Subject: How it all began!! > An old, bearded shepherd with a crooked staff walked up to a stone > pulpit and said, "And lo, it came to pass that the trader by the > name of > > Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. > > And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. > Indeed, she had been called Amazon Dot Com.. And she said unto > Abraham, her husband, "Why doth thou travel far, from town to town, > with > thy goods when thou can trade without ever leaving thy tent?" > > And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags > short > of a camel load, but simply said, "How, Dear?" And Dot replied, "I > will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send > messages > saying what you have for sale and they will reply telling you which > hath > > the best price. And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery > made > by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)." > > Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with > the > drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. > Abraham sold all the goods he had, at the top price, without ever > moving > from his tent. But this success did arouse envy. > > A man named Maccabia did secret himself inside Abraham's drum and > was > accused of insider trading. And the young man did take to Dot > Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They > were > called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Siderites, or NERDS > for short. > > And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the > deafening sound of drums, that no one noticed that the real riches > were > going > to the drum maker, one Brother William of Gates, who bought up every > > drum company in the land. And indeed did insist on making drums that > > would work only if you bought Brother Gates' drumsticks. > > And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken > over > by others." And as Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or as > > it came to be known "eBay," he said, "we need a name that reflects > what > we are," and Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner > Operators." "Whoopee!", said Abraham. "No, YAHOO!" said Dot Com. and > > that is how it all began. > > It wasn't Al Gore after all. >