Vending machine manufacturer Crane Merchandising Systems is working on its own monitoring hardware, as is Mars Electronics, maker of dollar-bill changers.

FORBES: Cantaloupe System brings order to vending's chaos.

Allen has been selling off shares of the software maker he started with Bill Gates and investing in a more diversified basket of media, energy and tech stocks.

FORBES: Paul Allen

The story of how Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman developed a running shoe sole from a waffle maker has become a minor legend.

FORBES: Magazine Article

His off-course appetite for helicopters, deep-sea fishing and scuba and skydiving fortified the legend-allowing him to hobnob with the likes of the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, Jack Welch and Bill Clinton and win lucrative endorsements from Chevrolet and Titleist, the golf-equipment maker.

FORBES: Norman's conquest