Amazon this week confirmed that it will start paying taxes in individual European countries, rather than running nearly all of its sales revenue through Luxembourg. The decision, reported by  The Wall Street Journal , comes amid  ongoing investigations into the tax practices of Amazon, Apple, and other multinationals in Europe. An Amazon spokesman told the Journal that the policy change went into effect on May 1st, and that the company will...

It’s hard to believe that it was only years ago that director Duncan Jones was freaking out in Comic-Con’s Hall H about the fact that he was adapting one of his favorite videogames. Now, he’s in the homestretch on Warcraft; there are only, like, 50 more visual effects shots to go. Sound like a lot? When Jones started working with Industrial Light and Magic on the film, they needed to do well over 1,000. “It’s been an incredibly ambitious th...

Chinese e-commerce site and Alibaba rival JD.com is putting its money into fresh fruit and vegetables after it led a $70 million Series C round in FruitDay , a company that sells fresh produce across China. The investment in six-year-old FruitDay, which claims to be China’s largest online produce firm, also included participation from previous backers Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and ClearVue. FruitDay imports over 80 percent of it...

If you want Google’s revamped Photos app to be a complete surprise, look away now: Android Police has got some authentic-looking screenshots showing off the new software as well as some details about how it works. We’re expecting Google to launch the new product  at some point during Google I/O later this week. As you would expect from Google, search plays a prominent role in the new apps: Your photos get automatically tagged with their con...

If you've ever thought that "what was your first pet's name?" is a lousy way to keep intruders from resetting your password, you now have some evidence to back up your suspicions. Google has published research showing that security questions aren't that secure at all. In many cases, your answers are straightforward enough that attackers stand a decent chance of getting them right in 10 guesses or less. And you probably don't want to use bog...

Ford has been promoting its MyEnergi Lifestyle program at CES Asia in Shanghai this week. CNET Ford has announced a massive push in its sustainability agenda with the launch of the MyEnergi Lifestyle pilot program for China, aiming to increase take-up of renewable energy sources and efficient vehicles while reducing power bills by as much as 60 percent for Chinese families. The automotive company has joined forces with Chinese-owned applian...

A female gorilla has died at Melbourne Zoo after a young male gorilla attacked her in an "unprecedented" show of aggression. The 33-year-old female, named Julia, was the victim of the assault from 13-year-old Silverback male, Otana, on Friday. Staff monitoring the male noticed he had been showing an unexpected level of aggression towards Julia, before she retreated to a cave for the evening. On Saturday, Julia was transferred to the vet for...

There was a lot of funding news this week, including sports, digital commerce, payments, health, office chat and yet another multibillion dollar-valuation for a startup. Here’s what went down: The digital payments startup Stripe is in the middle of raising an undisclosed amount of money as part of a round that will value the company at $5 billion . Less than a year ago, the company raised $70 million at $3.5 billion.The cloud software compa...

Another great thing you can do with drones—take stunning footage of ancient royal burial chambers. This National Geographic video offers an entirely new perspective on the Nubian pyramids that have stood the test of time in the Sudanese desert for over 3,000 years. [ National Geographic ]

When you’ve mastered the art of persuasion, it’s easy to get people to do what you want . This video goes over six of the science-backed shortcuts you can use to start influencing others. Whether you want your voice to be more heard, or you’re just trying to get someone to like you a little more, persuasion is a skill that can be valuable in almost every aspect of life. The six principles—reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, likin...