Last week, some fairly devastating unemployment stats renewed comparisons between what we're going through now and the Great Depression.  Fresh reports indicate that at least a few major tech companies are still happily chatting up potential employees, though.read more

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Recent by comments by Microsoft executives have led to speculation that Microsoft may abandon the Zune.Microsoft CEO Ballmer declared at CES that consumers increasingly were moving away from one task devices like the Zune towards smart phones while at the same time stating flatly that no Zune phone was in the works.read more

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The Microsoft adCenter team took the holiday break to put some "finishing touches" on some enhancements to the service. These enhancements include:read more

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Verizon has tapped Microsoft to provide search services for its mobile phones.Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said on Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would formally announce the deal later today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Reuters reported.read more

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Fair warning: this is an unsubstantiated, nonspecific, and not entirely easy to swallow rumor.  Today isn't April 1st, however, and the rumor seems to have gotten the attention of a leading tech reporter and at least a few stock traders.  So (for the umpteenth time) consider the possibility that Yahoo is on the path to getting acquired.read more

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Sometime this spring, construction of a Seattle development known as 2201 Westlake should be completed.  There will be 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 134 condominium units, and 302,200 square feet of office space.  Only the office space may remain empty, because Microsoft has backed away from it.read more

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Spamhaus is a non-profit organization dedicated to tracking the Internet's spam operations. They have just released a new list of the top ten ISPs used for spam purposes, and the big G is number 3 on the list with 21 current known spam issues.read more

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Are the rumors true? Reports have emerged that Redmond based tech giant Microsoft is set to slash its global workforce, as the pressure of the current financial crisis takes hold.Last month, speculation started that Microsoft was looking to cut its staff early in the New Year, with unconfirmed reports suggesting several thousands of employees would start 2009 looking for new jobs.read more

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All of the Microsoft haters out there will love this one. When I got up this morning and went to my car to go to the office, I plugged my Zune in to get some tunes on for the drive, and to my dismay, I could not get a single thing to come up on the screen (much less out of the speakers) except the Zune logo. In fact, the device is currently sitting on my desk with the same problem.read more

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Microsoft has filed a patent for a "Metered Pay-As-You-Go Computing Experience." The exact words of the filing's abstract are as follows: read more

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On March 18th, a company called Cygnus Systems was granted a slightly dull-sounding patent for "System and Method for Iconic Software Environment Management."  Now, the development's looking more significant, as Cygnus has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google, Microsoft, and Apple.read more

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Windows XP is, in a sense, like a horror movie franchise that the studio just won't let die.  Microsoft has said it will deliver XP licenses up until May 30th, 2009, even though January 31st of the same year was supposed to represent a death date of sorts. read more

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Ivory Investment Management can't order anyone to do anything.  Since it's only in control of 1.5 percent of Yahoo's stock, Ivory may not even be able to make suggestions using a loud voice.  Still, the investment firm is adding to all the previous Yahoo-Microsoft mess by recommending a sale of Yahoo's search business.read more

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A lot of eyes may be fixed on Windows 7, but Microsoft hasn't given up on Vista just yet.  An executive recently spoke out in defense of the operating system, saying that customers' reactions are improving.read more

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After failing to spend $45 billion to acquire Yahoo–in order to compete with Google–Microsoft finds itself with money burning a hole in its corporate pocket.read more

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I got my first invitation today to join a "network" on Microsoft's new "Windows Live" social network. Here are some of my rough initial thoughts.read more

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Given all that's gone on at Microsoft lately, it's hard to believe that the company has been running around without anyone in charge of its Online Services Group.  That period is coming to an end, though, as Dr. Qi Lu, a former Yahoo exec, has gotten the job.read more

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It's no secret that web analytics are important to the success of a website. It looks like that importance might even increase in the future as change unfolds in the search industry, throwing a fork in the spokes of how Internet marketers drive traffic to sites. Web Analytics and SEO read more

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About two years behind Google, Microsoft has finally decided to start marking malicious sites in the search results for Live Search. Better late than never though, I suppose.read more

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Alright, my first prediction for 2009: Yahoo gets carved up like a Christmas goose. No more corporate pussyfooting, no more billionaire shouting matches, just the stealthy, calculated approach toward the crippled wheezing of the would-be carrion. Soon it will all be over in a rush of feathers and blood. read more

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On Black Friday, Microsoft Live Search along with HP promised a 40% refund on items purchased in HP's online store. The only problem was that the site for what was called Microsoft Live Search Cashback experienced an outage and then started delivering 3% refunds instead of 40%. Obviously, there were some unhappy campers as a result. read more

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It seems that people really want Yahoo and Microsoft to get a deal done. Almost every other day it seems, rumors surface and are just as quickly shot down regarding the two companies and a possible transaction that could put a thorn in Google's side. read more

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Microsoft Live Search unveiled its Webmaster Center Fall Update today, which includes two new features, one for combating malware, the other to simplify the authentication process. read more

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Most of the SEOs were amazed by reading the article written by Skip Chilcott, Sr. Product Manager of Microsoft.read more

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Getting support for any product is often a painstaking and time consuming ordeal. There are parts of Microsoft that I have personally had such trouble with. read more

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Microsoft apparently drew one step closer to getting in serious trouble with the European Commission yesterday.  This afternoon, the company admitted to finding out that the European Commission believes its handling of Internet Explorer has been breaking antitrust laws.read more

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Google has been offering news alerts for years. It's been a handy way to get updates on particular topics of interest via your inbox, or more recently, your feed reader.read more

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It looks like Microsoft will be halting construction of new buildings around its Redmond headquarters. According to SeattlePI.com, an internal powerpoint presentation outlines plans. Joseph Tartakoff reports: read more

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I’m tracking the dismal news on all the various blogs. This is the worst month the tech industry has ever seen. The bad news from Microsoft, Intel, IBM is all over TechMeme and TechFuga.read more

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This morning at Microsoft, it seems that someone sighed, "Let's get it over with."  The company has released a fourth quarter financial report that wasn't supposed to turn up until after trading hours, and the numbers in it aren't pretty.read more

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