Courtesy of the Simpsons: "When Flanders Failed"

Lisa: Dad, do you know what Schadenfreude is?
Homer: (sarcastically) No, I do not know what Schadenfreude is. Please tell me, because I'm dying to know!
Lisa: It's a German term for 'shameful joy', taking pleasure in the suffering of others.
Homer: Oh, come on Lisa. I'm just glad to see him fall flat on his butt!

There's something about reading of the misfortunes and failures of others that is so enjoyable and amusing - and the media seems to eat this up. Two of my favorite recurring features in the business press are dedicated to the mistakes made by public figures and company executives.

The first is TheStreet.com's "The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week", which looks at the week's headlines, picks five blunders, and assigns them a numerical score on the "Dumb-O-Meter" from 1 to 100. This week, Google chimes in with a 93 over their CFO's reports of slowing growth, while CBS and Cisco also make the list.

The second is Business 2.0's annual feature "101 Dumbest Moments In Business", which does TheStreet.com 20 times better, and always astounds me with how they quickly find amusing screw-ups and summarize them in a paragraph apiece. If you haven't read through this year's list, make sure you do. After all, if the best part of reading others' mistakes is to avoid your own, there are more than 100 things you can learn NOT to do.

(Today we go old media. Once again, presented without any context or reasoning.)

1. Business 2.0
2. eWeek
3. InfoWorld
4. Storage Magazine
5. Computerworld
6. Network Computing
7. Network World
8. InformationWeek
9. Wired
10.Macworld

Since 2003, we've featured a TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) in the center of our entertainment hub - and if you've ever had access to a TiVo, and then been forced to fumble with standard television, you'll know there really is no going back. And similar to Apple fans, TiVo subscribers are fiercely loyal about their machines - eagerly awaiting feature enhancements, and often pow-wowing with one another on how they can "hack" their box to gain additional storage capacity or hidden surprises. But as much as they enjoy the company's product, there is a growing sense that the company is no longer on the leading technology edge - and has seen competition eclipse the lead it once had, reducing the company's actual and perceived value.

This week, TiVo stirred up interest by coyly hinting at a major product announcement that was to take place this morning. Cloaked in the type of secrecy that followed Apple's announcements earlier in the week, the Web began to buzz again about what TiVo would possibly have up their sleeves - the roll-out of their Series 3 recorders? More news into their partnership with NetFlix? Who knew?

Instead, the reports started to trickle in, from TiVo fan blogs to the Wall Street Journal, that all the company was readying was an enhancement aimed at children, called KidZone, which would help parents work with their children to avoid the potential evils of television, in cooperation with the Parents Television Council. And that was it. TiVo tried to trumpet the announcement as being groundbreaking, issuing a lofty release, titled "TV and Kids: Finally the Right Solution", but I don't think subscribers are buying it, and Wall Street didn't care - at all. In fact, TiVo stock didn't change a single penny on what should have been a rather important day for the company - and that really sums up the TiVo story - Unchanged.

Just days after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics, a new sport has thrown off the shackles of an extended sabbatical and is prepared to return to fans' consciousness with a vengeance. Around Arizona and Florida today, teams got their first look at real nine inning games against major league opponents, and had the opportunity to not only showcase their star players, but try out some of the younger prospects.

The Oakland A's faced the Chicago Cubs in a mid-day game, and despite falling behind early 5-0, they rallied against one of the team's series of pitchers, scoring seven runs in the fifth inning, including a grand slam by second baseman Mark Ellis, only to eventually fall by a score of 8 to 7. While some might tell you spring training games and scores don't count, to the diehards, every game counts. Now, with the A's winless on the very early season, some are already calling for managerial changes and a lineup shakeup. But... maybe they're just kidding. Right guys?