Our sources reveal that the anticipated 700 layoffs have already started at Yahoo. After  posting falling results for Q1  a week ago, shiny new CEO Carol Bartz indicated this round of layoffs was on the way. We are also hearing that some of the layoffs can only be described as “shocking”. Expected to be around 700 employees, we are told the actual number is around 600.  Most of the affected are being notified during the day, Wednesday April 29th, while some traveling employees have already recieved notice while still on the road. 

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

Santa Monica-based Mahalo, the search and news site run by Jason Calacanis, has cut 10 percent of the firm's staff, Calacanis said in a post on his blog Wednesday. Calacanis said that the moves were due to a "challenging economic environment." According to Calacanis, the firm is "fairly certain" that advertising for the next two years will be "severely depressed."

And, on a sad note, Martin Schaedel -- well known to many in the Los Angeles technology community, and a contributor of photos to socalTECH-- has died in a plane crash at the Santa Monica airport. ...Tags: In our Friday Southern California technology news roundup: The The economy continues to be in the news this week, as Broadcom is cutting 200 employees as it sees a glum Q1. But,

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

Despite the thousands of layoffs and the likelihood of the state being broke , the bright side of everything is that it just means there’s a lot more people bored and online ready to try your startup. Wall Street Journal editor Julia Angwin is finally releasing her delayed book about the behind-the-scenes action at Santa Monica-based MySpace . The morning’s fresh and it’s a start of a great week! Some important stuff around the corners of the web: - Morgan Webb — the perky producer and star that moonlights as a model and Michael Arrington crush

Frequency/Location: "Meetings occur once every month on the fourth Thursday at 7pm" / Key Code Media, 1004 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (located between 10th and 11th) Cost: Free Review: Adam Bell founded this group and I've met him numerous times; he's knowledgeable, a good guy, and shares my interest in good beer. Added 2/15/2010 by Todd Zebert Name: Networking For Professionals (NFP) Review: I attended the 2/2/10 "High Speed Networking" event at The Yard, Santa Monica. Weekly updates! Please let me know if know of other items