But, in running it now for the second half of January, the keyword that popped to the top was: Layoffs And this is definitely a sign of the times. When I drill down on that term, you can see why with posts like: Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Lops A Third Of Company THQ Lays Off 100 Employees, Closes San Diego Office Citrix Cuts 10 Percent; Santa Barbara Hit And it's also interesting to see what geographies are being associated with "Layoffs" more often than others: Layoffs Woodland Hills Layoffs San Diego Layoffs Santa Monica Layoffs Los Angeles I guess

mentioned this before, but it seems like good technical folks are in high demand here — even in this economy, where things have shifted into layoff mode. Today, high profile music startup Topspin–located in Santa Monica–said it is looking for a  VP of Engineering for the 25 people in its engineering team (Topspin Media is the Redpoint and Foundry-backed music startup headed by former Yahoo Music GM Ian Rogers, who we interviewed a few months ago). Still worried about your job in this economy? Don’t worry, if you’re a good software engineer or software

Buzznet operates an online social networking and social media site focused on music and bands, and is backed by Anthem Ventures, Interscope, Redpoint Ventures, and other Hollywood-based, music-related blog and content firm Buzznet has reportedly cut employees, according to a report from Digital Music News. According to the publication, citing a representative of the firm, Buzznet has eliminated 10 employees, from a total of 89 staff.