Wired tries to handicap winners and losers in the Microsoft/Yahoo game, but they miss the bottom line: if Microsoft ends up buying Yahoo, it's a lose-lose for everyone:

• MS will be out of a ton of money
• Yahoo, like a car off the lot, will start losing value the instant it's acquired
• The culture war between the MS and Yahoo employees will be horrid, and damaging
• The software that dies in the "my way or the highway" fights that are inevitable after an acquisition will dilute the value of both companies over time

Take this to the bank: if the deal goes through, MS will be wishing it hadn't within months - and former Yahooligans will be lamenting the loss.