Brad Stone / Bits:
BitTorrent Sacks Half Its Staff  —  As an open-source technology protocol, the file-sharing system BitTorrent is going strong, representing about half the world’s Internet traffic by some measures.  But the San Francisco company, BitTorrent, is showing signs of serious trouble while it tries to commercialize the technology.

Paul McDougall / InformationWeek:
Apple iPhone Chief Claims He Didn’t Violate IBM Contract  —  Mark Papermaster says in court papers that the two tech vendors are not direct competitors.  —  Apple’s newly appointed chief of iPod and iPhone engineering said his move to Cupertino does not violate a non-compete contract he signed …

Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple: Barclays Cuts FY Q1 iPhone Forecast; Sees Ultra-Portable Macbook, Possible Phone Price Cuts In 2009  —  The latest cautionary comment from the Street on the prospects for Apple (AAPL) iPhone sales for the December quarter comes from Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes …

Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
The Cash Panic Sweeping The VC Industry  —  Why have VC firms and PE firms clamped down on investments so fast?  Why are they shouting from the rooftops that portfolio companies had better start cutting costs immediately?  —  Well, for one thing, because they’re not boneheads.

Gary Burd / FriendFeed Blog:
Instant FriendFeed - Notifications and Posting over IM  —  The great thing about IM is that it’s instant.  You know right away when someone wants to reach you.  To give users the option of having that same immediacy when it comes to FriendFeed, we’re now offering FriendFeed over IM:

Nick / Rough Type:
Who killed the blogosphere?  —  Blogging seems to have entered its midlife crisis, with much existential gnashing-of-teeth about the state and fate of a literary form that once seemed new and fresh and now seems familiar and tired.  And there’s good reason for the teeth-gnashing.

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Internet As A Force In Politics: “Obama Would Not Have Won Without The Internet”  —  New York Magazine’s John Heilemann is leading a panel at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this morning on “The Web and Politics.”  Joining him is San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome, Arianna Huffington and […]

Brandon Miniman / pocketnow.com:
Steve Ballmer Confirms Existence of Windows Mobile 6.5  —  The possibility of there being a Windows Mobile 6.5 fell in the “rumor” column after Motorola CEO casually mentioned it in a conference call.  Now have official word from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that this rumor is reality.

Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
Chinese hack into White House network  —  Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior US official told the Financial Times.  —  On each occasion, the cyber attackers accessed …

Economist:
Oh, grow up  —  Blogging is no longer what it was, because it has entered the mainstream  —  IN THE anthropologically isolated subculture of elite bloggers, it was the equivalent of a watershed, and certainly a tear-shed.  With “a heavy heart, and much consideration” …