Tech Article 4/24

Twitter Broadens Ban on Violent Threats

• Twitter changed its rule, which previously stated that it would only seek to ban direct, specific threats made against others, after complaints about it 
• Last week, The Washington Post claimed that Twitter needed to “do a better job combating abuse without chilling or silencing speech.”
• Now, Twitter has decided that users can get suspended if they promote violence in any way against others 
• The company also said that it would begin to use other enforcement tools, such as temporarily suspending accounts that promote violence or abuse
• The company will also begin testing the automatic blocking of tweets that match previous patterns of harassment 

Wiki Opinion 4/15

My opinion about Wikipedia is that it is a good starting point to discover information, but it is not always reliable. I agree with what was said in the video that it should not be a source to cite in a research paper because the information may not be coming from actual experts. However, I also agree with the video that it is a good way to share information you know with others across the world.

4/13 Spring Break Post

      Over spring break, I went on vacation to Florida with my friend Ariana and her family. We stayed in Orlando at the Grande Villas Resort for five nights. At the resort, we hung out by the pool there to tan and swim. Just a few minutes away from the resort, however, is Downtown Disney and Walt Disney World in which we visited almost every day. Aside from that, we also went to Universal Studios for a day and rode many of the roller coasters there.

      Ariana and I visited every one of the four parks at Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. On the first day, we went to Magic Kingdom, which is the park that is shown in the video. Two days after that, we went to Epcot, where we ate at a Mexican restaurant and watched the fireworks at night. Then, the following day, we went to Hollywood Studios where we rode the Tower of Terror and the Rock n' Roller Coaster. Lastly, we ended our vacation with going to Animal Kingdom and getting on the safari and Expedition Everest.

Tech Article 3/27

10%? 20%? Apps Are Changing How We Tip 

• Apps such as PayPal, Square, Breadcrumb, Apple Pay and Facebook have a new payment feature that is supposed to make paying for things easier 
• New electronic tipping platforms have been quickly spreading in many places such as cafes, restaurants, beauty salons, taxis and anywhere else a tip jar used to be
• The problem customers have with this feature is that it forces them to have to give a specific amount for a tip 
  
• Nir Eyal, a tech writer and entrepreneur, stated that the base tip for taxi cabs used to be 8 percent, but with new apps, it has climbed to 15 percent and even 25 percent
• The tip percentage has always risen in restaurants, where 20 percent is the base tip price 

Tech Article 3/20

The eternity drive: Why DNA could be the future of data storage 

• A storage company called Backblaze has been simultaneously running 25,000 hard drives to figure out how long the data will last in one's hard-drive or USB stick 
• The company concluded that some data may last longer than a decade, but other data may last just a little more than a year 
• Researchers at ETH Zurich, in Switzerland, believe that a permanent solution to store data for millions of year may be DNA 
• In DNA storage terms, one gram of DNA would be capable of holding 455 exabytes, where one exabyte is equivalent to a billion gigabytes 
• Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Robert Grass, said the problem with DNA is that it degrades quickly 
• Because of this, Grass and his team are hoping to find ways of combining the possibility of the large storage density in DNA with the stability of the DNA found in fossils 

Tech Article 3/13

Apple Watch Success Will Hinge on Apps 

• On Monday, Apple held a media event to explain how the new Apple Watch works and how much it costs
• Apple demonstrated what the watch is capable of doing with apps made by other companies 
• The Apple Watch relies on an iPhone to fully operate, so users would have to install watch apps on the iPhone as well 
• Apple will offer three models of the watch: Watch Sport, a version with an aluminum case, Watch, which has a stainless steel case, and Watch Edition, which has a case made of 18-karat gold 
• Some are worried that the watch’s small screen can limit features or ads 

Tech Article 3/6

Google Introduces Long-Anticipated Insurance Shopping Site

• The United States industry has been anticipating Google's entry into insurance shopping 
• The company announced on Thursday that it was introducing a United States version of its Google Compare auto insurance shopping site 
• The site will start in California and focus on car insurance 
• The company has been acquiring state licenses to sell insurance and forming partnerships with the insurance sites like CoverHound, an online insurance agency in San Francisco
• Many insurance brokers who have been in charge of insurance trade for decades are now worried about Google's move into insurance

• 
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  CrediThe United States insurance industry has been anticipating — or dreading — Google’s entry into insurance shopping for the better part of a year. The wait is over.gle said. Customers enter information like their name and driver’s license number, and the site provides quotes in a few minutes. If and when a customer buys, Google will collect a referral fee from insurers.