Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Top Of The News - 27 April

1.  Is it Finally Time for Virtual Reality (VR)???

I first came across VR when I read Michael Crichton's "Disclosure" - probably sometime in the 80's. His description of VR was way cool back then and made the technology sound so simple.  Here we are now in 2016 and it would appear VR is finally catching up to Crichton.  You can't read anything about technology these days without seeing something on VR.  Google has Cardboard and Magic Leap.  Facebook has Oculus.  Microsoft has HoloLens.  VR is everywhere, and yet it's nowhere.  I've never had an opportunity to test VR - not even Google Cardboard.  VR kind of reminds me of the 3D craze: the tech nerds love it, but there are still few practical uses for it.

2.  Is TMZ Legit?

TMZ keeps breaking the big entertainment stories.  Its most recent success was Prince's death.  TMZ was also first with the 2009 news of the death of Michael Jackson, broke the story on Mel Gibson's arrest for drunken driving and his subsequent anti-Semitic rant, and posted the infamous video of NFL star Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee in an elevator.  So, you have to ask: are they legit?

This New Yorker article is a great weekend read on TMZ's information gathering methods.

3.  Promposal?!

This is nuts...

American parents are accustomed to being treated like human cash machines during prom season, spending close to $1,000 to guarantee that a high school dance doesn't become an emotional catastrophe. A hundred bucks for tickets, and hundreds more for fancy clothes—even the corsage costs $20. And before any of that begins, your kid wants $300 for a promposal. Wait, a what?

4.  Take a Bite Out of the Apple

Why is this important?  If you own any sort of retirement investment funds or mutual funds, chances are you own some Apple stock.  Apple will rebound, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Apple reported today that its second-quarter revenue fell to $50.6 billion, down 13 percent from the same period last year. That marks Apple’s first year-over-year revenue decline since 2003, after an incredible growth period that started at less than $2 billion in quarterly revenue.

5.  Nuclear Meltdown

"On the night of April 26, 1986, engineers at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in what was then Soviet Ukraine performed a safety test at the plant’s No. 4 reactor. It did not go well."

To contain the mess an aluminum structure is STILL being built.

"The arch, called the New Safe Confinement, is being built — at a cost of at least $1.7 billion — to last 100 years. Inside, the radioactivity levels will be so high that normal maintenance, like painting, will not be possible. So inside and out, the arch is covered in stainless steel, and dehumidified air will be circulated around the structure’s steel trusses to prevent rust."

Check out these haunting images from the aftermath of the meltdown.




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