Jun 12, 2016 | Entertainment
Ever watch a TV show set in a city and ask, “How accurate do they portray a certain place? How accurate do they portray an industry?” How accurate does Breaking Bad portray New Mexico? How accurate does Empire portray the hip-hop industry? The question being asked is, “How real is TV show Silicon Valley?
If you ask most, Silicon Valley is scary accurate. Even Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel says the show is so accurate it’s not a comedy; it’s a documentary. Box co-founder Aaron Levie tweeted, “Good news: it’s accurate. Bad news: it’s accurate.” Was that the goal? Some even guess which character spoofs which Silicon Valley personality. Who would fictional Hooli founder Gavin Belson be? Marc Benioff, Larry Page and Larry Ellison are all viable candidates. And what about his eccentric rival and philosopher Peter Gregory? Could that be PayPal founder Peter Theil? Theil did put his money where his philosophy is. He stood by Hulk Hogan in a very high profile case. Who could Laurie Bream be? On the show, she’s a venture capitalist partner. She’s a woman in a male dominated Silicon Valley world. Maybe this is what makes her extremely cutthroat. Could this either be Mary Meeker, Marissa Meyer, or Ellen Pao? Could Laurie Bream be a combination of all three?
This is what makes Silicon Valley such a hit. Yes, the comedy is very good. But character accuracy is what makes the show relevant. Even real-life tech leaders ask, “Could that be me?” When I watch the show, I’m asking, “Hmmm. Could that be…”. Silicon Valley does a good job portraying personalities. It seems to do a good job integrating tech based events in story lines. It doesn’t blatantly do this. However, they take various issues going on in the tech world today and subtly incorporate them in the show? How accurate do you think this show is? Can you see yourself in Silicon Valley (I mean the TV show)?
Jun 11, 2016 | News
The war between ?Gawker Media and ?Peter Theil/Hulk Hogan is far from over. Gawker was order to pay Hogan $140 million in a civil lawsuit. Hogan got Theil’s help in this victory. But instead of paying, Gawker files for bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy was announced yesterday. Gawker Media’s owner Nick Denton has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That’s not all. Denton assures Gawker Media employees they’re going to fight the Theil/Hogan alliance. Gawker vows to fight while staying in business. Gawker’s bank leader Mark Patricof expects high bids while under chapter 11 protection. During the Hogan trial, Denton tried to estimate Gawker Media’s worth. He valued it at between $250-$300 million. That makes me wonder: Did Denton calculate a bankruptcy move regardless of the trial’s outcome? Publisher Ziff Davis put in an offer at $100 million. Ziff Davis owns tech based magazines like PC Mag. This mess all started in 2012. Gawker Media published pieces of a sex tape starring former WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and another man’s wife. Paypal founder Peter Theil financially backed Hogan’s case, paying for his lawyers. Theil believed Hogan’s privacy was violated. Theil also wanted retribution for years of what he called, “…bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest.”
Denton refuses to apologize or back down. He vows to fight the case and stay in business. This shows me what a dark soul Denton has. I’m not giving Hogan any moral medals here. But to promote a secret tape of a human being’s most intimate moments for profits is inexcusable. If regular people did that, they’d be in jail for sextortion, and rightfully so. But just because he’s running a media company, does that give Gawker Media the right to do it? I’m proud of Peter Theil for taking the side of right, no matter what the motives are. Gawker Media lost the case. Now they’re crying bankrupt. Are they really out of money? Or are they using bankruptcy to get out of paying Hogan his just due?
Jun 10, 2016 | Security
Twitter leaders told users their accounts were at risk. They announced a database with almost 33 million usernames and passwords may be at risk.
Twitter didn’t give the exact number of customers were notified. But it’s believed millions have been notified so far. Millions are changing their passwords. Twitter security officer Michael Coates is confident the database wasn’t stolen from Twitter’s computers. According to LeakedSource, this is more of a consumer issue than a Twitter issue. They believe information was collected from previously hacked computers, not from Twitter’s systems. There’s been an upswing in hacked twitter accounts lately. This week, Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter account was hacked. So was the National Football League’s. Hackers used that account to play a cruel hoax. That hoax was to announce NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had died. Don’t worry: Commissioner Goodell is alive and well. ?The year 2016 has been a crazy year for celebrity deaths; I see how this can be believable. A couple of days ago, even Twitter co-founder Even Williams was hacked. According to a German software company, criminals are using Twitter data to hijack the company’s customers. There is a suspicious alias named Tessa88@exploit.im going around. Some, like Hold Security LLC’s Alex Holden, suspect those behind this alias are hacking accounts. Then, they’re reselling the info on the black market.
Holden’s suspicions aren’t that far fetched. Hackers will sale your password and/or username for as little as five dollars. There’s a thriving underground market thriving like that. They don’t care whose information it is. Tech leaders and sports institutions are being hacked. That reminds us nobody is immune. Consumers have to be one step ahead of the hackers, if it’s possible. Don’t make your password too easy. Don’t make your username too easy. Change your password. The more often, the better. What else can we do to keep safe? What can suggest to tech companies to keep us safe?
Jun 9, 2016 | General
In various cities in the USA, Amazon delivers food to it’s customers. Amazon delivers fresh food in the United Kingdom.
Their competitors will be local supermarkets. Not many British tech companies or franchisers deliver groceries. Amazon Fresh offers delivery to over 130,000 homes in the greater London area. These include fresh produce, fresh bakery, and fresh dairy items. This is Amazon Fresh’s first grocery delivery service outside the US. Customers must be British Amazon Prime customers. The service will cost them an additional seven pounds a month (that’s about $10 US). The groceries have to cost over 40 pounds (that’s roughly $58 US). Amazon wants the grocery delivered in one hour of the order. Amazon VP Ajah Kavan is cautiously optimistic. Kavan knows UK has one of the most discriminating customer bases in the world. The bar is extremely high. Local British brand produce will be delivered. So will major global brands like Nestle, Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola. Deliveries will be made in paper-bags and chill-boxes. United Kingdom supermarket chains face pressure from online shoppers and dissatisfied customers. Have you heard the jokes and complaints about British food? British discount stores are doing well. That spells more competition for UK supermarkets. Amazon Fresh delivery services are in two UK cities: London and Manchester. Could it spread?
The supermarket chains better hope not. Amazon Fresh is great for elderly and disabled customers, and their caretakers. These are individuals who could use this service. But what about the rest of the people? Let’s say I were in the UK. Let’s say I were offered Amazon Fresh service. I wouldn’t accept it. That’s because I would want my local supermarket to do well. Yes, there are dissatisfied customers out there. Competition from Amazon Fresh should light a fire under grocers to do better. I hope it does. Besides, London has some of the world’s worst traffic. Good luck getting there in an hour. Besides, don’t we give Amazon enough money already?
Jun 8, 2016 | Computer technology
I’ve talked about robots running hotels. I’ve talked about robots nursing patients back to health. Now, we’re introducing HERB the robot. He’ll be tending your butler services.
HERB, or Home Exploring Robot Butler, was built at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. This robot is geared to help the elderly and disabled with independent living. HERB will do small task for the resident. This robot can put away books, wash dishes, set a table, clear a table, get food out of the refrigerator, and other daily tasks. Those working on HERB are excited about the human like tendencies.??As we move robots into the home, the robot must be able to operate in much less structured human environments,? said Jennifer King, one of HERB’s creators. As good as HERB is, they want him to do better (I can’t believe I’m calling a robot a him). For example, they want HERB to get food out of the fridge without breaking other items in the fridge. HERB’s software help him navigate such tasks. That’s why HERB isn’t ready to make his public debut. They want to help him be a better servant to other people. In other words, they want him to be more human.
On one hand, it’s a good sale. On the other hand, that’s the scary part. According to this new article, robots could replace half of all jobs by the 2030s. Surely you know about the $15 minimum wage debate. Fast food chain Wendy’s responded. They responded by replacing minimum wage earners with robots and kiosks. Plus, robots will make less errors than humans will. This is the trend I fear. They want to help the disabled and elderly. That’s a noble cause! Wouldn’t it be more noble to give a human being that job and pay him/her a decent wage? And what about those who work in the health care industry? Wouldn’t it be more noble to let human workers work?
Jun 7, 2016 | Smartphone
Smartphones can do just about anything today. With Siri, they can talk. With GPS, they can give you directions. They just can’t cook…yet. If Samsung can help it, smartphones will bend in 2017.
They’ll be able to bend, fold and put in your pocket or pocketbook. One of these new smartphone models will fold in half. Both models have organic light-embedding diodes. Sources in the know say these phones could be publicly accessible sometime in 2017. However, these sources insisted on remaining anonymous. One of these models will have a 5-inch screen set when folded. When unfolded, it passes as an 8-inch tablet. Samsung leads the development for new screen formats. They’re also OLED mobile panel’s biggest supporters. Samsung is also in a race with Apple, especially in the smartphone game. At Samsung headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, they’re very excited about this new development. So are international stock markets. Samsung shares from Tokyo to New York rose, thanks to this news. One of their manufacturers,?Murata Manufacturing Co., climbed nearly 5%. Some speculate the new smartphones will be revealed in February 2017. That month, Samsung will host the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain. One of the smartphones could be named ‘Note 7’. Samsung sent an e-mail addressing the rumors. They declined to comment.
This is why I hate speculation. There is so much secrecy. I respect they don’t want competitors like Apple to know what they’re doing. But it doesn’t make it any better. Let’s look at these sources who keep this secret. They’re keeping it secret because they don’t want to lose their jobs. I don’t know how much Note 7 will cost. I guess we’ll have to wait until February 2017. But we know this much. The rumors are already out there. The bloggers are already reporting. The world puts pressure on them. Samsung puts pressure on themselves. Will Samsung come through with the bend smartphone?
Jun 6, 2016 | internet, Security
Yes, even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has accounts in other social media outlets. Two of them, Twitter and Pinetrest, were hacked this past weekend.
An organization called OurMine Team claimed responsibility. Nobody has verified how the hacks took place. But it’s widely believed Linkedin massive password dump a few weeks ago. In May 2016, millions of passwords and other pieces of user information were somehow leaked. Linkedin contacted the hacked users and instructed them to reset their passwords. It’s easy to use the same password for different accounts, from emails to social media. Apparently, it’s easy for Mark Zuckerberg to use the same passwords. Twitter suspended Zuckerberg’s account almost immediately. They publicly announced that decision. ?It’s back up now. I don’t know how entertaining it’s going to be. He hasn’t used Twitter since early 2012. OurMine Team claimed Zuckerberg’s Instagram accounts were hacked. They were not. His Instagram account is intact. So is his Google accounts. A Facebook representative announced no Facebook account has been hacked.
Why am I telling you this? Mark Zuckerberg got hacked. Why should you even care? If you haven’t changed your Linkedin password, do it now! You don’t think Zuckerberg’s was the only one that was hacked, do you? It’s a good time to take stock on all your password accounts. If they’re too easy, like ‘qwerty’ or ‘password’ or ‘1234567’, then change them. Change them into something difficult and something that only you can remember. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the greatest tech giants of all-time. Think of all this man’s accolades. Yet, he got hacked. So if it can happen to him, don’t think it can’t happen to you. Some may say, “Well, he has credible information and wealth and power. Of course somebody is going to target him.” My answer to that is: Do you own a credit/debit card? Do you own an email account? Do you own a social media account of any kind? Do you live in the United States of America or other industrialized nation? Do you have easy access to a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone? If you answer yes to two or more of these questions, then you have credible information, wealth and power as well. Don’t you think you can be targeted as well?
Jun 5, 2016 | networking, News, Uncategorized
When CEO Brian Chesky created Airbnb in 2014, he wanted to create a space for all to belong. Airbnb is a network where people open their homes to travelers for a moderate nightly fee. But not everyone is feeling the love.
Airbnb came under scrutiny last week. An ugly incident of racial discrimination surfaced in North Carolina. A black guest had booked to stay at a white person’s home through Airbnb. When the homeowner discovered the guest was African-American, not only did the homeowner cancel the booking, but cyber bullied and taunted the guest with racist tweets. These tweets were so vile I won’t even quote them here. The guest reported the ugly incident to Airbnb. This particular homeowner lost his Airbnb hosting privileges. Chesky tweeted about the matter: “The incident in NC was disturbing and unacceptable. Racism and discrimination have no place on Airbnb. We have permanently banned this host.” Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated episode. According to a Harvard study, Airbnb guest with black sounding names were 16% less likely to have their booking accepted. One African-American guest tweeted, “Funny how the dates I request are always booked even when they say available.”
A woman named Khadijah planned a trip to California. She couldn’t find a home through Airbnb. Then, she used one of her white friend’s photo. Khadijah got a room very quick. I believe Chesky and other Airbmb leaders are genuine in their war against discrimination. Airbnb isn’t the problem. The problem is the human heart and soul of the host. That’s something no law or regulation can cure. If hotels and hostels discriminate on the basis of color, they can be sued or shut down real quick. That’s why I prefer hotels and hostels over Airbnb. As a black traveler, I don’t have to play guessing games with hotels and hostels. And it’s a shame when Khadijah has to pretend to be white just for someone to open their home to her. Should Airbnb be boycotted? Would a boycott even work?
Jun 4, 2016 | News, scam
What were you doing at age 16? At that age, most were getting their drivers licence, getting their first job, going to dances and house parties, dreaming of and preparing for their future. For one Fayetteville, NC teenager, the future might be a very bleak one.
Sixteen-year-old William Buie is facing 45 charges of sextortion, including 13 counts of first-degree sexual exploitation. The investigation took months. The Fayetteville/Cumberland County Sheriff’s office got an anonymous tip in February 2016. The tip claimed someone was coaxing juveniles into sexual acts through Instagram. According to local authorities and prosecutors, Buie had an Instagram account pretending to be a teenage female. They say he used that account to trick male students, mostly from his school. They say he would ask males for pictures. The teen males, thinking they were conversing with a female, would send such pictures. Allegedly, Buie got the pictures and demanded passwords. If he didn’t get them, he’d threaten to release the pictures to the community. According to WRAL news, a Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville area NBC affiliate, Buie would exchange the photos on gay websites. He was arrested Wed., June 1, after the police found overwhelming evidence on his computer and smart device. Buie is expected to be tried as an adult. If convicted, Buie could face a maximum of 20 years in prison. The victims will not be charged. This won’t go on their record as long as they stay out of legal trouble.
Let this be a cautionary tale, for potential victims and especially for plotting perpetrators. Don’t send nude or nearly nude photos online for any reason! I don’t care who is telling you to do it! How do you really know that person is who he/she says he is? Authorities say sextortion crimes are happening too often. That means they’re going to look harder for perpetrators. And ?when you’re caught, it won’t be a speeding ticket. You will be looking at many years in prison. I don’t know if William Buie is guilty or not. The courts will have to decide that. But look at the court of public opinion. Is this the kind of guy you’d want for an employee? Is this the kind of guy you’d want for a tenant? Is this the kind of guy you’d want in your social organization or at your church? Is this the kind of guy you want to patron your restaurant? Is this the kind of guy you’d want for a boyfriend or future husband? So is it worth it?
Jun 2, 2016 | internet
Which nations are Uber thriving in? What nations are best for Uber? You would probably say the United States, China, Germany, Canada. What about Saudi Arabia?
It’s not that far fetched. Uber announced it got $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It’s one of the all-time largest investments into a private owned business. Uber leaders are convinced the Middle East is a critical part of the company’s global expansion. Saudi Arabia would win too. Uber would help create jobs and reduce oil dependence. You never heard of Saudi Arabia making capital investments? That’s because they rarely do. This is how revolutionary this is. This investment was born in March 2016, when Uber leader David Plouffe visited the oil rich nation and the negotiating began. Now, the it’s official. Uber coming to Saudi Arabia may have a deeper meaning: the meaning of social justice. There is no legal law against women driving. But women drivers are strictly forbidden by religious customs. Uber didn’t say they would hire Saudi Arabian women drivers, but one spokesperson hinted they’d love to break that barrier. Around 80% of Uber Saudi Arabian customers are women. And the country wants to double women employment by 2030. Could female Uber drivers assists them in that goal?
This part of the world is really good to Uber. The Middle East has nearly 900,000 riders and nearly 20,000 drivers. Uber is now running in 69 countries. But in Saudi Arabia, Uber has a good opportunity to break centuries old social barriers. Once again, I’m reminded not every nation have the freedoms we virtually take for granted here in the US. But Uber can change that. Uber should start hiring women drivers in Saudi Arabia. I know it’s controversial for Saudi Arabia. Change usually is controversial. But you know what: It’s always worth it! Uber is one of the fastest growing and most powerful companies in the world. Shouldn’t they use this power to bring social justice and break barriers?
