What did today's most famous people in tech look like when they were young?
We dug up some old photos.
New tech industries start small but can grow into permanent, billion dollar slices of infrastructure. Sometimes that seems to happen overnight — like with smartphones.
And sometimes it takes years — like with the dumb phones that grew like mold from the mid-1990s through the late 2000s.
And now, for example, the prevalence of smart mobile devices has spurred the mobile app industry, an entirely new piece of infrastructure which supports thousands of companies and billions of dollars in sales.
There is a discussion going on over at Quora about which industries are poised to gain the next $1 billion.
We pulled out a few of the most interesting and explored why they're set to explode.
Mobile payment services like Square, Intuit's Go Payment and PayPal Here allow users to accept payments virtually anywhere that there is a cell signal.
As of late 2012, Square was valued at roughly $3 billion.
The industry is still in its infancy but as time goes on we expect this to become one of the next biggest markets.
NFC allows smartphones and other mobile devices to exchange information by passing them close together, typically in a sales transaction scan.
But the technology (which uses a wireless or Bluetooth connection) could be used to exchange any amount or type of data between individuals who need to meet face to face and transfer information assets, for instance in video games or in social media.
Social e-commerce is a budding industry that stands to make tons of cash. Consumers love online shopping and when coupled with a recommendation from friends or followers shopping becomes less of a transactional experience and feels more personal.
Companies like Pinterest and The Fancy are changing how users purchase products and services with well-designed and easy to use experiences.
As of February 2013, Pinterest is valued at $2.5 billion.
Peeps marshmallow candies are as much a part of Easter as egg hunts and ham.
The sugar-coated chicks and bunnies have been made by Bethlehem, Pa.-based Just Born for decades, and these days, the factory churns out 2 billion Peeps a year.
PBSrecently took a tour of the factory as part of its series on seasonal manufacturing. Just Born's plant may look like a standard factory, but it smells a whole lot sweeter.
Media TakeOut is a gossip site that makes TMZ look like The Wall Street Journal.
A typical story has the title, "OH NOOOOOO!!! Kim Kardashian's Thighs Have Been RUBBING TOGETHER Since The Weight Gain . . . And Now They Look All BURNT UP!!!"
It's safe for work ... mostly. Just be careful what you click on.
And dozens of blue-chip brands are advertising on it, including Visa, The Wounded Warrior Project, and AT&T.
One problem with online advertising, particularly when it's bought via automated bidding, is that often huge companies with wholesome images end up unintentionally buying ad space on a strange assortment of websites. As long as the ads get shown to the target audience for the right price, the rest is just details.
We've collected images of 13 brands that might not know what they're advertising next to.
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No one utilizes the power of sexual suggestion like car companies. Cars are a sex symbol, and in the race to sell their brands, the top players in the industry have tried to out-sex each other, at one point or another.
Some of them are just sleazy.
From Ford to BMW, here are the lowest of the low in automotive sales tactics.
Some don't even feature a car.
"What's hot?"Mercedes asks its YouTube audience."The all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA."
"What's hotter? Kate Upton washing it in slow motion."
This Super Bowl spot holds nothing back. Ms. Upton, lips pursed, blows a heap of foamy white bubbles off her hand. The gleaming Mercedes drips with water (sweat) in the soft sunlight. The football team actually doing the washing can't look away from Ms. Upton as she saunters forward, tousling her hair playfully.
"You missed a spot," she says.
This spot from ATTIK US boasts the Scion iQ's capacity for barely-clad women, donuts, and goblets of milk.
The four women of "Babes 'n' Donuts," the brand's 2012 hit, cram into a tiny Scion for a few minutes of reverse donuts. While eating donuts. And drinking milk.
Obviously, they spill the milk all over themselves. At least Scion isn't trying to pass the commercial off as something it's not.
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Google's #ifihadglass competition spurred a number of applications from everyday people, as well as from some high-profile celebrities.
Google is still announcing the winners of its #ifihadglass contest, but there's already handful of celebrities who have been selected.
Andrej Karpathy, a PhD student at Stanford, created a database of the winners of Glass, sorted by the number of followers they have. As of right now, there are only 2,318 people on the list, so there might be more celebrities out there with invitations to try Glass. Also, the list only takes into account people who won via Twitter, not via Google+.
Even though these celebrities won the contest, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll fork over the $1,500 to get a pair. But we bet it wouldn't do too much damage to their wallets.
Name: Neil Patrick Harris
Claim to fame: Actor on How I Met Your Mother
Glass Application: "I’d show what it’s like to act on the set of HIMYM all day! #ifihadglass"
Twitter Followers: 5,530,053
Name: Soulja Boy
Claim to fame: "Crank That" rap song
Glass Application: "#ifihadglass I would put it in my new music video @projectglass"
Followers: 5,066,185
Name: Kevin Smith
Claim to fame: Smith played the character Silent Bob in "Dogma," and "Jay and Silent Bob"
Glass application: "I'll tell you what I'd do #ifihadglass - I'd document the writing of CLERKS III. Watching writing happen: it'd be both exciting AND boring."
Followers: 2,368,340
Russia is the world's fourth largest gold producer, and Kolyma in the far north-east of Russia is one of the regions most flush with gold.
During Stalin's rule, prisoners of the Gulag were sent to Kolyma and forced to mine for gold, which was desperately needed to finance economic development.
Now, many of those in the region choose to mine for gold. The miner settlements have however been decreasing since the 1990s.
Russia Beyond The Headlines (RBTH) and photographer Sergei Smirnov put together a feature giving us insight into gold mining in Kolyma.
Thanks to Russia Beyond The Headlines for giving us permission to run these images.
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Last year, Kate Upton got everyone in the Easter mood after revealing a minute-long video titled "Kate Upton as Peter Cottontail."
The video, which features the Sports IllustratedSwimsuit Edition cover girl prancing around like a naughty bunny, was part of a collaboration with LOVE magazine.
The video features eight upscale lingerie and designer brands, but we're guessing there's only two things viewers will notice after watching.
Facebook is preparing for a major expansion of its headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Across the street from its current campus, it's going to construct a Frank Gehry designed headquarters. Facebook got the go-ahead from Menlo Park this week to build.
Gehry is known for his wild, sweeping architecture. With Facebook being a hip tech company, one might suspect we're going to see a big crazy look. We're not.
Facebook wanted something more subdued, notes Ryan Tate at Wired.
Here are some models and drawings which give an idea of Facebook's new home.
The unhealthy smog that settled over Beijing earlier this year, capturing international media attention, is not the only visible sign of China's rapid economic growth and the resulting environmental hazards.
Countless rivers and lakes have also been contaminated by nearby factories, and sometimes, dumping by local residents.
This March, more than 2,000 dead pigs were found floating in a Shanghai river, a main water source for the city's 23 million residents.
Polluted water sources have been linked to a rise in "cancer villages," or areas where cancer rates are high among people who live along tainted waterways.
Time's Gu Yongqiang contends that China's failure to address environmental problems isn't a product of technical or financial constraints, but rather an overwhelming lack of motivation by authorities.
Mounting public outrage, largely aided by the power of social media, is starting to push officials to take action.
Last week, the state-run China Daily newspaper announced the country's plan to spend $16 billion over the next three years to deal with Beijing's pollution, Reuters reported.
Looking at the current state of China's water systems — some turned bright green by algae blooms or blood red from chemicals — suggests that infusion of cash is only the very start of a massive and much-needed cleanup effort.
Dreaming of a bigger salary?
Many tech companies are in hyper-hiring mode right now, with thousands of job openings. We previously reported on the companies with the most tech job openings.
But which employers pay the best?
To answer that, we asked job search site Indeed.com to sift through its massive database and tell us the companies that have the most tech job openings with a minimum salary of $100,000.
All of these employers have hundreds of $100,000+ jobs available.
Company: SAIC
No. of 100K+ jobs open: 290
Why it's hiring: SAIC is better known as a defense contractor than an IT firm. But it's both. It's involved in all the latest tech areas like cloud computing, security, health care tech and smart grids.
Employees rate it: 4 stars (out of 5);
Many employees say that SAIC has a great corporate culture.
"SAIC is a wonderful company with which to work. It is clear they only hire the most technically competent individuals and it is truly professionally reward to work with such colleagues," says a current Telecommunications Planner Network Designer.
Company: Apple
No. of 100K+ jobs open: 302
Why it's hiring: Apple is the "it child" of the tech industry these days. In addition to making PCs, tablets, smartphones, and an uber popular app store, it has expanded into new areas like cloud computing.
Employees rate it: 4 stars (out of 5)
While there's been some stress on employees since Tim Cook became CEO, Apple is still known as a great place to work.
"Apple is a really fast-paced work environment. You can feel and see the energy from people around you. It is a well-made and well-maintained work environment where it supports its employee to be as productive as possible," says a current Information Security Engineer.
Company: HP
No. of 100K+ jobs open: 312
Why it's hiring: HP is cranking up new areas like software-defined networking, analytics, cloud computing, computer security.
Employees rate it: 4 stars (out of 5)
Although HP is hiring, it is also going through a lot of upheaval including a multi-year, 29,000-employee layoff.
"Over all HP is a good company to work for with benefits. It is easy going atmosphere, but job security is not certain. I have been here for over 18 years and have learned a lot. I have had several managers over that period of time and all have different styles. My peers are pleasant to work with," says a current Business Operations Planner.
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America's big cities may get all the splashy buzz, but for savvy travelers, our small towns are our best-kept secrets.
In a time when "authentic" is a travel buzzword, these hamlets are attracting visitors with an often unexpected—and surprisingly sophisticated—array of independent and locally-minded cultural, outdoor, and culinary offerings, all minus the urban price tags.
The only downside to all this small town regeneration? Narrowing down this list to just 10 favorites.
Our editors pored over the possibilities, ultimately picking the winners based on criteria like population (all are under 50,000 people), and draws like great local eats, interesting museums and cultural points, and noteworthy natural attractions or outdoor adventures. The result is a list that should inspire travelers of all walks to fill up the gas tank and hit the road.
What it's Like: Napa and Sonoma's quieter wine country sister mixes contemporary cool with plenty of Norman Rockwell charm—not to mention mouth-watering eats and drinks.
Set about 65 miles from San Francisco, Healdsburg is not exactly an unknown—it's garnered its fair share of glossy magazine features—but the town of 11,254 manages to balance the hype with a relaxed pace and diverse price points, meaning visitors don't have to break the bank to enjoy the bounties of wine country.
Those who want to splash out can do so among the Bulgari bath products at Hotel Les Mars or in the Italianate Victorian Honor Mansion, complete with bocce courts and spa pavilions, then dine on homemade meatballs and thin-crust pizza at Scopa. The budget conscious should check into the LEED-certified h2hotel, home to a popular bar, and enjoy the free concerts in the town square and the charming country stores tucked among the lush wineries.
What it's Like: This Big Sky Country college town is a nature-lover's paradise, no matter the season.
Founded in the late-1800's to service travelers along a mining trail, Bozeman today is home to 37,280 permanent residents, as well as the fluctuating student population of Montana State University. The college presence lends the place an arty vibe; popular activities include the year-round Bozeman Symphony Society and summertime Shakespeare in the Parks.
The mix of faculty, students, cowboys, outdoor enthusiasts, and the odd celebrity has also elevated the dining scene; The rotating menu at John Bozeman's Cafe in the historic downtown might feature Jamaican jerk chicken, while the bison burgers and Kobe beef at Montana Ale Works pair perfectly with the 40 beers on tap. Hotels like the Gallatin River Lodge, set on a 350-acre working ranch, and the Lehrkind Mansion, a former brewer's residence-turned-B&B, make ideal bases for fly fishing, skiing, rafting, and exploring Yellowstone National Park.
What it's Like: Red-rock panoramas and the mythical "vortex" energies set the scene for this spa and wellness haven.
The striking vistas and natural splendors that once inspired artists like Max Ernst and countless Western filmmakers are today attracting a mix of New Age healers, spa therapists, artisans, and wellness-seekers to this mellow desert town of just over 10,000 residents.
Sedona is light on historic activities, so visitors are free to hike, mountain bike, or jeep-tour around the red-hued canyons and buttes; shop for jewelry and Native American crafts in the town center; and park themselves at spots like Elote Cafe for gourmet Mexican (and great views), or Dahl & Di Luca for elevated Italian.
Many guests simply settle into a health-minded hotel and indulge in spa treatments, yoga sessions, and excursions to the Vortex, a rock outcrop that's said to be a powerful source of ancient energy. Accommodations here tend toward the upscale—favorites include the celeb-endorsed Enchantment Resort and its Mii Amo spa and hillside, cottage-style L'Auberge de Sedona—but deals can be found at places like the Sky Ranch Lodge, where some rooms have fireplaces or kitchenettes.
Louisville's Kevin Ware broke his right leg on a freak play in the first half of Sunday's regional final against Duke.
It was one of the more gruesome injuries in recent sports history, and it devastated his teammates.
These guys have lived and worked with Ware for years, and seeing them brought to tears in the aftermath of the injury is heartbreaking.
They were grieving, which shows you just how close these teams become.
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With stocks hovering around all-time highs, many are wondering if this asset class is the next great bubble ready to burst.
But stocks aren't the only things that look frothy. There seems to be a lot of other asset classes that sure look like bubbles.
We've compiled the assets analysts now believe are flashing warning signs of over-inflating.
If you think we reached peak bubble-calls last spring when Robert Shiller diagnosed a "bubble on bubbles," think again.
Warning stat: The price of college textbooks is up over 800 percent since 1978.
What the experts say: "The cost of college textbooks has been rising at almost twice the rate of general CPI inflation for at least the last 30 years," according to Mark J. Perry, American Enterprise Institute."As Glenn Reynolds reminds us, 'a process that cannot go on forever, won’t,' and the college textbook bubble is certainly one of those processes."
Warning stat: First tier cities Beijing and Guangzhou saw home prices rise 3.1 percent in February, the biggest jumps in the country. Meanwhile, entire towns will go up in China with no inhabitants. These are China's notorious "ghost cities."
What the experts say: “There are obvious bubbles in the property market, and it is possible it will get out of control and crack,” according to Wang Shi, chairman of China's largest developer.
Warning stat: The "crypto currency" now trades at $63 — double what it was at the beginning of March.
What the experts say: "In hindsight, the people who bid the price of Bitcoins up to $30 in 2011 may not have been so crazy after all. It just took the broader market, including me, a couple of years to catch up with them," according to Ars Technica's Timothy B. Lee.
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We admire celebrities who can laugh at themselves — and take joy in laughing at one another.
That's why, this April Fool's Day, we have rounded up ten of the top celebrity-on-celebrity pranks of all time.
Last year, Conan O'Brien released a parody video saying he had purchased Mashable and was ousting Pete Cashmore as CEO.
Then there's the epic, ongoing prank war between George Clooney and Brad Pitt, not to mention Nicole Richie and Joel McHale's penchant for hacking their famous friends' social media accounts.
Last April Fool's Day, Conan O'Brien posted the below video claiming he had purchased Mashable and ousted Pete Cashmore as CEO.
"You're through Cashmore, through, get out!"
It all started when Taylor Swift tweeted, "Last night on tour with Keith Urban. Pranking is a must. How about rushing his stage during 'Kiss a Girl' dressed like this?"
And she did. That's Swift, barely recognizable in her KISS makeup (left), and on-stage next to Urban (right).
The two E! hosts are notorious for jabbing one another on their respective TV shows.
On April Fool's Day in 2010, "The Soup" host took over RyanSeacrest.com, renaming it JoelMcHale.com and imposing his face on Seacrest's body.
Then McHale tweeted from Seacrest's account, "Ryan here: just interviewed @SelenaGomez. She was awesome. Really connected. Psych! It's still Joel! #seacresthacked."
Is Bitcoin the new gold?
Some former gold bugs certainly think so.
And it's value has skyrocketed in recent months.
Last week, Bloomberg.com columnist Paul Ford opined they could now be the world's last currency safe haven.
But many readers at this point are probably wondering...what exactly is Bitcoin?
Robert McNally, an iOS developer at parking payment startup QuickPay, presented the following presentation to last year's Hacker's Conference (don't worry, they were the "good" kind of hackers) in Santa Cruz answering exactly that question.
With his kind permission, he's allowed us to republish it.
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It's going to be a big spring for smartphones.
HTC and Samsung are both launching new flagship devices, plus there's word that Facebook is working on its own smartphone platform based on Android.
Looking for a phone? Here are the best ones you can buy.
Note: We update this list approximately once a month. Our rankings are based on a variety of factors including design, software and hardware features, content selection, and price. You can see last month's smartphone rankings here.
Even though it's well over a year old, the iPhone 4S is a great value for anyone looking for the iPhone experience at a good price.
The iPhone 4S has most of the same software features as the iPhone 5, but it is a bit thicker and has a smaller screen.
Price: Starts at $99 with a two-year contract (Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T)
HTC's last flagship phone, the One X+, is about to be replaced by the gorgeous new HTC One.
If you can't wait, the One X+ is still a great choice if you need a solid Android phone.
Click here for our full review of the HTC One X >
Price: $199.99 with a two-year contract on AT&T
BlackBerry's newest phone, the BlackBerry Z10, finally arrived in the U.S. at the end of March. It's the first device to run the company's new mobile operating system called BlackBerry 10.
The Z10 is a solid piece of hardware, plus BlackBerry 10 is an impressive mobile operating system. Unfortunately, the phone has a pretty weak app selection compared to the iPhone and Android phones.
Click here for our review of the BlackBerry Z10 >
Price: $199.99 with a two-year contract from Verizon or AT&T. $99.99 plus $18 per month for 24 months on T-Mobile.
We told you what that will mean for the U.S. economy.
But what about the rest of the world?
Quartz's Steve LeVine was the first to write why this could spell big trouble for OPEC.
We also reported last month that Norway's foreign minister believes America's shale boom could rearrange the Middle East's balance of power.
But we wanted to go one step further and hone in on what the end of peak oil means for one of America's all-time frenemies: Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom still rules the oil world in every major stat: production (11.2 million barrels a day), exports (8.5 million barrels a day), and largest oil deposit (the Ghawar field at an estimated 70 billion barrels).
But with the help of some charts from AEI's Mark Perry, who's been chronicling America's energy boom better than anyone, and the now-instant classic note, "The End Is Nigh [for rising oil demand]" from Citi's Seth Kleinman and Ed Morse, we bring you 10 charts that should scare the crude out of the Saudis.
But Citi says the following trends will put that in jeopardy...
That's because it's so cheap. Since 2010, natural gas prices have fallen 28 percent. Rising demand will cause prices to rebound, but it'll be slow going to get off record lows.
According to BP, gas could actually surpass oil sometime after 2030.
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The old dream of the digital wallet is coming true — on mobile. Credit cards and cash are being disrupted by payments made directly from mobile phones. Although U.S. consumer adoption remains moderate, several players are positioning themselves to win big once mobile payments take off.
We've built on our recent report on mobile payments to put together a succinct collection of slides. The slides include brand new charts and data points. Here's what we cover.
We hope you enjoy the slide deck. BII members have exclusive access to the PDF and PowerPoint versions of this presentation.
Click here to download a PowerPoint version of the deck→
Click here to download a PDF version of the deck→
Click below to view the slideshow.
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In the spirit of April Fools' Day we are sharing some of the best trading floor pranks of all time.
"Every joke was invented down there," a retired NYSE specialist told Business Insider.
The thing is the trading humor has subsided in recent years.
"Fortunately, or unfortunately, you don't see those pranks anymore," said another veteran trader.
He explained that in the past, traders played pranks on the floor to help everyone "blow off steam."
"You can't be running at 100 percent all the time," he said. "You need to break the tension and that's why on the floor, every floor, they'd have some sort of prank or joke."
Veteran traders both in New York and Chicago from the NYSE, CBOT, NYMEX and AMEX told us about some of the classic pranks and jokes they used to pull back in the day.
* If you have another trading floor prank, joke or story you would like to share, please send Julia an email at jlaroche@businessinsider.com.
Location: NYSE
The prank: Back when the floor of the NYSE was super crowded if a guy would fall down, other floor brokers and specialists would draw a chalk outline around him.
Location: NYSE
The Prank:"The old style trading posts had spring-loaded jump seats that the traders could pull down to sit and take a load off. Those days, they only traded two to three million shares a day, so there was plenty of downtime. The prank was to take a paper cup, fill it with water, and wedge it into the seat. The next sucker to pull the seat down launched this missile at himself - and got doused. Good clean (wet) fun!," the grandson of a NYSE trader told Business Insider.
Location: American Stock Exchange
The Prank: The entire AMEX floor would prank the newbie by giving them a fake stock to trade. The entire floor would be on it and prevent the new broker from getting their order executed until the stock ran up five points. Then the newbie's booth would make them sell it. The crowd would block the new broker from getting their order executed until the stock ran down five points.
"The broker would not know what's going on. Then, all of the sudden, a hand would reach in and grab his collar of his shirt and rip it off and the crowd would cheer and he would now be considered 'one of us,'" former AMEX broker "Groucho" said.
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Peak oil is dead.
