Aug 7, 2018 | News
So a few days ago, I saw something on the news that made me sad. A college professor making $100,000 has to sleep in her car. It’s because she can’t afford a place to live in San Jose. San Francisco area’s housing crisis is affecting everybody, including IT service employees.
In the greater San Francisco area, buying a home is impossible for many in the IT support and computer tech industry. This includes those working for big name companies. In fact, 59% of all tech workers in that area can’t afford a home. Then, another stat says a person making $110,000 a year or less in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area is below the poverty line. No tech company is immune. Even employees from Facebook, Apple and Google are struggling.
The average price for a San Francisco home is $1.6 million. The super rich often bid hundreds of thousands or pay cash altogether. Therefore, many software engineers or tech managers can’t afford housing in Silicon Valley. In fact, only 12% of Silicon Valley/San Francisco residents can afford a their own home. Only 49% of Google employees say they can afford homes, and they’re faring the best. But here is the irony. Apple just became a trillion dollar company. Yet, only 37% of Apple employees in this area say they can afford homes.
People are leaving these areas because of San Francisco area’s housing crisis. In fact, whole tech companies are leaving because of the Silicon Valley area’s housing crisis. They’re moving to Seattle, Denver, Raleigh, NC, and yes, our Greater Boston area. But San Francisco and Silicon Valley are losing more citizens than any other metro area in America right now. Even more than crime ridden Chicago. It’s causing havoc on the streets, to the point where downtown streets are littered with heroin needles and human urine and feces. Keep in mind this was once one of the most beautiful and treasured cities in America. But now, it’s come to this. Yet, they’re celebrating because they banned straws! However, they can’t seem to find housing for their citizens, even those in computer repair. Are their priorities out of whack?
Aug 6, 2018 | internet, News
So this weekend has been a bad one for Infowars and it’s host, Alex Jones. If you don’t know what Infowars is, it’s a controversial right-wing alternative media platform. Infowars vs social media: A free speech threat?
First, Facebook punished Infowars. They got rid of four of their podcasts in the last week. Then, they gave Alex Jones a 30-day ban from Facebook altogether. That’s just Jones’ page, but the Infowars page goes on as normal, except for these four episodes. But this punishment is for, “repeated violations of community standards”. Also, one Facebook leader accuses these pages of ‘glorifying violence and using language to dehumanize others’.
You Tube did the same thing Facebook did recently. Then there is Apple, who took the strongest stance of them all. Because Apple removed all Infowars and Alex Jones content altogether. The only one they left was, ‘Real News with David Knight’. Apple says they used hate speech and violated their policies. One Apple spokesperson said, “Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users”. We don’t know when, or if, Apple will let them back again. Don’t hold your breath.
Infowars has caused? controversy for around 20 years. They claimed the government knew, and even helped plot the 9/11 attacks. They also claimed mass shootings like Sandy Hook in 2012 and San Bernadino in 2015 were conspiracy theories. It got so bad that Sandy Hook families are suing. This is Infowars vs social media. Personally, I don’t like the things Infowars or Alex Jones says. But there is concern here. What are they going to call hate speech? Is every IT service company going to wipe people out because they say something they don’t like? Will a little blogger like me in my computer repair shop be punished because I offended somebody? That is the real fear. Because I’ve had Facebook friends be put in ‘Facebook jail’ even for the slightest thing these days. Is this punishing haters? Or is this a free speech threat?
Aug 3, 2018 | News
Yesterday, Apple made not only IT support history, but American history. So you think a $100 billion bushiness is good? It may be, but there’s a new standard in town now. Apple is worth a trillion dollars.
Apple is the first company in American history to have capital value of over one trillion dollars. We can also thank the latest quarter earnings for this. Furthermore, Apple passed stockbrokers’ expectations of sales. Then they have high hopes for the months ahead, you know, back to school season, then holiday shopping season. Yesterday, all this good new pushed stocks to over $207 a share. An noon yesterday, Eastern time, Apple officially became a trillion dollar company.
But it’s not the first global company to do this. PetroChina, a Chinese big oil firm, crossed the trillion dollar mark back in 2007. However, not only did it not stay there, but PetroChina’s worth soon nosedived. By the end of 2008, at the Great Recession’s height, their net worth fell to $260 billion. But that is PetroChina. This is Apple. I think trillion dollar mark isn’t based on previous sales, but on speculation. Rumors say 3 new iPhones are coming out in the near future. Apple lovers also look forward to a new Apple watch and iPad Pro that might be coming out. Look at the nouns and verbs…rumors, look forward, might be.
What I’m saying is this feat isn’t really based on anything tangible. That is a dangerous position to put yourself in, especially if you’re a mega company like Apple. So if I were an Apple executive or stockholder, or even a loyal Apple consumer, I wouldn’t be popping any champagne if I were you. I’m already seeing Apple stocks are down slightly, not even 1%. But more to the point, Apple is worth a trillion dollars. Mostly based on hopes and dreams. It could come true? But what if they don’t? Also, Amazon could make the trillion dollar worth mark before too long. Is this an IT support watershed moment? Or is this a disappointment just waiting to happen?
Aug 2, 2018 | Computer technology, Entertainment
So many people are into mobile gaming now. Here at our computer service shop, it’s a favorite activity and talking piece. This is among customers and computer repair experts alike.? But Google sees it and wants to take it somewhere. Google and mobile gaming: Are they taking gaming too?
Well, Google focus on mobile gaming advertising. In fact, they’re teaming up with Unity, a game developing company, to do so. Let’s say marketers advertise with Google on games that Unity makes and backs up. Keep in mind Unity’s audience plays a combined 9 billion minutes a day playing their games. Think about how much revenue and people these companies can reach.
Then think about this: mobile gaming is worth over $50 billion a year. In fact, over 30% of all apps on all smartphones are games. They could range from anything from solitaire to Pac-Man to Call of Duty. When you think of mobile gamers, you probably think of young men and techies, right? Not exactly. Because according to some stats, nearly have of all mobile gamers are now women. These girls and women can be as young as 10, or as old as 65. So look at the age range. Almost all gamers, boys, girls, men and women play their games for free. And most of them said they’d rather watch advertisements then pay for these games out of pocket.
Not only is Unity the leader in gaming production, but it’s becoming a leader in the VR and AI race is well. Plus, keep in mind Google’s biggest rival, Apple, searches for mobile gaming advertisers. It looks like Google beat them in securing an alliance with Unity. And it seems like a good mood. I predict Google and mobile gaming could be the most powerful alliance in advertising history. I know that sounds out there now, but this trend shows no signs of slowing down. Could mobile gaming be the new TV of advertising?
Aug 1, 2018 | internet
So this story starts in 2010. That is when Google took their search engine, and other services away from China. This was because of China’s ridiculous censorship laws. But now, there seems to be a change. Will Google come back to China?
However, the rumor mill is in overdrive; Google might bring back a censored version of Google to China. And it might happen by early 2019. If this does happen, then Chinese consumers can expect blocks, and lots of them. This means they won’t get Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. That’s because the Chinese gov’t made them illegal. It also won’t include American or British news media, like The New York Times or BBC. They’re illegal in China, too.
Google doesn’t confirm this. But they don’t deny it, either. But IT support insiders say this mission is so secret that they’re code naming it Dragonfly (gee, where have I heard that name before). So far, only top Google leaders and executives know the details. For years, people speculated Google is trying to get back into China. Play Store is one way, and that’s already gaining momentum. The Chinese consumers clearly want this, but the tough part is convincing the Chinese government.
But Google isn’t giving up soon. In fact, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is in constant meetings with Chinese authorities to make this happen. At least that’s what they say. But why, after years of division, is China and Google trying to work it out? Because they need each other. China has the largest population in the world. Google is the largest IT service entity in the world. China also has the largest economy in the world. Google needs those over one billion potential customers to continue to grow. And China needs this entity to compete with the west on the technology front. Will Google come back to China?
