TECH ROUNDUP: LinkedIn Available in Japanese; Google Automatically Encrypts Searches

Every week, Mountain View makes news with technology developments, discoveries and sometimes controversies.

In the weekly "" column we’ll relay the past week’s news highlights from our backyard giants, start-ups and small businesses alike.

is available in Japanese as of Thursday, bringing the total number of foreign languages it offers profiles in to ten. The company also opened a small Tokyo office, and created a platform to teach Japanese users how to take advantage of the site.

The burrowing owl continues to face a threat from Silicon Valley tech development, reported the Wall Street Journal this week. At an old Moffett Field military base between Mountain View and Sunnyvale, , universities and government agencies are planning developments on some of the owl’s prime habitat in coming years.

To better protect the privacy of its users, Google has made secure searches automatic. That means that if you are logged into a Google site, third parties will no longer be able to intercept the information you type into the search engine. The encryption is especially useful for those in open networks, such as at an Internet cafe.

Want to meet part of the web team behind Mozilla Firefox, and give them your input? The team just announced that they will be stationed at Wednesday, November 2 at 9:30 a.m. to chat and network with interested coffee shop goers.

Synopsis Inc., which specializes in electronic design automation, just signed a lease for a 340,000-square-foot building in Mountain View. Currently the tech giant occupies more than 800,000 square feet in eight different buildings in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.

Ooyala, Inc., which specializes in online video technology and services, has named Caitlin Spaan as the vice president of marketing. Previously Spaan was the head of marketing and customer experience for VUDU, Inc., Walmart’s streaming music service.