Pay and perks are what most people work for, but sometimes the rewards are a bit more profound.
That was the case last weekend when a group of employees at Google, including those from a recently-acquired startup called SayNow, worked with Twitter engineers to create a service to help Egyptians stay connected to the outside world despite an Internet blackout imposed by the government there. The service allows users to post messages on Twitter by dialing an international phone number and leaving a voice message, the search company explained on its blog.
The project should give a boost to the public image of Google, which despite its "Don't Be Evil" corporate mantra has unsettled Internet privacy activists worldwide with its data collection practices.
As organizers of political protests around the world use social networking services as organizing tools, look for more innovation from people who can say with some conviction that they're helping to change the world. (WSJ)
Soft Skills Are in (FINS)
Learning to be a team player and improving presentation and writing skills are some of the soft skills that can help you succeed as a software developer.
Related: Tech Companies Hiring Execs With Softer Skills
Chip Demand is Strong and Broad (Bloomberg)
German chip giant Infineon AG raised its full-year profit forecast as the global market on rising demand for its chips used in everything from smartphones to cars to industrial equipment.
An Explosion of Mobile Data (GigaOM)
App developers and mobile ad sales folks should love this prediction: Cisco Systems says mobile Web traffic will skyrocket 26-fold between 2010 and 2015, with 5.6 billion consumer devices connected to the Internet.
Why Facebook Needs More Workers (TechCrunch)
Facebook signed up nearly 250 million users last year, adding about eight per second around the globe, as it takes on Google in the race for most-used Web service.
Related: Facebook Hiring
The Cost of Bad Chip Design (VentureBeat)
The best chip designers are in demand and well paid, and here's one reason why: A flaw in Intel's new chips, which combine processing and graphics functions, will cost the company around $1 billion -- and Intel says it caught the bug relatively early.
Adapting to the Cloud (CIO)
The shift to cloud computing will affect some major changes on IT occupations and operations, with system architects and security engineers being among tech workers most likely to benefit from the trend.
Senators Question Student Visas (Computerworld)
Two U.S. Senators who have been critics of the use of foreign guest workers are now questioning whether companies are using a new rule on student visas to get around the annual cap on H-1B visas, which was reached last week.
The Pirates of Bandwidth (paidContent)
A new study commissioned by the television network NBC says that close to one quarter of all Internet traffic is comprised of pirated entertainment content.
Is Anybody Out There? (WSJ)
What happens when the Internet runs out of addresses? We may be about to find out, as the original Web addressing system approaches its limit of 4.3 billion unique addresses. Meanwhile, Internet companies and service providers will test a new system in June.
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