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In the past few days, Apple spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying two startups – Topsy, a Twitter search engine, and PrimeSense, which the makes motion-sensing tech behind gadgets like Microsoft Kinect.

On the most recent episode of Marco Arment's Accidental Tech Podcast, close Apple watchers Casey Liss, and John Siracusa tried to figure out why Apple bought those startups.

The best reason they came up with is a pretty damning, troublesome one for Apple.

Liss and Siracusa suppose that Apple bought both because it's having a hard time hiring and retaining talented people.

At one point during the show, Liss goes off on a long riff about how "Apple has a real problem" with talent.

(At least, I think it's Liss. The ATP hosts/guests don't do a very good job of identifying themselves at the beginning of, or throughout, each episode.)

Here's what Liss said next, (lightly edited for brevity and grammar):

Their hardware is better than it's ever been right now.

But there services have never been great, and even their software is really starting to go into disrepair.

The OS level stuff is rock solid. Whomever they have working on OS stuff, they have great people and enough of them.

But the applications teams are really strained. That's why you have all these years of iWork '09, and then this new release of iWork that's really obviously unfinished. Clearly Apple needs more people. They need more engineers.

From what I understand they lose a lot of people because there's this whole world of apps and startups around the ecosystem they've created and their own employees can't participate in that while they work for Apple.

So it's very tempting for their employees to say, I've been supporting UIkit or apps, for all these years, maybe I want to go make my app. Apple has a good policy where if you want to leave and come back in a certain amount of time you can retain all your seniority. They have a problem getting people and retaining people.

Liss, Siracusa and Arment are pretty plugged into the Apple scene.

They don't seem to have senior sources at Apple, but they do go to the company's major conferences and meet a lot of mid-level Apple engineers.

If those people are telling them that Apple can't hang on to good people anymore, than the company will eventually start producing flop products.

When that happens, this year's shareholder worries about slowing iPhone and iPad growth will seem quaint.

The idea of Apple not being able to hang onto good people is not new. Another Apple blogger, John Gruber, started publicly worrying about it in March.

Join the conversation about this story »

(via The Clearly Dope)

The emperors of Rome could be wise, just and kind. They could also be vindictive, cruel and insane. And most of all, they could be the worst perverts the world has ever seen — at least according to ancient historians like Suetonius, Pliny, and Cassius Dio. Here are nearly a dozen of the most immortal, disgusting behaviors the rulers of the ancient world indulged in... supposedly. Chances are most of these were rumors made up by political enemies or gossiping plebs. But hey, just because they may not be true doesn't mean they're aren't still entertainingly perverse.

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From Sweets

[Photos of prepackaged Ron Burgundy-labeled pints: Ben & Jerry's; All others: Todd Brock]

Leave it to Ron Burgundy to play hard to get.

Sweets Czarina Carrie emailed me on October 22, asking if I had any interest in trying the new limited-batch flavor from Ben & Jerry's. Duh. There was no way I'd say no to that. But then I found out what the flavor was: butterscotch ice cream with butterscotch swirls. AND it's an officially-branded tie-in with Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (opening in theaters on December 18) . While I tried to be cool and professional as I accepted Carrie's offer (I even waited an hour to make it look like I was mulling it over), what I was actually thinking about Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch was:

I want to be on you.

Okay, I swear that will be the last movie quote here. 'Cos while it would be easy to just play along with the obvious theme, I wouldn't be able to do it better than Ferrell himself has been in promoting this flick—everywhere from Dodge commercials to actual TV newscasts. And the truth is, this ice cream deserves better than an easy-punch-line schtick.

As you might be able to deduce from this photo, getting my hands on a pint of Scotchy Scotch Scotch was no small feat. I spent a full month after Carrie's invite scouring the shelves of every grocery store, drugstore, and convenience store I could find, all to no avail.

I even fired up the Flavor Locator on Ben & Jerry's website. Anchorman 2 was shot here in my city of Atlanta, but that was apparently the last we've seen of Ron Burgundy for a while; a Circle K in Columbus, Georgia is the closest place his ice cream has been spotted. That's a two-hour drive... and felt like a bit of a long shot.

Nashville, Tennessee is four hours away, but there's a high-traffic Ben & Jerry's scoop shop right on Vanderbilt University's campus, just a few miles off the interstate. And my wife just happened to be driving right through town. So I sent her with a cooler and a mission.

The brick-and-mortar's freezer was out of Scotchy Scotch Scotch in the branded pints, but an anonymous friendly scooper—my nominee for Employee Of The Month—was kind enough to hand-pack two containers—a full hour before the store even opened for the day. (Stupid time difference. I thought I had it all planned so perfectly.)

Back at home, it was obvious that B&J's had taken this new concoction seriously. The rich egg nog-colored ice cream was liberally striped with deep golden-orange streaks. The butterscotch flavor was unmistakable: strong yet smooth, and instantly triggering the need for another spoonful. Or seven.

Some of those butterscotch swirls proved to be enormous—huge globs of sweetness with little crunchy bits hidden inside. I realize that some people don't like butterscotch. Those people are flawed to their core and should not be trusted. And they certainly have no business coming anywhere near this ice cream. It is butterscotch overload, and I mean that in the very best way possible.

Movie tie-in products are always iffy. I used to work closely with movie companies, promoting their new titles when they came to town, and I can assure you that the more tie-in products for a flick, the better the branded swag, the more elaborate the PR leading up to opening night... the worse the movie. The Dodge commercials and the relentless media blitz that Ferrell's been on lately had me mildly concerned that Anchorman 2 would suck. This ice cream is killer—and therefore has me seriously worried that I'm right.

But even if the movie is a flop, I have one reserve pint of Scotchy Scotch Scotch to come home to; to enjoy out of a crystal goblet as I lounge by the fire in an inappropriately short man-kimono and my rich Corinthian leather easy chair as I groom my glorious mustache and pretend to read impressive hardbound books that feature very large words in very small type. You stay classy, Serious Sweeters.

About the Author: Todd Brock lives the glamorous life of a stay-at-home freelance writer in the suburbs of Atlanta. Besides being paid to eat cheeseburgers for AHT, pizzas for Slice, and desserts for Sweets, he's written and produced over 1,000 hours of television and penned Building Chicken Coops for Dummies. When he grows up, he wants to be either the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys or the drummer for The Gaslight Anthem. Or both.

By day, mild-mannered Wiley leads a seemingly normal life…

But whenever Wiley’s ultrasonic ears sense injustice and danger…

He transforms into his crime-fighting alter ego, Breadman!

See more Wiley at Critter Camp! Thanks, Beth R.!

Jenji Kohan, of Weeds and Orange is the new Black fame, has her next project lined up — and we're really, really excited about it. The Hollywood Reporter just broke the news that Kohan's next project is a Salem Witch Trial period piece for HBO. It's like all our favorite things in one sentence.

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Today, my crazy ex-girlfriend legally changed her last name to mine. I'm getting married in a week. FML

Californians encouraged to get the Christmas gift that gives all year long: Obamacare. If you can’t afford Obamacare as a gift, we suggest as an alternative give a big jar of Vaseline. They’ll need it.