Security of our Mobile Devices

It's a big event, one that every source of news desires, and has covered. The big scandal of the FBI asking Apple to decrypt an iPhone has raised many concerns. What would happen if the FBI had this ability to hack into any iPhone that they wanted to at will? What if they hack into my phone?

This is where I feel people have the wrong idea.  I'm not afraid of the FBI. I have nothing to hide, and therefor, I have nothing to hide from them. In all honestly, I think that the FBI should be allowed the data on that criminal's phone, as it could benefit the case, but for one thing. It's not exactly that the FBI has the ability to access data, but that there is a vulnerability in the decryption that might be leaked or figured out. There are plenty of people with malicious intents. It's not going to be the FBI that is stealing your credit card number and personal information, it's going to be someone looking to steal your identity.  The FBI are not the bad guys, It's just that having a way to access encrypted data might lead to a leak of information through malicious people.

Games That has Affected My Life the Most

Many games have affected me throughout my life, but there were a few that had a larger impact.

One game that had a large impact was just simply flash game. My sister must of learned about websites that had collections of flash games from school. Her and I would spend many hours browsing and playing these simple games. Nothing really specific, but it was just the fact of exposing me to the computer and computer games that it has significance long lasting affect on me.

Another game that had a large impact on me is Runescape. It was one of the first true games that I played. I was exposed to it in elementary school by some newly made friends. Through it, I meet a lot of other people at my school and made friends with them through the common interest of the game. It's something that filled a lot of my downtime in between homework and school for many years.  It's helped me pass a lot of time ever since, and has continually updated.

The True Meaning of Emojis?

Emojis have become a new hit way to further communicate. They can indicate someone's tone or emphasize what your saying. Sometimes people convey a whole messages only using emojis. It's something that seems so harmless, but recently, that has not been the case. For a 12 year old girl, her message of some words and emojis got her arrested. The message consisted of this.

"Killing 🔫

meet me in the library Tuesday

🔫 🔪 💣"

To me, I see this as a harmless joke between friends, but I can also see how it can be interpreted as a threat. The fact of the word "Killing" followed by guns, a knife, and a bomb, someone might this this is a threat. There is little evidence that could be used in court that could say that this was a joke. All someone who would glance at this without context would think this was a serious threat. This is a big problem emerging with technology. Is a text, tweet, or post that contains a potential threatening message a true threat, or simply a sarcastic remark? With text on a screen, we don't always get an accurate tone of the writer. Emojis are in the same boat in this case.

Interpretation is the whole problem with emojis. What do Emojis mean? There is not really a set definition for each Emoji, and someone could interpret the emoji differently depending on the context. One could see a ":P" as a playful tease, or as a hurtful jest depending on the context of it. The way the receiver of the emoji interpretes it may or may not be the way the author intended it to be.

For me in the 12 year old girl's shoes, I would of simply not posted that message. It's something that seems so simple, but it is a problem that plagues many. The fact that they post a message without thinking how this could impact someone, or how it could be interprate differently. We don't really know the full context of this girl's situation. She claims this was a response to bullying. If that is true or not, it's just simply not acceptable. 

Social media isn't bad, it's just not often used in a successful manner. It's a powerful tool that can have a positive impact. But it is a two edged sword that can also be used to harm others.

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Bluetooth Earbuds

It's something that I've seen many people come back to school after break with. It's seem like bluetooth earbuds are becoming a household object. It has a good reason too, I've used a pair for a few months and I have no reason to go back to a normal  pair of headphones.

First of all, They're light. At first when I purchased them online, I was concerned that the weight of them might make them feel awkward to wear. But when I first put them on, I could honestly feel no difference compared to a conventional pair of earbuds. They fit snug in my ears, and they also came with adjustable sizes if they didn't fit.

Another concern I had when I began to search for a pair was the price. A couple years ago, I thought that bluetooth earbuds would be a cool thing to use, and looked online to see if there was one I liked. After searching "bluetooth earbuds" in amazon, I was quickly dismayed. The price for a poor looking quality pair was $60+. To get a decent pair, I would of have to payed over $100. Additionally, there were only a few models that I could choose from. Now if you search, there are endless choices, usually ranging from $20-$40 with more expensive, higher quality options also available.

Overall, the further design of the earbuds, the lower price, and more companies producing them has lead to an increase of interest in this newer way to listen to your music.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality has recently hit the news through the growing popularity of the Oculus Rift and other similar devices. People are excited by the fact of this product developing into a new wave of virtual reality video games.  Games are already being designed in an attempt to emerge the player into the experience of it all. With the use of virtual reality devices, could games be designed so that the player can directly and physically interact with in it? 

This next level of interaction, or experience, though may seem distant, is a feasible idea. Having a game that has a complete level of immersion would take more than just a piece of hardware covering your eyes. You would need devices that are not only able to track your movements, but also stimulate the player with the proper responses to your action within the game. These devices are currently being designed and tested.

The Teslasuit is one idea to the thought of complete immersion. This wearable suit is designed with conductive cables within the fabric that has the ability to shock certain points of the wearer's body with a jolt of energy. This is an attempt to stimulate nerves to simulate being hit by bullets or basic interactions with objects. The creators also boast that they plan to implement the ability to simulate temperature and weather with the suit.

Though completely far out product, the idea is there. If simulated response is there, what about physically controlling the game? The Virtuix Omni is one answer to that solution. Basically a infinite 360 degree treadmill, this platform allows you to control your game by physically walking or running, and rotating yourself. It's a really cool idea, that has a working model, and the company is looking at starting to sell units to the public.

This is all a interesting concept, creating a completely immersive gaming experience. One problem though is the initial price.  Buying these products when they are released to the public is going to set you back thousands of dollars. Only a select group of people are going to be able to buy these products. This will lead to video game designers to put this new control on the backburner, as only a few people would be able to use this control method. 

It looks better for devices like virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift, as it will only set you back a couple hundred dollars. More people will have access to this, and developers would be more likely to design their game with Oculus Rift compatibility.

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Automated Jobs

Sometimes, when you're in a rush, you end up parking somewhere you should not have. A cop will come by and write you a ticket along with all the other cars parked illegally beside you. Sometimes, you might get a ticket, when you couldn't even understand that you were not allowed to park there. You could go and get legal help, but that itself would cost more than the fine, at least until now.

Joshua Browder, a 19 year old programer, has created bot to help you appeal your parking tickets in the UK. Visiting the website, the bot will prompt you will easy questions to get a handle on the situation. It will then start to ask more specific questions to try to figure out if there was something that could make your fine be appealed. It will then create you an appeal letter which you can print out, sign, and send to court. This process has apparently successfully appealed 3 million dollars worth of parking tickets. An impressive number to boast, but is there any concern with this automated attorney? 

It is safe to say that lawyers should not be afraid of losing their jobs to automated bots like Joshua's. Bots like this one only are able to perform simple jobs like this. They can file a claim, but they can't pick up a case and argue it for a client in court. This leads us on an interesting topic though, is there jobs that are being threaten by automated methods of technology?

In the past, there has been many applications of technology that has significantly reduced the amount of manpower needed. Some that come to my mind right away include farming with the use of massive machines, and factories with automated assembly lines. One of the next jobs that could be automated is driving. 

With the recent boom in self driving cars, jobs like taxi drivers, truck drivers, and bus drivers could be threatened. Recent tests have proven that self driving cars are safe out on the road, but that doesn't mean that everyone will accept that. For automated driving to become an everyday thing, first everyone has to accept it. I know that many people already resent the ever increasing power of technology, and would be deathly afraid at the thought of a fleet of self driving cars out on the streets. There are other people who are just concerned at the thought of computer driven cars.  There are dangers, but with time comes improvement. This technology has been developed for over 10 years, and continues to improve. 

To me, I almost would trust a computer of a human driver. A computer is never distracted. A computer is never tempted to look down or away because of a cell phone. A computer wouldn't turn around to scold their noisy children.  A computer solves all these human problems that create thousands of accidents every day.

The application of automated driving will need more time to be transferred to a truck or bus, but if the public accepts the idea of the upcoming self driving fleet, the process is sure to speed up, with companies looking to increase their profits from running these operations. 

Another area threatened by automation is currently underway of getting replaced. With the recent cry for increased minimum wage, and the response to increase in, food chains like McDonald's who have to comply with these new laws, have simply replaced the man with a machine instead of increasing their pay. They have started to introduce automated cashiers that will take your order and send it back to the kitchen. In a way, this is a much more efficient way of handling the hordes of hungry who are eager to get their Big Mac. Once over the initial investment of touchscreens and computers, these machines will easily save McDonald's a large sum.

The replacement of jobs isn't a complete terror of the night, as it also creates many new jobs.  Machines need to first be created. Code has to be written. The machine has to be installed. Afterwards, the machine has to maintained and eventually updated. It creates a whole new job market that needs to be filled by people with talent. Programmers, designers, manufacturers, IT staff are all required in this continuous process of automation.

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The next iPhone

A new year means new phones. We have many interesting phones that are coming out in 2016, but right now, the new phone that has been making news is the iPhone 7. Most of what we know hasn't been directly confirmed, but we can assume that it will be included in the next Apple phone. We've heard of a new alloy of aluminum, a bendable display, and no headphone jack.  The first two are solid improvement so that as the phone gets thinner, the phone won't bend and break, but what has shocked many is that the iPhone 7 won't have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is standard in just about everything.

When I first heard about this, I was reminded of a situation similar to this a few years ago. If any of you have an older Apple product, you use a different cord to charge your device. This 30 pin cable was standard when Apple started making the iPod touch and the iPhone. When the iPhone 5 was announced, there was an outrage by the community about the different port for charging. They would have to buy new cables and docks if they wanted to buy the next iPhone. When the phone was released, people still bought it and bought new accessories for it. Over time this fit was completely forgot about as the lightning port became the new Apple standard.

From the designer's standpoint, and where they wanted to take the phone, a smaller port was needed. The change saved a lot of room, and also made some money for Apple as people bought new accessories from their store. The same thing can be said $with the headphone jack. That's a lot of room that could be used otherwise.

What is expected, is that you'll use the lightning port to listen to your phone. This either means new earbuds, adapters, or Bluetooth. Because of Bluetooth though, I feel like the change isn't as big. Yes you won't be able to carry around one pair of headphones and listen to everything, but if you're like the growing number of people who use Bluetooth headphones, then you will be just fine with the switch.

New Theater Entertainment

Cinemas use to be a location where the source of entertainment came from the movies shown. You would go in, buy overpriced popcorn and drinks and then sit down for a couple hours watching that new hit film. Now films are not the only product that cinemas are showing off.

Esports have become a big thing.  Games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter Strike to name a few all have big competitions with even bigger rewards. Many people tune in or go to watch the competition. Teams are forums and practice just like any other team of any other sport does. Something new, Super League Gaming, was founded in an attempt to bring esport like competitions to a more friendly competition in a local setting.

After buying a ticket from a participating theater, you show up with a laptop, and ready to play the current choice of game, Minecraft.  They chose Minecraft as one of the first games to try out because being one of the most popular games, it had the ability to attract a large amount of people from a large range of ages.  Additionally, the game could be easily modified for Super League’s purpose. Showing up, the event starts off with some casual building on your own plot. It then moves to a version of Hunger Games in Minecraft.

The reason for the theater, besides a common location is the main screen.  Displayed on the screen is a spectators view showing off the current game, along with an overlay that has a current leader board.  Spectators in the theater can watch the current game, and players can look up to get a third person view of the game.

To me the idea is amazing.  Movie theaters are looking for additional ways to make a profit, and this is their solution.  Hosting games and competitions would attract many people. It wouldn’t have to just be Minecraft.  The creators of Super League Gaming have said themselves that they’re looking into other games that they could host, League of Legends mentioned specifically.

I find that there is a lot of room for improvement for Super League’s current setup. Right now, this is only offered in a select few locations and theaters.  This is to be expected, as this is a new idea with need of testing the market. To be practical though, this needs to be offered in the future at more movie theaters.  Additionally, there is little reason for someone to go pay a lot of money to play in a theater when you can sit at home and do the same thing. There needs to be a beneficial reason to why someone needs to go to the theater to do this.

Either way, next time you go to the theater, you might not be paying to watch a movie, but instead bringing your laptop to play some games with your friends. If you’re interested, more information can be found at their website.

https://superleague.com/

Out With The Old, In With The New

For me, communication is key. To keep in touch with my group of friends, we’ve gotten into a habit of communicating through the internet instead of texting. Therefor, instant messaging has been very important to me. We started off using skype, a common program that most everyone has heard of.  It was great, it allowed us to message each other in a group room, and also voice chat with each other. As years passed by, Microsoft updated skype. These updates added few features, and was mostly just cosmetic changes, that also came with poor performance.  Eventually, we started searching for an alternative. We tried Google hangouts, a decent alternative, but we couldn’t get everyone to agree. It had a nice web client and app, but it didn’t have a solid program.  Teamspeak was nice, and included some features that the previous programs didn’t have, but required a monthly payment if we wanted a private server.  Then came Discord.

A few months ago, a group of games undergoing the same search as my group of friends and I, decided to stop looking and create their own solution instead. They created a premium looking product, that doesn’t require a purchase to use, or unlock any features.  It runs smoothly, and doesn’t burden your computer. The mobile app is also up to date, and doesn’t slow down your device.  It’s been something that I’ve come to rely on as a replacement to Skype.

Similar to Teamspeak, you are able to create servers, where you can invite people to. You have access to permissions where you can choose who has the ability to do what. You have the ability to create multiple text and voice channels.  A cool new feature though is the ability to sync your youtube and twitch accounts. You can give special permissions to subscribers automatically when they join your server with their discord account synced to their twitch or youtube account. This allows subscribers to have a direct form of communication with the streamer. I’ve seen a lot more twitch streamers recently using this feature to their benefit.  

One of the coolest features is an overlay. Discord being designed for gamers, understands that most of the time, users will be playing a game. Instead of tabbing out to, Discord is developing an overlay that will allow you to continue to chat while ingame. It’s currently being tested, and Discord itself is more in a beta position, but it’s functional, looks nice, and is one of the best instant messaging programs out there right now.

Are Modular Phones The Next Big Thing?

http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2015/10/fairphone-2-hands-on-modular-phones-are-finally-here/

Replacing a phone is a common thing. Most phones are designed to only be used for a few years before being replaced by the next model. Companies are cranking out new models almost every year just to keep up with the demand, and people continue to upgrade. What if we didn't have to buy a new phone every few years? Something that is big in the PC gaming community is the fact that you don't have to buy a whole new desktop just to upgrade your computer. All you have to do is buy a new part and replace it. What if this process was possible for phones? This is where module phones come in.

Module phones is a realitivly new concept that is only about a year old. Even though so young, concepts have been developed by 3rd party phone manufacturers, and most recently discovered that, Google. The concept of simply buying a better camera or a larger capacity battery sounds fantastic to me over simply buying a new phone.


Good things for the module phone idea:

1: You can design the phone.

For someone like me who is often on a small budget, this is like an answer from the heavens. I would be able to design my own smartphone, just like I can for a computer. I could concisely sacrifice some areas of the phone to buy better preforming parts in other areas of the phone.

2. Large selection of Parts available.

3. Cheap upgrades

Potential bad things:

1. Not enough manufacturers of different parts.

2. Software disaster.

3. Software updates?


Overall, I love the idea, but have doubts of it actually going anywhere far. If the first few module phones are successful, then there is future hope for it. If they get little sales, there is no hope for them in the future.

Dyson Spheres: The Source of Future Power

Taking a look into humankind's future looks bright. With advancing technology, the sky's the limit. But being that bright and soaring in the sky will all require power. Currently we depend on mostly fossil fuels, which is a concern for many. Many countries have started looking into alternative sources of power such as solar, wind, and hydro power. Also nuclear energy has been expanded on, making it more efficient, and safer to use. Though we have many great sources of power on Earth, it's not near enough for the far future.

By far into the future, I'm talking about intergalactic space travel. A lot of focus has been put into space travel and colonization of other planets.  Not so far into the future we might be mining and collecting resources on other bodies in our solar system. All this travel will require some form of power. Lets face it, as the human civilization expand, we will need even increasingly amounts of power. At some point we'll surpass what is capable on earth, and will look out to some other source of power. Something in that sort has been devised to collect almost all the energy available in the solar system.

Here comes in the Dyson Sphere. No it's not a vacuum, but it is inside of one. A dyson sphere is in some sense a solar panel on an extreme scale.  It's something that would surround an entire star in order to collect all of the light energy that the star is releasing. Now currently, this is an impossible engineering feat for us today, but potential something we could do right now would be a dyson swarm.

A dyson swarm is a ring of objects with photogenic cells orbiting the sun. We could continue to construct rings to form a more net like pattern. This could produce ridiculous amounts of power compared to what we have on earth if we could device a way to transmit the power.

YouTube Sponsorships

It's something I've noticed that has became a big thing recently. Youtubers have outreached to their communities through the means of promotions and giveaways.  Some people view this action as greedy, only doing it for the added benefit of attracting more subscribers, there for money. Other people view it as greatful, an added benifit of being subscribed to said channel, having a chance to win some some sweet loot.

Though I agree with theses views, as they can apply depending on the situation, and how the Youtuber deals with said giveaways and promotions. But if you take a step back, and look at the big picture, you'll see a mutual relationship between the Youtuber, company, and viewers.

YouTube is typically entertainment. A lot of people go online to YouTube and watch entertaining videos to pass time. In the process you'll watch an ad in front of some videos. This ad revenue is split between Google and the video's creator.  A lot of people have quit their jobs and started doing YouTube "full time" as they're able to live off the money they get from their views.

Content creators are always after more viewers, as overtime people might lose interest and stop watching some YouTubers. Gaining more viewers can be hard.  Companies are always looking for bigger profits, and to expand their markets. Advertising can become expensive, but some companies have taken noticed of the popularity of YouTube, and have struck deals with some Youtubers. They get to host giveaways of a companies product. The Youtubers will generally gain more viewers as people come in for the giveaway and notice the contents on the channel. Companies get extremely cheap advertising to hundreds of thousands of people who have interests in the products they sell. And views get the opportunity to win free stuff.