MySpace To Lay Off Two Thirds of Workforce [UPDATE]

June 23rd, 2009 • 2 comments Featured, Internet
Tags: jobs, lay, myspace, networking, off, social

Following an announcement to initially remove 30% of its staff from its payroll, News Corp has announced that it plans to lay off two thirds of MySpace’s international work force.

The major reduction will see Myspace go from 450 to 150 international employees, although MySpace China and MySpace Japan won’t be affected as they are locally owned and part of joint venture respectively. News Corp also plans to shut down at least four of its international offices, and every single office is up for immediate shutdown. Offices that exist in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and Spain are all under scrutiny for possible shutdown.

Around half of all MySpace’s traffic comes from outside the United States, so there’s no telling what this move will have on MySpace’s popularity, which is already half that of its biggest competitor: Facebook.

Once restructuring is complete, Berlin, London and Sydney will exist as the sole regional hubs for MySpace activities on the international front.

[Original Post: MySpace To Send 30% Of Staff Packing]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Each Firefox Tab To Get A Separate Process

June 22nd, 2009 • 3 comments Featured, Software
Tags: firefox, mozilla, multiple, process, tab

Mozilla are currently working on implementing separate processes for each open tab in Firefox to enhance reliability and security.

Separate processes for individual tabs is nothing new in the browsing industry since the introduction of Google’s Chrome late last year. This has since been copied by Microsoft in Internet Explorer 8, which was released not too long ago. Mozilla is now playing catch-up and is in the process of bringing this feature across to Firefox – but there’s a catch. They’re going to implement separate processes for both Linux and Mac as well, which has been Google’s main excuse for the seemingly slow port of Chrome to operating systems other than Windows.

The main advantage of separate process is that if something causes a tab to crash, only that tab will close, leaving the rest of the other tabs and browsers open and operating as if nothing happened. So you won’t lose all 72 open tabs if something goes wrong in one of them. Separate processes also ensure performance improvements, allowing a user to run and (if need be) close a tab which is displaying a resource-hungry or badly coded website, which means only that website being rendered by that tab will be slowed down instead of the entire browser.

“Electrolysis”, as it’s been called by Mozilla devs, is currently in active development, to the point where they have a video of a working example, and is expected to be available to the public for active use before the end of July.

[via DownloadSquad]

Popularity: 10% [?]

MSN Revamp On The Way

June 19th, 2009 • Featured, Internet
Tags: bing, microsoft, msn, portal, revamp

Microsoft is also working on a complete interface overhaul for its MSN portal, amidst serious hype about Bing.

The current MSN design, which is around 10 years old now, is looking to get a complete visual makeover by Microsoft. The new design is being crafted with personalization and social media (especially video) in mind. Microsoft is attempting to re-vitalize their portal, which 37% of internet browsers depend on for information (according to Microsoft).

Microsoft has been working on making MSN seem more ‘fresh’ since 2006, where they hired the retired John Nicol (who worked for MSNBC). Since then, the MSN portal has seen an overhaul in their video content that led to the broadcast of the Beijing Olympics, as well as the introduction of Microsoft’s own take on Youtube, the ‘doomed’ Soapbox. I say doomed because Soapbox, non-surprisingly, was unable to compete effectively with other online video directories and is busy being cut back, maybe even to a point of ultimate shutdown.

Microsoft is also taking a very interesting approach to personalizing MSN. When most people think about personalization of a website, they think about choosing where what gets displayed, whether they want a search box or not and various other annoyances that tend to waste time instead of boost productivity. Microsoft is attempting to address this with each individual user’s information and demographics. This information will be fed through Microsoft’s algorithms and information relative to the user will be displayed in their portal.

This method of a computer deciding where to place content is being used in more ways than one. Instead of the content needing to be updated manually to suit different user’s needs, the algorithms will dynamically update the portal depending on which stories are being clicked by various users minutes before. I’m sure Silverlight will make a prominent appearnace as well.

Variations of the portals are currently being tested in France and Brazil.

[via CNET]

Popularity: 11% [?]

MySpace To Send 30% Of Staff Packing

June 16th, 2009 • Featured, Internet
Tags: economy, facebook, jobs, myspace, networking, news_corp, social

News Corp has announced that their social networking website, MySpace, will lose 30% of its staff in a bid to cut costs in its bid to remain popular with alternatives such as Facebook.

MySpace used to be the number one social networking website in the world, but has lost its spot to Facebook, who recently reached the 200 million member milestone. Although very different in nature, Twitter is also proving to be surrounded by more buzz than MySpace these days. Facing the tough competition, the decision was made to fire 30% of the staff (approx. 400 individuals), leaving 1000 employees behind.

According to the new MySpace chief executive, Owen Van Natta, the move was made to reinstate a culture that resembles one of a fresh new start-up.

“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered by our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,”

said Van Natta to Reuters.

Nobody inclined to comment when employees will be told whether they’ll be allowed to keep their jobs or not.

This comes at a time when Facebook has nearly more than three times the number of unique visitors per month when compared to MySpace, and news that Google wishes to renegotiate an advertising deal once the current contract expires next year.

There is serious doubt whether MySpace can turn their network around, which has become synonymous with badly designed profile pages as well as a platform of promotion for new musical artists. Here’s hoping for the best.

The announcement resulted in News Corp’s shares dropping by 4.2% to $9.41

UPDATE 1:

MySpace has announced their plans to lay off two thirds of their international workforce.

[Full Story: Reuters]

Popularity: 10% [?]

Microsoft to Release Beta Version of Free Anti-Virus “Soon”

June 11th, 2009 • Featured, Software
Tags: anti-virus, freeware, microsoft, onecare

It was first reported in November of last year that Microsoft is busy working on a free anti-virus solution for users. The software was slated for a June/July release, and according to a new report a beta is on the way.

The new anti-virus software is being released to compete with premium versions of security software, such as your everyday AVG, Avast, and so forth. What makes the Microsoft product appealing is that it’s being designed to offer the same features as desktop security, but only this time for free.

It’ll be able to tackle viruses, rootkits, trojans and even spyware, but won’t be a replacement for security suites that cost top dollar.

Microsoft’s anti-virus is currently being tested internally by employees over at the Microsoft HQ, and that a beta will be available “soon” according to a Microsoft spokesman who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday. The schedule for release is the 30th of June, the same date that Microsoft plans to dump it’s commercial security failure, OneCare.

Many people might be thinking that Microsoft should be able to put out a decent product, considering their building it for an operating system they designed. For now we’ll just have to wait and see, and hope another antitrust dispute doesn’t surface.

[Reuters]

Popularity: 24% [?]

Windows 7 Hits October 22

June 4th, 2009 • Featured, Software
Tags: 7, microsoft, operating, system, windows

Originally planned for a 2010 release, Microsoft has revealed that its latest operating system, Windows 7 is launching late this year.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that Vista’s successor will hit most of the world on October 22 2009, just in time for the holiday shopping season. Windows 7’s launch is very important to Microsoft’s market share and to the PC industry in general, the large majority of PCs run Windows. Combined with the arguable failure of Vista (or instead a few prominent tech bloggers and journalists voicing their dislike), there’s no better reason for Microsoft to regain some trust from the IT community

Windows 7 is also an important step for Microsoft in facing new competition, especially concerning the netbook front, where Linux is expected to show major growth, with the lightweight Windows 7 Starter.

The early announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as leaked ISOs on torrent websites as well as the Windows 7 Release-Candidate have been very successful for Microsoft, with many people voicing approval at the change in direction. Users who purchase Windows Vista around the October 22 date will be able to upgrade to Windows 7 free of charge, but no serious details have been released yet regarding this upgrade.

PC manufacturers will be able to get their hands on Windows 7 in July to place on OEM systems.

Popularity: 30% [?]