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With Tumblr in the Bag, a Triumphant Marissa Mayer Takes a Victory Lap
Our Long National Nightmare of Staring at Pete Cashmore’s Beautiful Face Is Now Over
Politician Is Really Sorry for Liking a Facebook Photo of a Teenager’s Balls
There’s really not a whole lot going down down under, so this is what’s making news: An Australian politician has apologized for accidentally liking a Facebook photo of a 16-year-old prankster exposing himself. It was part of a prank called “sneaky nuts,” a time-honored tradition where teenaged boys sneakily expose their balls through their pants. Read More
Congress Is a Little Worried About the Privacy Implications of Google Glass
The world is rapidly sorting itself into two camps: Glassholes, and people who want you to take that damn thing off your face. The latest concerned parties, according to the Wall Street Journal: the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus.
Imagine that: A bunch of politicians worried about a world where everyone wears a camera on his face, ready to snap a picture of any shenanigans by public figures.
Yesterday the group wrote an open letter to Larry Page, expressing their concerns: Read More
For His Next Act, Ousted Groupon CEO Andrew Mason Will Release an Album of ‘Motivational Business Music’
Typically, when CEOs are ousted from the businesses they founded, they go “spend more time” with their families, take up a hobby like yachting or move immediately on to the next company they can try not to drive into the ground. Not so for former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason, who was fired earlier this year. Though he’s going to join Y Combinator as an advisor, Mr. Mason has another trick up his sleeve: dropping an album, of course. Read More
Jane Fonda Has a Great Idea: Cameron Diaz and Elon Musk, 2gether 4ever
Little did you know, but probable Hotmail user Jane Fonda is actually a famous Hollywood matchmaker. Yes, the Patti Stanger for the one percent is setting up coltish blonde actress Cameron Diaz on a date because the forgotten ’90s icon wants a millionaire boyfriend–something Mrs. Fonda knows a thing or two about. Read More
Yahoo’s Futile Search for the Fountain of Youth Continues, With Talk of Acquiring Tumblr
Looks like there might be a suitor waiting in the wings for Tumblr, that scatterbrained belle of the ball. He’s a real gray-hair, though. According to AllThingsD, the blogging site is talking to Yahoo about the possibilities for an alliance, an investment or even a lock-stock-and-barrel purchase. Ad Week says the highly hypothetical price tag could be as much as a billion dollars.
At this point, it might be easier to keep a list of the startups Yahoo hasn’t considered acquiring. Read More
Booting Up: Foxconn Employees Still Have it Pretty Terrible
Apple CEO Tim Cook is preparing for his upcoming Congress appearance about corporate tax code by promising a “dramatic simplification” of the ancient laws. [Washington Post]
It’s been a year since Facebook’s IPO. So let’s celebrate it with a ~one year later~ reflection piece. [WSJ]
Remember when you’re complaining about your long work week, it’s way worse for Foxconn employees. [NYT]
It sounds like the Facebook designers behind News Feed’s redesign were having the chillest of times on the project. They brought in lamps to create a “nice living room” and stared at posters on the wall to keep them motivated. [Taxi]
Ugh, we have some disturbing news: A website that bills itself as “Kickstarter for gigs” has launched in London. [BBC]
Porn Studios Are Going to Use Google Glass in Exactly the Way You Thought They Would
It looks like porn studios have finally figured out a way to integrate Google Glass into their shoots.
XBIZ, the adult industry news website of record, reports that studios are eager to get their hands on the device to get a grasp of their “full potential.” For example, since the face computers provide a more intimate angle than a traditional camera set-up, studios are thinking about making the actors wear them while they’re in various positions. Read More
Microsoft Tramp Stamp Anyone? Indian Tech Employees Getting Company Logo Tattoos
In the Valley, employees of major tech companies like Google and Facebook wear their building badges like a literal badge of honor. You don’t need to keep it attached to your belt while out on a Friday night, but it also doesn’t hurt your chances of landing a date. You should probably debadge when you bang though (just a thought). Read More
You Jelly? Jack Dorsey, Al Gore, Bono Invest in Biz Stone’s Stealth Startup
Biz Stone’s mysterious new startup, Jelly, has just closed a Series A.
An announcement on the company’s Tumblr didn’t disclose the total amount raise, but revealed that Spark Capital raised the round, with SV Angel piling on, as well.
Also participating are several individual investors who, we can only assume, were rounded up in the parking lot of last year’s TED conference: Jack Dorsey, Bono, Al Gore, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Where Good Ideas Come From author Steven Johnson, Evan Williams and Jason Goldman, House (?!) director Greg Yaitanes, and Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob. Read More
The Pitch Season 2, Episode Nine: Edge/Admitted.ly – College Admissions 2.0
Jessica Brondo, Founder & CEO of Edge/Admitted.ly, is on a mission to make her company the new face of college admissions. Having raised her own SAT score 430 points, Ms. Brondo was bit by the test prep bug and went on to develop her own proprietary curriculum. The Edge is taking that curriculum online and into public schools nationwide. Ms. Brondo aims to bridge the socioeconomic gap by leveraging technology, particularly videos, to make test prep accessible and affordable for all high school students. Admitted.ly is the company’s newest product focusing on college admissions counseling. It analyzes a student’s data to determine their chances for being admitted to U.S. universities and offers recommendations based on each student’s history of how to boost their “admittability” score. Read More
