hotmail.

February 27.

On the savannah of Los Angeles, in a small improvised studio delimited by natural routes, the landscape of Sev7en ended with its rhythm, desolate, everyone ended up gathered at the entrance of the production studio.

-That was anticlimactic, - Billy replied, alongside Jim Waitt, with a hint of disillusionment about how the entire recording ended, the detachment was unromantic, and everyone had to make their appearances.

-You acted well. The director mentioned that even though you're a complete rookie, like him, you have spark. You know how to master your character to such an extent that Morgan Freeman's intensity didn't completely overshadow you. Without being irascible, you achieved a lot, - Jim Waitt commented, organizing his notes agenda. He now only had two people under his management, a prospective actress, and Billy, a guy who had been represented for five years and now had space for new talent, but the struggle at CAA continued, although Michael's idea had created power vacuums.

-I feel particularly tired, - Billy commented after numerous adjustments and retakes; he had to focus on the many roles he had to perform.

-Come, I have some scripts for you to read for your upcoming awards season. There are some interesting roles, but I know it's better to grab them now while you have the right time, - Jim Waitt commented, knowing Billy's schedule inside out.

Both arrived at the office, and a pile of scripts was on Jim Waitt's desk to the left, along with blue cream curtains and a gray polyester carpet covering the entire office, more like a carpet. CAA offices are simply marvelous.

-For now, you have 35,000 points, and according to your instincts, you should at least have the skills of any respectable actor in the market without practice and experience, - Jim Waitt commented.

-Okay, but we should have other options. You can't always wait to be alert. Often, a new face can step into the roles, - Jim Waitt commented.

The next scripts they looked at were Nixon, where you act as a supporting character in the shadow of Nixon, Crossed Lives, Dragonheart: Heart of the Dragon (which interrupted a certain space with Independence War), Mighty Aphrodite, Crimson Tide, and more.

-None catches my attention. Sure, interesting scripts, but I see that the scripts are particularly biased towards older people, - Billy commented.

-You're right, but the script isn't chosen by age, kid, it's chosen by talent. You could even take on the role of Nixon. However, that takes time, and preparation. What we need to do is give you enough time to acquire a more comfortable schedule, - Jim Waitt commented.

Opening Billy's thinking.

-Let's start with The Net, and then move on to an American President, - Billy said, seeing that the best way out was to take supporting roles and gain experience. This is different from what happens with lead roles, although on Independence Day, it's the opposite.

***

Later that same morning on February 27, 1995, the launch of Hotmail was announced, and they dictated the inauguration over the phone with numerous friends, creating email accounts in different countries and sending messages across distances. For those with internet access, the result was perfect.

The plan was simple: provide a great service and sell it at a ridiculously high price. For a company of 10 employees, it was enough.

-A toast to this, - Terry Banks, senior programmer of Hotmail, commented loudly.

They had just launched the Hotmail page, an email service that works nationwide, available in all states of the U.S. Even Anne on the side couldn't help but applaud the smiling youths who continued to rejoice in everything. A thoroughly interested Raimon in the development process toasted with the people, and members of the Hotmail team.

-What a novel idea, - Anne commented, approaching the group.

-Even more so with Billy's wonderful idea of paying for proprietary business domains. Now a company can open an independent email network, attached to a work network. Honestly, Billy is a genius, - John Grew commented, one of the lead programmers and one of the first to set up the transaction network for sending messages and attachment details.

-We already have a domain for our company, - Anne commented.

-We have it now; we're following the idea of creating two different emails, the first being Hotmail and a beta version of Gmail, which is much more complex and has different attributes. Billy wants to add it as a data program. However, to do everything Billy wants, we need more staff and resources, - John Grew responded, who, in Anne's eyes, was the hidden boss and who should be raised above Terry Banks, who had much more experience.

Why only in North America? For now, they limited the domain, to one month to see if they needed to correct errors. They'll likely open it to the world next month.

Anne led the conversation, standing in front of the meeting with her arms crossed calmly. She picked up a black phone and put it on speakerphone, dialing Billy's number, who was still reviewing scripts with Jim Waitt.

-Now we'll hear the good news from the president, - Anne replied.

The programmers' faces cooled; the president only came to impose more work on them. In their hearts, the technical details of Blogger, the specialized blog application, along with the format were still fresh.

The phone rang.

-Billy, it's Anne. These Hotmail folks managed to set up the email service, and now I see they're conducting tests. We'll likely need to hire technical staff to review the website and customer service advisors. Now, it's up to you as the president to set the direction, -Anne commented.

Without giving Billy a moment to breathe, that's how Anne was, frank and straight to the point, just like Billy. It was a gesture learned from both, Thomas, and the circumstances.

-Hire someone for that job, and let one person handle it. The rest can be addressed in different ways. For example, we can upload a tutorial document for people to review. They can create a frequently asked questions page with all the information. Want more solutions? - Billy responded.

-Thank you, now... - Anne murmured.

-Of course, they should continue with the Blogger project, an online blog with different functions. It can serve as an incentive for independent journalists, music lovers, whatever... Along with that, I'm reviewing our new joint project for online messaging, Messenger, the application for private remote dialogues, and instant messages. It's a better idea... Wish the team good luck with their work and arrange a five-day paid vacation at the hotel in Hawaii for them. They can take their immediate family along, wife, and children. If they don't have a wife or children, they can take their parents or siblings, - Billy commented, smiling at the good news.

The employees' smiles were both good and bad; more work, but also a break for a few days on the beaches of Hawaii.

-That sounds good. I'll send my regards to the folks; they must be excited about the vacation, - Anne commented.

-The vacations are for... - Terry asked.

-You have two months to claim them; we need to know if there are any errors in the network, and only you can confirm that for me, - Anne commented.

-Yes.-

-Yes. -

The lively atmosphere continued; on the other hand, Anne left there, her heels resonating, but not before giving Raimon a dirty look as he continued celebrating with the team members. As she climbed the stairs, she now had to proliferate the website by sending recommendation letters about the license to multiple companies. The new online email was previously delivered on Independence Day, but now with different designs and better hypertexts, inbox anchoring, and reminders on a small calendar. For all intents and purposes, in addition to the idea of agreements with companies, it adds up to divine creativity.

-Margot, organize my day. I need to have some phone calls with some universities, schedule appointments, and open my phone for some close associates who require new services, - Anne commented, already establishing a line of business. Billy might have mentioned that he only wanted an attractive sales pitch for a company and that he may buy the domain for $400 million to $600 million.

For all the services they provide.

***

-There's news that Lux Animation is preparing to release another animated film, - Michael Eisner muttered seriously, beside him.

-How do you know? Is this information trustworthy? - Michael Eisner asked, somewhat angrily, because in most situations, a Lux Animation film, comprising Lux Nation and Pixar, generates distress.

The employee nodded, handing over a small, bulky script. Titled on its pages was "Beyond," along with a simple explanation that crossed Eisner's mind. They're doing the dubbing.

-We're releasing Pocahontas in June. But we don't have a specific date set by them, and advancing the date isn't good unless we can advance it for both us and them, - Michael Eisner murmured, still lost in thought.

-Excuse me, - the employee replied.

Michael Eisner took the script and made a couple of calls to his friends at Warner and also to some press companies. Anything to just ruin Billy's profile. The first is to mess with the ratings, but he can't be blatant for two simple reasons: these are children's movies, and Universal, Paramount, MGM, and Fox will continue their agenda for profits. It's not worth it to interfere if you have to pay favors, which will continue to cause problems because the relationship extends over time, again and again.

...

Let's go to chapter 340 of Patreon, have a happy week, I hope everyone is happy, have a good start to the week.