Stefanie Olsen / CNET News.com:
Microsoft bid is better than stagnating, say Yahoo insiders  —  Sometimes change—any change—is good.  —  For a company hobbled by cultural and management problems, a $44.6 billion hostile takeover bidfrom Microsoft may be just the kick in the pants Yahoo needs to rejoin the fight against Google—and potentially Microsoft.

MG Siegler / ParisLemon:
Google: Like A Rock (That Is, Falling Like One)  —  Google has thus far today dropped another 5% of its stock price to drop below the $500 mark for the first time since last August.  Remember, up until the final days in December the stock was still over $700 a share, […]

Matt Hickey / CrunchGear:
Intel debuts Silverthorne processor; Dragonfire Ring, Dwarfsbane Sword and Elven Might Sling to follow  —  As subnotebooks like the Eee PC and the XO become more and more common (they will), a new market will develop around them and copycat machines.  Intel hopes to be a player in this new market […]

eMarketer:
Heard the Latest About Podcasting?  —  Engagement via headphones.  —  Ever since podcasting was introduced, the question has been the same: Will anyone listen?  —  The answer is definitely “Yes.”  —  eMarketer estimates that the total US podcast audience reached 18.5 million in 2007.

Tom Krazit / CNET News.com:
Rumor: New MacBook Pros on the way?  —  With Apple’s MacBook Air having reached store shelves, it might not be too much longer before the company updates the rest of its notebook lineup.  —  MacRumors notes fresh evidence—of sorts—that Apple is getting ready to launch revamped MacBook Pros in February.

Ina Fried / CNET News.com:
Microsoft wants to bring Surface home sooner  —  When people get a chance to try out Microsoft’s Surface touch-screen tabletop computer, they often wish they could take one home.  —  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday that the company is trying to speed up that process after getting a lot […]

Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
What you all are missing about Google  —  I’m surprised that even Kara Swisher has missed this.  The bloggers are going nuts, once again, over the email that a Google lawyer sent to Microsoft regarding Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Yahoo.  —  Here’s what’s really going on:

Nick / Rough Type:
Who cut the cables?  —  Curiouser and curiouser.  Last Wednesday two undersea communication cables carrying Internet traffic were severed near Alexandria, Egypt, causing widespread outages in Egypt and India that left a reported 100 million people without Net access.

AlexB / yourminis:
Goowy acquired by AOL!  —  We have been working closely in partnership with AOL since early 2007.  During this time, we’ve had an opportunity to see AOL grow and evolve as a company.  For this reason, among others, we’re thrilled to announce that AOL has acquired Goowy.

Caroline McCarthy / CNET News.com:
Yahoo axes music service, strikes deal with Rhapsody  —  It’s been a tumultuous few days for Yahoo—you know, with that takeover bid from Microsoft—but the company continues to shake things up internally, too.  —  On Monday, the company announced that it will discontinue …