An executive at the iPhone maker proposed a bid for Time Warner, a move that would have been at odds with Apple founder Steve Jobs’ recipe for success: Reject “1,000 ideas” and focus on the very few excellent ones. Aging smartphones, a tepid stock price and a pile of idle cash, however, could make the mediocre look awfully tempting.

Meanwhile, wrestler Hulk Hogan's privacy case against news website Gawker took a bizarre turn as tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel acknowledged backing the lawsuit. Facebook, facing its own free-speech imbroglio, may want to think twice about having Thiel on its board.

And the U.S. Senate is mulling whether to continue funding a Lockheed-Boeing joint venture that supplies the Defense Department with rockets – using Russian engines. Elon Musk's SpaceX can do it cheaper and maybe better, suggesting the decision should be a no-brainer.

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