McAfee for President, the end of the Amazon Fire Phone, one-day passes for Pandora, Netflix pushes further into Asia, and Nicole Arbour, the woman who really hates fat people.

John McAfee Is Running for President

The United States Presidential Election of 2016 looks set to descend into farce. With Donald Trump already gaining sizable support, John McAfee has now announced his intention to run for office. Yes, that John McAfee, who made his name in security software before his life took a bizarre turn.

McAfee made a fortune developing the first commercial anti-virus software, which bore his name for many years. He then moved to Belize, where he encountered legal issues which eventually led to him being deported back to the United States. Where he has now launched his campaign to succeed Barack Obama as President.

McAfee has filed the relevant paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. He is set to officially announce his candidacy later today, launching a brand new political party reported to be called the Cyber Party. The name suggests technology will be at the heart of McAfee's campaign, but that doesn't necessarily make him the right person for the job. Obviously.

Amazon Discontinues the Fire Phone

Amazon has finally given up on the Fire Phone, with all stocks exhausted, and no sign of them being replenished. As noticed by GeekWire, both the 32GB and 64GB versions of the Fire Phone [Broken URL Removed] are listed as “currently unavailable,” with an additional note stating: “We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock".

Amazon launched the Fire Phone in June 2014. While it looked good on paper, the reviews were less than stellar. This led to Amazon drastically cutting the price of its first smartphone both in September and November of that year. But neither managed to prevent the Fire Phone from flopping.

The discontinuation of the first-generation Amazon Fire Phone could mean a successor is due to be announced. But this is unlikely given the failure of the original, and the laying off of dozens of engineers from the division responsible. Still, never say never, as Amazon has good reason to get you using its hardware and ensconced in its ecosystem.

Pandora Announces 99-Cent Day Passes

To celebrate its first 10 years, Pandora is free of ads for the rest of today. However, come tomorrow, free users in the U.S. will be hit with adverts once again. That is unless they take advantage of the new one-day Pandora passes, which give users ad-free listening for 24 hours for $0.99.

The new one-day passes are another option to complement the monthly subscriptions (priced at $5), and the annual subscriptions (priced at $55). However, as the money could soon add up, we recommend only using it either for one-off events, or to test the waters before committing to a longer subscription.

Netflix Continues Push Into Asia

Netflix' fight for global domination is continuing to build momentum, with the streaming media company announcing the latest round of targets. Having launched in Japan at the beginning of this month, Netflix is launching in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan in early 2016.

Details are thin on the ground, with no indication of pricing or programming. However, from previous launches, readers in those countries can expect a mix of Netflix Originals, older American content, and movies and TV shows known to be popular in each individual country.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said, "The combination of increasing Internet speeds and ubiquity of connected devices provides consumers with the anytime, anywhere ability to enjoy their favorite TV shows and movies on the Netflix service. These four markets well represent those trends".

Dear Nicole Arbour...

And finally, Nicole Arbour is a comedian no one had heard of until recently. Now, she's notorious for posting a video criticizing anyone who happens to be overweight. Because carrying a few extra pounds is not acceptable, apparently. At least in the context of a "comedy" routine.

I say comedy, but for something to be funny there has to be a punchline. Unfortunately, this video has no punchline. Instead, it's just one long rant against fat people, and includes a lengthy diatribe against an actual family Arbour encountered on a flight. Because those people deserve to be ridiculed in public, obviously.

Dear Nicole Arbour, you're entitled to your views on fat people, but, by the same token, the rest of the world is entitled to their views on you. It's just that most of us are too polite to express them in such a nasty, vindictive manner. Which is something for which you should be extremely grateful.

Your Views on Today’s Tech News

Would you ever consider voting for John McAfee for President? Is Amazon right to give up on the Fire Phone? Will you be using Pandora's one-day passes? Do you currently subscribe to Netflix? What do you think of Nicole Arbour and her "Dear Fat People" video?

Let us know your thoughts on the Tech News of the day by posting to the comments section below. Because a healthy discussion is always welcome.

Image Credits: Kim Hill via Flickr