The story hasn't yet come out about Yahoo's frustrated attempt to buy Facebook, the social network for college students, earlier this autumn. I've heard a few versions. 1. Yahoo seemed to slow to close, just as the internet corp did during its negotiations with Youtube. 2. The parties couldn't agree on a satisfactory role for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. And, a new story, 3. Zuckerberg's meeting with Yahoo CEO Terry Semel was painful. The anecdote may have been elaborated with the recounting, but Zuckerberg said Semel, who has many qualities but an understanding of the internet not among them, was like an embarrassing uncle. That's the story making the rounds, anyhow.

Contact information for this author is not available.