A famous peace-keeping technology turns 50-years-old today — the so-called “red phone” that connected Moscow and Washington. The phone apparently wasn’t actually red, but it did change the Cold War. And, it’s time again to play our tech news numbers game, Silicon Tally. Today’s contestant is behind some mobile video games you’ve probably seen before: Farmville and Pac-Man for iPhone, the insanely popular Mafia Wars, and more.

The idea of controlling objects, even other humans, with only your brain is a holy grail of tech innovation. And what researchers did at the University of Washington this month sounds pretty amazing. Using non-invasive technology to record and stimulate brain function, a researcher at one end of campus controlled the physical actions of someone at the other end of campus. And, Twitter makes another move at revenue.

Although its smartphone business is hurting, BlackBerry may spin off its popular messaging service. All this comes as the company could be getting ready to put the whole firm up for sale. And Nissan says it will offer self-driving cars by the year 2020. Google is also in that space. But driverless cars raise unusual new legal issues we really haven’t had to think about before.

In two critical minutes, Nasdaq’s technology failed the world. One hundred and twenty seconds are under scrutiny in the investigation to find out what caused Nasdaq’s giant freeze-up on Thursday after computer problems forced the exchange to halt trading for hours. And the Apple vs. Google war extends to virtual personal assistants.

With 7.1 billion people and counting on Earth, there are growing concerns about feeding the population. A recent United Nations report has a creepy, crawly solution — eat more bugs. New technology and design provides a way to efficiently farm bugs and turn them into food. Today, we get a first-hand look, and taste, of some of the new technology and thinking behind insect farming. Plus, a writer on his week-long experiment connecting objects in his home to “the internet of things.”

Today let’s hear from a guy who is looking toward the future of accessibility. Paul Louden is a Google Glass Explorer. The Texan scored an early pair of the wired glasses by telling Google he was on a particular mission: to help people with autism. He himself has autism and he thinks Glass could help with a common challenge for people like him.

All this week we’re looking at how technology is helping people with disabilities approach their lives in new ways. We’ve spoken to academics as well as technology designers and engineers. Today we’re talking with Jennifer Feinberg, the brains behind an app called Wheel New York. If it raises enough cash on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Wheel New York could become like a Yelp for wheelchair access.

All this week we’re looking at accessibility and how technology is helping people with disabilities approach their lives in new ways. Today’s installment starts with an anomaly: a Harvard professor who doesn’t like to read — at least not until recently. Dr. Matt Schneps is an astrophysicist who suffers from dyslexia, and he’s published a study this summer with some surprising findings. It turns out that reading on a computer screen — even a  tiny one — might actually help people like Schneps with speed and focus.

Whether you’re a big company or a small business, online influence and visibility is a big deal. So it’s no surprise that for years, people have sought to buy online buzz. And now there’s a new twist in this game. Cybercriminals are selling Instagram followers with help from an old computer virus. And we continue our weeklong look at technology that helps people with disabilities approach the world in new ways.