Google "has been letting workers go and up to 10,000 jobs could be on the chopping block," says WebGuild, citing unnamed "sources." Seriously? Can this make sense? "I doubt it," says Technologizer. "I've seen no news out of Google to suggest that it's facing dire financial straits that would cause it to shrink by a third." Notes Google Watch: "the source may stem from Google's previously announced plan to trim many of its 10,000 temporary workers." WebProNews says "it isn't time to roll out the Grinch metaphors just yet." Valleywag figures "Google's most likely action will be a stealthy attrition of maybe around 2,000 underperformers. That'll be bad enough." Yahoo is trimming a bit for the holidays too, notes Search Engine Land.

Meanwhile, millions of videos on Google's YouTube are now pillarboxed. observes Notes from the Digital Trenches. Pilla-wha? See, YouTube now has a 16-by-9 widescreen format for its vids, to better reflect the quality of the videos you create," says the YouTube Blog. Old school videos will appear with black bars on the side--pillarboxed. The new aspect ratio a pretty major change that will no doubt anger some users, says NewTeevee. Says Between the Lines: "The bigger picture here is that YouTube is going to start cutting deals with content producers-the Hollywood types." (Bigger picture, clever!)

In weird world, the first full week of Twittering by Shaquille O'Neal has ended, says Kottke.org. It's really him--and the big man is posting up online more than he does on the court. "The best part: He seems genuine, he seems to get it, and he seems to be having fun," says Silicon Alley Insider. Kickblog presents some classic Shaqtweets ("kobe is a beast dude, the best player n da game, i admit , i miss playin wit him)" along with a Shaq Twitter widget. "Shaq is one of America's most talented living poets," concludes AppScout.