Update: There are reports this afternoon that Lance Miyamoto, head of AOL's HR department, has resigned. Even Miyamoto's bio page on the corporate site has been taken down. He has apparently been replaced by Dave Harmon, acting executive vice president of human resources.

Yesterday afternoon I got more than a few pings from AOL employees who had noticed the piles of moving boxes on pallets in the CC5 garage this week. In the hyper-sensitive atmosphere of change since the executive and advertising business move to NYC was announced, many staff have been distracted by questions of whether they will stay or go.

What is next for AOL in Dulles?

Valleywag.com has a photo of the boxes from earlier this week, along with a chart, supposedly from an employee who has tracked AOL's big layoffs over the years.

As a former employee, I know that in years past, there were a couple signals that a layoff was in progress -- one was finding those boxes neatly stacked along rows of cubicles and in hallways near the departments that would be affected. Another was getting an email asking the employee to meet in a conference room.

One year, people were divided among various conference rooms, and like an American Idol elimination show, then told whether or not their group was in the layoff category. For those who make it through, it is still no fun to go back to your desk with that sinking feeling of watching your department disintegrate before your eyes.

Still, no official word from the company, but there is a pervasive rumor that the hatchet will come down Oct. 16. I have also heard from another source on campus that the layoffs will take place in waves.

But hey, this could all be a lot of fretting over nothing. One staff member said this morning that those boxes have been there for months. Maybe they are just for moving people to NYC when the time comes.

There are staff who have already been asked to relocate to NY and others to Bangalore to train and manage off-site operations. And, I've been told, there is even a live video feed of the new Bangalore operations center up and running right now, where employees can see that new workstations are being built. It is no secret that change is coming.

In the meantime, an anonymous blogger has set up a new web site this week under the premise: "We need somewhere to express our thoughts and allow ideas to shape without constraint. I humbly offer this blog as a forum for problem discussion, venting and thoughtful reflection by a community that I know well and respect, AOL employees." There is some interesting insight in the comments.