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
Possible sailing cheater and Hawaiian island owner Larry Ellison has added a new item to his collection of things you will never be able to afford, according to Skift: the Hawaiian airline Island Air is now an Ellison possession.
Island Air is a small airline that provides flights between the islands of Hawaii, but we assume the Oracle founder will also be using it as his own private fleet of jets. If you were a kazillionaire, wouldn’t you?
What’d you get for the holidays? Maybe some nice new video games? Perhaps your parents heard you talking about “personal betterment via technology” and got you a Nike Fuel Band?
Whatever you received, it was certainly not as good as what Oracle founder Larry Ellison gifted his children last year: daughter Megan Ellison used some of his money to win a bidding war for the rights to the Terminator franchise, with agreements from Justin Lin to direct and Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in it. Read More
Did we mention that winter is coming? Y Combinator is funding less startups in its winter 2013 cycle—less than 50 so far, down from 84 this summer. To reach the smaller number, the accelerator focused on predictors of failure. Turned out, they took a friendlier view of applicants they met after lunch. [Y Combinator] Read More
Eccentric Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who–like his spirit animal, George Clooney in The Descendants–recently bought his own Hawaiian island just for the hell of it, now has his eye on a $10 billion entertainment group. $10B? That’s chump change for America’s third richest man, but okay, we’ll go with it. Read More
If you own one of the world’s billion or so Windows computers, we are sorry to inform you it probably contains a Java vulnerability that could allow a malicious attacker to sidestep Java security and exploit your browser.
According to Softpedia, most browsers are vulnerable: Read More
Oracle CEO and New York Times-approved eligible bachelor Larry Ellison bought 98 percent of the Hawaiian island Lanai a couple months ago, making him the proud owner of two Four Seasons resorts, a solar farm, a pair of championship golf courses, the firstborn of every female citizen and 10 grass-skirt-bearing virgins.
Thus the Times sent one intrepid reporter down to Hawaii to ask the residents of Lanai how they feel about their new bearded overlord. And their passionate, tension-filled responses sound not unlike the rough draft of next summer’s feel-good land baron dramedy. Read More
Earlier this month, Judge William Alsup issued a demand for both parties in the Google v. Oracle patent dispute: Provide a list of any bloggers, journalists, or other commentators on the payroll. Paid Content reports that the two companies have now filed their responses. Google insists it has not paid anyone for positive coverage, while Oracle admitted to hiring patents blogger Florian Mueller as a “consultant on competition-related matters.”
The case itself is mostly done, with Google emerging largely victorious. At this point, the two parties are arguing over whether Oracle has to pay Google’s court costs.
Google issued this double-pinky swear: Read More
These patent cases are really starting to get the goats of America’s fine judicial personalities. Back in June, Judge Richard Posner dismissed the Apple v. Motorola battle royale, saying neither could “establish a right to relief.”
Now PaidContent reports that William Alsup, who’s stuck presiding over the final stages of Oracle’s case against Google, is laying down the law on the subject of disclosures. Specifically, he wants the two companies to provide complete lists of any bloggers and/or journalists they might have on the payroll. Shady!
AllThingsD is reporting that social marketing company Buddy Media is in talks to be acquired by Salesforce for $800 million. We had been hearing similar rumors ourselves, and reached out to Buddy Media last week, but the company refused to confirm, saying only, “We’ve been hearing this kind of chatter since the day we started the company, and it has always turned out to be false.”
An acquisition for Buddy makes sense–Facebook’s bungled IPO (its stock dropped another 10 percent today) left little room for companies with offerings reliant upon Facebook to go public themselves. And judging from Buddy’s hiring of an “IPO-ready CFO” last August, an IPO was its preferred route. Read More
