Times are tough, and competition for tech talent is fierce. Google, therefore, is doing everything imaginable to attract (and retain) the best of the best -- including paying 50% of employees’ salaries for a decade after their death. What’s more, if employees had any dependent children, Google says it will support them with $1,000 per month until they reach the age of 19 (that age limit is raised to 23 if they're in full-time education). “As if free Nexus devices weren't reason enough for you to immediately apply for a job at Google,” The Verge jokes.

Trying to make its platform a safer place for users, Facebook is now inviting anyone to email suspected phishing incidents to phish@fb.com. And not a moment too soon, according to The Next Web. “Nearing a billion users, Facebook has become a dedicated target for phishers and scammers, which use numerous techniques to try and get members to part with their personal information,” it writes. Facebook already employs algorithms and automated systems to detect rogue web Sites but, as TNW notes, sometimes they managed to evade their blacklists.

A new study suggests that Google+ users share far less content than users of Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Yet, the study, conducted by social media research firm Umpf, might be fundamentally flawed, suggests Marketing Land’s Danny Sullivan. For instance, “A major flaw in this study is that it seems to have based sharing counts on buttons shown on the destination articles,” Sullivan writes, adding: “It’s all complicated, and it’s one reason why you get a cleaner comparison by looking at publisher accounts on each of the services.”

Ready to achieve serious scale, Pinterest has finally replaced its invite-only model with open registration. “One of the Internet's most popular social networks pushed its doors wide open today,” CNet notes. “This means users can sign up for an account without having to wait for an invite, the company said in a blog post.” Previously, potential pinners had to request an invite from Pinterest or be invited by a friend who already had a Pinterest account. Invites allowed the site to control the volume of new users so that its servers were not overwhelmed, according to Pinterest. “Now, the site …

Ouya -- the Android-based gaming console will an impressive content partner list – has raised nearly $9 million through Kickstarter. “The numbers are only part of the picture, of course,” writes Engadget. “If you'll recall, OUYA swiftly acquired a slew of partnerships from companies like OnLive, Square Enix, XBMC, Vevo, and Robotoki -- and as if that wasn't enough, just yesterday Namco Bandai and Plex officially joined the content-providing party as well.” Ouya is planning to hit the market next March, and run $99 per unit.

As was widely expected, Marissa Mayer plans to put products first during her reign as Yahoo’s CEO. “Since taking over Yahoo three weeks ago, the former Google executive has talked with Yahoo's product leaders about how to reverse the declining usage of the company's search and email service,” reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. “She has also told employees that she wants to rewire Yahoo to develop or acquire Web services that take advantage of new "platforms" such as social networking, mobile devices, and technology that gives people information about their immediate surroundings, including local businesses.”

Together Apple’s iOS platform and Google’s Android OS now power a record 85% of all smartphone shipments. As of the second quarter of the year, Android still dominated the market with a 68% -- or almost 105 million devices -- which is up from 47% in 2011. Apple’s iOS platform, meanwhile, achieved a share of 17% with 40 million phones shipped. “Apple posted year-on-year shipment growth of 27.5 percent, which translated to a 5.6% market share extension, but that was some way behind its rival,” The Next Web notes. 

On a mission to make the Web instantly responsive to user commands, some international investors are throwing $100 million at Realtime -- a “live Web” technology developed by Internet Business Technologies. “The company offers a developer framework that now powers 2,000 real-time client applications, but, until now, it has only been available outside the U.S.,” TechCrunch reports. However, with the new investment, Realtime is finally launching its developer platform stateside. 

eBay is reportedly using retailers’ fear of Amazon to its advantage. In fact, “eBay Chief Executive John Donahoe and other executives have been telling retailers that Amazon is their enemy, while eBay is a friend because, unlike Amazon, it holds no inventory,” Reuters reports. Like your average retailer, Amazon buys products wholesale, stores them in inventory and sells them to consumers at higher prices. eBay, by contrast, says it just matches buyers and sellers. 

The New York Times is reportedly ready to sell About.com to Answers.com for $270 million. “The paper has been looking to get rid of the struggling Web site, which produces high-volume, low-cost content, and has a deal in place to sell it to Answers.com,” according to AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka. “The deal hasn’t closed yet, and I’m told that Answers’ backers -- PE firms Summit Partners and TA Associates -- are trying to line up financing.” NYT bought About for $410 million in 2005.