Новости за 30.12.2015

The former #1 golfer in the world lives lavishly.

Produced by Emmanuel Ocbazghi. Original reporting by Tony Manfred.

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Screenshot via Faraday Future

Faraday Future is a transportation startup that's about to get real.

At the Consumer Electronics Show early next year in Las Vegas, it's planning to pull the cover off a concept car.

The company, which is also going to build a factory in Las Vegas, has been releasing tease-y little videos that hint at what it might be up to.

It could be a high-performance carbon-fiber supercar that runs on wind. It could be a car-sharing service. It could be a self-driving podmobile. Читать дальше...

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

AT&T is putting the final nail in the coffin for its two-year wireless contracts. Starting January 8, you'll only be able to buy a phone by paying for its full cost up front or with monthly installments through an AT&T Next plan.

The news was first reported by Engadget on Wednesday and confirmed to Tech Insider by AT&T.

"With $0 down for well-qualified customers, the ability to upgrade early and down payment options available with even lower monthly installments... Читать дальше...

Disney/Lucasfilm

Proceed with caution! There are some TFA spoilers ahead!

The most horrific weapon used in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is the "Starkiller Base," a massive laser used to blow five planets in the Hosnian System — including Hosnian Prime, home to the New Republic's capital — to bits. But how the deadly weapon works was barely explained at all in the film. 

Finn (John Boyega) briefly explains that the weapon was supposed to drain the energy from stars and then store the energy in the planet's core... Читать дальше...

The "corpse flower" at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden near Adelaide, Australia, bloomed this week. It's the first time the flower has bloomed in the 10 years that the garden has owned it.

 These days, Carolyn Everson runs global marketing for Facebook. Long ago, she tried to get MTV to buy the company. Now she's part of an empire that includes Instagram, WhatApp, and Oculus Rift.

What's happening with Kesha is one of the saddest stories in pop music.

Price was not a concern, apparently, for Xbox One fans this holiday.

The console's $150 "Elite" gamepad was sold out everywhere and remains as such:

Amazon / GameStop

Unfortunately, if you're looking to get your hands on one sooner than later, it looks like you're out of luck. 

This is what a Microsoft representative told Tech Insider Wednesday morning (we've bolded the most important part):

While the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller is sold out in many retailers around the world... Читать дальше...

Lucasfilm

Warning: There are some spoilers ahead!

After seeing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," I compiled together a bunch of big questions left unanswered by the film.

For some reason, I didn't include one of the simplest questions on my list: How did Kylo Ren end up with his dear old granddad Darth Vader's helmet?

Lucasfilm

It's a good question. Like Anakin/Luke's lightsaber, Vader's helmet conveniently pops up decades later in "The Force Awakens."

It... Читать дальше...

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Kathleen Elkins/Business Insider

Like most things in life, you learn through trial and error — through failing, making adjustments, and then failing again, until you find something that works.

My first full year working in the real world was littered with blunders — but with blunders come valuable lessons. And with valuable lessons come a wiser approach to your life, career, and finances.

After a year of trial and error, here are six of the most effective changes I made when... Читать дальше...

Indian Wells Golf Resort Facebook

This post originally appeared on Golf Vacation Insider.

As great as spring, summer and fall are, winter is in some respects our favorite of the four seasons.

The reason: it gives us a perfect excuse to explore amazing golf destinations like these.

Check out five of the greatest winter golf vacations below.

Indian Wells Golf Resort, California

Enjoy Unlimited Golf at Indian Wells Golf Resort

Indian Wells (Palm Desert)... Читать дальше...

Eric Thayer/Reuters

A decade before being charged with sexual assault, Bill Cosby gave a speech that appeared to blame black people for getting shot by police and for their high incarceration rates.

The so-called pound cake speech, delivered to the NAACP in 2004, may, in fact, have helped lead to his downfall.

In the lengthy and meandering speech, Cosby railed against black women for supposedly "having children by five, six different men" and bemoaned the existence of black... Читать дальше...

In this video interview, filmed at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos this year, Alibaba founder Jack Ma describes the failures and triumphs that got him where he is today, blazing a trail through the global e-commerce industry.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Ask any accomplished person the key to their success and they'll likely tell you about the importance of hard work, perseverance, and maybe even passion.

What they probably won't tell you about? Their lucky underwear.

Superstitions get a bad rap — they seem silly, childlike — and it's rare to hear someone publicly credit a personal ritual for helping them succeed.

And yet research suggests that most people do believe in some kind of superstition. Читать дальше...

Kevin Winter/Getty

Though filmmaker Michael Moore has made numerous movies that have sparked debate and controversy, it's his Oscar-winning film "Bowling for Columbine," in which he looks at the rampant gun violence in the US, that made him a hero to liberals and enemy No. 1 to some conservatives.

But 13 years after the release of "Columbine," gun violence, particularly public mass shootings, is on the rise. In fact, there have been more mass shootings in the US than days in 2015. Читать дальше...

Scott Olson/Getty

Points programs are complex, difficult to use, and can be downright frustrating—if not impossible—to understand.

But for me? They’re fascinating. 

Since turning 15, I have studied various points systems, from airline frequent flyer accounts to credit cards.

I have tried and tested all of them, and that has allowed me to explore 62 countries (so far!) under more of my own terms than most airlines would be comfortable with.

And so can you.

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

REUTERS/ Mohamed Al Hwaity

A number of oil-dependent countries could see their fortunes turn in the new year, thanks to a global plunge in crude prices and the possibility of increased supply thanks to the anticipated removal of most oil-related sanctions on Iran.

Although Saudi Arabia is second in the world in proven reserves and daily production — a gaudy 9.7 million barrels per day in 2014 — there are already signs that the country isn't going to remain unscathed.

On December 28... Читать дальше...

The cutest character from the new "Star Wars" film has a little mystery to it.

Everlane

 Everlane has been advertising a bizarre sale — one in which consumers could choose from three prices.

Buy the highest price, and Everlane would get a good chunk of money to fuel its continual growth and pay its employees. Buy the middle price, and Everlane would get a small slice. Buy the lowest price, and Everlane would get nothing.

This sort of sale creates a bit of a moral quandary, and now, New York Magazine's Science of Us reports that the internal dilemma that... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Randall Hill

During a Wednesday campaign speech, real-estate mogul Donald Trump launched into a one-minute complaint about environmentalists and hair spray.

Trump first mocked President Barack Obama for prioritizing climate-change policies despite flying around the planet in "an old Boeing 747, with the old engines and spewing stuff."

"So he's got a problem with the carbon footprint!" Trump exclaimed.

The Republican presidential front-runner quickly pivoted to the topic of hair spray. Читать дальше...

JP Morgan Funds

In the good old days, young Americans went to work for an employer who would promise a comfortable retirement in the form of a pension plan — that is, a defined-benefit plan.

Today, it's increasingly become the responsibility of the worker to put money away for retirement in the form of a 401(k) plan or an IRA — that is, a defined-contribution plan.

The goal of this post is not to explain the mechanics of retirement plans. Rather, we want to show you the importance... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Mark Makela

On Wednesday, Bill Cosby was charged with aggravated indecent assault, a first-degree felony.

The charge relates to a sexual assault alleged to have happened more than a decade ago. The 78-year-old comedian previously admitted under oath that he had sexual contact with the woman, as part of the lawsuit she filed claiming that Cosby drugged her and forced himself on her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

The woman, former Temple University employee Andrea Constand... Читать дальше...

Valve

Online gaming platform Steam had a big Christmas Day meltdown. 

On Wednesday the company confirmed that the outage was initially caused by hackers, but its other security problems were caused by its attempts to thwart the hackers.

It was offline for hours on Christmas day, just as people were unwrapping their new gadgets and wanting to play games, people noticed.

And then, it came back up, but was then found to allow some users access to other users' accounts,... Читать дальше...