Mark Zuckerberg has been named "Person of the Year". This man is the co-founder and CEO of Facebook,the social network that has changed many things on the Internet.Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
BY PAUL ROLFE
It’s a big payday for Googlers. Each of the search giant’s 23,000 employees is getting a 10% pay raise come January -- plus -- a $1000 Christmas bonus. Fox Business has some reasons that this makes sense for the company.
“Its trying to create a moat around itself from its employees leaving to Facebook. Ten percent of Facebook employees have Google on their resume in some way shape or form... People are often a competitive advantage in these technology companies. The brain trust -- it wants to protect that. Frankly its also cheaper to retain employees than hire new employees... Last but not least, frankly the company can afford to do so. Profits were up more than 32% in the third quarter. It has $33 billion of cash sitting on its balance sheet.”
Google doesn’t usually comment on internal matters, but in a statement to the press it said competitive compensation plans are important for the future of the company. CNN Money points out how important it is for Google to retain good employees, after losing some noteworthy ones.
“Google has lost top minds such as YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley, AdMob co-founder Omar Hamoui, and Google Maps and Wave creator Lars Rasmussen.”
Many ex-Googlers have defected to Facebook. Computer World spoke to an analyst from Gartner who highlights the growing tension between the two companies.
“There is a battle for the future of the Web, and it is not about search engines, but about the social Web. The competition is between the new and the old -- between Facebook as the early leader in the social Web, and Google as the dominant player in the content Web.”
But wait a second -- aren’t we in a recession? Well -- The Wall Street Journal says its actually not bad news for investors.
“If Google is making this ten percent raise now, it means that they’re doing probably pretty well in the fourth quarter. So, I don’t know how concerned investors are going to be. Google has been acquiring a lot of companies for talent. They’ve also been acquiring a lot of companies for technology. I don’t think this is going to be too big of a concern.”
Oddly, Google is already number four on Fortune’s top 100 companies to work for. Facebook -- not even on the list. So, what do you think? Will this move spark other tech companies to start hiring -- and paying -- more?
Get more multi-source tech news analysis from Newsy.com
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Rumors are starting about Apple again. Now they say the next generation of iPad may have a 7-inch screen, and could be available in the first quarter of 2011. PC Magazine’s Lance Ulanoff doesn’t understand the point of a smaller screen for Apple.“Every time I hear this rumor, I have to suppress the urge to shout back in the face of the rumor monger, ‘If you want a smaller iPad, get a freaking iPod touch!’ Okay, I admit it; I have actually said that to a few people.”The news of the possible 7-inch screen originally came from a Taiwanese paper back in August.“Is a seven inch ipad in your future? Apple may not be standing still with the success of its original iPad. The story is from a Taiwan newspaper that had the details right on the first iPad release. It said Taiwanese companies have received contracts for a new baby iPad, about a 7 inch screen.” (Bloomberg)
More information is now coming from an analyst at Rodman and Renshaw, a full service investment bank. The analyst Ashok Kumar based his report on conversations with Apple’s supply chain. MSNBC’s Athima Chansanchai spoke with Kumar to confirm the rumors.
“I talked to Kumar this morning, and he verified the information that has appeared in other outlets. But he gave us a little more, too. He said the built-in cameras will be capable of capturing HD quality video.”Yes, beyond the smaller screen, the next iPad may have front and back HD cameras and also a faster Cortex A9 processor. The smaller screen could be an attempt to lower prices and get into the Samsung Galaxy’s market.But GigaOm’s Darrel Etherington thinks that Apple will stay competitive without mimicking the competition.“That’s not something Apple’s done in the past, and as long as Jobs is in charge, I believe it’ll go the route of innovation before it chooses to passively fall in step with the rest of the industry.”
The original 9.7-inch version will still be around and will also be receiving the processor upgrade. So what do you think? Are you interested in a smaller, lighter, and cheaper iPad?Get more multi-source tech news at newsy.com
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(Thumbnail Image: Terrafugia)
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The Federal Aviation Administration has just given the go-ahead for a Massachusetts company to start production on the first-ever flying car.
The company, Terrafugia, has spent years working on The Transition. In the air it can go about 115 miles per hour. On the ground, it gets about 30 miles per gallon. Terrafugia says the product brings convenience to consumers: Take a trip, then simply land the bird, let it fold up its wings, drive home and park it in your garage. MSNBC’s Willie Geist says this has been a long time coming.
WILLIE GEIST: “We Americans were promised flying cars a long, long time ago. We’ve been lied to, frankly, for decades now — by our government, our scientists and our cartoon characters. The Jetsons teased us with the idea that we could run out to the grocery store by flying through the clouds with a talking dog at our side. ... The Transition. We can work on the name, but the point is the FAA just approved a damn flying car. It’s here. After all these years.”
The Transition is a bit heavy because it has to have safety devices required for both planes and cars, like air bags. So, a disadvantage is that it can only fit two people and a little bit of luggage. The Tech Journal says Terrafugia got lucky with the FAA.
“Uniquely… the FAA has granted The Transition an exemption — allowing it to be classified as a light sport aircraft despite being 120 lb over the limit. Light sport aircraft licences require just 20 hours’ flying time, making them much easier to obtain than full private licences.”
So how common will the car become? Discover Magazine has some early numbers.
“So far, Terrafugia says 70 futuristic folks have pre-ordered the car … The total price tag is $194,000.”
Those buyers should get their cars in the next year and a half. What do you think? Would you get a Transition?
Too often, we consider learning to be something done stiffly, in a classroom. But that's silly. "Learning is a continuing biological process," Drucker said. "It begins at conception and ends only at death. We further know that learning is not an activity of one specific learning organ—the mind or the intellect. It is a process in which the whole person is engaged: the hand, the eye, the nervous system, the brain."
Being able to use all of these assets, Drucker suggested, will increasingly come to define "the educated person." More and more, he wrote in his 1993 book Post-Capitalist Society, we are going to "have to be prepared to live and work simultaneously in two cultures—that of 'the intellectual,' who focuses on words and ideas, and that of the 'manager,' who focuses on people and work.
"The intellectual's world, unless counterbalanced by the manager, becomes one in which everybody 'does his own thing' but nobody achieves anything. The manager's world, unless counterbalanced by the intellectual, becomes the stultifying bureaucracy of the 'Organization Man.' But if the two balance each other, there can be creativity and order, fulfillment and mission."
If you want to learn more about this exam, you can visit the following websites:
http://www.ets.org/toeic
