Amazon reverses itself on Fire encryption

SAN FRANCISCO — Just a day after it became public that Amazon had quietly removed the option of encrypting its Fire tablets, the company reversed itself.
“We will return the option for full disk encryption with a Fire OS update coming this spring,” the Seattle company said in a statement emailed to reporters Friday night.
Amazon dropped encryption from Fire devices with the launch of its latest operating system, Fire OS 5, last fall. The company said few users were taking advantage of the encryption.

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Iran fires missiles marked with ‘Israel must be wiped out’

Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” written on them Wednesday, according to media reports.
The country’s semiofficial Fars news agency said the missiles were fired at a target 870 miles away.
It came the day after Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it test-fired several ballistic missiles as part of a military exercise.
The official IRNA news agency said the aim was to show the Islamic Republic’s “deterrent power” and “all-out readiness to counter any threat.”
The U.S implemented sanctions against 11 people and companies involved in Iran's ballistic missile program on Jan. 17.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Tuesday said that Washington would review the reported tests and raise them in the U.N. Security Council to seek an "appropriate response" if they are confirmed, Reuters reported.

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American pizza and espresso want to invade Italy

ROME — Italy has long resisted the temptations of U.S. food chains inspired by this country’s storied culinary traditions. Yet, that has begun to change with American pizza and coffee companies aiming to set up shop here.
Domino’s has two stores in Milan. Starbucks recently announced it would open a single location, also in Milan, some time next year.  And, according to Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, Pizza Hut is trying to figure out where to find a toehold.  Pizza Hut didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.
For a country known for pizza, espresso and cappuccino — all inexpensive and easy to find — why do these companies think they can succeed with the American version of products every Italian grew up with and have high standards for?
“The answer is simple," said Massimiliano Rossi, a Rome-based commentator and marketing consultant. “These companies are not selling pizza. They are not selling coffee. They are selling an image. They are selling the idea of America.”

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First ransomware for Macs surfaces and is killed off

SAN FRANCISCO - The first ransomware for Apple computers surfaced on Friday and was downloaded by about 6,500 people before it was quickly shut down by Apple.
Ransomware is malicious software that infects a computer and can then be used to encrypt everything on it until the owner pays a ransom to the hackers who launched the code.

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Warriors continue to make history, set home win streak record

OAKLAND – Considering the Golden State Warriors play in a building known as Oracle Arena, you’d think someone might have seen this coming.
But rest assured, no one – not even the great Apollo or the modern-day version, the great Nate Silver – had a crystal ball that predicted anything like this.
The once-futile Warriors, who just four years ago missed the playoffs for the 17th time in a stretch of 18 seasons, set the NBA record for consecutive home regular season wins on Monday by way of a 119-113 decision over the Orlando Magic. It was their 45th consecutive regular season victory on their home floor, surpassing the previous mark of 44 set by the very same 1995-96 Chicago Bulls who hold the holy grail of regular season records (72-10) that the Warriors continue to chase.

The latest Warriors home win was like most of those that came before, with reigning MVP Stephen Curry dominating (41 points on 14 of 24 shooting overall, seven of 13 from three-point range) and the game one-sided for much of the night. The Magic made the locals nervous late, cutting the lead to two with 1:13 remaining before Klay Thompson buried a frantic three-pointer from the right corner to help Golden State pull away. It improved the Warriors to 56-6 overall, meaning they’re still on pace to catch those Bulls for the overall mark (they were 55-7 at this point back then).
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Kelly Clarkson on Dr. Luke: 'He will just lie to people'

"I think her fans are wanting a lot of artists that have worked with him before that don’t work with him anymore [to talk about him] for pretty good solid reasons. He’s not a good person to me. We’ve clashed."

Though she's been careful not to comment on the particulars, fans have been looking for insight from Clarkson regarding Dr. Luke's character and treatment of other artists.

"But I can remark on his character and unfortunately when you have that poor of character, like so many artists don’t like you, don’t like working with you, that’s not normal. Most of us—I get along with everybody I work with, I love everyone I work with, and he’s just not a good guy for me, to me."

She went on to cautiously explain some of the difficulties she experienced when working with him, mentioning that he was difficult and kind of demeaning and lied frequently, before saying she was essentially blackmailed by her label into working with him.

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