Verified Call lets you talk one-on-one with former porn star Bree Olson

Bree Olson made hundreds of porn movies in her career until she got mixed up with Charlie Sheen and retired from the business last year. But she still has 360,000 Twitter followers and fans galore. Now she is going to …

Stock image service Shutterstock files $115M IPO

Shutterstock, a stock photography service, filed paperwork today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering worth $115 million.

Shutterstock provides organizations with royalty-free stock images and photography that can be used for advertisements, artwork, promotions, …

WeWork Lab’s hip SF pre-incubator space opens its doors

A new type of office space for tech startup-hopefuls is opening its doors in San Francisco today. Falling somewhere between a co-working space and a full startup incubator, WeWork Labs is a “pre-incubator” — or as we’ve taken to calling …

Zynga acquires Wild Needle casual game maker for an estimated $3.8M

Zynga acquired Wild Needle, a casual game company that had backing from Playdom co-founder Rick Thompson, according to TechCrunch.

We’ve heard that the purchase price was $3.8 million, but the companies involved still haven’t acknowledged the deal. Wild Needle was …

Backed by Microsoft, Russian anti-piracy firm Pirate Pay eyes international expansion

If you can’t beat ‘em block ‘em.

That’s seems to be the mantra behind anti-piracy outfit Pirate Pay, which aims to tackle Bittorrent piracy by confusing clients and preventing users from connecting to each other.

Created in 2009 by a …

Ignoring Thompson turmoil, Yahoo debuts big data app called “Genome” at Internet Week

Fresh off Scott Thompson’s resignation as CEO of Yahoo last night, Yahoo put its best face forward at the start of Internet Week with the announcement of Genome, “big data” software to help advertisers better figure out their customers.

Yahoo’s …

Kickstarter bug exposed data from over 70,000 early projects

Crowdfunding darling Kickstarter suffered its first significant security issue last week, when a bug in the company’s API made information available on over 70,000 unreleased projects.

Luckily, the bug didn’t make personal or financial information available, and it was mostly …

Wanted member of Anonymous claims group has more classified data, safe havens in Canada

A high-ranking member of Anonymous recently revealed that the group has access to every classified database in the U.S. But what’s more interesting is the way Anonymous obtained this information.

“It’s a matter of when we leak the contents of …

Nvidia teams with Intellectual Ventures to acquire patents

Graphics chip maker Nvidia has teamed up with Nathan Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures to acquire a set of patents developed and owned by IPWireless.

The deal shows that the patent wars are a grim reality and big companies have to arm …

Over a dozen Windows 8 tablets expected in November — including hybrids

Come this November, we’ll finally be able to see how Windows 8 tablets can take on the iPad.

The first round of slates powered by Windows 8 will reportedly hit stores in November, CNet reports. Sources tell the site that …

Apple’s new 15″ MacBook Pro: Thinner, Retina Display, USB 3, coming in June

If you’ve been waiting for Apple to refresh its flagship MacBook Pro laptops, it looks like your patience will be well-rewarded.

Apple’s next 15-inch MacBook Pro will reportedly sport a thinner design (as many previous rumors have indicated), a higher-resolution …

Ex-Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson told board he had cancer

Scott Thompson, who resigned this weekend as chief executive of Yahoo, reportedly disclosed to the company’s board of directors and several colleagues last week that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

The news was reported this evening by the …

New CEO Ross Levinsohn, in message to Yahoos, says “focus on the momentum”

After an aggressive reign that ended in a sordid résumé scandal, Scott Thompson, just four months into his job as CEO, is out at Yahoo. Intermin CEO Ross Levinsohn, appointed to the position Sunday, is already in communication with Yahoos …

7 ways BYOD will boost your business

If you haven’t already heard of the bring-your-own-device trend, then get ready, because you’re going to be hearing more and more about it over the coming year. What’s more, this trend isn’t just a matter of employees wanting to use …

Facebook’s mobile risk by the big, bad numbers

Mobile is Facebook’s advertising Achilles’ heel, a fact the social network was not only quick to point out to investors in its first S-1, but also anxious to emphasize in the latest prospectus amendment.

Data from comScore, which shows that …

Scott Thompson out at Yahoo (updated)

Update: Yahoo said in a statement Sunday afternoon that Ross Levinsohn has been named interim CEO, effective immediately. Fred Amoroso was named chairman of the board. The company also said that it has settled with Third Point. Daniel Loeb, Harry …