Microsoft paying hackers and coffee shop telekinesis: #StuffToKnow this week

So Microsoft is still trying to make Bing happen… yes, really. There is a girl in New York who gets superpowers from coffee. BlackBerry is doing so bad that selling their parts is worth more than their stalling company as a whole. White hat hackers are getting cash for showing companies how their products can be broken. I’m more looking forward to the Limitless series than I am to the new iPad.

INTERNET

Tumblr board member Bijan Sabet denies a report that Tumblr CEO David Karp was about to be ousted before the Yahoo acquisition
Well, one line in a book which was actually about Twitter created quite a stir. The New York Times’ Nick Bilton mentioned that Tumblr’s founder and CEO David Karp was about to be fired before Marissa Mayer came and saved the day with a cool $1.1 billion acquisition. Thankfully, his board soon nullified the statement saying they were looking for a new number 2 to help David with the finance side so he could continue with his passion the product itself, much like what Eric Schmidt was to the Google founders… but then wasn’t he made the CEO, at least for a while?

‘Bing It On’: Microsoft puts its search engine to the test as it goes up against Google – with surprising results
This is just embarrassing. Microsoft is still trying to make Bing happen with a study by an independent company called Answers Research. Mmm… right…

The secrets of Bezos: how Amazon became the everything store
This is a very insightful and thorough article about the man who some have called the new Steve Jobs. We are talking about the guy who bought the Washington Post with cash from his own pocket — the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. It’s quite a story.

Telekinetic coffee shop prank scares the beans out of customers
This is very clever. A well thought out prank caught on camera has the customers of a coffee shop in New York think they were witnessing a some kind of X-Men level superpowered girl find out about her new telekinetic powers.

TECH

BlackBerry is said to warm to idea of a breakup
Well yeah, fresh in the wake of the company being put up for sale at US$4.7-billion, they are starting to think they might get more if they sell off the parts individually, rather than the discounted all-for-one sale to the investment company. Who, by the way, is not exactly able to scratch up the cash they need.

Microsoft pays out $100,000 to hacker who exposed Windows security flaws
So the white hats (hackers who are trying to help companies by finding their security weaknesses) are getting paid for their work, and being paid well. This is becoming more and more of a trend (Google and Apple do this as well by the way, and Facebook even has a Hall of Fame for hackers). Digital security is becoming vital as most our lives and information are now stored there in some way or another. For many, their livelihoods are dependant on their online transactions, which if compromised, would be detrimental.

iPad 5 leaks show off new iPhone 5S inspired Space Grey finish
File this under, ‘we don’t really care but I just wanted to clarify that at least there is no champagne gold iPad coming’. The more interesting thing is that it has all but been confirmed that the new iPad will be launched in two weeks time on the 22nd of October. As far as rumours go it’s the usual thinner, faster, yadda yadda. No real stand out features yet. We will just have to wait and see.

ENTERTAINMENT

‘Limitless’ being adapted for television with Bradley Cooper
This is one of my favourite movies and it would work brilliantly as a TV series. The fact that they have Bradley Cooper on the cast means they have the kind of cash to get some great writers and a top-notch production.

George Lucas ‘constantly talking’ to J.J. Abrams about Star Wars
I just hope it’s going like this:
George : “Listen, I’m telling you we can make Jar Jar Binks work.”
J.J. : “I tried to get him back in but the studio said the scene I envisioned for the character would be too horrific and would cause us to have an R rating.”

NICE FIND

Just watch this and tell me you are not amazed and humbled.