Nutella Founder Died, The Awesome Spread Came About Due to Chocolate Shortage

Source:  CNN.

Rest in peace, Mr. Ferrero.  Thanks for Nutella.  We eat quite a bit of it.  What is interesting is how it came about.  During World War II, chocolate was rationed due to shortage.  So, he mixed hazelnuts with chocolate to produce more product for his family's pastry shop.  

iCar: Won't Be A Minivan and Might Be A Decade From A Showroom

In reading dozens of articles about certain rumors that either is more and more concrete with each passing hour, there are a couple of takeaways about a potential move into the automotive market by Apple.

First, in hiring a former head of R&D from Mercedes, Apple ain't gonna build a minivan that may or may not be electric only and may or may not be self-driving. Have you see Mercedes' non-sedan vehicles. Ugly! Jony Ives and his team should have soemthing for us that should give Telsa a run for their money. So, no minivan.

Second, how is your awesome HomeKit enabled and Apple streaming video service working out for you on your awesome Apple TV 3 and Apple Home Cinema 4K panel? What, no? Yeah, it's been years in the making and no evidence that Apple has "cracked" televsion as Jobs alluded to in the Walter Issacson Steve Jobs biography.

The Apple TV started off as a hobby and only in the last year when Tim Cook took that label off and, yet, we are still waiting. Having said that, it could be years until we seem a full TV service and hardware from Apple.

And the iCar is just as complicated to develop and there really will not be an opportunity for a beta car or calling an Apple branded car a "hobby". Apple will have to have fully filled out everything before they can hit the carshows with it and start delivering it to the market.

A quick Google search on the average time it takes to develop a car turned up three years. With the new technologies that Apple will be testing, materials, artificial intelligence, robotics, and who knows what new innovations Apple will try to bring to the market, I'm gonna guess Apple will take twice that long. So a ten years window is not out of the real of possibility.

On top of that, 6 to 10 years is a long time and the rest of the auto industry will not be standing still. Tesla will have improved its own profile vehicles and have addressed a bigger part of the market with better and more efficient Model S and X. Even with a minor delay or two, Model 3 will have been out on the market for years. This is also not discounting vast improvements being made by existing electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius, and the Volt. Others will also come out with their own green cars soon.

I bring this up only because Apple will need to address where the market is going to be a decade from now and offer something that can still be disruptiveand game-changing. It is hard to fathom what Apple can bring to the market that will give car owners the same reactions iPhone owners had when they first got their Apple mobile devices and say "wow, I can't believe how I lived without this before".

 

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Lynch Should Retire To Save Health

Source:  MSN.

We all know that American football can be very physical.  I was going to use the word "brutal" but it's not like this was the ancient gladiator games.  Still, concussions from years of physical hits on the fields has taken their tolls on a number of current and retired players.  Not to mention the wear and tear on the other parts of their bodies that professional athletes put them selves through in the name of the competitive sports and the huge salaries they command.

So, word comes just as Superbowl runner-up Seattle Seahawks running back (for those outside the US, he's usually the guy that is tasked to run the ball) Marshawn Lynch is contemplating retirement, I'm all for it.  He's made millions and can probaly make tens of millions more.  His health still seem intact.  Maybe the smart thing is to call it quits and enter a new chapter of his life.

It's likely he has many opportunities that will open up.  Sports commentor.  Businessman.  Or enter the NFL as an advistor and, one day, maybe even head coach. 

More importantly, he would have a chance of a long life without many of the ailments that would come from playing another three to five years in the NFL.

Duet: Macbook Pro And iPad Air, Awesome and Creative Use of the iPad For Increased Productivity

Most worker drones have an one-screen work routine.  One laptop, one screen.  Or phone or tablet.  However, there are many who deal with multiple screens to increase efficiency.  Recently, I've come acrossed an app called Duet for the iPad (iOS App Store) and Mac (Duet Website).  By downloading the app from the app store for the iPad and a version for the Mac, you can turn your iPad into a second screen via the cable that Apple provides with your iPad.

I can rave about the virtues of having a second-screen, but what good is that if I don't provid examples of how having a second screen can increase productivity?  And I reckon it can also work for entertainment as well.

My photo doesn't do justice to Duet but you get the picture, right? More at On Apple.

Mitt Romney Might Have Signaled All Is Lost For A Republican White House, Clinton Return Inevitable

When it comes to political families at the national level in the US, they're pretty much all the same regardless of whether they've got a D or R next to their name.  They'll do what they can to win and continue their legacy.  So, when Mitt Romney bowed out of a third bid to become the next president of the United States, the Republicans should pay attention.

If anything, Romney is a very calculating individual who knows risks and he's very good at it.  I'll get more into this later if warranted but despite President Obama and the Democratic Party getting badly bruised in the 2014 midterms, they are poised for a comeback in 2016 with a rejuvenated Hillary Clinton, improving economy, and continued low polling numbers for Congress.

All these factors with carefully tested populist messages the White House used in 2012 and is testing could be issues once again in 2016.  Furthermore, the idea of the first female president of the United States coming so quickly on the heel of the first black President of the United States could be enough to galvanized the Obama base and nostalgic notions of the later years of Bill Clinton's presidency.

And if Mitt could not beat a weakened Obama in 2012, he decided he could not beat a stronger Clinton campaign.

It'll take another political dynasty to challenge Clinton.  The question should move into whether Jeb Bush has what it takes to give the Bush dynasty a third president or not.

2016 Could Be Clinton's (To Win or Lose)

According to early public opinions polled by the Washington Post, former First Lady, former NY senator, and former secretary of state, Hilliary Clinton, should have more than a decent chance at winning the presidential election in 2016 to become the first female president of the United States.

Of course, we all kinda thought that back in 2008, right before an relatively unknown junior senator threw a wrench in that and got himself elected president.  However, it's unlike the Clinton team will allow anything like that to happen a second time. 

Furthermore, her numbers against potential GOP candidates are quite decent and should pit her well against candidates from other political dynasties. 

While the post remained focused on the numbers, we are still months away from any official announcements by any candidates, including Clinton, and much political, economic, and international events or dramas can cause a shift in the climate around Washington. 

But if things goes smoothly with the economy continuing to pick up and Russia and ISIS continue to be put in check or resolutions come to fruition, it'll definitely put the pressure on her opponents more than Clinton. 

Security: Looks Like the US Government Knew What It Was Talking About In Blaming North Korea For the Sony Hack

Source:  Mashable.

It looks like the US government knew exactly who hacked Sony when it placed the blame squarely on North Korea.  Apparently, the NSA and, perhaps the South Korean intelligence apparatus, had already hacked North Korea's network and had been tracking Sony hackers.

At least, this is what we are being lead to believe.

As a layman, I have a few questions as I am sure you do regarding this matter that are not specific to the Sony hack.  For instance, how did the NSA managed to insert its codes into the hacking tools used by the North Koreans?  And does this speak to the skill levels between those hackers and the NSA?

And lastly, what other tools are available to Western governments to continue to track and hack unfriendly governments?  It's like the North Korea is doing its best to look for and scrub out programs and codes, those that had been used by the NSA as as well ones that have been detected.

The dilemma for me here about these types of news reports is that while it is important that the public be informed, to a certain degree, it could also undermine future intelligence operations as well.