According to a report in the New York Times, Levy sent out an email to 15,000 Publicis employees in the U.S. that reads in part:

“Congratulations on such a great choice. Once again the American people have proved that they are right there when it comes to turning points in history — and they know how to make history.”

While most ad execs shy away from overt political statements, Levy told the Times he couldn’t resist: “[I] had to because this is so fantastic. … It erases all the bad images, the bad pictures of the last eight years with one vote. It is a wonderful demonstration of the strengths of America, a formidable lesson for the world.”

Meanwhile, analysts aren’t predicting a rosy year for Publicis. Morgan Stanley has forecast a 4% fall in business this year. But Levy’s optimism (at least for the online ad world) is unsullied by dire forecasts – he predicts that by 2010, 15% of global ad spend will be parked in online formats.

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According to a report in the Silicon Alley Insider, Google can add Porsche to its ever-growing list of P.O.’d companies. Why? Google’s equally beloved and maligned Street View photographed a secret test of Porsche’s totally unknown all-new version of its Cayman Boxster.

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Some industry sources are surprised at the announcement. Michael Dell returned to the company as CEO in 2007 and handpicked a number of key staffers, one of whom was Cannon.

Another hire was Mark Jarvis, previously of Oracle, as Dell’s chief marketing officer. Jarvis is also being shown the door. Erin Nelson, previously vice president of marketing, Dell Europe, Middle East and Africa, will take over as CMO.

Sources told the Wall Street Journal that other cuts are likely to ensue. Dell will also reportedly plans to restructure its finances – clearly a much-needed step.

Dell was trading at about $10.15 at 9:36 a.m., down from a high of roughly $30.

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Amazon and Netflix really out-lapped the competition when it came to customer satisfaction. Amazon received 84 out of a possible 100 points (up 2 points from 2007) and Netflix also got 84 (down two points from last year). QVC received 79, down a point from last year.

Customers gave online retailing in general a score of 74, the same as last year.

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The tourists alerted the authorities with their mobile phones, but they soon ran out of juice. A rescue crew found them shortly after midnight because they were using a lit up MP3 player as a kind of beacon.

The two men are recovering from cases of hypothermia.

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The judge ruled that the Communications Decency Act absolves the Internet titan from liability. The plaintiff is a New Jersey resident who said she was billed for a ringtone subscription by a fraudulent site she found through a Google ad. (She entered her mobile number on the site – never a wise move).

Google lucked out – the AG in Florida forced AT&T, Epic Advertising and Media Breakaway to cough up $2.5 million and $1 million respectively in similar cases.

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Elevation bought a 25% stake in Palm in 2007.

Palm makes the Treo and the Centro and has faced increasing competition from smartphones like the BlackBerry and the iPhone.

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The company and its affiliates will be required to comply with the attorney general’s guidelines on clear and conspicuous disclosure of material items in the online marketing of mobile content.

The settlement “will benefit Florida consumers and cell phone users nationwide,” said Attorney General McCollum. “These compliance guidelines will help ensure meaningful disclosure so that all consumers, including minors, fully understand what they are purchasing.”

The AG office asserts that Media Breakaway provides mobile content, usually ringtones or wallpaper for an individual’s cell phone, marketed by internet advertising, which often failed to clearly and conspicuously describe the prices and terms of service. The mobile content, described as “free” or “complimentary,” usually resulted in a consumer unwittingly being signed up for costly monthly subscriptions. A large number of CyberFraud complaints led to a widespread investigation over the past several months which revealed thousands of Florida consumers had received these charges on their cell phone bills for mobile content downloads that they neither desired nor authorized.

The new agreement requires that the price of cell phone content or services and other material terms of purchase be conspicuously and specifically disclosed on all online transaction screens. In addition to the new injunctive standard, the agreement also provides for a payment of $1 million to the Attorney General’s Office to be used to fund additional investigations into CyberFraud and to further CyberSafety education.

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Consagra will be responsible for Scribd’s business development, sales, finance and marketing. Charles River’s Bill Tai will join Scribd’s board.

Scribd currently has roughly 50 million users a month and reports that 50,000 documents are uploaded daily.

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Under his stewardship, LinkedIn has raised about $70 million in funding ($22.7 million just two months ago). Its current valuation is somewhere just north of $1 billion. Nye is officially leaving in January but will remain (at least nominally) an advisor to the social networking site.

Weiner is currently an entrepreneur-in-residence at Accel Partners and LinkedIn backer Greylock.