Comparing Apple to Enron? Surely you’re joking
Andy Fastow may not be a household name, but as the former CFO of Enron, he was an integral part of the company’s vast illegal activities and a key figure behind the company’s deceptive and overtly fraudulent accounting practices. As a result of his deep involvement in the Enron scandal, Fastow would serve six years in prison.
These days, Fastow is a free man who, believe it or not, actually gets paid for speaking appearances. And during one of Fastow’s more recent talks, the disgraced CFO spent some time comparing Enron to Apple. The unifying thread between the two companies, according to Fastow, turns on Apple’s tax schemes abroad.
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The answer to the biggest mystery in ‘The Force Awakens’ might be a major letdown
One of the burning questions Star Wars: The Force Awakens left us with was the identity of Rey’s parents. Who are they and why did they abandon her when she was very young? A variety of theories have attempted to explain who Rey’s mom and/or dad are, with Leia and Han, or Luke being among the candidates. However, Disney remained quiet about this particular mystery, which is likely going to be unraveled in the upcoming Episode VIII.
However, while Star Wars fans desperately want to know details about Rey’s family, Daisy Ridley suggested at the MTV Movie Awards that the detail might not be important.
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How can you pass up a 48-inch Samsung 4K Ultra HD Smart TV for $500?
We covered this one earlier in today’s roundup of the best daily deals Amazon has to offer, but we just had to break it out into its own post because it really deserves your attention. For a limited time, Amazon is selling the Samsung UN48JU6400 48-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2015 Model) for just $499.99 with free Prime shipping. That’s nearly $300 off the TV’s regular price and it’s an insane bargain for a 4.3-star rated 4K TV with smart features and one of Samsung’s high-quality displays.
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The 3 biggest announcements from Facebook’s F8 conference
On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg and several other Facebook executives took the stage to speak to a group of developers gathered in San Francisco for its annual F8 event.
Although rarely as exciting as an Apple keynote or even Microsoft’s Build Developer Conference (on a good year), Facebook’s F8 event is when users of the most popular social network on the planet have a chance to see what features and updates the company plans to bring to the platform in the coming months.
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The MacBook Air might be dying, but that’s a good thing
A new report suggests that Apple plans to kill off the MacBook Air line this year, and focus instead on the 12-inch Retina MacBook and slimmer-than-ever MacBook Pro models. The company is yet to announce its 2016 MacBook lineup soon, but this new report is in line with what a previous rumor claimed – that Apple will launch 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks with designs inspired by the 12-inch MacBook released last year.
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MRI shows exactly what happens to your brain when you take LSD
Many people who have tried lysergic acid diethylamide — better known as LSD — have reported a sensation called “ego death” in which they no longer feel like an individual but part of a greater fabric. It turns out, there’s a scientific explanation for why this happens.
Reuters directs our attention to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal that describes what happened when scientists at Imperial College London scanned the brains of people who had just taken LSD. In short, it looks like LSD breaks down your brain’s ability to compartmentalize and brings you to a state of mind that’s similar to being a baby.
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Google’s failed Nest buy underscores wisdom behind Apple’s acquisition strategy
When Google acquired Nest for $3.2 billion back in January of 2014, many tech observers lamented that Apple didn’t swoop in and acquire the company first. Indeed, many were quick to exclaim that Apple was missing out on a tremendous opportunity. And at first blush, such arguments were persuasive.
At the time, there was still an air of novelty surrounding Nest. In a relatively short period of time, Nest managed to revitalize, if not kickstart, the notion of a connected home. More than that, the company’s Nest Thermostat was seemingly something that could have come out of Apple’s own design lab. Not only was the product sleek and easy on the eyes, it impressively managed to simplify something as boring and cumbersome as home temperature automation.
The parallels to Apple were clear.
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Oculus Rift launch turns disastrous as preorders are delayed for months
The virtual reality future is off to a rocky start.
Shortly after the Rift launched late last month, Oculus had to inform many of its customers that their Rift orders would be delayed due to an “unexpected component shortage.” Although the shipping cost for any delayed orders was waived, it appears that this was just the first in a string of issues.
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Cute little wireless home security camera streams to your phone and has free cloud storage
“Cuteness” probably isn’t a characteristic that’s at the top of your list when you’re shopping for a wireless home security camera. But think about it… do you really want a big ugly camera sitting out in various rooms in your house? Of course not, and the good news is that you can get a camera that looks great and works even better — and you can even save some money in the process.
From now through the end of the day on Saturday, April 16, the Logitech Circle Wireless HD Video Security Camera with 2-way talk is just $169.99 with free express shipping on Amazon.
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How to save your files from scary new ransomware without paying the ransom
A new type of PC ransomware hit users a couple of weeks ago and it’s some of the most dangerous malware of its kind. While previous ransomware apps would encrypt just specific personal data on a computer, Petya can encrypt a victim’s entire startup drive. That means you would not even be able to boot up your computer without the encryption password and in order to obtain it, you would have to pay the ransom.
However, it looks like there’s a critical error in Petya that lets anyone decrypt his or her hard drive for free, thanks to the work of a person who found the security hole in this malware tool – this goes to show that even hackers who create malware apps aren’t always able to ensure their security.
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