Security consultant Hugo Teso says he has spent the last four years analyzing airplane navigation and communication systems, and at a security conference in Amsterdam, he presented PlaneSploit: "a practical demonstration on how to remotely attack and take full control of an aircraft."

Yup, it will make you feel not good: "Teso used his Samsung Galaxy and a specially crafted app called PlaneSploit to demonstrate how to hack an airplane’s computer."

Write-up here; a PDF of his presentation is here. ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT.

@daveg lesson is diplomacy and patience as it is a big change. Calling them antiquated and stupid cant/won't help the cause

— Om Malik (@om) October 17, 2012

"For the first time in 30 years, New Yorkers could get a cab without going to the street and putting your arm out," startup Uber wrote yesterday, in the course of admitting they are shutting down their NYC pilot program. (Also, this is only true if you mean yellow cabs; in most of the City, people been calling for car services their whole lives.) Don't worry, you can use Uber in "more innovation-friendly cities," they snidely [...]

"There are now two female staffers writing for Gizmodo, myself and Leslie Horn, and neither of us blew anyone for our job."

It's been really quiet on the Internet Bubble front, because no one likes that narrative. It's bad for everyone! (Except some people.) But here's a report from close to the startup incubators that makes it pretty obvious that nothing's changed in the last year. Or if it has changed, then for the worst: "Y Combinator had sixty-five companies present. And we saw 500 eager investors, frenzied almost, excited to invest in entrepreneurs. One investor emailed me four times, texted me three times, called me and sent me a message on LinkedIn—desperate to get a check in before the round closes. No business plans, not even pitch decks [...]

They may have some slight security issues, but Grindr, the infamous gay "social" app that's expanding to straight-town, is finding… some ways to make money.

Here is what your parents will be asking for your help with during the holidays.

1. Naming baby girls "Layla," "Leila" or "Lila."

2. Menus written in chalk on walls of restaurants

3. Conversations about how mosquitos seem to be around longer this year

4. INXS songs on the radio

5. UFO sightings

Google's Android phones are used by more people, yet Apple's App Store sells 400% more than Google's online store for Android apps. How is this even possible? Consumer tech experts say it's because Apple started early and has stringent quality control and also has a whole lot of iTunes account holders who typed in their credit card information before they even owned a smart phone.

Consumers are more willing to fork over their money for an iOS app, because they know they’ll probably get their money’s worth, says app developer Zak Tanjeloff with DLP Mobile. “The App Store has a higher proportion of quality apps, thanks to the [...]

Tech Homecoming is happening next month! That's right, it's just like homecoming in high school, with football, a dance and a homecoming court: "The 2012 Homecoming court brings together 8 guys and 8 girls as representatives of the New York Tech & Media community. Homecoming court is selected by a panel of over 30 judges based on impact to the community, networks, and general likeability. One guy and one girl will be voted king and queen at the homecoming dance." They will vote on people! Like who is the "best dressed" and who is the "most eligible"!

Straight people: what is wrong with them? (Also, hey, look at [...]

"In an e-mail to Stickybits's investors, the pair explained Turntable and gave them a choice: They could take back what money remained or stick with them. All except one kept the faith. Chasen's announcement, made the day the staff returned from the winter holiday, was abrupt: The developers, with one exception, would cease work on Stickybits immediately. The business side would wind down client relationships. Left unsaid: All except a skeleton crew would soon leave the company." —An enjoyable story about the path to date of Turntable.fm. It's also an interesting reminder that entrepreneurs may be "job creators" but also sometimes they lay off everyone along the way.

Which one of these dudes with venture capital would you do? All/none? Yes/no? It's not a trick question, take your time.

Data from StatCounter.

Did you know that most of Firefox's budget comes from Google? That is because Google pays the Mozilla Corporation, the for-profit arm of the Mozilla Foundation, a share of ad revenue gained by displaying Google as the default Firefox search engine. By most, really, one means "almost all": in 2010, 84% of Mozilla's royalty revenue came from Google, and royalties counted for $121 million of the Foundation's $123 million in income. Pretty good sugar.

The agreement expired in November. (It first expired in 2006, was renewed through 2008 and then again through 2011.) The rapid growth of Google's Chrome browser threatened the survival [...]

"To hear the city’s female entrepreneurs tell it, an ambiguous date-meeting with Charlie O’Donnell is almost a rite of passage—like living on ramen while you launch your first app…. What seemed to grate on many of Mr. O’Donnell’s targets was the sense that they’d been subjected to a romantic version of the bait-and-switch: expecting a meeting, they’d found themselves on a date. " But why are you entrepreneuresses holding out on all this? (I mean, besides, I guess, that he lives in Bay Ridge. Must love R trains!)

$85 million sounds like a lot of money! That's what Tumblr just raised, on top of the $30 million they raised ten months ago, bringing their investment dollars to a bit north of $120 million. There's a staff of 50 (now only 82% male!), so that's like $5 million a year right there. (Also, they've outsourced tech support (rather poorly; if you ask Tumblr for help with something, you get some dude copying and pasting a manual at you) with some minimal supervision, and that's probably a significant, if user-annoying, cost savings.) But staff costs are surely dwarfed by the cost of doing at the very [...]