Category Archives: Technology

Victory for VW Diesel lovers, or Victory for anti-Diesel nuts?

29 July 2016 (16:51 UTC-07 Tango 01) 08 Mordad 1395/23 Shawwal 1437/26 Yi-Wei 4714

Last year VolksWagen suddenly revealed that their emissions software on their newer diesel cars only works when it knows that the vehicle is being smog tested.  But has there been actual independent testing of that claim, or we just have to take VW’s word?

Reuters is reporting that the state of California is now working with VW to test new software that will allow diesel loving VW owners to keep their vehicles, rather than sell them back.

But there’s more proof (to me) that this whole thing is a global anti-diesel scam.  I’ve already reported that the Rockefellers ‘ordered’ the car manufacturing industry to shift towards electric cars, months before VW suddenly made their ’emission scam’ revelation (the oil baron Rockefellers are the ones who successfully sued Rudolph Diesel because his motor was originally designed to run on vegetable oil).  VW’s latest deal with U.S. states will see VW spending billions of U.S. dollars reducing emissions of diesel vehicles it didn’t even make!

That’s right, VW has agreed to spend more than $2.7-billion USD to make diesel vehicles, made by other manufactures, less polluting!  

Volkswagen agrees to pay Idaho state government $2.6-million USD

VW ACCUSED OF TAX EVASION!

SUZUKI SUES VW FOR DIVORCE

VW takes-over Suzuki

VolksWagen claims Suzuki violated its contract by purchasing diesel engines from another car maker.

11 March 2011 disasters scare VW away from diesel truck maker Izuzu

Twice in one week Security Bot injures child! Christianity behind Rise of the Machines?

14 July 2016 (11:14 UTC-07 Tango 01) 24 Tir 1395/08 Shawwal 1437/11 Yi-Wei 4714

“What is that thing? What is that thing!”-mother of victim screaming as she tried to pull her child from under the 300 pound K5 security-bot

For the second time in one week, and at the same California shopping mall (Stanford Shopping Center), a 136kg (3-hundred pound) security guard job stealing security robot has injured a human.

Knightscope, the maker of the K5 Autonomous Data Machine (Machine Identification Number 13), claimed in the latest incident the child was running backwards, which somehow confused the bot, and got run over.  The angry parents call bullshit on that claim as their 16 months old is too young to know how to run backwards!  They say the security-bot drove straight for their child, without deviation, knocking him face-down.  Their child survived the accident with a long scratch on the back of his leg.

Unnamed mall employees said this was the second time there was an “incident” with the K5, mall management refused to confirm, or deny, the employee’s claim.  Knightscope claims the latest reported incident is the first and only incident.

Interestingly a Catholic news source published a report, last month, which stated that “Robots evolving to defend themselves as people prove dangerous” and concluded that “It’s important that humans respect robots…” !  The report documents how around the world robots are being attacked by humans.  It also promoted the use of the K5 Autonomous Data Machine.

Robot’s role in killing Dallas shooter is a first

“It’s like a never-ending funeral.” : June 2016 U.S. tech/communications destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in June 2016:

Arizona: California based internet health insurance management company YourPeople-Zenefits shutting down their Grand Canyon State sales office, at least 1-hundred jobs lost!

California: Ebay posted a mass layoff WARN saying they laid off 538 people, back in February 2015!   Cupertino based hard disk maker Seagate Technology announced it will kill off 1-thousand 6-hundred jobs by the end of its third quarter!  Renewable energy company SunEdison continues killing jobs, this time 121 people in three locations were laid off at the end of May!  Once touted as one of the fastest growing women owned companies, military InfoTech contractor Xtreme Solutions issued a layoff WARN for their Ontario location, 80 jobs lost by the end of August.  San Jose based Apple computer “human interface” parts supplier Synaptics eliminating 160 jobs! In a round-a-bout way administrators blamed crashing sales. United Technologies shutting down their San Diego office at the end of July. Software company Veritas Technologies revealed they laid off 128 people in Mountain View, back in May! Steiner eOptics (aka Laser Devices) shutting down their Monterey location, 69 jobs gone by August. Connecticut based Xerox shutting down their Cerritos location, 39 jobs lost by August. Internet slots website Playtika eliminating 111 Santa Monica jobs by August!  In Los Angeles, ad agency 72andSunny announced it laid off “2%” of its employees in an attempt to maintain the “long term health” of the company.  San Jose based electronic payments company VeriFone Systems reports a surprise decline in revenue and will layoff an undisclosed number of people, blaming it on “difficult market dynamics”.   Solar Link eliminating 169 jobs in Ontario by mid-July! L-3 Communications revealed it shutdown its San Carlos operations back in April, 69 jobs lost. Video game maker Disney Interactive revealed they laid off 55 people, back in mid-May. In San Jose, Western Digital issued a mass layoff WARN, 232 jobs gone by July! Network and content control freak Lightspeed Systems issued a layoff WARN for their Bakersfield ops, 80 jobs gone by Xmas.  Jacobs Technology issued a WARN, 65 jobs gone by mid-August. VSE Corporation issued a layoff WARN, nine Barstow jobs gone by the end of July.  Resistor maker Caddock Electronics issued a shutdown WARN for their Riverside ops, 60 jobs gone by mid-August.

Florida:  News-Press/Gannett Publishing eliminating 79 jobs in Marco Island and Fort Myers, between July and August.  Xerox issued a WARN for their Orlando ops, 95 jobs gone by the end of August.  Call center operator Convergys issued a WARN for their AT&T Jacksonville ops, 163 jobs gone by mid-August! Call center operator Vertex issued a WARN, 1-hundred Sarasota jobs gone between August and Xmas!  Jacobs Technology issued a WARN, 257 jobs in Fort Walton Beach gone between now and the end of August!

Illinois:   Cellular One issued shutdown WARNs for multiple locations, 91 jobs gone by September, no reason was given to state employment administrators. In Vernon Hills, custom computer programer Zebra Tech issued a shutdown WARN, 66 jobs lost by August due to “relocation”.  British empire United Kingdom based electronics company Laird Technologies shutting down their Schaumburg factory, eliminated 53 jobs.

Indiana: CTS Electric Components shutting down their Elkhart factory and moving production to Mexico and China. 230 U.S. jobs gone by mid-2018!

Maryland:  Missouri based finance and healthcare software maker DST Systems shutdown its Baltimore office. Georgia based payment processor Global Payments shutting down their Owings Mills ops, 334 jobs lost between July 2016 and March 2017! Local news media say administrators refused to say why. Global Payments recently reported big profits, and in 2007 said they would expand their Ownings Mills operations. It might have to do with the $3.8-billion USD spent on taking over rivals!

Massachusetts: Braintree based radio station owner Greater Media eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs across the U.S.  In the state of Boston Weak, MassMutual Financial Group laying off at least 1-hundred U.S. citizen InfoTech employees, replacing them with H-1B migrants! Local news media reporting that U.S. citizen employees are being threatened with the loss of their two weeks severance if they go public with the plan to replace U.S. employees with migrants: “It’s like a never-ending funeral.”unnamed U.S. citizen employee to Computerworld reporter

Minnesota: The Post Bulletin laid off 11 people due to declining advertising revenue.

Missouri: Finance and healthcare software maker DST Systems eliminating 150 jobs in Kansas City!  Bankrupt solar panel and windmill maker SunEdison eliminating at least 43 jobs.

New Jersey: VALID USA laid off 144 South Plainfield data center employees!

New York: New York Life Insurance issued multiple WARNs, dozens of in-house InfoTech and Finance jobs being lost to cheap-o contractors.   NYC based animator Frederator Networks laid off 15 people, calling it “a fairly typical restructuring”. NYC based internet publisher Gawker Media now chapter 11 bankrupt busted after losing a $140-million USD lawsuit brought against them by Hulk Hogan.  In NYC, telecommunications company Charter Communications eliminating at least 36 jobs due to their merger with Time Warner.  Computer seller Tekserve shutting down their NYC computer store, 79 jobs gone by mid-September.  Connecticut based Xerox in the final stages of shutting down their Webster distribution operation, the remaining 48 employees becoming unemployed in August.

Ohio: In Lockbourne, IntelliSource eliminating 235 jobs by mid-August, apparently due to losing its contract at the Zulily Fulfillment Center.

Oklahoma: Newspaper The Oklahoman shutting down its packaging and printing ops in Oklahoma City, 130 jobs gone by September! The Oklahoman was Oklahoma’s largest newspaper but will now contract out work to rival Tulsa World.

Oregon: Data center Peak Hosting laid off 135 people and declared bankruptcy after losing a major internet video gaming client!   It was revealed that last month’s 784 layoffs by computer chip maker Intel were the largest ever mass layoff in Oregon’s history! Local news media says several hundreds more are expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year.

Texas:  ‘Tech distributor’ Ingram Micro eliminating 937 jobs in Fort Worth, as part of its $6-billion USD sell-out to Chinese company Tianjin Tianhai-HNA Group!  In Austin, former drivers for California based internet companies Uber and Lyft filed multiple lawsuits over their sudden dismissal in May. The sudden halt to Uber and Lyft operations is the result of Austin residents approving a new law requiring Uber and Lyft to conduct background checks on ‘independent’ drivers. Apparently Uber and Lyft didn’t want to comply, so they laid off hundreds (possibly thousands) of people without warning. (Uber has already agreed to settle a lawsuit by 350-thousand drivers in California and Massachusetts who say Uber never reimbursed them for fuel expenses! Lyft is offering to pay California drivers $27-million USD to settle their legal action!)  Also in Austin, once praised as one of the “best funded startups” 10 years old Spiceworks announced it must layoff 12% of its hundreds of employees, the CEO would only say “…new efforts and strategies require us to reconsider our own organization…”  

Washington: Redmond based Microsoft is buying LinkdIn for $26.2-billion USD, expect mass layoffs.  Seattle based Amazon will invest $3-billion USD in creating new jobs, but not here in the United States, the money is going to India! By the way, that’s on top of the $2-billion Amazon has already pumped into India!

Wisconsin: Texas based InfoTech company Compucom issued a shutdown WARN for its Waukesha operations, at least 16 jobs gone by the end of August.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

Layoffs are attempt to find “sustainable profitability.” : May 2016, U.S. tech/communications industry job destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in May 2016:

Once again, five tech companies are leading the way in corporate cash hoarding: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Cisco Systems and Oracle. For the past several years these very same tech companies have dominated corporate cash hoarding. In 2015 they hoarded a combined total of $504-billion USD, or 30% of the cash available in the U.S. economy. Basic economics courses will tell you that cash hoarding is a major drain on economies, pulling money out of the cash flow system which drives economies. And these are the same tech companies that are killing tens of thousands of jobs!

After three years website The Toast will cease new postings by July. The owners revealed they’ve been discussing shutting it down altogether for the past six months. They also admitted it’s actually difficult to finance such a website.

California: Palo Alto based Jive Software laying off 1-hundred people by the end of June, in an attempt to reach “sustainable profitability.” Mountain View based software company Symantec announced a restructuring plan that will eliminate 1-thousand 2-hundred jobs and shutdown some operations!  Data storage contractor Western Digital issued multiple layoff WARNs, 204 jobs gone between June and July! Sacramento based newspaper owner The McClatchy Company off-shoring 150 U.S. InfoTech jobs to India! Xerox laying off 55 people in Riverside, by the end of June. Cisco Systems killed yet more jobs, this time 83 people in San Jose rendered jobless. In San Francisco, Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric issued a WARN, 48 jobs gone by July. Video game maker Glu Mobile warning of mass layoffs after losing $8.6-million USD during its last quarter.

Connecticut: Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric issued a shutdown WARN for their Middletown operation, 46 jobs lost by mid-July. Norwalk based internet travel company Priceline warning of bad results for its upcoming quarterly report.

Idaho: The Idaho Technology Council reports that from 2014 to 2015 business investments into The Gem State tripled ($3.47 billion to $16.29 billion)! However, when you break it down by region all the big increases in investments went to the Boise area (aka southern sector of the state), north and east sectors saw little change in investments. And 60% went to the service sector (retail).

Illinois: Chicago based internet loan company Avant laid off 60 people. CEO Al Goldstein admitted the economy sucks: “Our biggest competitor [California based Lending Club] just fell down, and the whole space is at an inflection point.” Chicago based e-coupon company Groupon laid off 30 people as part of their larger plan to eliminate 1-thousand 1-hundred jobs! Sports analytics provider to news media Stats eliminating 50 jobs, on top of the 30 jobs eliminated back in October.

Louisiana: In Baton Rouge, Xerox eliminated 84 data collection jobs with its State & Local Solutions ops.

Maine: Tennessee based Sitel eliminating 120 jobs at its Caribou call center, by mid-July! It’s blamed on lack of contracts.

Maryland: Silver Spring based Discovery Communications warning of impending employee buyouts and mass layoffs, this after the CEO took a 79% pay-cut last year! The job cuts are expected to be finalized by 3rd quarter 2016.

Massachusetts:  Boston Weak tech start up Localytics admitted that its recent round of layoffs was an effort to maximize profits in a crashing economy. Boston Weak based electronic payment processor Merchant Customer eXchange (MCX) laid off 30 people and is once again delaying the release of its new payment processing software.

Missouri: Two years after re-entering the home loan market internet based Ditech Financial eliminating 103 jobs by September, as it shuts down its debt collects ops in Earth City!

New Hampshire: Teledyne PCT was sold-off and local news reports say the new owner FTC Circuts plans to shut it down, 80 jobs lost.

New Jersey: NGR Solar announced it is streamlining its home solar division, meaning 5-hundred employees becoming unemployed!

New Mexico:  California based Intel accelerating layoffs at its Rio Rancho ops,  hundreds of people being laid off by Xmas and the Rio Rancho plant is being shutdown as well! Here’s what Intel said about accelerating layoffs across the world : “The majority of changes will be communicated worldwide over the next 60 days with some actions stretching into 2017, through site consolidations, a combination of voluntary and involuntary departures, reevaluation of projects, and an increased focus on efficiency in a variety of programs. We are not providing further site-specific information at this time.”

New York: NYC based internet auction site Paddle8 laid off at least 16 people as a direct result of their merger with Auctionata. And British empire Canada founded but NYC based Vice News laid off at least 15 digital media employees in California and New York, and began eliminating jobs in Europe. The Wall Street journal reporting that Armonk based IBM is conducting yet another round of massive job cuts in Colorado, New York and North Carolina. Those jobs are being off-shored to Costa Rica and India.  Analysts think that when IBM is done killing U.S. jobs, this year, that as many as 14-thousand people could be unemployed!   3D printer maker MakerBot issued a layoff WARN for their Brooklyn location, at least 80 people jobless by mid-July.  Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric issued a shutdown WARN for its Henrietta operations, 38 jobs gone by mid-August.   Insurance company New York Life issued a WARN saying 104 InfoTech employees in NYC and Sleepy Hollow will become unemployed by January 2017! The jobs are being “outsourced”.  It’s finally been revealed that NYC based EmblemHealth eliminated 250 Information Technology (IT) jobs! They’re switching to a contractor.

North Carolina: Sitel shutting down its Ashville call center, 189 jobs gone starting in July!

Texas: Austin based video game maker Wizard101-KingIsle Entertainment revealed they laid off an undisclosed number of employees, after canceling the release of some new smart phone video games.

Utah: In Salt Lake City, without warning Disney Infinity killed 3-hundred jobs as Disney halted production and design of Star Wars related toys and video games! Disney administrators revealed how bad the future economy still is by saying “…we did not have enough confidence in the business in terms of it being stable enough to stay in it.”

Washington: Redmond based Microsoft laying off 1-thousand 850 cell phone employees worldwide, in direct connection to Microsoft’s takeover of Nokia. (Nokia itself took over Alcatel Lucent and announced that 15-thousand people globally will become unemployed as a result!)  And Seattle based Amazon ended its Price Matching Refunds on everything by TVs. Amazon administrators swear they didn’t change their policy, but customers are venting on Reddit: “What pisses me off the most is amazon is pretending like they never did this and if it happened before it was a ‘one time exception.’ I have price adjusted at least 50 times in the last 3 years, so that’s bulls**t if it was just an ‘exception’ this was the policy that amazon had.”

TechCrunch posted conflicting emails it got from Amazon: “If the item is shipped and sold by Amazon we have a 7 days price match from the time of delivery.”-28 April 2016

“With the exception of TVs, Amazon.com doesn’t offer post-purchase adjustments.”-02 May 2016

April 2016: “BLOODBATH”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

“bloodbath” : April 2016, U.S. tech/communications industry job destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in April 2016:

Mormon Glen Beck’s ‘news’ network The Blaze warned at least 40 employees across the U.S. that they will lose their jobs. This is at least the second round of layoffs for Glen Beck. Back in February a Daily Beast report basically said former employees accused ‘christian’ Beck of being a backstabber. It’s blamed on crashing ratings and the crashing numbers of people looking at Beck’s websites Glennbeck.com and TheBlaze.com.

Arizona: California based Intel eliminating 560 jobs in Chandler, by the end of May!

California: Insiders are reporting that Apple has laid off all its employee recruiters, more than 1-hundred employees! Recruiting bonuses were also slashed from 40% to only 10%.  In Irvine, Sage Software eliminating 26 jobs by the end of June. In San Jose, Western Digital Technology eliminating 71 jobs by mid-June.   San Louis Obispo based e-commerce company Kibo (Shopatron) suddenly laid off an undisclosed number of people (reports vary from eight to 25), blaming it on Kibo’s merger with two other e-commerce companies.   After 57 years La Cañada Flintridge based Sport Chalet announced it is dead! Not only are they shutting down all 67 brick-n-mortar stores across nine states, but they’re halting all internet sales! New York based IBM laying off 109 people at its San Jose ops, by the end of May!  In Oakland software maker APN (Ask Partner Network) issued a layoff WARN, 19 employees unemployed by the end of May. Mindspark Interactive Network revealed it too will eliminate jobs. Internet company IAC (InterActiveCorp) issued layoff WARNs for 15 employees, effective at the end of May. In San Francisco, KGO Radio laid off as many as 30 people (almost all its newsroom staff) without warning, employees called it a “bloodbath”. The news came from employees who refused to give their names on account they’ve been threatened with losing their jobs as well.   Santa Clara based Intel confirmed it is about to eliminate 12-thousand jobs, blaming it on crashing computer sales!

Connecticut: Norwalk based Xerox revealed it eliminated 4-thousand 8-hundred jobs in the first quarter of 2016! Xerox has been slashing jobs since 1991.

Idaho: ‘Christian’ led state Department of Labor making money off its own software by selling its Right to Work Internet Unemployment System (ius) to the states of Iowa and Vermont!

Kansas: In Overland Park, Sprint revealed it eliminated an additional 113 jobs at its HQ!

Missouri: Solar panel and windmill maker SunEdison now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. The company was called the fastest growing green energy company in the U.S., but that was because it was using debt to finance its growth, now it can’t pay up.

New York: The company behind those crappy entertainment shows like American Idol, NYC based CORE Media, now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Despite years of high ratings the company was not able to pay off massive debts, and now ratings for those BS shows are crashin’-n-burnin’.  Iconic New York Times announced it will shutdown its Paris, France, printing ops. On top of that, insiders and union members are reporting that New York Times will eliminate “hundreds” of jobs by November! This comes after the CEO of New York Times saw his income skyrocket to $8.7-million USD last year!  Amazon halting its clothing line, 94 MyHabit jobs lost in NYC and Brooklyn, in July.     In Staten Island NYC, telecommunications company Midtown Express shutting down, 45 jobs gone in May.  NYC based digital news service Mashable Studios announced will begin eliminating jobs because “…to keep our voice consistent across every platform, it’s clear that all our video producers should live on the same team.”

North Carolina: Germany based BASF laying off 190 highly educated employees at its Research Triangle Park ops by the end of Summer! It’s part of BASF’s plans to eliminate 350 local jobs in total! Connecticut based Xerox laying off 139 people at its State Healthcare operation “due to a business decision of a single client”. This might be what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL) as many healthcare providers are drastically cutting back on spending due to ObamaCare.

Oregon: Veritas Software issued a WARN for their Springfield ops, 50 jobs lost by mid-June.  California based Intel issued a mass layoff WARN, 784 jobs gone by the end of May!  California based software company Symantec resumed mass layoffs at its Springfield operations. Exact numbers were not released.

Texas: in Austin internet based business education service Amazing Academy (amazing.com) laid off 50% of its employees without warning! The news came from the former employees.  Dallas based AT&T is now offering poor families internet service for as little as $5 per month! This is because the federal government (FCC Lifeline program) is finally recognizing that there are now more poor people than ever before and that the overwhelming majority of employers now do hiring through the internet only.  San Antonio based iHeartMedia warning of bankruptcy due to ongoing lawsuit by creditors. If they lose the lawsuit they could be required to make an immediate payment of $15-billion USD!  Arlington based software company Opower laid off 25 U.S. employees as “…part of an effort to cut back on our overall spending….”

Washington: California based Intel shutting down its DuPont location (according to the mayor of DuPont), killing 350 jobs! DuPont Mayor Michael Courts says Intel administrators did not tell him when the plant would shutdown. Connecticut based Xerox issued a layoff WARN for their Kent operations, 98 jobs lost by the end of May.

March 2016: “TO RECEIVE SEVERANCE…EMPLOYEES…SIGN AWAY THEIR RIGHT TO SUE.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

“to receive this severance…employees…sign away their right to sue” : March 2016, U.S. tech/communications industry job destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in March 2016:

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence Apple, Verizon Communications,  Alphabet-Google,  AT&T, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco Systems,  Oracle and Comcast avoided paying U.S. corporate taxes despite making at least 50% in profits in 2015!

Japan based electronics maker Toshiba, who was caught out last year cooking its own accounting books revealing that it was actually losing money (over the past seven years), is now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The U.S. investigation is about Toshiba’s U.S. subsidiaries lying about their revenues to avoid paying U.S. taxes, and includes the U.S. nuclear power plant maker/operator Westinghouse (which is now owned by Toshiba). Toshiba has recently been fined a record $66-million USD by Japan’s Financial Services Agency for lying about their revenues.

Alabama: In Huntsville, the now shuttered non-profit Sci-Quest museum is officially chapter 7 bankrupt busted.

Arizona:  In Phoenix, internet medical check-up scheduling service Zocdoc laid off 33 people and is consolidating its sales team to its NYC HQ. Local news reports say its part of a larger plan by the high-tech industry to drastically cut back because they expect the economy to get much worse!  Washington DC based e-commerce Living Social shutting down their Tucson call center, 160 jobs lost by the end Spring! Administrators claim the bad economy is forcing them to restructure, and they warned the call center shutdown was just “the initial phase” (even though they’ve eliminated 6-hundred jobs since 2014!).

California:  British empire United Kingdom based software solutions company (according to Bloomberg) nobody heard of, Mycom North America, revealed it suddenly shutdown their Santa Fe Springs office, 138 jobs lost no explanation! Mycom North America, is apparently dead in the water as it suddenly issued shutdown WARNs for all its offices around the United States! A lawsuit was filed by a U.S. contractor accusing Mycom of failing to pay them for work rendered, and last year Mycom was sued by a U.S. property management company for failing to pay rent on property in West Virginia!  In San Jose, TiVo laid off 52 people. In Sunnyvale, Imagine Communications issued a shutdown WARN, 50 jobs lost by April. Investors Business Daily issued multiple layoff WARNs, at least 49 jobs lost in several cities by the end of April.   In Bakersfield, Xerox eliminating 15 jobs by the end of April.  In Tustin, Pacific Bell Telephone eliminating 121 jobs by May! In Sunnyvale, internet/tech company NetApp eliminating 376 jobs by the end of April! In Aliso Viejo, video game maker Carbine Studios laid of 70 people and another 18 people will become unemployed in May. The launch of their game, WildStar, has been canceled for China and administrators say they are re-focusing efforts on the U.S. and European markets.  And video game maker NC Interactive (NCsoft) already laid off 11 people. Redwood based smartwatch maker Pebble already in trouble, eliminating 40 jobs due to lack of “support” from those idiots who throw their money at tech startups. Administrators blame it on increasing competition from other tech companies for that “support”. In other words; tech companies don’t make money off actually selling something, it comes from geeks who “support” those companies (hey, why doesn’t anybody want to support Blind Bat News? hit the donate button).  Santa Barbara based wireless company Sonos announced it will eliminate jobs (but refuses to say how many) as they shift focus from WiFi to Streaming. And in Los Angeles, Fox Sports-digital suddenly eliminated more than 20 internet writer jobs through a loophole in their contracts. Basically Fox Sports blaming low ratings of their internet ‘team news-letters’ on the writers. Sebastopol based Safari Books Online has laid off an undisclosed number of employees, including the CEO! The layoffs were revealed by the former CEO. The company, which does business on the internet, is consolidating operations.    Japan based video game maker SEGA (SEGA was created in the U.S. territory of Hawaii in 1940, where it made slot machines) revealed they eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs from their San Francisco SEGA Networks ops. In San Francisco, internet/tech company YourPeople-Zenefits officially revealed how many jobs they eliminated last month, 83. And San Francisco based software maker Optimizely laid off about 40 employees blaming the devaluation of the tech industry: “This being the right decision shifted on February 5. The impact of that day on public SaaS [Software as a Service] companies, in some cases cutting their value in half, was a wake up call for me personally to realize that ultimately if we want to build a business that can endure and be impactful, we need to make ourselves resilient…”-Dan Siroker, ceo during interview with ForbesPalo Alto based credit card validating e-reader Jumio now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and for sale. Administrators blame lack of ‘crowd funding’ (guess those low-tech girls in low-cut t-shirts didn’t work). This is more proof that most tech companies are never successful, having to rely on crowd funding support for their real money.  Palo Alto based ‘cloud’ computing company SurveyMonkey eliminating 1-hundred jobs, saying “The products and solutions in place were not going to generate long-term value for SurveyMonkey.”

Connecticut:  Hartford based healthcare provider Aetna eliminated 26 jobs with its iTriage App in Colorado. Aetna then announced plans to merge iTriage App with WellMatch App, no word on how many more InfoTech jobs will be lost to the merger.

Delaware: Software company SevOne revealed that it eliminated about 50 jobs in February.

Florida: Mycom North America suddenly shutdown their Orlando office. Interestingly the WARN lists the company as “construction”, but Bloomberg’s Company Overview calls it a U.K. based privately held software-engineering company.   Global electronic payment company First Data finally notified state employment administrators that it shutdown its Maitland office and laid off at least 129 people, last year!

Idaho: In Garden City, after 40 years The Gem State’s largest horse racing op Les Bois Park suddenly shutdown. It’s the latest victim of a recent decision by A-hole ‘christian’ regulators declaring instant horse racing machines to be “unconstitutional”! Boise State University conducted an economic study which concluded that Les Bois Park alone generated $50-million USD for Ada County, and provided 536 jobs, all lost now! The Idaho Horse Council says there will be a domino effect across Idaho’s equine economy: “It’s the feed, the hotels, the traveling, eating… it’s just a trickledown effect. Horses are going to be shipped out of state and that’s income Idaho doesn’t get. That’s devastating for our horse economy.”-Myron Amsden

Illinois: Chicago based internet coupon service Groupon conducting more job culling, this time 25 Breadcrumb employees were let go. Back in August 20 Breadcrumb employees lost their jobs. News reports say Groupon has now cut in half the number of Breadcrumb employees it once had. Inside sources say eventually Groupon will shutdown Breadcrumb altogether, despite adamant denials by Groupon administrators.  Computer Systems Institute shutting down campuses across the state, eliminating 172 jobs by September! In Chicago, Computershare issued a layoff WARN, 56 jobs lost by the end of April.  Troubled drugs maker Abbott Laboratories about to fire U.S. InfoTech workers and replace them with migrants from India: “-You have given 180 U.S. employees 60-days notice, and their last day of employment at Abbott Labs will be April 22, 2016.

-To add insult to injury, the Abbott Labs IT staff who will be laid off will first be forced to train their replacements.

–You have awarded Wipro Ltd, a large Indian outsourcing firm, with a contract to take over the jobs of these American workers.

-You are offering the U.S. workers severance of a week’s pay for each year they spent at the company, but in order to receive this severance you are requiring these employees to sign away their right to sue or disparage the company. The severance packet you gave your workers contains a full-page ad listing jobs at Wipro.

-The people you are laying off have stellar experience, credentials, and performance reviews, and some have been with your company for 15-20 years.”-Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator

Kentucky: Printer maker Lexmark issued a WARN, 143 Fayette County jobs lost by the end of May! Company administrators did not give a reason.   E-commerce and logistics company Innotrac shutting down their Hebron operation, 338 jobs lost by July! There was no official reason given, but local news sources suspect it’s connected to a deal with Amazon. Call center operator Convergys eliminating up to 1-hundred jobs in Erlanger, due to the loss of a client.

Louisiana: In Baton Rouge, Xerox State & Local Solutions issued a layoff WARN, 84 jobs lost by May due to “a change in business condition”.

Maryland: Bethesda based tax-sucker Lockheed Martin is pushing 1-thousand employees to suffer “voluntary layoffs”! Most layoffs will take place in Texas and Georgia. Administrators say it’s their only way of “staying competitive”, never mind that fact they’ve raped taxpayers for decades over their never ending ‘development’ of the grossly failed F-35 project! The at least 16 years old F-35 project has cost taxpayers $400-billion USD so far!

If the Department of Defense finally decides to buy the plane it’ll cost and additional $85-million per plane, and the special helmet for the pilot will cost $400-thousand each! The F-35 has continually failed to live up to it’s original billing, yet your ‘elected’ government continues to throw your money at it! It should also be pointed out that Russia boasts that its current fighter aircraft can easily take out the F-35.

Massachusetts: Aspect Software now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, admitting it’s a “pre-arranged restructuring” to reduce its massive debt by 40%. Avid Technology eliminating $68-million USD in jobs and services, blaming bad management decisions such as failing to keep up with new technological developments!  Without warning audio equipment maker Bose began layoffs at their Framingham call center. Local news reports say Bose administrators claim it’s because more customers are using the internet to complain rather than the phone, but employees revealed that at least 2-hundred call center jobs are actually being offshored: “They have the Philippines up and running now. They will be letting more of the call center go in waves after May 6, as they bring more people online in the Philippines. They are sending our own people to train them, three months at a time.”-unnamed Bose employee

New Jersey: Mercer County Community College eliminating IT jobs as it will now use a cheap contractor. Some in-house Information Tech employees will be laid off while others will be shifted to other departments.

New York:  Investor’s Business Daily eliminating a handful of jobs at their NYC publishing ops, by the end of April.  NYC based ‘digital news media’ International Business Times laid off at least 15 people in New York and California, without warning. Employees had 10 minutes to vacate the premises! Unnamed sources say more layoffs could be on the way.  Global electronic payment company First Data shutting down their Melville data processing center, 641 jobs lost between now and December 2017! Manifest Digital shutting down its Saratoga Springs office, as a result of its merger with McMurry/TMG.  Japanese company Canon Solutions lost their contract with New York Life, 38 jobs lost by the end of May.  Reports that Armonk based IBM began eliminating more jobs, just a month after reducing their six month severance plan down to just one month.

North Carolina: Mycom North America suddenly shutdown their Bessemer office.

Ohio: In Hebron, Lakewood Digital Academy shutting down in June due to cancelation of taxpayer funding. The local school district must also payback $150-thousand USD to the state Department of Education. It’s blamed on changes in laws affecting charter schools.

Oklahoma: Switzerland based oil industry automation tech supplier ABB Totalflow laid off 13 people in Bartlesville.

Oregon: Mycom North America suddenly shutdown their Portland office.

Pennsylvania: Radio Shack-Sprint shutdown their Schuylkill Mall store due to lack of “performance”.   Pittsburgh-Post Gazette warned unionized employees of mass layoffs, apparently due to efforts to bribe (voluntary buyouts) more than a hundred people to quit have failed.

Texas: British empire United Kingdom based software solutions company Mycom North America  suddenly shutdown their Dallas office, at least 22 jobs lost, no explanation. In Dallas, electronic “out of state title” processor Dealertrack Tech issued a WARN, 56 jobs gone by mid-May.  In Coppell, Japan based Panasonic Avionics issued a WARN, 51 jobs gone by the end of June. In Alvin, Dish Network eliminating 550 call center jobs! Administrators said the lease was up and it wasn’t worth it to renew.  In Austin after moving into new HQ, 10 years old internet based wholesaler network Bazaarvoice  eliminated 50 jobs in order to remain successful “…in the coming year and for many years to come.”  Investor’s Business Dailey issued a WARN saying at least 14 people in Plano will become jobless by the end of April.

Washington: Mycom North America suddenly shutdown their Redmond office. Bellevue based video game maker 5th Cell forced to layoff 45 people under orders from publisher Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment.  A week after Seattle based retailer Nordstrom eliminated ten IT jobs, they laid off an additional 1-hundred InfoTech employees!  Redmond based Microsoft announced it will shutdown two game development studios, one in United Kingdom the other in Denmark.

February 2016:  “WE’RE TRULY SORRY TO EVERYONE AFFECTED.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

“We’re truly sorry to everyone affected.” : February 2016, U.S. tech/communications industry job destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in February 2016:

Alabama: In Huntsville, 20 years old non-profit Sci-Quest hands-on science museum shutdown, due to lack of revenues which caused them to miss their January & February rent payments.

California: One of the first internet based loan companies in the U.S., Ditech Financial, shutting down their Costa Mesa office in March, 87 jobs lost.  In Palo Alto, Space Systems-Loral revealed they eliminated 122 jobs in January!  Palo Alto based software company Palantir took over two years old Kimono Labs, and as a result Kimono’s public ‘cloud’ service will end, affecting 125-thousand users! Palo Alto based Hewlett Packard (HP) changed its plan to eliminate 3-thousand jobs! Originally they were going to spread the job culling over three years, but now the economy is so bad they will dump all 3-thousand jobs before the end of this year!!!  Palo Alto computer tech company VMware issued a layoff WARN for March, 170 jobs lost due to their merger with Dell! Virginia based technical engineering/military contractor VSE Corporation issued several layoffs WARNs, at least 115 Californians unemployed by the end of March!  Insurance software company Zenefits eliminated 250 jobs without warning, saying the bad economy is forcing them to “refocus”! Right wing news media outlet Freedom Communications issued a mass layoff WARN for their Santa Ana operations, 969 jobs lost by the end of March!  Mountain View based blabbing application (chat app) Tango laid off about 50 employees. Tango administrators also said they will rent out office space at its HQ to other companies, in an effort to raise cash.  Mountain View based software company Symantec laid off six people. Also in Mountain View, TangoMe eliminating 53 jobs by mid-April. Japan based Toshiba Information Systems began eliminating jobs in Irvine, as well as shutdown their Livermore site. Sunnyvale based internet company Yahoo issued more layoff WARNs, this time 322 jobs across four cities eliminated by mid-April! Yahoo said it will also eliminate jobs in New York.  Yahoo also shutting down its BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) in March. Administrators say it’s because they need to “streamline and simplify”.  Sunnyvale based NetApp confirmed it will eliminate 1-thousand 476 jobs around the world (including hundred of jobs in North Carolina)! It’s blamed on steadily declining revenues.    United Technologies issued a shutdown WARN for their San Diego operations, 103 jobs lost by the end of March! United Technologies recently revealed they are moving some of their electronic controls manufacturing to Mexico.   Iowa based government InfoTech contractor Rockwell Collins will conduct layoffs in Poway, by April.    In Milpitas, electronic sensor maker Moog eliminating 22 jobs by April, as part of their takeover of Crossbow Tech.  San Diego based internet video game accessory maker Mad Catz laid off 37% of its employees due to crashing sales, claiming a net loss of $4.4-million USD in its 3rd quarter of 2015!  After 13 years Santa Monica based internet video game new media pioneer Game Trailers shutdown. In 2014 Game Trailers was taken over by Defy Media, which immediately began killing jobs. One report said the remaining employees were not warned about the sudden shutdown.  San Francisco based interactive entertainment company Kabam revealed how many jobs they are about to kill; at least 76 jobs lost by the end of March.  San Francisco based Indiegogo admitted it eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs “A few weeks ago…..to invest in growth.” (it used to be that layoffs were not seen as a sign of growth) San Rafael based AutoDesk eliminating 925 jobs in order to expedite its transition to ‘the cloud’! Plus the administrators claim they “over-hired” in 2015.

Colorado: Texas based internet insurance referrer All Web Leads issued a shutdown WARN, 103 jobs lost! It might be connected to the November 2015 takeover of rival InsuranceQuotes. After killing off 5-hundred jobs in Washington, California based Concentrix eliminating between 270 to 378 Boulder County jobs due to the loss of their IBM contract!

Florida: Fantasy sports gaming site FanDuel issued a WARN for its Maitland ops, 55 jobs lost in April.  BlackBerry eliminated 75 jobs at its Sunrise factory.

Georgia: Duluth based computer company NCR moving jobs out of Peachtree City, to Ohio and Texas. Local news reports say as many as 1-thousand 2-hundred Peach State jobs affected!  Suwanee based telecommunications equipment maker Arris eliminating at least 8-hundred jobs, as part of their merger with British empire United Kingdom based company Pace!

Illinois: Chicago based tech solution company Starcom MediaVest Group laid off 80 people. Administrators called the layoff ‘routine’, implying it had nothing to due with the loss of a major client; Walmart.

Kentucky: Lexington based printer maker Lexmark eliminating 550 jobs on the advise of Goldman Sachs! The company is even considering the option of selling itself off.

Massachusetts:  Waltham based internet marketing company Constant Contact was sold off, at least 210 of the company’s employees across the country were laid off!   In Lee, Wave Systems now chapter 7 bankrupt busted. Administrators said they even tried to sell the data protection software company but nobody wanted to buy. Chapter 7 usually means the company is officially dead.

Michigan:  California based video game maker Activision revealed it eliminated jobs at its Minneapolis ops, without giving numbers. Administrators blame declining interest in their Guitar Hero and Skylanders brands.

New Hampshire: Internet security company DataGravity laid off an undisclosed number of people, in an effort to cut $850-million USD costs.

New York:  The state ‘lawmakers’ have failed to come up with a new budget, but promise to somehow pay SolarCity GigaFactory contractors $80-million USD! Contractors Quakenbush laid off 122 people, and Mader Construction laid off at least 75, due to not being paid by the Failed Empire State! The Riverbend site in Buffalo was employing 1-thousand people, but local news sources say failed ‘lawmakers’ haven’t paid the contractors since November 2015!!!  CNN’s Manhattan Center Productions updated their WARN saying 222 people will now become unemployed by the end of April! CNN is moving its HeadLineNews (HLN) program from New York City to Atlanta, Georgia.

North Dakota: In Bismark, Box Office Video shutting down by mid-March. However, don’t blame internet streaming, the owner said in the past year rentals actually increased, but her rent is about to increase as well (that’s why she’s shutting down).

Oregon: Missouri based SunEdison is “reengineering” its Portland solar panel ops, meaning 40 people to be laid off. Administrators blame competition with low oil prices.

Pennsylvania: West Chester based shopping channel QVC eliminating at least 1-hundred jobs in the U.S. by the end of the year, as it off-shores them to Poland! It was also revealed that QVC eliminated 147 U.S. jobs in November 2015!  Philadelphia based software company RJMetrics eliminating 25 jobs after promising to create new jobs. News reports blame it on the company implementing a new program that requires less employees. CEO Bob Moore admitted they made a mistake in hiring the people to begin with: “We didn’t do the right thing for these people. We recruited them onto our team and, now that the situation has changed, they are losing their jobs due to circumstances they didn’t create. We’re truly sorry to everyone affected.”

Teleperformance issued a shutdown WARN for its Grindstone operations, 180 jobs lost by the end of March!  Administrators for the second largest cyber charter school in the state, Agora, revealed they suddenly eliminated jobs, but they refuse to say how many. Local news reports say former employees report between 1-hundred and 150 people were fired without warning! Cyber school administrators blame lack of state taxpayer funding due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to pass a budget. However, local news media also published a direct quote from an Agora chairwoman, made back in December: “We have no plans to cut or furlough staff due to the lack of funds we are currently receiving. Please do not fear for your position here at Agora.”-Mary Steffey

Texas: SunEdison shutting down its more than 20 years old solar panel factory in Pasadena, admitting it can’t compete with the low oil prices (however, they failed to mention the 2015 explosion at their Pasadena factory, that injured at least four people). 180 jobs lost! SunEdison lost nearly $1-billion USD in the first nine months of 2015, they have yet to report their 4th quarter results (which won’t be good ’cause that’s when the explosion happend).

Washington: Bellevue based internet video game operator Motiga conducted a second round of layoffs (referring to them as “redundancies”) in the past three months. As usual with internet game makers no job loss numbers were reported.

January 2016: “THE AMAZON TAX HAD AN ESPECIALLY CHILLING EFFECT…” 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

Internet modem explodes, burns Idaho kitchen!

28 June 2016 (20:11 UTC-07 Tango 01) 09 Tir 1395/23 Ramadan 1437/25 Jia-Wu 4714

“…it was totally on fire. Smoke was everywhere….”-Rainey Taylor, victim of internet modem that went-all-terrorist in her kitchen

In Idaho Falls the kitchen of a residential property caught fire after a new internet modem exploded.

The person renting the home says they were lucky to be home at the time, saying they witnessed the six months old modem sparking and popping on the kitchen countertop.

She called the fire department, video shows minimal damage, yet local news reports say it took the fire department an hour to extinguish the tiny blaze.   To add more to the strangeness, the modem was the only ‘appliance’ that was plugged into the outlet.

“The Amazon Tax had an especially chilling effect…” : January 2016, U.S. tech/communications industry job destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in January 2016:

After only two years Qatar based news source Al Jazeera is getting the hell outta Dodge! Al Jazeera America is shutting down in April, administrators say that despite increasing numbers of viewers the suck-ass U.S. economy makes doing business in ‘Merica “no longer sustainable”! 7-hundred employees affected!

California:  VMWare warning employees of mass layoffs due to their merger with Dell and EMC, as many as 9-hundred jobs lost! But wait there’s a whole lot more! Redwood Shores based Global Equities Research predicts that as many as 333-thousand tech jobs will be eliminated over the next 12 months, no thanks to rapidly developing advancements in areas like cloud computing!  Foster City based Live365 internet radio officially shutting down, analysts are blaming the Copyright Royalty Board. Back at the end of December it was reported that Live365 was laying off the majority of its employees, no word on how many people will lose their jobs.    In Santa Clara, Florida based software company Citrix Systems eliminated 65 jobs.  In San Jose, tech company Cisco Systems laid off 123 people without warning!  In San Mateo, GoPro reported it laid off 77 employees, due to holiday sales that fell short by $100-thousand USD.   In San Diego, after laying off 1,314 people at the end of 2015 Qualcomm laid off an additional 32 employees.  Cupertino based Apple laid off 1-hundred people from its iAd ops! Administrators claim they will create new jobs later on, which is unlikely given that Apple is drastically cutting production of its new iPhones by 30%! This is causing the factory in China to conduct mass layoffs, and forced the city of Zhengzhou to pump $12.6-million USD into the factory to minimize the impact. Apple stocks lost 24% of their value from last year! It turns out that sales of the new Apple iPhones are not as great as what the mainstream news media was reporting!  Sunnyvale based Yahoo laid off 25% of its employees (about 2-thousand 7-hundred), because a three year ‘turnaround’ plan has failed to get the intended results!   San Francisco based Too Big to Jail Wells Fargo continues to kill jobs, this time 121 tech jobs across the country! It’s been revealed that Wells Fargo is actually covering the bad loans of huge oil companies (by literally throwing money at them), this should piss you off because Wells Fargo (a major mortgage company) does not hesitate to foreclose on homeowners! (Mmmm, is it a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul?). San Francisco based Mixapanel laid off 18 employees admitting that in 2015 they “overhired”.   Dating website Zoosk laid off 40 employees.   AT&T laid off 102 people in San Ramon!

Colorado: Kansas based Sprint shutting down their Arapahoe County call center, 178 jobs lost by April!  Read on to learn of the latest Sprint layoffs in Kansas, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.  Louisville based non-profit cable TV research company CableLabs laid off 30 people, in order “to ensure that CableLabs can rapidly build and sustain a significant innovation pipeline for the industry”. 

Connecticut:  Yale University laid off at least 24 InfoTech employees. CIO Len Peters warns of more job cuts saying “In order to further close our budget gap, some involuntary layoffs have taken place. Moving forward, we will continue to look for ways to be more cost-effective and agile with our services.”

Florida: In Lake City, Sitel Operating Corporation issued two WARNs saying 128 people will be laid off between March and April! Despite winning a lawsuit against Japan’s Mitsubishi, Naples based Grail Semiconductor now chapter 11 bankrupt busted saying their debts are far greater than the money they’re supposed to be getting from Mitsubishi.

Idaho: A new study is blaming low Gem State high school graduation rates on internet classes! The state Board of Education reported that ‘virtual schools’ can barely graduate 20% of their online students! 

Indiana: Emmis Communications warned of layoffs at its radio stations, exact numbers not given.

Kansas: Overland Park based Sprint notified 829 local employees they will lose their jobs very soon!  That’s on top of the 6-thousand Sprint jobs eliminated in the past two years!

Kentucky: ISO copper wire maker Belden shutting down their factory in Monticello, 260 jobs being lost to the state of Indiana and to the country of Mexico, between now and the beginning of next year!

Nevada:  A third solar power panel company is getting the hell outta The Silver State (after anti solar panel regs were passed, which actually penalize homeowners for installing them). Go Solar, a Las Vegas based company, is laying off 17 people and reducing hours for the rest of their employees. Scott Shaw, a Go Solar exec, says that since the new anti-solar panel regulations were announced “We’ve gone from five installations a week to zero!” Between Go Solar, SunRun and SolarCity the new anti-solar panel regulations will cause Nevada to lose about 2-thousand jobs!

New Mexico: Kansas based Sprint shutdown their Rio Rancho call center, 394 jobs lost!

New York: Armonk based International Business Machines (IBM) is about to conduct mass layoffs, insiders saying “…a resource action will happen…”. On top of that the iconic employer will reduce the amount of severance it normally gives. If you research my past Job Losses reports you’ll discover that IBM has been conducting mass layoffs for several years now.   NYC based MTV laid off an undisclosed number of people, as reported by those who were laid off.   Internet fantasy sports site FanFuel revealed they’ve begun laying off employees, no numbers given. It’s connected to legal threats challenging FanDuel’s claim that it’s not a gambling site.   Months after announcing plans to hire 125 people, Dial America now shutdown its 28 years old Amherst call center, 120 jobs lost! Administrators blamed it on a major client deciding to do business with a foreign call center operator!  Jefferson County shutdown their DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) office on Fort Drum, blaming a shift to internet operations.   NYC based door-to-door “women’s” products seller Avon announced it will eliminate in-house InfoTech jobs, contracting them out to failed California based tech company Hewlett Packard (HP).  NYC based website Upworthy laid off 14 people connected to internet video trends.

North Carolina:  Sitel Operating Corporation shutting down its Asheville call center, 250 jobs lost by July!  Ohio based call center operator Convergys issued a layoff WARN for its Greenville center, 163 jobs lost by April due to the loss of a contract!

Ohio:  Digital Works shutdown their high-tech skills training programs in Logan, Lynchburg, Middleport, Portsmouth and West Union. The training program was started in 2013 with taxpayer funding, that taxpayer funding ended in 2015.   After four years virtual telemedicine health provider connector HealthSpot now chapter 7 bankrupt busted and being liquidated. The plan was to set up remote kiosks in which people could access medical coverage help under this ObamaCare regime. However, despite raising $48-million USD and building 191 kiosks, 137 of those kiosks are still sitting in storage unused! The other 54 kiosks that were set up in retail locations, like RiteAid, are not in use.   Researchers at Ohio State University have proven that an ‘Amazon Tax’ killed internet holiday sales in 2015. They determined that sales on Amazon.com dropped an average of 8.3% in states that implemented taxes on internet purchases. The Washington Post article said sales declines increased as the price of the item went up: “The Amazon Tax had an especially chilling effect on big-ticket purchases that totaled more than $250, the study found. On these transactions, Amazon sales declined 11.4 percent once the tax was put in place.”

Puerto Rico: Video game store GameStop shutdown all 40+ island stores (according to GameStop PR director Joy Mooring, other reports said 35 stores), more than 4-hundred jobs lost! It’s blamed on government regulations and the suck-ass economy in the defaulted U.S. territory!

Rhode Island:  A state investigation into former Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling’s video game company 38 Studios could result in a criminal case. 38 Studios went mysteriously bankrupt and shutdown a few months after releasing it’s only video game (the game was considered a success and sold well). The problem is that 38 Studios was partially funded with millions in state taxpayer loans, which were never paid back.

Tennessee: Kansas based Sprint shutdown their Blountville call center, 444 jobs lost!

Texas: Sprint shutdown their Temple call center, 350 jobs lost!

Virginia: Sprint shutdown their Hampton call center, 380 jobs lost!  In Roanoke, WDBJ television station was sold-off. WDBJ is the TV station that saw two reporters killed, by a former employee, live on TV. The once Indiana owned WDBJ is now owned by a company out of Georgia. As a former local TV news producer I can tell you that TV station takeovers always involve people losing their jobs.

Washington: In Bremerton, Concentrix shutdown their call center, 5-hundred jobs lost! Administrators blame it on the loss of a major client.

Washington DC: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is consolidating operations at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, possibly eliminating more than 2-hundred jobs in the process!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

1ST Q 2015: “THE LINES ARE BECOMING BLURRED….CONVERGING AT A FASTER PACE THAN ANYONE PREDICTED.”

“The lines are becoming blurred….converging at a faster pace than anyone predicted.” : 1st Q 2015, U.S. tech industry job destruction

More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise: Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech job destruction announcements from January to March 2015

Japan based video game maker Sega Sammy said it will push 300 employees to “voluntarily retire”, that includes employees in the United States!

Alabama: Georgia based EarthLink laid off 110 people in Anniston and Arab!

California:  Redwood City based internet ‘workspace’ company Evernote announced layoffs, the first round saw 20 people in Texas, and globally, become jobless. More will follow. Ironically company administrators claim they’re hiring! Video game maker Kixeye issued a WARN saying 70 people will become jobless in March, however, gaming industry news sources say as many as 100 people have already been laid off! Internet dating service Zooks laid off at least 25 people. Company administrators have also delayed their IPO, data shows the dating service has seen declining revenues since 2013.  Maker of electronic equipment, especially for the medical industry, OSI Electronics issued a WARN saying they are shutting down in April, 118 jobs lost! DreamWorks Animation announced they will eliminate 400 to 500 jobs and shutdown their Redwood City studio in 2015! DreamWorks laid off 350 people in 2014! Company administrators say their revenues have fallen by tens of millions of dollars. Semiconductor maker Tabula issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in March, 120 jobs lost!  Internet ‘cloud’ service company VMware issued a WARN saying they will render 114 people jobless by March!  Former Netflix and Clinkle executive Andy Rendich is now the boss at Good Eggs, and is already chopping heads. Reports say the organic food internet based delivery service has laid off about 32 employees as Rendich ‘restructures’ the three years old company. The layoffs took place not only in the Golden State but in New York and Louisiana. Sims Recycling issued a WARN saying they will layoff 57 people in March. San Jose based ebay selling off electronic payment processor PayPal, and laying off 2-thousand 4-hundred employees!   Symantec continues their job destruction, their latest WARN says 115 people will be laid off between March and April!  Florida based software company Citrix Systems issued a WARN saying 99 Californians will be jobless by April.  Lightspeed-SkilledUp issued a WARN saying 27 people will be laid off in May.  Video game maker Cryptic Studios revealed they laid off 27 people without warning. Sunnyvale based internet company Yahoo announced it will shutdown its last office in China, as many as 3-hundred jobs lost!  eHealthInsurance Services continues to blame Obama Care as it eliminated 235 jobs!   ITT Cannon issued a layoff WARN saying 56 people in Santa Clara will be unemployed by the end of May. Two tech companies merged, Cypress Semiconductor and Spansion, and made it clear they will eliminate 16-hundred Golden State jobs by the end of April! Tibco Software laid off 80 people without warning. It could be connected to their $4.3-billion USD sale to evil Vista Equity Partners.  Palo Alto based electric car maker Tesla announced it will cut its employee numbers in China by 30%, due to down sales caused by problems with charging batteries. Tech news publisher Gigaom, whose slogan is “We humanize technology…”, fired everybody and shutdown due to not being able to pay its debts. Video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) issued a layoff WARN saying 70 people will become unemployed in May.   Japanese CD maker Panasonic issued a WARN saying they will shut down their Torrance disk factory by the end of April, at least 87 jobs lost.  Hewlett Packard (HP) announced it will kill off even more jobs, just as soon as it’s done killing off 55-thousand jobs currently! It’s part of the company’s plans to be split into two separate entities. Maker of revolutionary Light Field Cameras, Lytro is reportedly laying off 50 employees, apparently because the successful company is shifting focus to internet-social media and video.  After getting $24-million USD from ailing Warner Brothers, and claiming to be seeking to hire 15 people, internet video game company Machinima laid off 13 employees.  Internet company Zwillow took over internet based real estate company Trulia, 140 people (local news reports say 157 people, but a Wall Street Journal report said as many as 350 people will be affected) will become jobless by the end of April!  Colorado based solar power panel installer RGS Energy announced it will layoff 1-hundred Californians! EverQuest maker Daybreak Game finally issued a WARN revealing they will kill 140 jobs in April, It’s the result of Japan based Sony selling them off to New York based Columbus Nova. Company administrators say it’s the result of their new business model.

Colorado: In Longmont, ‘spy’ satellite operator DigitalGlobe laid off 64 people. It’s part of the company’s plan to kill 155 jobs across the United States! Company administrators have been reporting profits but said their outlook for the future of the economy is grim, so they’re cutting jobs now.

Florida: In Orlando, tech school DeVry University issued a layoff WARN saying 50 employees will be unemployed in May.  In Tampa, professional-tech services company Leidos issued a WARN saying 85 people will be laid off in April. ASG Software now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Based on statements made by the administrators the company isn’t in trouble, they just don’t want to pay their debts.  At Patrick Air Force Base, taxsucker Computer Sciences Raytheon issued a WARN saying 420 people will be jobless by April!   Fort Lauderdale based software company Citrix Systems announced it will eliminate 900 in-house and contracted jobs! They blame crashing sales.  In Maitland, data company Windstream issued a WARN saying they will layoff 62 people between March and May.

Indiana: ModusLink issued a WARN saying 320 people will become jobless in April! Administrators say they lost a major client.

Iowa:  It was revealed that IBM (International Business Machine) will layoff 202 people at their Dubuque facility in February!

Minnesota:  Colorado based Arrow Electronics issued a WARN saying they will shutdown their Saint Paul operations in March, 77 jobs lost. Company administrators are moving their electronics salvage ops to Ohio.

New York: In Elmsford, internet publisher MYPublisher-Shutterfly issued a WARN saying they will layoff 47 people between May and July. NYC based, AOL (formerly America OnLine) shutting down internet video game website Joystick and kill off 150 advertising jobs! Business Insider is also reporting that their sources say dozens of AOL employees have been voluntarily quitting since December: “Media and technology are drastically evolving to keep up with today’s consumer. The lines are becoming blurred, and as you well know, our industry is converging at a faster pace than anyone predicted.”-Bob Lord, president AOL

In Long Island, Arrow Electronics announced they are taking part in the exodus from The Empire State, and will move 150 jobs to Colorado! Arrow Electronics was once the largest employer in Long Island.  Port Washington based computer retailer Systemax announced it will shutdown 31 of its 34 TigerDirect brick-n-mortar stores, and one distribution center, more than 1240 jobs lost by June! Two of the company’s administrators had been convicted of committing financial crimes, including stealing money from Systemax.   Internet based real estate company Trulia issued a WARN saying they will layoff a small number of employees by August, it’s connected to the hostile takeover by internet based Zwillow.  In NYC, web site design company CreatetheGroup issued a shutdown WARN for May, 38 internet jobs lost.  Georgia based internet service provider EarthLink issued a WARN saying 60 employees in Rochester and Pittsford will be laid off between now and May.

North Carolina: In Durham, LED light bulb maker Cree is killing off 319 in-house jobs in favor of cheap-o contractors, blaming an “unforeseeable circumstance”!

Ohio: In Belmont County, after only three years the local Electronic Recycling Services shutdown without warning. Apparently the property is being sold off and electronic recycling operations in the county are being consolidated.

Oregon: After 11 years U.S. Postal mail digitizer Earth Class Mail is now chapter 11 bankrupt, but only to make their sale more easy. Earth Class Mail (Document Command and Remote Control Mail) turns your snail mail into electronic form so you can read it on your smart-phone. The debt loaded Earth Class Mail (which has lost money every year) is being sold to an unnamed company.  Portland based software company VendScreen laid off more employees, earlier this year they had 30, now it’s reported they’re down to 19.

Tennessee: Texas based computer maker Dell announced it will shutdown its international call center in Nashville, 96 jobs lost.

Texas: Austin based BitCoin miner CoinTerra now chapter 7 bankrupt busted. It’s blamed on the crashing value of BitCoins, and could be related to the settlement of a law suit last year.  In Austin, video game maker Lightbox Interactive laid off an undisclosed number of people.

Virginia:  nTelos wireless communication laid off 48 people at its HQ in Waynesboro. It’s the result of company administrators deciding to exit the Richmond and Hampton Roads area, back in December.

Washington: Redmond based Microsoft announced it will shutdown two factories in China by the end of March, killing off 9-thousand jobs!  A chapter 11 bankrupt busted company that loves to hit your smartphone with advertisements, Bellvue based Hipcricket, has been taken over by competitor SITO Mobile for $4.5 million. As in all such cases you should expect layoffs, despite the fact that Hipcricket administrators said their sale to SITO would “protect human capital”, corporate weenies always say things like that.  Georgia based EarthLink laid off an undisclosed number of people at their Vancouver location.  After 20 years Seattle based Zombie Studios shutdown. The video game maker even worked with the U.S. Army to create video games to train soldiers.

Wisconsin: Publisher of many model kit building magazines Kalmbach Publishers laid off 15 people from their Discover and Art Jeweler magazines, blaming crashing sales. Don’t blame the internet most of their publications are available on the internet, in fact Kalmbach has twice as many websites (including one about drones) as it does hardcopy magazine titles!

“IMPLEMENTING HEADCOUNT REDUCTIONS” : 2nd Q 2015

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed