to Yahoo Finance, showing the Dow at 8,500, with the headline "Goodbye 9,000".  Yep, we might not see it again very soon.

The Economist thinks a global recession looms.

A silver lining: Oil plummets to $82.

Here's Powerline's nominee for greatest political cartoon ever, from Michael Ramirez.  I don't know about greatest ever, but it is pretty good.  In that funny but it really isn't funny way.

Chris Anderson notes the best advice I've heard all week: "Put wax in your ears. People are more afraid of flying than driving because the press does not report car accidents."  I don't know...  some information has to be useful, right?  And integrating across many sources has to be better than relying on one or two..

He goes on to discuss what recession means for free, a pertinent subject since he's very much preoccupied with "free" business models.  I think overall the impact will be negative, these advertising models that seem to support so much "free" are going to get much more scrutiny in a tight economy.  The old "dollars for eyeballs" value propositions are out the window.  You have to be able to monetize the traffic.

Tonight I watched the Phillies edge the Dodgers in game 1 of the NLCS.  Good game, well played.  It will be a tough series.  Tomorrow's game seems critical, if the Dodger's win they get the edge, but if the Phillies win they will probably be on their way to the World Series.  Seems likely to go at least six games either way, no brooms :)

And I must say that although I like Joe Buck, Fox really sucks.  That whole Jeanne Zelasko / Kevin Kennedy crew are horrible, and Tim McCarver is wearing on me.  I already miss TBS (but they're doing the ALCS, so they'll be back tomorrow).

Well this is good news: Windows XP downgrade extended until July 31, 2009.  It now seems apparent that Microsoft have bitten the Vista bullet and will keep providing XP until Windows 7 is available.  Whether Windows 7 is any good remains to be seen, but it can hardly be worse than Vista.  Riight?

An interesting article in Wired: How the Telescope changed our minds.  "Four hundred years after its invention, the telescope has become an essential scientific instrument, an icon of science.  But it is more than just an extension of our senses - the telescope is an instrument of thought as well. Throughout its 400-year history, the telescope has changed our view of the universe and our view of ourselves."  Not only the telescope, but its cousin the microscope too.  Cool.

Uncov is back!  You have been warned :)