512 Pixels

Twitter Files for $1 Billion IPO⇢

Matthew Panzarino has details on the company’s financial information:

Twitter’s revenues have been revealed for the first time as well. Revenues for 2012 were $316.9 million, for a loss of $79.4M and in the first half of 2013 they’ve already earned $253.6M for a loss of $69.3M. That’s just above estimates from last year but well below tracking of over $600M for the year.

In its filing paperwork, Twitter reports that it has 218.3 million active monthly users, who have logged a total of over 300 billion tweets. Most interestingly, 75 percent of Twitter usage is from mobile devices.

472,613,753 shares of TWTR stock should be available pending government approval.

2.9 Million Adobe Accounts Compromised⇢

Brad Arkin the Chief Security Officer at Adobe is having a bad day:

Very recently, Adobe’s security team discovered sophisticated attacks on our network, involving the illegal access of customer information as well as source code for numerous Adobe products. We believe these attacks may be related.

Our investigation currently indicates that the attackers accessed Adobe customer IDs and encrypted passwords on our systems. We also believe the attackers removed from our systems certain information relating to 2.9 million Adobe customers, including customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders. At this time, we do not believe the attackers removed decrypted credit or debit card numbers from our systems. We deeply regret that this incident occurred. We’re working diligently internally, as well as with external partners and law enforcement, to address the incident.

If your account was affected, Adobe will be sending you an email with password reset instructions. If you haven’t gotten it yet, you can reset your password here.

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Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

How to Clean Apple Products⇢

Apple Support:

The materials used to make Apple products vary; in some cases each product may have specific cleaning requirements, which may vary by the part you are cleaning. Here are some tips that apply to all products to get you started.

Spoiler alert: don’t spray things directly into your computer’s vents.

As a bonus, if you’re worried about such things, here’s how to deal with dander in your keyboard.

Working Bad⇢

Forbes’ Allen St. John has published an interview with Michael Slovis, the cinematographer behind Breaking Bad. If you’re a fan of the show, it’s well worth the time to read.

Coca-LOLa⇢

John Ribeiro, IDG News Service:

Apple has emerged as the most valuable brand in the world, passing Coca-Cola which held the top position for 13 years, according to a report released by brand consultancy Interbrand.

The maker of high-profile products like the iPad and iPhone, which was ranked second last year, saw its brand value grow 28 percent this year to $98.3 billion. Other tech companies that figured in the top five rankings for 2013 were Google at number two and IBM and Microsoft at fourth and fifth place, respectively. Google was number four in 2012, while IBM was third and Microsoft held the fifth position last year.

You Can’t Make It Up⇢

Tom Warren:

At one point during the meeting, Ballmer chose to play the song he used back at his first company meeting in 1983: Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. He then proceeded to jump and dance around the stage screaming at the top of his voice “the sound of Microsoft!” After the song ended, an emotional Ballmer paused to “enjoy this for a minute,” with tears visibly streaming down his face. “You work for the greatest company in the world, soak it in.”

Ballmer also thanked the thousands of Microsoft employees who had queued to see his final speech. “I want to say thank you…this isn’t about any one person. It’s about a company that’s important, that’s forward thinking, that’s innovative.” Ballmer ended his emotional speech with Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ “I’ve had The Time of My Life” playing in the background before he screamed “I’ve had the time of my life” and continued to dance and run around the stage. Microsoft employees in the audience shook hands with Ballmer and screamed “we love you” as they cheered and clapped throughout his final speech.

Even on his way out the door, Steve Ballmer is cringe-worthy and embarrassing. While I understand it’s an emotional time for the guy, this is just … rough.

Evernote Market⇢

Speaking of Evernote, the company had some big announcements today. While I’m not sure I want green elephant socks, an integrated ScanSnap scanner sounds pretty sweet.