So for years, IT service Petcube allowed owners to see their pets while the owners are away. In fact, they can even play with toys through this piece of IT support. But now, they came out with two devices to take it further. Petcube enhances the Pet/Owner relationship.
So now, Petcube comes out with two new items. They are Petcube Bites 2 and Petcube Play 2. They both offer Alexa voice commands, a 180 degree camera, and better sound. Furthermore, they include a 4-microphone piece and can support up to 5GHz as well. Oh, and Alexa will work alone with these two devices. There will be no more adding other voice technologies just to get Alexa to work with Petcube. Because they already did that for you. That’s a huge relief for just about anybody.
But wait…there’s more. These new Petcube devices can play music, check weather, turn on lights and other appliances, even give you a news reports. It can also do other things I know I’m leaving out. Yes, these devices use AI tech. They use it to study barks and other pet sounds to see if the pet is distressed. It also tries to predict the pet’s behavior before the pet even behaves. They come in Matte Silver and Carbon Black. The Petcube Bite 2 will cost you around $250. The Petcube Play 2 will cost you around $200. As of right now, you will only find them on Petcube.com. However, if sales are that good, I can see them moving them to retail stores. Or at least I hope so.
So this is how Petcube enhances the pet/owner relationship. I think it’s great that they play music. Studies show that pets react to music almost as good as humans do. That’s a huge plus. The 180 degree camera is also a huge plus. And the price is right. But I’m not a fan of how AI wants to predict the pets’ behavior. What if they’re wrong? Are these new Petcube devices good investments?
So 2018 was a so-so year for Apple. But 2019 seems to be off to a catastrophic start for the once trillion dollar company. I say this because Apple’s stocks plummeted yesterday.
Not only did their stocks tank, but they sent the whole Dow Jones stock market tanking. Their stocks went from $157 to $142 a share yesterday. But the whole Dow Jones lost over 660 points, mostly because of Apple. In one day, Apple investors lost around $75 billion. Apple reported they expect to miss earnings by billions of dollars yesterday. So naturally, investors don’t like that news. But why do they expect this kind of loss?
Because Apple sales in China are collapsing. Economists say there are several reasons for this. They include a weakening Chinese economy, and a nationalist movement going on in China. This movement has a lot of people abandoning Apple and other American companies. Also, they’re buying more local, Chinese products. This includes smartphones. There are more China based smartphone companies as well, so they’re more local businesses their citizens can choose from. New iPhone sales also declined in nations like Brazil, India, Russia, even here in the US. All of these nations are critical for Apple’s success in sales.
As of today, January 4, 2019, Apple stocks are making a comeback. But it’s still early. That could change. Apple’s stocks plummeted yesterday, but these problems go way longer. In fact, Apple stocks dwindled over 35% in just the last 100 days. Other stocks haven’t been doing so well, either. The stock market had their worst December since the Great Depression era. Then you have competition from other markets. Many of our computer repair customers love Apple. However, many other computer repair customers love to hate Apple. There is no middle ground there. Does Apple need to work on their consumer relations, around the world, to get people back in their good graces?
So Elon Musk warns about the dangers of AI (artificial intelligence). Also, during the last year of his life, Stephen Hawking said it could end humanity. Could they be right? I ask this because AI tricks their own creator.
So it starts with AI researchers from Google and Stanford. They created this AI to take aerial pictures, then turn them into street maps, then back to the original image. However, this AI had other plans. Because it hid the info it needs in a high-frequency signal. The humans’ goal is to improve the Google Map system through AI. At first, it went well. In fact, it went a little too well.
So well that the AI captured details that weren’t there before. Humans intended for the AI to match the map with correct features. But this piece of AI did was show how close the aerial map was to the original. It secretly encoded these features on it’s own, as in without any human help. In fact, it can now encode any street map into any aerial map and vice versa. So you can imagine the creator’s astonishment when they discovered this. AI tricks their own creator, then, beat them at their own tasks.
Remember when we in IT support and IT service told the computers what to do? Well, those days are dying now. Yes, AI has a mind of it’s own, and this proves it. In the last few years, many tech expects told it it’s coming to this. Some of you may say, “Calm down, Damien! It’s just maps!”. This time, it is just maps. However, next time, it could be your money and banking information. Or it could be our national security AI plays with. How about if it’s our natural resources or infrastructure? Maybe it could be our military or defense AI jokes around with. It won’t be so cute or funny then, will it?
So how do terrorist groups like ISIS (Islamic State) get so big? One tactic they use is propaganda through social media. So it sounds like they’re up to their old tricks again. ISIS uses dormant Twitter accounts.
In recent weeks, IT support leaders learn groups like ISIS uses dormant Twitter accounts for recruiting and other purposes. But they’re more subtle with it now. For instance, they’ll tweet in Arabic sharing propaganda from other accounts. Twitter’s security leaders deleted most accounts that are doing this, but some still exists. But how are they able to do this in the first place?
What these hackers are exploiting Twitter’s lack of email confirmation, so they can’t be traced. Therefore, they can use these, create new emails, and create new ones to re-register the Twitter account. I said many of these tweets are subtle, but not all of them. In fact, some of these tweets praised terror and violence. There’s one Twitter video that shows ISIS fighters showing off their weapons. Then there is one that praises violence and other attacks. Other tweets from ISIS talk about killing Christians and urge fighters to bomb innocent people with their cars. These aren’t the only tweets glorifying terror.
So why is this a big deal? Because there are people who are very venerable to this type of propaganda. There are people who feel at the end of their rope and that nobody loves them. There are those feeling they have nowhere to turn. Terror groups like ISIS prey on these kinds of situations. Now we find out they’re using dormant Twitter accounts to do just that. However, I do credit Twitter for staying on this, and suspending these accounts that are promoting this madness. But as we can see, more needs to done. But that can we do?
So we’re coming to the end of 2018. Things are not boring in the tech and IT service world. So I want to look back at some of 2018 in tech: The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else.
We can’t talk about 2018 in tech without talking about AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics. Let’s look at the good side of AI in 2018. It led to science and medical discoveries. It also led to educational tools and creation. Furthermore, AI helped us explore the moon, planets and other things in space. However, we all learned about AI’s dark side in 2018. Some governments, like China’s are using it to impose their will. Privacy advocates worry it will spy on us 24/7 and infringe on all our rights. Then there is the fear AI will cost, many, many jobs. I’m concerned that major corporations, governments, and even consumers are embracing AI before really thinking about the consequences. Am I right, or is this just paranoia?
Then there is the smartphone race, particularly between Apple and Samsung?In 2018, Apple became the first American company to be worth over one trillion dollars.? They came out with the IPhone XR, XS, and SX Max. While sales did okay, they were still disappointing by Apple’s standards. So let’s look at Samsung. They overcame a lot this year, like exploding phones?and corruption scandals. For example, their Galaxy Note 9 phone exceeded all exceptions. Not only did they run with Apple, but beat them in some instances. In fact, in Q3 2018, Samsung made record profits. They have many tricks up their sleeve for 2019. Will Samsung overthrow Apple in 2019 (I sure hope so!)?
Then there are the world’s two biggest companies: Amazon and Google. Amazon became the second company to be worth a trillion dollars. It established cashier-free stores; it’s also the first company to guarantee a $15 minimum wage. But the real highlight of the year is establishing their second headquarters. They chose three places: Queens in New York City, Arlington, Virginia in Metro DC, and Nashville, Tennessee. Google celebrated their 20th anniversary with mixed results. Yes, they gave us Google Hub and came out with an awesome auto answering service. However, many criticized them (myself included) of enabling China’s censorship ambitions. Then there were sexual misconduct scandals and the $5 billion fine by the European Union. How will Google overcome these issues in 2019?
I can go on and on about 2018. For example, 2018 in tech is a time that I’m sure Space X wants to remember. However, 2018 in tech is a time I’m sure Facebook wants to forget. But I want to hear from you. What does 2018 in tech mean to you?
