CD Project Red hacked

CD Project Red has fallen victim to a ransomware attack. Hackers got access to the company's internal network and stolen some data. In the end, they encrypted everything. The hackers are threatening to release or sell the data if their demands are not met. If that happened, it would be a big blow to CDP Red. The stolen data contains source codes of the games (including the unreleased Witcher game), alongside internal legal, HR, and financial documents.CDP Red has confirmed the attack and stated that they will not negotiate or give in to the hacker's demands. Hearing that, Hackers haven't waited long and sold the stolen data on the Dark Web.

Earth's "invasion" of Mars begun

The two probes successfully reached Mars's orbit within 24 hours. The first one - Hope - is from the United Arab Emirates. The second one - Tianwen-1 - is from China. Both countries reached Red Planet for the first time. Now we are waiting for the Perseverance probe, which should reach its destination later this month.

Disney+ gains subscribers

A couple of weeks ago I reported that Netflix has 200M subscribers. I also mentioned fast-growing competitors like Disney+. This week Disney has confirmed my words, as Disney+ gained 95M subscribers in 14 months. This growth is unprecedented, even Disney thought they would achieve the 90M mark by 2024. If Disney keeps this momentum, it might become the most popular streaming service even this year.

Jeff Bezos steps down as CEO

Jeff Bezos announced that he is going to step down as Amazon CEO later this year. Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), will replace Bezos as Amazon CEO. Bezos motivates his decision by wanting to focus on other projects like Blue Origin, and Bezos Earth Fund.

Another Starship test

SpaceX has launched the Starship rocket for the second time. Once again, it climbed to a target altitude of 10km. After that, the engines shut down, and the rocket started free-falling back to the ground. Unfortunately, like in the previous test, the rocket didn't quite stick the landing. It touched the ground when the rocket was still recovering from belly dive into a vertical position, which ended with a spectacular explosion.

It might seem like a failure, but SpaceX learned a lot. The same Situation was with Falcon 9 rocket - Space X failed many landing during tests, but now they are perfect.

Reddit vs Wall Street

This week Reddit users trolled the heck out of sharks of Wall Street. A hedge fund wanted to earn money by betting that Gamestop stocks would fall. Reddit users noticed that and started buying out the stocks. This caused the rise of stock value by over 1700%. As a result, the hedge fund bankrupted because it couldn't repay all the debts.

This is the first time something like this happened. This whole situation is being compared to French Revolution - "poor and small" people/investors turned against the rich people using their own tactics and tools against them.

Apple is doing just fine

Apple released financial reports for last quarter, and it looks like it  just broke its quarterly revenue record earning $111.4 Billion in Q1 2021. The revenue mostly comes from iPhones (42%) but iPad also gained a lot (in total 7%), and almost matched the Macs (8%).

SpaceX carpooling?

SpaceX launched Falcon 9 rocket with record breaking 143 satellites. This was done under the SmallSat Rideshare Program which is basically a space carpooling. Small businesses can share a flight with other companies instead of buying an entire rocket at a much higher price.

With such program, SpaceX has done just another step into affordable space exploration.

Image credits: Clay Banks

iPhone 12 Pro more popular than iPhone 12 mini?

According to rumors, Apple decreased the production of iPhone 12 Mini in favour of  iPhone 12 Pro. The shift in production is a response to increased demand for iPhone 12 Pro.

Streaming services even more popular

Netflix surpassed the 200 million subscribers. Although those are impressive numbers, Netflix will have work hard to keep those users, as other services gain in popularity, especially Disney+.

No unsigned iOS apps on Apple Silicon

Apple started to block users from sideloading iPhone apps on Apple Silicon Macs. The only way to install an iOS app is through the AppStore.

Image credits: Todd Diemer

CES 2021

Due to pandemic, the CES 2021 was different. First of all it was virtual. Second, it was smaller, much smaller. Not many products ware introduced, but couple of them were interesting:

• Razer's RGB Mask,
• TLC 's rollable tablet,
• Samsung Bot Handy,
• myQ Pet Portal,
• Toto Wellness Toilet.

Samsung Galaxy S21 family

Samsung announced the next version of the flagship phone. Here is the spec of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra:

• 6.8-inch AMOLED 120Hz display (1440 x 3200 px),
• Snapdragon 888,
• 12 or 16GB of RAM,
• 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB of Storage,
• Triple back camera system: 108 MP (wide), 10 MP (telephoto), 12 MP (ultrawide),
• 40 MP selfie camera,
• 5000 mAh Battery,
• Support for S pen,
• Starting at $1199.

Return of the King?

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, next MacBook Pro might return to its glorious days. If rumors are true, the new MacBook Pro will get not only the ARM processor, but also new form factor, and new display. The TouchBar will be gone, and the MagSafe will return with additional ports. This is too good to be true.

Lucasfilm Games

Lucasfilm announced that all future Star Wars games will be released under the Lucasfilm Games brand. It looks like, EA lost their exclusivity right to Star Wars games. Bethesda is working on Indiana Jones game, and Ubisoft is making an open world Star Wars game. Despite the fact EA lost exclusivity rights, it's still working on the new Star Wars games, including sequel to the Jedi Fallen Order.

Wikipedia anniversary

Wikipedia turned 20. Yeah, It's hard to believe, but Wikipedia is helping us for two decades now. It definitely helped me when I was a student, so I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this awesome project.