Someone asked Google Answers for "as much information as possible about the personal and professional life of Paul Krugman, the Princeton economics professor who writes a column for the New York Times," and posted a ransom of $100 plus a generous tip for a quality answer. A variety of details, ranging from the professional to the suspiciously personal, were requested, enough to inspire a little back and forth between potential researchers and the asker on how personal a satisfactory answer needs to be. In addition to the customarily thorough answer from a Google researcher, Paul Krugman found out about the question, answered it himself, and requested the $100. It's difficult to tell what the asker intends to do with the information, though a $100 ransom plus $25 tip implies the asker intends to use the information for, well, something. All in all, very amusing, regardless of the original intent.