Reuters - Upright Citizens Brigade player Aubrey Plaza has landed a co-starring role on UCB alumna Amy Poehler's upcoming NBC comedy series.

CNET - Motorola announced Wednesday that it plans to cut another 4,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its workforce, and warned that weaker-than-expected handset sales would lead to a fourth-quarter loss.

AP - In a move that may appeal to penny-pinching online daters, a new Web site from Match.com is letting users search for that special someone for free.

AP - ASML Holding NV, a key supplier to Intel Corp. and other computer chip makers, reported a net loss for the fourth quarter due to restructuring charges and weak demand for its products.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc's new chief executive, Carol Bartz, told employees on Wednesday her gut instinct is to hang on to the company's search business, the Dow Jones newswire reported.

AFP - Old fashioned sleuthing got some help from new technology when New Zealand police nabbed an incompetent thief with the help of Internet networking site Facebook.

AP - ASML Holding NV, a key supplier to Intel Corp. and other computer chip makers, on Monday reported a net loss for the fourth quarter due to restructuring charges and weak demand.

Reuters - While professional athletes can earn millions of dollars, video gamers now have a chance to also take home tens of thousands of dollars in sports winnings without breaking a sweat.

CNET - For people in Hawaii, going to see the doctor just got as easy as booting up their PC.

AP - Police in New Zealand nabbed a man who was trying to crack a bar's safe after posting security camera footage of the act on the Internet networking site Facebook.

AP - Carphone Warehouse Group PLC, Europe's largest mobile phone retailer, warned Thursday that challenging times lay ahead even as it reported a 13 percent increase in retail revenues to 1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) in the last three months of December.

AP - Autodesk Inc., the software company that has lost its leader to Yahoo, is cutting 750 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force to cut expenses and expects to report a loss rather than a profit for the fourth quarter.

AP - International Business Machines Corp. said Thursday it plans to open a technology service delivery center in Dubuque, Iowa, creating 1,300 jobs in the northeast part of the state.

Reuters - While professional athletes can earn millions of dollars, videogamers now have a chance to also take home tens of thousands of dollars in sports winnings without breaking a sweat.

Macworld.com - AmpliTube-maker IK Multimedia used the NAMM music show to introduce a new idea in audio interfaces. StealthPedal is a Wah-like pedal that is also a USB interface to your Mac.

Macworld.com - PreSonus released a new digital mixer and a new software application for the Mac, making it easier for users to plug in and record.

Macworld.com - Guitarist Bruce Kulick gained worldwide notoriety as the lead guitar player for Kiss. Since leaving the band Kulick launched a successful solo career and for his third CD he is tuning up his guitars and his Macs.

Macworld.com - Despite the December holidays and Macworld Expo in San Francisco last week, iPhone and iPod touch game developers are going full-bore with game releases. Here’s a roundup of just some of the recent additions to the App Store.

Macworld.com - DigiTech began shipping a new pedalboard for guitarists. It allows users to play live or connect to their Mac and record their guitar sounds.

AP - Shares of Apple Inc. fell 4 percent Thursday as investors struggled to parse the latest disclosure from CEO Steve Jobs about his health and his need to go on leave until the end of June.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc's new chief executive, Carol Bartz, told employees on Wednesday her gut instinct is to hang on to the company's search business, according to a person familiar with the company.

AP - Software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. said Thursday that net profits in the last quarter rose 1.63 percent over the same period last year, to 13.52 billion rupees ($275.6 million).

Macworld.com - It was buried at the bottom of the Computerworld report on fourth-quarter PC sales posted at Macworld.com earlier on Thursday, but early signs point to Apple having a pretty good end to 2008.

Macworld.com - In addition to releasing its high-end RP1000 guitar pedalboard at the NAMM music show in Anaheim, Calif., Digitech released four other guitar pedals for Mac using guitar players.

PC World - We still don't know when you'll get our hands on the wildly anticipated Palm Pre smartphone, which was announced at last week's Consumer Electronics Show. But we are getting a hint of where we might be able to buy it. The Palm Pre may be sold exclusively through Best Buy Mobile (in addition to at Sprint stores) for the first two months of its release.

PC World - Peter Tenereillo made a good deal of money, and achieved some prominence, as the developer of the Cisco Pix firewall and load balancing servers. Like many successful techies, Tenereillo indulged himself a bit, buying a rare Ferrari 599 (base price $302,000), then plowing his earnings into a new company.

AP - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is leaving the agency Tuesday to join The Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

AP - Toyota presented its 2009 Formula One car on the Internet on Thursday, taking a low-key approach at a time when the sport is under pressure to cut costs.

NewsFactor - Boost Mobile, a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel, will introduce next week a phone and data plan for $50 a month. The plan includes unlimited anytime calling, text messaging, wireless Web, and walkie-talkie services anywhere in the U.S.

NewsFactor - IBM is the undisputed patent king, with 4,186 U.S. patents in 2008. The numbers make Big Blue the first company ever to earn more than 4,000 U.S. patents in a single year. But U.S. firms may be giving ground to foreign competitors, according to a new study.

Macworld.com - 3rd Power LLC is planning the iGames Summit 2009, a one-day event scheduled to happen Thursday, March 19, 2009 in San Francisco, Calif.

Reuters - A new light-bending material has brought scientists one step closer to creating a cloaking device that could hide objects from sight.

InfoWorld - Hewlett-Packard on Thursday added tools for orchestration and recovery to its Adaptive Infrastructure portfolio. And, as with most enterprise-class technology announcements these days, HP said that the new tools promise IT cost-savings and reduced risks.

Macworld.com - Microsoft and Best Buy have announced their “Get Game Smart” program, a public service campaign aimed at helping to educate parents about the video games their kids play and to emphasize age-appropriate gameplaying.

Reuters - Intel Corp refrained from giving detailed financial forecasts for the current quarter, citing economic uncertainty, but the chip maker gave an internal planning figure for revenue at the low end of expectations.

AP - Intel Corp.'s fourth-quarter profit plunged 90 percent but still met Wall Street's subdued expectations Thursday, as the chip maker was hurt by wheezing PC sales that have crimped demand for microprocessors. Sales slumped 23 percent, in line with Intel's previous guidance.

AP - Blockbuster Inc. knows the days of the movie rental store are numbered, as video downloads over the Internet slowly start to replace DVDs.

CNET - Yahoo is providing its new CEO, Carol Bartz, with a $1 million base salary and 5 million shares, as part of a lucrative compensation package for the former Autodesk executive, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AP - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and a group that collects royalties for artists and recording copyright owners said Thursday they've agreed on payment terms for streaming music online.

NewsFactor - Salesforce.com on Thursday rolled out its next-generation solution for customer service. Dubbed Service Cloud, the new software is built on the Force.com platform and leverages the benefits of cloud computing.

Macworld.com - iPhone versions of desktop apps were all the rage at Macworld Expo—Marketcircle’s Daylite, ProjectWizards’ Merlin, and Quicken.com are among the products soon to be available in iPhone form. Add iSale from Equinux to that mix. Only in this case, the mobile version of the auction management app is now available from the App Store.

AP - Yahoo Inc. will pay new CEO Carol Bartz at least $19 million in cash and stock during her first year on the job and top it off with an incentive package likely to yield a huge windfall if she can turn around the long-struggling Internet company.

AP - All throughout 2008, as the economy went from bad to worse, video games continued to sell at record levels, boosted by the popularity of the Nintendo Wii and blockbuster games like 'Grand Theft Auto IV.'

AFP - The economic slowdown and slumping demand for personal computers sent Intel's net profit sharply lower as the world's biggest computer chip maker reported its fourth-quarter results.

AP - Legendary CEOs like Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs are almost impossible acts to follow. Most of the sequels have disappointed the stock market, with some flopping so badly that they were scrapped to make room for the return of the star attraction.

PC World - New York State has cancelled the multibillion-dollar contract it awarded to M/A-COM to build a statewide wireless network for public safety use, saying the vendor has failed to adequately deliver on the deal.

PC World - Craig Barrett spent decades using his business skills to make Intel the world's most powerful semiconductor company. He has now turned his attention to an even bigger challenge -- spreading computers and education throughout the developing world.

Reuters - The world financial crisis has produced more than its share of losers. MySpace and other online social networks want to capitalize on them.