Yesterday, I reported on a potential legal battle between the Trump Administration and Twitter. The US government demanded people behind an anti-Trump Twitter account reveal themselves. But Twitter didn’t let that happen. Then came lawsuit talk. But in the last 24 hours, something else happened. The Twitter lawsuit ?dropped!
So why is the Twitter lawsuit no more? Because the Dept. of Homeland Security dropped the demand. They no longer require the people of @ALT_USCIS to unmask themselves. Twitter learned of this late yesterday afternoon. So they dropped the lawsuit. Tech journalists tried to talk to Twitter leaders about the matter. But Twitter declined to comment.
We don’t know if the US government will drop this matter for good. Maybe they’re regrouping for a second try to unmask @ALT_USCIS. In the IT service world, anything is possible. However, Homeland security depended on a statute involving tax information. Twitter called the move, ‘ineffective’. Furthermore, Twitter defended itself with the First Amendment. That First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of the press.” Hence, Homeland Security really had no case. I think they knew it. But that doesn’t mean they can’t, or won’t, try again.
The US government can just use a different tactic or statue. I hope they don’t. Between you and me, this Twitter lawsuit needs to stay where it is: dropped! But the current administration is adamant about cracking down on leaks to the press. This is especially true if these leaks are unflattering. I say this because both sides are too busy to be fighting about this. Twitter isn’t exactly in the best of shape. And the Trump Administration has more pressing issue to worry about than what some Twitter account say about them. It seems like the war between Trump and Twitter ended before it really began. Will all remain peaceful?
Okay, we all know about diet soft drinks. Also, many of us know about light beer. They’re to be lighter and a little healthier than the original. But what is Twitter Lite?
Twitter Lite is a new version of Twitter mobile. But this one avoids slow connections. It also cuts on data use and takes up less of your device. Of course, all of this is according to Twitter. In fact, they say it’s 30% faster than regular twitter. However, it will still include all the regular Twitter goodies, from typical Tweets to profiles. I hope in includes NFL games.
The only thing the consumer needs, is obviously, a smartphone a tablet. The smartphone and tablet need a web browser. Now that we got the basics out of the way, let’s get to new business. Twitter Lite includes a ?data service mode. This reduces the amount of mobile data. They say this reduces data by as much as 70%. They do this because they want to keep your mobile data expenses low. But here is one huge plus for Twitter Lite. It offers offline service. This really comes in handy to a lot of people. Let’s face it: not everyone has a WiFi spot. And it gets annoying asking people, “Do you have WiFi? What’s the password?”
These are all great promises, if they can deliver them. In our Boston computer service shop, we use Twitter quite often. I sure hope Twitter can deliver the goods. They need to. In the past several years, Twitter struggles with a lot of issues. They include falling stock prices, bullying, competition, and Silicon Valley cost of living woes. Like Samsung with the Galaxy 8, Twitter needs to hit this home run out of the park. Can they do it? Will this get more people to use Twitter, or make it easier for them? Or will Twitter Lite leave a bad taste in everybody’s mouth?
Should I buy a tombstone saying: Internet privacy: 1994-2016 RIP? Should I buy it now or later? I ask this because Congress voted to repeal consumer privacy rights on the Internet. So, Internet privacy dies: Congress killed it.
The US House vote was 215-205 to. This vote helps overturn former President Obama’s FCC rules. Those rules say ISP’s (Internet service providers) require consumer’s permission before they use certain information. This includes finances, health, and info about their kids. But that protection is in danger now. But wait. It gets worse. Last week, the Senate voted 50-48 against you and me and in favor of Comcast, Verizon, and the big boys. And this is how Internet privacy dies.
The White House said ISP’s still need ‘opt-in’ permission. That’s when ISP’s give you the option of sharing your information. But here’s the problem with that. Websites don’t need to ‘opt-in’ with anybody. That’s because websites are less restricted, thanks to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). FCC Chariman?Ajit Pai praised the decision. But he assured we would stay have protection for our privacy. Then you have privacy rights groups like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). One leader said ISP’s shouldn’t buy or sell our information without consumers’ approval. Of course, Comcast and other major ISP companies aren’t talking.
I like what?Michael Capuano said. He’s a Democrat Congressman from Massachusetts. You know, home to our Boston computer service shop. Online, he bought underwear. Why should the government, or anyone else, have to know about the underwear he bought? Some may say, “But what about the terrorists?” What about the cyber criminals?” I get their concern. But what about the welfare and privacy of the 99 1/2 percent who aren’t doing these things? What about our children? Why should you know where our kids go to school, or what activities they do after school? How come the government wants to know where I bought what and from who? How come ISP’s and other corporations want to know what I look at online?
Most of you know about the terror attack in London last week. A man plows his car into a group of people on Westminster Bridge. Then, he stabbed people when he got out of the car. Four people died. Also, the attack injured dozens more. Police had to shoot and kill the suspect. But now, authorities say he used Whats App right before he killed. And lawmakers are not happy. What’s App used in London Terrorist attacks.
They’re not happy because Whats App uses end-to-end encryption. This prevents law agencies from reading messages without the user’s approval or knowledge. British Home Secretary Amber Rudd condemned What’s App. She said this kind of encryption is ‘completely unacceptable’. Secretary Rudd also hinted these apps could be a hiding place for terrorists. Furthermore, Rudd called on tech companies to prevent and fight social media publicity that inspires extremism. She says this because some believe the suspect eventually became radical. Other terrorist may have inspired him. But this isn’t the first beef between law enforcement and IT service companies. Remember the fight between Apple and the FBI? Apple didn’t help the FBI unlock a terrorist suspect’s phone. The fighting between them continues to this day.
Okay some terrorist used Whats App. But think of the billions who use Whats App for more positive things. They use it to plan work and meetings. Some also use it to tell family members, “I love you”. While others use Whats App to plan community events, charities, and youth activities to keep them off the streets. But I guess we should scrutinize that too, huh? It almost seems that some British lawmakers are using this tragedy as an excuse. They use this as an excuse to trample on all our privacy rights. And if we allowed governments to do this, then wouldn’t the terrorists win?
p.s. Please remind me to move George Orwell’s 1984 to the non-fiction part of my bookshelf.
Apple is no stranger to cyber crime. Remember when cyber crooks exposed nude celebrity pictures back in 2014? But this one developing case could be even worse. Because it literally holds accounts hostage. Apple held hostage: Hackers threaten iCloud accounts.
The hacker group name is Turkish Crime Family. They demand $750,000. Also, they say they have hundreds of millions of email accounts. Furthermore, they’re demanding this money by April 7. But if they don’t get it, they’ll wipe out emails and iClouds. However, they’ll take $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards. One hacker says he wants Apple customers to know what’s going on.
Furthermore, they sent email accounts to their website, Motherboard. The Turkish Crime Family put up a You Tube video. The video showed them browsing through iClouds. We don’t know how many email accounts they have. But Apple held hostage is real. The low number is 200 million accounts. The high number is 600 million accounts. But I don’t care how many Apple email accounts they have. One email account is one account too many. But one security expert said he doesn’t know if the threat is real. He doesn’t even know if The Turkish Crime Family is real or fake. This is a bad move on this expert’s talk.
Anybody in computer repair, anybody in IT support, and anybody in cyber security will tell you the same thing. You take every threat seriously! Especially a threat of this magnitude. There’s a lot we don’t know. We don’t know if these hackers really are from Turkey. It they are, are they working for their president Tayyip Erdogan? Remember, the people who hacked Yahoo were Russian agents! So it is possible. And what do the hackers mean, “They want their money?” What makes them think they’re entitled? And what is Apple doing about this threat? I hope they’re not waiting until something bad happens. This is a serious threat, and what is Apple doing about it?
Amazon is making history. But you may ask, “Haven’t they made enough history over the years?” Well, yes, but not like this. Amazon introduces a website in a second language. It’s Amazon in Spanish: Amazon makes history.
Because this is the first time Amazon gave a Spanish website, at least in the USA. It’s a smart move, too. Did you know the US is the second biggest Spanish speaking country in the world? Mexico is the first. Did you also know there are over 41 million native Spanish speakers in the USA right now? That’s not counting the growing number of people who have Spanish as a second language.
So with this website, customers browse and shop in Spanish. Here’s how it work. Log into your Amazon account. Besides your name, an EN (English) and ES (Espanol). But if you want to switch to Spanish, just click ES. It’s just that easy. They just started the process. So one should wait a few weeks before Amazon in Spanish is complete. Also, if you’re also in Mexico or Spain, you can access Amazon in English. Of course, their Amazon websites are originally in Spanish.
There’s another reason why Amazon in Spanish makes history. Few major retail websites are doing so. In fact, I doubt any major website is. At best, they’ll have a local option. But Amazon is actually taking the first step to make this a reality. Okay, sometimes I think Amazon is too evasive and far reaching. It seems like they want to control every aspect of our lives. But I agree with this call. The IT support industry is getting more diverse in every way. Let’s use every tool we can to cater to this. Plus, other nations offer websites in several languages. The USA is just getting around to it. So we need to step it up. What other websites would you like to see be offered in another language? And what languages would you like to see?
