Is There A Post-Smartphone World?

This post is for all my techno geeks…..

I recall many years ago I got my first cel from a group called Digiph and then I moved later to a flip phone and then seeing the benefits of a smartphone made the transition….in those early days I did not foresee the part that these devices would play in our daily lives.

Now that smartphones have become indispensable what will be the next step in this evolution?

Artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly that some Silicon Valley bigwigs are betting it will lead to what might seem unthinkable at the moment: a world in which people don’t carry around smartphones. Instead, they might get their AI-powered know-how from their glasses, or maybe a bracelet. As Tim Higgins writes in the Wall Street Journal, one of the bigger advocates of this revolution is Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who last week “put a bull’s-eye on the iPhone’s role as gatekeeper to the digital world.” Zuckerberg issued what Higgins calls a “manifesto,” which you can read in full via Silicon Valley Daily. He’s pushing the term “personal superintelligence” to describe things.

“Personal superintelligence that knows us deeply, understands our goals, and can help us achieve them will be by far the most useful,” he writes. “Personal devices like glasses that understand our context because they can see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day will become our primary computing devices.”

And, yes, Zuckerberg has been wrong before—just witness the “Metaverse.” But Higgins points out he’s not alone here: Amazon just bought the startup Bee, which offers an AI bracelet, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman is teaming up with legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive on some type of physical device to come. Meanwhile, Apple “is seen as a surprising laggard” in the field. Read the full analysis.

Will these wearables become as necessary as the smartphone of today?

Is this our future?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Your Phone Is Spying On You!

Yet more FYI for this Sunday…..

Do you have a smart phone?

Of course you do!

Did you know that your phone could be spying on you every day?

In the earlier days of the coronavirus pandemic, an animated map from a company called Tectonix went viral. It showed spring breakers leaving a Florida beach to return to their homes across the US, as a series of tiny orange dots congregating on a beach in early March scattered across the country over the following two weeks.

“It becomes clear just how massive the potential impact of just one single beach gathering can have in spreading this virus across our nation,” the video’s narrator said. “The data tells the stories we just can’t see.”

But there was another story there that most of us can’t see: how trackers hidden in smartphone apps are the source of incredible amounts of specific data about us, much of which gets sent to companies you’ve never heard of. This has been going on for years and is an essential part of the mobile app economy. But it took the Covid-19 pandemic to bring some of these companies, and what they’re capable of, to the forefront.

Your phone is the ideal tool for advertisers and data brokers, both as a means of collecting your information and serving you ads based on it. This is usually done through software development kits, or SDKs, which these companies provide to app developers for free in exchange for the information they can collect from them, or a cut of the ads they can sell through them. When you turn on location services for a weather app so it can give you a localized forecast, you may be sending your location data back to someone else.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/8/21311533/sdks-tracking-data-location

Learn Stuff!

Be Smart and Be Careful……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Saga Of The 5G

I hope all are enjoying their weekend…..

The world is moving at “light speed” when it comes to our available info on the worldwide web……and now the newest proposal is a lightening fast 5G…..Hell I remember when 2G was all the rage….but then I am a old fart.

Apparently 4G is just not doing the job in our search for more info faster……enter the promise of 5G….actually I think it is the search for better games and social media updates than the search for knowledge.

The story is that we will need 5G if we are to compete globally……or so the con job goes…….

The United States and China are in a race to build 5G networks, the next generation of wireless network that will enable faster data speeds and be used by self-driving cars and smart cities that rely on the Internet of Things.

On April 12, U.S. President Donald J. Trump and the Federal Communications Commission unveiled several initiatives to accelerate 5G network deployment in the United States. “Secure 5G networks will absolutely be a vital link to America’s prosperity and national security in the 21st century,” Trump said.

Trump maintained: “The race to 5G is a race America must win, and it’s a race, frankly, that our great companies are now involved in.”

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/04/24/5g_access_key_to_competing_globally_114365.html

That is the narrative that is being passed around……let’s look at it shall we?

As the successor to 4G, 5G is set to completely transform the way we do business. Bringing enormous data capacity, rapid speeds, and incredibly low latency, 5G marks a huge step up from its predecessor

Not only does 5G promise to boost efficiency and unleash the potential of automation, but it will also enable us to explore developing technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

The first 5G networks will begin to arrive in 2020, resulting in unparalleled levels of disruption.

Organisations need to prepare for the possibilities that this next-generation connectivity will offer with those that are fastest to embrace the changes set to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. This next-generation network connectivity is set to reinvent the world of business — here are five reasons why 5G is the future:

5 reasons why 5G is the future

Not everybody sees 5G as the best thing……shall we look into that?

Around 20,000 satellites from the new 5G network rollout will be launched into space and beam intense radiation to a large portion of the Earth. At around 1,000 times the speed of 4G, it is shaping up to become a radioactive nightmare for humans. So, how bad can this be for our health?

According to Martin L. Pall, professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University, there are four reasons why radiation from the 5G network will be dangerous for humans: an extraordinary number of antennae are required, high outputs are needed for penetration, pulsation levels will be very high, and it will have an impact on the human body’s cellular electrical field.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/5g-is-the-stupidest-idea-in-the-history-of-the-world-says-professor-emeritus-from-wsu_2882838.html

Sounds like 5G will take a massive infrastructure plan…..anyone have any thoughts about 5G?

Google Offers A Middle Finger

As usual on weekends I try to be informative or humorous or both…..yes it is a struggle since I am old and grumpy as my granddaughter describes it.

I guess we could call this post my FYI post for the weekend……

Remember a few months ago most social media sites were caught screw over their members….sites like Facebook……it appears that a popular search engine may be giving its users a middle finger…..

Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. An AP investigation found many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used privacy settings that say they’ll prevent it from doing so. Computer-science researchers at Princeton confirmed these findings at the AP’s request. For the most part, Google is upfront about asking permission to use your location information. An app like Google Maps will remind you to allow access to your location if you use it for navigating. But the company will also let you “pause” a setting called “Location History,” which it says will prevent the company from remembering where you’ve been. Google’s support page on the subject states: “You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”

But even with “Location History” paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking. For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app; automatic daily weather updates on Android phones also pinpoint roughly where you are. The privacy issue affects some 2 billion users of devices running Google’s Android operating software and hundreds of millions of iPhone users who rely on Google for maps or search. Critics say Google’s insistence on tracking its users’ locations stems from its drive to boost advertising revenue. In a statement, a Google rep says the company is being perfectly clear and offers “robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time.” Check out the AP for more on why Google’s remarks may be simplifying a more complex issue.

I do posts like this one to help emphasize the fact that people need to be constantly aware that their information is at threat even by those that promise that one is safe by using their site.

Fore warned is fore armed…..

Have a great day…..be well, be safe….chuq

Looking At The Top Of Their Head

It is another weekend and more time to stray from the politics of the day….for at least a couple of days….

Go out to a family restaurant some time and watch the people at their tables…..how many are avoiding talking and instead are looking at some electronic screen or another?

Teenagers seem to be the worse….but did you know that it could be hazardous to their mental health?

The number of ways in which the smartphone has made our lives easier is vast. Whether it’s using Shazam to identify a song on the radio or having a sophisticated camera at the ready 24/7, the smartphone era ushered in by the iPhone has fundamentally changed the way the world uses and interacts not only with technology but also with each other. While there is no shortage of examples that illustrate how the smartphone has improved our lives, a more interesting and novel thought experiment would have us explore some of the more detrimental side effects associated with our collective addiction to smartphones and society’s unending need to constantly stay connected.

Tackling this very topic, a fascinating piece from Jean M. Twenge of The Atlantic articulates that adolescents who have grown up in a world dominated by smartphones are more prone to a variety of mental health problems than adolescents from previous generations. Twenge categorizes kids born between 1995 and 2012 under a group she calls iGen and the problems she’s seen in these kids — who have never known a life without the internet — transcends gender, class and ethnicity.

Source: Smartphones are causing a mental health crisis in teens | New York Post

I am so glad that my granddaughter has found that she enjoys board games with the old guy….plus she is in the school band and she enjoys books.

Now go and enjoy the beginning of your weekend….be well, be safe….chuq

Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?

Ah my weekend begins….time to step away from the keyboard and live a bit….

It is 5:30 am or if you prefer 0530 hrs (my preference) and if you are a Trump supporter then Mickey’s little hand is on the 5 and the big is on the 6……let’s get started shall we?

Speaking of time……

You know to be stylish and a man about town one must invest in a Rolex…a magnificent timepiece….I have one and NO I did not buy it it was my late father’s….he did not buy it either it was given to him as a present by a friend when we lived in Spain….. and NO I do not wear it out in public for you see I am an old fart and time is all I have left so I really do not want to watch it fly by for any reason….but I digress…..

But this post is for all those suckers that buy a Rolex…..I know what the Hell am I going on about, right?

Could the end be near for luxury watch brands like Rolex? Probably not anytime soon, but the explosion of smartwatches represents the biggest threat to Swiss watchmakers since Seiko introduced its landmark Quartz watch in 1969, Business Insider reports. Classic analog watches can’t match the technology of wrist computers that do everything from play music to turn on your air-conditioning. Contenders such as the Apple Watch represent the new battleground for watch makers, and Swiss brands “may soon see a large portion of their business threatened,” says Andrea Squatrito. A report by his company, RE Analytics, says high-end makers like Rolex have a lot to lose, with 45% of the company’s business coming from their “lower end” watches with a starting price point of about $2,700.

With those upmarket customers in mind, Apple turned up the heat when it teamed up with Hermes to introduce a sleeker version of the Apple Watch with a choice of stylish leather bands, starting at $1,500. But the future of the smartwatch hasn’t always looked so rosy. A steep drop in sales late last year had analysts questioning the future of do-it-all timepieces, per CNN. Consumers surveyed called smartwatches too expensive, big, and ugly, per Computer World. Still, the new year began with a flood of new smartwatches in stores—and more on the horizon—ranging from upmarket versions by Tag to old standbys like Casio, per Wareable. Countering the “ugly” rap, upmarket brands like Kate Spade and Michael Kors introduced hybrid versions blending the look of traditional analogs with smartwatch features

Really? A smartwatch will replace a Rolex? Next you will tell me a driver-less car will replace a Ferrari….NOT IN MY WORLD!

Maybe one of IST more tech savvy visitors could explain just why this is so to us old farts….makes little sense to us.

But smile the weekend has begun…..a little music from the past…..when music was about the sound not the glitz…..enjoy.

Whatsa “Selfie” Worth?

Smile it is the weekend and take a “selfie” of yourself…you made it through another week of mindless media rhetoric.

Speaking of a “selfie”…..you know that cute little thing that has become popular with the invention of the smart phone…. there are even “selfie” sticks so you can get some height and I even heard that there will be a “selfie” drone…..sorry I do not do these trendy things…..I do not like looking at myself in a mirror so I will not waste my time taking photos of myself…..

To answer the question…is a selfie worth losing everything you may have accumulated? There is the possibility.

But there is something even creepier about a “selfie”……

Justin Bieber will need to watch his bank statements. Flashing the two- finger peace sign in photographs could soon be the equivalent of inking your account details on your forehead, experts have warned.

Isao Echizen, of the National Institute of Informatics in Tokyo, said that the quality of smartphone cameras had reached the level where fingerprints that can trick biometric security devices could be obtained from casual snaps posted on social media.

Source: Photos are a giveaway for fingerprint fraudsters | News | The Times & The Sunday Times

But will they heed the warning? Nope, Americans are too smart to get caught in this trap.

Thoughts?

Nothing huh?

Me? I will use it as I use all my phones….make calls.

Then by George take some time and enjoy your day…see you guys tomorrow……Peace

Could You Please Talk A Little Louder?

Here it is again…the weekend and Chuq’s moment of Zen…well two days to be truthful….you know that time when all is calm and serene…that is if you do not have grandchildren…..but anyway I spotted a story that makes you stop and ask…what are they thinking?

We all have our frustrations….one of mine is cel phones….people driving with their heads up their butts because it is just sooo damn important that they take that call from Billy Jo….or those cretins that walk around staring at their Smartphones like they are waiting for the almighty to call…..and then there are those inconsiderate bastards that have to talk really loud on their phones to the point that the phone is not needed the other part could probably hear them without it……

And there is this…..

Normally, chatting aimlessly is a surefire way to wind up with a dead cellphone battery. But researchers at South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University have discovered a technique that could use the sound of your voice to charge your phone.Although for now you really have to shout to give your battery much of a boost. A prototype needed 100 decibels — the equivalent of noisy traffic or a jet passing overhead — to generate 50 millivolts of electricity. That’s enough to give a smartphone battery a lift, but far from the 5 to 12 volts needed to properly charge the typical mobile device. So don’t expect to find voice-charged phones in stores any time soon. But the lead researcher, Sang-Woo Kim of Sungkyunkwan University’s nanotechnology institute, is confident that tinkering with the design will make this technology more practical.

The scientists trapped nano-scale strands of zinc oxide between two flexible electrodes. Incoming sound waves hit a sound-absorbing pad on top of the device, causing the tiny zinc wires to compress and release. The movement generates a tiny electrical current.

Oh goody! Now there is something for me to look forward to….a wealth of people screaming into their cell phones……..will make for some enjoyable meals…….

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Mobile Technology