‘Bing, the better way to Google’

27 Jun

Posted by erikbowman as Uncategorized

"Introducing Bing, the better way to Google." That’s how the folks at CollegeHumor start out this humorous parody of Microsoft’s new search engine.

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and Microsoft plans to fold enthusiast sites into overhauled ‘Channel 9′

The internal group responsible for "evangelizing" Microsoft’s technologies plans to phase out its standalone Channel 8 website for students and Channel 10 site for tech geeks — folding elements of them into an overhauled version of Channel 9, the company’s flagship video site and forum for software developers.

The group is putting a positive spin on the decision, saying it will strengthen Channel 9 and give it more of the content that originally made it popular. Channel 9 will be redesigned and revamped to add live webcasts, better integration with social networks, new technical training materials and more posts from the company’s technology leaders.

But the move also reflects the company’s struggle to build thriving online communities beyond its core audience of software developers.

Channel 9, which gets about 4.5 million unique visitors a month, is known for lively discussions in the comments on videos and in related forums. Channel 10 gets about 1.5 million unique visitors but hasn’t generated the same type of loyal following.

and MySpace bungles final check payments to laid off staffers

What is it with technology companies screwing up payroll for those workers getting the ax? According to TechCrunch, recently laid-off employees at MySpace have been asked to refrain from cashing their final checks due to errors in how the payments were calculated.

That’s similar to an unfortunate situation earlier this year when Microsoft overpaid severance to some workers and then asked for the money back. The company changed its mind a few days later and allowed workers to keep the extra money.

Earlier this month, MySpace laid off about 480 workers at offices around the country, including at its operations in Seattle.

TechCrunch said that former MySpace employees have been receiving voice mails telling them that the checks have been canceled and that new ones — we presume with the correct amounts — will be sent next week.

In terms of payroll snafus, TechCrunch says that MySpace’s mess up isn’t as problematic as what happened at Microsoft earlier this year. Jason Kincaid writes:

MySpace at least caught their mistake early enough to just cancel the old checks and issue new ones, but the company’s lack of sensitivity leaves a lot to be desired.