Today Marketplace Tech kicks off a new series about sports and technology. We’re calling it “Gaming the System,” and we’ll be talking Olympics, World Cup, and yes, Sunday’s big football game. But first let’s talk about how some people are using numbers and data tracking to try and change a major U.S. sport. Not baseball, but basketball.

Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of Apple’s Macintosh computer. Plus, today’s game of Silicon Tally is set to level expert. And by that we mean that today’s guest, who host Ben Johnson will try and stump with numbers from the week’s tech news, is Kara Swisher, formerly of All Things D, currently co-executive editor with Walt Mossberg of the new tech news and reviews website Re/Code.

Online dating websites use all kinds of technology and calculations to help you find a mate. It could be as simple as giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to a photo, or as complicated as a long list of questions asked, points scored, and intense mathematical algorithms that play digital matchmaker. Mathematician Chris McKinlay was working on his doctorate and his love life at the same time, and found that he was unsatisfied with the calculations made. So he hacked an answer and in the process wrote “Optimal Cupid: Mastering the Hidden Logic of OkCupid.” 

Video streaming company Netflix announces earnings today. The expectations are high among investors. But the company has challenges, like growing the brand abroad. We assess the Netlfix State of the Union. Verizon is buying a live TV and video streaming service a week after a controversial court ruling. And, a look at cloud computing for robots.

We continue our Wall Street technology series with a look at high-frequency trading, where powerful computers can make hundreds of thousands of trades in milliseconds, making big money off tiny stock price differences. And password management company SplashData is out with its annual survey of the most common passwords. For the first time, a new terrible password is on top. The most common password is “123456,” beating out the reigning champion, which is just “password.” Either one is a fine invitation to get hacked.

Target and Nieman Marcus customers are among the tens of millions whose credit cards have been compromised in recent hacks. The news is sparking a lot of questions about American credit card security. That brings us to the next part of our series on Wall Street technology. Today, we’re looking at why American banks and retailers are still using the same old magnetic strip cards, instead of more secure chip and pin cards commonly used abroad.

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for our weekly numbers game, Silicon Tally. This week we play with Marketplace technology reporter Queena Kim. And Facebook is taking a page out of Twitter’s book. Facebook will now offer users a list of trending topics, so they can track what folks are posting about. It’ll roll out to American accounts in the coming weeks, tailored to user interest and location.

A Ford executive recently whipped up controversy when he said the carmaker knows when drivers of its cars break traffic laws. Ford’s CEO later said that Ford doesn’t — and won’t — track cars. He also called for better privacy laws as cars add new location-based technology. And a new study from Georgia Tech looks at how words you use can determine whether your Kickstarter campaign reaches its goal.

One piece of news that maybe won’t blow your mind is that our mobile use around the world is way, way up. In 2013, it grew a 115 percent over the previous year. That’s according to mobile analytics firm Flurry. Why? Well here’s the interesting part: A lot of things drove growth. Music and other media, games, news all played a role. But the big kahuna of mobile usage last year? Messaging. Simply: The new ways in which we communicate.