Bill Bulkeley, longtime IBM reporter at the Wall Street Journal, wrote Wednesday that IBM will cut U.S. global-business service employees, the number as yet undetermined. The duties they performed will taken over by workers in India, the story said. Nice scoop, Bill.

IBM also put out a release Wednesday about how its products and services are being used to manage trains in The Netherlands, Taiwan and China. Talk about raising your hand for Stimulus bucks! Granted, these are overseas projects, but they demonstrate that IBM is `shovel ready' to help in transit products here.

Two weeks ago, the company unveiled "smart water technologies" and a membrane that filters out salt and toxins. This all falls under the rubric of IBM's drive to market the idea of a "smarter planet."

Very Siemens-esque! By that I mean, Big Blue seems to be moving in on Siemens infrastructure turf. Or maybe it's been there all along and now it wants recognition of that fact. Press release-ware? Possibly, but IBM is undeniably on a roll. Too bad some of the employees there today won't be there tomorrow to enjoy more fruits of the company's success.