Headhunter dishes on why people leave Google | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

We all know the story about why people work at Google. Innovative technology, market power, one day in five to noodle around with your pet project, lavish benefits, blah blah blah. But why do they leave?

The commute sucks.

Well, at least that's one of the five reasons headhunter firm Binc included in a list of five common gripes listed by departing Google employees Binc has interviewed.

If you're an engineer who wants to stay in Silicon Valley, leaving Google might not fix your commute, and it's pretty likely your new boss won't provide you with free Wi-Fi-equipped buses. So take that with a grain of salt.

Here are the other reasons for leaving:

• The stock options aren't looking so spiffy these days. Google's share price has dropped significantly since 2007.

• Google isn't a hot start-up anymore.

• It's bogged down by corporate culture. "The environment in which engineers were able to create their own products and services is decreasing since it has to go through a full review process that can take months before the product is released to market. Although engineers enjoy being creative, they might as well create a product/service that they can monetize on their own."

• Google is "not a dream job anymore...When Google was the revolution, it was the most amazing thing on the market, but it's not that anymore."

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Kate Hudson Is PEOPLE's Most Beautiful Cover Girl - Kate Hudson : People.com

Heading the list of PEOPLE's 100 Most Beautiful People is a 29-year-old mother remarkably short on her beauty sleep – for which she lovingly credits her active 4-year-old son.

The beautiful, sleep-deprived mom? Kate Hudson, PEOPLE reveals in its special issue, which goes on sale Friday.

Was she always such a head-turner? Admits the actress: "I was a tomboy. I had three brothers. I was the girl with the dress on that always came back in the house filthy with scrapes and bruises. But I was always very girly. I had to be able to twirl so that my underwear showed."

Her best time for looking good, she says, comes "at the end of the night, when everything's soaked in and I'm still up. I like the leftover makeup in the morning. You've got to wash your face but there's always the leftover eye makeup, I love that."

(See Photos: Get a sneak peek of the 100 Most Beautiful)

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Miley Cyrus Meets Sen. John Edwards, Skips Red Carpet - Miley Cyrus : People.com

Miley Cyrus may be skipping the red carpet at this weekend's 2008 Disney Channel Games in Florida – "on the advice of her management team," a source tells PEOPLE – but she's keeping plenty busy anyway, hitting the rides, rehearsing for her upcoming performance, and meeting Sen. John Edwards and his family.

On Thursday, Cyrus and her brother Braison rode the rides at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. While in line for the Test Track ride, Cyrus ran into Edwards and his three children. (The senator's youngest two children, Emma Claire and Jack, are Hannah Montana fans who were super eager to meet the star.)

"She chatted with them about all the rides and attractions they saw at Walt Disney World," a source close to the singer tells PEOPLE. "It was a sweet moment."

On Friday, Cyrus will continue her rehearsals and has some work to do before production begins on the Hannah Montana feature film next week. The singer is also working on her role in Bolt – an animated film to which she lends her voice.

Before Saturday's performance, Cyrus was scheduled to appear at a red carpet event and media party Friday to kick off the games, the Associated Press reports. A source close to Cyrus tells PEOPLE: "Miley was invited but she is focusing on her rehearsals and preparing for her show tomorrow. She's happy to be here."

Also, in light of the recent Vanity Fair photo flap, a Disney Channel source adds: "She was invited to the media party but understandably, is not attending on the advice of her management team.

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Steve Jobs Needs A Raise? Apple CEO Out of Top 10 Best Paid CEOs

It’s official! Steve Jobs should ask for a pay raise! According to Forbes, Oracle’s Larry Ellison came first in 2007 as the best paid CEO (although he doesn’t seem to need his salary, since he is no. 14 among the world’s billionaires, with an estimated $25 billion of assets), topping big names such as Apple’s Steve Jobs (no wonder, the poor man is paid $1 for the job!).

The top 10 best paid CEO are as follows: Larry Ellison (Oracle) - $192.9 million, Nabeeb Gareel (MEMC Electronic Materials) - $79.6 million, John Cambers (Cisco) - $54.8 million, Mark Hurd (HP) - $27.6 million, Jen-Hsun Huang (NVIDIA) - $24.6 million, Samual Palmisano (IBM) - $24.3 million, Wendell Weeks (Corning) - $22.6 million, Joseph Tucci, EMC - $20 million, William Sullivan (Agilent) - $17.4 million, Paul Otellini (Intel) - $16.3 million.

Steve Jobs not only didn’t make it on the top 10 list, but 2007 was far less productive than 2006: this time he took home an estimated $14.6 million in compensation, compared to 2006 when he took compensations estimated at $646 million (oh, it’s nice to have stocks!).

The secret to making it to Forbes' top list: don’t lose your job! Yahoo’s former Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel didn’t make it this year, and neither did Michael Dell, the founder of Dell, who is currently working hard to bring Dell to the light (however, he does have some pretty good savings, in case things don’t work out so well; Forbes estimated his value at $16 billion, making him the 40th richest person in the world).

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President Bush Optimistic About Economic Recovery

President Bush in his weekly radio address today that apparently sought to address harsh criticism from Democratic leaders of his handling of the economic crisis. The President said that he is confident the U.S. can overcome the rough times and emerge "stronger than ever."

The patriotic address, taped on Friday, also profited from slightly better financial news: the economy grew in the first quarter of the year, if only by .6 percent, there were fewer job losses and the employment rate fell slightly.

"No temporary setbacks can hold back the most powerful force in our economy — the ingenuity of the American people," Bush said. "Because of your hard work and dedication, I am confident that we will weather this rough period and emerge stronger than ever," President Bush in his weekly radio address today.

He also alleged that his administration was been upfront and candid about the troubles affecting the United States economy. Bush also highlighted the $117 billion in tax rebates coming to 130 million households.

Also, President George W. Bush asked the Congress on Thursday to approve $770 million to alleviate the food crisis due to increasing food prices around the world. During a surprise mid-afternoon appearance at the White House, Bush asked lawmakers to approve the additional funds due to help solving the world food crisis.

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Miley Cyrus, A Future Teenage Billionaire

Teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus, also known as Hannah Montana from Disney Channel's wildly popular series with the same name, is so rich she could retire right now and live the rest of her life with the money she made so far.

According to People magazine, the 15-year-old singer/actress, who is already richer than her father, country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, will likely become a billionaire by the end of the year.

Topping the magazine's list of the richest teen celebrities, Miley took home approximately $17 million last year alone from her sold-out tours, about $1 million a week from the estimated $50 million in tour grosses. Her 3-D concert film "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" comprising concert footage and behind-the-scene clips from the tour, raked in $29 million from tickets sold during its release weekend.

"Kids are earning more and more and can command huge fees in Hollywood, but no one could have predicted how popular Miley would be. She's a true star," a Disney spokesman said.

However, despite her fortune, Miley still gets a $300 monthly allowance from her dad, while her mother Trish insisted that she refused to let her daughter’s fortune go to her head.

"A lot goes into her (investment fund), which she can’t get until she’s 18," Trish told People. "At the end of the day she doesn’t have much left."

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Miley Cyrus in Another Photo Shoot, Dressed this Time

Miley Cyrus posed at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, this time dressed. She apparently reverted back to the squeaky-clean mode after Disney, her dad and she realized that the topless underage photo shoot for Vanity Fair is bound to hurt the business, and that can't be allowed to happen. After all, it's tens of millions at stake, maybe more. Cyrus posed outside the Magic Kingdom with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and signed autographs.

Rumors suggesting Disney might want to cease the collaboration with 15-year-old Cyrus following the Vanity Fair scandal, were shattered, as the young star is supposed to perform in a special concert at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando on Saturday, E! reports.

Also, Disney spokeswoman Brenda Kelly Grant told E! that nothing had changed on their production.

Not only she posed in a sexy posture in the Annie Leibovitz photoshoot, showing the young star barely covered by a sheet, back bared and displaying a seductive look, the photos with her on her father's knee were also disturbing to most people. "This picture disturbs me. It looks like his daughter is his girlfriend. He's trying to be hot," radio host Howard Stern said on his show.

It is also obvious, as a WSJ article titled "The Miley Cyrus Uproar" remarks, that only a fool would believe the apologies of the adults involved in the photo shoot, including Annie Leibovitz. It's clear as daylight that she intentionally made Miley take a sexy pose, and everybody there understood that the 15-year-old was being turned into a sex symbol: "It is a blatant bedroom shot," says The Times' Janice Turner.

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Britney Spears Returns Home to Kentwood - Britney Spears : People.com

Britney Spears is home again: The pop star left California on Friday and returned to her hometown of Kentwood, La. – her first trip back since before her hospitalization and custody battles of the past year, a source tells PEOPLE.

Also in town is Spears's father, Jamie, who remains in legal control of her affairs until a July 31 hearing.

The singer's arrival in her home state comes as sources say there is a planned baby shower over the weekend for her 17-year-old sister Jamie Lynn, who announced her pregnancy in December.



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Microsoft Withdraws Its Bid for Yahoo - New York Times

Microsoft said Saturday that it was abandoning its blockbuster bid to acquire Yahoo after the two companies could not agree on a price.

The breakdown in the talks followed a meeting on Saturday morning in Seattle between Microsoft’s chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, and Yahoo’s chief and co-founder, Jerry Yang, according to a person briefed on the discussions.

At the meeting, which also included Yahoo’s other co-founder, David Filo, and Kevin Johnson of Microsoft, Mr. Ballmer increased Microsoft’s offer to $33 a share, but Mr. Yang said Yahoo would not sell for less than $37 a share, this person said.

Microsoft’s decision to walk away is the latest chapter in a three-month-old standoff that began when Microsoft made an unsolicited offer to acquire Yahoo in an effort to compete more effectively with Google in Web search, advertising and services.

Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s offer repeatedly, saying it undervalued the company. Microsoft at times threatened to lower its offer, originally valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 a share.

In a letter to Mr. Yang that Microsoft released Saturday evening, Mr. Ballmer said that it would not make sense for Microsoft to pursue a lengthy proxy fight. "Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft," he wrote.

Mr. Ballmer said in a separate statement that Microsoft would continue to pursue its online efforts on its own.

"We have a talented team in place and a compelling plan to grow our business through innovative new services and strategic transactions with other business partners," he said. "While Yahoo would have accelerated our strategy, I am confident that we can continue to move forward toward our goals."

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Tom Cruise Back on ‘Oprah Winfrey,’ Without Gymnastics - New York Times

“This is so normal!” Oprah Winfrey exclaimed as Tom Cruise took her through the vast, pristine, wood-paneled kitchen in his mountaintop estate in Telluride, Colo. Ms. Winfrey sounded relieved, almost as if she were half expecting to find space helmets and a teleporting station wedged next to the stove.

Harpo Productions, via Associated Press

Oprah Winfrey with Tom Cruise in Colorado on Friday.

There was nothing normal about the conversation between Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Cruise, of course. Mr. Cruise, whose unhinged exuberance and acrobatic leap onto Ms. Winfrey’s couch in 2005 was the first in a torrent of embarrassing YouTube moments, was back on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to repair the damage. He had agreed to a two-part interview, and tellingly, the first one on Friday was on his couch, a reversal that they joked about, gingerly.

“I’m on your sofa now,” Ms. Winfrey said, mugging. Mr. Cruise laughed and said, “And we’re sitting.”

When Ms. Winfrey’s car drove up the Cruises’ driveway, Mr. Cruise and his wife, Katie Holmes, emerged from the house hand in hand to greet her. Like the first lady, Laura Bush, welcoming reporters to the family ranch in Crawford, Tex., Ms. Holmes was warm and gracious and quickly made herself scarce, hugging her husband and saying, “I love you,” as she walked out the door.

Mr. Cruise then sat winsomely through a barrage of questions about his marriage; their baby, Suri; Scientology; and in particular his rant to Matt Lauer in 2005 on “Today,” ridiculing the use of Ritalin and attacking Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants for postpartum depression.

“I mean, what I regret is that it just came out wrong,” he said. “What I regret is that even discussing Brooke in any way.”

This was not a promotional gimmick to boost box office sales. Mr. Cruise does not have a movie coming out imminently. (“Tropic Thunder,” in which he briefly plays not a leading man but a sleazy studio executive, is scheduled for an August release.) Mr. Cruise employed his charm — and taut stagecraft — in an effort to rehabilitate his reputation.

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Friends React to Mariah & Nick's Marriage - Couples, Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon : People.com

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon's recent wedding not only surprised fans, but their friends and close associates, too.

"I'm shell shocked," a source in Carey's camp tells PEOPLE. "As far as I know, they are happy together."

Music mogul Russell Simmons said he didn't know about the nuptials ahead of time, but sees why the pairing works. "Whatever makes them happy," he said Friday. "They have a lot in common and should have a lot of fun together."

Even Cannon's family was surprised by the move. "It's crazy right! We're definitely happy. Well wishes!" Cannon's brother, Gabriel, tells PEOPLE. "I'm trying to be like him and I love him very much."

Another insider says the newlyweds didn't know each other before Carey's video shoot for her song "Bye, Bye" in the Caribbean on March 26. "Nick was cast as the romantic lead and was flown to Antigua where they met so basically their [romance] started during the shoot," the insider says, adding, "She's very into religion and Nick is very into religion. That's something they bonded on."

Whatever their connection, Jacob Arabo, who created the diamond sparkler that the actor gave the singer as an engagement ring, tells PEOPLE that his friend is in love with Carey.

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FCC Chairman: Comcast Blocked Traffic At All Times

Says Comcast's equipment didn't distinguish between a network that needed management and one that didn't

Testifying before Congress, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin presented a damning contrast (PDF) to Comcast’s claims that it blocked traffic only when needed.

“Contrary to some claims, it does not appear that [Comcast’s BitTorrent technique] was used only to occasionally delay traffic at particular nodes suffering from network congestion at that time,” said Martin. Basing his statements on testimony received, he added that Comcast’s blocking equipment is “typically deployed over a wider geographic or system area and would therefore have impacted numerous [regions] within a system simultaneously.”

Martin further accuses Comcast of not using “content agnostic” management equipment, a point that violates FCC policy and inadvertently conceded by Comcast, who recently announced a switch to “content agnostic” network management techniques.

Comcast says it expects to have its network switched over by either the end of this year or early 2009 – a timetable that many, including the FCC, have found unsatisfactory. Comcast claims that it can’t implement a change instantly as such a tactic would overwhelm its network.

Regardless of Comcast’s stated intentions – and prior praise for the change, taken entirely on Comcast’s own initiative – Martin expressed doubts on Comcast’s commitment: “Indeed, the question is not when they will begin using a new approach but if and when they are committing to stop using the old one,” he said.

However, the seemingly adversarial relationship between ISPs and the FCC enjoys at least one common ground: Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, urged Congress not to regulate (PDF) ISPs’ management of their networks – a point that Martin agrees with.

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