We’ve got to give’em credit; we used to think AOL was boring. Now, when we think AOL, we think “crazy news item.” The latest? Says Ars Technica, they want to dig up a back yard in Massachusetts looking for gold and platinum bars. The yard in question belongs Peggy Greenbaum, the mother of infamous spammer (and purported neo-Nazi) Wolfgang Hawke. AOL thinks Hawke, a notorious skinflint, sunk his ill-gotten gains into gold and then sunk the gold into his parents’ yard. Is AOL really that desperate for a secure investment, or, as a Valleywag post got us thinking, is the whole thing a promotional stunt to help push their upcoming online Gold Rush game? It’s gotta be one or the other, right? Ponder the possible link, then ponder these:

Back to school for Barry Diller His company, IAC/InterActiveCorp., has purchased a controlling interest in Collegehumor.com, the ultra-popular dispensary for funny links and ironic T-shirts. Actually, it’s a college site, so he had to talk to their parent, Connected Ventures. Anyway, it’s a 51 percent share in a site that generates a lot of traffic, much of which could be directed at an integrated Ask.com search box (via Threadwatch).

Get a job! At Yahoo! We’ve previously posted an insider’s perspective about the hoops you’ve gotta jump through to land employment at Google. Now Guy Kawasaki’s got an interview with Yahoo! HR honcho Libby Sartain which serves as a handy 13-point guide for getting your foot in the door at Y! Polish your “elevator pitch,” folks, because you’ve got a bit of competition – they get about 50 resumes for each opening.

Google WiFi, comin’ ’round Mountain View Big G’s long-awaited gift to its hometown – a free, citywide WiFi network – has finally been unwrapped. All you need is a Google account, a wireless card, and a computer (or similar contraption) and you should be able to log on within the city limits. Google has a handy FAQ for the uninitiated, and they’re even offering a “community training session” next week. Now for the rest of the country – we know, we know, they’re denying interest in national WiFi. Well, we’ll believe it when we don’t see it.

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