I partied with a bunch of NDS folks at Cable Congress. It showed that despite our work and our rivalry we could share time together as just people! It was an early morning finish and it was fun. I am now trying to work out whether it was them celebrating the recent Cisco event (having prior knowledge) or whether they are just ‘party lovers’? Was the news this week also a shock to them as it was to the rest of the industry? My email and phone still rings with news, analysis and commentary! Will my ‘Party Friends’ now be concentrating on what the absorbtion by Cisco will do to or for them? If I were them I would be quietly apprehensive. Consolidation is necessary at so many levels in our industry, however when it happens it generally results in some carnage. I wish my ‘party friends’ well for the future! Good Luck!