Photo: NASA

Who Doesn't Want To Meet A Real-Life Astronaut? We've already covered the upcoming 2013 International Space Apps Challenge, the NASA-sponsored space app development challenge, but the event just got even better with the announcement that U.S. astronaut Ron Garan will be in attendance as NASA's official ambassador. Attendees will have the chance to meet Mr. Garan, who has nearly 100,000 followers on Twitter (@Astro_Ron), at the NASA Hackathon Kickoff Party at Alley NYC (500 7th Avenue), this Friday at 7 PM. Trips to space not guaranteed.

SocialSign.In Hopes To Solve Everyone's Wi-Fi Problems At Work SocialSign.in announced the public launch of its social network-powered Wi-Fi platform today at the DEMO Mobile 2013 conference. SocialSign.in allows workers at a company to link their social media presence such as their Facebook with their company's Wi-Fi, giving them easy online access at all of their company's locations with a simple uniform password and ID. SocialSign.in also helps companies track user data and patterns, and can be used across all Internet-connecting devices. Now hopefully we can all clean out our desks filled with those sticky notes for Wi-Fi passwords.

New Blog Totally Steals Our Name In a move to simplify several blogs into a single hub, The Wall Street Journal announced the creation of their new leading financial and business blog, Moneybeat. Some of the blogs being integrated into Moneybeat include MarketBeat, The Source, Overheard and all of the paper's Deal Journals. MoneyBeat will be run by former Deal Journal and MarketBeat editor Stephen Grocer, and will be "a one-stop shop for everybody interested in finance and markets, no matter where they are around the world,” WSJ Managing Edito Gerard Baker said in a press release.

Fresh Cash for NYC Cloud Company Booker, the cloud-based communication and marketing system for SMBs and other enterprises announced yesterday a new $27.5 million Series B investment, led by Bain Capital Ventures. Other investors include Booker's Series A supporters Revolution Ventures, Grotech Ventures, TDF Ventures, and Vital Financial. Booker said in a press release that the new funding will be used to increase the product's reach and advertisement capabilities in online marketing. Maybe they can use the money to help fix all those "targeted" Facebook ads.

Alloy Acquires DBG Online distributor and marketing company Alloy Digital, which we've previously featured, announced today that it has acquired digital video advertiser Digital Broadcasting Group. The deal is meant to help combine Alloy's distribution network with DBG’s large video syndications.

NYT and BBC Host Perfectly Timed Social Media Summit The New York Times and the BBC College of Journalism will be hosting a Social Media Summit this Saturday to address the current state of social media and its use by journalists in investigating and reporting stories, and social media distribution company Mahaya will be on site to cover the event. Mahaya, which provides real-time summarization, ranking, and display of stories that appear on social media, is one of three companies currently participating in The Times's new timeSpace initiative to bring entrepreneurs to the NYT headquarters to refine and grow their businesses. Wonder if they're going to bring up this little 'ol Boston Marathon Suspect Twitter mess?

Food Delivery Anonymity Now Possible With Bitcoins Boston-based online food delivering service Foodler announced today that they will become the first online food ordering service to accept Bitcoins as payment for delivery and takeout. Foodler users will now be able to connect their Bitcoin wallet with their Foodler account, which will allow them to buy 'Foodlerbucks', the company's online currency, with their Bitcoins. These "Foodlerbucks" are then used to pay for deliveries. The company, which also has an iPhone app, can be used in 48 states across the U.S. Because who doesn't want to pay for a cheeseburger with the world's most volatile currency?

Ziggeo Completes Beta Ziggeo, the online video network which allows you to privately screen videos of candidates for jobs and roommates, testimonials, and more, has announced that it has completed its beta testing and is now available for public use. Users can choose from a free plan for 20 second videos, a personal plan for up to 2 minute videos and a pro one for up to 10 minute videos.

Confuzzled, not that we blame him. (Photo: screencap)

Even the most devoted of gadget geeks faces a learning curve upon buying a new smartphone. Among those who grew up with rotary phones, however, the curve looks a little more like a sheer rock face. The BBC recently witnessed this firsthand, on a visit to a Cambridge lab that does user testing with the elderly to figure out how to make a friendlier product.

"I was amazed how thick I am, really," 75-year-old, bowtie-wearing Archie Ferguson told the BBC after fiddling and fiddling with one of these unfamiliar devices, attempting to answer a call. "If you can't do it, you feel a right wally," he added.

Of course, upsetting nice Mr. Ferguson isn't the point of the exercise. "We're trying to forget what we know and see that product afresh for the first time," explained Ian Hosking, who runs the project. Still, it's impossible not to feel a little sad on the older man's behalf, watching his befuddlement:

Of course, a toddler can probably pwn any one of us on an iPad, too.

Oh goodie, it's Monday. (Photo: Cat Food Breath)

Microsoft "accidentally" sent a DMCA takedown notice to Google, asking them to remove pages from TechCrunch, the BBC, Wikipedia and the U.S. Government. Psst... no one cares that much about Windows 8. [TorrentFreak]

Companies are using patents to stifle innovation and the Times is ON IT. [New York Times]

Is EBay staging a pivot? [TechCrunch]

Whoa, you can raise money for a company without Kickstarter? Mind blown. [TechCrunch]

Jack Dorsey apparently got pushed to a backseat role at Twitter because he's "difficult" to work with. [SiliconBeat]

Speaking of Twitter, who knew CEO Dick Costolo used to be a standup comedian? [New York Times]

*According to a 2010 IPO filing.