The US is slipping, again. By now, it should be no secret we’re woefully behind in education. We’re behind in?health care. Not only that, our rivals are better programmers and hackers than we are. Far better.
The United States ranked #28 when it comes to computer programming. Our rivals take the top spot. China possesses the most talented computer developers in the world. Russia comes in at a strong second. You won’t believe this, but Poland comes in third. And this comes from a California based report. The report is courtesy of HackerRank. HackerRank conducts computer and developing tests around the world. Their community consists of approximately 1.5 million developers. This community constantly challenges each other to better their computer skills. They used such challenges for country rankings and developers’ quality. Chinese programmers are the best at math and data structure. Russian hackers are the best at algorithms. Other nations that surpass us aren’t surprising: Germany, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Some results are absolutely shocking? Even Chile surpassed us?
Many tech based businesses were founded here and/or have headquarters here. The Silicon Valley alone has some of the best technological minds that ever lived. However, even many of their computer parts are made in China. Look at the tight relationship between Apple and China. But that’s not what disturbs me about this trend. What disturbs me is the volatile relationships between the US and Russia/China. How many reports have a read about the Chinese government hacking the US? How many times have I read about Russia hacking the US? They rank number one and two in computer programming. What if they severely hack us and take secrets they can use against us? Yet we’re only #28 in computer programming. How will we defend ourselves? How will we strike back if we need to? What do we Americans do to improve our computer programming status? Should we teach computer programming at earlier grades?
The year 2016 hasn’t been good for the European Union (EU). Great Britain votes to leave. The EU and NATO are embroiled in a tense stand-off with Russia. Now they’re fighting with tech giant Apple. The EU orders Apple to pay billions to Ireland in taxes.
Apple is ordered to pay 13 billion Euros. That’s the equivalent to $14.5 billion. ?The EU courts ruled Apple conducted a scheme to route profits through Ireland. They ruled this scheme was illegal. Apple and Ireland plan to appeal the decision. One EU official says Ireland gave Apple illegal tax benefits. This enabled Apple to pay less taxes than other businesses, despite Apple being one of the richest companies in the world. For example, the 13 billion Euros is only 6% of the cash flow Apple has. Ireland’s Finance Minister Micheal Noonan plans to fight the EU’s allegations. This goes deeper than money. Noonan is fighting for the integrity of Ireland’s tax system. The EU accused Ireland of ‘reverse engineering’. This assured Ireland paid few taxes to guarantee employment. Apple employs 5,500 in Cork, Ireland, the nation’s third largest city. Apple is the second largest employer in Cork, next to government.
Ireland’s low income tax has lured businesses to Ireland for many years. It’s the reason why Ireland has one of the best economies in Europe. Even when other European nations are falling apart economically, politically, and socially, Ireland still thrives. This is why I question the European Union’s motives here. From what I read, Apple has done nothing but good for Ireland. They have provided good jobs, good income, and turned Cork into a prosperous, European Apple hub. What’s wrong with that? Hardly anybody in Ireland, from government officials to civilians, is complaining. Is the EU so strapped for cash they’re extorting companies for billions? And they wonder why nations want to succeed from the EU. Can’t they just let the nations rule? Does the EU really want justice? Or does the EU want to impose their will?
Last month, I reported on the cyber trolling woes of Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones. Now, those woes worsen. Leslie Jones is cyber trolled again.
This time it’s far more serious. Hackers broke into her website and leaked nude photos of her. They hacked into her Tumblr account and took the photos from her iCloud. It didn’t stop there. They posted her drivers license, passport, phone number, and other personal information of Jones’. They put images of Harambe, the dead gorilla, posing with her and other celebrities. Please believe such images were photo-shopped. Since late July, Jones has been the victim of vicious cyber racist and sexist attacks. ?Jones’ website, JustLeslie.com, is now defunct. Jones just got back from Rio as a guest social media commentator for the Olympics. ?So far, neither Jones nor her people have responded to the latest round of cyber attacks and hack. Many speak out on her behalf. Ghostbusters director Paul Feig tweeted, “What’s happening to is an outrage.” Even Milo Yiannopulous, who was banned from Twitter for allegedly harassing Leslie Jones, now sympathies with her. He expressed distress and wishes her the best during this upsetting time.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time celebrity nude photos were released without their knowledge or approval. In 2014, nearly 500 celebrity photos, most of them nude, were hacked and leaked to the public. Only one person was arrested for this crime. Their lies part of the problem. Few people are being caught and prosecuted for this. If people feel they can get away with it, they’re going to keep doing it. We have to strengthen our laws and efforts to catch these crooks. This should be the happiest year in Leslie Jones’ life. She has a spot on the historic Saturday Night Live. She’s a star of a major motion picture. She landed a gig covering the Olympics. She’s one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood today. She should be living the American dream. But because of these trolls, bullies and hackers, Leslie Jones’ American dream has become an American nightmare. The nightmare seems to have no end in sight. Is this our new normalcy (I hope not!)?
In 2014, Facebook launched a feature called ‘safety check‘. Let’s say an emergency breaks out in someone’s hometown. The person can check in to let his/her Facebook friends know they’re okay. Facebook ‘safety check’ is activated again.
During the overnight hours, a 6.2 earthquake hit central Italy. The hardest hit regions were the Lazio, Marche and Abruzzo regions in the Apennine Mountains. This is about 80 miles northeast of Rome, but the city of Rome felt the quake. As of this writing, the earthquake caused at least 73 confirmed deaths. Over 150 are still missing. Thousands of families are left homeless. As I write this, rescue workers struggle around the clock to pull survivors out of the rubble. The hardest hit town was Amatrice. The small town of 2,600 was so devastated the town mayor said, “The town isn’t here anymore. I believe the [death] toll will rise.” One witness called the scene ‘apocalyptic’. Pope Francis calls the quake, ‘heartbreaking’. This part of Italy is also popular with tourists, especially during the height of the summer travel season. That business is gone. However, tourist revenue is the last issue on their minds right now. The US Embassy urges Americans to stay away from the earthquake zone.
Facebook safety check has helped in disasters before. They were there during the Nepal earthquake last year, the terrorist attack in Paris during November 2015, and ?after the Orlando mass shooting in June 2016. They’ll be there for this Italy earthquake. If you know someone in the hard hit area, use Facebook check to check on their well being. If you are in these hard hit areas, use Facebook check to alert your loved ones. However, the communications might be heavily affected. If they are, keep trying until you get through. Facebook’s ‘safety check’ is a good tool to use right now. Do you have this feature on your device? You never know when you might need it.
Twitter suspended 235,000 accounts believed to promote terrorism and/or extremist causes. This accounts were suspended over a six month period. Twitter began their anti-terrorism campaign in summer 2015. Since then, over 360,000 Twitter accounts were suspended. A Twitter spokesperson issued this statement: “We…remain committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform.” Twitter has a strict anti-terrorism policy and it’s enforced with authority. Suspensions have gone up 80% since last year. That’s because Twitter has cracked down over such extreme speech and promotion of violence and terror. As Twitter grows it’s teams of reporting extreme tweets, reports are dealt with quicker. They also work with other social media businesses and activist groups to fight online terrorism and extremism. This is a tremendous step in fighting this good step. But some activists say more needs to be done.
Some activists worry online terrorists can get to potential victims in other ways. For instance, they could publish personal information, like emails, phone numbers, addresses, credit/debit card numbers, and anything they wish to. They could use this information to fleece people’s finances, or worse, hunt people down and do the unthinkable. Some wonder how this could interfere with free speech. I’m a huge advocate for free speech and First Amendment rights. Twitter does a good job of keeping people safe without compromising people’s freedoms. I’m a advocate for personal responsibility. If thugs use Twitter to promote murder, bombings, or destruction, then they don’t need to be on Twitter. If someone makes such threats in the real world, they can be arrested and prosecuted for those threats. Same thing on social media. I love Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweet segments. I’m not about political correctness or sensitivity at all. But look at all the terrorist attacks we’ve had in July 2016 and August 2016 alone. Why give these thugs a free platform? Do you think Twitter’s anti-terrorism rules compromise free speech?
A couple of ?years ago, NFL star Ray Rice was disgraced. Surveillance cameras saw him punch his girlfriend. Now, a Silicon Valley leader faces prison. What this leader did was far worse than Rice.
The Silicon Valley leader’s name is?Gurbaksh Chahal. Surveillance caught Chahal punching and kicking his girlfriend 117 times in a row. Then, he smothered her with a pillow yelling, “I’m going to kill you!”. This happened three years ago. Chahal only got probation. The judge wouldn’t allow the footage to be shown in court. The following year, Chahal got in more legal trouble for beating another girlfriend, but the girlfriend wouldn’t cooperate. Chahal got off easy again. But another judge allowed prosecutors to use the 2013 image. This is to prove Chahal violated his probation. It worked. Chahal’s sentencing date is August 12, 2016. He could face up to 24 months in prison. If you’re not familiar with Gurbaksh Chahal, his tech record is as impressive as anybody in Silicon Valley. He founded ad company Click Agent as a teenager. At 18, he sold it for $40 million. He sold his second ad company Blue Lithium for $300 million. Men’s Health declared him one of the fittest guys in America. Celebrity news show Extra! declared him one of the most eligible bachelors. He’s even posed pictures with President Barack Obama.
For years, many people, especially victims’ rights advocates, have demanded real justice, not just a slap on the wrist. Come August 12, they might get it. I hope Chahal gets the maximum sentence. I’m sick of the rich and famous thinking they can get away with literally anything. Chahal needs to be made an example out of. Though I hope justice is served, let’s not forget: this is a tragedy. This is a man that did so much and received so much accolades at such a young age. Now, he has thrown it away. Even if he doesn’t see prison, Chahal will never be looked at the same again. Like Ray Rice, the cloud of domestic violence will follow him for the rest of his life. That’s the tragedy. Will Chahal face real justice this time?
