What Has Changed  —  As I read this post in the WSJ about the changing nature of VC funding of consumer web companies, I thought that we may be looking at the symptoms and not the disease.  As the WSJ notes, VC funding of consumer web and mobile companies is down 42% in this first nine months of 2012 (vs the first nine months of 2011).

Droidfooding: After Years Of Giving Employees iPhones, Posters At Facebook HQ Beg Them To Test Android  —  “In the early days we gave employees iPhones primarily”, a Facebook spokesperson tells me.  That decision and the rise of Android has left Facebook scrambling to get employees dogfooding its apps for Google's OS.

Microsoft commits to Surface with Windows RT for at least four years  —  Summary: Nearly a month after its initial release, Windows RT still has no official support policy.  But Microsoft has declared its support lifecycle for the Surface hardware powered by Windows RT.

Bullet points on Ev's new startup  —  I listened to a podcast interview between Evan Williams and Jeffrey Zeldman yesterday.  It had a few bits about Medium, which is his new startup.  I am interested in know what his thinking is on this — as we've been exploring the same territory for a number of years …

Google shuts down dedicated Motorola Mobility sites for Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa  —  Soon after purchasing Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, Google announced it would make deep cuts into the company's staff, reducing headcount by some 4,000.  As part of that effort …

E-Commerce Spending On Black Friday Tops $1B For The First Time; Amazon Is The Most Visited Retailer  —  We've seen the reports that Black Friday online sales increased this year, but the numbers are finally in. comScore is reporting that U.S. retail e-commerce spending was $1.042 billion on Black Friday …

Scientists See Promise in Deep-Learning Programs  —  Using an artificial intelligence technique inspired by theories about how the brain recognizes patterns, technology companies are reporting startling gains in fields as diverse as computer vision, speech recognition and the identification …

‘CHANGE OR DIE’: Why Federated Media Has To Reinvent Online Advertising All Over Again  —  Federated Media Publishing was once a game-changing startup poised to shake up the digital advertising world.  —  Now, it's the one that's been shaken by a fast-moving industry, with layoffs and turnover in its executive ranks.

Windows Phone Team: This is No Way to Treat Early Adopters  —  Once seen as a nice gesture, Windows Phone 7.8 is now seen for what it is  —  When Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7.8 in June, I knew it was too good to be true.  At the time, it seemed like Microsoft was throwing a bone …

Cyber Corps program trains spies for the digital age  —  At the University of Tulsa school, students learn to write computer viruses, hack digital networks and mine data from broken cellphones.  Many graduates head to the CIA or NSA.  —  Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta highlighted the need …

Fighting Sandy debris-removal crooks: There's an app for that  —  A devastating storm like Sandy can bring out the crooks - and not just opportunistic looters and burglars.  Officials dealing with the destruction in the U.S. Northeast say one of their biggest headaches is debris-removal fraud committed …