So on this blog, I talk about You Tube a lot. Because a lot of people in the IT service community follow it. Some have popular channels themselves. However, this is a deeply sad blog I have to report, but it is necessary to talk about. YouTube star Etika passed away at 29.
So for those who don’t know him, Etika, real name Desmond Amofar, specialized in critiquing video games on You Tube. His favorite brand to talk about was Nintendo, and his channel, TRI Iceman had over 130,000 subscribers. But in recent months, family, friends and fans grew more concern over his erratic behavior and declining mental health. For instance, in April 2019, he tweeted himself posing with a gun. The next month, he allegedly assaulted a police officer and rushed to a hospital.
Then, last week, Mr. Amofar uploaded a video, quoting, “I really had no intention of killing myself, but I would always push it too far.”. Unfortunately, this would be his last You Tube video. Because on June 20, the NYPD posted Mr. Amofar missing, urging anyone who saw him to come forward. Then, on June 25, police reported Mr. Amafor dead. They found his body floating in New York City’s East River. They also found some of his belongings by the Manhattan Bridge. Yesterday, authorities ruled Mr. Amofar’s death as a suicide.
So YouTube star Etika passed away at 29. In the last couple of days, tributes from all over the world are poured in. They come from followers and fellow You Tubers. Though I never knew him or subscribed to his channel, we also join in in offering our condolences to Desmond ‘Etika’ Amofar’s family, friends and community. So why even talk about this? Because suicide is an epidemic in this country right now. The statistics are alarming. In fact, it’s getting so bad that for the third year in a row, the US life expectancy rate declined. That’s the first time that happened since the World War 1/Spanish Flu era of the late 1910s. So if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Or you can visit SuicidePreventionLifeline.org. Remember, you are worth saving and you are worth fighting for.
So when we all think of Kitty Hawk, history comes to mind. Most of us think of the first flight back in 1903. Nothing of IT support or tech innovation comes to mind. But maybe it should: Kitty Hawk and flying taxis.
So in this story, Kitty Hawk is an up and coming flying car company. Furthermore, big names in the IT world back this company. I mean names like Google’s Larry Page and Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun. However, Kitty Hawk is about to get bigger. Because they just made a deal with airplane giant Boeing. Both companies want to increase urban air travel. Both are also looking at things like safety and robotics when it comes to flying taxis.
The name of their two-person air taxi is Cora. We know little about this collaboration between Kitty Hawk and Boeing. That’s because they’re telling us little. But they’re working on a self-piloting version of Cora. In fact, one Boeing executive hints that this is the next step in transportation and air mobility. Cora can already fly like a helicopter and an airplane. In fact, tests in New Zealand continue to this day. So how long before Cora comes flying to your airport, or even to your door?
We all read stories about the rise of driverless cars. We also read stories about robots taking over jobs and other ways of life. Both elements are in this story. Because no human being will fly Cora. She will fly herself. If Kitty Hawk and flying taxis become true, then imagine taking one of these to work everyday. Yes, that will get you there quicker. That will cut down on road traffic some, too. But what if a million people got these Coras. Won’t that contribute to air traffic, not including the commercial airlines as well? So with these flying taxis, are we solving a problem? Or are we creating a new one?
So have you ever taken a photo with your smartphone? It’s 2019, the height of the IT service age, so of course. But then you got all these people in your photos you don’t want there. Apparently, there’s an app for that now. Here’s the app that cleans your photos.
They call this app the Bye Bye Camera. This app removes human beings, including yourself, from photos you take with your smartphone. The organization behind this is Do Something Good. The people behind this say the Bye Bye Camera app takes the ‘selfie’ aspect of photos. They also say we’re heading into, “…the post human era”. Furthermore, Do Something Good reminds us that pets will be in the pictures.
However, there’s quite a demonstration of this. I saw a photo of a man standing on a sidewalk. Then a caption appears saying, “Please wait, detecting humans”. They use AI tech to take humans out of photos. They’re working on more causes with this kind of AI. It uses YOLO You Only Look Once). This is a kind of AI that detects a human being from the outline. Then they compare it with animals and non-living objects. That’s how they remove humans from photos. You can get the Bye Bye Camera app from the App Store for $3. That’s quite expensive for an app.
That’s the app that cleans your photos. It cleans of them of ourselves. I have mixed feelings about this. It would be fun to play with. Also, I know I have pictures that I would like to take the people out of. But I also have concern. First of all, they call it the post human era. That phrase alone scares me. Because it shows, to me at least, we now have such cynicism towards one another that we look forward to a time when we’re not even here. That’s creepy to me. In fact, I’d rather have the selfie culture that the ‘post human’ culture. I’m not crazy about this $3 price either. Would you use this app?
So by now, you all know last week was a tense week between the US and Iran. But suddenly, President Trump cancelled any potential Iran strike. Does that mean we’re all going to live happily ever after? I doubt it. Because first of all, Trump Administration cyber attacks Iran.
According to many sources, US President Trump approved a cyber attack on Iran’s missile systems. This particularly means an attack on Iran’s computers that control the missiles. This happened on June 20. The hands behind the attack were the hands of US Cyber Command. Sources say this cyber attack crippled Iran’s missile program, but not much more. In fact, nobody is saying much of anything about this one.
But it’s not this crisis that caused this cyber attack. In fact, this was months in the making. Apparently, the Trump administration wanted to do this since Iran allegedly attacked oil tankers on the Gulf of Oman. Of course, Iran vehemently deny any attack on oil tankers on the Gulf of Oman. They’re being silent because they don’t want to put other operations on the line. But it’s not just Iran. Then there is Russia. There’s even talk of a malware attack on Russia’s power grid. But officials are keeping very hush-hush about that.
So why bring this up? Remember, Russia and Iran are close allies, and have been since the mid-2000s. So if we attack Iran, we may as well be attacking Russia as well. So what does this have to do with IT service? Well, look around. Trump Administration cyber attacks Iran. Who knows what Iran will do, or what Russia will do? And they’re using cyber, technology, IT attacks, not conventional ones. Please understand, I’m not trying to scare anyone here. But look at how quick nations are using cyber attacks on each other. Shouldn’t that tell us something?
So by now, most of us know about the trade war between the US and China. In fact, I reported on it some. This does affect the global IT service industry, especially Apple. But one Taiwanese billionaire smells blood. Taiwan billionaire calls for Apple move from China.
That’ billionaire’s name is Terry Gou. He’s the founder of Foxconn, a Taiwanese mega electronics firm. Well…I should say he was. Because as of now, he’s resigning from that position. He’s resigning because he’s running for president of Taiwan. Now, Gou is asking Apple to all their Asian facilities from China to Taiwan. This has further merit because Foxconn is one of Apple’s big supplier of factories and raw electronic goods. Will that persuade Apple to do what Gou asks?
Then there is the economy war with China. In fact, president Trump threatens $300 million worth of tariffs on China made goods. Now think about how many of our Apple products China makes. Do you know how many time in our computer repair office we had to tell a customer “The part comes from China.”? It’s more than I want to think about. But now Apple gets an invitation to get out of there, and move to friendlier waters like Taiwan.
So why do I talk about this? How does this affect consumers like you and me? If Apple honors Gou’s request and moves to Taiwan, then it will definitely affect your prices at the Apple Stores. It probably will affect prices for the better. But it could have the opposite side. Personally, I hope Apple does what Gou is asking. Why continue to do business with people and with nations that seem to hate you? This is especially true when you have an ally like Gou inviting you to friendlier places. Taiwan Billionaire calls for Apple move from China. Will Apple do it?
