ccsjys.com

Adlerian psychology teaches that every human being has the goal of belonging, of making a place in his or her world. Discouraged children, who find themselves unable to accomplish this goal on the socially useful side of life through cooperation and contribution, may develop mistaken goals in their struggle to belong. But what is it that encourages or discourages a child? One theory is that praise, which represents a form of judgement, orders the child within an external locus of power, making them helpless or powerless when praise is witheld, whereas responses or natural consequences that relate to a self-centered view—doing things for their own sake— help the child develop an authentic and independent sense of self. What does this have to do with technology?

As I reported in our own family’s on-going XO Laptop experiment, the rewards of learning can be both immediate and self-evident, if only the game is not too deeply buried under layers of flashy but meaningless praise. We are struggling against a consumeristic tide that bombards our daughter with unrealistic promises of happiness and prestige/social status, but we are also winning a few battles here and there as the intrinsic rewards of authentic accomplishment push aside the TV clutter for another day.

Last year Amy put her PhD in neuroscience to good use when she wrote the article debunking Baby Einstein. I, too, aired my thoughts in an article titled buy now, pay forever: the business of tech toys. Today, a blog from open source community member Stormy Peters teaches that we may have it all wrong when it comes to rewards and motivation.

If the Adlerian hypothesis is correct, that children really want is to belong and to be significant, then how do external rewards help or hurt the child as they grow into adulthood? A dependence on external rewards for a sense of self leads to a profound feeling of emptiness, which is chronicled in the excellent book The Price Of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. So without telling anybody how to be a better parent, let me just suggest that you look at social software and tech gadgets from a new perspective: what is the reward and who defines it? The more external and the more arbitrary the reward, the more the reward may diminish (to the point of extinction) intrinsic motivation. Conversely, the more ways a child can find some intrinsic reward in the activity (even if it’s the reward of decorating rather than programming a laptop), the more the child builds an intrinsic sense of belonging and significance.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you want a real-time view into the world of layoffs, use this Twitter search. But we recommend having a stiff drink first.

Company
Date
How many
Further reading MySpace
06/16/2009
30 percent
MySpace slashes head count by 30 percent
Seagate Technology
05/13/2009
1,100 (2.5 percent)
Seagate lays off 1,100 employees
Microsoft
05/05/2009
3,000
Microsoft sends 2nd wave of layoff notices
Hutchinson Technology
04/28/2009
2,000 in total (44 percent)
Hutchinson Tech to cut more jobs
Freescale Semiconductor
04/23/2009
900
Freescale to cut 900 jobs
Yahoo
04/21/2009
675 (5 percent)
Yahoo plans layoff after profit plunges
Toshiba
04/17/2009
3,900 More job cuts at Toshiba
IDC
04/17/2009
82 (5 percent)
Analysis firm IDC cuts 5 percent of staff
Sony Ericsson
04/17/2009
2,000
Sony Ericsson to lay off 2,000 more workers
Wired.com
04/02/2009
3 (12 percent)
Wired.com lays off 12 percent of staff
Agilent Technologies
03/27/2009
2,700
Agilent laying off 2,700
Google
03/26/2009
200
Google cuts nearly 200 sales, marketing jobs
IBM
03/26/2009
5,000
IBM job cuts hit applications services unit, says union
OptiSolar
03/23/2009
200
OptiSolar closes plant
Energy Conversion Devices
03/17/2009
70
Solar stocks go red as gear maker warns
Nokia
03/17/2009
1,700
Nokia job cuts become reality
Spot Runner
03/14/2009
60
Spot Runner…another 60 to lose jobs
National Semiconductor
03/11/2009
1,725 (25 percent)
National Semi to cut a fourth of workforce
Dell
03/11/2009
unknown
Layoffs to hit another Dell plant
RIAA
02/26/2009
Up to 25
Sources: RIAA cuts up to 25 jobs
Enfatico
02/25/2009
80 (8 percent)
Dell ad agency Enfatico lays off workers
Nortel Networks
02/25/2009
3,200
Nortel cuts another 3,200 jobs
Spansion
02/23/2009
3,000 (35 percent)
Spansion cuts 3,000 employees
Micron Technology
02/23/2009
Up to 2,000
Micron to cut up to 2,000 more jobs
Google
02/12/2009
40
Google scraps radio ads
Pioneer
02/12/2009
10,000
Pioneer leaving the TV business
Nokia
02/11/2009
410; 500-700 rotating
Nokia cuts production, closes facility
Forrester
02/09/2009
50 (5 percent)
Forrester to lay off 5 percent
MPAA
02/05/2009
unknown
Source: ‘Significant’ layoffs at MPAA
Cisco Systems
02/04/2009
Up to 2,000
Cisco: Making lemonade from economic lemons
Panasonic
02/04/2009
15,000
Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs
Electronic Arts
02/03/2009
1,100 (11 percent)
EA cutting 1,100 jobs
NEC
01/30/2009
20,000 (13 percent)
NEC to cut workforce by 20,000
Novell
01/30/2009
100 (3 percent)
Novell lays off just under 100 workers
Teradyne
01/30/2009
532
Boston.com: Teradyne will shed 532 jobs
Citrix Systems
01/30/2009
490 (10 percent)
Citrix to reduce staff by 10 percent
STMicroelectronics
01/28/2009
4,500
STMicro reports loss, lays off 4,500
AOL
01/28/2009
700
AOL to lay off 700 employees
SAP
01/28/2009
3,000
SAP plans job cuts, despite solid earnings
News Corp.
01/26/2009
100
News Corp. lays off 5 percent at digital unit
Texas Instruments
01/26/2009
12 percent
Texas Instruments cutting jobs as profits plunge
Sprint Nextel
01/26/2009
8,000
Sprint Nextel to cut 8,000 jobs
Philips
01/26/2009
6,000
Philips to cut 6,000 jobs
IBM
01/24/2009
More than 2,800
IBM quietly lays off North American staff
Microsoft
01/22/2009
5,000
Microsoft cutting 5,000 jobs on weak results
Ericsson
01/21/2009
5,000 (6 percent)
Ericsson to cut 5,000 jobs
Logitech
01/19/2009
550 to 600
Logitech to cut up to 600 jobs
AMD
01/16/2009
1,100 (9 percent)
AMD to trim 1,100 jobs, initiate temporary pay cuts
Autodesk
01/15/2009
750 (10 percent)
Autodesk to cut 750 jobs, lowers earnings outlook
Cymer
01/15/2009
100 (10 percent)
AP: Cymer to cut jobs, spending as demand plummets
Motorola
01/14/2009
4,000 (6 percent)
Motorola plans another round of layoffs
Plantronics
01/14/2009
18 percent
Plantronics to layoff 18% of global workforce
PlanetOut
01/14/2009
50 percent
Sources: Heavy layoffs at PlanetOut
Google
01/14/2009
100
Google lays off 100 recruiters
Oracle
01/14/2009
500
Report: Oracle cuts workforce by 500
GreenFuel Technologies
01/13/2009
19 (50 percent)
Algae front-runner GreenFuel slashes staff
Lexmark
01/13/2009
375
Bloomberg: Lexmark sales miss forecast; 375 job cuts planned
Seagate
01/12/2009
800 (10 percent)
Seagate replaces Watkins as CEO
Dell
01/08/2009
1,900
Dell’s Ireland plant to shed 1,900 jobs
Lenovo
01/08/2009
2,500 (11 percent)
Lenovo to cut 2,500 jobs amid restructuring
One Laptop Per Child
01/07/2009
32 (50 percent)
OLPC slashes workforce in half, cuts salaries
Motion Computing
01/07/2009
30 (25 percent)
Motion Computing cuts about 30 workers
EMC
01/07/2009
2,400 (7 percent)
EMC to cut 2,400 from workforce
Turning Technologies
01/07/2009
31
Vindy.com: Turning Tech layoff hits 31
Borland Software
01/06/2009
130 (15 percent)
VMware hires away Borland CEO
HelioVolt
01/06/2009
15
Two Austin employers announce job cuts
LiveJournal
01/06/2009
About 12
LiveJournal deletes ‘about a dozen’ jobs
Logitech
01/06/2009
15 percent of salaried staff worldwide
Logitech to slash 15 percent of workforce
Lenovo
01/05/2009
200 staff in Beijing offices
Lenovo rumored readying layoffs
Microsoft
01/01/2009
Unknown
Microsoft planning big layoffs for January?
AMD
12/28/2008
100 additional, making 600 total since November
AMD cites $70 million in fourth-quarter costs
Unisys
12/22/2008
1,300; 4 percent
Reuters: Unisys slashes 1,300 jobs
Western Digital
12/17/2008
2,500; 5 percent
Reuters: Western Digital warns on revenue, will cut jobs
Midway Games
12/16/2008
180; 25 percent
Reuters: Midway Games to cut jobs, take charge
Laird
12/16/2008
5,000; nearly 50 percent
Reuters: Laird announces 5,000 job losses as sales slump
WebMD
12/16/2008
4 percent to 5 percent
PaidContent: WebMD to cut up to 5% of staff
Gaia Interactive
12/15/2008
13 percent
VentureWire: Gaia lays off staff
Alcatel-Lucent
12/12/2008
1,000 managers, 5,000 contractors
Big revamp for Alcatel-Lucent, with Web 2.0 spin
CBS Interactive
12/11/2008
Undisclosed
All Things D: CBS Interactive/CNET Re-Org: The Complete Memo
SGI
12/11/2008
225; 15 percent
Silicon Graphics adjusts business plan
Yahoo
12/10/2008
1,520
Yahoo pink slips issued, recruiters circling above
Sony
12/09/2008
16,000 total
Sony to lay off 8,000 full-timers, 8,000 others
Netflix
12/08/2008
50 people
Neflix cuts 50 tech jobs; streaming issues linger
Level 3 Communications
12/08/2008
450; 8 percent
Denver Business Journal: Level 3 cutting 450 jobs
BMC Software
12/05/2008
350 (6 percent)
AP: BMC Software to cut 350 jobs, 6% of workforce
RealNetworks
12/04/2008
130 (7 percent)
Sources: Layoffs hit RealNetworks
Viacom
12/04/2008
850 (7 percent)
Viacom lays off 7 percent of workforce
AT&T
12/04/2008
12,000 (4 percent)
AT&T lays off 12,000
Adobe
12/03/2008
600
Adobe warns of shortfall, job cuts
Carlyle Group
12/03/2008
about 100 (10 percent)
Bloomberg: Carlyle Cuts 10% of Workers, Including U.S. LBO Jobs
Analog Devices
12/03/2008
about 20
EE Times: Analog Devices shutters DSP design center Sage North America
12/03/2008
150
Sage North America Reports 2008 Results
Gawker Media
12/02/2008
“a few”
Gawker Media’s rolling layoffs continue
Intrinsyc
12/01/2008
95 (30 percent)
680 News: Intrinsyc cuts global workforce 30 percent
Fring
11/27/2008
10 (20 percent)
Fring cuts staff by 20 percent
Technorati
11/25/2008
6 (12 percent)
Technorati trims workforce, cuts pay
TiVo
11/25/2008
7 percent
TiVo profits from EchoStar litigation
Palm
11/21/2008
up to 10 percent of 1,050
Palm orders layoffs as Apple and RIM take toll
Buzznet
11/21/2008
10 (11 percent)
Valleywag: Music community Buzznet lays off 10
LodgeNet
11/21/2008
170
Argus Leader: LodgeNet cutting jobs
Lam Research
11/20/2008
600 (15 percent)
Reuters: Chipmaker Lam Research cuts 600 jobs
Akamai
11/20/2008
7 percent
Akamai to cut 7 percent of workforce
Lawson Software
11/19/2008
200 (5 percent)
AP: Lawson Software shares tumble after job cuts
Pillar Data Systems
11/18/2008
150 (30 percent)
SJ Mercury News: Pillar Data Systems lays off 30% of staff KLA-Tencor
11/18/2008
900 (15 percent)
SF Business Times: KLA-Tencor to cut 15% of people Sun Microsystems
11/14/2008
6,000 (15 percent to 18 percent)
Sun restructures, lays off up to 6,000 Rearden Commerce
11/14/2008
10 percent
Valleywag: Rearden Commerce cuts 50 people Applied Materials
11/12/2008
1,800 (12 percent)
Applied Materials cutting 12 percent of workforce National Semi
11/12/2008
330
Reuters: Nat Semi cuts revenue view, plans job cuts Wired.com
11/11/2008
3 of 28
Wired.com trims editorial staff by 10 percent Current Media
11/11/2008
20 percent
Layoffs hit Al Gore’s Current Media Six Apart
11/11/2008
8 percent
Six Apart: Changes at Six Apart Tucows
11/11/2008
15 percent
Restructuring at Tucows Circuit City
11/10/2008
20 percent
Circuit City files for bankruptcy BitTorrent
11/10/2008
50 percent
After a tough year, BitTorrent replaces CEO again Insight
11/10/2008
240 (4 percent)
East Valley Tribune: Insight Enterprises lays off 240 Honeywell
11/07/2008
700
Phoenix Business Journal: Honeywell moving 700 jobs out of Phoenix Zappos
11/06/2008
8 percent
Letter to Zappos employees Veoh
11/05/2008
20 (20 percent)
Veoh lays off 20 percent of workforce LinkedIn
11/05/2008
36 (10 percent)
LinkedIn slashes 10 percent of its workforce Cadence
11/05/2008
625 (12 percent)
Cadence Design cuts 625 jobs Anadigics
11/05/2008
100 (15 percent)
Anadigics cuts 15 percent of workforce AMD
11/05/2008
500 (3 percent)
AMD slashes 500 more jobs Nokia
11/04/2008
600
Hundreds of Nokia jobs under threat THQ
11/03/2008
4 to 5 studios
Kotaku: THQ Shuttering Four to Five Studios? Tektronix
11/03/2008
150
Tektronix announces fresh layoffs Spot Runner
11/03/2008
115 (about 30 percent)
TechCrunch: 115 people lose their jobs at Spot Runner Nortel Networks
11/03/2008
1,300 (5 percent)
Nortel earnings tank YouSendIt
10/31/2008
20 percent
VentureBeat: YouSendIt trims 20 percent of staff Aliph
10/31/2008
25 people
Layoffs hit Bluetooth headset maker Aliph Motorola
10/30/2008
3,000
Motorola’s struggle for survival Freescale
10/30/2008
2,400 (10 percent)
Freescale dragged to loss; will lay off 10% Symantec
10/29/2008
4.5 percent cost savings
Symantec layoffs coming Avalanche Studios
10/28/2008
77 of 160
Avalanche Studios lays off nearly half of staff Revision3
10/27/2008
9 people, 5 shows
Video start-up Revision3 joins the layoff club Helium
10/27/2008
30 percent of 110
F***dStartups: Helium.com huge layoff BroadSoft
10/24/2008
about 12
GigaOM: BroadSoft cuts jobs as sales slow Comcast Spotlight
10/24/2008
300+ of 3,500
Broadcasting & Cable: Comcast Spotlight cuts positions ADC Telecoms
10/23/2008
300-350
AP: ADC expects fiscal 2008 loss, plans job cuts Xerox
10/23/2008
3,000 Xerox to cut 3,000 jobs Avid Technology
10/23/2008
500
Form 8-K: Results of Operations and Financial Condition… Nokia
11/04/2008
600
Hundreds of Nokia jobs under threat Tektronix
11/03/2008
150
Tektronix announces fresh layoffs Spot Runner
11/03/2008
115 (about 30 percent)
TechCrunch: 115 people lose their jobs at Spot Ru Circuit City
11/03/2008
17 percent
Circuit City to close 155 stores THQ
11/03/2008
4-5 studios Kotaku: THQ Shuttering Four to Five Studios? Break.com
10/23/2008
11 of 80
Break.com lays off 11 Eons
10/23/2008
8 of about 33
The Boston Globe: Eons eliminates eight jobs Dell
10/22/2008
8,900
The Register: Dell: ‘We will out-pace the rest of the industry’ SanDisk
10/22/2008
TBA
SanDisk layoffs in the works ManiaTV
10/22/2008
20 of 70
NewTeeVee: ManiaTV lays off 20, to reduce orig iMeem
10/22/2008
25 percent of 80
Imeem jumping on the layoff bandwagon Mahalo
10/22/2008
10 percent
Calacanis.com: Tough times, hard decisions HP
10/22/2008
24,600 over three years
HP to slash 24,600 jobs following EDS buy Ticketmaster
10/21/2008
35 percent
F***edStartups: TicketMaster.com laying off 35% Comcast
10/21/2008
300
AP: Comcast to cut up to 300 jobs in eastern di Manhattan Associates
10/21/2008
6.5 percent
Reuters: Manhattan Associates hit by slump Softchoice
10/20/2008
6.5 percent of 958
Toronto Star: Softchoice cuts staff by 6.5 percent Veoh
10/20/2008
0
UPDATE: Layoffs at Veoh, or not? Wikia
10/20/2008
3
UPDATE based on personal interview with Jimmy Wales Autotrader
10/20/2008
69
Orlando Business Times: Autotrader to close c Texas Instruments
10/20/2008
possibly 300
TXCN: Hundreds face pink slips at TI Sony Ericsson
10/17/2008
2,000 globally
Bloomberg: Sony Ericsson Reports Smaller Loss Than Anticipated Sprint
10/17/2008
ongoing
KMBC-TV: Sprint plans ‘gradual layoffs’ Jaxtr
10/17/2008
13
13 employees laid off at VoIP start-up Jaxtr Zivity
10/17/2008
33 percent
Zivity lays off a third of staff Zillow
10/17/2008
25 percent
Zillow lays off 25 percent of staff SearchMe
10/17/2008
20 percent
Search engine startup SearchMe cuts 20 perce Heavy
10/17/2008
14 percent
Downturn strikes again: Heavy lays off 14% Lenovo
10/17/2008
50 in Morrisville, N.C.
WRAL: Lenovo to lay off 50 workers at Morrisville headq MPC Computers
10/17/2008
200
Idaho Business Review: Details released on MP Hi5
10/16/2008
10 percent to 15 percent
No Hi5′s today Sirius XM
10/16/2008
50
Sirius XM makes cuts to XM in D.C. Pandora
10/16/2008
20
Pandora cuts 20 employees Adbrite
10/16/2008
40 percent
‘Layoffs are not a statement about performance’ Actel
10/16/2008
10 percent
EE Times: Actel cuts 10% of workforce Tesla Motors
10/15/2008
Detroit office
Automaker lays off Detroit office with blog post SkyRider
10/15/2008
All
P2P start-up SkyRider has shut down Appcelerator
10/15/2008
6
Tough times, tough decisions Jive Software
10/14/2008
33 percent
Jive Software lays off 1/3 of staff Redfin
10/14/2008
20 percent
Redfin blames economy in layoffs Qimonda
10/13/2008
3,000
Qimonda: Qimonda announces global restructuring program… Seesmic
10/10/2008
7
Tough times. Tough decisions Lulu
10/09/2008
24
Lulu cuts jobs as revenues slow Micron
10/09/2008
15 percent
Micron to cut workforce by 15 percent, slash flash output eBay
10/06/2008
1,000
eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000 Gawker Media
10/03/2008
14 percent
Gawker Media to lay off 14 percent of editorial Entellium
10/03/2008
95 percent
Workers get ax at software maker Entellium

With the overall economy slumping, the tech industry is taking its fair share of hits. We’ll keep updating the chart below as news of company changes comes in. See our complete coverage of how the tech sector is faring here: Tracking the tech downturn.

Know of a layoff not listed here? Let us know on this form or e-mail us.

Since the rest of us don’t have the PCI Security Standards Council to protect us, I strongly suggest more vigilant purchasing policies. Most vendors won’t improve software security until they realize that this omission will go straight to the top and bottom line.

Hmm, what a good idea. Retail companies get the benefit of a third-party audit of their software vendor’s code and get to make their selections based on whether a vendor meets the PA-DSS standard. It’s great for the retail and financial services industries mandated by PCI, but what about the rest of us poor schmoes? Shouldn’t we get the same kind of protection?

Software vendors have always focused their attention on functionality, eschewing security in many cases. For the PCI Security Standards Council, this lack of secure development oversight led to regulations in the form of the PA-DSS. Yes, companies like EMC, Microsoft, and Oracle have embraced secure software development methodologies but we are still buying a lot of vulnerable code from a plethora of vendors.

Jon Oltsik is a senior analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group.

This week, the PCI Security Standards Council announced the availability of its new Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS). PA-DSS provides a set of best practices to software vendors for developing secure payment applications that don’t store sensitive or private data such as personal identification numbers, and ensure that these applications support standard Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements. Once a certification process is established, retailers will be able to purchase applications with a PA-DSS “good housekeeping” seal of approval.

Well, maybe we should but it ain’t gonna happen anytime soon. My suggestion to CIOs in other industries is caveat emptor. IT executives shouldn’t buy any software from any vendor without some type of review of the company’s software development process, security testing, and emergency response procedures. What’s more, purchasing agreements should hold software vendors’ feet to the fire to address security process gaps, fix vulnerabilities within a reasonable time frame, and respond to emergency situations with an appropriate level of urgency. No commitment, no purchase.

DTV transition resources

2. Better, cheaper boxes are coming
None of the DTV converter boxes we’ve seen so far are available for $40 yet, which means you’ll need to kick in some real American dollars in addition to your coupon. Echostar is planning on releasing a $40 converter box, the TR-40, but it won’t come out until this summer–so if you already have your coupon, you probably won’t be able to get it. That wouldn’t be so bad, except that the Echostar TR-40 looks like it’s going to be substantially better than current models, offering a full EPG and program search functoinality. Even if the Echostar device isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be…

The main counterargument against waiting is that if you wait too long, it’s possible that the government’s coupon program will run out of money. That’s definitely something to consider, as there are only 22.25 million coupons available. After those are used up, an additional 11.25 million coupons will become available, but only to households that solely use analog over-the-air TV (no cable, satellite, Fios, and so on). So if you’re worried that you’re not going to get a coupon at all, you can play it safe and sign up now. But it’s probably a pretty safe bet that the current coupon program won’t run dry during the next couple months, and you’ll get more out of that $40 coupon.

3. Current models will get cheaper
This is just an educated guess, but don’t be surprised if all of the current DTV converter boxes currently going for $50 to $60 suddenly drop to $40 once the Echostar TR-40 comes out. It will be near impossible for the other boxes to compete with free, so they’ll be forced to sell for $40, which means it essentially free to consumers with a coupon.

To get a better of idea of how long it takes to get a coupon, check out the government’s “Where’s My Coupon?” page.

1. The coupon expires in three months
If you carefully read you the FAQ on the government’s Web site, the program clearly states that the $40 coupons expire three months after they’re shipped. That’s unfortunate because we’re guessing many people don’t think much of it, and are just trying to sign up before they forget. Now you’re forced into getting whatever DTV boxes that are currently on the market, even though…

(Credit:
DTV2009.gov)

CNET’s Quick Guide to the DTV transition
DTV Coupon Program
FAQ: What the digital switch actually means
Antenna Web: Find what digital signals you can receive

The DTV transition is less than a year away and as of January 1, 2008, Americans have been eligible to sign up for a $40 coupon to help purchase DTV converter boxes needed to receive new digital TV signals. While your instincts may tell you to sign up as quickly as possible, there’s a strong argument to be made to hold off for a little while. Here’s why: