Om Malik / GigaOM:
SiPort Shooting: No Layoffs, Killer Was Fired  —  The reports of layoffs at SiPort, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company that prompted killing of three executives are wrong, according to a statement issued by the company.  Like me, everyone assumed that there were layoffs and that led to the shooting.

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Microsoft’s Shane Kim loves Nintendo, talks up new Xbox Experience as social network  —  Microsoft executive Shane Kim touted the New Xbox Experience coming next week as the company’s attempt to broaden its reach and shift its Xbox Live online gaming service from a multiplayer matchmaking service …

Dan Farber / Outside the Lines:
Obama appoints YouTube (Google) as secretary of video  —  It’s great that President-elect Barack Obama is delivering his regularly scheduled Saturday address in both audio and video form.  After using the Internet to help him get elected and connect with younger voters …

Randall Stross / New York Times:
What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science?  —  ELLEN SPERTUS, a graduate student at M.I.T., wondered why the computer camp she had attended as a girl had a boy-girl ratio of six to one.  And why were only 20 percent of computer science undergraduates at M.I.T. female?

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
AOL Gets Out Of User Generated Video Business  —  AOL is on a product-cutting spree.  In addition to the shuttering of XDrive, AOL Pictures, MyMobile And Bluestring, the company will also be shutting down the AOL Video Uploads service starting this week.  —  Users must move their videos prior …

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Update On Google iPhone Voice Recognition App: Look For It On Monday  —  Google’s voice recognition search application for the iPhone, originally set for launch on Friday, will likely go live sometime Monday, we’ve heard from a source with knowledge of the situation.

Priya Ganapati / Gadget Lab:
USB 3.0 to Deliver a Tenfold Speed Increase  —  Tighten your seat belts.  Data transfer is going into overdrive as the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, better known as USB, prepares to make a tenfold jump in speed.  —  That means the vast sea of USB devices — from HD camcorders […]

New York Times:
Packages You Won’t Need a Saw to Open  —  SAN FRANCISCO — A number of retailers and manufacturers have a gift for holiday shoppers: product packaging that will not result in lacerations and stab wounds.  —  The companies, including Amazon.com, Sony, Microsoft and Best Buy …