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The startup world is renowned for its unique workplace culture, buzzwords and weird pitches. Now, a new book details one journalist’s time at one such company. Dan Lyons talks about his ‘year in Startup Hell’ over on Fortune.

Helena Bonham-Carter is trading Bellatrix LeStrange’s black magic for something brighter as the fairy godmother in Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella. She joins Lily James as the will-be princess, Cate Blanchett as her stepmother, and Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden as the prince.

Apple iAds Platform Fizzling Out

According to Techcrunch, Apple’s play for the mobile advertising market isn’t hitting as hard as it needs to. “The general consensus among the advertising community is that [iAd] is a product they don’t want.” [Techcrunch]

How to Get Somebody Else to Pay for Your Starbucks Coffee

Oh hey, you know that new whiz-bang app Starbucks has for paying with your iPhone? Well, apparently the barcode it produces stays the same every time, meaning that a sneakily procured screenshot from somebody else’s phone can net you infinite coffee (approx. a Trenta’s worth) on their tab. [The Register]

The Big Picture Photoblog Reborn As The Atlantic’s “In Focus”

Update your bookmarks! Alan Taylor, founder of the wildly famous The Big Picture photoblog, has launched his newest iteration at The Atlantic, called “In Focus“. [In Focus]

Buffalo has just announced that it is releasing a 100GB version of their credit card-sized USB2 solid state portable drive. Cost is 107,000 in Japan ($950.) . https://gizmodo.com/buffalo-56gb-solid-state-portable-drive-281217

Going one better than Monday’s Nano advent calendar, Israeli boffins have squeezed the entire Old Testament in Hebrew onto a gold-plated silicon chip that is smaller than a pinhead. https://gizmodo.com/teeny-tiny-advent-calendar-has-no-nano-chocolates-334580

The Zipit 2 is being upgraded to send and receive SMS to and from cellphones, for just $4.99 a month. Available via download between December 20 and its official February launch, the Zipit will only receive texts from a pre-approved list, making it spam-free. https://gizmodo.com/zipit-z2-wireless-messenger-lets-teens-im-for-free-gal-319767

iPhone SDK in the Wild

According to Wired’s sources, while all developers will get the iPhone SDK in February, some “big ones” may already have it in their hands now, readying applications to “whet developers’ appetites” (as if they needed any whetting) and tell Gizmodo to TFSU. [Wired] https://gizmodo.com/no-iphone-sdk-means-no-killer-iphone-apps-267899

Facebook has announced that it is opening up its platform code to other social networking sites. Is this going to spell disaster for Google’s unlaunched OpenSocial initiative?

Online sales on Cyber Monday were up 21 percent to $733 million, according to comStore Inc, a marketing company that tracks internet sales and traffic.

It may have launched just five days ago, but the Kindle has already sold out on Amazon. New stock arrives December 3

The first beta download of Firefox 3 is now available for downloading. Just thought you should know.

WW2 code-breaker behemoth Colossus was beaten by amateur Joachim Schuth in yesterday’s code-cracking challenge. Bonn-based Schuth had written his own suite of software specially for the challenge. [BBC Online]

Woot’s having a woot-off Woot’s having a woot-off Woot’s having a woot-off. Got it?

LG’s Viewty (aka the KU990) is now available in Europe, the same week that Samsung’s G800 makes itself available over there. Let battle (of the 5-megapixel camera phones) commence. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-g800-is-5-megapixel-camera-with-video-editing-f-313360

Not only is Woot offering brown Zunes for $79, but that if you already bought one in that color, you’re eligible for an extra $20 off any item worth more than $20.

Twentieth Century Fox is expected to announce today that the DVD of Live Free or Die Hard will include a special version for computers and select media players so consumers can enjoy Bruce every which way they choose. It’s out November 20. [i4u]

Toshiba has recalled the AC adapters sold with its SD-P1600 portable DVD player between Jan 2005 and April 2006. The power units are, apparently, a “burn hazard.”

RIM’s BlackBerry Curve has been added to our Palm Centro Sizemodo, because readers wanted to know how the two stack up, literally. https://gizmodo.com/palm-centro-vs-treo-700-vs-iphone-vs-blackberry-curve-309207