The Wall Street Journal is the latest publisher to partner with hot location-based social network FourSquare. Initially, WSJ.com will provide tips from “Lunch Boxâ€� -- its daily column of restaurant reviews -- and users can follow the Journal on Foursquare for “more on the best New York has to offer.â€� The partnership also introduces three new badges, each with their own separate New York challenge. “The Urban Adventurer tasks users to check-in to each of the five New York boroughs,â€� Mashable explains. “The Banker Badge requires three check-ins in the financial district, and the Lunch Box badge can be …

We suppose it was only a matter of time. The New York Times reports that spammers are paying people in developing countries to breach Web site security by solving captchas, which ask visitors to type in a string of semi-obscured characters to prove they are not robots. (The term is apparently a loose acronym for “completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart.â€�) Luis von Ahn, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who pioneered the security method, estimates that thousands of people in developing countries, primarily in Asia, are solving these puzzles for pay. “There …

Last week, it was revealed that social buying site Blippy was disclosing members’ credit card numbers on Google. Reaching out to users, the company outlined what happened and posted its plan on its blog Monday: “This is a very serious issue and simply apologizing is not enough … We’ve spent the last 48 hours working around the clock to dissect the issues, reach out to affected users, and put together a plan to ensure this never happens again.â€� As such, the startup is rolling out a five-pronged effort that includes hiring a chief security officer, performing regular audits, investing in …

Pizza chain Papa John’s is launching a social-media campaign at its Facebook site, called “Papa’s Specialty Pizza Challengeâ€� asking consumers to suggest a new pizza. And in an unusual twist, the company is offering the winner of the promotion a portion of profits from sales from the top pie, which will join the menu list at restaurants and a $1,000 to help market the pie during the month when the finalists compete for sales volume. When consumers go to Facebook.com/PapaJohns, besides entering the toppings list they’ve devised, they also have to write a brief rumination of 250 words …

The world is regaining its taste for new appliances, and Whirlpool Corp. says earnings for the first quarter jumped 141% to $164 million, compared with $68 million during the same period last year. Sales at the Benton Harbor, Mich.-based company shot up 20% to $4.3 billion, from $3.6 billion in the year-ago period. Factoring out currency exchange, worldwide sales gained 11%, with a 5% gain in North America. "We are pleased with the strong operational performance we reported in all of our regions," Jeff M. Fettig, chairman/CEO, says in a release. "We are encouraged with the 18% increase in our …

"After declining an estimated 17.1% in the first half of 2009, French media suppliers recaptured some lost ground in the second half to end the year at -11.2%.  Personal expenditures growth accelerated beginning in the latter part of 2009, and Industrial Production has similarly improved in recent periods in France," Magna global director of forecasting Brian Wieser wrote in a new global ad forecast revision. "As these two variables are among the key factors driving advertising globally, we are thus raising our 2010 growth estimate for total advertising revenues to 2.3% from our previously published expectation of …

The Federal Communications Commission has put together a task force to help carry out the agency’s proposals for spectrum, including the plan to use portions of the spectrum for wireless broadband. The task force will be co-chaired by Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering Technology, and Ruth Milkman, chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

ExxonMobil has signed a deal with Gardella Racing for the 2010 season that puts its Mobil 1 motor oil brand into drifting, a form of racing popular among a younger cohort in which drivers attempt to use their wheels to polish the asphalt. The Gardella team races a Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice GXP festooned with Mobil 1 branding that will also appear on uniforms and all Gardella race cars. Mobil 1’s history in motorsports officially began in 1978 with a sponsorship of the Williams Formula One Racing Team.

Dodge is dangling a Challenger R/T car in its new “Challenger Chase To Win� sweeps meant to spotlight the muscle car’s debut in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series. The giveaway version wears a black-and-orange paint scheme that mirrors Penske Racing’s No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge. Entry to the sweeps is at Dodgemotorsports.com and at Dodge’s display areas at several races this year at tracks like Daytona, Talladega, and Kansas Speedway. --Karl Greenberg