Wondering what a Microsoft takeover will mean for the Yahoos? Front-page editors at the San Jose Mercury News offer what one hopes will be the last word.

"We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week." The San Jose Mercury News must have learned from the bosses in Office Space. Mercury News's HR head says in the e-mail quoted below that the paper will lay off 101 workers by December 19.

The San Jose Mercury News is shuttering its tech blog, SiliconBeat, which (along with Good Morning Silicon Valley) displayed the insight and cleverness that the Merc News itself is missing.

• San Francisco PR firm Bite interviews the San Jose Mercury News senior web editor about the Merc's new media offerings. Sez the editor about the popularity of the Merc's American Idol blog, "Compelling content still rules the day." And by "compelling content," he means "celebrity trash." (Gawker Media heartily agrees.) [Bitemarks]