Facebook will hire them to monitor violent and harmful videos. Also, this team will remove them quicker.  Zuckerberg believes this move is vital. He hints that with more people, they deal with such videos more effectively. Facebook gets millions of complaints every week. Also, keep in mind Facebook has over two billion people. So many believe this move isn’t enough.

Yes, I know most people don’t put violent and deadly posts on Facebook. But all it takes is a small handful to mess it up for everyone else. This is just another attempt to make Facebook a safer place. They launched tools for loved ones to contact each other in the wake of natural disaster or mass violent attacks. Then they set up suicide prevention tools. Furthermore, they have tools to combat the epidemic of revenge porn and sexploitation. Now Facebook fights violent videos.

They also vow to fight ‘fake news’ and ‘hate speech’. I don’t know how to feel about that one. Yes, I’m all for getting rid of murder and suicide online. Why any psychopath wants to put that online is beyond me. Furthermore, why would anybody want to see a murder or suicide online? I do think every IT service company should fight this kind of videos. But them tackling ‘fake news’ and ‘hate speech’; I’m weary about that. Because I don’t want Mark Zuckerberg, or any other Facebook employee, telling me what ‘fake news’ and ‘hate speech’ are. That gives them way too much power. And couldn’t that lead to censorship altogether?

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So this report leaked to The Australian. Supposedly, this report talked about how Facebook could target the emotions of millions of teenagers. They talked about looking for teens who want to ‘look good’ or ‘lose weight’ or ‘gain confidence’. All of this is to target them to advertisers. This is all according to this The Australian report. Also, Facebook can see when teens feel ‘useless’, ‘worthless’ or ‘like a failure’. So it sounds like they really are preying on Facebook emotions, especially on young teenagers.

But Facebook employees say not so. One calls this article misleading. They also say this was to study how people overall act on Facebook. They insists Facebook in no way targets venerable teens. But Facebook did apologize for this. Also, they say they broke no laws, or other legal rules, during this process. Facebook promises to improve it’s research. And they vow to take actions against anyone who abuses their research policies.

I don’t know what to say about this one. I understand the outrage. No company, no IT service company, or any other, should ever exploit the emotions of underage peoples. This goes double for those already feeling bad about themselves. That’s from a moral stand. But what about business? Let me explain. Advertisers always go after people’s vulnerabilities. It’s been that way for decades. Look at this early 1960s commercial; it preys on people’s social fears of being outcast because of bad breath. I hate to say it, but preying on people’s fears is a part of advertising. But doing it to young, struggling teenagers is something else. You have to draw the line. And to use teens already struggling with emotions is crossing that line. So I hope Facebook is sincere with this apology. Was this social research or were Facebook emotions purposely targeted?

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So NYU student Dejian Zeng spent last summer working at an iPhone center at the Pentragon. That’s one of Apple’s biggest iPhone building places in China. Also, China’s Labor Watch Party helped organize this trip. Zeng worked 12 hour shifts at this iPhone factory. Furthermore, he worked Monday through Saturday. If my math is right’s that’s 72 hours a week. Zeng needed no resume, interview, or qualifications to get the job.

He just went there and stood in a long line. Then, they simply asked to see his ID and to recite the alphabet in English. They hired Zeng immediately. Then there’s the issue of pay. The average Chinese iPhone maker gets $450 a month. That salary will hardly take care of any American in 2017. Zeng also says if these jobs come to the USA, robots will work them. But Zeng says something that surprises me. Even Chinese workers are starting to get expensive. Because China is a fast rising economy and major world player. So to combat this, Apple is moving jobs to Vietnam, Bangladesh, and other Asian nations, where they can still keep the salaries low. This is why there won’t be American iPhone jobs anytime soon.

Zeng’s findings are disturbing, but not surprising. There was a time in the USA where anybody could walk in a manufacturing plant and just get a job. Now, you need a degree for everything. Also, it’s obvious Apple isn’t going to pay American workers their worth. It sounds like they don’t even want to pay Chinese workers their worth. I try to sympathize with Apple, but I can’t. I can’t because read how little it costs to make an iPhone. But if jobs do come back to America, you can bet iPhone prices will skyrocket. Not many Americans can, or will,  pay that. And take it from our Boston computer service shop, often times it costs little to do a screen replacement. So in this cycle of cost and exploitation, where do we go from here?

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So starting April 28, 2017, the NSA will no longer collect certain emails and texts. Such email and texts are with people overseas that include information. For example, you have a friend or college in China. You email and text them, and then you include a phone number or email address. The NSA will no longer collect or scrutinize that kind of email. This practice started with the Patriot Act of 2001. But for years, privacy rights and Fourth Amendment advocates screamed this was unlawful.

However, the Constitution isn’t responsible for this NSA change. We can thank the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. What the NSA did violated their rules. So since this kind of NSA spying reached overseas, the foreign courts takes ruling over anything the NSA did. So yes, they practiced this kind of spying since the early 2000s. But much of it didn’t come to light until 2013. That year, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed many of his former employer’s tactics. Mr. Snowden’s expose let to outrage and advocacy. Edward Snowden praised this NSA change. In a tweet, he said, “The truth changed everything”.

So yes, it seems that way. This NSA change is definitely a step in the right direction. But what grieves me is that it took an international law to change this. But thankfully, it’s changing. For years, political leaders, IT service leaders, and advocates have held the NSA’s feet to the fire. Now, it looks like global leaders are, too. And it’s working. But this is the beginning. Only the beginning. We should continue to educate the public about illegal and immoral spying. Knowledge is power, and power leads to change. What other changes need to be made?

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However, it’s not just stocks that are rising. Everything else Google is doing very well. Let’s look at digital advertising. Google and Facebook took 75 percent of the digital ad profits. Of course, that left little for the hundreds of other IT support companies. Also, Google’s revenue increased 22% from what it was at this time last year. Their overall net worth was 29% more then what is was in April 2016.

The stock traders are very happy with this. After this news, Alphabet stocks traded high within hours after getting this news. In fact, on Monday April 24, Alphabet stocks started at $868.50. But as of today’s writing, prices were $929.58. But not all the news is good news. You Tube took a hit, thanks to some controversy over offensive content. But then again, this is 2017. Everybody is offended by everything. I digress. But it got so bad some advertisers called for a boycott. But it doesn’t seem to hit their revenue much, if at all.

Financially, things couldn’t  be brighter for Google, whoops, I mean alphabet. Not only that, but tests for Google cars seem to be going well too. So who knows? Maybe you’ll be driving a Google car sometime soon. But with this awesome news comes a little concern, especially with the consumers. I notice how Google and Facebook, two mega, super tech conglomerates, got 75% of the digital ad profits. But wait…aren’t there hundreds…no…thousands of tech companies out there? Yes, many of them. But only two of them got that much of the pie. Now do you see my concern here?

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Yes, I know. Since the 19th century, people worried about technology taking human jobs. But in almost every case, technology created new jobs. However, tech and economy leaders worry it won’t happen this time. Small businesses and family businesses worry about keeping their employees human! Remember when they just worried about keeping the business in the family? But some retailers delight in this change.

Some major retail corporations look forward to retail robots. Here are some reasons why. They speak several languages. Also, they know stuff that human workers may not know. These are the reasons retail chain Lowe’s give. I used robots in retail stores before. But these Lowe’s retail robots can talk to you, in many languages. They’re not the only ones. At CVS, there are more computer check-out stations then there are human ones. Also, some of them don’t even take cash. At one Amazon store in Seattle, you don’t need to check out at all. Just get what you want and walk out. Amazon will charge it to your account.

So on the surface, it looks convenient. And yes, we as people seem to hate each other more than ever before. Just look at last year’s election. Maybe that’s what is driving this disturbing trend. But believe it or not, some of us still like human interaction. Furthermore, what about the thousands of retail workers that will be thrown out on the street? It’s not just the retail robots, either. Some believe computer repair techs will also be replaced by robots by the 2030s. In fact, many economists say robots are a bigger threat to American jobs than outsourcing jobs overseas. Because eventually, they’ll be replaced by robots too. So do you think these retail robots are a threat or a sign of technological advancement?

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Google’s Project Owl is in the form of a customer feedback system. Some say it will also weed out problem searches. It’s not just fake new they’re fighting. They’re targeting rumors, conspiracy theories, racial slurs, spam, strong violent and sexual content. However, Google processes over 6 billion searches a day. How will they tackle this?

So this is where feedback comes in. Here is how it goes down. You type in a search. Google gives you a set of choices. But what if you see one offensive or inappropriate? Then click on ‘report inappropriate predictions’. A form appears. This form lets you choose which phrase you had a problem with. Furthermore, you can choose more than one. Then you can choose why it’s inappropriate. The choices are: Hateful, Sexually Explicit, Violent or includes dangerous or harmful activity, and Other. However, Google processes six billion searches a day. So it may take days, or even weeks, to get them to process your complaint.

I give Google credit. At least they’re letting the people decide what is offensive and inappropriate. No big shot moralist or politically correct snob is calling the shots on his/her own discretion. That’s the worst thing Google, or any IT support company, can do. No one human being, or small handful of human beings, should have that kind of power. That’s not democracy. That’s dictatorship. But Google’s Project Owl could lead to other issues. Nowadays, many people find everything offensive. We’re in a very heightened politically correct society. What may be okay to some may be incredibly inappropriate to others. And what if Google blocks some searches but not others? Is Google’s Project Owl a good idea? Or will it lead to censorship?

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Let me make one thing clear. This is NOT a battery issue or a burning/fire issue. So don’t worry about these Samsung flaws burning you, not literally. In fact, the flaw here has to do with a screen color. There are complaints of a red hue. Hue is a property of color. In some instances, a hue is pure color, without tint, shade, or blending of other colors. So imagine going through your Samsung Galaxy 8 in a pure red screen, all the time. That’s what some customers are going through.

But what is Samsung doing about it? They’re putting features in the Samsung Galaxy 8. These features help correct the red hue. Furthermore, it seems some early users couldn’t control the color on their smartphone. This feature should be able to fully balance screen color to their liking. However, this complaint is nothing new. They know customers want to customize color settings on their phones. And they seem to be working hard to provide us the software to do so.

I hope they do the responsible thing and keep us up to date. First of all, I hope they do the responsible thing by listening to their customers. But I’m glad this is just a small issue compered to the one they had last year. But people want to control the color on their smartphone screen. If that’s what they want, Samusng needs to deliver. We in our Boston computer service shop can do screen replacements. But Samsung flaws like this are something they have to fix for themselves. This is more than just fixing color hues. This could be Sumsung’s moment of redemption. This could be their comeback moment. Will it happen for them?

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Dina Mitchell, from greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin, claimed her Fitbit Flex 2 tracker gave her a second degree burn. She also says the device caught fire while she wore it on her arm. She wasn’t even working out at the time. Dina Mitchell was reading a book when suddenly, the tracker caught fire. Then, she ripped the burning tracker from her arm.

But it didn’t stop there. It still burned as she threw it on the floor. Mitchell suffered a second degree burn on her arm. I saw the picture of the burn. It’s nothing pretty. In fact, the doctor had to pick parts of her Fitbit Flex 2 out of her arm. But what did Fitbit say or do? So far, Fitbit told media outlets they are investigating. Fitbit expresses the seriousness of Ms. Mitchell’s well being and vows it’s commitment to safety. However, they make clear this is the only incident involving any Fitbit product.

For any tech company to have any kind of bad press is bad enough. But to it to be nationwide, this could be a business killer, or a business destroyer. Remember what almost happened to Samsung last year. But this Fitbit burn is the only one that we know about. I’m sure Fibit users and Fitbit employees hope it stays that way. So do I. I do hope this is just one incident. But there’s still a lot we don’t know. What caused the Fitbit burn in the first place? What was the malfunction? And here is the biggest question of all: What can be done to prevent it?

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But don’t expect this to happen overnight. The new Windows features will happen first to insiders, then to the general public. Furthermore, you’ll see them on Outlook and Office 365. That is, those who have ties to GMail accounts. If you want to focus on a certain email, the new features can do it. They can also help you with every day business and personal things, like traveling and package deliveries.

But Microsoft asks users to do their part. They need to send a copy of their email, calendar and contact to Microsoft cloud. This updates your GMail system. In the next few weeks, expect reminders to upgrade your GMail account. And they won’t stop reminding you, either. So if you miss the first prompt, just give it a few weeks. You’ll get another one.

In fact, they’ll probably cram it down your throat until you finally do accept the new Windows feature. That’s what I don’t like about these new features. And it’s not just Microsoft, but just about every IT service does it like this. It’s maddening. Okay, enough of my ranting. But I wish Microsoft would tell us a little bit more of these new Windows features. What else do they have to offer? Or is this it? And I’ve been talking to several Windows 10 users. I also spoke with some GMail users as well. A lot of folks are unhappy with these services. Will these new Windows features make them happy? Or will it further alienate more customers?

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