So, why is that?
This is a wild guess but I think I might know why.
Both the 5.5" iPhone and the iWatch are going to be premium devices out of the gate. So, what? Well, first let's go over what an $500 or more iWatch or $800-$1000 5.5" iPhone means.
More at On Apple.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Social Privacy: Guy Who Leaked Nude Pics of Celebrities Is Now Public Enemy No. One
According to the Los Angeles Times, the FBI has joined the hunt for the culprit or culprits who leaked nude pictures of mostly female celebrities. I didn't say actors because I have no idea who a couple of the names I read are. Maybe they were sports figure.
Anyway, if this could happen to them, it could happen to anyone - opening us up to potential blackmailing or other sorts of crime. At best, just embarrassment. This is a kind of sexual predation. Privacy is a big deal to me and I think we need to keep any eye out on this.
If companies are not being careful about our cloud privacy and security, a large scale and very public case like this should. So, let me go back a bit and explain in a couple of sentences what happened in case you like myself was away from the Web or television for this Labor Day weekend in the US.
Apparently, someone hacked into an online photo account, with iCloud being named as the source of these pictures (there was talk that some of the pics were taken on Android and Blackberry phones), of a celebrity or others and leaked them online.
I watch movies that I like and there are few actors or actresses that I really know by name. So, I don't know who some of the victims are but their names are familiar. Also, I don't want to name sites that some of these pictures were uploaded to. This is a despicable act and I hope these guys are found and put away forever.
Anyway, if this could happen to them, it could happen to anyone - opening us up to potential blackmailing or other sorts of crime. At best, just embarrassment. This is a kind of sexual predation. Privacy is a big deal to me and I think we need to keep any eye out on this.
If companies are not being careful about our cloud privacy and security, a large scale and very public case like this should. So, let me go back a bit and explain in a couple of sentences what happened in case you like myself was away from the Web or television for this Labor Day weekend in the US.
Apparently, someone hacked into an online photo account, with iCloud being named as the source of these pictures (there was talk that some of the pics were taken on Android and Blackberry phones), of a celebrity or others and leaked them online.
I watch movies that I like and there are few actors or actresses that I really know by name. So, I don't know who some of the victims are but their names are familiar. Also, I don't want to name sites that some of these pictures were uploaded to. This is a despicable act and I hope these guys are found and put away forever.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Xiaomi Highlights China's Problem And Reputation As Second Rate Tech World
Source: On Apple.
Here is yet another example of Chinese consumer tech companies demonstrating their inability to innovate and using government shields to copy Western companies like Apple. Here is its Miui 6 skin that runs on top of its own Android variant (san Google apps) where it copied the look and feel of Apple's iOS.
What's worse as it has been reported previously by various media outlets is that it even copied the look and feel of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S.
However, don't look for Apple to do anything about this in China anyway.
What's worse as it has been reported previously by various media outlets is that it even copied the look and feel of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S.
However, don't look for Apple to do anything about this in China anyway.
More at On Apple.
I'm A Zombie - Stomach Bacteria Controlling Your Appetite
Source: CNET.
This is a different take on zombie and quite possibly look for Hollywood to get in on this as the virus-variant of zombies could be running out its course. According to researchers, what we crave could be a result of the type of bacteria we have living in our stomach.
The biological term for these little guys is microbiome. How do they do it? One, they create cravings for certain types of food that would provide the best nutrients for itself or ones that would suppress the growth of competitors. Second, create dysphoria (makes you feel crappy or less than optimal) until you eat it.
Boy, I know what that feels like. At times, I eat food that I know just isn't that great for me but I do it anyway. Maybe it might not be a certain type of microbiome but just what's in my head. However, the possibility that my appetite is being controlled is fascinating.
Now that I know this is a possibility, I think I will definitely be more conscious about my food choice.
Of course, there is really nothing to worry about until you wake up in the middle of the night craving fresh meat or brains.
This is a different take on zombie and quite possibly look for Hollywood to get in on this as the virus-variant of zombies could be running out its course. According to researchers, what we crave could be a result of the type of bacteria we have living in our stomach.
The biological term for these little guys is microbiome. How do they do it? One, they create cravings for certain types of food that would provide the best nutrients for itself or ones that would suppress the growth of competitors. Second, create dysphoria (makes you feel crappy or less than optimal) until you eat it.
Boy, I know what that feels like. At times, I eat food that I know just isn't that great for me but I do it anyway. Maybe it might not be a certain type of microbiome but just what's in my head. However, the possibility that my appetite is being controlled is fascinating.
Now that I know this is a possibility, I think I will definitely be more conscious about my food choice.
Of course, there is really nothing to worry about until you wake up in the middle of the night craving fresh meat or brains.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Social: The Purge Prank Instigated On Twitter
Source: Wave 3, Uproxx.
That's what one high school teen did to Louisville, Kentucky. It got a football (American version) scrimmage to be moved. Needless to say, the kid seemed apologetic. And he was dismissed from his football team.
In case you didn't know, this Purge prank was based on a 2013 and its 2014 sequel called The Prank in which the government allows a 12-hour window in which any crime can be committed without legal consequences.
Seriously, right? This is a teenager's wet dream. Prank or otherwise. And authorities will likely be on the lookout for more of these pranks and making sure no one out there thinks this is serious. After all, The Purge did nearly $90 million at the box office costing only $3 million to make while its sequel, The Purge: Anarchy pulled on $96 million (Box Office Mojo).
We all know how powerful Twitter can be. These days, it can topple governments, change society, and be used in more ways than what anyone ever imagined. Even getting a midsize city official to believe that "a purge" was coming.
That's what one high school teen did to Louisville, Kentucky. It got a football (American version) scrimmage to be moved. Needless to say, the kid seemed apologetic. And he was dismissed from his football team.
In case you didn't know, this Purge prank was based on a 2013 and its 2014 sequel called The Prank in which the government allows a 12-hour window in which any crime can be committed without legal consequences.
Seriously, right? This is a teenager's wet dream. Prank or otherwise. And authorities will likely be on the lookout for more of these pranks and making sure no one out there thinks this is serious. After all, The Purge did nearly $90 million at the box office costing only $3 million to make while its sequel, The Purge: Anarchy pulled on $96 million (Box Office Mojo).
Monday, July 21, 2014
Mobile Companies That Might Last The Decade
In the mobile market, a quarter can be a life time let alone a year. So, why am I talking about the rest of the decade? Frankly, a quarterly misstep or two could be enough for a company to start sliding but with all the corporate cash companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft have, any decline could be stave off for years.
Sure that could also mean that companies have a better chance to survive any downturn or misstep and maybe innovate its way out of corporate death much like Apple did. However, there are a couple of companies that I think are not going to disappear within the year but could very likely be gone by 2020.
I'm talking about Blackberry and Yahoo. Blackberry and Yahoo has 2.68 and 2.78 billions of cash on hand. Blackberry has been bleeding money while Yahoo has managed to eek out some profit. However, each of these two companies have critical decisions to make.
The decisions each of their respective CEOs make will determine whether they can innovate or reinvent their ways out of the bottom of the mobile market and come up stronger and continue to stay relevant.
Blackberries are not selling well even as Blackberry 10 has garnered raved reviews. The company has a perception issue and attempting to match the iPhone and the hundreds of Android phone models just won't cut it. Furthermore, Blackberry lack the ecosystem that Apple has, which is the same issue that plagues Microsoft's Windows Phone devices.
So far, Blackberry CEO John Chen has failed to make the hard calls. Chen was brought in to cut costs and slow the bleeding just enough to make Blackberry attractive enough to be a takeover target and has even failed miserably at that task. There was a glimmer of hope that perhaps the Blackberry Messenger could be the key to the company's turn around when Facebook bought Whatsapp, a popular iOS/Android messaging app, for $19 billion. However, any hope there quickly fizzled as more attractive alternatives to BBM were already on the market.
As for Yahoo, Marissa Mayer brought a lot of hope and optimism when she took over as CEO back in the middle 2012. I think it's still early. However, the changes Mayer made seemed more like patchwork than actually swing for the fences. A series of acquisitions like Tumblr, while made for interesting talk around the blogger water cooler, still has not demonstrated that it'll be better than past Yahoo acquisitions by former CEOs like Geocities or Broadcast.com. Yahoo! Launchcast is interesting and this could be where Yahoo can become a viable niche player in original video content.
Still, it'll just be a niche in a submarket. Hardly anything to write home about.
So, Blackberry and Yahoo are facing a lot of head winds. They'll both be fine over the next year or two but as their competitors continue to forth, they could both be squeeze out of existence.
Sure that could also mean that companies have a better chance to survive any downturn or misstep and maybe innovate its way out of corporate death much like Apple did. However, there are a couple of companies that I think are not going to disappear within the year but could very likely be gone by 2020.
I'm talking about Blackberry and Yahoo. Blackberry and Yahoo has 2.68 and 2.78 billions of cash on hand. Blackberry has been bleeding money while Yahoo has managed to eek out some profit. However, each of these two companies have critical decisions to make.
The decisions each of their respective CEOs make will determine whether they can innovate or reinvent their ways out of the bottom of the mobile market and come up stronger and continue to stay relevant.
Blackberries are not selling well even as Blackberry 10 has garnered raved reviews. The company has a perception issue and attempting to match the iPhone and the hundreds of Android phone models just won't cut it. Furthermore, Blackberry lack the ecosystem that Apple has, which is the same issue that plagues Microsoft's Windows Phone devices.
So far, Blackberry CEO John Chen has failed to make the hard calls. Chen was brought in to cut costs and slow the bleeding just enough to make Blackberry attractive enough to be a takeover target and has even failed miserably at that task. There was a glimmer of hope that perhaps the Blackberry Messenger could be the key to the company's turn around when Facebook bought Whatsapp, a popular iOS/Android messaging app, for $19 billion. However, any hope there quickly fizzled as more attractive alternatives to BBM were already on the market.
As for Yahoo, Marissa Mayer brought a lot of hope and optimism when she took over as CEO back in the middle 2012. I think it's still early. However, the changes Mayer made seemed more like patchwork than actually swing for the fences. A series of acquisitions like Tumblr, while made for interesting talk around the blogger water cooler, still has not demonstrated that it'll be better than past Yahoo acquisitions by former CEOs like Geocities or Broadcast.com. Yahoo! Launchcast is interesting and this could be where Yahoo can become a viable niche player in original video content.
Still, it'll just be a niche in a submarket. Hardly anything to write home about.
So, Blackberry and Yahoo are facing a lot of head winds. They'll both be fine over the next year or two but as their competitors continue to forth, they could both be squeeze out of existence.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Space: The Beast That Was - Potential World Killer
Source: LA Times.
Because of the size of 2014 HQ124, coming in at a possible 1,300 feet, it is a potential devastating space rock that scientists as NASA have dubbed it "the Beast". With the Beast coming in at a close 770,000 miles of the only world we humans have, there is no worry that it will hit us this time around.
Nor will it strike us when it comes around for another round in 2200. Having said that, hopefully, we would still be around and we likely have some other similar encounters 180+ years. Plus, I hope by then, we would have the technology to deflector other potential world killers.
Sure, I don't expect our petty earthly conflicts and a propensity to ignore certain danger (like global warming) that would dramatically alter our way of life but not necessarily end it, a doomsday rock probably will not be ignored.
I hope.
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