Not too long ago, a Tesla driver and passenger in Canada were caught sleeping while the car was self-driving with a speed of over 90 mph on a highway. The occupied front seats were fully reclined, meaning neither the driver or the passenger would be in the ready position to take over control of the car if something went wrong. An article by The Verge states that “officers began to pursue the vehicle with their emergency lights flashing, at which point the vehicle ‘automatically began to accelerate’” (Hawkins). This seems extremely dangerous and if I were in the car, I know I would be terrified. According to an article by BBC News, “Tesla cars currently operate at a level-two Autopilot, which requires the driver to remain alert and ready to act, with hands on the wheel” (BBC). If the system doesn’t sense any hands on the steering wheel, it is supposed to disable itself. Therefore, either the system had issues or the owner must have found a trick to keep Autopilot working. An example from the past was to “wedge an orange against the wheel to simulate the pressure of a human hand” (Hawkins). It’s so strange to me how both the driver and passenger in this case were willing to trust the car with their lives when its system can be so easily fooled or have problems with functioning properly. 

This brings up questions about how safe Tesla cars really are. I believe that in any self-driving car, there should always be an experienced driver that’s ready to take the wheel if something goes wrong. The idea of being able to do whatever you want, like sleeping, while a car does all the driving for you would definitely be cool, but as of right now, it is clearly not safe to put all your trust into a self-driving car. 

Sources: 

https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/18/21445168/tesla-driver-sleeping-police-charged-canada-autopilot

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54197344

1. (Terms of Service) – What is the minimum age to use WeChat? In other words, how old must a user be to use WeChat?  If under 18, who must agree to the Terms of Service?

The minimum age is 13 and if they are under 18 their parent or legal guardian must agree to the terms of service

2) (Terms of Service) – Is WeChat required to notify you of changes to the Terms of Service? If not required, are users bound by the revised Terms?

No, they are only going to notify if they find it “reasonably material” and yes users are bound to the revised changes.

3) (Terms of Service) – Can WeChat and their affiliates use your content to promote WeChat services worldwide?  If so, are you entitled to any financial compensation for use of your content?

Yes, they can and no you’re not entitled to any financial compensation.

4) (Terms of Service) – As a user, are you guaranteed that WeChat will delete Your Content upon request?  Can anyone continue to store your content?

If you seek to delete content, it will take a little while to process the request. And they also cannot control third parties or anyone else who stores your content.

5) (Terms of Service) – Is WeChat responsible for or liable for any third-party software or services made available to you through WeChat?

No, they are not because they do not endorse or support third parties.

6) (Terms of Service) – What is the maximum financial liability for WeChat (in $USD)?

You will be returned the amount of money that you have paid to use iChat in the last 6 months and also an extra $100.

7) (Privacy Policy) – List the two locations where WeChat servers are located.

Canada and Hong Kong both have WeChat servers.

8) (Privacy Policy) – What is the minimum age to use WeChat?  Is this age the same as the age listed in the Terms of Service?

Yes, the minimum age is still 13.

9) (Privacy Policy) – How does WeChat define “Log Data”?  In other words, what does “Log Data” include?

Log data is defined as information that they automatically collect when using WeChat This can include cookies, web beacons, log files, eTAGS etc.

10) (Privacy Policy) – How long is Metadata / Log Data retained?

It is retained for 3 months.

11) (CCPA) – For California residents who request that WeChat delete personal information, how long will it take WeChat to fulfill the verified request?

They aim to fulfill all requests in 45 days, but they can add an extra 45 days with reasonable explanation

12) (CCPA) – Based on your review, provide a summary indicating whether you believe WeChat complies with the CCPA.

No, I do not think it does. The age requirements vary for both documents and also the CCPA explicitly states how we have a right to delete or opt out of sharing personal information and WeChat stores that data and it could be potentially in the hands of third parties because they would not be held liable for that.

On Wednesday afternoon, Playstation held an event where they showcased some of the new games coming to their new console, the PS5, as well as the release date and price. The new console will release on November 12 in select countries (US and Canada included), and November 19 to the rest of the world. There are two different editions of the PS5, the regular PS5 (disc compatible), which will cost $499.99, and the PS5 digital edition, $399.99. Most players, such as myself, will likely opt for the digital edition, as we already download all of our games from the Playstation Store and it is $100 cheaper than the disc version. It will be interesting to see how the PS5 and the Xbox Series X do against each other, when it comes to sales, but I guess we will find out in November.

https://www.gamesradar.com/ps5-showcase-event-every-trailer-and-announcement-from-the-show/

Apple introduced new apple watches, iPads, and subscription services in their annual September product launch. This year is quite different than others though, because there was no announcement of a new version of their best selling product, the iPhones. It was mentioned that the new device is delayed until October.

The introduction of their iOS 14 was made on Tuesday as well. This is their software for the mobile operating system. iOS 14 will be available for all products on Wednesday. The iOS updates routinely include new features, bug fixes, and advancements in the operating system.

The Series 6 Apple Watch has new features including two different versions of the physical watch. they are launching an “SE” version of the watch which is a slower but is also over $100 cheaper than the standard version. There are new features added to the Series 6, such as a brighter display, a faster processing chip, and even new blood oxygen level  tracking technology.  The new watches will be available on Friday.

The iPad is another Apple product that is getting a few upgrades in 2020. The major adjustments including the FaceID feature. Additionally, the iPad is converting from the current Lighting Cable charging cord, which most all other apple products are using, to the universal USB-C Cable.

Apple is one of the top tech companies nationwide and their continued technological advancements are always admired by the tech industry. It is always very interesting to tune into their launch in mid-september and see how they have out done themselves from the year prior.

source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/09/15/apple-event-2020-watch-ipad-announcements/5798048002/

Back in July, President Trump announced his intentions to ban the popular app, TikTok, in the United States, giving the company an ultimatum to sell by September 15th. It had long been rumored that tech giant, Microsoft, would buy the app, but TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance decided to go with another offer. On Sunday, with just two days to go before President Trump’s deadline, ByteDance reached an agreement (in principle) with Oracle to take over the app’s U.S. operations. What this means for the app’s future still remains to be seen, but to me, this seems like this could be a step in the right direction.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/tiktok-reaches-deal-oracle-n1238454?cid=eml_mrd_20200914&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20Rundown%20Sep%2014%2C%202020

Two years ago Microsoft placed a cylinder-shaped data container into the ocean. Interestingly enough, after being extracted from the sea only “eight out of the 855 servers on board had failed” (Cellan-Jones). Ben Cutler, who is leading the project compares the situation with the typical data center on land. Cutler states, “‘Our failure rate in the water is one-eighth of what we see on land.'” Analysts at Microsoft believe this “greater reliability” may be related to the lack of humans on board the data center and that nitrogen was being pumped into the capsule as opposed to oxygen. Likewise, the experiment is projected to make storing data more sustainable as “All of Orkney’s electricity comes from wind and solar power” (Cellan-Jones). Orkney, an archipelago off the coast of Scotland, was the location chosen for the experiment due to its energy practices.

Ultimately, I believe Microsoft is heading in the right direction with this project. With data optimization and data storage being increasingly important moving forward, Microsoft is getting ahead of the curve. I thought it was extremely interesting how the project, even though underwater, was actually more efficient and had fewer failures than a conventional data center. If these underwater centers turn out to have long term success, it could change the way data is stored forever. Likewise, with climate change becoming a larger problem, more sustainable centers will help with the increasing need for storage and cloud optimization. However, I do have one obvious concern for underwater data centers. If water manages to get into the base, that could ruin the storage servers inside. For this reason, I believe space could be a good place for data centers moving forward by utilizing satellites to serve as capsules for servers.

Overall, I am curious to see if Microsoft continues to create more underwater databases in the future. However, I could also see companies placing data centers into space for further optimization if problems arise.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54146718

YouTube, a Google-owned company, has announced a new “short-form video feature” platform called Shorts. Shorts is essentially Google’s attempt to compete with the popular app TikTok. YouTube released a statement declaring the app allows “social media creators to ‘shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones'” (Yurieff). YouTube plans to test the platform by releasing a beta version of the app in India. Earlier this year, TikTok was banned in the country due to a posed threat upon “sovereignty and integrity” (Yurieff). India has been looking for a replacement platform for TikTok for months, as the app was banned in late June.

I am very interested to see how Shorts develops over the next several months. We learned in class that google can have access to a lot of individual private information. I am curious if other countries will investigate how Shorts gathers data about their users, and how that information is used. However, since the platform is associated with YouTube, I believe more countries worldwide will have less suspicion about privacy violations as YouTube has been used universally since its creation in 2005. Likewise, I am interested to see if Google will implement some method of synching Shorts to YouTube. This may be a technique that Google uses to persuade current TikTok users to switch over to Shorts in the near future.

Overall, I believe Google is attempting to take advantage of TikTok’s controversy in order to develop a user base, especially by deciding to beta test in a country like India. It will be fascinating to watch how the country monitors this app during the early stages of beta testing; however, I do not believe a Google-owned platform will have as many issues as TikTok did with its parent company ByteDance.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/tech/youtube-shorts-tiktok-india/index.html

While Apple’s and other tech giants marketplace practices have been criticized for years, never have they been under as much scrutiny as now. Only another behemoth of a company could even think to take Apple on so there is none better than Epic Games to take up the fight.

This all started with a spitfire of tweets spanning months from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, expressing his discontent with Apple and their “monopolistic” policies. He even spoke to a couple media outlets including The Washington Post and even appeared on CNBC. Most of his discontent was focused on the 30% fee that Apple takes from every purchase made on their platform, which includes any in-app purchases. Sweeney said this policy, which other platforms like the Google Play Store share, is anti-competitive, exploitative, and unfair.

The culmination of all the Tweets was a bold move from Epic Games with their massively popular game Fortnite. Fortnite is one of the most downloaded and played games in the world and generates billions of dollars for Epic Games. Even though the game is free, they make their money through micro-transactions in the form of “V-Bucks”, an in-game currency used to purchase cosmetic items. Now, considering the App Store’s policy, Apple is taking 30% of every single micro-transaction that happens through Fortnite on iPhones and iPads. So, what did Epic Games do? They added a new payment option in the app that would allow players to use an outside payment account to get around the App Store’s fees. And to top it off, Epic Games gave players a 20% discount if they made purchases using this new method. An absolutely genius move for making the statement they desired.

Obviously this was a direct shot at Apple and their policies, but Apple wouldn’t go down that easy. The same day that Epic Games made this move, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store. A shocking and groundbreaking move, considering the popularity of Fortnite. But Epic saw this coming, and immediately filed a law suit against Apple. And to really stick it to them, Epic had made an In-game event that showed a parody video of Apple’s famous 1984 Macintosh commercial, which flipped the script on Apple. Epic had a fully fleshed out plan, with tweets, hashtags, in-game events, merchandise, and live streams to make Apple the bad guy and use the popularity of Fortnite to their advantage.

Now, their have been weeks worth of back and forth statements, including Apple rescinding Epic Games developer license which would have affected all games that they developed, but a judge blocked this move. Microsoft couldn’t sit on the sidelines, so they came out in support of Epic’s moves and called out Apple’s practices. there’s a long road ahead for this battle, but either way this can hopefully only benefit the consumer and lead to less monopolistic practices.

Sources: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/epic-games-vs-apple/

“Citizen” has been an app by which people can be alerted about unofficial neighborhood crimes. But, recently, this app partnered with Los Angeles County, launching the contact-tracing app called “SafePass” which tracks users’ locations and symptoms for the virus. According to CNET’s article, “If someone you’ve been in contact with later tests positive for COVID-19 and marks themselves on the app, the app notifies you about the exposure and provides details on when and where it happened” (Ng). The Citizen app has been known to create false alarms of crimes and spread panic to the public. So, now there is a worry that SafePass will do the same in which there might be a greater panic involving the spread of the virus.

Furthermore, Angel Diaz, a liberty and national security counsel “said he saw several red flags with the service, specifically with how it shows exposures and the amount of location data it takes” (Ng). The app is said not to function properly without access to both Bluetooth and GPS for location data. This is odd because COVID-tracing features from Apple and Google, for instance, don’t require the users’ GPS information. Instead they use the Bluetooth signals in order to calculate distance. Not to mention, the app’s “privacy policy also said that your location data could be shared with government agencies, without clarifying which agencies those could be” (Ng). Personally, I would not feel comfortable using SafePass. Even though the app could help with staying aware and knowing if I come across the virus, I don’t like how my privacy might be invaded and I don’t want my information to be used for other purposes. Honestly, I would probably feel more secure using Apple or Google’s features for COVID-tracking.

Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/a-crime-reporting-app-shifts-to-tracking-covid-19-raising-privacy-questions/

These days, drones have proven to be extremely useful in a variety of situations. Delivery service through drones has been one use that many retail companies have thought about implementing. Recently, Walmart announced that they were launching a delivery program with a drone delivery company called Flytrex. According to USA Today, “Tom Ward, Walmart’s senior vice president of customer products, said the pilot focuses on delivering select grocery and household essential items from Walmart stores” and he claims “‘the drones, which are controlled over the cloud using a smart and easy control dashboard, will help us gain valuable insight into the customer and associate experience – from picking and packing to takeoff and delivery’” (Tyko). 

Image Source: Walmart

While Walmart is not the first company to use this kind of technology, it will be interesting to see how everything plays out. Also, it seems as though Walmart is launching this program in opposition to Amazon as Amazon’s “Prime Air” drone delivery service is in development right now. Regardless, in my opinion, being able to see drones delivering packages to anyone anywhere in the future will be a really cool technological advancement. Not to mention, during these days, with a pandemic taking place, the drones will be extremely beneficial in which they will ensure a contactless delivery while still quickly and efficiently bringing packages to people.

Sources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/09/09/walmart-drone-delivery-pilot-fayetteville-north-carolina/5752184002/

https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/09/walmart-now-piloting-on-demand-drone-delivery-with-flytrex