News of the Day 9/23/2010

Economic weirdness, Blockbuster's Bankrupcy, and a new way to deal with CAPTCHAs? It's must-know geeky job news!

Economics/Geekonomics:
A big dose of dumb from the still totally-screwed-up world of home loans (Hat tip to http://www.geekosystem.com/)

The Economics of Star Wars.

Media:
Replace annoying CAPTCHA's with ads? Solve Media is looking to do this. There's a level of scary brilliance here that makes me think they're resume-worthy.

Mobile:
Verzion going to tiered prices – Some of this sounds necessary, but expect some of this to get mentioned in the continued ongoing Net Neutrality battles (poorly).

Technology:
Apple could sell 21 million iPads in 2011 – mostly with corporate sales. This is not just big for Apple, and Tablets, but a cultural shift to people being used to a different way of using computers (and a product that isn't Microsoft).

Red Hat has a 20% gain in Q2 earnings – Looks like it's doing quite well – and of course, it's a big name in Linux.

Do we have our first 'weaponized virus' in the form of Stuxnet?

Video:
A look at just how Blockbuster went bankrupct – a roundup that provides a nice summary of just what happened.

Roku ups its game in the wake of the Apple announcement with new features and pricing.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Could Blockbuster have saved itself?

Steven Savage