It's Never Too Early To Say Goodbye  —  “You can't just quietly slip out the door,” I've been told by too many people I trust.  So okay, fine, here's this post!  —  Since you asked, TechCrunch is in a really good place right now.  —  The various numbers we use to measure ourselves …

New Gmail Feature Allows Anyone On Google+ To Email You & Vice Versa, But Opt Out Is Provided  —  Google is today making a change to Gmail that will further bake in Google+ to its webmail product in a way that's actually somewhat practical, though also potentially invasive.

Obama Readies Revamp of NSA  —  WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is leaning toward extending broad privacy protections to non-U.S. citizens and is seriously considering restructuring the National Security Agency program that collects phone-call data of nearly all Americans, officials familiar with the process said on Thursday.

Overstock.com becomes the first major online retailer to accept bitcoins, will use Coinbase's payment system  —  The Grand Experiment Goes Live: Overstock.com Is Now Accepting Bitcoins  —  Overstock.com is now accepting payments in bitcoin, making it the first major online retailer to embrace …

Google updates Play services with turn-based multiplayer, Google Drive API, improved battery life, and more  —  Google today updated Google Play Services to version 4.1, adding turn-based multiplayer support, a preliminary Google Drive API, improved battery life for all users …

Surprise: Amazon tests physical retail with ‘Kindle Kiosk’ vending machines  —  LAS VEGAS — Amazon, the company that defined the world of online commerce, is venturing further into the world of physical retail — experimenting with standalone, automated “Kindle Kiosk” vending machines in selected airports and shopping malls.

Gartner: PC shipments slip 6.9% to 82.6m units in Q4, as 2013 sees the worst yearly decline in history  —  The PC market continues to be in free fall, having now seen its seventh consecutive quarter of declining worldwide shipments.  Worldwide PC shipments dropped to 82.6 million units …

Apple Devices Flow Into Corporate World … As technology shifts from personal computers to smartphones and tablets, Apple Inc. is expanding its reach into a lucrative customer base: companies.  —  The popularity of the iPhone and iPad among employees is prompting corporate tech managers …

Closing Windows: Microsoft and its platforms are nowhere to be found at CES  —  For over a decade, Microsoft was the dominant presence at CES.  But after pulling out the show in 2013, the company has faded almost completely from view this year: the biggest Microsoft story at CES 2014 …

Snapchat apologizes for leaked user data, updates app to let you opt out of ‘Find Friends’  —  Snapchat today rolled out the security fix it promised last week, which lets users opt out of the app's “Find Friends” feature.  The feature, which let users plug in their phone number to find friends …

Motorola offering free Google Chromecast with purchase of off-contract Moto X  —  After the Cyber Monday madness surrounding the $349 Moto X, Motorola officially dropped the device's off-contract price to just $399 last week, looking to get the device into even more consumer's hands.

PlayStation Now will require a DualShock controller for TVs, tablets, and phones  —  PlayStation Now could be the future of gaming, but you're going to need a proprietary controller to play.  Though Sony has announced that the streaming game service will come to tablets and smartphones …

Hisense's Pulse Pro Android TV box looks like the next generation of Google TV  —  CNET Editors' Take  —  LAS VEGAS — Google TV may not officially be dead, but it sure looks like it's evolving into something else.  —  Hisense is showing a nifty little set-top box at CES 2014 called the Pulse Pro …

Singapore Tax Authorities (IRAS) Recognize Bitcoin and Gives Guidance  —  Singapore, January 8, 2014: While most governments are scratching their heads about how to handle Bitcoin, Singapore has once again shown its leadership in the region by letting Bitcoin businesses and merchants know how to handle taxation on transactions.

NSA and GCHQ activities appear illegal, says EU parliamentary inquiry  —  Civil liberties committee report demands end to indiscriminate collection of personal data by British and US agencies  —  Mass surveillance programmes used by the US and Britain to spy on people in Europe have been condemned in the …