Call it the dawn of a new era or the beginning of the end, but however it turns out, AMD has officially closed the deal to finalize its processor manufacturing spinoff. Previously coined The Foundry, the new company will now be called Globalfoundries and led by former AMD executives.

"With the close of this historic transaction, AMD and its committed partners have conceived two strong industry-leading companies capable of charting future courses that will dramatically improve the technology industry,” said Dirk Meyer, president and chief executive officer of AMD. "Our ‘Asset Smart’ strategy is about more than providing AMD with long term access to world-class, leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing that is foundational to our growth strategy. It is about transforming the industry."

The finalized deal improves AMD's cash position by about $825 million, and as previously reported, the spinoff will be responsible for AMD's manufacturing needs. Globalfoundries also said it will offer an expanded roadmap of technologies to third-party customers, giving them early access to volume chip production when traditionally new technologies would be limited only to high-end microprocessor makers.

A new $4.2 billion manufacturing facility at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, NY is also being planned. The facility will focus on 32nm and smaller technologies, and according to Globalfoundries, it will be the only independently-managed, advanced semiconductor manufacturing foundry in the U.S.

Here's a protip for all you working teens out there: You're probably going to go through more than one job that you don't enjoy doing before settling on a career that, hopefully, will be one you like. Nearly everyone follows this path, so posting on Facebook that your job is boring is the equivalent of letting the world know you brushed your teeth this morning. Except the former can apparently get you fired, as 16-year-old Kimberly Swann found out.

"Following your comments made on Facebook about your job and the company we feel it is better that, as you are not happy and do not enjoy your work we end your employment with Ivell Marketing & Logistics with immediate effect," Swann was informed.

According to Swan, she "did not even put the company's name" in her Facebook entry, only saying that her job was boring. But according to Stephen Ivell, the company's owner, it didn't come to the decision lightly. "It is just a shame that it did not work out because she is a lovely girl. For a small company, when a decision is made, one thinks long and hard about it."

Do you agree with Ivell's decision? Hit the jump and tell us what you think.

Microsoft made headlines yesterday when it was discovered the company had been asking some of the 1,400 employees it laid off last month to pay back money it had overpaid as part of their severance. The letter blamed the mistake on an "inadvertent administrative error," which had our readers divided on whether or not Microsoft was justified in asking for the money back. Reader 'Phated1' pointed out how even a small overpayment could add up if multiplied by a large number of employees, but the best reader comment came from 'punditguy':

"Now I'll have to redo my Silicon Valley edition of Monopoly: 'Microsoft Error in Your Favor. Pay $200.'"

While a Microsoft spokesperson at first refused to offer any details saying it was a "private matter between the company and the affected people," the software maker is now saying it will not pursue trying to get its money back, perhaps figuring out the alternative is not worth the bad publicity.

"Last week, 25 former Microsoft employees were informed that they were overpaid as a part of their severance payments from the company," Microsoft wrote in a statement. "This was a mistake on our part. We should have handled this situation in a more thoughtful manner. We are reaching out to those impacted to relay that we will not seek any payment from those individuals."

According to Microsoft human resources chief Lisa Brummel, the 25 former Microsoft employees received, on average, about $4,000 or $5,000 in extra pay. An additional 20 former employees were underpaid, and Microsoft said it will immediately reimburse them.

Ping any power user's PC and there's a good chance you'll find he/she is using Google for search queries (who isn't?), Gmail for at least one email account, and maybe even Google Desktop. Throw in Google Apps and all the rest of Google's offerings and it's not hard to see we're living in a GWorld, but at what point does the company become too big?

This is the question raised by CNet, who points out that Google avoided one antitrust lawsuit by abandoning a proposed advertising pact with Yahoo, only to recently be hit with another by TradeComet.com. Such is the price of growth, which has seen Google take a 36.5 percent to 30.5 percent market share advantage over Yahoo in July 2005 and increase it to 63 percent versus 21 percent currently.

"You almost feel sorry for Google," said Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land. "They're doing a good job and people are turning to them. But when they pass 70 percent share, people are going to be uncomfortable about Google becoming a monopoly."

Jeff Atwood, a co-founder of Stack Overflow, says he has no ill feelings toward Google, but is definitely concerned about where the company will be in four years. "A world in which there is no competition strikes me as unhealthy," Atwood said.

Is Google close to becoming a monopoly? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.