Who Owns Weblog Content?

When Mark Jen started working for Google Inc. earlier this month, one of the first things he did was create a Weblog where he discussed, among other things, his impressions of a Google sales meeting. It was too much information he soon learned, and within two days, Jen removed the sensitive material from his Web site, explaining, "I goofed."

As more professionals create Weblogs, those opinion-filled Web sites where a mix of anecdote and insight can stir interest in one person's observations or an entire company's strategy, the complexities and questions are beginning to surface. Who owns Weblog content? What are the risks? And how far should employees go in sharing their thoughts?

Read the full story here .

Video Games: Top Sellers

1. World of Warcraft
2. Half-Life 2
3. Everquest 2
4. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3
5. The Sims 2
6. World of Warcraft: CE
7. Zoo Tycoon 2
8. The Sims Deluxe
9. The Sims 2: SE
10. Call of Duty
11. Ultima Online: Samurai Empire
12. Rome: Total War
13. Doom 3
14. Half Life 2: CE
15. Medal of Honor: Pacific Assult
16. Call of Duty: United Offensive
17. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
18. Need for Speed Underground 2
19. Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
20. Everquest 2: CE

Can you believe UO is still in the top 20? EA has dominated the list. Like you thought otherwise. 4 MMORPGs on the list, not counting the collector editions.

It will be interesting to see how this list looks next month.

UPN Officially Cancels 'Star Trek: Enterprise'

It's official now: UPN has decided to cancel 'Enterprise.' The show's series finale, which may feature Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), will air on Friday the 13th of May. The show's fate was probably sealed when last Friday's episode reached only 2.5 million viewers - but even so, the people at EnterpriseFans.com are still trying to raise money for a fan campaign to save the show."

Monkees-Beatles mashup video

Paperbackbeliever is a wonderful mash-up of the Beatles' Paperback Writer and the Monkees' I'm a Believer. This video for the song expertly blends footage of both bands -- it's very convincing! 2.6MB Quicktime Link

Firefox developer announces 1.1 release delay

The meteoric rise of Firefox, the browser to challenge Internet Explorer, is about to be temporarily arrested. After relatively spectacular success in a very few short months following the 1.0 release, former Firefox lead engineer Ben Goodger announced version 1.1 will be late ... and the reasons behind the delay make for very interesting news.

Version 1.1, a midpoint step between the 1.0 and the expected 2.0 release, was originally on target for March of 2005. Goodger declined to specify a new ship date, merely commenting about "the realities of the work remaining to be done" being formidable. The point release was expected to fix a number of minor and a few major bugs in the current browser, most notably a bug that causes the browser to forget its scroll position when switching back to a visited webpage.

Although Goodger neglected to elaborate, the delay is most likely rooted substantially in the recent major loss of talent on the Firefox team. Several lead programmers--including Goodger--defected from Firefox and are now working for ... Google! The world's most popular Internet search portal refuses to confirm or deny that it's working on its own browser, but the theft of Firefox's top brains more or less speaks for itself.

My take - Google has announced that they are working on a google browser. I'm forcasting a version of Mozilla/Foxfire with a google skin.

Xbox 2 will be missing from GDC

If you are waiting to see the new Xbox in March, it looks like Bill and company are going to make you wait a little longer, as Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox 2 will not be premiered at the upcoming Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Even though the GDC was the place where the first Xbox was unveiled 5 years ago, the second incarnation will not make an appearance until the Electronics Entertainment Expo later this May. Code named "Xenon," the new Xbox has seen little information released from Microsoft; but according to a recent corporate conference call, this will all change at E3. One could speculate that this unveiling decision is pure marketing strategy, since E3 has a wider audience and would grab more attention. No matter, I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about when the system is finally shown to the public.

SBC to cut 12,800 jobs following AT&T buy

SBC Communications Inc. said it plans to cut 12,800 jobs following its pending $16 billion acquisition of AT&T Corp.

The job cuts are expected to include 5,125 jobs as part of "network efficiencies," 1,700 cuts from the combined sales department, 3,400 job cuts from business operations, and 2,600 job cuts from other periphery operations. SBC said the acquisition would generate a new present value of more than $15 billion in synergies, including at least $2 billion in savings per year beginning in 2008.

SBC currently employs 163,000 people, while AT&T claims 47,000 employees, though each company is expected to cut jobs prior to the acquisition's closing next year.
Despite the proposed job cuts, SBC's pending acquisition of AT&T garnered support from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents more than 12,500 workers at SBC and 900 employees at AT&T.

"The IBEW is encouraged by the purchase of AT&T by SBC," the organization said in a statement. "We have long maintained that our primary goal for the modern telecommunications industry is the promotion of growth and job opportunities that benefit workers, companies, consumers and communities alike. The joining of forces by two major players in the industry could be a major step toward this goal."

The IBEW reached a five-year labor agreement with SBC last summer affecting more than 11,300 employees in Illinois and Indiana.