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12:30 PM ET, January 1, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Emil Protalinski / One Microsoft Way:
Rumor: Microsoft to lay off 17% of staff on January 15, 2009  —  Last week, Mini-Microsoft reported on a rumor regarding Microsoft layoffs expected to start on January 15, 2009 (a week before Microsoft's Q2 earnings report).  I brushed the news aside then, but now it's worth quoting, just in case:
RELATED:
Lars-Göran Nilsson / Fudzilla:
Microsoft getting ready to lay off 17% of staff  —  Worldwide cutbacks  —  The rumor that Microsoft was set to lay off people on January 15th, 2009 is no longer a rumor but a fact.  Staff at Microsoft have been informed that the company is readying major layoffs to its worldwide operations and it's not a small cut, either.
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Report: Microsoft To Lay Off 15,000 Workers  —  There are reports that Microsoft is getting ready to lay off 17% of their workforce on this new year.  The layoffs are expected to happen on or around January 15th.  So it looks like the rumors are right and this recession is going to hit …
internetnews.com:
Is Microsoft Planning Its First-Ever Layoffs?
Discussion: Technologizer
Matt Akers / forums.zune.net:
Official response for Zune 30 Freezing Issue (Zune 30gb stuck at reboot screen)  —  Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used).
RELATED:
Seth Weintraub / PC World:
Apple to Give iMovie Big Update: Rumor  —  According to rumors Apple will announce at Macworld that its video editing software iMovie will receive a big update.  —  Recommends  —  I've heard from reliable sources that Apple will offer a significant update to iMovie at next week's Macworld.
Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac, Appletell and Infinite Loop
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
How to unlock your 3G iPhone  —  YellowSn0w is out and it's ready to rock.  Here's how to become SIM-independent.  —  NB: Install the latest 2.2 firmware before beginning this process.  —  1. First, download quickpwn and jailbreak your phone.  —  Pick your device.  We want the iP3G, obviously.
Discussion: Gizmodo, yellowsn0w and TUAW
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Apple's Internet share registered strong gains in Dec.  —  Apple's (AAPL) presence on the Web expanded to record levels in December, according to preliminary data released early New Year's day by Net Applications.  —  Mac OS X's percentage of Web hits reached a record 9.63% …
Discussion: CNET News and AppleInsider
Stephen H. Wildstrom / Business Week:
Hollywood's Digital Dawdling  —  Many great old films are unavailable on DVD or online thanks to movie studios' 20th century thinking  —  On Feb. 3, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SNE) is going to make an honest man of me.  Finally I will be able to buy a legal DVD of one of my favorite movies, Carol Reed's 1959 Our Man in Havana.
Discussion: Beet.TV
Louis Gray:
10 Predictions for 2009 In the World of Tech  —  Following on to last year's 10 Predictions for 2008 In the World of Tech and the recent results: My 2008 Tech Predictions Look Bad As Year Nears a Close.  —  1) The Real-Time Web Will Become Critical for News and Information Discovery
Discussion: Off On A Tangent
Nat Worden / Wall Street Journal:
Time Warner, Viacom Reach Deal  —  NEW YORK — Time Warner Cable Inc. Thursday said it reached an agreement with Viacom Inc. on carriage fees shortly after midnight, averting the prospect of having its subscribers deprived of popular networks such as Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon.
Gopal Ratnam / Bloomberg:
Lockheed, Boeing Tap $11 Billion Cybersecurity Market  —  A A A  —  Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., the world's biggest defense companies, are deploying forces and resources to a new battlefield: cyberspace.  —  The military contractors, eager to capture a share …
Discussion: Threat Level
Michael Calore / Wired News:
6 New Web Technologies of 2008 You Need to Use Now  —  Every year, we see scores of innovations trickle onto the web — everything from new browser features to cool web apps to entire programming languages.  Some of these concepts just make us smile, then we move on.
 
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 More Items: 
Jordan Robertson / Associated Press:
Microsoft: Chinese software pirates get prison sentences
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Top Social Media Sites of 2008 (Facebook Still Rising)
Digital Transactions:
Bill Me Later Not Likely to Suffer from Its Ouster from Amazon
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:
Evite fails on the year's biggest party night
 Earlier Items: 
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Audiolizer Puts Your iTunes Library In The Cloud, But Lala Does It Better
Michael Calore / Epicenter:
Ubiquity Add-on for Firefox Gets an Update, New Interface
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Joe Wikert / TeleRead:
Memo to Jeff Bezos
Discussion: RyanSpoon.com
AppleInsider:
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to appear at Macworld
Discussion: Tech-Ex
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie becomes the first release of 2026 to cross $1B in global grosses; Michael Jackson biopic Michael is on the verge of crossing $900M

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox News integrates Outkick into Fox News Digital, five years after acquiring the sports brand; Clay Travis will exit the site to become a Fox contributor

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox Corp. signs a new deal to show a wide range of NFL games via its Mexican outlets, including transmissions of Thursday Night Football and the Super Bowl

 
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