As you’ve probably heard, Yahoo has announced plans to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. And currently, a petition on ipetitions.com to thwart the deal has garnered over 168,000 signatures.

Of course, there are a multitude of gripes that Tumblr users have with the Yahoo purchase. Maybe they think Yahoo is too uncool, and will ruin the awesome Tumblr experience. Maybe they look at Flickr, and foresee Yahoo running Tumblr into the ground. Maybe they’re worried that Yahoo is going to rid Tumblr of all of its porn in an attempt to make it more family friendly. Maybe they’re pissed about the new ads, which are most definitely on their way to Tumblr.

Whatever the reason, plenty of Tumblr users are pissed. Just take a look at the posts on Tumblr with a #yahoo tag. Tumblr users are gif-ing their anger.

“Stop Yahoo! from buying Tumblr!! If this happens, the entire interface will be changed, and millions of users will delete their accounts – me being one of them. Please, please, please sign this to stop this!!” says the petition creator.

Only time will tell if Yahoo does indeed make Tumblr “better, and faster,” as they say they will. Both Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Tumblr CEO David Karp say that Yahoo is going to take a hands-off approach with Tumblr. It’s going to run independently with Karp retained as CEO. Mayer says that Yahoo promises “not to screw it up.”

And about the porn thing? Mayer’s not coming for it, don’t worry.

This petiition isn’t the only sign that many Tumblr users are thinking of abandoning ship. WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg reported a spike in Tumblr defections to his blogging service – 72,000 in the short time following the announcement.

If you are unfamiliar with Tumblr, know this: there is a lot of porn on Tumblr – artsy nude content, straight up porn, pretty much all colors of the NSFW rainbow. It makes up a significant part of the Tumblr landscape, and without it, Tumblr wouldn’t really be Tumblr. Some Tumblr users are concerned that Yahoo will waltz in and attempt to change all of that. Before the acquisition went official, some analysts worried that Tumblr’s NSFW underbelly would be an issue for the folks at Yahoo who were considering the deal.

But it wasn’t. Now that the acquisition is official, it’s looking like Yahoo is committed to keeping Tumblr running as is, and that the porn problem, well, isn’t really a problem. During her conference call to discuss the deal, Mayer had this to say when asked about all of the “not-brand-safe” content out there on Tumblr.

“The width and breadth of content on Tumblr is what’s exciting and has allowed it to reach more users.”

And when it comes to possible concerns from advertisers? Well, Mayer noted that Yahoo will just have to have good targeting. Mayer said that Yahoo is going to put more ads inside the Tumblr feed, so we know it’s coming. But Yahoo can pick and choose where they throw those ads, and can steer clear of any content that may concern potential clients.

“We promise not to screw it up. Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going. We will operate Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain CEO. The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve. Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster,” said Mayer in her announcement.

And in his, Tumblr CEO David Karp said that “before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing.”

That sounds like Yahoo is going to adopt a fairly hands-off approach to the Tumblr, and that’s good news for Tumblr users. Sure, people lie and things change, but as of right now it appears that Yahoo isn’t that concerned about all of those naughty parts on Tumblr. Carry on.

“We promise not to screw it up. Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going. We will operate Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain CEO,” says Mayer.

So, how does Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp feel about the buy? “Fuck yeah,” he writes in a blog post.

He also assures Tumblr users that the company is “not turning purple,” and that their mission and roadmap are not changing.

Check out Karp’s full blog post:

Everyone, I’m elated to tell you that Tumblr will be joining Yahoo.

Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing.

So what’s new? Simply, Tumblr gets better faster. The work ahead of us remains the same – and we still have a long way to go! – but with more resources to draw from.

Yahoo is the original Internet company, and Marissa and her team share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. I couldn’t be more excited to have her help. We also share a vision for Tumblr’s business that doesn’t compromise the community and product we love. Plus both our logos end with punctuation!

As always, everything that Tumblr is, we owe to this unbelievable community. We won’t let you down.

Fuck yeah,
David

In a blog post, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promises that Yahoo “won’t screw it up.” Yahoo plans to run Tumblr independently, and Tumblr founder David Karp will reamin in his role as CEO. Mayer says that Yahoo will be helping Tumblr to “get even better, faster.”

Karp is even more adamant that Tumblr will stay the same:

“Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing.” he says.

As for why? Here’s what Mayer had to say about how the two companies will work together:

“In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience.”

She goes on:

“Both Tumblr and Yahoo! share a vision to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas by focusing on users, design – and building experiences that delight and inspire the world every day.”

Here’s how Mayer made the announcement (with a gif!):

“As always, everything that Tumblr is, we owe to this unbelievable community. We won’t let you down. F*ck yeah,” says Karp.

Quoting “sources close to the situation,” Yahoo may be looking to invest in, partner with, or even outright buy Tumblr. According to sources, talks have been “serious,” but as you know serious talks does not a deal make. Mayer, who has been watching Tumblr since her days at Google, reportedly started up talks with Tumblr execs, including CEO David Karp, soon after taking the CEO job at Yahoo.

One thing is for certain about a Tumblr acquisition – it wouldn’t be cheap. As Tumblr continues to grow (they just hit 100 million blogs a little over a month ago), the platform will only attract more attention. Estimates value Tumblr at $800 million at least, with some suggesting that it could be a $1 billion company.

On the surface, it’s clear to see how a Yahoo and Tumblr deal could benefit both parties. Since Mayer took over Yahoo, the company has been going through a shift – mainly in an attempt to regain some relevance that it has lost over the past few years. Tumblr is one of the hottest things on the internet, so that can’t hurt. Plus, Tumblr would benefit from even more exposure. If there’s one thing that Yahoo does have a ton of clout left in it’s the Yahoo homepage. Yesterday, Mayer announced a partnership with Twitter to bring real-time tweets to the Yahoo newsfeed. Tumblr could benefit from this sort of increased promotion.

Since Mayer became CEO, Yahoo has been busy making small acquisitions – Summly, Astrid, Milewise and GoPollGo. But a Tumblr buy would be a huge deal. We’ll be anxious to see how this one develops.

UPDATE: According to GigaOm, Facebook may be circling, looking to snatch Tumblr out of Yahoo’s hands.

Lucky sort is a two-year-old data analytics service that “makes huge document sets easier to analyze, summarize and visualize.” According to a post on their website, Lucky Sort says that several team members will be moving to San Francisco to join Twitter’s revenue engineering department. It appears that Lucky Sort will be shutting down.

“We’ll be helping current customers transition off our system in the coming months such that we can focus fully on our future at Twitter,” says Lucky Sort CEO Noah Pepper

Welcome aboard, @luckysort! luckysort.com

— Twitter (@twitter) May 13, 2013

“Two years ago I started Lucky Sort with several friends. Our goal was to make huge document sets easier to analyze, summarize and visualize by building elegant and user friendly tools for text analysis…in building Lucky Sort we had an enormous amount of support from friends, employees, advisors and investors. It has been uplifting to have so many people help us and it highlighted just how much business is a social endeavour,” says Pepper.

The news appears to have been broken by TechCrunch, and Ubalo has posted the following message on its homepage:

We’ve got some exciting news: The Ubalo team is joining Twitter. In early 2011, we started Ubalo to make large-scale computing easier and more accessible to a technical audience, and we’ve had a great time working with our partners and customers on a number of interesting products. When we met the infrastructure folks at Twitter, we realized that it’s a company with brilliant people, strong momentum, exciting challenges and a promising future. We quickly became enthusiastic about the possibility of collaborating with them and the impact we could have there.

Thanks for your support and interest in Ubalo!

TechCrunch says Twitter declined to “officially” comment on the deal.

In an email, a spokesperson said, “Today Milewise and GoPollGo joined the Yahoo! mobile team. GoPollGo created a cool social polling app. The team has joined our mobile org in Sunnyvale. Milewise created a great app to make travel planning easier and personalized. They have joined our New York mobile team.”

Milewise will be shutting down its own service as it focuses on Yahoo’s mobile efforts. The company posted this message to its homepage:

MileWise began almost four years ago with the goal of creating a simple, powerful product to help people and providers get the most value out of their rewards.

Along the way, we’ve been lucky to connect with an incredible community of fellow travelers, without whom we wouldn’t have made it this far. To everyone who took MileWise for a spin: THANK YOU! You shared our vision of what MileWise could become, and generously donated your time and passion towards making it a reality.

As part of the transition, the MileWise service will be shutting down. It’s tough to say goodbye to something we’ve dedicated so much to. But, we’ve tried to make it easy to take your data with you. We’ll be sending everyone an email with instructions on exporting your data, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to email us.

The MileWise team will be joining Yahoo! in NYC’s Bryant Park office. We’re thrilled to be joining such a talented group of inventors, and can’t wait to get working on the next big thing coming out of Yahoo.

Again, we’d like to thank everyone who supported us along the way: our investors, our employees, our partners, and most importantly, our fellow travelers.

Likewise, GoPollGo is shutting down support for its own properties, and will focus on Yahoo. The company shared this message on its site:

We are excited to share some big news: We’re joining Yahoo! For two years, we’ve worked incredibly hard to make it as easy as possible to get feedback from friends and followers. It has been so rewarding to build a product that scaled up to millions of people and supported large media properties and diverse brands — all while staying true to promise to deliver fun, engaging, real-time experiences.

We’re so excited to bring the knowledge and experience we’ve gained at GoPollGo to Yahoo!. We share an enthusiasm for building delightful user experiences, and we couldn’t be happier to join forces.

Huge thanks to all our users, partners and customers who helped us realize our vision. As of today, we’ll no longer be supporting GoPollGo’s properties on the site, embeddable widgets or mobile app. If you have any questions or want to get in touch, shoot us an email to hi@gopollgo.com.

Yahoo wasn’t joking when it was talking about its focus on mobile. We’ll see how long it takes for these acquisitions to surface in Yahoo properties. It didn’t take Summly very long.

Last week, Yahoo announced the acquisition of Astrid, another mobile app.

TechCrunch points to reports in the Israeli press from Calcalist, Ynet and The Marker (all in Hebrew) indicating that Facebook is in “advanced due dilligence on a deal,” and that negotiations have been going on for six months.

TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden reports: “We have been digging too and have picked up confirmation from a source that both sides have privately confirmed that the deal is happening, and that the pricing reported first by the Calcalist [between $800 million and $1 billion] is accurate.”

The deal would apparently be a move for Facebook to capture more mobile users, not unlike its famous Instagram deal.

Reports of Facebook’s interest in Waze are nothing new. There was talk that the two companies were in discussions at least as far back as August, when Globes reported, “The purpose of the talks is not known, but the two companies are reportedly headed for collaboration, possibly involving the use of Waze’s application via Facebook. Alternatively, Facebook may acquire Waze.”

Waze is an Israeli startup, but its main office is in Palo Alto.

Stonewall, if you’re unfamiliar, creates firewall products.

The deal is worth $389 million.

McAfee President Michael DeCesare said, “With the pending addition of Stonesoft’s products and services, McAfee is making a significant investment in next-generation firewall technology. These solutions anticipate emerging customer needs in a continually evolving threat landscape. Stonesoft is a leading innovator in this important market segment. We plan to integrate Stonesoft’s offerings with other McAfee products to realize the power of McAfee’s Security Connected strategy. Stonesoft products will benefit from the collective expertise of more than 7,200 McAfee employees. Leveraging McAfee’s cloud-based Global Threat Intelligence service will provide our combined customers with unparalleled security.”

Stonesoft CEO Ilkka Hiidenheimo added, “The combination of the two companies allows Stonesoft to benefit from McAfee’s global presence and sales organization of over 2,200 employees, best-in-class threat research and technology synergies. Combined, we believe we can offer our customers a world-class product portfolio with world-class support – all backed by Intel.”

The rationale for the acquisition, McAfee says, is based on network security being a vital component of a comprehensive security solution, and next-generation firewalls are one of the fastest growing segments of this. Stonesoft is considered a leader in the space, and McAfee expects to grow its network security business with a more complete offering.