Yahoo likes these hackers
Jesse Zbikowski wore a yellow tie, purple-tinted glasses, and one
red and one blue shoe as he hacked Yahoo's Web sites one evening in
late September - at the company's request.
Yahoo Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., invited Zbikowski, 29, a
self-employed computer programmer living in San Francisco, and 500
other software hobbyists to an event it called Hack Day. The goal: get
smart programmers to combine Yahoo's existing Web services with their
own coding skills to create new products.
The 24-hour coding fest, fueled by pizza, beer, and a performance by
the musician Beck, is one example of how companies such as Yahoo,
Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are tapping new talent. Computer-savvy
people in their 20s and 30s are helping create ways for consumers to
use the companies' most popular applications, including mapping,
photo-sharing and instant-messaging services.
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